Yyye777 Wf WE LA: WM MEMO LU, WEE Yj ¢ WY = SRNR : hadeicicdedet “Lt, 7 Sas, Vp ae 7, ry hig / < ‘ees ff f MEE i ie IPLEL Vibe a, ae SIEM EELG LAL fc MLYIL, he, GEE Of, / PAISGSAS, Mf “ SNS asa SS a SS SS SON ~ ~ SS SEN So SS SNe SANS AAS PTL LEELA, “iy “ff, é Vite tidy “A Wy Ahh MOE LEE. Bis is, Lh tis ie, Of LYL iy te nf NS SS s fs ais Let Pa aKa io AE pt LEA PG EEL LIS £9 Maes Z y S hie: > MAR 8 1899 eo x] Digitized by the Internet Archive In 2022 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library |. Aittps://archive.org/details/evangelisticbapt00gall Ghe Science of Missions.—PYurt First. THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE TO THE CHURCH FOR THE CONVERSION Ol THE WORLD. wr BY THE A REV. JAMES GALL. “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.”—LuKE xxiv. 49. “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”—AcTs i. 8. GALL & INGLIS. Edinburgh: London: BERNARD TERRACE. | 25 PATERNOSTER SQUARE. EDINBURGH : PRINTED BY LORIMER AND GILLIES, 31 8ST. ANDREW SQUARE. PREFACKH, \PSHE present treatise (with another to follow) contains the result of the Author’s experience for upwards of fifty years in the home-mission field,—first, as a Sabbath-school teacher, under the guidance of his vener- able father ; then as an elder in charge of a congregational mission ; after that as Superintendent of the Carrubber’s Close Mission in Edinburgh; and subsequently as the pastor of a territorial congregation in the same city, which he was called on to organise. The history of the present work reaches back to the year 1856, when a census was taken of a number of the chief towns in Scotland, to ascertain the amount of attendance of the children in Sabbath schools. The result of that census in Edinburgh revealed a state of society so alarming as to convince the Committee of the SABBATH-SCHOOL TEACHERS’ UNION, under whose aus- pices the census had been made, that there must be something awanting in our present arrangements, since they could produce and tolerate such a result. After much anxious deliberation, it was judged expedient to commit the whole subject to the Author of this treatise, who, as convener of their “ Improvement ” and ‘“ Exten- 1V PREFACE. sion” sub-committees, was requested to investigate the subject, and bring up a report. That Report, which was presented to the Union in 1857, embodied, to a large extent, the views contained in the present work. It was to the effect— First, That the Home Mission enterprise is primarily the work of the whole Christian people, and not of ministers, elders, or paid agents. Second, That the Sabbath School is the natural root and trunk from which every variety of social, benevolent, educational, and evangelistic enterprise should spring, and around which the organised gratuitous labours of the whole Church should be carried on. Third, That, for this purpose, Misston INSTITUTES should be built in every necessitous district, with the necessary accommodation and apparatus worthy of so im- portant an object. And Fourth, That these Institutes should be undenomina- tional, and should form an evangelistic organisation separate from, but alongside of and in co-operation with, the congregations of the city. This Report was unanimously adopted by the Union, and the Author was requested to organise one of these Institutes as an experiment, which, if successful, would become the pioneer of others. And, accordingly, hav- ing taken a lease of Whitfield Chapel, in Carrubber’s Close, he commenced what he called the EXPERIMENTAL PIONEER Home Mission, afterwards known as the CAR- RUBBER’S CLOSE Mission, to carry into practical opera- tion the principles which he had suggested. It was avowedly an experiment; and, professing to have discovered the causes of our previous failure, it proposed to put upon their trial what the Author believed PREFACE. V to be the true principles of evangelism, which were not only different from, but opposite to, those which had hitherto guided our home-mission operations. If, there- fore, by God’s blessing it should be successful; it would be not only an “ experiment,’ but a “pioneer,” as its name implied, and might be followed by other twenty of the same kind, which was the number which he supposed would be needed for the complete evangelisation of Edin- burgh. The Mission then commenced was peculiar in many things, but chiefly in these: 1. The agents were to be ALL GRATUITOUS LABOURERS, from the superintendent downwards, so that there should be no paid agents among them. But all whose labours were accepted should have whatever accommodation and apparatus might be necessary for carrying on their work, free of expense. 2. No one was to be admitted as a worker who was not a member of some evangelical congregation, whose pastor should be sponsor for his church-standing. 3. livery labourer who became a member of the Insti- tute should consecrate himself entirely to the service of Christ, and live only for the advancement of His king- dom. 4, In their evangelistic labours the workers were not to be satisfied with mere conversion; but every convert should be pledged to entire consecration, seeking the conversion of all around him. 5. The work carried on in the Institute should range over the whole field of Christian usefulness, every mem- ber being invited to strike out work for himself, in evan- gelism of every form,—Bible teaching, and educational and social enterprises,—bringing every talent which he vi PREFACE. possessed into exercise in promoting the cause of Christ, and the welfare and happiness of all around. And 6. There was to be no government, and no committee or board of directors. Every labourer was to be free to work in his own way; and only in cases of actual wrong- doing was the superintendent to interfere. The success which attended this experiment, chiefly through the indefatigable labours of the assistant-super- intendent, Mr. Alexander Jenkinson, who early connected himself with the Institute, is well known.* At the close of the first year a Mission Festival was held, presided over by the Lord Provost, Sir John Melville.t At the close of the second year it had become the commencement and centre of a great revival, which moved the whole city, and extended its influence over a great part of Scotland. Many hundreds of gratuitous labourers were enlisted and trained to the Lord’s work, now scattered over the whole world, and many thousands professed to have been converted or revived by its means. And at the close of the third year, the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland gave its testi- mony to the success of the experiment by calling its Superintendent to the ministry; their intention being “to give him increased advantages for carrying on his work according to the rules of the Church.” This resolution was taken at the instance of the Free Pres- bytery of Edinburgh, which had asked permission to call * See Stories of the Carrubber’s Close Mission, with Narrative and Anecdotes. Gall and Inglis: Edinburgh and London. + See Report in Appendix C, and D. PREFACE. vu him to organise a new congregation in a destitute part of the city, for which funds had been left by the bequest of a lady.* The Author was both grieved and alarmed to find that the success of the mission was ascribed, not to the prin- ciples upon which it was founded, but to something peculiar to himself; and that it was expected that since so much good had been done upon what they regarded as defective principles, more good would be done upon the principles which they considered best-——in other words, they thought that as the city could be best evan- gelised by means of endowed Territoral Churches, it would be expedient to make him an endowed Territorial Minister. As the Presbytery did not wish him to give up his labours in Carrubber’s Close, and as the only change which they proposed was that his pastoral work in the congrega- tion should take the place of his professional employments as the means of his support; although he foresaw many difficulties of a personal kind, and earnestly pleaded that the call might not be made; yet when it was made, he felt that it was the Lord’s call; and that he dared not refuse an arrangement that demanded his whole time and energies to be devoted to the work of evangelism : because, as was pointed out to him, the forming of the congrega- tion was truly evangelistic work. He therefore accepted the call on the understanding, that when the congrega- tion was formed, and in favourable circumstances to call another pastor, the Presbytery would relieve him of his charge, and allow him to return to his own proper work as an “ ordained evangelist.” He did not know then what he very soon discovered * See Proceedings of Assembly 1861, pp. 188-163. viii ‘ PREFACE. afterwards, that although a man in business may be an active evangelist without spoiling his business, the pastor of a congregation cannot be an active evangelist without doing injury to his congregation. The change wm kind from business to evangelism is such as to make evangel- istic work a delightful recreation and a luxury ; whereas a change from pastoral to evangelistic work is (in kind) no change at all, and the one can only be done at the expense of the other.* Meantime, it had begun to dawn upon him that what he had regarded as a deep affliction was in reality a blessing in disguise, by interrupting his plans and giving him a better education in the science of evangelism. His growing acquaintance with pastoral work and con- gregational necessities opened his eyes to what he had not had the means of knowing before, that although evangelism may prosper without congregations, congrega- tions cannot prosper without evangelism. In much of his previous experience, congregational government had not been the most helpful to evangelistic work ; and hence his anxiety to make them independent of each other. But now, when he was called on to study the subject from a new stand-point, which brought the other hemisphere of the science into view, he found that for the spiritual health of the congregation it was absolutely necessary that every one of its members should be provided with work of some kind for the exercise of their Christian graces and the promotion of the Lord’s work. This, of course, implied that every congregation should have an Institute of its own, as well as a church of its own; and * By foolishly persisting in the attempt to do double duty, the Author was prostrated, and the work hindered for two years, PREFACE. pare 1X that it is the rich and powerful congregations, possessed of education and Christian experience, and not the poor “excavated ” territorial congregations, with their over- wrought pastors, that ought to be foremost in the work of evangelism. He was thus enabled to see that the arrest which had been laid upon his plans at the very time of their apparently highest success had been the means of correcting a most important error, and requiring him to study the subject afresh under altogether different circumstances, In the meantime, having discovered that the work of a pastor and the work of an evangelist were incom- patible (at least in his circumstances), he handed over, in 1869, the Carrubber’s Close Mission to Mr. Alex. Jenkinson, upon whom, since his ordination, the chief burden of its superintendence had fallen, that he might devote himself exclusively to the building up of the con-_ eregation, and that he might the sooner return to the work to which the Lord had originally called him. It had been his intention, after demitting his pastoral charge, to set about the organisation of other Institutes upon the model of Carrubber’s Close Mission; but, in consequence of the change in his views on this subject, a very different and much more difficult work lay before him. The formation of independent Institutes was a work which any one might engage in, but Congrega- tional Institutes could only be formed by congregations themselves. Since, therefore, in 1872, the Free Pres- bytery of Edinburgh, at his request, relieved him of the pastoral charge of Moray Church, and set him apart as an Ordained Evangelist, his efforts have been directed chiefly to the advocacy of Congregational Institutes, and giving what help he could in their formation. x PREFACE. In the prosecution of this work he has been greatly helped and encouraged by the Grove Street Institute m Glasgow,* and its talented and enthusiastic founder and superintendent, Mr. J. Wakefield Macgill. This splendid Institute is conducted upon exactly the same principles as Carrubber’s Close Mission. There is the same earnest devotion of its members to the great cause of evangelism, the same wide range of evangelistic labour and Christian usefulness, the same freedom from directorial government, and the same absence of paid agents, from the super- intendent downwards; and although neither it nor the Carrubber’s Close Mission is connected with any con- gregation, they are both of them valuable as models after which Congregational Institutes can be organised. This is especially the case with the Grove Street Institute ; for although the Carrubber’s Close Mission has been carried on with great ability and much success by its present devoted superintendent, Mr. Jenkinson, it has _ been severely crippled by the loss of Whitfield Chapel, which was its headquarters, and the want of a proper building for carrying on its operations. The Grove Street Insti- tute, on the contrary, has an elegant building,* elegantly furnished, with first-rate accommodation and apparatus, for the numerous and varied enterprises carried on within its walls. With the Grove Street Institute in Glasgow and Carrubber’s Close Mission in Edinburgh as model specimens, the Author has endeavoured, in conferences chiefly with ministers and church courts,t to extend a knowledge of the true principles of home-mission work, * See Appendix E. + See his Three Addresses to the Free Presbytery of Edinburgh, Appendix A. PREFACE, Xl in the hope that by their influence such Congrega- tional Institutes might be formed. Hitherto he has found the ministers favourably disposed to the work— indeed he has not met with any who were opposed; and the idea of having a Carrubber’s Close Mission or a Grove Street Institute in connection with their con- eregations has been most favourably received both for the sake of their districts and for the sake of their own people. The only objection, or rather the only difficulty, is the expense. We have for so many generations been ac- customed to look upon churches as the only build- ings that are required for evangelistic purposes, that though eight or ten thousand pounds is not regarded as too large a sum to build and endow a church, the idea of several thousand pounds being required to build an Institute is apt to startle us, and yet the country will never be thoroughly evangelised, and our congregations will never be systematically trained and organised as evangelistic agencies until we get them. The building of churches and endowing of ministers is not the way to evangelise a district, for even although we had fifty such churches and fifty such ministers in any locality, we still should fail, because we want con- eregations before we want churches. What we want is not churches but Institutes ; and instead of one minister for each district, we require hundreds of living Christians, —we want, not a church that is open for only four hours every week, but an Institute that is open every day and all hours of the day. In short, we want a living, energetic, devoted church brought into personal evangelistic contact with a dead world, man to man, and woman to woman. But before that can take place, the Church itself must Xl PREFACE. be revived, and TRAINED to evangelism. If that can be done without mission buildings, be it so; but if not— and all experience has proved it so—let us have buildings ; if it requires an elegant church to get the people to worship, much more will it require an elegant Institute to get them to work. We have arrived at our present evangelistic system, neither by faith nor by sight, but by feeling: we have groped our way to it, bit by bit, and from one thing to another. It is time for us now to open our eyes, and see whereabout we are. What is required now is that we should proceed in our evangelism, not blindly and empirically, without knowing why or whither, but scienti- fically, and upon certain definite principles, knowing what these principles are. We want the SCIENCE OF EVANGELISM, and the time has come when it must be studied. When we speak of the science of evangelism, we mean the discovery of principles by which we may be guided in our evangelistic work, and which may be carried out to their fullest extent without danger, until they meet and are modified by other principles equally legitimate. Some of these principles we have endeavoured to ascertain, and having stated them, we present them as subjects for examination and criticism. If they are right, then so much progress has been attained, and a founda- tion has been laid upon which other men may build. If, on the other hand, they are wrong, let other principles be presented in their place; only, let us have principles. It is now about twenty years since the Carrubber’s Close Mission was commenced as the pioneer of ORGAN- ISED gratuitous labour. It was the very first of its kind, PREFACE. : xill and with the exception of the Grove Street Institute, so far as the Author is aware, it is the only one still. From the 26th of August, 1859, till the present time there has not been a day on which its doors have been shut, or its members silent. Since that time, the influence of its testimony and example has been gradually though silently extending, so that now there is scarcely a congregation that has not got a mission building of some kind, where- as at that time there were comparatively few. But it is only in a half-and-half sort of way that this change has been taking place, and without any recognised principle of policy or action. The time has now come when the Church of Christ ought to come to a decision upon the subject, to determine whether it be right or wrong. If it be right, let us act upon it, and carry out the principle to its fullest extent. Why should we halt between two opinions ? If the views advocated in these volumes be correct, a complete revolution in our present system of evangelism is now due, and must sooner or later take place—the sooner the better. If they be correct, then the public preaching of the Word will form only a very small pro- portion of the means by which the Gospel of the kingdom igs to spread, and the Church of Christ to “make increase of itself in love.” There will be a thousand nameless influences at work, of gentle kindness, deeds of mercy, and works of usefulness backing up the “testimony © of Jesus” from thousands of lips that are at present silent in His cause. And finally, if they be correct, the work of the pastorate and the spiritual courts of the Church will not be so much the stimulating of congrega- tions to give money, or the administration of the proceeds XLV PREFACE. of “ Christian liberality,” but the “feeding of the Church of God which He hath purchased with His own blood,” that its members may “shine as lights im the world, holding forth the word of life ;” for then and then only will their pastors “rejoice in the day of Christ, that they have not run in vain, nor laboured in vain” (Phil. ii, 15, 16). GLaseow, 1878. CONTENTS. mee OT Oe PAGE PREFACE, : 4 ; ; } 2 je. SEEN CHAPTER I, APPARENT FAILURE, : : : 5 ‘ : : 1 II, OUR WORLD A THEATRE, . wale III, OLD TESTAMENT CHRISTIANITY, . A } : : . 46 IV, THE HOLY GHOST AS THE SPIRIT OF THE FATHER AND THE SPIRIT OF THE SON, . : : ‘ : : TOG V. THE HOLY GHOST THE PARACLETE, . A ke VI. THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT, , : : armas) VII, EVANGELISTIC POWER, : i oe L VIlI. THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE SPIRIT, 4 : : meee LU IX. SEALING AND ANOINTING TO OFFICE, : : : . 115 X. GRIEVING AND QUENCHING THE SPIRIT, . ‘ : 5 Iby XI, THE PREVALENCE OF THE BAPTISM IN THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH, . : ; : ; ‘ : é pee L2o XII. SUBSTITUTES FOR THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST, aloe XIII, SYSTEMATIC LIBERALITY, . : : , : : ty 402 XVl CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE XIV. APOSTOLIC EVANGELISM, . : 4 : : : a) Ad XV. THE WHOLE CHURCH NEEDED FOR THE WORK, . ; . 203 XVI, THE BANKING SYSTEM, . : ; , : ; . 214 XVII. CORBAN, . ; : . : : : : ; pease XVIII. PHILANTHROPY A MOTIVE TO EVANGELISM, . ; . 248 XIX, THE VALUE OF SOULS A MOTIVE TO EVANGELISM, . . 254 XX. LOYALTY TO CHRIST A MOTIVE TO EVANGELISM, : ao Append. A. THREE ADDRESSES TO THE FREE PRESBYTERY OF EDIN- BURGH, 4 : ; : ; : ‘ : et B. CONGREGATIONAL INSTITUTES, ; : : : . 2aee C. FIRST ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF CARRUBBER’S CLOSE MISSION, 295 D. CARRUBBER’S CLOSE WORK IN 1868, ' } ; aU E. GROVE STREET INSTITUTION IN GLASGOW, 5 ; : 304 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE, CHAPTER I, Appurent Failure. “Know for a certainty that the Lord your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, ’’— JOSHUA xxiii, 13. i is now more than eighteen hundred years since the a Lord Jesus Christ, after having commissioned His disciples to go forth into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, ascended up on high, and sat down on the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting till His enemies be made His footstool. How is it, then, and why is it that the work is not done? Century after century has been allowed to pass, and at the present moment more than one-half of the world’s inhabitants have never even heard the Saviour’s name ; not one-fifth acknowledge His authority; while of those who call themselves Christians three-fourths are steeped in ignorance and superstition, and only a very small rem- nant can be truly said to be the followers of the Lamb. If there be a country in the world of which it might . : B 2 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE, bo said that the commission has most nearly reached its fulfilment it is our own beloved land. In Britain evan- gelical Christianity has been dominant for centuries. Being supported by law, defended by the civil magistrate, and fortified by public opinion, it has had unexampled oppor- tunities of leavening the population, putting down ungod- liness, and taking complete possession of the land; and yet it has not only not succeeded in doing so, but appears to be able to do little more than to keep the ground it has already acquired. What could have been done more to this vineyard that the Lord has not already done to it ? and yet when He looked that it should bring forth grapes, it has brought forth wild grapes. Notwithstanding all the patronage of the State, and the revenues with which it has been endowed; notwithstanding all the learning and intellect by which it has been adorned and defended ; notwithstanding all the labours that have been so un- weariedly and enthusiastically put forth by the various sections of the Christian Church; notwithstanding all the Sabbath schools and religious societies that have been formed, the churches and institutions that have been built, and all the missions that have been established during the last fifty years,—evangelical Christianity cannot be said to be making any great progress, the enemy has been even busier and more enthusiastic than we have been, and the children of this world have been more active, as well as more successful, than the children of light. Absolutely, we have made great progress, but, com- paratively, we have made almost none; and we should only deceive ourselves were we to neglect to balance the account, and take note of the progress that has been made by the enemy as well as by the Church of Christ. For example, has Popery been put down? Sixty APPARENT FAILURE, 3 years ago it had scarcely any foothold in Britain; in Scot- land it had really none. The penal laws had not only broken its power, but almost banished it out of the land, and all that was left for the Church to do was to fill the country with Bible knowledge and a living Christianity, in the midst of which Popery can only sicken and die. We shall never have such an opportunity again. Yet what do we find? No sooner had the penal laws been abolished, and the Church of Christ been left unaided to do battle with this formidable but conquered foe, than Popery immediately revived and entrenched itself both in the higher and the lower ranks of society, so as to become a great political power, able to compel statesmen to respect its pretensions, and to shape their policy with a due regard to the opinions of the Vatican. Sabbath observance is no longer what it used to be. Shops are opened, railways and excursion steamboats are patronised, and carry on their traffic unhindered, go that our Scottish Sabbath is being fast transformed into a con- tinental Sunday. Drunkenness and pauperism, instead of being diminished, have rather increased, and that to such an extent as to alarm even our worldly politicians, who are pitifully, but in vain, entreating the Legislature to arrest its progress, and to save the country. Has infidelity been put down? We all know that it has not. We have in the chairs of our universities, and , in all the high places of the land, men who openly scoff at Christianity as an antiquated superstition which cannot stand the light of modern science and civilisation; and a refined infidelity is creeping over the country, which after eliminating all that is supernatural in the Christian religion, would suffer it to remain only as a teacher of morals, 4 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. Profligacy and sensuality have rather increased than diminished both in the upper and lower ranks of society. During a recent investigation upon this subject the facts and statistics received brought to light the existence of such an amount of immorality in this country, beyond anything that had been previously known, that 1t was deemed expedient not to publish them. The reason was that none of the many suggestions and remedies which were proposed were found to be practicable. The most powerful organs of the press, which may always be regarded as the truest exponents of a nation’s mind, are hostile to evangelical Christianity, and have no sympathy with its advocates. The aristocracy are against us; and although, perhaps, that ig no new thing, we are not consoled by the fact that political power has descended to the lower erades of society; because even there we have few friends, as any one visiting our workshops and manufactories can. testify. There is not one man among fifty of our working classes that would openly declare himself to be on the Lord's side. And last of all, the Legislature is against us. That “civil magistrate”? in whom we trusted, and whose “ duty ” was regarded as the sheet-anchor of ecclesiastical prosperity, has now let it be known that nothing more is to be expected from him, either in the way of help or encouragement. There is yet one other element of failure to be noticed - the most discouraging of all—and that is the apathy and comparative indifference with which so many of God's people look upon this state of things. Souls are perishing around them, not in thousands only, but in millions. The APPARENT FAILURE. 5) name of Jesus is dishonoured, and His authority despised. The world is still “lying in the wicked one,” while the souls that Jesus purchased with His own blood look idlyon. Their own business, their own interests, their own honour occupy the labours of their toilsome days, and not un- frequently the anxieties of their sleepless nights; while the great commission which was to be the business of their lives, and was the only purpose for which the Saviour left them on earth—His kingdom, His honour, the regeneration of the world, on behalf of which all heaven was moved, and for which the blood of God’s own Son was shed—are, by the great majority of Christians, treated as secondary matters, that can be attended to only when their own com- forts and their own interests have been sufficiently pro- vided for. So long as their own souls are safe, and their own family and congregation prosperous, they can dwell in their ceiled houses and enjoy the luxuries with which their Heavenly Father has provided them ; while Jesus, who gave His life for them, is little thought of, and the dishonour which is cast upon His name gives them little or no uneasiness. How must the angels, when looking into these things, be astonished to behold such cold indifference and such- base ingratitude! If our foreign and colonial missions shall not succeed in making Heathen, Mohammedan, and Popish countries a great deal better than our own, what hope is there for the world 2 What shall we say, then, to these things? Must we come to the conclusion that this great scheme of the world’s recovery by means of the Gospel is a mistake, or a failure—a Jewish myth, fated to disappear during the progress of science and civilisation; or has the Gospel, after all, been found to be a well-meaning but Utopian 6 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE, scheme, which, however excellent in theory, it is impos- sible to realise in practice? And must Christ, after having sat down on the right hand of God, from hence- forth expecting till His enemies be made His footstool, be disappointed in His expectations ; and must He, after beholding for centuries only failure and defeat, at length have to rise up from His throne, and come down and do the work of the Spirit and the Bride Himself? To the great majority of Christians there will be nothing very surprising or alarming in all this; because, although they have a very profound respect for Christianity, just as they have a very profound respect and admiration of the British Constitution, and have no doubt that wreck and ruin would be the consequence if either of them were to be subverted, yet they never imagined nor expected that either the one or the other could make human nature better than it is, Christianity they regard as the very highest style of morality that the world has ever seen; and they are ready to acknowledge that we are under the very deepest debt of gratitude to its Divine Author for having promulgated it. But as to its being a failure, that they will not acknowledge, seeing that every nation among whom it has been introduced has been civilised and elevated by its means. It holds up a standard of the highest excellence, both in the teaching and example of Christ, for all nations to follow; and if men will not follow it, it is themselves that are to blame, not the Christianity which condemns them. To the true child of God such an apology as this brings neither satisfaction nor comfort, because it belies his own experience of what Christianity really is, and because the Bible itself teaches him that there must be something radically wrong. Christianity is not a doctrine only, but APPARENT FAILURE, 7 a life. It not only bids men be followers of God’s dear Son, but it gives them also power to become sons of God, even to as many as believe in His name. How, then, are we to account for its comparative want of propagative power? We must account for it; and the more that we contemplate the very pretensions of Christianity as pre- sented to us in the Bible, the more does its apparent failure demand an explanation. Different modes of accounting for it have been adopted by church politicians. One section of professing Chris- tians maintains that the fault lies with the civil magis- trate, whose duty it is to provide for the religious wants of the whole community, and to increase the provision with the increase of population. It is the civil magistrate alone who can command sufficient funds for the purpose ; because no dependence can be placed on the voluntary liberality of the Christian people. The Church, there- fore, must tell the civil magistrate his duty, and continue to agitate till it is done, for until he shall move in the matter, the country can never be evangelised. But to this there 1s the very obvious objection that whatever may be the duty of the civil magistrate, the command to evan- gelise the world was given, not to Ceasar, but to the Church, and that the neglect of his duty can never be a justification of the non-performance of theirs. During _the first three centuries, when the Church was both poor and persecuted, it was not the wealth nor the power of the civil magistrate that won for it the victory, when, without bis aid, it spread its conquests over the greater part of Europe. A second class accounts for the apparent failure by the want of sufficient liberality on the part of the Christian 8 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE, public, because they are persuaded that the want of money is the great hindrance to the spread of the Gospel. It is, indeed, very sad to think that they who owe their all to Christ should show so little interest in the advance- ment of His cause; but we have no warrant in Scripture for attaching so much importance to the giving of money, nor is there any command in Scripture to give money at all for advancing the spread of the Gospel. When the Gospel first began to be preached, the Church had little or none; and yet its greatest triumphs were accomplished when all the funds that were raised were used to support, not the preachers, but the poor of the congregation. But, besides all that, we find that the theory does not corre- spond with facts, even in our own day. In all the re- vivals that have taken place, either in this country or elsewhere, in which Christianity seemed to receive a fresh impulse, and thousands of souls were added to the Church, there is not a single instance in which money had any- thing to do with it. In a few cases, indeed, we find that money to a large amount was raised in connection with these movements, but invariably it was after and not before the revival; so that although the raising of money may be said to be one of the effects of these religious revivals, it cannot be said to be the cause. A third class accounts for the apparent failure by say- ing that God never intended the whole world to be con- verted until the second coming of Christ, and that we ought not to expect it. The purpose for which the Gospel was to be preached to all nations was not that they might be made disciples, and taught to observe all things what- soever Christ commanded, but only that God might “ take out of them a people for His name,” and when the num- ber shall be completed, the dispensation will cease, APPARENT FAILURE. 9 Instead of progress, a study of the prophetic books of Scripture has led them to expect decline, beheving that the Church and the world will always be growing worse. They are of opinion that since the time of the apostles the apostacy has been increasing, and will be complete only when Christ shall come again, for then there will be no faith found on the earth. They acknowledge the failure, therefore, but are neither disappointed nor surprised. This sad delusion is the more to be deplored that it prevails not among cold-hearted and worldly Christians, but among warm-hearted believers, who are waiting and wearying for the coming of their Lord. It is not our purpose to enter into this question further than to state a few reasons why we cannot accept such an explanation of the difficulty. In the first place, we must remember that, although Scripture prophecy is inspired, the interpretation of it is not inspired, and cannot, therefore, be an object of faith. A blessing is pronounced on those who read and who hear the words of the apocalypse, and who keep the things that are written therein; but there is no blessing pronounced on those who speculate on its interpretation, or who suppose that to them particularly it is given to know the times and the seasons which the Father hath put in His own power. N otwithstanding the enormous amount of labour and ingenuity which have been expended upon this kind of study, no interpretation has been reached which does not overthrow dozens of its predecessors, and which does not leave the subject surrounded with diff- culties so great as to invite fresh speculations and rival guesses at the future. But the worst of all uses to which prophecy can be put, is to discourage the hearts of God’s 10 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. children in endeavouring to fulfil the great commission which our Lord put into their hands, by telling them that, do what they will, they can never succeed; and that God never even intended that they should. In the second place, we are bound to reject every human interpretation of prophecy which contradicts the promises, as this most emphatically does. When our Lord gave the command to His Church to disciple all nations, He accompanied it with the promise, “ Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world.” “ Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” These interpreters say that the commission which was given to the Church will not be fulfilled, and that it will be necessary for Christ to come Himself and accomplish the work. But Scripture tells us that Christ’s work was done when He had offered Himself a sacrifice for sin, and that He then sat down on the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting till His enemies be made His footstool. When Christ had finished His work, He handed it over to His disciples, saying, “ As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.” But it would be a breach of promise if the Father, after saying to the Son, “Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool,” should not only fail to fulfil His promise, but should make it necessary that the Son, after sitting and waiting in vain for eighteen hundred years, should have to rise up and do it Himself. The whole Scriptures are full of the promise that the kingdom of Christ shall spread over the whole earth, and that “ He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth” (Ps. Ixxii. 5) ; that “ the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Hab, ii. APPARENT FAILURE. 1? 14). “ They shall teach no more every man his neigh- bour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord” (Jer, xxxi. 84). This is acknowledged by all interpreters of the promises, but these interpreters say that this is a state of things which shall take place suddenly, not by the power of the Holy Ghost—the Spirit of the Father bearing witness of the Son, and applying a preached gospel—but by the personal coming of Christ, at the end of the world. But we ask, Is there anything in Scripture that warrants our expecting this? Isaiah says (chap. ix. 7), “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end;” and he adds, ‘‘ The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this,”— not that Christ was to perform it Himself, but the Father was to do it for Him. In Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, also, there was a stone cut out from the mountain, which, after smiting the image that represented the human govern- ments of earth, became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth (Dan. ii. 35). Ezekiel also (chap. xlvii. 1) represents the increase of the Church as of gradual accom- plishment. He saw the little stream of water issuing from under the threshold of the house, which at the distance of a thousand cubits had swollen until it was so deep as to cover the ankles. At the distance of another thousand cubits the depth had increased go that it reached the knees; after the third thousand it was up to the loins ; and after the fourth thousand it was a river. to swim in, that could not be passed over. So it has been with the Church, and so it will continue to be to the end. It commenced with the Babe in the manger ; it then increased to twelve, then to a hundred and twenty, then to three thousand, ever gathering in strength. At 12 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. the present time it spans the whole world, and is becom- ing a multitude which no man can number. In the third place, our Lord Himself, in speaking of His kingdom, represents its growth not as sudden but gradual. “The kingdom of heaven,” said He, “is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: but when it is sown, 1t groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches, so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it” (Mark iv. 31, 32). Christ in the tomb was the seed sown in the earth, and might well be said to be less than all the seeds that be in the earth, and yet when it rose above the earth it con- tinued to increase until, as in the present day, it has become a great tree. ‘‘ Another parable spake be unto them: The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened” (Matt. xiii. 33). These parables might weli have shaken the confidence of these pre- millennial * interpreters, but a darling theory is never without earnest ingenuity to plead in its defence. They say that these parables describe not the spread of the Gospel, but the progress of the great apostacy, which they say 18 always to increase. In order to make this available it would be necessary to make an important alteration in * The Author does not by any means assert that the “second coming” will not be before the millennium; he has tried very hard to believe that it will, because he wishes it ; but hitherto he has not been able. He has read much and studied much upon the subject, and the conclusion to which he has come is, that the second coming may be to-night, or it may be after the millennium, for anything that God has revealed to the contrary ; but that it is our duty, as it was that of the disciples (before the man of sin was revealed), to watch and to be ready for His coming, because we know not what hour our Lord doth come. The Author also suspects, APPARENT FAILURE. je our Lord’s words, and to say, not that the kingdom of heaven was like to a mustard seed and a small plece of leaven, but that the kingdom of Satan was illustrated by their means, But as our Lord really meant what He said, we must not for the sake of a theory make any change. In the fourth place, this interpretation of prophecy is not only not borne out by the facts of the case, but is in violent contradiction to present circumstances and the past history of the Church. The state of Christianity at the present time is not worse than it was at the beginning of the present century, neither are Christians more luke- warm now than they were then. It is a great deal better than it was at the time of the Reformation, and a thousand times better that it was at the time of Constan- tine. It is true that even so early as the apostolic age the great apostacy commenced, and did not attain its complete development until our own day, in the pro- mulgation of the dogma of the Pope’s infallibility. But it had no vitality in itself, like the grain of mustard seed ; nor did its increase resemble that of leaven, which changes the character of all around without itself under- going any change. The apostacy grew not in quantity but in quality, departing further and further from the simplicity of the Gospel. The Church, on the contrary, grew like the tree and the leaven, not in quality but in Jirst, that some at least of those passages which are generally supposed to refer to the second coming refer to death (John xxi, 23); and second, that our time would be more profitably spent in executing His commission, and thus hastening His coming (Matt. xxii. 44), than in speculating on the times and seasons which the Father hath put in His own power. The only thing that he protests against is the doctrine, that the kingdom of God is not like leaven, or that the increase of Christ’s government and peace ever has been, or ever will be, arrested. 14 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. quantity, spreading itself over the world, and assimilating the population as it spread. It had its ebbings and its flowings, but its constant tendency was to flow, as is evident from a comparison of what the world is now with what it was in the days of the apostles. The discovery of printing was in itself sufficient to upset the theory of these retrogressionists, because it rendered it impossible for Christianity to retrograde. No power on earth can suppress the Bible now, as it was suppressed before the Reformation. Like the fabled genius of the bottle, when it once escaped from confinement, it never can be conjured back again; and so long as the Bible is free, the triumphs of Christianity can never cease. This interpretation of prophecy is nearly allied to the sin of the spies, who discouraged the children of Israel by their false report when they returned from spying the land. Christ’s express commands, accompanied with great and precious promises, are more worthy of our attention and earnest consideration than any interpre- tation of prophecy, however ingenious. The fault does not lie in God’s decrees, but in man’s worldliness and unbelief; not in the power of the enemy, but in the perversity of Church rulers attempting to be wiser than the Bible. The same God who commanded the Israelites to go up and possess the land of Canaan gave the com- mission to His Church to conquer and take possession of the world for Him, to disciple all nations, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever He had commanded. The very same promise that had been given to the Israelites was given to the Church. ‘“‘ Fear not, for the Lord your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies.” “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the king- APPARENT FAILURE. 15 dom.” “Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world.” The desponding ery which was raised, that the sons of Anak were in the way, and that the cities were walled up unto heaven, is to the same effect ag that which tells us that the world cannot be converted til] Christ comes, because, when He does come, He will not “find faith on the earth.” The question of our Lord in Luke xviii. 8 is very inapplicable to the purpose for which it is quoted, because it is addressed to desponding Christians, who doubt God’s willingness to answer prayer. He does not refer to an unbelieving world at all, because the world does not pray, neither does He say that there will be no faith when He comes; He only asks if He will find it. Instead of being a help to their argument, it is a rebuke to these desponders. Rather let us hear the voice of Joshua and Caleb, saying, “The Lord is with us; fear them not; he will bring us into the land.” It is the same disheartening cry that was raised by the worldly-minded and desponding Jews in the timeof Haggai: “This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built. Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, Is it time for you, O ye that dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste?” Tt does seem difficult to understand how go glorious a scheme for the world’s regeneration should have made so little progress during these eighteen hundred years; and that a work which occupied so large a share in the coun- cils of eternity, bringing down the everlasting Son of the Father to bleed and die upon this little planet, and which even now excites the deepest interest among the inhabitants of heaven, should have encountered so much successful opposition on earth, 16 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. “ Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth.” God will take care of His own glory, and, although He is never in haste, neither is He ever wasteful of time. There has been no failure and no miscalculation; the honour of God has not been tarnished, neither have His purposes been frustrated. The time that has elapsed since the commission was given has not been lost, neither has it been unprofitably spent. So far from derogating from the glory of the Gospel as the very power of God in the regeneration of the world, the delay which has taken place will be found to have been absolutely necessary to. make the demonstration of that power complete. - OUR WORLD A THEATRE. 17 CHAPTER II. Our World a Theatre, ‘* Which things the angels desire to look into.” —1 Prrer i, 12, our planet gives to it an importance and a dis- tinction far above what belongs to any other world; and the fact that it isa MAN that sits upon the throne of the universe, invests the race of Adam from which He sprang with the profoundest interest, to every moral and intelligent being in the most distant worlds, If we would understand the magnitude and propor- tions of God’s great scheme of salvation, we must keep in mind the fact that it is not for the inhabitants of this world only, or for a few millenniums only, that God is at present working it out in our world’s history. It was to the intent that unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known, by means of the Church, the manifold wisdom of God; and that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness towards us through Jesus Christ. Tt would, indeed, be presumptuous for us to say that this is the only world into which sin has been permitted to enter; and yet, considering the exceptional character of God’s dealings with this world—dealings which could 6 em incarnation and death of the Son of God upon 18 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. never have taken place on any other previously, and never can take place again—it would be more presump- tuous to say that there are, or that there are likely to be, other worlds besides our own inhabited by sinful creatures like ourselves.* The petition in the Lord’s Prayer, which says, “ Thy will be done on earth, as tt is done in heaven,” at least suggests the thought that this - is the only fallen world in the universe. At all events there can be no presumption in affirming that this little planet of ours was the very world that God so loved that He gave His only begotten Son to suffer and to die on its surface. There can be no presumption in saying that it was on this little planet of ours that the Man Christ Jesus earned, by his obedience unto death, the title and the crown that He now wears as King of kings and Lord of lords, that at the name of Jesus, the son of David, the son of Adam, every knee should bow, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, angels and principalities and powers being made subject to him. It is much more consistent with all that has been revealed to us of God, to suppose that this world of sin and sorrow, whose whole history is written within and without with lamentation and mourning and woe, is the one awful exception to God’s glad universe, the one sheep that went astray from the kind Shepherd’s care, * To suppose that Satan ever was in heaven is a Miltonic, nota scriptural idea. His history and destiny are exclusively of this world. Those passages of Scripture which appear to affirm that he was cast down from heaven refer to events which have taken place, or are yet to take place, in New Testament times ; and the heavens from which he fell were not the siderial heavens, but the heaven of political power and dignity. See this subject discussed in full in “ Primeval Man Unveiled ; or, The Anthropology of the Bible,” Hamilton, Adams, & Co., London. OUR WORLD A THEATRE. 19 and for whose sake He left the glory which He had with the Father, and came down to seek and to save that which was lost. Looking up into the starry heavens which form the great material empire of the Lord Jesus Christ; and which contains the world to which He ascended when He rose and entered the cloud while blessing His disciples on the Mount of Olives, we cannot for a moment doubt that there are among them thousands, if not millions, of other worlds inhabited by moral and intelligent beings like ourselves, formed in the image of God, and bearing allegiance to the Son of Man. Where else can the angels dwell?* In all of these, however much they may differ one from another, there will be one feature in which they are all alike—in all these happy worlds, over which the saints are yet to reign, there will be no sin and no death, no cemeteries and no battlefields, with all their concomitant miseries and strifes, which make up so much of the history of our world. For that reason we feel it to be almost impossible to speculate on the state of society that prevails in the heavens among worlds that have so little in common with ourselves. That each of them has a history different from that of all the others, it is impossible to doubt. Neither can we suppose that they are ignorant of the laws either of nature or of the mind. Philosophy, science, literature, and art cannot but be familiar to their minds, whatever | may be the progress of their attainments in each. Yet, in consequence of the great difference between their state * Gabriel, though commanded to fly swiftly, took several hours to perform the journey. He received the command in the morning, and did not arrive till the time of the evening oblation (Dan. ix. 21), 20 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE, and ours, after making a few feeble conjectures in regard to their occupations and enjoyments, we feel ourselves quite unable to imagine anything definite regarding them. For the same reason, the inhabitants of these distant worlds will scarcely be able to form any clear conception of what kind of world ours can be, of which, doubtless, they must all have heard; for, although they cannot but know what sin is in the abstract, as a violation of law and estrangement from God, and although they must also know what death is, being familiar with its occurrence among the lower animals; yet, having no experience of sin in the concrete, their imagination will not be able to do more than grope its way feebly in endeavouring to realise what form society can assume when it comes down so closely to the condition of the brute. With what wonder, as well as curiosity, will they contemplate a race of beings so different from themselves, among whom they are told that sin and death have obtained the mastery, and yet, like themselves, formed in the ‘image of God. In all these island systems of the universe, as in our own, the occupation, as well as the enjoyment, of their inhabitants will consist in subduing the world on which they dwell, and bringing it under their dominion, Their science, too, aS 1s our own, will be all of God, His wis- dom, power, and goodness, as displayed in His works of creation and providence, and the inexhaustible riches of which will be continually drawing forth their adoring praise. Hach new discovery, as among ourselves, will become another platform on which they may take their stand in order to attain to other revelations, nature all the while unfolding its riches and wonders to their OUR WORLD A THEATRE. 21 unwearied investigations. We may also be assured that as sickness and death are never allowed to interrupt the studies, or cut short the career of these celestial philosophers, the advancement of their science and the perfection of their art, must be such as to leave im- measurably behind all the boasted inventions and discoveries of our sin-blighted world. But we must remember that the normal administra- tion of God in nature and providence is not capable of exhibiting more than the mere surface-view of His character and perfections; and, therefore, in one respect the education of unfallen intelligences must be inferior to ours, unless to them also God reveals His transcendent glory, manifested in the work of redemption. It is by that alone that they can ever be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, and the exceeding riches of His grace, and the glory of His inheritance in the saints. We can imagine, therefore, with what interest and wonder the principalities and powers in heavenly places would seek to get some insight into the manifold wisdom of God, exhibited by means of the Church in the work of the world’s regeneration. What an object of interest must this world of ours be to them, with its wonderful inhabitants so different from themselves—half men, half animals, not only morally, but socially, and even physio- | logically, on account of sin. Scientifically, then, our world must be to the intelligent universe in general an object of profoundest interest, because it is really unique ; but historically it is a thousand times more so, being the scene of the incarnation of the Son, by which God was 22 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. manifested in the flesh, so as to become visible to the angels,—and of His death, which must ever be the central point in the history of the universe. Nor will their inquiries end there, because they cannot but feel interested in it as the birthplace of the sons of God, the future rulers, along with Christ, of the universe, and who are to sit with Him upon His throne; men who like Him dwelt on a fallen world, and who like Him passed through death and attained the spiritual body, not normally, as is the case with them, but through the resurrection-life of Christ, whose members and whose sons we are. Viewed in this light, astronomy, instead of pouring contempt upon our little world, throws upon it a very blaze of light that singles it out from all the rest of creation. We discover from the Bible that it has been selected as the theatre upon which was to be exhibited such an outburst of divine glory as could never have been discovered or even imagined by angelic minds, unless it had been revealed and illustrated in the history of our fallen race. ) Strange as it may appear, sin was needed for the pur- pose, because without sin the superabounding fountain of Divine love could never have been unsealed ; God’s infinite compassion, as displayed in the cure of sin, being the very acme of divine glory. Sin was needed to be an outlet for grace (which is more than love), and unless sin had abounded, grace would have had no opportunity of exhibiting its abounding proportions. In order to prove the depth of the unfathomable love of God, a sounding ‘line of proportionate length was needed to be let down into it, without finding a bottom. That sounding line was sin. OUR WORLD A THEATRE. 23 For such a purpose, happily, one world for the whole universe was quite sufficient; but for that reason it was the more necessary that the experiment and exhibition of results should be exhaustive and complete, in order that so awful an experiment in the interests of celestial science should never have to be repeated. If all things were created for the glory of God, there must be an essential co-relation the one to the other— creation, on the one hand, delighting itself in God ; and, on the other hand, God delighting Himself in its delighted appreciation of His glory and His love. But God’s way of manifesting Himself to His creatures is necessarily very different from their way of revealing themselves to one another. God reveals Himself by working, and His work- ing has to be observed. It is the observation of His working that gives us a knowledge of His ways, and it is by the storing of our observations that discoveries are made—here a little, and there a little, not always con- tinuous, and sometimes enigmatical. By the gradual putting together of our observations, like the detached pieces of a mosaic pattern, we begin to see the design and to discover general laws, each successive observation enabling us either to put in the details of what had already been discovered, or the commencement of some new and unimagined design, which should be the subject of future investigation. This, which is called the inductive system of philosophy, is God’s method of revealing Him- self to His creatures, by which they become more and better able to comprehend His glory, constructing grad- ually in the mind within, a representation more or less accurate of the reality, or rather a portion of the reality that exists without. This is the delightful employment 94 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. of God’s intelligent creatures, ever acquiring, and yet never exhausting, the fulness of His glory; and it is only because the resources of His wisdom and power are inexhaustible that He could afford to create immortal intelligences for whom He will for ever provide new objects of investigation and study. What the scientist wants, therefore, is FACTS—facts of every kind—facts in every department, and facts of every variety, that he may fill into his intellectual system every detail that will make his mosaic complete. If they be really facts, they are most precious in his estimation, because they are revelations of truth, and God is truth, and they are the materials out of which he is to construct conceptions of His glory. The inductive philosophy must have been known in heaven long before it was discovered on earth; and the value of every exhibition of God’s ways of working, as affording an insight into His character and inexhaustible resources, would be correspondingly prized. With what interest, therefore, would the celestial inhabitants receive the first intelligence, that sin had broken out in one of the worlds of God’s great empire, and what questionings would it give rise to among the angels! It would be the first jarring note in heaven’s harmony, and at first sight would appear a blot upon His fair creation. Never for a moment would a doubt or a suspicion arise in their minds dishonouring to God in connection with such an event, for they would be sure that even though the dis- cord had been permitted, it was only that it might be resolved in a harmony more sublime than ever had been heard before. It was even so. There were depths of love in the Divine nature that were unsuspected and unknown. Their God was a God more lovable than they OUR WORLD A THEATRE. 95 had ever had the means of knowing. The universe up to that time did not know, and could not know, how glorious a God it had, and how rich it was in having Him. Even their own moral and intellectual powers had hitherto failed to reach their full development, because there was another region of God’s attributes as yet un- explored, which, when it was discovered, would enable their conceptions to expand and ascend to unimagined heights of moral grandeur. As yet, they had only super- ficial views of God’s love, of His rectitude, and of His manifold wisdom; they had never even imagined the full grandeur of God’s moral glory, and the very power of con- ceiving such a glory was as yet latent in every one of them. It was for that reason, though there had been no other, that a holy God permitted the existence of Srv. For at least six thousand years this world has been the study of the principalities and powers in God’s intellectual universe, and the human race have been the unconscious objects of observation to a host of spectators unseen, who are better able to see and to estimate facts than we are ourselves. There can be no corner of the universe so interesting to the heavenly philospher, or so capable of furnishing glimpses of God’s glory, as this world of ours, presenting as it does phenomena which are altogether different from what is to be seen elsewhere. The first exhibition, therefore, that had to be made was the nature and character of sin itself, of which the universe _ could know almost nothing—its fearful malignity, its awful degradation, and its utter incurableness by any created device or agency. For that purpose it was allowed to enter and reign under widely different administrations ; but until we go hence, and take our place among the 26 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. Spectators above, when we shall know even as we are known, we have not got the power of fully comprehending them. We are but the actors in the earthly drama, and are incapable of understanding its full significance. By means of the Bible, however, which is both a history and a programme, we are enabled to comprehend, in some degree at least, the outlines of the great system in which we are performing no unimportant part. According to Scripture, there are four different mani- festations to. be made by means of the world’s history, which could not have been brought out under God’s normal administration. There is, first, the manifestation of sin, what it is, and what it can do; second, what Divine grace is, and what it can do; third, the manifestation of God incarnate in the person of His Son, Jesus ; and fourth, the manifestation of the sons of God, born of the Spirit, and constituting the royal family of heaven. As these demonstrations were to be made, not for our sake only, but for the instruction of the universe— not for the present only, but for the sake of the ages to come, they must needs be upon a scale and in a style corresponding with their importance. Millions of millions of years hence, and in the most distant parts of creation, the history of this planet’s fortunes will be taught and studied as the central fact in God’s administration; and the blood-bought sons of God, whom He has chosen to sit with Christ upon His throne, will be regarded with the deepest interest, as the kinsmen, according to the flesh, of the King of kings and Lord of lords. Need we wonder, then, that in this great experiment and demonstration, which was to be made once for all, and never to be repeated an experiment and demonstration that was to supply OUR WORLD A THEATRE. oT all the facts and answer all the questions that ever might be asked on this awful subject,—there should be no haste and no omission of any kind to render it incomplete. Why, then, should we wonder if, between the fall of Adam and the birth of Christ, four thousand long years should intervene, and that between the birth of Christ and the complete evangelisation of the world, other two thousand years should be allowed to pass? The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, and although, probably, there may be other reasons, these assuredly are two—first, that sin might have free scope and opportunity of exhibiting itself in every variety of form and circumstance, without being disturbed or hindered by the intervention of the cure ; and second, that in the spread of the Gospel, and the subjecting of the nations to the sway of Christ, men might have an opportunity and be allowed to set aside Christ’s instructions, and to sub- stitute their own methods and plans, which they suppose to be improvements upon Christ’s, and that these, being tested by actual experiment, might be proved to be failures. This being the one world into which sin was permitted to enter, it was of the utmost importance that it should be allowed to exhibit its hideous deformity, its infectious- ness, its malignity, its misery, and its destructiveness, not only to the individual sinner himself, but to the family and nation of which he forms a part. For such a study in the ages to come, it was of the utmost importance that the materials should be complete, and that no angelic student should ever afterwards have to lament the omis- sion of some testing case or combination of circumstances, the recorded effect of which would have thrown light upon the subject, and enabled him to complete his investigation of some particular department of his science. 28 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. So, also, was it necessary, before introducing that which was to make an end of sin and bring in everlasting righteousness, that ample opportunity should be given to every other power and principle that could be imagined to operate as a cure, and prove either its power or its failure. We know not all the requirements of the future, neither is it necessary or even possible that we should ; but God knows them, and these requirements had all to be anticipated in an experiment so full of solemn grandeur, and incapable of being repeated or supplemented hereafter. Had this study been intended for our occupation now, full and complete memorials of the bygone ages of the world would have been preserved to us, but these are almost entirely awanting. Yet who can doubt that, in regard to such precious materials, and the operation of God’s laws in those pre-historic times, angelic eyes have seen and angelic hands have put on record those contend- ings between the creature and the Creator, with their appropriate results. These records are not open to us now, but may we not believe that they wait our inspec- tion and study in the mansions above ? Even with the aid of what we now possess in sacred and profane history, meagre though it is, we might enumerate many subjects of study, both as to the nature and heinousness of sin, and the remedies which human ingenuity has prescribed, either as a counteractive of its malignity, or an alleviation of its miseries, but we cannot at present do more than suggest them. There is, first of all, spontaneous sin, as exemplified in the history of Satan, undiluted and unaffected by any element of a remedial kind. There is, second, the contagiousness and hereditary character of sin, as illustrated in the fall of Adam and his posterity, but counteracted by the intro- OUR WORLD A THEATRE, 29 duction of the Messianic element, and the revelation of a coming Saviour to a chosen people; and there is, third, the evangelistic era, commencing with the day of Pente- cost, and runhing through New Testament times down to the consummation of all things, when death will be swallowed up of victory. Every conceivable form of government, misgovernment, and anarchy has been allowed to arise to test the opera- tion of the social laws, and every conceivable form of pro- vidence, whether of beneficence or judgment, the flood of Noah, and the fires of Sodom, have all been brought into requisition to show how far and in what respect each failed to arrest the progress and mitigate the horrors of sin. Philosophy and science were permitted to step in and attempt a cure. Literature and art also tried, but tried in vain, to hide its deformities and alleviate its sorrows; but sin continued its ravages notwithstanding, and ran riot among the most civilised and polished nations of the world, as well as among the most savage and uncivilised. Such was the result of an experiment of more than four thousand years’ continuance, in which no haste or im- patience was allowed to interrupt or shorten its course, until the demonstration was complete; proving that sin is an accursed and incurable abomination, whose only possible issue is degradation, misery, and death, The second great exhibition and experiment for which this world was selected as the theatre was intended to show the grandeur and power of Divine love as the only antidote for sin; and commenced upon the day of Pente-_ cost, when the Holy Ghost was poured forth on the hundred and twenty disciples, and when they were de- finitely sent forth to evangelise the world. But we must 30 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. observe in this connection that, as Divine love is only another name for God Himself, the value of this second experiment consisted in the proof which it afforded, that nothing but God Himself as the God of love can neutralise and destroy sin; a truth which we shall find brought out at every stage of the demonstration. Without. this demon- stration, although there might be an adoring consciousness on the part of the principalities and powers, of the breadth and length of the love of God in the bountiful and even exuberant provision which it made for the happiness and enjoyment of His creatures; yet, in regard to the depth and height of the love of God, that lay hidden in His Divine perfections, and more especially the moral power of that love—these could not become known to the in- teligent universe until they were brought into contact with that which alone could call them forth, and that was sin. No creature, however exalted, could have imagined the existence of self-sacrificing love in God, a love that could flow forth upon His enemies, and upon those who, because of sin, were abhorrent to the Divine nature; and that would shed tears of compassion over the very hand that shed His blood—a love that would meet scorn with en- treaty, and plead in patient sympathy with those who were rushing on their own destruction. Such love as this could never have been imagined or believed, unless it had been exhibited in action; and that, of course, was impos- sible where there was no sin. This, therefore, was the purpose of the second experi- ment, when, after more than four thousand years of hopeless degradation, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, to manifest His own Divine nature and character as a God of love, in a light that must have taken the angels by surprise. OUR WORLD A THEATRE. ; 31 But it was also in God’s heart to exhibit and illustrate this inner glory of His love, not only as the fountain and centre of all attractiveness and moral beauty, but as possessing a power which is able to conquer the sinful heart, after all other remedies have been demonstrated to be ineffectual. For four thousand years there was a suc- cession of law and entreaty, and of judgment and mercy ; —the curb and the lash, the threatening and the promise, were all plied, both on Jew and Gentile, but they were plied in vain. Every prophet that was sent out was a preacher of righteousness, and a denouncer of judgment, even to the last, who was the greatest of them all. The continual burden of their preaching was repentance for the remission of sin—‘ Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool, If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it” (Isa. i. 16-20). “ And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” “ Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repent- ance” (Matt. iii. 8, 10). The very last dispensation that was tried before Christ was an acknowledged failure; and yet it was needed to. complete the series before the true light shone. The Levitical covenant contained many elements of gospel truth, which were presented pictorially to the Jews as to 32 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE, children, and met half-way that carnal hankering after outward ordinances, and bodily piety, which are the natural cravings of the human heart, teaching by gorgeous ritual and exacting ceremonial what could not then be learned by spiritual perception—the majesty and claims of an unapproachable and holy God. For fifteen hundred years this part of the experiment was carried on under almost every variety of political government and national vicissitude. But with a per- versity which showed that the case was hopeless, this carnal administration, suited to very childhood, was either neglected or despised; or it was corrupted and frustrated so as to make it practically a failure. Its car- nality was exaggerated and intensified by tradition, and its spirituality destroyed by ingenious perversion, Again and again, the cry of disappointment bursts forth from the heart of Jehovah through the prophets—“O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judab, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it passeth away” (Hosea vi. 4). “What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes” (Isa. v. 4.) Even during the old dispensation, it was intimated that something still better than the Levitical law was at hand, proving that the first covenant was not satisfactory, having failed to accomplish reformation and reconciliation, even among the chosen people of God: For if the first covenant had been faultless, there should no place have been sought for and found for the second. But finding fault with the first, He says, “Behold, the days come, OUR WORLD A THEATRE. 533) saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel: I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.” From this the apostle argues that if the first covenant had been capable of accomplishing the purpose for which it was instituted— that is to say, if it could have conquered sin and brought God and man into reconciliation, it would not have been necessary to supersede it; but because the law could not do this, in that it was weak through the flesh, God had to send His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. Up to the time of Christ sin was unconquered in the world, and every element of power (except self-sacrificing love) had been tried and failed. Not that God was dis- appointed, but He wished the universe to be convinced of what He already knew, that nothing but LOVE could avail to neutralise and destroy the malignity of sin. So deadly was the poison, that God Himself, if He would win a single human heart, must stoop to conquer: and, above all, He wished the universe to know that there lay in the fathomless depths of Divine love the willingness to make the sacrifice. | But this Divine love, in order to be manifested to the universe, must become incarnate. Like a thought which D 34 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. is unknown till it is expressed in words, so must God have been for ever unknown without the ‘‘ Word,” who “is the effulgence of His glory and the visibility of His person.” Behold, then, the incarnation of Divine love in the little Babe lying in the manger of Bethlehem. There lay the omnipotence of self-sacrificing love, and the con- queror of death, bringing glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, and good-will towards men. There was the little piece of leaven, hid from human sight among the mountains of Judah, by which the world was to be leavened—the little seed that when dropped into the earth was to become the great tree, under whose shadow the birds of the air were to find shelter; and there was the stone cut out from the mountain that was to grow, and grow, until it filled the whole earth. This was the turning point in the world’s history, when the second great experiment for the instruction of the universe com- menced—an experiment which has now been going on for eighteen hundred years. Still the question remains to be answered, ‘‘ Why is it that the work begun by Christ has been so long in being accomplished ? and why is it that after eighteen hundred years of conflict, Divine love is still so far from obtaining the victory ? Before ascending up on high our Lord communicated to His disciples the commission which He had received from the Father, to overcome the enmity of the world by the power of Divine love. ‘“ As my Father hath sent me,” said He, ‘even so send I you.” He then sat down on the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting, till, by their instrumentality, His enemies should be made His footstool. But when it passed into merely human hands it must needs partake of human weakness; and it was in this OUR WORLD A THEATRE. SH way that the experiment received its fullest signification. In the first experiment the malignity of sin was exhibited, not in those who were partially free from it, but in those who were altogether under its power. But in the second experiment, it was necessary that the power of the carnal nature in hindering the progress of the Gospel should be exhibited by means of those who were themselves Chris- tians; and that the struggle should be carried on, not between them and the world, but between the carnal mind still remaining in the saints on the one hand, and the spiritual life that is to mortify and overcome it on the other. The subject of the first experiment was the malignity and the incurableness of sin by any repressive or puni- tive treatment. The second experiment was to prove the almighty power of self-sacrificing love as the only antidote of sin——a prescription that would be the very last that human wisdom would propose. There have been three great cardinal events which have taken place since the birth of Christ, each of which may be said to have changed the current of the world’s history. The first was the conversion of Constantine, and the estab- lishment of Christianity as the religion of the Roman empire, in the fourth century. The second was the Refor- mation, and the establishment of the Protestant Churches in the sixteenth century; and the third was the first French Revolution in the eighteenth century, inaugurating those great extra-ecclesiastical organisations and revivals which have been the characteristic feature of the present century. These three events may be said to divide the Christian era into four sections, each of which forms a distinct chapter in the history of the Church and the world, 36 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. and demonstrates some great principle for the instruction of the universe. During the first of these periods, from the descent of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost till the conversion of Constantine, Christianity was everywhere opposed and persecuted; and yet it spread with astonishing rapidity over the whole Roman empire, not only in Europe, but also in Asia and Africa. That the greatest triumphs of Christianity should take place during that period, when it was subjected to the hottest fires of persecution, is a fact that would never have been anticipated, either by man or angel; and although to us the aphorism that “ the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church” seems very trite and commonplace, yet we assent to its truth not because the thing in itself was likely, but only because the stern logic of facts has proved its truth. If the fact be known in heaven, it is to this world that they are indebted for the information. God’s honour did not require the immediate conquest of the world by Christianity, any more than it required the immediate entry of the Israelites into Canaan. The delay in either case was caused, not by any difficulty in the thing itself, but in the perversity of those to whom the promise was made. God could, and would, have taken the Israelites at once into Canaan, and put them in pos- session of the whole land, had it not been for their car- nality and unbelief. When God threatened to destroy them at once, and make of Moses a great nation, he pleaded with God, in the interests of His glory, that the Egyptians would boast, and say that it was because He was not able to fulfil His promises that He slew His people in the wilderness. But God’s reply was that He would fulfil His promises by bringing their children into Canaan, OUR WORLD A THEATRE. oF but that they themselves should die in the wilderness, after wandering there for forty years. And God did fulfil His promise, by at length leading them over Jordan; and He did put them in possession of the land four hundred years after, by the hands of Saul, David, and Solomon. But during all that time they were oppressed by the inhabitants of the land, who were as thorns in their eyes and pricks in their sides, in consequence of their having made a league with those whom they ought to have exter- minated. Their carnality and unbelief did more than their enemies could have done in hindering their progress and destroying their power. The suddenness of their entry into Canaan, after their forty years’ wandering, and the easy subjugation of the heathen under the three kings of Judah and Israel, proved that they had been straitened in themselves and not in God; and that their failure, although it was overruled for the most valuable of pur- poses, was no part of God’s original design. In like manner, the fifteen hundred years during which the progress of Christianity has been so slow, and ignor- ance, fanaticism, and superstition have been so abundant, however much such an interval is to be deplored for the world’s sake, has been a gain to the universe, and, in one sense, to the Church itself. We would almost say that it could not have been better employed than it has been, in testing the policy of man as an attempted improvement on the policy of God. For the same reason that for four thousand years God bore with a sinful world, and delayed the coming of the promised Messiah, that sin might have full scope and opportunity to exhibit both its nature and its consequences, the Lord has been pleased for more than sixteen centuries to bear with the unfaithfulness of His Church, in order to provide for the inhabitants not only 08 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. of this, but of other worlds, another subject of study in the ages to come, without which the first exhibition would have been incomplete. The purpose of this second experiment is to demonstrate the power of Divine love, and to prove that God Himself, as the God of all grace, is the only antidote of sin. To some it may appear that fifteen hundred years was too long for such a purpose; but it will be found that it is not. God is never in haste; one day with Him is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. It was necessary that the experiment should be thoroughly exhaustive, and that no precipitancy or impatience should be allowed to prevent the full exhibition of the working of the principles under trial. It was necessary that in the application of the work of redemption human wisdom and carnal policy should have an opportunity of exhibiting their power and effects, in order to prove their worthless- ness and inefficiency, and then when they had failed, God’s ~ own plan would come into action, and Christianity would sweep over the earth with a power and a rapidity that would vindicate the wisdom of God, and astonish both men and angels. The first and most obvious means which man’s wisdom would suggest for establishing the reign of Jesus, and putting down all hostility to His cause, was magisterial authority and power. As the civil magistrate is God’s own minister for good, and holds office under the media- torial government of the Lord Jesus Christ, such an instru- ment would appear as not only the most effective, but the most dignified that could be employed. This, of course, could not be brought into action until Christianity had acquired political power and magisterial authority, as it did in the days of Constantine. No sooner, therefore, did OUR WORLD A THEATRE. 39 the Church escape from persecution, and mount into political ascendency, than she began to assert the claims of her Master with the voice of authority and the power of the sword. It was thought to be right that men should be obliged to submit to the government of Him who is King of kings and Lord of lords; and if, in their wicked perversity, they should refuse to admit His claims and embrace His religion, it seemed to be not only lawful but expedient that they should be compelled, at least out- wardly, to conform to His government, and to acknowledge His authority. If the magistrate be a minister of God, and if it be his duty to be a terror to evil-doers, and a praise and protection to those who do well, itwould appear to be a very questionable kind of government that would pun- ish offences against men, but would take no cognisance of offences against God and His Son, orthat would place Chris- tianity on a level with the false religions which it came to supersede. Nothing can be more plausible than arguments against toleration, and in favour of the use of the sword, in vindicating the claims of Christ to universal dominion. In vain do we look to Scripture for any direct command on the subject. There are numerous warnings as to the danger of opposing the cause of Christ, but where do we find a passage either commanding or forbidding the use of compulsion in maintaining it? It is only indirectly, and by the exhibition of principles, that Scripture supplies an answer, because it was left to be solved by the experience of its practical results ; and as a lesson to the universe this was far better. For twelve hundred years the experiment was tried in every form and under every variety of circum- - stances, and the result wastwofold. In the first place, it was proved that compulsion and the use of the sword was absolutely powerless in advancing the cause of Christ, and 40 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. uniformly did more harm than good; and in the second place, whenever the magisterial sword was introduced into the controversy, it was sure to fall into the hands of the enemy, so that the blood of the saints has always flowed more copiously than the blood of unbelievers. *“ Put up again thy sword into his place, for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.” Nothing could seem more reasonable than the proposal of the servants, ‘‘ Wilt thou then that we gather up the tares 2?” But the Lord of the field forbade them, saying, ‘““Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares ye root up also the wheat with them.” In any attempt that has ever been made to root out the tares, the ‘“‘ minister of God for good” has uniformly rooted up the wheat, and left the tares standing ; and whenever the sword was wielded by a disciple, it was sure to cut off the right ear of the person whom he was most anxious to persuade. Why is it that Scripture gives no direct command to civil magistrates on this subject? May it not be that, as Christ came to do away gradually with the use of the sword as an instru- ment of government, He could not, on the one hand, concede belligerent rights to His rebel subjects, without abdicating His authority ; neither could He, on the other, consistently use the weapon which He came to super- sede. This second era in the history of the Christian Church contained the elements of all that was to follow, and therefore it was necessary that it should have the longest lease of power, in order to make the ordeal complete. It lasted for no less than twelve centuries, and ended in the almost total extinction of spiritual life in the Church —a life which was revived only at its close by the Refor- mation. Then came the third era, which introduced the OUR WORLD A THEATRE. 4] second rival power, whose reign extended over a period of three hundred years, The second rival power in this great experiment was a great improvement on the first, and consisted in the use, not of the magisterial sword, but of magisterial patronage and political ascendency. The hight of the Reformation during the seventeenth century, kindled by the printed Bible, gradually dispelled the darkness under which superstition and persecution held their sway, and wherever the Bible was allowed to influence the legis- lature, the civil magistrate was gradually stripped of all criminal jurisdiction in matters of faith. But. still the carnal mind could not dispense with carnal weapons in maintaining and defending the Redeemer’s kingdom ; and, although the civil magistrate might no longer use the sword in putting down error, it was thought to be indispensable that he should use his authority and in- fluence in favour of the truth. It was believed that Christianity could not well stand of itself, nor maintain its ground unless the civil magistrate provided for its support, and bestowed upon it political ascendency. This, which was merely a modification of the experiment which for twelve hundred years had blighted the Church’s prosperity, commenced with the Reformation, and con- tinued till the close of the eighteenth century, when it had to give place to another, leaving the national Churches, without a single exception, in a state of spiritual ruin, as an evidence of its signal failure. If the first experiment ended in the triumph of popish superstition and spiritual tyranny, the second landed the. Protestant established Churches of Europe in semi-infi- delity and worldliness. As in the first experiment it was natural that the world should persecute the friends 42 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. of Jesus when the sword was put into its hands, so it was to be expected that the world would lavish its smiles and its favours, not upon those who were most faithful to their Master’s interest, but on those who were most ready to betray His cause: and so it turned out in actual experience. There can be no doubt, however, that both of these carnal instruments did produce important results. Non- toleration has always to some extent discouraged and repressed the religion which it opposed, whether it was true or false, and history would have been written in vain if we denied it. In Britain Popery was almost ex- tinguished during the last three centuries, not by the labours of the Church, but by the intolerance of our Government, and it was only when the penal laws were abolished that it sprang up again into power. In Eng- land the strong hand of Henry the Eighth put down Popery and weakened its power by the confiscation of its property, and on the other hand Protestantism suf- fered from intolerance even more severely than did Popery. In France it was almost, and in Spain it was altogether, extirpated by persecution and massacre, after it had got a footing in the land; so that it never recovered its former power. The sword is not by any means a contemptible weapon. The same remark also applies to the principle of establishments, although only in a smaller degree; for although in the present day and in this country the spirit of the times is against it, not only among worldly men, but among Christians; and no party in the state would now propose or approve of the establishment of any creed if it had not been established already ; yet in the centuries that succeeded the Reformation the establish- OUR WORLD A THEATRE, 43 ment of Popery or Protestantism had a most powerful influence on its standing in the country, either for good or evil. The reign of Mary, for example, was as un- favourable to Protestantism as the reign of Elizabeth was unfavourable to Popery; and there can be little doubt that the flight of James and the advent of William. of Orange exerted a most powerful influence in advancing the cause of Bible Christianity both in England and Scotland. But while this is admitted, it is not the less true that although magisterial power may do much to oppress or even to crush the Church of Christ in any country, magisterial favour has the tendency to foster and cherish it, only in so far as it gives toleration and protection. It is not the positive but the negative influence of a Christian legislature that is healthful to the cause of truth ; and all the advantages which have been at any time derived from it, consisted only in the respite and deliverance which it gave from oppression. In so far ag any legislature has gone beyond toleration and protection, by conferring on any section of the Church material wealth or political ascendency, the effect has not been found to be indisputably favourable but rather the reverse, so far at least as spiritual life is concerned. The history of the established Churches in England, Scotland, and Ire- land presents most valuable illustrations of the failure of this method of evangelism. But human expedients had not yet been exhausted, and a third had still to be put upon its trial and found wanting; and that was the power of Money. Could not the Church, by a self-imposed income-tax, hire as many substitutes as would do her work, and thus enable her to devote herself the more conscientiously to the business 4 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE, and amusements of the world? The Church had long since abandoned the idea of converting the world by force, and although there are still some who believe in the advantages of magisterial favour and support, their number is continually melting away, and they will very soon become extinct; but during the whole of the pre- sent century the eyes of the Church have been turned to the power of money, as the great instrument by which the world is to be evangelised. What the state would not do in the way of supplying means for the support of missions, God’s people might do without its help by voluntary liberality; and accordingly, by means of re- ligious societies with their subscription books, and more recently by means of church schemes, with their church- door collections, it was supposed that we had at length hit upon the true and scriptural mode of evangelism, This experiment began withthe present century, and will probably continue till its close; but it must fail, not only because it 1s unscriptural and opposed to all that Christ and His apostles have taught us on the subject, but because in its very nature it is impracticable. An idle Church will never supply the money, and even although the money were forthcoming, an idle Church will never supply the men. But it was necessary that Mammon should be allowed to appear among the com- petitors and have an opportunity of showing what he also can and cannot do, And then, when all have failed, God in His providence will bring forth His own plan which He has prescribed in Scripture, to prove the omnipotence of love. The Church will no longer put her trust either in the power or the patronage of the civil magistrate, nor yet in the power of money to hire substitutes to do her work. She will rise up in the OUR WORLD A THEATRE. 45 strength of God, and filled with the Holy Ghost and love to mankind, will go forth to victory. As it required a whole Christ to redeem and. sanctify the Church, so it requires a whole Church to evangelise the world. Every member must be called forth into the field, exercising the gifts and graces which have been given him for the purpose. Christianity will then spread like a conflagra- tion over the earth, and nations will be born in a day. The stone which the builders rejected will then become the head of the corner, and thus will God prove that His work is to be done, “not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the head- stone with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace, unto it” (Zecti vive 6) 7). 46 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. CHAPTER IIT. Olds Cestament Christianity. ‘*Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not.’”’—MATTHEW x. 5. ‘“* Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone.”’ —JOHN xii. 24, ee HEN we take into account the grandeur of the W work of redemption, as displayed in the Divine persons who were united in its design and administration, as well as the price that was paid for it in the sufferings and death of the Son of God; when we think of the glorious change to which the Godhead is pledged in transforming by its means a world of wicked- ness and misery into a paradise of peace and joy; when we remember also that the principalities and powers in heavenly places are anxiously looking on and studying, by means of the Church, the manifold wisdom of God dis- played in the great work of redemption; and when we at the same time look at the state of the world around us, after an interval of eighteen hundred years,—we cannot avoid coming to the conclusion that there must be a great error somewhere—not, indeed, on the part of God, but on the part of man. Instead of assuming that our present systems must be right, we ought rather to conclude that they must be OLD TESTAMENT CHRISTIANITY. 47 wrong—wrong, not in some petty details, the alteration of which would make no great difference in the result, but wrong in great and fundamental principles, which have for ages led us in an entirely wrong direction, and the discovery and correction of which would change the destinies of the world. Now, such gigantic blunders have in reality been committed, and we might almost have predicted what kind of errors they must be. When man was taken into partnership with God, and made a fellow-worker with Him in the regeneration of the world, He who knew what was in man would not allow any mere weakness on the part of man to be a hindrance to the full accomplish- ment of the great design. If He had done so—with reverence be it spoken—it would have indicated on the part of God, a miscalculation in regard to the agencies to be employed. But if, on the other hand, it was not weakness but presumption and unbelief which set aside God’s instructions and plans because they were judged to be unsuitable to the times and circumstances, the permis- sion of such a departure from God’s plans, when followed by disaster and defeat, so far from being derogatory to God’s wisdom and glory, is rather a demonstration that “the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weak- ness of God stronger than men.” Such are, indeed, the two errors that have for sixteen hundred years vitiated the Church’s work, and laid an arrest upon her progress-—errors so gigantic and so cardinal that either of them would have been sufficient to account for all the failures and calamities which have befallen the cause of Christ during the last sixteen. hundred years; but, happily, they are mistakes which, when they are rectified, will guide us into another system 48 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. of operations, leading the Church upwards and onwards through an unbroken series of triumphs till we arrive at millennial peace and holiness, and Christ’s enemies have been made His footstool. The first of these errors consisted in resisting and quenching the Holy Spirit of promise given to the Church at Pentecost, and given that it might abide with the Church for ever. Without this baptism the Church had no power to go forth upon her great commission, and was bidden stay at Jerusalem till she received it. That Spirit has been resisted and quenched for so many centuries that we have lost even the tradition of His presence. How was it possible, then, for the Church to conquer when the power with which she was endued was departed ! The second gigantic blunder which the Church com- mitted was the adoption of the temple and its priests, instead of the synagogue and its elders, as the type and model of the Christian Church and worship, under the idea that the Jewish commonwealth was a pattern of the constitution of Christian states. The former of these only will occupy our attention in the present volume, the latter will form the subject of another treatise. The Christianity of the Old Testament dispensation differed from that of the New chiefly in this, that it was evangelical, but not evangelistic; whereas the Christianity of the New Testament is both. Old Testa- ment Christianity had the power of saving souls from death and sin, and of producing saints whose faith and love and walk with God have never been surpassed, but it had no propagative power. It is a great mistake to suppose that the “old covenant” means what theologians call the “covenant of works,” and that the “new covenant ” means what they call the OLD TESTAMENT CHRISTIANITY. 49 “covenant of grace.” The Old Testament saints were as much under the covenant of grace as we are; and there was not one of them saved, who was not saved by the same means, in the same way, and to the same end as the Christian of the present day. It was the same blood that redeemed them; it was the same Spirit of the eternal Father that begat them; and it was the same Spirit of the eternal Son that was begotten in them, and made them partakers of His life and holiness. It was the same Jesus Christ yesterday, to-day, and for ever that was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and the only possible meeting-place between a lost sinner and a holy God. It was as true at the time of Abel as it is at the present day that without faith it was impossible to please God, for although the immediate object of faith was then only a shadow, the ultimate object of faith was the same; and in regard to regeneration, it was as true at the time of Nicodemus under the Old Testament dispen- sation as it isnow, that except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. But Old Testament Christianity was not evangelistic, and had no propagative power. It had saved souls in thousands, and had given birth to saints of whom the world was not worthy. Their faith which had wrought righteousness and obtained promises was neither different in kind nor smaller in degree than that of any of the New Testament worthies. Up till the time of Abraham, Old Testament Christianity had been losing ground, and but for the call and separation of that patriarch it might have become altogether extinct. It was necessary, therefore, that it should be sheltered, like an exotic plant, in the bosom of a small secluded tribe in Palestine, around which was drawn a cordon E 5O THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. sanitaire, which put the whole world in quarantine for ‘ts sake. The new life was so weak, and the old nature with which it had to contend so strong, as the whole history of the Jewish nation can testify, that had not this precaution been taken, Old Testament Christianity would have disappeared altogether, extinguished by the darkness and death that surrounded it. The New Testament dispensation commenced, not at the birth of Christ, nor at His death, nor at His resurrec- tion——not even at His ascension into heaven; but on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Ghost came down from heaven, and endued the Church with evangelistic power. The change which then took place was not a change in the relations which existed between the Saviour and the saved ; or in the way in which the sinner is delivered from the guilt and the power of sin, because Abel and Abraham stood upon the same ground that was occupied by Paul; and the highest hopes that were held out by our Lord to the Church of the present day were that we should sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. It is true that we have clearer light and a fuller reve- lation under the new dispensation, as we shall afterwards have occasion to show; but we must guard against the supposition that it was the clearer light and fuller revela- tion that constituted the change from the old to the new. Even under the old dispensation, there was always an increasing light and a growing revelation, for indeed that was one of its characteristics; and immediately before its close the great doctrines of the new dispensation had already been promulgated, and the disciples had already been charged with it. The life, the teaching, the death, OLD TESTAMENT CHRISTIANITY. 51 the resurrection, and the ascension of Christ were the gospel, and that gospel they already knew; and, if even that had not been enough, it was supplemented by the instruction which they received after the resurrection. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus got the Epistle to the Hebrews rehearsed in their ears. In the upper chamber in Jerusalem our Lord taught them collectively, and opened their understandings, “that they might under- stand the Scriptures, that thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repent- ance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations.” Even after that, during the forty days that intervened between His resurrection and ascension, He continued to speak to them of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God; and yet, with all this knowledge, they were still under the Old Testament dis- pensation. They were still incapable of going forth on the great commission which they had received, and must still abide at Jerusalem, because they had not yet been baptised with the baptism of the Holy Ghost, which was to endue them with evangelistic power. What, then, was this baptism of the Holy Ghost, and what was the nature of the power with which they were to be invested? In regard to the nature of the power there can be no doubt, because that was made abundantly evident in the results that followed. It was EVANGELISTIC power. Under the Old Testament dispensation believers had the new birth, they had faith, they had holiness, they had a close walk with God; but they were altogether powerless in regard to the conversion of the souls around - them. Our Lord Himself, whose ministry on earth was still under the Old Testament dispensation (Rom. xv. 8), 52 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. was not very successful as regards conversions, and left but a very little flock of believers behind Him, because the Holy Ghost was not yet given. But when the time was fully come, and when on the day of Pentecost the Holy Ghost came down, and endued that little flock with power, one sermon of poor Peter gathered into the fold of His Master a greater number of souls than had been converted during the whole period of our Lord’s personal ministry. Nor was this an exceptional outburst of evangelistic power; the stream that had just issued from beneath the threshold of the sanctuary broadened and deepened as it flowed along. Thousands upon thousands in Jerusalem were added to the Church; and when Satan, becoming alarmed, let loose upon it the fierce bigotry of Jewish intolerance, a fiery persecution sought to lay an arrest upon the progress of the Gospel, but the effect was only to spread it the more. Like the Israelites in Egypt, the more that the Church was persecuted, the more did it multiply and grow. In the face of Jewish fanaticism, and the cruel persecution of heathen magistrates, and while it was still without worldly influence or political power, it spread over the civilised world with a rapidity and power that nothing could resist ; and in three centuries had so undermined the state religion of the Roman empire that in the fourth century that gigantic system of super- stition crumbled into dust. But even so early as the time of the apostles, the mystery of iniquity had begun to work, and the great apostacy which had been predicted had already given indications of the channels in which it was to run. The carnal mind could not bear the spirituality of the new dispensation, because it brought the worshippers too OLD TESTAMENT CHRISTIANITY. 53 directly into the Divine presence, without any screen to stand between them and God. They preferred a worship in which there would be something for them to do, as a substitute for the homage of the heart. Their inclina- tion, therefore, was to go back to the weak and beggarly elements of the old dispensation, and gradually to mould and build up the Church of the new dispensation on the foundation and in the style of the old. Before the close of the second century, this J udaising process had made alarming progress, and in the third century the rapidity with which the Gospel continued to spread had very sensibly declined. The reason was that Christianity was shorn of its wings: in falling back upon the Old Testament type it also fell back to the Old Testament sterility. It was Christianity, but it ceased to be propagative. Had it been otherwise, and had the Church continued to grow at the same rate at which it had increased during the first three centuries, other two or three centuries would, in all probability, have com- pleted the conversion of the world. There can be no doubt that at the present moment evangelical Christianity is making very slow progress, and that it requires the utmost exertion to do more than keep its ground. Notwithstanding all the efforts that have been made during the last seventy years, the number of conversions is little more than sufficient to make up for the number of deaths that take place among those that are already converted. Popery, drunkenness, licentious- ness, infidelity, and Sabbath-breaking, instead of dimin- ishing, have rather increased during the last fifty years ; and the present state of Christianity in this country is such, that if our foreign missions shall not succeed in 54, THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. producing a better Christianity than that which prevails in the mother-country, we might well despair of the world being ever converted at all. It is impossible that it should be otherwise : the Church having fallen back upon the principles and practice of the old dispensation, which was not propagative, and abandoned the principles and practice of the new dis- pensation, which was propagative, it would have been a miracle if it had continued to spread with the same rapidity, notwithstanding the change. But there cannot be a doubt that if the Church were to return to its New Testament constitution and practice, as described in the New Testament Scriptures, and as practised by the Church for two centuries, she would at once recover her propaga- tive power; because the same cause would be followed by the very same effect ; and Christianity would spread over the world with a rapidity even greater than before. If there had been during the apostolic age a printing press capable of sending forth millions upon millions of the whole Word of God every year to be sold at the rate of a shilling a copy; if there had been at that time as many influential advocates of civil and religious liberty as we have now; and if, moreover, there had been steamships, railways, and electric telegraphs girdling the world and enabling many to run to and fro, and knowledge to be increased, the result, no doubt, would have been more favourable. We have all these things, and we have also the inspired description of what New Testament Chris- tianity is; what, then, hinders us from falling back upon that New Testament Christianity as we find it there, and completing the conquest of the world within the next hundred years ? The Reformation of the sixteenth century was not com- OLD TESTAMENT CHRISTIANITY. 55 plete, and because it was not complete the Papacy sur- vived, and the conquest of the world was indefinitely postponed. The reformers had indeed purged from their system the heathenism which the Papacy had introduced into the Church—idolatry, purgatory, penance, monas- ticism, and suchlike; but they failed to detect the more subtle element of Judaism; and that element, having been allowed to remain, it both emasculated and corrupted the National Churches of the Reformation, so that they lost the power of eradicating either Popery or infidelity. As for worldliness, having professedly abolished ‘“ the world” by Act of Parliament; and the kingdoms of the world having become, as was supposed, the kingdoms of the Lord and of His Christ, they ceased to look upon con- formity to the world as a sin. 56 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. CHAPTER’ IV. The Boly Ghost as the Spirit of the Father and the Spirit of the Son. “Tf any man have not the Sprmit or Curist, he is none of his.”"— RoMANS viii. 9. “For it is not ye that speak, but the Sprrit or your FarHer which speaketh in you.’’—MartrtHew x. 20. fact that the baptism of the Holy Ghost was the distinguishing feature of the New Testament dispensation, and that the disciples were forbidden to go out upon the great commission with which they had been charged until they had received that baptism, and until by that baptism they had been endued with power. We have also shown that the difference between the New Testament Christian and the Old Testament Christian did not consist in the one being born of the Spirit and the other not. Neither did it consist in the one having a fuller revelation of the person and work of Christ than the other; but simply in this, that the New Testament disciple was baptised with the Holy Ghost, and endued with power, while the other was not. But the question presents itself—Does not the Holy Ghost dwell in all believers ? It does seem strange that so much importance should be attached to the baptism of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, as marking a new era in the history of the world; and we are apt to be startled when we hear it W E have directed the attention of the reader to the THE SPIRIT OF THE FATHER AND THE SON. 57 spoken of, as if it had only then been given for the first time, since we find that the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit (for the words are the same) is spoken of throughout the Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament. For example, our Lord tells us that ‘“ David spake by the Holy Ghost” (Mark xi. 36); and in the 51st Psalm we find David saying, “Take not thy Holy Spirit from me.” In fact, we have only to take up the concordance, and examine the passages in which the word Spirit occurs, to find that the Holy Ghost, under the name of the Spirit of God, was well known even in Old Testament times. In the New Testament, also, He comes even more pro- minently into view, long before His descent upon the day of Pentecost. For example, Zacharias was said to be filled with the Holy Ghost when he prophesied of the coming Saviour. His wife Elizabeth, also, was filled with the Holy Ghost, when she congratulated Mary on being the mother of her Lord. John the Baptist, we are told, was filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother’s womb; and Simeon, the aged saint, was also endued with the Holy Ghost, and had it revealed to him that he should not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Christ. All this took place many years before Pentecost, much of it even before Christ was born. To add to the apparent difficulty, we have to bear in mind that regeneration is the work of the Holy Ghost, under both the Old and the New Testament dispensations, from the time of Abel to that of the thief on the cross, who was the last convert of whom we read previous to the day of Pentecost. It was not, indeed, a baptism of the Holy Ghost, but it was a baptism by the Holy Ghost, because in regeneration the Holy Ghost bap- tises the sinner into Christ, through whom alone he 58 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. can have eternal life. The difficulty, however, is only apparent and not real, as we shall now proceed to show. There are two dangers to be avoided in the study of the doctrine of the Trinity and the work of the Holy Ghost. We must beware of attempting to supplement the truths taught in the Bible, and endeavouring, by means of earthly analogies, so to represent the doctrine of the Trinity as to make it more intelligible to our minds. All such attempts are vain, and are only fitted to mislead. It is dangerous to attempt to define or to formulate the doctrine, because the three-one nature of God has not any analogy in crea- tion by which it could be illustrated. But we must also beware of allowing a false humility to prevent us from investigating to the fullest extent all that has been revealed upon the subject, comparing spiritual things with spiritual, and classifying the results. ‘ The secret things belong unto the Lord our God; but those things which are revealed belong unto us, and to our children for ever.” “There are three persons in the Godhead—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.” Such is the simple formula which has come down to us through successive generations, of that glorious doctrine of the Trinity, which occupies so distinguished a place in the firmament of revelation; and although many attempts have been made to improve it, it still remains unimproved. Kvery one acknowledges that it is unsatisfactory; but the ~same has been said of every other, because that which cannot be comprehended by the human intellect cannot be expressed in human language. But that which cannot be comprehended or expressed ———— See THE SPIRIT OF THE FATHER AND THE SON. 59 may nevertheless be explored; and this formula, which is but an imperfect outline, like an astronomical drawing of some object in the heavens, was intended to guide, rather than to satisfy, the inquiries of the Bible student. When viewed through the concordance, this triple sun resolves itself into a magnificent system, which occupies the whole field of observation with its glorious and mys- terious details. The personality of the Father and the Son becomes more defined than at first sight appeared, with an objective relation to one another which we fail to detect in the personality of the Holy Ghost. The Father loves and glorifies the Son as an object of love and glory, distinct from Himself; and the Son loves and glorifies the Father as an object of love and glory, distinct from Him- self; but, in regard to the Holy Ghost, we discover no ee objective sabukanncdieen _While the higher powers of the concordance define rather than resolve the personality of the Father and the Son, they have the opposite effect on the personality of the Holy Ghost, because they rather resolve than define. A distinct duality begins to appear; and a sevenfold irri- descence seems to constitute the variety and fulness of His power as the seven Spirits of God.* We discover, also, an effluence ag well as a personality, so that He is represented as poured out, as distributed and measured, as if He were not only a person but a thing, in language which it would be impossible to apply to the Father or to the Son. If we might use an ‘astronomical analogy, * He is revealed as the Spirit of truth, the Spirit of holiness, the Spirit of adoption, the Spirit of meekness, the Spirit of wisdom, the Spirit of grace and supplication, and the Spirit of glory. The septen- ary number, however, indicates the perfection rather than the variety of His gifts. 60 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. we would further say that, when He is revealed as the Spirit of the Father, He exhibits, as it were, the spectrum of the Father; and when He is revealed as the Spirit of the Son, He exhibits, as it were, the spectrum of the Son, without our being able to discover any third spectrum of His own. This we shall observe more clearly as we pro- ceed in our investigations. “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers in (en) the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us in (en) his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds” (Heb. 1. 1, 2). The first thing which we would observe in this passage is, that the Person here spoken of as God is God the Father; and, taken in connection with 2 Pet. 1. 21— “Holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost”— this passage ascribes the inspiration of the Old Testament prophets both to the Father and to the Holy Ghost. That is to say, the Father by the Holy Ghost spake in the prophets ¢o the fathers; from which we infer that the Holy Ghost, when He inspired the Old Testament prophets, proceeded from the Father.* * J Pet. i. 10, 11— Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you : searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the suffer- ings of Christ.” This seems inconsistent with Heb. i.1. It is by no means impossible or unlikely that the original reading has been pre- served to us in the Codex Vaticanus, which omits the word, Xgerod, “of Christ ;” the internal evidence, however, being much stronger than the external. If not, we must suppose that in the words, Dveiue Xeiorod reomagrugseevor, the genitive is objectove, as it is undoubtedly in the cognate passage, Rev. xix. 10—“The testimony of Jesus is the THE SPIRIT OF THE FATHER AND THE SON. 61 The second thing which we must observe is, that Christ is spoken of as being inspired by the Holy Ghost, as pro- ceeding from the Father in the same way as the Old Testament prophets. This is in exact accordance with what our Lord Himself said of His ministry, and what the apostles said regarding Him after His ascension. “The word which ye hear,” said Jesus, “is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me” (John xiv. 24). “For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak” (John xii. 49). “After that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen” (Acts i. 2). Christ, therefore, was really a prophet of the Old Testament (Rom. xv. 8); and, although he was God, did not speak nor perform miracles of His own accord, or by His own power. Doubtless He could have done so; but, if He had, it would not have been in His ministerial and official character, which it was most necessary He should maintain. It was not, therefore, by the power of the second Person of the Trinity that the man Christ Jesus performed His miracles, but by the power of the Father, through the Holy Ghost dwelling in Him, and proceeding from the Father. “My Father, that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works” (John xiv. 10). “If I by the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come unto you” (Luke xi. 20). “Jesus of Nazareth, a spirit of prophecy ”—which means that the witness-bearing was not by Jesus, but concerning Jesus. So also here the meaning must be “ Searching what, and what manner of time the Spirit which was in them, concerning Christ, did signify, pre-testifying the sufferings which [were to come] upon Christ (sis Xgerdv), and the glory that should fol- low.” All Scripture represents the Father as bearing witness of the Son, not the Son bearing witness of Himself. 62 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. man approved by God among you by miracles and signs, which God did by him” (Acts 11. 22). “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him” (Acts x. 38). The agency of the Holy Ghost in the work of redemp- tion is not less necessary or important than that of the Father and the Son, because it is only through His agency that it can be applied. This agency, however, is of two kinds; according as He proceeds from the Father or from the Son, and according as He proceeds from the Father or from the Son He produces corresponding results, Our Lord calls our attention to this distinction in His discourse to Nicodemus. ‘That which is born of the flesh,” said He, “‘is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John i. 6). That which begets is the parent ; that which is begotten is the child. The per- sons are different, but the nature is the same. The begetting flesh is a different person from the begotten flesh, but they are both of the same species and nature. As this is true of the flesh, so is it also true of the Spirit. There is the begetting Spirit which is the Spirit of the Father, and there is the begotten Spirit which is the Spirit of the Sov. For that reason, God the Father is called “their Father” as well as Christ’s Father, because He hath begotten them again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ (lL Retains) _ But although it is the Father that begets the believers, it is by means of His Spirit that He does so. “‘ Accord- ing to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regen- THE SPIRIT OF THE FATHER AND THE SON. 63 eration and renewing of the Holy Ghost” (Tit. iii. 5). It is the Holy Ghost that is the agent in our regenera- tion, and when He regenerates us, He not only proceeds from the Father, but He acts as the Spirit of the Father and performs the functions of the Father. As the Spirit of the Father proceeding from the Father, He performs three fatherly functions. In the first place, He bears witness of His beloved Son, Christ Jesus. It would not be appropriate that the Son should bear witness of Himself, and therefore the Father under- takes this office on behalf of His Son. “If I bear wit- ness of myself,”’ says Jesus, “my witness is not true” (John v. 31). “The Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me” (John v. 37). The Holy Ghost, therefore, in bearing witness of Christ, acts not as the Spirit of the Son, but as the Spirit of the Father. The second function of the Holy Ghost, as the Spirit of the Father, is STRIVING with men, not only by the testimony of His Word, and the dealings of providence, but also by assaults upon the conscience, which, without these assaults, would suffer no compunctions nor convic- tions of sin. The word is the instrument, but the Spirit is the power that wields it, and therefore it is called the sword of the Spirit. “ My Spirit shall not always strive with man” (Gen. vi. 3). ‘“ Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye” (Acts vii. 51). | We must observe, however, that this witnessing and striving (which it is of the very nature of the carnal mind to resist) is a power from without, and works only wpon the carnal heart before it is renewed, without dwelling within it. If it were from within there would 64. THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. be no resistance, because in that case the will would be renewed, These compunctions, therefore, and convic- tions, and even reformations, which are the fruits of that striving, have no merit or even goodness in them, except in so far as they are a ceasing to sin. They are the genuine acts of the old nature, kicking against the pricks at the very moment that they are goaded towards the Saviour. Sometimes the Spirit strives powerfully, sometimes only a little, as when Jesus says, “For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sack- cloth and ashes” (Matt. xi. 21). From which it appears that God’s Spirit had striven more with Chorazin and Bethsaida than with Tyre and Sidon, and that if He had striven more with Tyre and Sidon He would have pre- vailed, and they would have been saved; but He did not. With some He strives long, but with others only for a short time ; and as there is no resistance so great that the Spirit of the Father could not eventually overcome it, it depends not only on the sinner himself, but also on the plans of God’s providence and the purposes of His grace whether the sinner shall be saved or not. It depends more upon the labours and the prayers of the saints, than upon the carnal mind of the sinner himself whether he shall be converted or not. The third function of the Holy Ghost as the Spirit of the Father is the act of regeneration as the successful issue of His striving. When He graciously overcomes the resistance which every unregenerate man offers to the striving of the Holy Ghost, the moment that the aan surrenders, he is united to Jesus Christ, and becomes one of His members; so that the Spirit of Christ dwells in him for ever after. THE SPIRIT OF THE FATHER AND THE SON. 65 The last act of the carnal man is the surrender—the acceptance of Christ—the flying to Christ. The new birth, which is the consequence of that surrender, and not its cause, is the act of the Holy Ghost, not of the carnal man; and in the moment of that new birth the carnal man receives a new and spiritual element into bis being, and becomes a new creature—but not till then. This last act of the carnal man, when he reluctantly con- sents to let go his hold of sin, and accept of Christ, is a carnal act. It is not because he hates sin, nor because he has the slightest desire to please God, but purely for his own sake, and therefore this laying hold of Christ is, like all the other acts of the carnal mind, carnal and selfish, without the slightest merit or goodness in it, being the product of the corrupt tree which cannot bring forth good fruit. But it removes the last obstruction to the Father’s work, and that moment he is united to the Son, and becomes a new creature. It is well that evangelists should keep thig in mind, because anxious souls are often kept from coming to Christ, because, as they say, they have neither faith nor repentance. They have no hatred for sin, but rather a clinging to it; and their consent to have it destroyed is for no other reason than that they know that it will destroy them. Neither have they any love to Christ, and if they could be saved without Him they would prefer it. They are conscious of all this, and they know that it is nothing but selfishness and the genuine work- ings of the carnal nature. Their sorrow for it is not because it is wrong, but because they think Christ will have nothing to do with them when they come with such motives. What are they to do? ‘Tell them that Christ invites them notwithstanding, and will gladly F 66 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE, receive them just as they are. He even appeals to their selfishness, because He knows they are incapable of higher motives—“ Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die?” “Ye will not come to me that ye might have life.” As there is a begetting flesh and a begotten flesh, so there is a begetting Spirit and a begotten Spirit. The parent and the child are different persons, but their nature is the same. It is the Spirit of the Father that begets the saint, but it is the Spirit of the Son that is begotten in Him, Our Lord calls Him His Father and their Father, and therefore it is said that, at their new birth, “God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into their hearts.” Because the seed of God remaineth in them, they cannot sin, because they are born of God. It was God the Father that gave us eternal life at our new birth; but that life was in His Son; so that “he that hath the Son hath life, but he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” It was the Spirit of the Father from without that gave life to the dead soul, but it was the Spirit of the Son begotten within him at the moment of his new birth that made him a living saint and a partaker of the Divine nature. It is necessary to observe, in regard to both of these actions, that they are ascribed not only to the Holy Spirit, but to the Father and to the Son, because it was through the Holy Spirit that they were done. The new birth is ascribed to the Father—‘ Every one that loveth is born of God” (1 John iv. 7); and it is also ascribed to the Holy Ghost—“ So is every one that is born of the Spirit ” (John iii. 8). The indwelling of the Spirit of Christ, also, is represented as the indwelling of Christ Himself—“ If any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his ; and if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin ” THE SPIRIT OF THE FATHER AND THE SON, 67 (Rom. viii. 9,10). The importance of this observation will appear hereafter. We must next observe that this indwelling of Christ, or the Spirit of Christ, is not like the indwelling of a tenant that may go out and in, but the indwelling of one of the elements of our being. It is not only an indwell- ing, but a union; so that we become part of Christ, “members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones ” (Eph. v. 30), and Christ becomes part of us. “ Never- theless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Gal. li, 20). It is in virtue of this new birth that we become sons of God, as well as sons of Adam, Not only is the seed of Adam in us, but the seed of God is in us, and has become part of our persons, There is yet one more distinction between the Spirit of the Father and the Spirit of the Son, which is, that it is the Spirit of the Son that is the continual source of life and holiness in the believer, The Spirit of the Father does indeed communicate life to the sinner, but He does not communicate life to the saint. He gives life, but it is only by giving His Son, in whom alone we have life (1 Jobn v.11, 12). All the Old Testament saints were converted by the Spirit of the Father, but the spiritual life and holiness which they possessed were derived from the Spirit of the Son dwelling in them. The same Spirit of the Father must beget them, and the - same Spirit of the Son must be begotten in them ; because “he that hath not the Son hath not life.” Tt was the same blood that redeemed them, the same faith that united them to Christ, and it was the same Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ, What a flood of light do these facts shed upon the 68 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. awful grandeur of the work of redemption, inasmuch as it appears that nothing but God Himself could be the anti- dote of sin, or give deliverance from its power. The salvation of even one soul-is a far more stupend- ous work than is generally supposed. Some people imagine that all that is required is that God, who is rich in mercy, should simply pass an act of indemnity, and pardon the sinner, without being so rigorous as to exact the penalty that was due for his sin, Alas! that in the very nature of things is an impossibility; and had there been no other way of deliverance but that, the whole human race should have shared the fate of Satan and his angels, and expiated their offences in eternal woe. The wages of sin is death—not by any arbitrary enact- ment, but by the necessary and unbending operation of a law. Sin is the absence of God, and as God is love and life, and the only source of happiness and joy, the man or the angel that sins cuts himself off from God, and what is that but death, the inevitable consequence of sin? Pardon! There can be no such thing as pardon pro- perly so called, because pardon means allowing the sinner to escape. But how can the sinner escape from his own self; for were God merely to let him alone (and that 1s the meaning of pardon), He would only allow the law to take its course, and hand over the sinner unsaved to eternal misery and death. The only cure for sin is God Himself: that is to say, God who is the fountain and essence of love and happiness and life, must receive the sinner with his curse of death and sin into union with Himself, that, by means of that union, death and sin may be swallowed up in the infinite ocean of life and love. “TJ will ransom them from the power of the grave; I THE SPIRIT OF THE FATHER AND THE SON, 69 will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction” (Hosea xi. 14), It required both the Father and the Son to accomplish this great salvation. It required the Son to be the meeting-place between God and the sinner, and it required the Father to unite them. None but God the Son could dwell in the sinner, so as to be his life; and none but God the Father could unite them by a spiritual birth, so as to make them children of God in Christ Jesus, The Holy Spirit is the blessed agent of both. 70 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. CHAPTER Y. The Boly Ghost the Paraclete. ‘‘The Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified.” —JOHN vii. 39. “‘ We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.”— AOTS xix. 2. A%, LL this that we have been describing is common to 43% both the Old and the New Testament dispensations; but at Pentecost, along with the new dispensation, there appears a new revelation of the Holy Ghost, in the exercise of a third office very different from the other two. The value and significance of this new office is pressed upon our attention by the importance which is attached to it in the promises that were made regarding it before it came. It formed the subject of Old Testament pro- phecy, as the special characteristic of the new dispensation, and it is called the “ pouring out of God’s Spirit upon all flesh,” indicating not so much the novelty of the gift as its abundant richness, and the universality of its applica- tion. It is well to take notice of this. In Joel ii, 28 it is written—‘“ And it shall come to pass afterwards, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,” &c. It is also re- ferred to by John the Baptist as the special work of Christ, of whom he came to bear witness, and is called the bap- tism of the Holy Ghost: “ He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire” (Matt. ii. 11). It is THE HOLY GHOST THE PARACLETE. 71 frequently referred to by our Lord Himself, during His ministry, as the promise of the Father; and immediately before His ascension He again refers to it as a necessary preparation, without which they could not go forth on their evangelistic work. A variety of opinions have been formed and expressed regarding it, the chief of which are the following. It is supposed— 1. That the baptism of the Holy Ghost was the com- munication of miraculous powers to the apostles, and through them on the apostolic church by the laying on of hands, as a Divine attestation of their mission and of the doctrines which they taught. When that had been accom- plished, and when the apostles were dead, so that they could no longer confer the gift on those on whom they laid their hands, the gift, being no longer needed, was withdrawn. As the power of communicating the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands was one of the signs of an apostle, they who hold this view account for the cessa- tion of miraculous power after the death of the apostles, We cannot accept this explanation for two reasons— first, it is inconsistent with our Lord’s promise, that when the Comforter did come, He would abide with the Church for ever; which could not be true if He was withdrawn after the death of the apostles; and second, miraculous gifts (as we shall afterwards show) formed no part of the baptism of the Holy Ghost, being neither necessary to the baptism nor unprecedented ; and, therefore, their being | withdrawn was no evidence that the gift of the Holy Ghost was withdrawn. We must also distinguish between the “gift of the Father,” which was the Holy Ghost Him- self, and the “gifts of the Gift,” which were miraculous powers, Miraculous gifts were not the gifts of the Father, 12 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE, but the gifts of the Holy Ghost after He was given. The eift of the Father may have been received, and yet the Holy Ghost may not give miraculous power to those in whom He dwells. It is because men have confounded the gift of the Father with the gifts of the Gift, that they have erroneously supposed that the gift of the Father has been withdrawn, contrary to the promise which Christ gave to the Church, that He was to abide with us for ever. We have allowed our attention to be drawn too much to the phenomena that are recorded in the Acts of the Apostles consequent on the descent of the Spirit at Pentecost, and too little to what our Lord said to His disciples as to what was to be the purpose of His coming. Our Lord said a great deal about what the Spirit was to do when He came, but nowhere does He speak of miraculous gifts as any part of His work. The only passage that seems to refer to them is in John xiv. 12, where our Lord says, ‘‘ Greater works than these shall ye do, because I go to the Father;” but so far from referring to the miraculous gifts of the Spirit, this passage rather disparages them. If the gift of the Father had consisted of miraculous gifts, the disciples did not need to wait till Pentecost, because they had already exercised them. They had healed the sick, raised the dead, and cast out devils ; what more could they wish to do after Pentecost? and yet our Lord bade them not regard such power as a thing greatly to be desired: “ Rejoice not that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” Neither could the miracles which they afterwards performed be called greater than those wrought by our Lord Himself. His walking on the sea and His stilling of the tempest were never equalled, far less surpassed, by any miracle wrought by the apostles, THE HOLY GHOST THE PARACLETE, 13 The greater works which our Lord referred to were the conversion of sinners; one of Peter’s sermons having been the means of gathering into the Church more souls than ' had been converted during the whole course of our Lord’s ministry. This was no light thing in Christ’s estimation. 2. Others hold that the baptism of the Holy Ghost was a higher life, which was communicated to the Christian Church on the day of Pentecost, enabling the Christian to have a closer walk with God, in the power of resurrection life. Those who hold this view understand that all who are really converted enjoy this baptism more or less accord- ing as they are more or less filled with the Spirit. According to this view, also, there was only one baptism of the Holy Ghost, the conversion of Cornelius being not a baptism, but merely the admission of the Gentiles into the privileges of the Jews. After Pentecost, “the pro- mise of the Spirit,” as an indwelling Spirit, is supposed to be fulfilled at the moment of conversion. What is subsequently to be expected is merely a continuation and an increase of what was then conferred. This view, besides being otherwise objectionable,* is inconsistent with recorded facts; there being various pas- sages which prove that, after Pentecost, converts did not always receive the gift of the Holy Ghost at conversion. (a.) The converts in Samaria, who were converted under the preaching of Philip, after Pentecost, did not receive the gift of the Holy Ghost until Peter and John came down from Jerusalem, and laid their hands on them— “For as yet He was fallen upon none of them, only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy * John xiv. 17 shows that though exceptional cases may occur (Heb. vi. 4), it is the Church, not the world, that receives the oift. 74 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. Ghost.” These men were truly converted ; and yet they did not receive the Holy Ghost until after their conversion. If it be said that they were not truly converted, and that it was only a speculative belief that they had, the same as Simon Magus, this, instead of removing the difficulty, would only increase it, because it would represent their conversion as taking place not by the hearing of the Word, but by the laying on of the apostles’ hands. Did the disciples receive the power of changing the hearts of sinners by bodily contact? The idea is too unscriptural to be entertained for a moment. (b.) The disciples whom Paul found at Ephesus, and who had received only John’s baptism, had not received the Holy Ghost when they believed, and in answer to Paul's inquiry, said that they had not so much as heard about the Holy Ghost being given. They, too, received the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the apostle’s hands. If it be said that they were not truly converted, we must not only account for Paul’s ability to change the hearts of men bylaying his hands upon them, as in the former case, but explain why Paul should put the question to them, “ Have you received the Holy Ghost since ye believed ?”” unless he understood that it was quite possible for them to believe, and yet not have received the gift of the Holy Ghost, (c.) In the Epistle to the Ephesians, Paul says, “ In whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.” In the previous part of the verse he says, ‘‘ In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth ;” indicating, that as hearing was followed by believing, so believing was followed by the sealing with the Holy Spirit of promise.* * To escape this conclusion, the advocates of the view referred to say that the passage may be translated thus : “In whom also ye trusted, 7 THE HOLY GHOST THE PARACLETE. 75 3. There is yet a third class of interpreters who regard the baptism of the Holy Ghost as a higher and holier life, which is to be obtained after being born again, a kind of “second conversion,” a “ full salvation” from the power of sin, and a “ complete sanctification ” of body, soul, and spirit to the Lord. At conversion they suppose that ordinary believers do not receive the Holy Ghost ; and that until they receive this baptism He does not dwell in them. All that they obtain at conversion, according to having heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation ; in whom also, having believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.” They adopt the same argument in regard to the previous passage, and say that in both passages the believing and the sealing took place at the same time. Their argument is professedly grammatical, and they say that in both cases it is the past participle along with the past indicative (1st aorist), and as they are both past tenses they both happened at the same time. This is ingenious, but it is not correct. The past indicative coupled with a past participle is one of the most common modes of expression in the New Testament, and uniformly expresses two things which were not simultaneous, and are, therefore, uniformly translated as if the one event preceded the other. Our English translation, therefore, in both passages is quite correct. To make this intelligible to the unlearned reader, we might take any passage at random, because we find it on every page. For example, in Matt. ii. 1, “Now Jesus having been born in Bethlehem of J udea, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem.” The meaning, of course, 1s not that the arrival of the wise men at Jerusalem took place at the same time with Christ’s birth at Bethlehem, but that “ after that Jesus was born in Bethlehem there came wise men to Jerusalem.” We do not even need to go beyond the verse itself for an illustration, because the first part of the verse is constructed in the same way. “In whom ye also trusted, having heard the word of truth.” This is rightly translated, “ after that ye heard the word of truth,” because they heard the word of truth before they trusted. The hearing was followed by the trusting, and the trusting was followed by the sealing. They were not all simultaneous, as if they heard, trusted, and were sealed at the same moment, 76 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE, this view, is “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ,” which is sufficient for pardon, but not a qualification for the Christian mission and life- work. This view, which has received very general adoption among a certain class of Christian brethren, contains a good deal of truth; but it also contains a good deal of error; first, in supposing that the Holy Ghost does not dwell in every believer who is truly converted either before or after Pentecost. We do not dispute the fact that there is a higher Christian life, which has been called by different names, and which very often takes place after conversion, Neither do we deny that this higher Christian life 1s very often, though not always, obtained suddenly and not gradually. But, to suppose that this higher Christian life is what the Bible calls the ‘‘ baptism of the Holy Ghost,” will not be found on close examination to be consistent either with Scripture or with Christian experience.* Neither is it consistent with Scripture to say that all that we receive at conversion is, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, and that it 1s only after we are baptised with the Holy Ghost that the Holy Ghost dwells in us, and makes us temples of the Holy Ghost. On the contrary, all Scripture unites in testifying that the Holy Ghost dwells in every believer, and that if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His. We shall now endeavour to point out what the Scrip- * The progressive sanctification of the Christian is clearly revealed in Scripture, and accords with the experience of all believers. At the same time the change sometimes takes place suddenly, not once or twice only, but sometimes by successive elevations. The baptism of the Holy Ghost, on the contrary, is a change not of degree but of kind, THE HOLY GHOST THE PARACLETE, (6 ture says in regard to this baptism of the Holy Ghost, and wherein this third office differs from the other two. In the first place, this baptism of the Holy Ghost resembles the first of His offices in His proceeding from the Father and not from the Son. He is called the Spirit of the Father, proceeding from the Father, never the Spirit of the Son, or proceeding from the Son. “It is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father ” (Matt. x. 20). “The Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me” (John xv. 26), There is another point in which the baptism of the Holy Ghost resembles the first office of the Spirit which we alluded to. His functions are very much the same. We showed that in His first office His work consisted in three things—(1.) The bearing witness to the Son; (2.) the striving with the consciences of men; and (3.) the producing of the new birth. All these, as we shall after- wards find, have a great resemblance to the work of the Holy Ghost the Paraclete; and if we add that it was in the exercise of His first office that He gave not only the gift of prophecy, but also the power of working miracles, this was another point of resemblance; because these were the gifts which accompanied the baptism of the Holy Ghost. But there are also points of contrast, one of which only need to be stated at present. In the work of regenera- tion the Spirit of the Father unites the sinner to the Son, but in the baptism of the Holy Ghost the Son pours out | the Spirit of the Father on the saint. “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth” (Jas. i. 18). ‘He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire”’ (Matt. 11.11). The agent is different. In the one the Father begets the saint, in the other the Son baptises 78 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. the saint. The person united also is different. In the one we are united to the Son, in the other we are united to the Father. As regards the second office of the Holy Spirit, it has nothing in common with the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Everything is in contrast. In the one we receive the Spirit of the Son from the Father, in the other we receive the Spirit of the Father from the Son. “ God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son” (Gal. iv. 6). “He [the Son] hath shed forth this [the Spirit of the Father] which ye now see and hear” (Acts i. 38). It may seem a contradiction to assert that the Holy Ghost dwells in the believer before he receives the bap- tism of the Holy Ghost, or, as it is sometimes expressed, before he “receives the Holy Ghost,” but the contradic- tion is only in appearance, not in reality. There are two kinds of indwelling of the Holy Ghost revealed in Scripture, and it is the difference between these two kinds of indwelling that makes the difference between the believer before and the believer after the baptism of the Holy Ghost. There is an indwelling of the Holy Ghost by which the believer becomes partaker of the Divine nature as a part of his own person, and a constituent part of his new nature; and there is another indwelling of the Holy Ghost, in which the Holy Ghost does not become part of the building, but only a tenant of the building. The former kind of indwelling takes place at conversion, the latter takes place when the believer receives the baptism of the Holy Ghost. At conversion the man is born again of the Spirit, not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, and in that birth is united to Christ, so that he becomes a child of God and a partaker of the Divine nature, because the seed of i i ee THE HOLY GHOST THE PARACLETE. 79 God remaineth inHim. The union with Christ ig go per- fect that He becomes bone of His bone and flesh of Hisflesh. The Divine nature becomes a constituent part of the man’s nature, so as to make him a new creature. The indwell- ing of the Holy Ghost in the believer at conversion is not a mere tenancy, but an actual birth, an indissoluble union; and you can no more withdraw the seed of God from the believer than you can withdraw the seed of the parents from the child without destroying its identity. The indwelling of the Holy Ghost by the baptism of the Holy Ghost is altogether of a different kind: itis the indwelling of tenancy, not of constitution. The Holy Ghost by that baptism does not become a part of the believer's person. It is a change of circumstances, but it is not a change of nature or of person. When He comes it is not a new birth: when He departs it is not a dis- ‘solution, Jesus is the mecting-place between God and the sinner, and takes up His abode in him, not because he is holy or pure, but He comes to make him holy and pure. It is very different with the Spirit of the Father when He is poured out upon the saint. He comes and makes His abode with the saint, not to make him holy and pure, but because he is holy and pure; and if the saint will desecrate the temple in which the Spirit of the Father dwells, him will God desecrate (not destroy) by withdrawing from him. Let us use an illustration to distinguish the two kinds of indwelling. A goldsmith receives a silver cup which © is damaged and broken; he puts it into the crucible, and after melting it adds a quantity of gold, and then pouring it into a mould which he has prepared for it, he brings it out more perfect, more beautiful, and more precious than it was before. This may represent the state of the 80 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. believer after his conversion, the gold being the Divine nature of which he is made a partaker, and which dwells in him more or less richly according to the measure of his grace. But an empty cup suggests the idea of a use- less cup, or at least a cup not put to use, and it is only when the cup is filied that it can be said to be perfect. Let us suppose, then, that after the cup is renewed, wine is poured into it, this does not change the nature or the workmanship of the cup, but it fills it. This represents the baptism of the Holy Ghost, when the believer recelves the Holy Ghost, and, it may be, is filled with it. The gold represents the Holy Ghost received at conversion, the wine represents the Holy Ghost received at his second baptism, and in both cases may be said to dwell in the believer; but the nature of the dwelling is different. The gold dwells in the cup as a part of its constitution, and cannot be removed without destroying the cup, but the wine also dwells in the cup, not as a part of the cup itself, but as something added to it without altering its consti- tution, and capable of being withdrawn without doing it any permanent injury, further than setting it aside from being used. Let us next examine what purpose this baptism of the Holy Ghost was intended to serve; and this we may ascertain by observing, first, what our Lord said regarding it to His disciples; and second, what effects were pro- duced by it after it was given. In our Lord’s references to the baptism of the Holy Ghost, as the promised gift of the Father, there are three things that particularly attract our attention. Jn the first place, He gives no expectation that by its means they should obtain a higher Christian life, or that they should become better or holier men than they were. THE HOLY GHOST THE PARACLETE, 8] When the apostles speak about an indwelling Spirit, it does not always very distinctly appear whether they are speaking of the Spirit of the Father or the Spirit of the Son, because it is the same Holy Ghost, although the ministry is different. We cannot, therefore, always with certainty determine from their statements regarding the Spirit, what the purpose of this promise of the Father was, so well as we may from what our Lord Himself said, because His references to it were so precise that they could not be mistaken for any other, In the second place, He nowhere speaks of it as con- veying the power to work miracles. In the one passage in which He appears to do so, we have already shown that He refers not to miraculous power, but to the power and effects of their preaching. And in the third place, we find that in all His references to the promised gift, He speaks of it in connection with their mission, and their equipment for their work, so that the power of God would accompany their testimony. The following passages may be viewed in connection :-— ‘When they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given to you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you” (Matt. x. 19, 20). “ For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour What ye ought to say ” (Luke xii, Ve “Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist” (Luke xxi. 14, 15), In these passages our Lord makes no reference to a G 82 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. closer walk with God, or a higher and holier life, —these were things which Christ Himself alone could communi- cate; for although the evangelistic Spirit of the Father could not but stimulate the work of the Spirit of His Son, as the Spirit of holiness, the one could not perform the functions of the other. Neither does He here make any reference to miraculous power. What He has in view was their mission to the world, and their testimony for Him; and this promise of the Father was not only that God would speak through them, but that His speaking through them would be accompanied with Divine power. Again : “And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high” (Luke xxiv. 47-49). In this passage there is no mention of a higher or holier life, neither is there any reference to miraculous power. It is all about their evangelistic work in witness- ing for Christ. What they needed was evangelistic power, and that power was conveyed to them by the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Again: “He that believeth on me, as the Scriptures hath said, Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified” (John vu. 38, 39). Here there is no reference to a higher Christian life, or to miraculous power, but to the irrepressible zeal with THE HOLY GHOST THE PARACLETE, “80 which they should be endowed, and the grandeur of their work, in sending forth streams of salvation to all around them. In our Lord’s conversation with the Woman. of Samaria He compares the water that He gives the believer (that is, His own Spirit) to a well of water springing up into everlasting life, for the believer’s own use; but in speaking of the baptism of the Holy Ghost He compares it to rivers of living water flowing forth from the believer, not for his own use, but for the use of thousands who should drink of the evangelistic streams, and receive everlasting life thereby. Again : “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to my Father ” (John xiv. 12). In this passage, as interpreted by its companion pas- sages, our Lord speaks of His evangelistic work, not of miracles or a higher life, Again : “T will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” (John xiv. 16, 17), We shall have occasion to show that the word Paractete, which is here translated “ Comforter,” ought to have been | translated “ Advocate,” as in 1 John u. 1, There is no reference here to a higher life, or the working of miracles, The Spirit of the Father was to plead with men, through them, as ambassadors for Christ; therefore He is called the Spirit of truth. When it is said that the Spirit of truth was with them then, and should be in them after- “84 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. wards, He meant that the Spirit of the Father was in Him at that time, but not in them. But when the Paraclete was come, He would be in them also. Again : “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, what- soever I have said unto you” (John xiv. 26). “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: and ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning” (John xv. 26, 27). “Tt is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteous- ness, and of judgment” (John xvi. 7, 8). «“ Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of him- self; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak ; and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you” (John xvi, 13, 14). Still there is nothing in these passages holding out the prospect of a higher or holier life. It is the Spirit of truth, not the Spirit of holiness, that 1s promised; not a help to what they should be, but a help in what they should do, They had already for themselves in the Spirit of the Son the fountain of life that needed no supplementing. What they wanted, and what was promised, was that it should overflow, so as to communicate that fulness to others. It was already a well that was never dry; what was wanted THE HOLY GHOST THE PARACLETE. 85 was that it should become a river to overflow. It was already evangelical; what was wanted was that it should become evangelistic. They were already Christians, com- plete in Christ Jesus; what they wanted was the quali- fications to become evangelists, They required further teaching ; they required inspired Scriptures for their work; and for the production of these Scriptures they required supernatural memory of what Jesus had taught them. The special function of the Spirit of the Father, therefore, was not to supplement the work of Christ, but to testify of it, and to reveal its all-sufficiency. Again: “And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water ; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence” (Acts i. 4, 5). “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts i. 8). The disciples had been commanded to go out into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature; but before doing so they must be endued with power, not exousta, the power of authority, but dunamis, the power of conquest. Christ knew that in themselves they had no power—no, not even though they had the Spirit of the Son dwelling in them. That Spirit was indeed enough for themselves, but it could not reach beyond themselves. It was a well, but it was not a river, Their own hearts had been broken, but the rocky hearts which they had to assail 86 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. would bid defiance to all their efforts. It was only when they should be endued with the Spirit of their Father—the testifying Spirit, the striving Spirit, the regenerating Spirit, the advocate, the pleader, the beseecher—when He spake through them there would be dunamis in every word ; and that dunamis would blow the rocky heart in pieces. Nothing would be “able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which they would speak.” Until they got that, they might as well tarry in Jerusalem, until they were endued with power from on high. Our Lord calls the Holy Spirit by a peculiar name while exercising this third and last office of His ministry. He calls Him the Paraclete, which has most unfortunately been translated in our version “ the Comforter,” as if it had been for their sakes only, or even chiefly, that the Spirit of the Father was to be sent. It ought to have been trans- lated “the Advocate,” as in 1 John ii. 1, the only other passage in which the word occurs. It is derived from the verb parakaled, which has two very different meanings, and these two meanings cannot be covered by any English word. Its primary meaning is “to exhort, to beseech, to plead ;” its secondary meaning is “to comfort.” But the word “paraclétos” has only one meaning, and that 1s “ Advocate,” not “Comforter.” In the sense of “ Ad- vocate” it is most appropriate in both of the passages in which it occurs. Our Lord had come from heaven as an advocate from the Father; and to this He evidently alludes when He says, “I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Paraclete, that he may abide with you for ever.” He was about to be withdrawn from earth, in order to be their advocate with the Father in heaven. But the withdrawal of the ambassador was not a declaration of war, because the Father was to send THE HOLY GHOST THE PARACLETE. 87 another advocate in His place, who would remain with them for ever.* This title describes exactly the ministry of the Paraclete as in 2 Cor, v. 20—“ Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech (parakaled) you by (dia) us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God,” Corresponding with these predictions, we find that when they were fulfilled, everything connected with the baptism was essentially evangelistic. The very day on which it took place was symbolic of its evangelistic char- acter. It was the day of first-fruits, according to the Levitical law, and it was the day of the first-fruits in the harvest of the world. The hundred and twenty tongues of fire indicated the universality of the gift, for there were none passed over, and they were at the same time a sign and a symbol of the power with which they were invested, It was the power of testimony, and every disciple was thereafter to be an evangelist. That little member which, when moved by the carnal mind can set op fire the course of nature, when moved by the Holy Ghost would kindle a flame that would set on fire the hearts of the whole world for God. The only miracle that was performed that day was also characteristic; it was the speaking, with tongues which were not their own, the wonderful works of God, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Everything was evangelistic. The atonement which had been made on — earth was accepted, and registered in heaven; and the * Our translators were evidently misled by the word orphanous in the eighteenth verse (John xiv.), which they have translated “ comfort- less.” Orphans would have been the literal translation; “ friendless and bereaved” is the true meaning, 88 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE, signal was waved from heaven to earth that Jesus was elorified,—the kingdom of God had come ; and now they were to go forth to all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. An interesting question presents itself in connection with the time when the Holy Ghost was given; as it appears from various passages that, until Christ was glorified, it was impossible. For example, in John vii. 39, it is said, “This spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glori- fied.” And in John xvi. 7—“ I tell you the truth; It 1s expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.” From these statements it appears that this gift of the Holy Ghost differed from other gifts purchased by the obedience of Christ, in that it could not be bestowed before the atonement had been made, and the humanity of Christ glorified. Justifica- tion, adoption, and sanctification did not stand upon this narrow footing, although they, quite as much as the gift of the Holy Ghost, were the purchase of the Saviour’s death. These evangelical blessings flowed freely forth upon all the Old Testament saints, as if the Lamb had been actually slain from the foundation of the world ; but this could not be poured forth until the price had been actually paid. We know why it was that the Old Testament saints received all the blessings purchased by the obedience and death of Christ, long before they were actually paid. It ~ was because He was both human and Divine, and pos- sessed all the attributes of both natures. As God, He was eternal in His existence, and independent of time THE HOLY GHOST THE PARACLETE, 89 and succession ; so that He could say, “ Before Abraham was Tam.” “Tam Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” As man, He increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man; and He could say, “I have a baptism to be baptised with, and how am I straitened until it be accomplished.” Christ was not possessed of a nature which was in- termediate between the Divine and the human; as if (we speak it reverently) He were partly God and partly man. We cannot and dare not attempt to intrude into the mys- tery as to how these were united in one Person, but we know that it is so because it is so revealed; and that the God-man was possessed of the capabilities of both natures. Not that His Godhead only was capable of performing the functions of Godhead, and His manhood only capable of performing the functions of manhood ; but the two natures were so indissolubly united that what was done through one nature was done by the one person composed of both, and carried with it the qualities of both. By means of His human nature, therefore, He was able to suffer and shed His blood; and by means of His Divine nature He was able to apply that blood, through all time, as if it had been shed from eternity. But we are here taught that the baptism of the Holy Ghost, although it was the purchase of the Saviour’s obedience and death, was not communicated through the Divine, but through the human nature of Christ. In_ this it resembled the resurrection, of which it was the earnest and foretaste (2 Cor. v. 5; Eph. i. 14), although why it should be so we cannot tell. Our Lord represents Himself as the seed still above ground, which could not germinate until it was buried (John xii. 24), It abideth 90 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE, alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. Christ was Himself the first-fruits of the resurrection ; and al- though the graves of many of the saints were opened at His crucifixion, they did not come out of their graves until after our Lord Himself arose (Matt. xxvu. 53). When Christ is said to be the first-fruits of them that slept (1 Cor. xv. 20, 28), we must distinguish between mere resuscitation and Resurrection. The restoration to life of Jairus’ daughter and suchlike is of a totally different nature. We speak of the “resurrection of Lazarus,” but nowhere in Scripture is the word ‘‘ resur- rection” (anastasis) applied to such cases. In the resurrection of Christ and His saints a change of nature has taken place, so that that which was sown a natural body is raised a spiritual body with resurrection power. In the case of Lazarus and others, the body that was raised was a natural body that must die again; whereas the resurrection bodies of Christ and His saints are glorious and immortal bodies that can never die. Christ, therefore, was truly the first-fruits of them that slept. | THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT. gl CHAPTER VI. Che Gifts of the Spirit. “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.”—1 Cor. xii. 4. ** But all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.”—1 Cor. xii. 11, 1) K must uot allow ourselves to be misled by the 3 fact that the baptism of the Holy Ghost was accompanied and followed by the gifts of miraculous powers. These formed no part of the bap- tism, and were of very little value, indeed, compared with the baptism itself. The Holy Ghost, as a baptism, was called the gift of the Father to the Church, just as the Son was the gift of the Father to the world. In magnitude these two surpassed all other gifts, not one of which is ever to be compared with them. It was the Holy Ghost himself that was the Father’s gift to the Church; the miraculous powers were gifts to individuals, not from the Father, but from the Holy Ghost when He was given, The baptism of the Holy Ghost was a thing entirely new, and changed the destinies of the world by giving © a new power to the Church, which had never been wielded by man before; and which, when given, was NEVER TO BE WITHDRAWN. ‘I will pray the Father,” said Jesus, “and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever” (John xiv. 16). 92 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. This gift of the Father is spoken of as even more valuable than Christ’s own personal presence on earth, and sufficient to counterbalance the loss which the Church sustained by His going away. “I tell you of a truth,” said Jesus, “It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you: but if I depart I will send him unto you.” This could not be said of any of the miraculous gifts that followed the baptism. Nevertheless, these miraculous gifts were absolutely necessary at the time that they were given; but they were not given by the Father. They were given by the Holy Ghost, simply because they were needed, as we shall now proceed to show. In the first place, they were needed as the Divine credentials of the apostles in giving their testimony to the world. Having been sent forth as witnesses for Christ, it was necessary that God should bear witness for them, else the Jews would not have been under any obligation to receive their testimony. Even Christ's own mission had to be divinely attested, in order to demand acceptance. ‘(If I had not done among them the works which none other man did,” said Jesus, “they had not had sin” (John xv. 24). It was the resurrection of Christ, however, of which the disciples were to be the witnesses to the world; 5 * “Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection” (Acts i. 22). “This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses” (Acts il. 32). “Whom God hath raised from the dead ; whereof we are witnesses ” (Acts iii. 15), THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT. 93 not the witnesses of Christ’s mission. In regard to Christ's own mission, no human testimony was needed, because his miracles, performed before the world and in presence of His bitterest enemies, were sufficient attesta- tion of that. But of His resurrection witnesses were absolutely necessary, and therefore they too must be accredited by God. We could not expect, and it would not be reasonable to suppose, that the world would believe such a stupendous and pregnant fact as the resurrection of Christ on the testimony of eleven un- learned men, unless their credentials were presented in the presence of the world. They might have been deceived, and, therefore, it was necessary that God, who could not be deceived, should “bear them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost” (Heb. ii. 4). That attestation is not required now, because, having been once pre- sented to the world, it was complete for all time coming, Tt was then and there that their credibility was to be made good or rejected for all succeeding ages. If such an attestation were not sufficient, no historical fact what- ever could be relied on, because the trial cannot take place in the absence of the witnesses. Renan objects to the evidence and suggests another, but the proof that he suggests would not have been so conclusive as that which has been given, A report drawn up and subscribed by a committee of rabbis, as he suggests, would not have been so trustworthy, because they might have been deceived. They might even have been bribed. No! whatever the world is called on to believe must be attested by God, once for all, an the presence of the world. And it was so in this instance. It must also be remarked that these miraculous gifts ~94 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. were not altogether new, although they had not been given in such abundance before. ‘They were not, there- fore, really characteristic of the baptism of the Holy Ghost, The gift of prophecy (inspiration), for example, had been known in all ages; and the same Spirit that was poured out on the disciples rested on Eldad and Medad in the camp of Israel, when they prophesied, down to Zacharias, who “was filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesied.” * In like manner the power of healing the sick, casting out devils, raising the dead, and work- ing miracles generally, had been possessed, not only by the prophets of old, but by the disciples themselves, when they were sent out to the lost sheep of the house of Isracl.+ If there was any exception, it was the gift of speaking unknown languages; and yet even this last could scarcely be said to be generically new, because the prophets sometimes spoke involuntarily language which they did not rightly understand (1 Peter i. 11). The Gifts of Tongues and the Interpretation of Tongues. The first of these gifts was the gift of tongues. It was the very first of the Pentecostal gifts that was mani- fested, and yet it stands last and lowest in Paul's enu- meration,| as it is also the only one of which he speaks disparagingly.§ The reason is, that all the other gifts had some practical use; whereas Paul tells us that the * Luke i. 67. + Matt. x. 8. + “And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, second- arily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues” (1 Cor. xii. 28). § “Thad rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an -unknown tongue” (1 Cor. xiv. 19). THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT. 95 tongues were given only “for a sign,’ * and, like all other signs, they were useful only in so far as they indicated the presence of something else. Tt does not appear that this gift of tongues was put to any practical use, except on the day of Pentecost, when strangers from many lands heard the wonderful works of God proclaimed each in the language of his own country; but even on that occasion it was more for a sign than for use, because all who were then present must have been well acquainted with Greek. Indeed, Greek was generally known at that time over the whole civilised world. It is also somewhat remarkable that the eift of tongues, instead of making the speaker more intelligible to his hearers, had generally the opposite effect. “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him ” (1 Cor. xiv. 2). It proclaimed symbolically, also, the calling of the gentiles; but it does not appear that it was ever afterwards used for evangelistic purposes. It may be that occasionally the gift was useful in enabling evan- gelists to preach in barbarous countries, whose language they did not know, although such a use of it is nowhere mentioned ; but it is evident that this was not the main purpose for which it was given.t In modern times the * “ Wherefore tongues are for a sign” (1 Cor. xiv. 22), t At the time of Christ the common language of the Roman empire was Greek, which was also spoken by Jews. Paul, being a Roman, could of course speak Latin ; and Greek and Latin at that time would | carry a man over the greater part of Europe. As will be shown after- wards, Paul’s strategy was to lay hold of the great centres of human power, and by leavening them leaven the whole world. This would make it the less necessary at that time to evangelise those barbarous tribes that could not speak Greek. At all events there was sufficient employment for the disciples among those who could. It was not 96 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE, acquisition of languages enables a man to be an inter- preter to other people ; in the apostolic church it made a man require an interpreter for himself; and, “1f there be no interpreter,” says Paul, “let him keep silence in the church ; and let him speak to himself, and to God ” (1 Cor. xiv. 28). What, then, was the use which this gift of tongues was intended to serve? Its purpose appears to have been to certify the fact that the Paraclete was present, more especially when the circumstances were such as to make it important that the fact should be known, It seems to have served very much the same purpose as that for which a lecturer adds some colouring matter to a trans- parent fluid; it is to make its presence more observable, Its value, in this respect, is nowhere more evident than on the two occasions when Peter, the key-bearer, opened the door of the Church first to the Jews in Jerusalem (Acts ii.), and subsequently to the Gentiles in Cesarea (Acts x.) The importance of their speaking with tongues on those two occasions is very evident, because a man might receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost, without anything being immediately observed by those around, and had it been so on these two occasions there would have been no evidence that it had been received at all. But when they spake with tongues, as the Spirit gave them utter- ance, there could not have been any better or more appropriate sign, when the only purpose was to prove that they had received the baptism. without advantage that the preachers among the barbarians should be men of culture, who knew Greek as well as their own language, and - who had been converted under Greek preaching. THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT, 97 Lhe Gift of Prophecy. By far the most important gift conferred by the Holy Ghost upon the Church was that of prophecy, and it was that gift which the apostle particularly recommended as an object of ambition to the Corinthians.* At Pentecost there were no written memoirs of the miracles and discourses of Christ, The first thing to be done, therefore, was to have an authentic record of the sayings and doings of Jesus. This was very early supplied by Matthew, but it could be done only by the Holy Ghost teaching him, and “ bringing all things to his remembrance ” whatsoever Christ had said in his hearing (John xiv. 26). There were, probably, many hundreds of these apostolic Christians whose memories were thus miraculously refreshed ; and every one of them would bean evangelist to those around him, recounting wherever he went the things which he had seen Jesus do, and the things which he had heard Him speak. Many also, for the better preservation of these precious memorials, would “take in hand to set forth, in order, a declaration of those things which were most surely believed among them” (Luke i. 1), and such memorials of our Lord’s life and teaching would be not only very precious, but very plentiful, supplying as they did in some measure the want of New Testament Scripture, so far at least as the four gospels were concerned. Neither were there at that time any written instruc- tions for the teaching and guidance of the churches, — such as are now supplied by Luke’s “Acts of the Apostles,” and the apostolic and prophetic epistles. In the infancy of the Church everything would be new; and as they * “Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues” (1 Cor. xiv. 39). H 98 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. had then no other Scripture than the Old Testament, there must have been many things in regard to which they needed direction and instruction. The apostles could not be everywhere; and, therefore, it was to supply this want that the gift of prophecy, or, as we would call it, inspiration, was given in large abundance to the apostolic Church until the canon of Scripture should be completed, so that it should be “ for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness.” The Holy Ghost being present in these prophets, the churches were then placed in direct communication with God, who was ready in every case of trial or difficulty to comfort or to guide them. For the composition of the inspired word also, this gift of prophecy (which was not, as some suppose, the gift of preaching) was indispensable, and, therefore, all the writers of the New Testament Scriptures were prophets. There can be no doubt that Mark the particular friend of Peter, and Luke the beloved companion of Paul, must have received this gift at these apostles’ hands, before they could undertake to write the memoirs which bear their names. The Church has too much lost sight of these New Testament prophets, who ranked next to the apostles in dignity and authority, and who occupied very much the place of the New Testament Scrip- tures at the time when these Scriptures were awanting. When Paul speaks (Eph. ii. 20) of the Church being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, he refers to the prophets not of the Old Testament but of the New. The greatest of the Old Testament _ prophets was John the Baptist, and certainly the Church was not founded by him, because the least of the New Testament prophets was greater than he. THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT. ot The Gift of discerning Spirits—The Canon of Scripture. The third special necessity of apostolic times was the fixing of the canon of Scripture, which could not be done except by Divine authority. There never was a good thing in the Church of Christ of which Satan did not make a counterfeit ; and so John tells us that many false prophets had gone out into the world. “Believe not every spirit,” said he, “but try the spirits whether they are of God” (1 John iv. 1), There must also have been floating about among the churches many writings of the apostles and others, both inspired and uninspired ; and unless there had been in the apostolic Church men who had received the special gift of discerning which were inspired by God and which were not, there would have been the utmost uncertainty as to which were the true and which were the false prophets, and which were inspired Scriptures and which were merely human compositions. Now, it appears from various passages of Scripture that this was one of the gifts actually bestowed on the Church. There were those who spoke with tongues but could not interpret, and there were others who could interpret but did not speak with tongues. In like manner there were those who prophesied but could not discern the spirits, and there were others who could discern the spirits but did not prophesy. These gifts went in pairs. The gift which these last received was called the « discerning (diakrisis) of spirits” and “judging” (diakrin6), and was a most necessary gift at the time, although it would be of no use now; because we have received the benefit of their ministry in the present canon of New Testament Scripture. The general, or rather unanimous, acceptance 100 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. of some writings, and the unanimous rejection of others by such a class of men, account for the otherwise unac- countable unanimity with which the canonical Scriptures appear to have been received and established in apostolic times.* The forming of the canon, therefore, was God’s own work. We see, then, that these miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost were preliminary and exceptional powers, which, though they were necessary at the beginning of the gospel, were not the real and continuous work for which the baptism of the Holy Ghost was given. But when the credibility of the apostles had been fully established by means of these miraculous signs, and when the canon of Scripture had been completed and attested, these miraculous gifts being no longer required, would be allowed to die away. There can be no doubt, however, that it is only because they are not necessary now that they are not still bestowed, and that if there were any occasion to arise in which they would be useful, they would certainly not be withheld. * We must distinguish, of course, between the authentication which each book of Scripture received at first in the Apostolic Church, and the disputes which arose afterwards as to which of them had been authenticated. The former was determined by revelation, the latter by historical evidence. EVANGELISTIC POWER. 101 CHAPTER VII. Changelistic Power, “When he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” —Joun xvi. 8. _ “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do ?”—Acts ii. 37. ee HAT, then, was to be the special and peculiar work which the Holy Ghost was to carry on, after the preliminary work had been completed, and when the Church was enabled to go forth, enriched and equipped with the Holy Scripture complete? It was purely and strictly evangelistic. There was no miracle, no speaking with tongues, no healing of the lepers, the lame, or the blind, no prophecy, nor its accom- panying discernment of spirits; but there was evangelistic power, and in that power was the healing of the nations. The whole pentecostal system circles round those tongues of fire; not the tongues alone, nor the fire alone, but the tongue and the fire together. Witness-bearing lay at the bottom of the whole system, and without witness-bearing there is no Paraclete. “After the Holy Ghost is come upon you,” ‘ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” It was to fit them for 102 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE, this witness-bearing that the Holy Ghost came upon them. There was, in the first place, a subjective power with which they were endued—that is to say, there was a sudden transformation of the men themselves, very different, however, from that which they underwent when they were converted. It was an evangelistic change. There never was a purer church on earth, and possibly never will be, than that which was gathered in that upper chamber in Jerusalem, but it was the same flock which only a few days before had been scattered in dismay, when their Shepherd was smitten. Like a timid flock, they were cowering together, while their enemies, like wolves, were raging outside around them; for at that time they had neither the heart nor the power to venture out upon their mission. Yet this was the army which was com- missioned to go forth and conquer the world for their Master. But when the day of Pentecost was fully come, suddenly the Spirit of God descended on them, not as the Spirit of holiness, but as the Spirit of PowER, and imme- diately they were transformed, so that, like Saul the son of Kish, they became, as it were, other men. The eyes of their understandings were opened, and instead of being as before, fools, and slow of heart to believe, they were filled with wisdom and knowledge, and made to understand the deep things of God. To their knowledge there was at the same time added virtue, so that, instead of being timid and faint-hearted as before, they became bold as lions, and ready to lay down their lives as witnesses for Christ. Even Peter, who a few days before had quailed before the eye of a maiden, was able to stand undaunted before the assem- bled Sanhedrim, and tell them that he could not but speak the things which he had seen and heard, and that he must, EVANGELISTIC POWER. 103 at all hazards, obey God rather than man. “They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness” (Acts iv. 31). All this was the direct and immediate effect of the Pentecostal baptism, and was essentially evangelistic in its character ; but it was scarcely possible that the Holy Ghost should be poured out in any great abundance on believers without stimulating and quickening the spiritual life which they already possessed. The higher Christian life is a totally different thing from the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and has often been attained both in Old and New Testament times by those who had not received the bap- tism. But there is nothing more likely to produce and increase that higher and closer walk with God, than fervent zeal-for His cause, and unwearied and successful labour in extending His kingdom. While, on the contrary, a con- stant and uninterrupted engagement with the things of this life, and the absence of evangelistic zeal, has a tendency to lower the Christian life and deaden the Christian graces. Christ alone is the fountain of all spiritual life, but there is a great variety in the amount of that life in each of us, because that depends on the measure of our faith, and “the measure of the gift of Christ” according to our faith. The Spirit of the Son may dwell in us without the Spirit of the Father. It is not so likely that the Spirit of the Father will dwell in us without the Spirit of the Son. But our Lord has promised that if any man love Him, and keep His words, both the Father and the Son will come unto him, and make their abode with him—the Son as the higher Christian life, and the Father as the evangelistic Spirit. When that takes place, faith obtains a clearer vision of things unseen, a new grasp of the promises and a heavier leaning upon God ; hope rises 104 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. on lighter wings, and almost at heaven’s gate sings its song of victory; and LOovE——that ripest and richest fruit which the Spirit of Jesus can yield—becomes a deeper and holier love than before. At the same time, we must remember that it is only indirectly, and by sympathy, that the baptism of the Holy Ghost produces an increase of spiritual life and holiness, so that there may be those who have received the evan- gelistic Spirit in great abundance, who, in spiritual life and close walking with God, may be far beneath others who have not received the baptism; and, as we shall afterwards see, it is not impossible at least that some may “have been once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and been made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come’”’—may have been the means of casting out devils, and converting hundreds of souls, yet of whom the Son at last will say, ‘I never knew you,” while better and holier men have been left unused. What, then, was the peculiar and unprecedented work which the Holy Ghost was to perform as the Paraclete whom the Son was to send? It was the objective rather than the subjective work, performed by the Holy Ghost as the Spirit of the Father through the disciples. Healing the sick, casting out devils, performing miracles, speaking by inspiration, and even the discerning of spirits, were gifts of the Holy Ghost, long before Christ was glorified. So, also, a close walk with God, transcendent faith and unconquerable loyalty, with all the other Christian graces, were conspicuously displayed in that great muster-roll of Old Testament saints, emblazoned in the 11th chapter of Hebrews, of whom the world was not worthy. Even the convicting and converting of sinners was a work which EVANGELISTIC POWER. 105 the same Holy Ghost had been carrying on from the begin- ning of the world, but not residing in man. In what, then, consisted the peculiarity of the indwelling power ? We answer, it was in the persuading and convicting power whach, by the indwelling Spirit, the disciples wielded after they received the pentecostal baptism. On the day of Pentecost the Holy Ghost as the Spirit of the Father came down, in the person of His saints, in a way that He had never done before, to convert the world. This was necessary, because nothing but omnipotence could accomplish it. Although the work of Christ pro- vided a propitiation, and opened up a way into the holiest for the very chief of sinners, the world would never have been converted; simply because although God was recon- ciled to the world through the death of His Son, the world in its wickedness refused to be reconciled to God. It had to be convinced of sin, righteousness, and judgment, before it would accept the offered salvation. What was wanted, therefore, for believers was not more life for themselves, but the power of communicating that life to others. In this consisted the objective power—a power which had never existed before, and compared with which all miraculous gifts were unimportant. The sub- jective power was only comparatively new, for knowledge, wisdom, daring, and utterance might have been possessed, even in a high degree, without the baptism of the Spirit ; but the objective power was absolutely new. The very power of God went forth out from them upon the hearers, - convincing them of sin, because they believed not on Christ ; of righteousness, because the evidence of His resurrection and ascension to the Father was demonstrated to their understandings; and of judgment, because the prince of this world was judged. As in the days of our 106 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. Lord’s flesh, the power of God was present in Christ to heal the body, so now the Spirit of God was present in the disciples to heal the soul; and the spoil of that day was three thousand members added to the Church. The power which was wielded consisted in the actual presence of the Holy Ghost in the persons so baptised, so that it was not they that spoke but the Spirit of their Father which spoke im them. That being the case, the Gospel in their hands was “ mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” There never was such a thing heard of before in the experience of man. The Spirit of the Son dwelling ina man had no influence beyond the man himself; the Spirit of the Father dwell- ing in him gave him power over those around him. Hundreds of those Jews who only a few days before were able to stand unmoved in the presence of the Son of God and cry, “ Away with him—crucify him, crucify him,” are now pricked in their hearts, and crying out, ‘‘ Men! brethren! what shall we do?” The power did not lie in the disciples’ wisdom, or their knowledge, or their utter- ance—although all these were helpful—not even in the words which they spake, but in Him who spoke through them. When the Holy Ghost in them became the advocate, the pleader, the beseecher, no wonder that they were endued with power. And now, we ask, Is not this the outstanding miracle of the present day, which the world confesses it cannot _ understand? One man seems to carry a ‘“ power” with him wherever he goes; thousands are attracted by his preaching, and under his ministry men are brought under EVANGELISTIC POWER. 107 conviction, and at length converted, who had been listen- ing to the Gospel from other men all their lives. Infidels and scoffers in the most unaccountable manner are arrested and convinced, without any argument or any approach to controversy: not one of their arguments is refuted, not one of their objections answered, but all at once the scales seem to fall from their eyes, and in the presence of the cross they discover that they were fools, and their arguments delusions. Another man, perhaps more learned, perhaps more eloquent, perhaps more holy, preaches for years, without attracting any attention beyond his own congregation, and has to mourn over a barren ministry, without seeing any conversions taking place under his preaching; or if, now and again, a soul be given him for his hire, he regards it ag an extraordi- nary answer to his prayers, and he calls it “a seal to his ministry.” How is this difference to be accounted for? It cannot be because the one is a better Christian than the other, because we know that it is not so; and it would be both uncharitable and presumptuous to affirm that it is, Neither can it be because there is any difference in the doctrines taught, or that the way of salvation is more clearly set forth by the one than by the other. It cannot be any difference in that which is preached, because there is nothing remarkable in the sermons themselves. Whit- field, for example, in the last century, and Mr. Moody, in our own day, are perhaps the most remarkable specimens — of men possessed of evangelistic power, and yet their ser- mons when preached by others have no such power as they had when they were preached by themselves; in fact, in reading over some of Whitfield’s sermons, we are surprised to find that they are not at all remarkable, and 108 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. we cannot understand how they could produce such marvellous results. Mr. Moody’s addresses, also, have been published verbatim as he delivered them, and if the power had been in them, the whole country might be awakened and revolutionised by eloquent and godly men preaching them to similar audiences. But no! these addresses, however excellent they may be—and they are excellent—have no greater power than other addresses by other men. Though they are the same that attracted such numerous audiences that no building could contain them, and that produced such astonishing results; yet now the greatest saint and the most accomplished orator might preach them again and again without attracting any crowd, or converting a single soul. The reason is, that it was God speaking through the man, not the sermon only, that constituted the power. It was as it were God Himself looking through the cloud, so that His presence was really felt. The sermon had, in- deed, a power of its own, for, in so far as it was the word of God, it was both quick and powerful, and would not return void; but that was not the power promised to the disciples when our Lord said that He would send the Paraclete who would abide with them for ever. When- ever the Word of God is preached, whether it be ina tract or in a sermon, there is power; but when we have, in addition to the sermon or the tract with its inherent power, the man that preaches it endued with the Holy Ghost the Advocate, there are rivers of living water flow- ing out from him on all around. Is not this work of conviction and conversion far more wonderful than healing the sick, or working miracles ? And did not our Lord say well that greater works than those which He did they would do, because He went to EVANGELISTIC POWER. 109 the Father? The opening of the eyes of the body is ag nothing compared with the opening of the eyes of a dead soul; and the cleansing of a leprous body is a very in- significant miracle compared with the cleansing of a leprous soul. A few short years of restored health and usefulness was all that was gained in the one case; an eternity of degradation and misery exchanged for an eternity of holiness and glory was the fruit of the other. 110 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. CHAPTER VIIL Che Fellowshiy of the Spirit. ‘‘ But all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body : so also is Christ.”—1 Cor. xii. 11, 12. ‘¢The communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all.” —2 Cor. xiii. 14. NOTHER peculiarity of the Pentecostal baptism, as distinguished from conversion, is its social character. Conversion is God’s gift to individual sinners; the Pentecostal baptism is God’s gift to the Church collectively, and to believers not as isolated in- dividuals, but as members of the Church. When a man is converted, the whole universe is changed to him, but it concerns himself alone as much as if he were the only human being in the world. It is a transaction in which the only two parties concerned are Christ and the sinner, and with that transaction neither man nor angel has any- thing to do. When it is real, it is absolute and complete in itself, and the effect produced is in every case the same in kind—every believer being complete in Christ Jesus, and not requiring any partnership with others to make up for any want. It is not so with the baptism of the Holy Ghost, be- cause those who receive it receive only a share, for the THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE SPIRIT. 1B ii) benefit of others as well ag themselves. They are only partakers of the heavenly gift, and this is called « the communion (koindnia) of the Holy Ghost,” and the fel- lowship (koinénia) of the Spirit. The Church is the body of Christ, and those who are baptised into His body, having the quickening and sanctifying Spirit of Christ dwelling in them, are in this respect all alike. But when they receive the second baptism, it is not go. Not only is there a great variety in the measure of that which is received, but there is of purpose a great variety also in the gifts themselves, The Pentecostal baptism may be said to be the Spirit of organisation. Before it comes, the several members of the body of Christ are isolated and independent of each other, and constitutionally they are all alike, each being, as it were, a microcosm of a Church in himself, with all its faculties and powers in embryo. But when the Spirit comes down, He breathes into the living but inorganic Church the Spirit of fellow- ship, and each of the members so baptised becomes endued with what might be called functional power, to enable him not only to live but to work co-operatively for mutual help and edification. One receives the gift of seeing, and becomes an eye; another receives the gift of hearing, and becomes an ear, and so on in regard to all the other members. But each receives the gift, not for his own use alone, but for the benefit of the whole body of which he forms a part. The members are thus mutu- ally dependent on one another, and mutually helpful one to another. Hach member is, indeed, evangelically com- plete in Christ, but evangelistically he is not complete until he is endued with some special power, by the baptism of the Holy Ghost; and it is only when the members are articulated into one another that “the 112 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. whole body, fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth according to the effectual working in the measure of every part,” maketh increase, and becomes propagative. We must also observe that there was great variety, not only in the gifts bestowed by the Spirit, but also in the measure in which they were given. In the case of our Lord at the time of His baptism with the Holy Ghost, which anointed Him to office, it is said that He received the Spirit without measure (John i. 34), so that “in him dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily ”—this is, in His human nature; but in regard to all others, they received it only “by measure,” some more and some less. The Spirit distributed to every man severally as He chose. Some had these gifts in larger measure than others. For example, Paul spoke with tongues more than any in the Corinthian Church ; and Peter had so pre-eminently the gift of healing at one time, that his very shadow passing over the sick was supposed to heal (Acts v. 15). Even in the same indi- vidual, the power was not always the same, the gifts of the Spirit at one time being bestowed in great abund- ance, while at other times they are restrained. On some occasions the miracles were so numerous that no attempt was made to specify them (Acts vi. 8; vill. 7; xiv. 3). At other times the cases were so few that, when they did occur, a great sensation was created, and they were specially remembered. ‘The healing of Aineas, for example, was so singular that “all that dwelt in Lydda and Saron saw him and turned to the Lord” (Acts ix. 85); and when Dorcas was raised “it was known throughout all Joppa; and many believed on the Lord” (Acts ix. 42). THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE SPIRIT. Ls - So in regard to Paul, although at Ephesus the gift of healing was so abundant, that from his body “were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs and aprons, and the diseases departed from them” (Acts xix. 12), yet at other times, as at Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens, they are not even mentioned. It might, indeed, have been that they were performed, but not recorded; but when we find that he had to leave Trophimus at Miletum sick (2 Tim. iv. 20), and was in deep anxiety about the recovery of Epaphroditus (Phil. ii. 27), it is evident that there were occasions on which he did not possess the power of healing. So we find it, in the present day, in regard to evan- gelistic power. It differs, in a different measure, at different times in the same person. Sometimes a man is endued with power in a marvellous degree, so that, while he is speaking, the presence of God is felt by all who hear him, and hundreds are convicted under his preaching ; at other times he is bereft of all power, as if his locks were shorn, and he were weak as other men. In some instances, it may be that the Spirit is grieved because of some unfaithfulness in duty, or even quenched by indulgence in sin. More frequently, however, it is caused by external circumstances, such as the deadness of the Church around, or the opposition and unbelief of the believers present. Even our Lord seems to have experienced these vicissitudes: at one time it was specially noted that “the power of the Lord was present to heal” (Luke v. 17); while, on another occasion, it is recorded that “he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them ”—“ because of their unbelief” (Mark vi. 5; Matt. xui, 58), I 114 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. The evangelistic Spirit, unlike the evangelical, is both contagious and infectious. The apostles, by the laying on of their hands could communicate it ;* and it was com- municated to large companies at once, from whom also it spread to others. For that reason we observe what might be called waves of revival passing over the land, after long intervals of time, and spreading over whole districts of country. We must keep in mind, however, that it is upon believers, and not upon the unconverted, that the Holy Ghost is poured out; and although we sometimes hear the prayer offered that God would “ pour out” His Spirit upon a community or upon an audience, that they may be converted, the expression is not altogether correct. It is true that it is the Spirit alone that convinces and converts the unbelievers present, but it is not by being poured out on them. He is poured out on the speakers and the believers present, and when He is poured out on them it is through them and from them that He goes forth with power upon the unconverted. ‘The presence of those who are filled with the Holy Ghost, and in sympathy with the speakers, adds greatly to the power that is “ present to heal,” even though they do not speak. When there are no believers present, there can be no outpouring. * Tt is not impossible that there were cases in which the Holy Ghost was communicated by the laying on of the apostles’ hands, when pre- viously there was no real conversion (Heb. vi. 4). SEALING AND ANOINTING TO OFFICE. 115 CHAPTER IX. Sealing and Anointing to Office. ‘In whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.’’—Epnesrans i. 13. “Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God ; who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” —2 CoRINTHIANS i. 21, 22. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.”—LUvEEz iv. 18. fallen world; the one was the gift of His Son to sinners, the other was the gift of the Holy Ghost to saints. In the first gift was eternal life, in the second there was propagative power. The communication of each of these gifts was by a baptism, and by means of each baptism we become “ par- takers of the Divine nature.” The first baptism is a washing baptism, which takes away sin, the other is an anomnting baptism, which qualifies for office. In the washing baptism, the baptiser is the Holy Ghost, who unites us to Christ ;—in the anointing baptism, the bap- tiser is Christ, who endues us with the Holy Ghost. The washing baptism is “the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost,” and is symbolised by the pouring of water; the anointing baptism is the out- pouring of the Holy Ghost, and was symbolised in ancient Sr love of God brought forth two great gifts to our 116 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. times by the pouring of oil. By the first baptism, in which we are baptised into Christ” at our new birth, we become sons and joint-heirs with Christ in the family of God; by the second baptism we are anointed to office, and receive the seal of our commission as ambassadors for Christ. It is in this latter sense that the baptism of the Holy Ghost is called an anointing and a sealing. “Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anownted us, is God; who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts” (2 Cor. ee A: “But ye have an wnetvon from the Holy One, and ye know all things.” “But the anowntyng which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no le, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him” (1 John ii. 20, 27). “Tn whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession’ (Eph. 1. 13, 14). “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Eph. iv. 30). This is important, because it establishes an analogy between the Pentecostal baptism, which is the promise of the Father, and the descent of the Holy Ghost on the Lord Jesus, when He was baptised by John preparatory to His entering on His public ministry. It is called both an anointing and a sealing. * Man baptises “into the name” of Christ, the Holy Ghost alone baptises ‘into Christ” Himself, so as to put on Christ (Gal. iii, 27), SEALING AND ANOINTING TO OFFICE. 117 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anownted me to preach the gospel to the poor,” &c. (Luke ie L3)). “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing,” &c. (Acts x. 38). “For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate,” &e. (Acts iv. 27). “For him hath God the Father sealed” (John vi. 27). When the Lord Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost proceeding from the Father,* that holy thing which was born of the Virgin Mary was a partaker of the Divine nature, but that Divine nature was not the first nor the third, but the second Person of the Trinity. It was the Word that was made flesh and dwelt among * May we not observe an analogy between the regeneration of the sinner and the miraculous generation of the human nature of Christ ? The seed of the woman representing our fallen humanity was assumed by and personally united to the eternal Son of God, and thereby was invested with the dignity of Sonship. (Therefore, that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.) The seed of the woman was not holy before being assumed, but the union sanctified it. Herein, also, consists our sanctification and sonship, when by the same Spirit proceeding from the Father, and performing the functions of the Father, we are begotten of the Spirit and become partakers of the Divine nature of the Son. “Both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one : for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren” (Heb. ii. 11, 17). Jesus is our brother, not only by the mother’s, but by the Father’s side. By His mother’s side He was brother to every son of Adam’s race; but to those who are born of God He is a brother also by the Father's side. “I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God” (John xx, 17). 118 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. us, not the Holy Ghost. It was not until after He was baptised by John that He received the Holy Ghost, which then came down and took up His abode in Him, qualifying His manhood, and anointing Him to His mediatorial office. Up till that time our Lord had been living a private and unofficial life, subject to his parents, attending the appointed feasts, and taking His part in the reading and exposition of the Scriptures in the synagogue of Nazareth, where He was brought up. When John the Baptist commenced his ministry, our Lord, still as a Jewish lay- man, went, as was His duty, to acknowledge the new prophet, and to receive His baptism along with publicans and sinners, The baptism of John was a symbolic baptism, the washing with water representing cleansing from sin. For that reason, John objected to administer it to Christ, because He had no sins to be repented of and forgiven. But our Lord insisted on receiving it as He had previously received circumcision,* as the repre- sentative of His people, that He might thus fulfil every righteousness (zracav Scxatostvnv). But the baptism of John was followed by the anointing and sealing baptism, when the Holy Ghost was poured out on Him “ without measure,” so that in His human nature, thenceforth, dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. He was then openly proclaimed and installed into His office as the Christ, and His human nature became thenceforward the great reservoir from which the Holy Ghost was to flow forth upon His Church, It had not at that time, _ * “Tn whom also ye are circumcised . , , by the circumcision of Christ, co-buried with him in his baptism ; in whom also ye are co- risen, through the faith of the power of God, who raised him from the dead” (Col, ii. 11, 12). See original Greek, SEALING AND ANOINTING TO OFFICE. 119 however, the outgoing power that it afterwards acquired, when His human nature was glorified, and the fountain of full mediatorial power was opened. Previous to our Lord’s baptism, and during the first thirty years of His life, He performed no miracle, although He was God incarnate, because it was only His official power that He came to exercise, and that power was the power of the Holy Ghost (Luke iv. 14). But after He was installed into His mediatorial office, and was anointed by the Father, He was then, and not till then, the Messiah or Christ in its fullest signification. He was born a king, but He was not born a priest or a prophet, and therefore He had to be called by God as was Aaron, and it was only when He was anointed and sealed that He took upon Him these offices, and exercised their functions. When our Lord did perform miracles, we must observe that He performed them not by His own Divine power, but by the power of the Holy Ghost, with which He was invested,—the same, in fact, as any of His disciples. His miracles, therefore, could in no sense be said to prove His divinity—they proved only His mission. “Tf I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you” (Matt. x11. 28). When viewed in connection with our Lord’s baptism with the Holy Ghost, the ideas of anointing and sealing are very suggestive. Anointing was the prescribed form in which priests and kings were publicly set apart and consecrated to their office. Although the anointing which our Lord received at His baptism extended to His kingly and priestly offices, it was chiefly in connection with His office as a prophet that it is spoken of in Scripture, both by Isaiah (chap. lxi, 1), and by Himself in the synagogue 120 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. of Capernaum (Luke iv. 18, 19)—‘ The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” It is so also in regard to the believer. He is both a priest and a king for God, but his anointing is especially for the prophetic office. ~He too testifies for Christ, as though God did beseech and speak through him. He too is “anointed to preach the gospel to the poor.” The contrast, also, is very striking between the anoint- ing and the washing baptisms; more especially when we keep in mind the new birth by which the wash- ing is effected. The washing baptism is a constitu- tional change in the man’s person, the anointing and sealing baptism is something external, which makes no change in the man himself, but is something added which he had not before, and which, were it taken away, would not make any personal change. It is very different with the washing baptism. The purpose of the ointment was to give fragrance to the person who was anointed, so that all around should be conscious of his presence, and enjoy the perfume. Without the anointing, the prophet is as other men ; but when he receives the anointing his presence is felt by all around, and his message has an unction, and is made fragrant in the delivery. “Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth ” (Cant. i. 8), | The idea of sealing attached to the baptism of the Holy Ghost is also very suggestive. Ata time when very few could write, every man had his seal, especially those in authority ; and when he affixed his seal to any document, , - = SEALING AND ANOINTING TO OFFICE. 121 it was as if he put his signature to it to testify that it was his. ‘“ He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true” (John iv. 33). Such was the purpose of the baptism of the Holy Ghost. In order that John might be able to bear testimony to Christ, it was necessary that he should first receive the Father’s testimony regarding him. ‘I knew him not,” said John, “but he that sent me to baptise with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he which baptiseth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw and bare record that this is the Son of God” (John 1. 38, 34). When the Father, therefore, sent down the Spirit on Christ, and said, ‘ This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased,” He put his seal upon Him, acknowledged Him to be His Son and the Messiah. For the same pur- pose, also, the baptism of the disciples at Pentecost was a visible acknowledgment by God of their mission ; and the power of their evangelism, as well as the miracles which the Holy Ghost enabled them to work, was God’s attesta- tion of their doctrine, and a seal of their commission visible to all. It was intended to be the credentials of the Church in all ages, as an embassage for Christ ; and without it we are not entitled to expect that the world will receive our testimony. 122 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. CHAPTER X. Griebing ant Quenching the Spirit. “If any man defile the temple of God, him will God defile.”—1 Cor. iii, 17, |) UT there is such a thing as “grieving,” and even ib) “quenching” the Spirit, after He has been received. Paul says in his Epistle to the Ephesians, “Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye have been sealed unto the day of redemption ;” and in his First Epistle to the Thessalonians he says, “Quench not the Spirit.” The grieving of the Spirit may be caused either negatively, by the neglect of the gift that has been given, or positively, by the polluting of His temple; for our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost. God has promised that He will not withdraw the Paraclete per- manently from the Church; but He may be temporarily, or even permanently, withdrawn from the man. This great gift was given for a purpose, and if it be not used for that purpose, what else can we expect? It is so in regard to all God’s gifts, because when unimproved they are withdrawn, and it would be unreasonable if the gift of the Holy Ghost were an exception. It is undoubtedly to some gift of the Holy Ghost that Paul alludes when he says, “Stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the putting on of my hands;” and so, if a man receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost (and it may be in answer GRIEVING AND QUENCHING THE SPIRIT. 123 to prayer), if he make no use of that gift in helping for- ward the cause of the Gospel, what can be expected but that it should be withdrawn? ‘‘ Whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but whoso- - ever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath” (Matt. xiii. 12). ‘Take, therefore, the talent from him, aud give it unto him that hath ten talents.” The Spirit may also be grieved by positive offences ; and Paul seems to indicate that sins of the tongue especially grieve the Holy Spirit. This we judge from the place which the exhortation occupies: “ Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye were sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice ” (Eph. iv. 29-31). The grieving of the Holy Spirit is thus put in the very centre of the enumeration of the sins of the tongue, to indicate that when the tongue is used not for edifying and ministering grace to the hearers—which was the pur- pose for which the baptism was given—but for language the very opposite, the consequence will be that the Spirit will be grieved, and for a time withdraw. “ Doth a fount- ain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter ?” (Jas, ii. 11). But there may be something even worse than that; the Spirit may be grieved, so far as the evangelist is con- cerned, by his falling into gross sin: “ But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have preached unto others, I myself should be (adokimos) rejected and disgraced” (1 Cor, ix. 27). 124 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM Not that he should be a castaway, or destroyed, but that his credentials should be withdrawn, and the seal of his commission stripped from him. To the same effect is 1 Cor. iii. 16, 17: “ Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile (or desecrate) the temple of God, him will God defile (or desecrate),* for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” The Spirit of the Father will not dwell in a desecrated temple ; the Spirit of the Son will. QUENCHING the Spirit is a different thing altogether, and consists in a deliberate disregard of the blessing, and an intentional rejection of the presence of the Spirit among them. It is the sin of the Church, rather than of the individual members in whom the Spirit dwells; and whether it be done in ignorance or intentionally, the result is the same—the candlestick is removed out of its place, and the Spirit leaves the community,—-so far as time and place are concerned, the Spirit of the Father is quenched. The place which it holds in Paul’s exhorta- tions indicates its character: ‘“ Quench not the Spirit; despise not prophesyings; prove all [of them]: hold fast that which is good” (1 Thess. v. 19-21). Despising the words of the Spirit spoken through the prophets was then the sure way to quench the Spirit in any church which was guilty of so heinous a sin. The fact that there were false prophets abroad in the Church was no excuse for despising all prophesyings. They ought rather to prove them all, whether they were true or false, and to hold fast whichever was good. * Tt was an error in our translators to change the word “ defile” into “ destroy.” It is the same word that is used in both members of the sentence. IN THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH. 125 CHAPTER XI. The Preboalence of the Baptism im the Apostolic Church. ‘How much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him ?’’—LuKE xi, 13. ee interesting question still remains. Were there many in the apostolic Church who had received the anointing baptism? In answer to this ques- tion, we have no direct statement in Scripture; but indirectly we are led to understand that at that time all, or nearly all, had received it. In the Epistles it appears to be taken for granted that those to whom they were addressed had received the baptism of the Holy Ghost,— so much so, that many have concluded that it was a necessary part of their conversion, In the first place, the circumstances in which these early Christians were placed were most favourable to itsreception. Their com- fort and safety, as well as their loyalty to Christ, required that every one of them should evangelise, and being con- tinually engaged in the work, they were the more likely — to have the Spirit poured out upon them, as well as to be the more likely to pray for it: “To him that hath, the more shall be given.” But there was another cir- cumstance which would tend to spread this evangelistic 126 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM baptism at that time, especially among those churches which were visited by the apostles. These men had the power of communicating this gift to those upon whom they laid their hands; and as this, like the blossoming of Aaron’s rod to the Jewish priesthood, was a miraculous attestation of their Divine mission and apostle- ship, why should an apostle refuse to dispense so great a blessing when he had received the power for that very purpose? We need not be surprised, therefore, if, in addressing the saints in any of the churches, the apostles should speak as if they all had received the anointing baptism. For example, the apostle John, in addressing the Church, not in any particular locality, does not hesitate to say, “ But ye have an unction (anointing) from the Holy One, and ye know all things.” “ But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anoint- ing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him” (1 John 11. 20, 27). In like manner, Paul, in addressing the saints at Ephesus, speaks of them as if they had all received the Holy Ghost. Hesays: “In whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise” (Eph. i. 13). In chap. iv. 30 he says: “ And grieve not the Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption ;” and in chap. v.18, 19, “ Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit ; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.” To the Galatians he writes: ‘“ Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. He there- IN THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH, phere fore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” (Gal. i. 2-5). Peter also, when before the council, made a statement which implied two things—/first, that the presence of the Holy Ghost in those who had received the baptism was so evident as to become a, witness to their testimony; and second, that the . baptism of the Holy Ghost was given, not to the apostles only, but to the members of the Church generally: “ We are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him” (Acts v. 32). But perhaps the most decisive proof 1s to be found in the Epistles to the Corinthians, more especially in one of the chapters which he devotes to the subject. In answer to their inquiries regarding spiritual gifts, he men- tions a number of those which were common in the apos- tolic churches, and takes the opportunity of remarking that, although there was but one Spirit, there was great diver- sity of operations. To one was given the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge, to another faith, to another the gifts of healing, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another divers kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues, the Spirit dividing to every man severally as He will. In continuation of the same subject in the fourteenth chapter, he lifts the curtain, and gives us a glimpse of one of the ordinary meetings of an apostolic church. ‘“ When ye come together,” says he, ‘‘ every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation.” No one was allowed to speak in an unknown tongue, unless some one was present who could interpret, and even then not more than two, or at the most three, were permitted, in order to make room for 128 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM other business. Two, or perhaps on extraordinary occa- sions three, prophets might occupy the attention of the meeting; and it was always desirable that one who was a discerner of spirits should be present to guard against false prophets, of whom it would appear there were many in the Church: “If anything be revealed to another [prophet] that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace;” and then follows the remarkable statement: “ For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be exhorted.” Keeping in mind that these miraculous gifts, speaking with tongues and prophesying, were not the promised eift of the Father, which was to abide with the Church for ever, but gifts of the Spirit to those who had received the baptism; and more especially remembering that the purpose of the gift of speaking with tongues was not the edification of the Church, but a sign that the evangelistic Spirit had been given, and was then present in the speaker, ‘the lesson which this and similar passages teach us is, that this baptism of the Holy Ghost was the rule and not the exception in the apostolic churches; and that many in their assemblies, who neither prophesied nor spoke with tongues, were, nevertheless, endued with evan- gelistic power by the Holy Ghost, with which they were anointed, and that by them, perhaps more than by those who spoke with tongues, the Gospel was spread among the surrounding population, and the ranks of the Church recruited. Nowhere do we find any limit assigned to the promise, as if it were intended only for pastors, elders, and evan- gelists. The passage quoted by Peter from Joel is very ‘strong upon this pomt—‘And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh ; IN THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH. 129 and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.” “Also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit.” In order to leaven the whole population, from the highest to the lowest, the Spirit would be poured out upon the whole Church, so that in every rank of society there would be evangelistic power. It was a significant fact, also, that the whole hundred and twenty disciples in Jerusalem, men and women alike, received the blessing. “They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they all spake with tongues the won- derful works of God.” Peter, also, in concluding his address, uses these remarkable words—‘“ Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the guft of the Holy Ghost ; for the promise is unto you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.’ What promise does Peter refer to? It was the gift of the Holy Ghost. And to whom is the promise made? It is to as many as the Lord our God shall call. It was to be thenceforth the heritage of the New Testament Church; and if any believer does not now receive that gift, he is no better than an Old Testament saint, because he is not endued with evangelistic power, and the cause of the Gospel is hindered in his person. In order to enjoy the privileges and perform the duties of New Testament saints, we must receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost. How many of God’s children of the present day are there who, notwithstanding their close walk with God and holy life, are still barren and unfruitful in the con- version of souls, and altogether void of evangelistic power —of whom it might be truly said that they are “ blame- K 130 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM less and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation;” but of whom it could not be added, ‘‘ Among whom ye shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life.” And if the question were put to them, “ Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?” they would have to reply, “We did not so much as know there was such a thing.” Of course, if they did not know that there was such a thing, they could not pray for it, and therefore “they have not, because they ask not.” Since the day of Pentecost, this evangelistic life is the only true and normal life of the Christian Church; and the lower life is the abnormal orphan life of a New Testa- ment saint, and ought to be the exception and not, as at present, the prevailing rule. For that reason, 1t must be the duty of the Christian pastor, not only himself to be filled with the Spirit, but to labour and pray that every soul that has been committed to his care should receive the evangelistic baptism. Unlike regeneration, it is an infectious and contagious power; and if the pastor be himself baptised with the Holy Ghost, the blessing is most likely to spread among the flock; whereas if he be not so baptised, the influence of his ministry will be to repel or to grieve the Holy Spirit away. | The very same idea is presented here in another form. The salt does not change the earth into salt, and the lamp does not change the world into oil; these parables, therefore, were not complete without this third parable of leaven. Christ is the salt, and communicates the salting power. He is the light, and He communicates the light- ing power. He is also the leaven, and communicates the leavening power to His people. There igs a life of its kind in leaven, which is either good or bad according to its quality ; and, like all other life, it is propagative. In this parable, therefore, we have a representation of the propagative power of Christianity and the contagion of its life. The world is like the meal, having no power to leaven itself, although it has the capability of being leavened. Christ is the quickening principle, and when that has been communicated, the Christian receives not only the life itself but also the power of communicating it to others. ‘They in turn communicate it to all around them, till the whole world has been regenerated. Some have supposed that our Lord did not intend to symbolise the spread of Christianity under the figure of leaven, but rather the spread of apostacy in the Church. It is quite true that in other passages (but certainly not in all) leaven is the representative of corruption, and the propa- gator of corruption; and it is forbidden in all symbolic representations of the work of Christ. But the same figure may represent the propagative power of good as 198 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. well as the propagative power of evil, and is, therefore, the most appropriate symbol of the work of the Spirit. In this parable, at all events, our Lord leaves no room for doubt, because He says that it is the kingdom of heaven, and not the kingdom of Satan, that is like leaven. It corresponds with the parable of the little stone that was cut out of the mountain, and grew until it filled the whole earth; and with the parable of the mustard seed, that at length became a great tree. The idea which all these parables are intended to convey is that the Babe in the manger of Bethlehem was the seed planted, and how- ever insignificant it might have appeared in the eyes of men, it contained the germ of a renovated world. It also involved the principle that its increase was to be by growth and not by manufacture, each particle leavening the particles around it, each branch becoming the parent of many others, and each converted soul becoming the instrument of converting his brethren. But not only does our Lord inculcate upon us by His teaching that the conversion of the world is to be the occupation of His people while on earth; He makes the duty more imperative, by prohibiting any other object in life as the purpose of their existence. “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” ‘Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (for after all these things do the Gentiles seek :) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness ; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matt. vi. 24, 31, 32, 33). APOSTOLIC EVANGELISM. 199 These words are addressed not to His apostles only, but to the disciples generally, and to all who are called by His name. ‘They are to be pilgrims and strangers on earth, having no abiding city here, and as such they are to be laying up treasure not on earth but in heaven. While they were unconverted, their portion was on earth, and nothing could be more appropriate than that they should mind the things of the earth. For that reason He does not find fault with the Gentiles for seeking after these things; for what else could they seek after? But it is altogether beneath the dignity of God’s children that they should lead the low life of the Gentiles, It is unbecoming in them to act the part in Bunyan’s allegory of the man with the muck-rake, gathering the straws and rubbish of the earth, while the crown of glory invites them to more noble occupations. That which is to engage their affections and employ their anxieties and care is their Father’s business. The seeking of the kingdom of God and His righteousness must be the occupation of their lives. When a man is converted he ceases to be a soldier of Satan, and becomes at the same moment a soldier of the cross, for in this war there is no neutrality. ‘He that is not with me,” says Christ, “is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.” Previous to his conversion, he was the servant of mammon, seeking only the things of a present world. Every word that He spoke, every thought of his heart, every enterprise in which he engaged, was of the earth and earthy. But when he changed masters, a revolution took place, and then the kingdom of God and His righteousness became the fondest wish of his heart, and the only purpose of His life. In the apostolic system of evangelism money had no place, and therefore success was in no degree dependent 200 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. onitssupply. In our modern evangelism, on the contrary, Christians generally are so devoted to worldly pursuits that they can spare no time to work for God, and therefore it has become necessary to have men to do it for them. ‘They tell us that they must attend to business, and that, whatever men may say, unless that shall occupy their chief anxieties they could never succeed in the world. At the same time, they say that they are willing to give money, if God be willing to accept the compromise. ‘They propose to divide their services between God and mammon, Mammon is to have their time, genius, talents, enthusiasm, and anxieties ; and if the Church will consent to that, they are willing to buy up God’s claims by giving Him a tenth of their gains. God will consent to no such compromise. It is the man’s self, and not his money, that God claims. He seeks not his, but him. But not only must the kingdom of God and His right- eousness take precedence in the Christian’s thoughts and anxieties; it must also take precedence in his prayers. When he approaches the throne of his Heavenly Father, after adoring His holy name, the first cry that issues from his lips must be, “ Thy kingdom come; thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven ;” and only after that he prays, “Give us this day our daily bread.” The undisputed reign of Jesus over the whole earth, the utter extirpation of all unrighteousness, and nothing less, is thus presented to us, not only as the supreme object of our labours and anxieties, but also the subject of our most earnest prayers. Truly, with such a magnificent object in view, the coming of Christ’s kingdom, and the will of God being done in earth as it is done in heaven, might well be regarded as a consummation worthy of all self-sacrifice. Whether it be for the sake of God’s glory, or the termination of the APOSTOLIC EVANGELISM. 201 world’s degradation and misery, any other object in life, such as money-making, or personal comfort, or worldly ambition, must for ever be regarded as utterly unworthy of the sons of God, who are joint-heirs with that same Christ who, while on earth, had not where to lay His head. We have an instructive illustration of the work which God intends His Church to be engaged in during their pilgrimage on earth, in the employment which He had for His people in the wilderness, when journeying to the land of promise. They did not build houses nor plant vineyards there, because the wilderness was not their home; and if any of them had been so foolish as to attempt to do so, he would have found that the barren and thirsty land was not favourable to success. Even though he had _ suc- ceeded, he would have had to leave it behind him in a few months, or even a few days, and his labours would have been all in vain. They knew this, and therefore their eye was upon Canaan, and they wearied for the day when they would cross the Jordan and enter on their everlasting inheritance. The only things which they had to do in the wilder- ness were, to receive the law and build the tabernacle; and, if they had not rebelled, they might have fulfilled their commission, and entered the promised land within the year. But we must observe how the tabernacle was built. Sacred and mysterious as it was, it was, never- theless, made by the people. It was not built by miracle nor by angels, not even by the priests or the elders. It was the laity that wrought and gave, and the laity alone; men, women, and children had every one something to do. God might have done it Himself, as He made and wrote the first tables of the law; but 202 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. He would not have it so. “Thousands of angels strong ” were there, but they were not allowed to touch it with one of their fingers. Only the people themselves were allowed to have the privilege of building the tabernacle. Happy the man who had gold, or silver, or precious stones; happy the woman who had purple or scarlet or fine twined linen; happy the man whose education enabled him to work in gold or in wood or in brass; and happy the woman who could spin or weave or sew, or make embroidery for the building of God’s tabernacle, the type of God’s Church on earth! And how were the workers supported all this time? By miracle. The manna came down from heaven to feed them while they wrought for God. Their drink was supplied by miracle from the flinty rock while they wrought for God. Their very clothing was supplied by miracle. “For forty years their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.” How singular ! These matters are always the great objects of worldly men’s anxiety and care; but for not one of them had the Israelites to take thought. During these forty years they had no occasion to say, “ What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed?” All these things were added to them when they were engaged in building the tabernacle; and so it will be with us. Our only work on earth is to build up the Church of God and be clothed with His righteousness ; and the promise is equally sure. —=CS Sits THE WHOLE CHURCH NEEDED FOR THE WORK. 203 CHAPTER XV. Che whole Church needed for the Work. “Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; and make not all the people to labour thither,” — JOSHUA Vii. 3. WEE have altogether underestimated the greatness A of the work to be done, and the power of the enemy that has to be overcome; no wonder, then, that for eighteen hundred years we have so signally failed. God did not so underestimate its magnitude, nor did He think lightly of its importance, as is evident from His sending down His only-begotten Son to suffer and to die for its accomplishment. Neither did Christ underestimate its importance or think lightly of the obstacles to be overcome, because, when His Father sent Him into the world, the only purpose of His life was to be about His Father’s business, and to finish the work He had given Him to do. Are we better than He? or is our ease more to be consulted than His? When He ascended up into heaven, and left His Church on earth as His ambassadors, to complete the work in His name and by His power, was He to be the only one that was to surrender His enjoyments, and to give His time, His labours, and His very life for this great cause; and are 204 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. we to take it coolly, and get rid of our obligations by the payment of a small assessment of our income, instead of seeking first the kingdom of God and the submission of all nations to His righteousness, as the great purpose of our lives? If it required a whole Christ to leaven the Church, surely it requires a whole Church to leaven the world, and to carry on the work in His absence. If Christ, while on earth, made the salvation of man His whole and His only business, and if He bids us be fol- lowers of, and fellow-workers with Him, is it reasonable that we should devote our hearts and energies to worldly things instead of the great object committed to our care __the conversion of the world, and the establishment of the kingdom of Christ? If God gave His Son to be the light of the world, and if it required a whole Christ to give the light that was needed to lighten its darkness,— now that He has given His people to be the light of the world, and to shine as lights in his absence,—is it reasonable to suppose that a mere fraction of the Church is enough, and that one in every hundred would be sufficient as a substitute for Christ as the light of the world ? When God commanded the Israelites to take and destroy Jericho, the whole congregation of Israel was commanded to compass it seven times before He would give it into their hands. They did so, and it fell. But when they went up to Ai, they said, “Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; and make not all the people labour thither.” They did so, but the consequence was that they fled before the men of Ai, because God was not ‘with them. The curse of Achan was upon them. And so in the present day, almost from the time of the THE WHOLE CHURCH NEEDED FOR THE WORK. 205 aposiles, the wedge of gold and the Babylonish gar- ment have been the cause of all the disasters of the Church of God. They have underestimated their work, and think that much less than what God has commanded would be sufficient for their purpose ; therefore, instead of letting loose upon the world the whole membership of the body of Christ, they think that the victory may be sufficiently secured by telling off a mere fraction of their number to bear the brunt of the battle, supported by a voluntary assessment imposed upon those that stay behind. When this is done, the Church thinks that it may occupy itself in any way that it feels inclined, without being responsible for the result. They suppose that the con- version of the souls around them is no matter of theirs, but is the work of professional men, whom they are willing to support, and who must be employed for the purpose. They have no idea that any man is bound to give his personal services unless he be paid for it. They proceed upon the supposition that business and the affairs of this life are the chief things that private Christians ought to attend to, while in the world; and if they give liberally of their-substance for the spread of the Gospel, they may give their time and their talents to the business, the politics, and the amusements of a present world. The things of a present world are first, and they think that it is only if they are able to find convenient time to spare for the work of Christ, without encroaching upon their business or their recreations, that they are called on to do anything whatever for His sake. We ask: Is this a fit return from those for whom He died, and whom He has begotten again to an inheritance 206 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for them? What says Christ ?. “ Which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? and will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken ; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink” (Luke xvu. 7, 8). “Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor. vi. 19, 20). Perhaps it will be said that business must be attended to, and provision made for the supply of our bodily wants, and that if these things were to be neglected society would go to ruin; and Christianity itself would be brought into contempt. All this is true; and the Bible says nothing against it: on the contrary, it says the very same thing. The man that is diligent in business 1s the man who is also expected to be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. IH, therefore, any man neglect his business in order to do God’s work, he shows that he does not know what God’s work is, and instead of advancing the kingdom of God, he rather hinders it. There is nothing incompatible between the most systematic attention to business, and the most devoted enthusiasm in the cause of Christ. Not only ought it to be so, but it actually is so in fact. Take any one of the hundreds or thousands of men who are most distinguished in their devotion to the spread of the Gospel, and if we ask, Does he neglect his business ?— (we speak of laymen of course)—the answer will be, that, in general, the men who are most valuable to the THE WHOLE CHURCH NEEDED FOR THE WORK. 207 cause of the Gospel, are the most attentive to their business, If there be any who are really chargeable with the neglect, it will be found that they are those who, though they may be very pious men, are not those who do most good, or who are the most esteemed in the Christian world. There is a thorough compatibility between pros- perity in business, and ine most thorough devotedness to the cause of Christ. In fact, they are much more likely to be found together than separate. Even the men of aie world do not live for business only. They have always something or other on which to engage their leisure time. Have thee no time for polities, for science, for music, for planting, for building, for marrying, or giving in marriage? Is the theatre or the ball-room only ae those who are not in business; or is it nota fact, that a man whose whole heart is Siero to the making of money, and never in the spending of it, is a man Sa AS all men despise, and have no desire to imitate. The only difference in this respect, therefore, between the Christian and the man of the world i is, that their luxuries are different, and that the one has a nobler and more useful recreation than the other. The Christ- ian, even while engaged in business, watches his oppor- tunities of ee a word for Christ; and in the evenings, when his business duties are over, he goes to his evangelistic work, as to his favourite pastime, in which his heart is most intensely interested. Whereas the worldly Christian hands over a five- pound note to some collector, and turns back-to finish his novel or his. fishing apparatus, in which he was engaged when he was interrupted by the call. How is Christ humiliated and misrepresented when any of His servants, in His name, waits as a supplant 208 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE, on the man of the world, begging for Christ, and apolo- gising for His importunity, as if God’s evangelism was an intruder on the majesty of Mammon. Christ never sent these Gehazis on such an errand. What the pas- torate has to do in Christ’s name is, not to beg money of these men of wealth, but, if they be Christians, to bid them work, and use their own money in the working. If they are not Christians, Christ will have none of their money. There ought to be no misunderstanding in regard to the saints’ relationship to Christ, in regard to giving and receiving. Although Christ never asks the saints for money, it is only because He demands themselves ; and when the saint surrenders himself to Christ, there is no transference of property, the goods go with the man, and because the saint is joined to Christ, there is thence- forth not a division of property, but a community of goods. When a man and a woman are married, they become joint proprietors of their joint property. All that the husband has belongs to the wife, and all that the wife has belongs to the husband. Systematic liberality, on the contrary, proposes that the wife should give back to her husband a tenth of what he gives her to spend. What nonsense! He wants none of it back. He does not need it. What he wants is, that she should use it ag his wife, for her own comfort and his honour, and that she may have something of her own to give liberally to others. What portion of worldly goods Christ gives to His saints, He gives to support them comfortably while they are engaged in His service, and to enable them to be like Himself, giving liberally to all around them, and more especially showing kindness to His poor saints. Christ does not ask our money, because He does not need it, and because He does not want us to employ or pay for THE WHOLE CHURCH NEEDED FOR THE WoRK. 209 substitutes. What He wants us to do is, to spend our money on our luxuries as well as our wants; and our highest luxury should be the advancement of His cause. If that be not our luxury He is disappointed no doubt, but He does not ask our money: He wants work. This doctrine of systematic liberality has arisen from the idea that the kingdom of God is hindered by the want of money. It is a great mistake. The progress of the Gospel is not hindered by the want of money, but by the want of spiritual propagative life among the people of God. One John Wesley, who boasted of having only two silver spoons in the world; or Dwight Moody, who glories in having given up all for Christ, is worth millions of men who hand over their hundreds of thousands to the Church’s treasury. Oh that the Church understood where her true wealth lies, that she might cultivate it! It is the anointing baptism of the Holy Ghost given to all who ask for it that endues the Church with power; so that out from the members of the Church flow rivers of living water. Money has nothing to do with it. What God requires of us is, not to give, but to spend and be spent for His sake, each man and woman in that rank and station of life in which God has placed him or her, with- out having to descend to voluntary humility and gratui- tous poverty. God needs the salt and the leaven in every station of life to salt and to leaven those around them, without either being paid for it themselves, or having to pay others to do it for them. Every man has a work to do for God, which no other human being is able to do but himself. The payment of money will never free him from the responsibility of doing that work, even though he were to give all that he has. “Let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself P 210 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. alone, and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden” (Gal. vi. 4, 5). Perhaps it will be said that all Christians are not qualified to preach. In one sense that is true, but in the scriptural sense it is not. Every man, woman, and child that understands the Gospel, and is one with Christ, can preach in the scriptural sense of preaching. We have been led astray by the circumstance that evangelism has come down to us in connection with public worship and _ pastoral teaching, with which it has really nothing to do. What we call preaching is not generally called preaching in the New Testament—the name that is usually given to it being “ teaching.” When Christ preached a sermon it is said that He taught the people, not that He preached to them. He taught in their synagogues; He taught im the temple; He taught from the ship; but when He preached He proclaimed something, as when He preached the Gospel of the kingdom, or as John preached that the kingdom of heaven was at hand. There are different kinds of preaching in the New Testament, as is evident from the different Greek words that are used to express it, each of which has a shade of meaning of its own. There was, first, the kérwssd kind of preaching, which was not teaching at all, but the public proclamation of something, as by a herald or town-crier (Matt. iv. 17). A kérugma, therefore, was a proclamation or an adver- tisement, not a sermon. Paul’s preaching on Mars Hill was of the kérussd kind. He did not begin by giving out a psalm, and then say, “ Let us pray,” as many think it necessary to do in order to make it a “service,” or, as some call it, an “ordinance.” Men in those days did what they meant to do, and not something else because THE WHOLE CHURCH NEEDED FOR THE WORK. 211 it was the fashion; and they did it with a directness that showed that they really meant to do what they were doing. The traditionary ruts had not at that time become deep enough to prevent men from going the nearest way. There was also the evangelizé sort of preaching, which expresses rather the subject and purpose of what men said than the form and style in which they said it. It was telling about Jesus and the way of salvation, but it was telling it not merely as news, but as a message. It is usual to say that the word “ Gospel”’ (ev-angelion) means “good news,” or “glad tidings,” addressed to no one in particular, but to those whom it might concern. It is go, but it is more than that; the idea of a message (angelia) is wrapped up in the very heart of the word, so that the Gospel is a message which we have to deliver, and which requires an answer. The man who preaches the Gospel should deliver it as a message, and he should deliver it as one whose Master is waiting for an answer. Evangelizo does not mean to preach, but to evangelise, Philip evan- gelised in the chariot beside the eunuch quite as much as Peter when he addressed the thousands at Pentecost (Acts viii. 35). A woman may evangelise ; a child may evangelise. Whoever even whispers God’s message of love to a lost sinner preaches the Gospel in the scriptural sense of the word. There was, next, the laled sort of preaching. This also is translated preach; but nothing could be further from its meaning. It was a free and easy way of talking on a subject, in which women especially excel, but which. Christ and His apostles did not despise. With the people that gathered at His home in Capernaum (Mark ii. 2), with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and with the woman of Samaria at the well of Sychar, it was the 212 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. laled style of preaching that was resorted to. Kérwsso is the artillery of evangelism, laled 1s the bayonet. Lastly, and without exhausting the catalogue,” there is the dialegomat style of preaching, which was rather a conference than a sermon. Such was Paul's last service at Troas, which is often quoted as an apology for long sermons. From the word that is used (Acts xx. 9), and which really means controversy or disputation, there can be no doubt that it was a conference, not a sermon, and that a number of knotty points had been brought up for Paul’s opinion; so that the objections that had to be cleared away prolonged the discussion till midnight. It was evidently the sleeping that misled the unwary translators into the idea that it must have been a sermon. These are only some of the expressions that are used to designate the work of evangelism, and which are trans- lated in our English version “ preaching ; ” but there are others which, though not so translated, signify the very same thing. “‘ Holding forth the word of life,” “ labour- ing in word and doctrine,” “ striving for the faith of the gospel,” “ labouring in the Lord,” “speaking the word,” and many others, describe the efforts which were made, not only by apostles, elders, and evangelists, but by private members of the Church, men and women alike, with audiences of one or two and upwards, to advance the cause of Christ, and bring the whole world into subjection to the gospel of the kingdom. The very variety of the expressions used to designate preaching shows that what is called the ordinance of preaching was not so definite or so homogeneous as it 18 supposed to be; and that it was not so much a canonical institution as a universal and irrepressible practice among the early Christians. So far * In the New Testament there are ten Greek words translated “ preach.” THE WHOLE CHURCH NEEDED FOR THE WORK. 213 from “licence” being necessary to entitle private Christians to preach, there was no licence given them to hold their tongues. They might as well attempt to stop the outgush of one of nature’s fountains as to prevent a Christian baptised with the Holy Ghost, and overflowing with devotedness to Christ, from telling every one around him of the love of Jesus. ‘“ We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard,” said Peter and John, when the council forbade them to speak at all or teach in the name of Jesus. ‘“ He that believeth in me,” said Christ, “out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (This spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive ; for the Holy Ghost was not yet given.”) The evangelical Spirit was a well that was always full; the evangelistic Spirit was a fountain that was always overflowing. There can be no mistake about this evangelism being the natural and necessary employment of the spiritual man, and this shows itself through all the apostolic writings. The essential feature that was characteristic of living Christianity was that it was propagative. The Christian that did not evangelise was “barren and unfruitful,” “seeking his own, not the things of Christ.” “Therefore, my beloved brethren,” says Paul, “be ye sted- fast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor. xv. 58). ‘‘ That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life” (Phil. 11.15, 16). This is but the echo of our Saviour’s own words, “ Ye are the salt of the earth,” “Ye are the light of the world.” 214 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. CHAPTER XVI. Che Banking System. “‘ Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury ?”—LUKE xix. 23. ee we, then, cease to give money to the religious . societies and the schemes of the churches be- cause the Bible does not command us to do so? Certainly not. In present circumstances, and until the Church recovers its strength, and until we have conformed our evangelistic operations to the plan laid down in Scripture, we must continue our contributions, except in those cases to which we have alluded in the previous chapter, in which the giving for religious purposes 1s made an excuse for the non-performance of commanded duty. For any one to stop his contributions at present, and before we have got into the right method, would be a great mistake. The Church’s spine has been bent, and her limbs paralysed by her unnatural union with the State, but she cannot all at once be made straight and strong by any sudden rectification, The change must be gradual; and especially, the crutches upon which she is at present leaning must not be suddenly taken from THE BANKING SYSTEM. 215 her. We must also bear in mind that this system of money power, although unscriptural, is not sinful, because it is not forbidden, and ought to cease only when Christ’s own plan has grown into maturity so as to take its place. Tt belongs to that class of expedients which Paul calls “all means” by which we can save some. (1 Cor, ix. 22.) The evil of our present system does not consist in our giving money, but in our not working and not spending our own money on our own work; and it is only in so far as the one withdraws our attention from the other that it does harm. If, therefore, we were to stop giving money before the cause of Christ no longer needs it, instead of doing good we should do harm. Our Lord Himself supplies the best answer to the question, “Shall we stop giving?” in the parable of the Pounds, which is the great evangelistic parable of the New Testament. The parable of the Pounds (Luke xix.) has a consider- able resemblance to the parable of the Talents (Matt. xxv.), but yet they differ in several very important particulars, In the parable of the Talents, as there is uniformity of diligence, so there is also uniformity of rewards, each profitable servant entering alike into the joy of his Lord ; whereas in the parable of the Pounds there are degrees of diligence, and also degrees of reward, one servant being made ruler over ten cities, and the other over five. Again, in the parable of the Talents there are only two classes of persons represented, the profitable and the unprofitable servants; whereas in the parable of the Pounds, in addition to the profitable and the unprofitable servants, there are also the citizens who would not have 216 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. the nobleman to rule over them, and who were put to death at his coming. But there is yet another difference between the two parables. In the parable of the Talents the unprofitable servant was cast into outer darkness, where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth; whereas in the parable of the Pounds the only punishment inflicted on him was, that his pound was taken from him and given to another. It is evident, then, that the parable of the Pounds deals with believers only, and although there are but two classes represented, the working and the idle Christians, there is yet another class of Christians suggested, though not represented, a class intermediate between the profitable and the unprofitable, who, though they do not themselves trade with the pound which they receive, put it into the bank that others may trade with it, and by so doing, enable their Lord at His coming to receive His own with usury. The bank is the religious society. It is also evident that the citizens who ‘sent the message after the nobleman, saying that they would not have him to reign over them, were very different from the servant who hid his master’s pound in the napkin, and who did not suffer with the rebel citizens. The prince did not entrust the citizens with any money to trade with, all that he required of them being submission to his authority, and an acknowledgment of his right to reign over them. The citizens, therefore, must represent the men of the world, who do not even profess to be His servants; and who, as they disown His authority, will at last perish in their rebellion. The servants, on the contrary, are the members of the Church, who not only accept Him as their King, but acknowledge Him as their Master. They confess that they are not their own, but THE BANKING SYSTEM. Oi. bought with a price; therefore, they profess to glorify Him in their bodies and in their spirits which are His. To them He has entrusted a work to be done, and- with the com- mission He has also given the means of accomplishing it. What that commission is we have already seen. It is the carrying out of the great work which His Father had given Christ to do, and which He transferred to them before He returned to His Father. “Ag the Father hath sent me,’ said He, “even so send I you;” and for this purpose He has not only endued them with the Holy Ghost, but He has also supplied them with all the means by which their work may be carried on. In answer to the unprofitable servant, who alleged, as an excuse for his unprofitableness, that his master was an austere man, taking up that which he did not lay down, and reaping what he had not sown, the nobleman out of his own mouth condemned him, by showing that he was not only slothful, but wicked. If he was determined to deprive his master of his services as a servant, he had no right to deprive him also of the interest of the pound, He ought, therefore, to have put the money into the bank, and thus the nobleman would have received his own with usury. By his not trading, his master lost the value of his services; and by his not putting the money into the bank his master lost also the interest of his money ; and it is this with which his master upbraids him. He does not give up his claims to his service during his absence, but he charges him with double dishonesty—first, in not trading with the money himself; and second, in his not. handing it over to others to trade with, when he himself chose to be idle. When a soldier before going into action receives from his officer ammunition to be used in the battle, if he have no inclination to the fight, and, there- 218 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. fore refuses to march, it is clearly his duty to hand his arms and ammunition to another who will make a better use of them. To retain his arms and ammunition, at the same time that he refuses to go into action, is to add the crime of theft to that of cowardice and desertion. We all know the purpose and uses of a bank. There are some men who are good traders, but have no capital to trade with; and there are other men who have capital, but are not good traders. The bank comes in between the two parties, and does good for both. The bank receives the capital from the man who cannot trade, and lends it to the man who has no capital. All the three parties are thus benefited. The man who borrows the money from the bank extends his business, and makes larger profits in consequence. These profits are divided into two parts. One part he pays to the bank as interest for the use of the money, the other he keeps to himself. The bank also shares its part of the profits with the man who deposited the money. It is evident, however, that if the servant, instead of depositing the money in the bank, had traded with it himself, his master would have had all the profits, instead of sharing it with the other two. Still, however small might be that part of the profit which fell to his share, it was better than nothing, which was the result of the pound having been laid up in a napkin. The application of the parable is evident. The first and most outstanding lesson, thus brought before our minds is that every child of God is bound to work for Him as his Master, and that all that he has received has been given to him for the purpose of making that service effective. In the first place, his time is not his own —it is his Master’s; and, in the second place, his genius, THE BANKING SYSTEM, 219 his rank in society, his influence, and his property have all been given to him merely as capital upon which he ought to trade in expectation of his Master's return. There is some reason to believe that besides the general principles illustrated in the parable, there is a special reference to money, inasmuch as money is the only thing that he could transfer to another so as to make it profitable to his Master. When a man has genius or time or influence, he may use it himself, but he cannot hand it over to another to be traded with. In other words, it cannot be put into the bank because it js not transferable. All these religious societies and schemes of the churches, therefore, that advertise for the people’s money are the bank into which idle Christians may pay the pounds that their Master gave them to trade with, They cannot hand over their time or their talents or their influence in society; but they can hand over their money, and that which was useless and unprofitable in their hands becomes useful and profitable in the hands of others. No doubt this is a very qualified recognition of the duty, but it is certainly one of the purposes of the parable. The difference between the two modes of making profit consisted in this: The servant who traded with the money gave his time and his energies to the work 1 BO that the pound was merely the capital upon which he traded, and which made his service the more effective and valuable. , The capital was needed to enable him to trade with - the greater success and realise a larger profit; but it was the trading, not the interest, that enabled him to double his pound. The whole value of the man, his intelligence, his energies, and his time were added to the value of his 220 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. pound in order to make it productive. Had the prince intended that the pounds should be put into the bank, he could have done that himself. He regarded the personal labours and services of his servants as much more valuable than the mere interest of his money, as is evident from the rewards which he bestowed on them according to their diligence and success. Had all the ten servants marched to the bank, and, having deposited their pounds as soon as they received them, taken a holiday till their master’s return, he might indeed have received his own with usury, but there would have been no cities given as their reward. It may be difficult to understand how any Christian could have the hardihood to say to the great Judge when He comes to take account of what has been done in His — absence, ‘‘ I feared thee because thou art an austere man : thou takest up that thou layest not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow.” Is it possible for any converted man to use such language as this, or even to harbour such hard thoughts of God in his mind? Perhaps not, or at least he may not be conscious of it; but in God’s sight his conduct may really say so. When Benhadad sent his messengers to Ahab saying, “Thy silver and thy gold is mine ; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine,” the king of Israel at once answered and said ‘“‘ My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine, and all that I have.” So long as it was merely profession and theory, Ahab was most complaisant and submissive; but when the messengers returned and pro- posed to act upon the theory, by taking some of the goodly things out of Ahab’s house, immediately the king’s wrath is kindled and he cries, “ Mark, I pray you, how this man seeketh mischief.” He charged Benhadad a THE BANKING SYSTEM. 221 with wishing to reap where he had not sowed, and gather where he had not strawed ; and, therefore, Ahab thinks him upon the whole a very hard and austere man. Is it not so with the idle Christian? So long as it is merely said to him, “Ye are not your own, ye are bought with a price,’ the answer comes glibly enough, “ My Lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine, and all that I have;” but when it comes to the question of practice, and it is added, “Go, work to-day in my vine- yard ”——“ Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or what shall we drink? or wherewithal shall we be clothed? But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”—immediately the rebellious heart exclaims, “ He is an austere man.” Perhaps there is even a charge of unreasonableness felt, if not expressed, against the claim, when there is disinclination to the work, aggravated by a sense of un- fitness. “I have not the talent necessary for doing such work. I cannot teach; I cannot visit. Other people can do it because they have the gift, and it comes natural to them. But I have not the gift, and it does not come natural to me. It is cruel and unreasonable to ask me. It is wanting to reap where there has been no sowing, and gathering where there has been nothing laid down.” To all such the parable replies, “Out of thine own mouth will I condemn thee. Where is the money you have received to do my work? If you were not able to do it yourself, why did you not put my money. into the bank? Why did you not give it to the religious societies, or to the schemes of the churches ? They would have traded with it, and then I would have received mine own with usury.” 222 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPEN SABLE. In the parable of the “Pounds” we have a valuable ulustration of the purpose for which money is entrusted to the Christian. He receives it, not to be given for others to use, but for himself to make use of it. It igs received, not to be put into the bank to draw interest, but to be invested as capital in a business, and to be traded with, which is much more profitable. It is like the seed-corn which a farmer receives, not to be eaten, but to be sown, and which, though it may not be valu- able in itself, is capable of multiplying itself by the good husbandry of the farmer, and thus yielding a large return. So it was intended to be with the pounds in the servants’ hands. They were to be valuable, not so much in themselves, as in the increased value which Bis would give to their services. The lesson which this parable teaches us, therefore, is that money, talents, influence, and opportunities of use- fulness have no value in themselves, except in so far as they enable us the better to advance the cause of Christ; they are certainly not given for the purpose of merely enabling us to enjoy ourselves during the brief moment we have to spend here on our Master’s business. That business is to advance His kingdom, so that His will may be done on earth as it is done in heaven. God has servants in every rank of lite, and every man has got his pound suited to the place which he fills. He has need of men independent of business, of which there are many thousands in the Church, hundreds of whom might go out into foreign lands, as the Haldanes pro- posed to do, or it might be to carry on a work on the Continent, as Robert Haldane actually did; hundreds of others might carry on some enterprise at awe requir- ing both time and money, as some actually do. He has THE BANKING SYSTEM. 223 need of others who would be more useful by giving only their leisure time to evangelism, These are the rank and file of the evangelistic army, and, being needed in thousands more than any other, they are by far the most numerous. In every case, however, the purpose of every man’s life is the conversion of the world, and the estab- lishment of the Redeemer’s kingdom, and _ his money is the pound which has been given to him to trade with. But we shall not understand the full application of the parable unless we keep in mind that the Church of Christ is not made up of isolated independent individuals, but of congregations, in which the members, being many, have gifts differing one from another, but all of them working together, each in bis own department, and sup- plying that particular service which he is best able to perform. This is the true religious society, the only one that Christ ever instituted. There is a communion of saints in the church catholic, and there is a mutual dependence of the members, one upon another, even in it. Luther and Wesley, Bunyan and Cowper, Cruden and Henry, are distinguished examples of that catholic mem- bership, in which the whole body receives the benefit of some special service rendered by one. But it is to the congregation to which Paul specially refers when he speaks of the mutual dependence and co-operation of the members, and the advantage of diversity of gifts. It does occasionally happen that individual Christians are called of God to undertake a work of their own, in which - they could not ask the congregation with which they happen to be connected to take part with them. But, in general, it is in the church congregational rather than in the church catholic that the members enjoy the com- 224 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. munion of saints, and are able to edify and co-operate with one another. We must, therefore, apply the parable, not only to individuals, but to congregations. That is to say, the congregational property and the congregational funds, although they have been contributed by individuals, are as much the pound given to the congregation by God to trade with, as the business or the property given to individuals. In fact, the money so transferred from the private purse to the congregational does not change its character; for, when it is expended on congregational work, it is as much to be regarded as being traded with, as if it had been expended on the work of individuals. It is only when the congregation sends off its “pound” to some other society to trade with it, that it can be said to put it into the bank. We are now able, with the help of this parable, to answer the question, whether we ought any longer to give money to the religious societies and the schemes of the churches, seeing that there is no such duty com- manded in Scripture. The answer is this: If you are at present trading with your pound, and yourself using the money that God has given you, in paying the expenses connected with your own personal or congregational labours in the cause of Christ, the rents, the travelling expenses, the Bibles which you give away, and the tracts which you distri- bute, the expenses of your tea-meetings and conver- saziones, your gifts to the poor, and especially to the poor saints, then assuredly you are not called on to put your money in the bank. The bank 1s for another class of persons altogether. The income or material wealth which every Christian SS es THE BANKING SYSTEM. 225 has received is the pound which God has entrusted to him to trade with, so as to pay all these expenses, either for himself or in connection with the congregation of which he is a member, as well as to maintain his rank as a prince of heaven, by being generous and open-handed in his dealings with all men, liberal in giving to the poor, “distributing to the necessities of the saints, and being given to hospitality.” That is the use that God intends him to make of his money; and it is only when he is not able thus to trade with it himself that he ought to put it in the bank, in order that it may not be lost to his Master. But the parable teaches more than this. Our Lord says that the slothful servant who would not trade with his master’s pound ought to have put the whole of it into the bank, and not the tenth part of it only. If he had traded with the pound, he would have been entitled to use part of it for his own aliment while he was so em- ployed, but not otherwise. He has no right to say, “I must feed and clothe myself out of what God gives me as income. I must live according to my rank, and lay past money for my children; but I will put one-tenth of it into the bank, and then my Master (by other people’s trading) will receive His own with usury.” But the parable does not admit anything of the kind, Every master clothes and feeds his own servants ; but that is only when they are in his employment. He is not obliged to feed and clothe a servant, when that servant either neglects or refuses to do his work. When God’s children, therefore, go and work in His vineyard, and seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness on earth, they are entitled by His promise to use the property He gives them in feeding and clothing themselves, and in Q 226 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. making themselves comfortable while they are so engaged. He never sends any man on a warfare on His own charges, and therefore He gives the promise: ‘ All these things shall be added unto you.” But if they do not go and work in His vineyard; if they say, ‘‘I go, sir,” but go not, then they are bound to put the whole of their Master’s money into the bank, that others may trade with it instead. If they do not seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, they have no right to have these things added to them. To prove that it is so, we shall suppose the case of a missionary with a wife and family in some foreign land. The society or committee whose servant he is are bound to support him and his family as long as he does the work which they have committed to his charge, and the society or committee in sending him the money is rightly apply- ing it. The money that is thus spent by him, not only on his own but his wife’s and children’s food and clothing, is spent in the Master’s service, and is part of the money put into the bank by those who were not able to use it themselves in the same service. But we shall suppose, for the sake of illustration, that he too becomes a wicked and slothful servant, and instead of shining as “a light in the dark world, holding forth the word of life,” looks after his own things and not the things of God ; it would not then be sufficient for him to send back only a tenth of his salary, and say that he re- quires the rest to enable him to live; he would not be the less a wicked and a slothful servant. So far as Christ is concerned, before whom we must all stand in judgment, and give an account of our steward- ship, the missionary who is sent out by a society or a com- mittee is not more bound to spend and be spent in His THE BANKING SYSTEM. Oy: service, than those to whom God has given either a business or an estate of their own. As for those who are not Christians, they are the citizens who sent after the nobleman to say that they would not have him to rule over them; and will spend their money as they choose, because they never got their money to trade with it. They have neither part nor lot in the matter, and it would be mockery and presumption for them to give money to advance the cause of Him whose blood they trample under their feet, or to spread a Gospel which they themselves reject. Yet so much is money prized in the present day, and so much is the cause of Christ supposed to be dependent on money, that these men are often asked to give money for the sake of the kingdom. Christ is dishonoured and insulted by His people doing any such thing. Zerubbabel understood better what was due to the honour of his God, when Bishlam and Mithredath proposed to give help in building the temple. His answer was, ‘‘ Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God, but we ourselves will build it,” Many a man hag given money to build Jerusalem who will never enter within its gates. We must not forget that the money or property which God has given us was given to be traded with, not to be put into the bank; and if a Christian’s own work on behalf of Christ be hindered for want of money, either for accommodation for his classes, or apparatus for his work, or hospitality to the saints, or beneficence to the poor, or indeed, anything which would give greater efficiency to his own labours for Christ, he would not be justified in giving away money to provide accommodation for others, and no man ought to attempt to persuade him to do go. The pound which his Master has entrusted to hig care 228 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE, was given to him to trade with, and not to put into the bank. In like manner, if the want of money be made an excuse for a congregation not providing itself with a mission building in which its members may be trained to works of usefulness and labours of love, or not provid- ing itself with the necessary materials for prosecuting vigorously its own evangelistic work, it would be wrong in that congregation to give away its money to other parties, either societies or schemes, until its own con- eregational wants are provided for. To send away its money in such circumstances would be putting its money into the bank instead of trading with it. We are sometimes tempted to be very liberal with that which is not our own, and to regard our own work, or our own congregational work, as something that belongs to ourselves, and which we can easily sacrifice if we feel inclined ; but we are not at liberty to do so, because they are not ours. If it were our own comfort and convenience that we are asked to sacrifice, then indeed there would be a virtue in surrendering them. But if it be our usefulness, and more especially our duty, that we are called on to give up, these are not at our disposal, and therefore we must refuse. There is not a little danger of this systematic liberality degenerating into a blind, unreasoning, ecclesiastical tra- dition, which will ride rough-shod over the consciences of men, and exercise a tyrannical authority over both congregations and individuals; and this tyranny will not be the less dangerous because it does not exercise magisterial power. Synods are apt to forget that their functions are purely pastoral, not financial. They are not traders, and were never intended to be traders. What THE BANKING SYSTEM. 229 they have to do is to see that the congregations trade with their pounds—not to trade with the congregational funds themselves. The Master never gave them a pound to trade with, and did not even give them a purse in which to put it. — A synod from its very nature is not a corporate body like a congregation, capable of possessing property. It has only a temporary existence, being called together for special purposes, and as soon as these purposes are accom- plished, it is dissolved and dispersed, never to meet again. But these synods create banks which survive themselves ; and these banks are not real ecclesiastical bodies, which are capable of exercising ecclesiastical functions, either episcopal, presbyterial, or congregational. They are, in fact, ecclesiastical excrescences, which do not belong to the church at all, being organised upon commercial principles, and exercising only a money power the same as other religious societies. Tt as into these banks that the synods urge the congre- gations to put their pounds ; because these banks, however anomalous may be their constitution, are just as good as any other bank, and they are quite as proper places for slothful servants to put their pounds into; but that is only when they either will not or cannot trade with them themselves. The danger lies specially in this, that it is the banking and not the trading operations that the synods recognise and report; and for that reason, those congregations that love the praise of men are tempted to put their pound into the bank, and not to trade with it at all. This, of course, is not the intention of the synods, but these matters are governed by the operation of laws; and the effect is produced, not according to the intentions of 230 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. the synods, but according to the forces which they put in action. So long as the synods act in the capacity of bankers, and not in the capacity of church courts, the effect is inevitable; the trading will be discouraged and decline, and the banking will be encouraged and increase. CORBAN, 231 CHA RI ER eX Vi LL Corban, “But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; and honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free.””—Marruew xv. 5, 6. = UT although it is our duty to carry on and support de) our present system of missionary operations, we must take the more care that in doing so we are not neglecting other duties for its sake, nor allowing it to make us less liberal in meeting other claims which, being more scriptural, are more necessary to the real progress of the Redeemer’s kingdom on earth. This danger is more or less attendant on every human ordinance, and we must not expect to escape it altogether in this. Through the perversity of poor fallen humanity, whether it be Protestant or Roman Catholic, it very generally happens that when the traditions of men come into collision with the commandments of God, the tradi- tionary duties are attended to, while the commandments of God are lost sight of and disobeyed. It is interesting to observe how history repeats realy and how in the present day we have fallen into some of the very errors into which the scribes and Pharisees fell, eighteen hundred years ago—only, of course, in a milder 232 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. form. The reason is, that it is the same human nature acting, but in different circumstances, and we are apt to say to ourselves, “If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would have acted differently,’ while it may be we are treading unconsciously in their footsteps. One of these Jewish traditions was the law of Corban, which enabled any hard-hearted Jew to withhold help from his needy parents, by making a gift to God of what he ought to have given to them. All that was needed for the purpose was that he should say to his parents, ‘‘ Corban ”—meaning by that, “It is a gift by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;” and if he put the simaetaa nibiiks amount into the yoga BLE: he got quit of his obligation. The eontbenn (Matt. xxvil. 6) was the money chest into which free-will offerings were cast for the keeping of the temple in repair. It was in itself a very excellent institution, but it was not of Divine appointment; and although the giving or not giving was left to every man’s inclination, it is evident from what our Lord said about the poor widow who. cast in her two mites, that He highly approved of it. In this respect, therefore, it stood very much on the same footing as our religious societies and missionary schemes. But however excellent the institution might be, our Lord made a distinction between it and commanded duty; and therefore He maintained that it could not relieve the son from the obligations which he owed to his parents, however liberal might be his gifts to the temple. What our Lord objected to was not the thing itself, but the exaggerated importance which the scribes and Pharisees attached to it, as contrasted with the indifference with which they regarded the neglect of those duties CORBAN. 233 which they, as ecclesiastical office-bearers, ought especially to have inculcated and enforced. What we object to in like manner is not systematic liberality in itself; far less do we object to the self- denial for which it pleads. On the contrary, in the case of those to whom God has given more than the comforts of life, and especially those who are in affluent circum- stances, we would regard the tenth part of any Christian’s income as a very small proportion to be spent in the service of his Master. What we object to is the way in which it is spent; or rather, the way in which it is not spent, but given away for other people to spend, while he himself is left bare and dry; so like to the men of the world around him, that no person would know the differ- ence without examining the money columns of the mis- slonary reports. Neither do we object to religious societies, or even the synods establishing “ banks” for receiving the “ pounds” of those servants who either will not, or think they can- not, “trade” with them. The evil lies not so much in what they do, as in what they do not do. What we object to is the unreasonable and exaggerated importance that is at present attached to the giving away of money, and the comparative indifference with which the Churches regard evangelistic idleness, worldliness, and neglect of the poor. The paying tithes of mint and anise and cumin is all good in its way, but when it becomes a substitute for personal labour in behalf of Christ, and personal beneficence to all around, it becomes an offence - and a stumbling-block in the way of the Churches. In regard to religious societies, we do not object to them at all, because their existence has been rendered necessary by the idleness of congregations, whose work they 234 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. are attempting to do. - They have no pastoral functions of their own, and do not pretend to have any delegated authority from Christ; their only purpose being to receive the “ pounds ” of idle servants, and to lend them to others who will make a better use of them. They are “banks,” and nothing but banks, laden with no other responsibility than faithful book-keeping. But it is very different with the elders and courts of the Church; they have other duties to perform; and although we do not object to their getting up banks of their own, and urging every idle servant to put his pound into their bank instead of keeping it laid up in a napkin, the duty is all the more obligatory on them to teach every servant to trade with his pound, and oversee him while he is doing so. Our present system is in danger of converting the Church courts into gigantic banks, vieing with each other in the amount of their annual deposits; instead of being, as they ought to be, the overseers of communities of busy but unostentatious traders, trading conscientiously with their Master’s pounds. What we wish to point out is, that our present evan- gelistic system, by being conducted exclusively on the banking system, may damage the cause of Christianity, by not making corresponding efforts to stimulate the members of the Church in trading with their pounds. Of course, it is not the intention of the religious societies or the church missionary schemes to discourage the trading ; but that may not the less be the effect of their arrange- ments. We have said that we must not withhold our contri- butions from our present church schemes and missionary operations; but that is only when our doing so would not prevent us from fulfilling the obligations which are CORBAN. 235 imposed on us as a part of our Christian character and duty. If the Church were in its natural and healthy state, there would really be very little room for liberality of this systematic kind, because ten per cent. of our in- come might be most advantageously employed in following in the footsteps of our Divine Master, without giving any- thing to religious societies or the missionary schemes of the Churches; and if our donations were to be at the expense of such an employment of our money it would be a decided case of “ Corban.” In business, for example, the Christian must not be like the men of the world, who think that a man’s life consisteth in the abundance of the things which he possesseth, and who, therefore, think it necessary to make their own interests the centre-point around which every- thing else must revolve. The Christian, on the contrary, being in partnership with Christ, must be prepared to sacrifice a good deal in the way of trade for the credit of his partner. He will give “ good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over;” and although eventually this will be no loss even in a worldly point of view, he must remember that the sowing must go before the reaping, and, therefore, part of the ten per cent. must go in that direction. He must not only not be what the world calls a “hard man,” but he must be what the world contemptuously calls a “soft man,” not from tempera- ment but from principle. He must sometimes suffer him- self to be defrauded; so that if one will take away his coat, he must be prepared to let him have his cloak also. © Who is to uphold God’s honour on earth, if it be not the Christian? And who is to exemplify Christ’s high morality in the face of a despising world, if it be not the Christian? And he must not expect to be able to do it 236 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. upon nothing. God gave him his money for the purpose. Did He not? and, therefore, this is the first thing upon which he must spend it. Besides this, the Christian must have his luxuries, as the worldly man has his: the feeding of the hungry, the clothing of the naked, the distributing to the necessities of the saints and the exercise of hospitality. All these are the Christian’s luxuries, and cannot be had without money. When he makes a feast, also, he calls the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind, which always involves some little expense. He makes evangelistic feasts also, like Levi, when he introduced his friends to Jesus, and in doing so had not in view the receiving invitations in return. There are, besides, the expenses connected with his own evangelistic work, either separate or connected with his congregation; for if he shares the accommodation which they provide, and avails himself of the apparatus and arrangements of which they bear the expense, he, of course, will contribute his share to the common fund of which he is a participator. Considering the necessity under which the Christian hes, so to live as to keep up the honour of his Master and maintain the dignity of an ambassador and prince of heaven, there is not a little danger of this “Systematic Liberality” working mischief and becoming a modern “Corban ” among our moral and religious duties. There are claims upon the Christian’s liberality which are most distinctly recognised in Scripture, and which on that account have all the force of moral obligations; and it is these which are especially endangered by the promulga- tion and constant preaching and pressure of this new doctrine. For that reason, it is necessary not only that it should be watched and guarded, but that it should be CORBAN. . 236 taken down from its high seat of authority and made to take its place among other modest virtues, that are to be practised only as occasion requires. First of all, there is the payment of a man’s lawful debts, which is sometimes, or rather often, endangered by the pressure of the claims that are made upon the Christian’s liberality, both by religious societies and ecclesiastical solicitation. So ingeniously contrived and so perfect is the system and its machinery, that although the amount of a man’s contributions is really left to his own discretion, it is only within very narrow limits that in many cases it is altogether voluntary. Such is the moral pressure and such the regard for the praise or the censure of men, that few would have the moral courage to appear singular by refraining to give, even when the giving is at the expense of duty. We question if there have been many cases in which bankruptcy was preceded by the suspension of contributions to the schemes of the Church. These contributions being regarded by some as debts of honour, the stoppage of which would lower a man in the opinion of his fellows more than the delay of payment of his tradesman’s accounts, he thinks himself _justified or necessitated to say “ Corban ” to his creditors. These contributions do not stand on the same footing as the payment of seat-rents, or the support of a pastor, for this reason, that the payment of the pastor is a real debt, and is entitled to rank with the claims of other creditors. But no man has a right to set aside any part of his income for missionary purposes, or, as it is called, for “the Lord’s share,” until every tradesman’s account is paid and every creditor satisfied with the tome of payment. The claim as upon God’s part is entirely fictitious, and He will not accept robbery for burnt-offering. “Owe no 238 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. man anything but to love one another” (Rom. xiii. 8). ‘Provide things honest in the sight of all men” (Rom. xil. 17). These passages lay an arrest upon every penny that is given for missionary purposes by any man who is in debt. 2. In the second place, the proper support of a man’s own family and the education of his children must not be sacrificed in favour of this fictitious claim of systematic liberality. This was the point that was selected by our Lord Himself as the competing claim which had been set aside or disregarded by the Jews, in consequence of this tradition of the law of Corban. In the case of the poor widow, it was herself that she stinted in order to put her money into the Corbanas and therefore, our Lord com- mended her. But if she had had a family at home depending upon her two mites, as well as herself, the case would have been very different; orif by her extreme liberality the education of her children had been neglected; or if, instead of being a widow, she had been a wife, and had put in the money with which she ought to have provided her husband’s dinner, she would have justly merited the censure of our Lord, instead of receiving His approbation. If the doctrine of systematic liberality had had Scripture warrant, as it is said it has, then a competing claim in all these cases would have to be recognised, and the Lord’s tenth would have to be ranked as one of the creditors ; but the claim must be disallowed, because it is fictitious, and the claims of a man’s family must be protected. Were the doctrine of systematic liberality to be found in the Bible, a man would be quite justified in stinting his family and his parents whether they consented to it or not, on the same principle that he would be bound to do so in order to pay his debts; but because it is not a CORBAN. 239 moral claim, he has no right to inflict any compulsory hardship upon others. He must be just before he is generous. No doubt it is most amiable and praiseworthy for a man or a woman to deny himself the luxuries or even the comforts of life for the purpose of giving to any worthy object; and it would be both amiable and praise- worthy were he to induce his family, and get them to consent, to subject themselves to the same privations for the sake of the cause, whatever it might be; but were he, without their willing consent, to deprive them of the comforts of life with which God has supplied him for their use, and to say to them, “It is Corban, by whatsoever ye might be profited by me,” he would noi be free. 3. There is also the proper support of a man’s own pastor. This is a moral debt which has been constituted by Scripture, and therefore because it is entitled to rank with the claims of other creditors, it must not be classed among the objects of voluntary liberality, which have no claim whatever. Paul places the support of the pastor on the same footing as household expenses. The man and his family receive from the pastor what Paul calls spiritual things; and he tells us that the man is bound in return to give his carnal things, not as a matter of generosity, but as a matter of honesty. No man, there- fore, has a right to stint his contributions to his pastor’s salary on the ground that he wishes to give more largely to missions. ‘The one is a debt, the other is a gift; and to deduct from the one in order to enlarge the other is to say to his pastor, “Corban.” No man and no congre- gation has any right to give money away to other purposes if he or they be thereby prevented from properly sup- porting their own pastor, or if it shall leave him to be 240 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. partially supported by others. They are mixing up the traditions of men with the commands of God, and allow- ing their devotion to the one to interfere with their obedience to the other. Let them first perform the duties which God has required of them; and then, but not till then, if they have anything to spare, let them be generous in helping others. There is reason to fear that the Church has been injured in this regard; by the burdens which it has assumed in consequence of its own non-employment in evangelistic work. This has rendered it necessary to hire a whole army of substitutes, which, however large, can never supply its lack of service. It is to be feared that there are many con- gregations in the present day misled by this cry for money, who are underpaying the pastorate by a false economy in order to swell their contributions to other purposes. They are unconsciously, but not the less really, lowering the status of the pastorate. Were it not for this, many congregations would be able to employ the very highest talent in the pastorate; whereas by the present levelling communism they are not able to bid for more than third- rate men, only one out of every ten rising above decent mediocrity. The reason is, that one-half of the funds re- quired for the supply of the pulpit is swept off for other purposes that ought to have had no existence. Spirit- ually-minded pastors and men full of the Holy Ghost can be had for any sum over a hundred pounds a-year, because there are such men in every rank of life, from the highest to the lowest. But in the present day more is needed than that, and that more can only be got for money. We need in the present day men of first-rate talent, with the habits and the connections of gentlemen, in addition to spiritual-mindedness and the baptism of CORBAN. 241 the Holy Ghost; but in order to get such men, we must learn to pay for them. These things are regulated, not by sentiment nor even by argument, but by the action of law, which we can neither argue with nor overreach. If we wish a low class of spiritually-minded pastors—and they are not to be despised—we shall have a plentiful supply by multiplying bursaries, and levelling the stipends; but if we want a high class of spiritually-minded men, we should raise the stipends, and be independent of bursaries. The social laws have more in their power than Church courts. The same principle applies to our congregational mis- sions. It is quite possible to stimulate the sectarian zeal of a congregation so as to swallow up every other interest, including even the interests of the congregation itself, so that its highest ambition will be to become a guing, with- out being a working congregation. This can be done by a combination of stimulants. Let the importance of the denominational schemes be frequently pressed upon the people from the pulpit; let prospectuses be regularly laid in the pews previous to every occasion on which there is to be a collection. Let the people be visited at their homes, twelve times a-year in behalf of one scheme, and four times a-year on behalf of another. Let deputations be received from the Presbytery urging the congregation to increase their subscriptions. Let the amount of their contributions be published every month, side by side with those of other congregations, marking the increase or de- crease during the year in order to stimulate their rivalry in giving. It must not be left to the choice of the mem- bers of the congregation whether they will purchase their denominational Records or not; but the members must be presented monthly with copies gratis, and the expense R 242 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. paid out of the congregational funds. And, in addition to all this, at the weekly prayer meeting let extracts be read from the Record to awaken the people’s curiosity in regard to its contents, to keep them in remembrance, and to induce them to take an interest in the schemes which they are called on to support. Let this process be adopted and continued for a sufficient length of time, and the inevitable effect will be that the congregation will become financially diseased. There will be a deficiency every year in the congregational funds for congregational expenses, so that an effort must always be made to raise as much money as will make up for what is awanting. Their pastor will be but poorly paid. There will be no mis- sionary or Bible-woman, neither will they have any mission building of their own in which the members are taught — to work. Should the pastor be anxious to have such a building, and should he urge on the deacons’ court the desirableness of raising funds for the purpose, he will be told that they could not possibly ask the congregation to give the money, because it might have the effect of diminishing their subscriptions for denominational pur- poses. And finally, if any of the members fall into poverty, or by some accident be laid aside from work, they will admit their poor brother to their poor roll, and allow him one shilling per week until he be able again to resume his employment. But, per contra, they will manage to send up every year a thousand pounds to their General Synod for the carrying on of the denominational schemes; and should the General Synod set agoing a subscription for establish- ing a central building-fund in connection with the deno- mination, they will have no difficulty in raising two thou- sand pounds, to be sent up as THEIR contribution to the CORBAN. 243 scheme. This is not an imaginery case, neither is it the people’s fault, because they have heen educated to it; but it is a full-blown specimen of what denominational zeal can do in extinguishing congregational life, when the pressure is from without. 4, and lastly. The claims of the poor are in danger of being overborne and lost sight of by the systematic energy with which systematic liberality is pressed upon the con- science in behalf of missions, Here, however, we must distinguish between the bene- volent institutions which have Sprung up within the last fifty years for the relief of the poor, and especially for orphans and the young outcasts of society, whom it is of the utmost importance to rescue before they become habituated to a life of sin. In regard to them it cannot be said that they have no warrant in Scripture, because beneficence to the poor is one of those duties which are especially inculcated under both the Old and the New Testament dispensations. They are, therefore, worthy of the most liberal support ; and those who have never been trained to visit and care for the poor ought to be grate- ful to these institutions which enable them. to fulfil so important a duty without any trouble on their part. And yet there is a more excellent way. It would have been better if Christians had from their youth been trained by their pastors and their parents to seek out for themselves the objects of their compassion, and to be the dispensers of their own sweet charities. It would be better for the giver himself, better for those who received, better for the Church, and better for society, besides being better fitted to call forth a more abounding supply of material comforts for the poor, It would be better for the giver, because it exercises 244 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. and cultivates the very noblest of his instincts, and sup- plies him with the purest and most heavenly enjoyment. It would be better for the objects of his compassion, because the loving smile that would accompany the gift, would add to its value, and make them think better of the world, which is desirable, and better of Christianity, which 1s more desirable still. It would be better for the Church, because these are the beautiful garments of Jerusalem, which sit more gracefully when they are put on, than when they are hung up on the clothes-line of a printed report. And it would be better for society—better when mercy “droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath,” than when it comes down in artificial water- spouts in particular localities. We find no fault with these blessed institutions, but we cannot but think that when the loving hand of charity comes into personal con- tact with the needy hand of penury, there is more of heaven than of earth both in the giving and receiving. There is one other department of Christian liberality, | however, which must be cultivated by the Christian him- self, and which cannot be done through another; it is the ‘distributing to the necessities of the saints, and being given to hospitality.” There is no institution or society to which we could send our contributions in order to do this duty for us; and of all the uses that can be made of money, this is the most blessed and the most profitable. He that giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord, and the Lord will repay him with interest ; but he that giveth to a disciple in the name of a disciple will receive a disciple’s reward, which is a thousand times better? What is that? Our Lord Himself tells us—-“ Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” If men believed this, how anxious CORBAN. 245 would they be to discover the poor saints, and to minister to their necessities! Up till the time when this new doctrine was floated upon the Church, Christ’s poor brethren had been left to our care as the persons through whom especially we were permitted and encouraged to give to Christ. But when Christ Himself was represented as coming to us in another form claiming our money, not for His poor brethren, but for Himself, for the honour of His name, and for the salvation of perishing souls, the whole of our financial system was thrown into confusion in presence of this awful claim, and everything must give way to that. For if the claim be true, and if the cause of Christ be really hindered by the want of money, there is no claim which can be allowed for a moment to stand in competition till the last soul has been gathered into the kingdom. The poor saints themselves must be left out in the cold for the sake of their Master ; and we must say “Corban” to every applicant until this most urgent of all claims be satisfied. And when willit be satisfied ? We have shown that it never can. All other claims are modest and exhaustible; this alone is imperious and inexhaustible. The indefinite drain which it establishes on the Church’s liberality, is so measureless and insati- able that its tendency is to dry up Christian beneficence in every other department, and create a financial famine, wherever it appears. Its absorptive powers are so great that any sum from half-a-penny to half-a-million will disappear in this huge sand-bed, and leave it as un- slokened as it was eee ready to swallow up any other benefactions that may come in its way. Like the daughters of the horse-leech, its name is “ Give, Give ;” and like the grave and the earth that is not filled with water, it never says “It is enough,” 246 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. The consequence of all this is, that the Christianity which is presented to the world in the persons of its disciples is a lean and hungry system of doctrines and principles, bristling with arguments and controversy ; and when a convert is made, the first visit he receives is from the deacon, and the most Christian grace that is urged upon him for cultivation is, not “to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world,” not to be “always abounding in the work of the Lord,” nor to “shine as a light in the world holding forth the word of life,” but to give liberally of his substance for the advancement of the cause of Christ. Christianity is a religion of love and unselfishness, and were it not for this inexhaustible drain of money continually flowing upward to the Synod, the Christian would be able, like his Master, to go about continually doing good, his paths dropping fatness. The Christian, being Christ’s representative on earth, must exhibit in his own person the same self-sacrificing love that was so conspicuous in his Master, who went about continually doing good. He is Christ’s epistle, known and read of all men, even of those who may never hear the Word. How much, then, depends on his being a faithful likeness, else is Christ misrepresented. He ought to be an illustrated and illuminated epistle that will adorn the doctrine that he teaches, and win to the Saviour those who would not listen to the Word alone. If, therefore, the Christian’s benefactions be all sent away to be administered at a distance by others, he strips himself of the very power by which he was to -be a witness for Christ. A close-handed Christian is the very worst ambassador that Christ can have, because CORBAN. 247 the very purpose of His coming was to exhibit the beauty and the power of self-sacrificing love in conquer- ing the enmity of the human heart. In this, therefore, he ought to be the reflected image of his Master. What God requires of the Church is, that every Christ- van should spend and be spent for Christ; that is to say, that he should labour personally in the great work of the world’s conversion; that he should use his busi- ness and his property as his sustentation fund while he is so engaged, and as the means by which he is to do his Father’s work more effectually. In this way all the gifts and accomplishments with which he is endued should be exercised in this behalf. Among the rest, money is God’s gift; and it is especially to be used in adorning the Christianity of the man who receives it, to take away, in the first place, the worldly hardness and close bargaining that is so apt to cling to the Christian even after his conversion. It is given to him to enable him to dispense blessings all around him, so that, when the ear hears him, it blesses him, and when the eye sees him, it gives witness to him. It puts it into his power to deliver the poor that cry, and to cause the widows heart to sing for joy. It is given to him especially to make his own evangelistic labours more effective, by providing the proper accommodation, and all the apparatus which a sanctified ingenuity can devise in rendering it more joyous and attractive. It is, as it were, the material life-blood that courses through his usefulness, and gives it vigour and material power, as well as comeliness and beauty; and we must keep in mind that there is, at least, the possibility of that use- fulness and beauty being bled to death by systematic depletion. 248 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. CHAPTER XVIII. Philanthropy w MWotive to Evangelism, ‘Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus,”— PHILIPPIANS ii. 4, 5. **Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” —2 CORINTHIANS Viii. 9. ‘D VEN though there were no heaven and no hell, and ID though the things of a present world were the only objects of all human care, there would still be the most powerful inducements for the Christian to give his strength and energies to the spread of the Gospel, were it for no other purpose than to deliver a sin-stricken world from the miseries under which it at present groans, and to diffuse peace, plenty, and happiness over the whole human race. The Gospel is the only cure for the world’s woes. It is God’s cure, and has a power, an efficacy, and a glorious universality in its application that make it worthy of God and of the awful price that was paid for it. All other remedies are vain, and yet man will be con- tinually prescribing them. God’s cure goes to the root of the evil and destroys the cause, and without that all other applications are only skin deep. Sin is the living death, the source of all human suffering, and until that PHILANTHROPY A MOTIVE TO EVANGELISM. 249 be killed all other remedies are vain. But the death of Christ, being the death of sin, dried up the great fountain of the world’s miseries. ‘The Christian knows this, but does he act accordingly? If a physician, after spending his whole life in seeking a universal medicine that would alleviate every pain and cure every disease, were at length to discover it, and on his dying bed entrust the precious secret to his children, entreating them to use every effort for his sake to publish it abroad; what would we think of them if, instead of giving to the world the benefit of their father’s discovery, they buried their father and his discovery together, never ceiving themselves the trouble of communicating it to the world! Yet this is the position in which thousands of Christians and the Church generally stand, in not having fulfilled the commission which the blessed Jesus put into their hands. He came down from heaven to earth, to bring pardon and peace, life and joy, to a world lying in wretchedness and sin. By the sacrifice of His own lite He secured salvation and happiness for every member of the human race who can be persuaded to receive Him: and ere He ascended up on high, He gave the commission to his disciples to go out into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. He charged them by all their regards for Him to give their whole life and energies to this great commission, and care for no other thing; re- minding them that their time here is but as a moment compared with the endless ages which they will enjoy with Him when their work on earth is done. Are we not, therefore, bound to consecrate every faculty of our mind and every effort of our body to this great work, not only in compassion towards our fellow-men, but from a feeling of sympathy with Him who charged us with the 250 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. commission. Might not the world ask if the Church has not been guilty of its blood! It is itself incapable of curing or even alleviating its own miseries, because its very mercies are cruelty. We need not wonder at the world itself turning a deaf ear to the cry of misery, or at man hiding his face from the sufferings of his brother- man. But how can we account for the sons of God, the followers of the blessed Jesus, turning their backs on the work that He left them to do, and, having secured their own salvation, wrapping themselves up in their own selfish- ness, and looking on without a pang, or even a blush, at the fruits of their own unfaithfulness. There is not a cry of misery or a sigh of sorrow that ascends into the ear of a compassionate God, that does not cry out against the selfish cruelty and neglect of the Church of Christ. In the parable of the unforgiving servant, the agerava- tion of his offence consisted in this, that he himself had been forgiven. Does not the idle Christian he under the same condemnation, in sight of the world’s miseries? The compassion of the ever-blessed God was roused by the groans of a sinful and suffermg world, and although He knew that the blood and agony of His own beloved Son must be the price of its deliverance, yet such was His love and deep compassion that He spared not His only- begotten Son, but gave Him up to death and torment to provide a cure. And that beloved Son, having consented to the sacrifice, left the bosom of His Father, and the hymns of angels, and, clothing himself in the guilt and misery of our fallen nature, wrought out our salvation with His tears and blood. His life on earth was spent in acts of mercy and self-denying love, without even a thought about His own comfort or His own honour or interests on earth; and, having finished His work here, He PHILANTHROPY A MOTIVE TO EVANGELISM. 251 left His followers an example, that they should follow His steps. He begged them, for His sake, not to make this world their home, nor to lay up treasure here. He entreated them not to be occupying their thoughts about what they should eat or what they should drink or where- withal they should be clothed, any more than He did, but to seek as the great purpose for which they were to live, the advancement of His kingdom, till the whole world should submit to His sway, and God’s will be done on earth as it is done in heaven. Does not the conduct of the Church in this respect present an awful contrast to this grand ideal, and will it not bring down a scathing condemnation? Behold God’s own blood-bought children surrounded by the miseries which they were sent to cure, sitting down at the Lord’s table, and there commemorating His dying love, the love of the very Man that trusted them, and sent them on this great enterprise. See them in the face of all that, with the Bible in their hands and their faces towards heaven living for the things of a present world, anxious about its comforts, concerned about its opinion, and grasping at its gold, minding earthly things, and proposing to pay their Master off with a tenth part of the good things that He has given them, if He will only let them sit down in the world with the other nine. If we had anything of the compassionate heart of Jesus, we should not be able to bear the sight of the world’s miseries, without rushing to its help. The very honour of bemg engaged in the same work with Him would stimulate us to enthusiasm in the cause; and if the same mind were in us that was in Him we would delight in it. The poor outcasts on the streets, the famished, shivering children, victims of their parents’ drunkenness, and the 252 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. poor widow in her comfortless home, would awaken our sympathies and draw out our compassion. We would take more delight in clothing the naked, and feeding the hungry, than in filling ourselves with the good things of a present world. Instead of making feasts of luxury and mutual hospitality, we would bring in the poor, the maimed, the halt, and the blind, and feel far more delight in seeing their happiness and enjoyment than if we consumed it all ourselves. If we were in sympathy with Christ, these would be our luxuries on earth, not to speak of the sweet consciousness of being under His approving eye and pleas- ing Him, or the recompense which He has been pleased to tell us awaits all such Christlike occupations. But how much more ought we to spend and be spent in spreading abroad the glad sound of the Gospel, which is the true panacea for all the world’s woes! While we give material help in alleviating the sufferings that flow from the dominion of sin and Satan over a fallen world, we should all the more endeavour to overthrow his kingdom, and establish the reign of Jesus in its stead. Even for our country’s sake, a life devoted to the advancement of the cause of Christ on earth is the highest patriotism, as well as the most enlightened philanthropy. Love and unselfishness are the only cure both of sin and misery ; all other remedies are only palliative. The reli- gion of Jesus changes the lion into the lamb, and purifies the voluptuary. Nothing else will ever cure the drunken- ness of this country, or dissolve that confederacy that has obtained so much power, and imposed its yoke upon our Legislature. The religion of Jesus will abolish poor-houses, and empty our lunatic asylums and prisons. The religion of Jesus will disarm the nations. In a financial point of view, the spread of the Gospel in this country would be PHILANTHROPY A MOTIVE TO EVANGELISM. 253 more valuable than a California of gold. It would save millions of our national expenditure, and millions of our private losses. It would add millions to our national revenues, and millions to our national gains. For all the sorrows that afflict the world, the horrors of slavery, and the desolations of war; for all the self- inflicted wretchedness of heathenism both at home and abroad; for all the heart-burnings and anguish that fill the cup of the ungodly, from the palace to the felon’s cell, ——Christianity is the only cure. This is God’s great scheme for the recovery of a fallen world, and for restor- ing to it peace and joy. It is God’s cure for the world’s multitude of woes, although it is the one that is most rejected and despised by the world, and the most neglected by God’s own people. The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now, waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. There is scarcely a public man who has not got his plan or theory of what would benefit mankind; and many would unselfishly give large sums of money to get a patient hearing from man- kind if they would adopt his remedy. When a man makes a discovery which he thinks will change the face of society, with what enthusiasm does he enter upon its prosecution and publication, and what. sacrifices will he not make to secure its adoption! His whole heart and imagination are filled with the idea of its importance, and his enthusiasm is kindled with the thought of the changes which it will effect and the blessings which it will scatter around. Very often these anticipations are vain, but we see in them something like the enthusiasm which the Christian should feel when he consecrates his life to the spread of God’s great remedy—the GOSPEL. 254 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. CHAPTER XIX. Che Value of Souls a Motive to Ebangelism. “‘T pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldst send him to my father’s house ; for I have five brethren ; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.” — LUKE xvi. 27, 28. ““ Others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire.’—JupE 23. UT the sorrows of a present life are not all that pe) claim the compassionate regards of the Christian Church ; there are the sorrows of the world that is to come, the worm that never dies, and the fire that is never quenched. It is a solemn thought that the infor- mation which we possess on that awful subject has not reached us through the pen of any merely human prophet, but almost exclusively from the mouth of the Lord Jesus Himself, the prince of compassion, who alone of all the prophets had access to that place of woe, and could describe 1t from His own personal knowledge. The doom of one lost soul is in itself a universe of woe ; and when he lifts up his eyes, being in torment, without one drop of water to cool his tongue, how awful must be the aggravating misery of knowing that his anguish of soul will never have an end; that days, and months, and years will come and go, and will still find him writhing in his agonies; he cannot sleep, he cannot die, and will ever be unable to find any relief. Years and THE VALUE OF SOULS A MOTIVE TO EVANGELISM. 255 thousands of years, and millions of ages hence, when the sun has grown old and dim, the lost soul will be still young in agony, in weeping and wailing, and gnashing his teeth ; he will be only beginning to be Vee So frightful 18 che: thought of such an eternity, that Tagateliveaill men have rushed distracted from its Gonterrniecion to solace themselves with the forlorn hope that surely it is too dreadful to be true. But there is an awful consistency in the doctrine, because it helps to explain that which otherwise would be inexplicable. Why else would God give up His eternal Son; and why else would He condescend to plead with the sinner to have mercy upon himself? If there were no sorrows greater than those we see on earth, and none more enduring than those that the grave can cover, the sweat of Gethsemane and the cry on Calvary would be not only an unmeaning but a useless tragedy, because earth’s sorrows have not been cured. Even though it were but one soul that was in danger of such a fate, we might well shrink in horror from the very possibility ; and if it were in our power to save it, it would be more than our duty to give all that we pos- sessed in the world to avert so fearful a calamity, and to give no sleep to our eyes nor slumber to our eyelids until its rescue had been accomplished. But alas! it is not one soul only, but thousands,—not thousands only, but millions, that are descending year by year into a lost eternity. Hear what a gifted and noted unbeliever says: “ Were I a religionist,’ says he, “did I truly, firmly, consistently, believe, as millions say they do, that the knowledge and the practice of religion in this life influences destiny in another—the Spirit of Truth be my witness, religion 256 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. should be to me everything. I would cast aside earthly enjoyments as dross, earthly cares as follies, and earthly thoughts and feelings as less than vanity. Religion should be my first waking thought, and my last image when sleep sunk me in unconsciousness. I would labour in her cause alone. I would not labour for the meat that perisheth, nor for treasure on earth, where moth and . rust corrupt, and thieves break through and steal; but only for a crown of glory in heavenly regions, where treasures and happiness are alike beyond the reach of time and chance. I would take thought for the morrow of eternity alone. I would esteem one soul gained to heaven worth a life of suffermg. There should be neither worldly prudence nor calculating circumspection in my engrossing zeal. Earthly consequences should never stay my hand nor seal my lips. I would speak to the imagi- nation, awaken the feelings, stir up the passions, arouse’ the fancy. arth, its joys and its griefs, should occupy no*moment of my thoughts; for these are but the affairs of a portion of eternity so small that no language can express its comparatively infinite littleness. “T would strive to look but on eternity, and on the immortal souls around me, soon to be everlastingly miser- able or everlastingly happy. I would deem all who thought only of this world, merely seeking to increase temporal happiness, and labouring to obtain, temporal goods—I would deem all such pure madmen. I would go forth to the world and preach to it, in season and out of season; and my text should be, ‘What shall it profit aman, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul.” So spake this eloquent infidel. If the men of Sodom will rise up in’ judgment against the Jews who rejected Christ, will not this man rise up THE VALUE OF SOULS A MOTIVE TO EVANGELISM. 257 in judgment against the churches of Christ who know their duty and do it not? The cold-blooded talk of men whose daily life gave the lie to their profession, roused the indignation of this honest infidel and confirmed him in his unbelief. Not all the infidel books that have ever been written, and not all the blasphemies that have ever been uttered, have done half so much mischief as the flagrant inconsistencies of Christians, and the contradic- tion which their conduct gives to their professed belief. Christ believed in eternal punishment, and His conduct was entirely consistent with such a belief. The infidel could find no inconsistency in Him. Religion was to Him everything. He cast aside earthly enjoyments as dross, earthly cares as follies, and earthly thoughts and feelings as less than vanity. Religion was His first waking thought, and His last image when sleep sunk Him in unconsciousness. He laboured in her cause alone. He did not labour for the meat that perisheth, nor for treasure on earth, where moth and rust corrupt, and thieves break through and steal, but only to win for others an inheritance in glory, where treasures and happi- ness are alike beyond the reach of time and chance. He took thought for the morrow of eternity alone. He esteemed one soul gained to heaven worth a life of suffering. There was neither worldly prudence nor cal- culating circumspection in His engrossing zeal. Earthly consequences never stayed His hand nor sealed His lips. He spoke to the imagination, He awakened the feelings, He stirred the passions, He aroused the fancy. Earth, its joys and its griefs, occupied no moment of His thoughts, for these were but the affairs of a portion of eternity so small that no language can express its comparatively in- finite littleness. He looked but on eternity, and on the S 258 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. immortal souls around Him soon to be everlastingly miser- able or everlastingly happy. He deemed all who thought only of this world, merely seeking to increase temporal happiness, and labouring to obtain temporal goods, as pure madmen. He went forth to the world and preached to it in season and out of season, and His text was, “ WHAT SHALL IT PROFIT A MAN, IF HE GAIN THE WHOLE WORLD, AND LOSE HIS OWN SOUL.” Yes, blessed Jesus, Thou didst come through the test of this infidel’s most exalted imagination, and surpassed it all, because Thou didst believe in the awful realities of eternal punishment, and Thy life was consistent with such a belief. O Christian! if this was the Master’s estimate of the vaiue of human souls; and if He was willing to sacrifice all the delights of time, and all the comforts of this world, that He might rescue poor sinners that were His enemies from this fiery grave, is 1t too much to ask of you to become partners with Him in this great enter- prise, knowing that if you suffer with Him you will also be glorified together ? EEE LOYALTY TO CHRIST A MOTIVE TO EVANGELISM, 259 CHAPTER XX. Loyalty to Christ a Motive to Evangelism. ‘That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”— PHILIPPIANS ii. 10, 11. (i NE reason why the pulse of God’s people beats so 14. feebly and so fitfully in the cause of missions is, that we have been accustomed to appeal on its behalf to their compassion for souls, and their concern for the wellbeing of their fellow-men, instead of appealing to their devotion to the service and the honour of their Divine Master. Tt is a remarkable fact that neither Christ nor His apostles ever presented compassion for souls as the chief motive to evangelistic labour; but rather a loyal regard for the advancement of the Redeemer’s kingdom and the establishment of His will as the governing power among the nations. The commission which the apostles received was “for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name” (Rom. i. 5); “teaching them to observe whatso- ever he had commanded” (Matt. xxviii. 20). Compassion is represented in Scripture as the great moving power that induced the Father to undertake the 260 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE, work of redemption. “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” No other motive mingled with the overflowing of His love. With the Son it was otherwise; it was both love and duty. ‘Hereby perceive we the love [of Jesus], because he laid down his life for us,” and “greater love hath no man than that he should lay down his life for his friends.” But it was also obedience to His Father's command. “TI came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.” “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.” In regard to the Christian and the Christian Church, it is otherwise. No doubt these motives may be helpful to the cause, and their zeal may be stimulated both by compassion and obedience,—by compassion for souls, and by their desire to fulfil the commission which they have received from their Divine Master. But these are feeble incentives compared with the great motive which 1s pre- sented in Scripture, and which alone is able to kindle enthusiasm in the Christian’s heart—viz., a feeling of loyalty towards Christ, and an earnest longing to see Him exalted as the Prince of the kings of the earth. The motives in each case correspond with the nature and character of each: with the Father, it was love, mercy, and compassion, because He was Himself a universe of love. The cry of agony and need that reached and filled the Father’s ear found a responsive chord in the Divine compassion that vibrated in sympathy, and, there- LOYALTY TO CHRIST A MOTIVE TO EVANGELISM. 261 fore, love was God’s one great motive in sending forth His Son. There was not in any created being a heart that could be so grandly moved, or moved to such a sacrifice, unaided by any other inducement. In regard to His Son there was not only, in virtue-of His Godhead, the same love that moved the Father, but there was also, in virtue of His humanity, that which was even more constraining, because it had no alternative—viz., obedience to His Father’s command. He was the Prince of servants, and His obedience, therefore, came to the front ; so that love only filled the sails of His obedience. But in regard to the Christian a third motive is re- quired, one that to him is stronger than either compas- sion or obedience—and that is loyalty and gratitude to the Redeemer. The very magnitude of the interests at stake, and their tremendous issues, paralyse our imagina- tion, and prevent us from adequately conceiving them, as if there were no avenue wide enough to take them in. A dull sense of incredulous wonder and awe is all that their contemplation is capable of exciting; and because we feel ourselves unable to grasp the subject, we desist from making the attempt. So much is this the case, that the loss of a soul fails to affect us so much as an infinitely smaller calamity would do; and even spiritually-minded Christians are more deeply moved by the bodily sufferings and privations of those around them, than by the more awful but unseen realities of the world to come. Whatever may be the cause, and however it may be accounted for, there can be no doubt that compassion has very little power to move the human heart to any great self-sacrifice. Love for souls and compassion for the guilty the Christian must have, if there be any sympathy with Christ at all; but it would never stimulate or 262 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. sustain him in the testimony which he is called to bear for Jesus’ name, or the bloody fields through which he must sometimes pass to his reward. Who would be a martyr for the ungodly ! None but Jesus. “ For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die;” but for a man unknown, and more especially for a worthless man, it is not in human nature to become a martyr. In every age and in every land, the greatest and most constraining stimulus. to labour and sacrifice in the cause of evangelism is loving loyalty to Christ, a sensitive concern for His honour, enthusiasm for the coming of His kingdom, and a determination that His will shall be done on earth even as it is done in heaven. When the heavenly-minded and devoted Christian looks round upon the world and sees the contempt that is poured on the name of Jesus, and when he thinks at the same time of the honour that is His due, and of His right to reign, he feels wounded by the insult, and is indignant at the crime, as if he himself were wronged in the person of his Lord. It is not only his sense of justice, but his tenderest sensibilities that are outraged, because the injury and dishonour are done to one that is dearest to his heart. Loyalty to Christ is the great motive that is able to stir the Christian’s heart most strongly, when every other fails; and houses and lands and friends and kindred, even life itself, will be surrendered for His sake. It was for His name, His honour, and His cause that all the martyrs died. Would they have done as much for His enemies? What claim upon them have the persecutors of the Church, the scoffers, the publicans, and the harlots that they should love them better than themselves, or make important sacrifices for their sake? An appeal to the LOYALTY TO CHRIST A MOTIVE TO EVANGELISM. 263 Church’s compassion for those who are out of the way would be like attempting to draw an abundant supply from an almost empty cistern, from which only a few scanty drops can be obtained. It is only when it is reinforced by a consideration of the praise of men, or stimulated by solicitation and denominational rivalry, that the turbid stream can be got to flow in any great abundance. There is in the heart of every man a throne that God has erected that is seated for aking. That king is Jesus, who alone is worthy to be seated there. But how often have unworthy objects been allowed to usurp His place, and claim the homage that is due to Him alone! The soldiers of Napoleon seated him upon that throne, and such was the enthusiasm with which they threw them- selves into his service, and the devotion that they paid to his person, that they were willing to shield him with their bodies, and to die in his cause. One of them exclaimed, when they were probing his chest wound, “A little deeper, and you will find the emperor.” Such was the idolatry with which he was regarded, that when his coffin was carried to the Invalides, one of the old soldiers of the guard was heard to say as it passed along, “ My Lord and my God.” It was upon the same vacant throne of the affections, also, that the Highlanders of the last century placed the “ young chevalier” Prince Charlie, whom they regarded with the same enthusiastic devotion, being ready, not only to shed their blood in his cause, but to give their husbands and sons to the battle-field or the scaffold, as the case might be, only that their idol “might have his own.” The loyalty of these men puts to shame the lukewarm devotion of the Church of Christ at the present day, 264 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. which can look on so coolly and contentedly while the name of Jesus is blasphemed and His authority disowned. Is He not infinitely more worthy of the heart’s devotion than any of these usurpers of His throne? How can we bear to hear that worthy name by which we are called, dishonoured and despised? And if we cannot be moved to determined efforts in behalf of His kingdom, because of our love and loyalty to Him, how can we expect that we shall be moved by compassion for His enemies, who openly proclaim that they will not have this Man to rule over them? Christ alone is the rightful sovereign of the world, and when we see the great men, and the learned men, and the rich men trampling His name and authority under their feet, and acting as if they were beyond His power, our hearts should rise in indignation against their rebellious pretensions, and never rest until Christ shall reign over a regenerated world. A soldier who could hear the name of his Queen dishonoured and her authority denied without standing up in her defence, would be unworthy of her service, and a traitor to his sovereign ; and so a Christian who can calmly behold the authority and honour of his beloved Master despised by the world around him, without being wounded and grieved, would surely be unworthy of the name. The conduct of Mephibosheth during the rebellion of Absalom was an example to all who acknowledge David’s son as their Lord. When he heard that his beloved master was compelled to flee from Jerusalem, and become a wanderer from his home and kingdom, Mephibosheth felt the deep dishonour that was done to one whom he loved so well, and to whom he was bound by so many ties of gratitude, more than if it had been done to himself. He could take no comfort or enjoyment to himself, so long as LOYALTY TO CHRIST A MOTIVE TO EVANGELISM. 265 David was dethroned and an exile. He neither “ dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed _ his clothes,” until he saw his rightful sovereign restored to his throne: and might not Jesus say with more cause to the Christian of the present day, “ Wherefore wentest thou not with me,” when I was rejected and despised of men, when my foes were triumphant and my name dishonoured ? Why didst thou not stand up for me ? Tt was not compassion for souls that fired the indig- nation of Stephen when he stood before the Sanhedrim, and when they rejected the claims of his Master, “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost : as your fathers did, so do ye. It was not compassion for souls that sustained Paul in his lifelong conflicts with the opposers of the cross of Christ, because compassion could never make a martyr. No man ever excelled Paul in his love for souls, and especially those of his own kindred according to the flesh ; and yet the great moving power in all his labours and sufferings was not compassion; his earnest longing was to bring the nations to the feet of Jesus, and make the Gentiles obedient to the faith. It was this that animated him throughout his toilsome ministry, so that he counted not his life dear unto him, if so be that he might fulfil the commission which he had received from his Master Jesus. In this he resembled all the Old Testament pro- phets, when they saw His glory and spake of Him. They did indeed look forward to a time of universal peace and happiness on earth, but it was in connection with the promised reign of the Messiah, and it is the subj ugation of the whole world to Christ that formed the loftiest theme of the prophets’ song, and kindled the enthusiasm of His ancient people. 266 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE, In all our evangelistic labours, therefore, our eye should be continually turned to Jesus, having a supreme regard to His honour and His wishes; our very anxiety for the conversion of sinners should be stimulated by the con- sciousness that the loving heart of the Saviour is deeply interested in the result, and that the repentance of sinners is the cause of the highest joy in heaven. The conversion of even one soul ought to be the object of our most earnest labours and desires; not so much because of our own interest in our success, as because of the gratification which it affords to our blessed Master. When the three mighty men broke through the ranks of the Philistines, to draw water from the well of Bethlehem, at the hazard of their lives, they had far more pleasure in putting it into the hands of David than if they had drunk it themselves, If Jesus were as dear to us as David was to them, knowing how earnestly He longs for the return of one repenting sinner to His fold, we would grudge no labour nor expense in seeking to provide Him with so heavenly & joy. Loyalty and devotedness to Christ, therefore, ought to be the most powerful motive to our evangelistic labours, and nothing ought to satisfy us so long as Jesus is dis- honoured and despised. If we ever pray for a lengthened stay on earth so far away from our Father’s home, it ought to be chiefly that we may the longer be permitted to take part in the great conflict, and help to turn the tide of battle against the usurper of the Saviour’s throne. We cannot conclude without briefly noticing another “inducement to labour in the cause of Christ, which, as it has been presented by our Saviour Himself, cannot be LOYALTY TO CHRIST A MOTIVE TO EVANGELISM. 267 omitted without making the catalogue incomplete: it is the recompense of reward that awaits the good soldier of Christ, when his work on earth is done. When Peter put the question to our Lord: « Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee ; what shall we have therefore?” Jesus did not rebuke the unseemly question, but replied, “ Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” And He added, for our sakes, “ There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, but he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.’ Mark the expression “ now— in this time.” It is true, it is true! In surrendering these earthly comforts and good things for His dear sake, the Christian experiences a joy that is a hundredfold greater than if he kept them. The Christian knows no value in any earthly thing, until he gets the chance of spending it for Christ, and then indeed he recognises its worth. Neither is there any joy on earth compared with that of labouring for Christ, and helping to put the crown upon the brow of Jesus. The soldier knows something of that kind of joy when he woos danger as his bride. “It is warm work,” said Nelson in the heat of battle, “but I would not be elsewhere for thousands.” What would not the angels give to be allowed to speak to one careless or one anxious soul about the love of Christ? But it may not be ; none but saved sinners are allowed to take part in this glorious work, How ought we to prize and avail 268 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE, ourselves of the distinction! One angel was so highly honoured as to be allowed to send one inquiring soul to Peter, but he was not allowed to deliver the message himself, or to tell how Cornelius and his house should be saved. Even though there had been no command to make this the purpose of our life, and no warning against its neglect, the very permission ought to be enough to determine our choice, inasmuch as it is the only employment that is worthy of immortal souls. In living for ourselves, and seeking our own comfort and honour as the object of our lives, we are committing an enormous waste, triflmg with our time, and squandering our energies on what is immediately to disappear. It is like building an ice palace on the Neva, or gilding the railway carriage in which we are travelling, forgetting that in a few hours we must leave it all behind for ever. Though we were to amass a fortune surpassing that of the richest nobleman, and acquire a distinction that would raise us above all other men, we must leave it all at death and enter eternity stripped of our all for ever. Whereas, were we to live for the advancement of the kingdom of God, and were we wise to win souls, we would not only enjoy the blessed- ness of such an occupation here as a fellow-worker with God, but when we go home we should reap in heaven that which we have sown on earth, leaving nothing behind: our works would be on before, because our treasure would be in heaven. We are at present in the position of the nobleman’s servants who received each his pound, with which they were to trade during their master’s absence, and who were to give an account of their success at his return, Oh! LOYALTY TO CHRIST A MOTIVE TO EVANGELISM. 269 how busy ought we to be, while the time is still lengthened out for our trading! and what a recompense will it be for all our toil and care, to hear at length His welcome voice exclaiming, “ Well done, thou good and _ faithful servant, thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” Even though our whole life should be spent in diffi- culties and trials, and although we should have to encounter nothing but persecution and opposition in our labours for Christ, our recompense of reward is so great and so glorious that it would be sufficient more than a thousand times to make up for it all. “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.” “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” O foolish Christians who are not working for Jesus, anxious only about the things of a present life, how can you so sin against your own eternal interests? Why so madly prodigal of time that is so precious? You have but one life to live on earth; it is fast ebbing away, and will soon be gone, and then begin the long eternal ages when you have to reap the harvest of what you have sown in this little moment of time. With only some sixty or eighty years at most for sowing, and millions of millions of years for reaping what is sown, can we afford to spend our time on the interests of so short a moment! When the pearl-diver goes below the water with only one breath, he does not spend his time in seeking a home among the coral caves of ocean, but is busy, busy collect- ing pearls, And so ought we to make the kingdom of 270 THE EVANGELISTIC BAPTISM INDISPENSABLE. God and His righteousness our one great concern, and never rest until the world has been brought to the feet of Jesus. THE WORLD FOR CHRIST. The world for Christ ! the world for Christ ! Be this our rallying battle cry. For this and this alone we live ; For this, if need be, will we die. How can we rest while Jesus’ name Is still dishonoured or unknown 2? How can we see unless with shame A rival prince on Jesus’ throne ? The world for Christ! ’Twas His command, Ere yet on high He took His seat ; Expecting till His pilgrim band Should bring the nations to His feet. Ye sons of God, you’re not your own ; Your time for resting is not now ; Your chiefest joy be this alone, To place the crown on Jesus’ brow. The world for Christ ! With this in trust, Let all God’s blood-bought children rise, And make no peace till in the dust The proud usurper’s banner lies. Scotland for Christ !—its fruitful plains, Its heath-clad hills, its stately towers— We'll take no rest till Jesus reigns In this beloved land of ours. And He Shall Reign. Rev. xi. 15, APPENDIX. —_<>___. fee (The following ADDRESSES on the three great defects in our present Home Mission Work, delivered before the Frnn PRESBYTERY oF EDINBURGH, were printed separately and sent by post to the Minsters of the large towns in Scotland. There is now added the Report of the concluding Conference.) FIRST ADDRESS, CoMPARATIVE NEGLECT OF THE BIBLE AS THE CHIEF INSTRUMENT OF EVANGELISM. TWELVE months ago the Presbytery were startled by a report from Mr. Pirie on the state of our lower population, in which he stated that, upon the whole, Evangelical Religion was losing ground in this city ; and that the agencies at present in operation were altogether inadequate to the necessities of the case, We, no doubt, have made great advances on former efforts, but for every step that we have taken, the enemy has taken two ; So that, if the same process shall continue to go on (which God forbid), nothing can be more certain than that in two or three generations Protestant Christianity will be substantially put down. The most alarming circumstance of all, however, is the steady progress of Romanism, which during the last fifty years, from being almost nothing, has succeeded in planting itself as a great religious and political power in our land. Those who are ac- quainted with the organisation of the Papacy are well aware that the General of the Jesuits in Rome has the means of knowing, and actually does know, more of the religious and 272 ADDRESSES TO THE PRESBYTERY, NO. I. political state of Edinburgh at the present moment than any individual in this assembly ; and we cannot but acknowledge, if not with admiration, at least with awe, the singular ability and magnificent generalship which in so short a time has accom- plished so marvellous a result. Drunkenness, infidelity, and Sabbath-breaking are all on the increase ; but perhaps none of them is so much to be dreaded as Romanism ; not only because of its strategy and power, but because whatever ground it gains is instantly barricaded against all our efforts with an intense and unscrupulous fanaticism, Will the Presbytery bear with me when I say that all our disasters are due, not to any want of power in the Gospel, nor (to speak with reverence) to any withholding of the blessing on the part of the Spirit, nor even to any lukewarmness or want of liberality on the part of the people, but purely to bad general- ship, and an unreflecting adherence to old forms of organisation, which are no longer suited to the altered circumstances and perilous times in which we live? Will they bear with me, also, when I say that, after fifteen years of anxious study and care- ful experiment, I have no more doubt of the fact than of my own existence, that it is within our power, with God’s promised blessing, at once to turn the tide of battle, and within twenty years thoroughly to evangelise Edinburgh, simply by a change of tactics or method ? There are many errors which have unitedly caused our past misfortunes, but thereare three which appear to me to be the chief. There is—1l. The neglect of the Bible as the chief instrument of evangelism ; 2. The neglect of the children as the chief ob- jects of evangelistic effort ; and 3. The want of suitable organ- isation and machinery that would bring into action whole regiments of Church members who, so much in consequence of the Churches’ neglect, are expending their time, their talents, their enthusiasm, and their money upon worldly pursuits. I shall at present occupy your attention by speaking only of BIBLE KNOWLEDGE INDISPENSABLE. Oo the first—viz., the neglect of the Bible as the chief instrument of evangelisation ; and I take up this topic first, because it is suggested by the action which was taken by the Presbytery last year in connection with Mr. Pirie’s report. Mr. Pirie suggested seven remedies—the fifth only was that which the Presbytery adoptel—viz., the holding of evangelistic meetings throughout the city. These, we know, did much good ; but I presume that not even the most sanguine among us expected that they would supply the remedy of which we are in quest. Allow me to state what I think is the true function of these evangelistic addresses, as distinguished from Bible instruction on the one hand, and pastoral discourses on the other ; and as I have my- self delivered hundreds, I might almost say thousands of them, and have at least endeavoured to ascertain, as far as possible, their result, by after meetings and conversation (and I may now add, the pastoral care of some of the converts), 1 am able to speak from some little experience and observation. At all events, am not likely to under-estimate their importance ; and yet my experience has been that the true function of evangelistic meetings is not so much the sowing as the reaping of evangel- istic harvests. As there are spiritual summers and spiritual winters, so there are times for sowing and times for reaping, each having its own appropriate labour. It is true in one sense that all times are times for sowing, and in another sense all times are times for reaping; but this is true rather of indi- viduals than of communities. There are times when the earth seems as if it were iron and the heavens brass ; when the reaper finds only an ear of corn here and another there to be gathered. In such seasons especially the spiritual husbandman should be busy ploughing up the fallow ground, and casting in with un- sparing hand the precious seed of Bible knowledge; labouring in faith, and believing that his labour will not be in vain, although the harvests he is preparing may be harvests which he shall not live to see, and into which other men must enter. T 274 ADDRESSES TO THE PRESBYTERY, NO. LI. But there are also seasons for reaping ; when the plough has for the moment to be laid aside, and the reaping hook put into every hand. Such a time was the season between 1860 and 1863, when the earth brought forth in handfuls. But the har- vest which we then reaped was one upon which we bestowed no labour ; other men laboured, and we entered into their labours —we reaped that which had been sown many long years before by weeping ministers, and weeping parents, and weeping Sab- bath-school teachers. At that time the Spirit of God was poured out on the land, as the Spirit of conviction, and men in multitudes were moved to concern about their souls. Besides the Assembly Hall and Whitfield Chapel, therefore, meetings were opened in theatres and churches throughout the town, continuing for whole weeks at a time, as was done last winter under the auspices of this Presbytery. In fact, there was a spiritual epidemic in the city that necessitated the opening of temporary hospitals, where the stricken might come to find healing. At present we are in a totally different position, requiring a totally different course of action. That harvest is past ; what we have to do now is to plough and sow for another. It is not the want of Gospel preaching that is ruining our country ; it is the want of Bible knowledge. Though we were to open all the churches in Kdinburgh—though there were evangelists preach- ing at the corner of every street all the day long—we should never evangelise our city until we have gathered the children of Edinburgh round our knees, and saturated them, with the Bible. I am glad to have this opportunity of correcting a fallacy regarding the fruits of the late revival. It is generally supposed that they were drawn chiefly from the lapsed masses of society. There never was a greater mistake. The lapsed masses were scarcely touched at all. By far the largest proportion was from the church-going or semi-church-going population, many of them ae. = — SS Ue BIBLE KNOWLEDGE INDISPENSABLE. 275 members of our congregations. In every case, so far as I know, there was more or less a previous Bible education, and the real converts were confined to that class. No doubt there were many who professed to experience raptures of joy, because they said that they felt their sins were forgiven. Sometimes they had seen visions, and so on, but uniformly, where there was no depth of Bible knowledge, but only scraps which they had picked up from the evangelistic addresses, in a few days they withered away. It may be stated, as a general rule, with its vice versa, that the more of the Bible any man knows and understands, the more likely is he to become the subject of the Spirit’s work, and the more likely is he, after his conversion, to become a decided, a useful, and, above all, a stable Christian. Wherever there is a total ignorance of the Bible, these ser- mons and evangelistic addresses are powerless, because both the language and the allusions are unknown. We may invite our hearers to come to Christ ; but we might as well invite them to come to John the Baptist, because they know no more about the one than about the other. No man can have an adequate and Scriptural apprehension of the Person of Christ, and the Person of Christ is the Gospel, until he has seen his portraiture in both Testaments. It ig that, and that alone, which is able to make him wise unto salvation. There is, besides, a majesty, a vitality, and a power in the language of Scripture, as spoken by the Holy Ghost, that make it different from all human language. It is quick (living) and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and lays bare to the astonished hearer the thoughts and intents of his heart. No evangelistic address can do that. | The man in whom the Bible dwells (even before his conver- sion) is different from all other men, and carries fuel in him, either for the fire above or the fire below. He is under a peculiar and unaccountable restraint ; he cannot sin lightly like 276 ADDRESSES TO THE PRESBYTERY, NO. I. other men; and he is more or less proof against all false teach- ing. He carries about with him spiritual gunpowder, which the Spirit of God may, by a sermon, or an evangelistic address, kindle and explode at any moment, breaking the stony heart. “Is not my Word like a fire? saith the Lord, like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” When the memories of the hearers are strung with Bible texts and Bible incidents, the skilful hand of the preacher is able with a single touch to awaken harmonies that vibrate through the whole being of the audience ; whereas, when these are awanting, his words, how- ever eloquent, fall powerless upon their ears. Since the time of the Reformation I question whether there was ever in this country so much ignorance of the Bible, or such a want of adequate and systematic means for communicating it. Of course, I speak not of the church-going, but the non- -church- going population, both rich and poor, which forms three-fourths of the people. In them the very foundation of Christianity (at least Protestant Christianity) is awanting—that is, knowledge ; and therefore to them evangelistic addresses are of no use, Their consciences, never having seen God in His Word, are whole, and therefore they would never come ; and even though they came, seeing they would see, and would not perceive ; and hearing they would hear, but would not understand. No one knew better than our godly forefathers the value and the power of preaching ; but they never supposed that it could adequately supply a Bible education, Besides the thorough drilling which the children received in the Bible and the Shorter Catechism both at home and in the parish school, the minister held a weekly catechising of the adults, by which he imbued the memories and understandings of the people with the Word of God. There was thus a sowing of the seed daily, weekly, and year by year, throughout the land ; and the min- isters from the pulpit put in the sickle, which was equally important, and gathered in abundant harvests. BIBLE KNOWLEDGE INDISPENSABLE. 277 We find the same principle illustrated in the promulgation of the Gospel by the apostles. It was first addressed to the Jews, not only because they were the children of the prophets and the covenant, but also because their education in the oracles of God made them a people prepared for the Lord. The reading of the Scriptures in their synagogues every Sabbath day had done half of the work to the apostles’ hands, so that wherever they went they found not only an audience in the synagogue, but argu- ments and illustrations in the hearts and understandings of the hearers. For the same reason their addresses were full of Scripture, and on that account would have been altogether unintelligible to uninstructed heathens. The first evangelistic address delivered on the road to Emmaus would never have made the hearts of the hearers burn, if it had not opened and expounded scriptures which they already knew. Compare Peter’s first sermon to the Jews in Jerusalem with Paul’s evangelistic address to the philosophical Athenians—the one so richly studded with Scripture, and so amazingly successful ; the other so scriptureless, and so comparatively barren of results. The Epistle to the Hebrews, in like manner, perhaps the most evangelistic Epistle in the whole Word of God, would be alto- gether unintelligible to any one who did not know his Bible. That the Jews were intended to be missionaries to the Gentiles is evident, not only from the promise made to Abraham, but from various passages in the New Testament. Their apostacy, therefore, although overruled for good, was nevertheless a calamity, of which we feel the effects to the present day. There can be no doubt that the rise of the Papacy was mainly due to the preponderating influence of baptised paganism, and the withdrawal of the Hebrew element, with its Bible education and its hatred of idolatry. It is this also that forms one of the most distinguishing features of our own Indian Mission, for which we are indebted to the profound and far-seeing sagacity of Dr. Duff Finding 278 ADDRESSES TO THE PRESBYTERY, NO. I. on his arrival in India that the learned classes, who form the highway to the nation’s heart and intellect, were hermetically sealed against all Christian missionaries and missionary teaching, but believing in the Divine power of the Bible, he sent it, like a masked fire-ship, into the fortress of unsuspecting Brahminism, preceded and accompanied with the rich argosies of Western science and philosophy which usually follow in its train. There it is at present silently working its way to the heart of India’s understanding and conscience ; and though for a long time no outward convulsion may indicate the progress it has made, the time is coming when its work being complete, it will only require a spark to set India in a blaze. We are far too impatient in regard to time, and far too low and unbelieving in our expectations of ultimate success. In the island of Tahiti it took nineteen years of weary labour before a single conversion took place ; but when the harvest was ripe, the reaping was instantaneous and universal. Rome was not built in a day, and Edinburgh cannot be evangelised in a year ; in all probability it will take not less than twenty. I never expected that it could be accomplished in less than ten years, even though the whole ten thousand Christians which it con- tains were to begin the work to-morrow. It is a very solemn thought that, humanly speaking, at least one-half of our population must perish, because the Church, twenty years ago, neglected them; but this ought only to stimulate us the more to our duty now, that the blood of the next generation be not required at our hands. At all events, let us not any longer go groping our way without any definite plan of operations of which we can honestly say, not only that it is one to which we have prayerfully devoted our highest efforts of wisdom and skill, but that it is one which we really believe to be capable of accomplishing, with God’s blessing, the work to be done within reasonable time. Having drawn up such a programme, let us proceed to put it in BIBLE KNOWLEDGE INDISPENSABLE. 279 execution, not hastily, or as a haphazard experiment, or with the mere impulse of temporary enthusiasm, but as men of the world would proceed to some grand undertaking in which great temporal interests were involved, and into which no false calculation must be allowed to enter, And surely the rescue of a world from self-inflicted misery, and the bringing in of the reign of the blessed Jesus, as the Prince of the kings of the earth, even though there were no heaven and no hell, is an enterprise worthy of the highest genius and the most unbounded enthusiasm. For what else does the world exist, except it be to become the promised heritage of Christ? and for what else does the Church exist, except it be to be the sacramental host by which God will put down all authority and power, and place the crown of the whole earth upon His worthy head? The commission that was given to the Church was to evangelise the world. Am I wrong in saying that the special commission given to this Presbytery, as the very minimum of its obligations, is to conquer Edinburgh for Christ? Having received that commission, is it not our duty to look it in the face, and to sit down and consult whether we be able to meet him that cometh against us with an ever-increasing army and ever-increasing resources. And if we shall say that we are not able, and that greater is he that is against us than He that is for us, then let us send an embassage desiring conditions of peace, and make a league with the inhabitants of the land. But it is impossible. Shall the Free Church of Scotland, that has dared to send out in faith a handful of feeble missionaries to assail the most gigantic system of heathenism that the world has ever seen, and lay it in the dust—shall she have to confess that a wretched little patch of heathenism that has grown up under the shadow of her eight hundred churches is beyond her power, and that Popery, infidelity, and drunkenness have proved more than a match for the Gospel of Christ in her own metropolis ? 280 ADDRESSES TO THE PRESBYTERY, NO. II. SECOND ADDRESS. NEGLECT OF THE Youna AS THE Cuter OpsectTs OF Evan- GELISTIC EFFORT. (From the “ Daily Review,” 20th January, 1873.) At the last meeting of Presbytery I ventured to call atten- tion to the present alarming state of evangelical religion in Edinburgh, and the solemn responsibility which rests on this and the other Presbyteries in regard to it. Some great change in the working of our ecclesiastical machinery is necessary, not merely to enable us to fulfil the commission of our Divine Master, but even to prevent Bible Christianity from losing its hold of the population in the very metropolis of Scotland. What adds to our perplexity is the circumstance that we may now be said to have exhausted the remedies upon which our hopes of recovery have been accustomed to rest. City mission- aries and Bible-women have done, and are still doing, much good; but no one now supposes that their multiplication to any extent would make any appreciable change in the religion of our country : in fact, there is little room for more, because even already we hear of the undue multiplication of mission agencies, and the overlapping of particular districts by two, three, four, and sometimes even five of them, without discovering in those highly favoured localities any corresponding change. And then, in regard to territorial churches, which were once regarded as the universal specific for our home heathenism, these have already been so multiplied that we can scarcely point to a locality in which a new territorial church could be planted, without weakening the congregations around. In fact, any mere exten- sion or amplification of our present machinery, even if we had the means of doing it, would be incapable of overtaking the work that has to be done. We, therefore, feel ourselves placed in circumstances in which it is necessary to re-examine our YOUTH THE THERMOPYLA OF MISSIONS. 281 existing arrangements, and to draw out a new programme of operations suited to our present circumstances, and suggested by our past experiences of failure or success. In my last address I ventured to lay my finger on what I believed to be three great errors which lie at the root of our present want of success, the first of which was the neglect of the Bisz as the chief instrument of evangelism ; and I endea- voured to show that preaching alone will never evangelise Edinburgh, inasmuch as three-fourths of our population, through their ignorance of the Bible, are, for all practical purposes, beyond its reach. Allow me now to speak of the second error which I specified—the neglect of the children as the chief objects of evangelistic effort. Practically speaking, the adults are beyond our reach, because we can never hope now to give them a thorough Bible educa- tion. If they will not come to a church, far less will they come to a Bible class; and if we were to give them the invitation, it would only be condoned as a jest or answered with an impreca- tion, Alas! we are just twenty years too late, for every one of these scoffers was once a little child, which we might have taken upon our knee, and instructed in the Bible. But we neglected them when they were young, and now they are beyond our reach, hurrying on to the judgment-seat, where we must meet them as our accusers. There is not a single soul in that hardened and godless population that was not once a little child, into whose young mind we might have instilled the lessons of a Saviour’s love, storing his memory with the words of life, and teaching him the sweet songs of Zion, that would awaken in after-life associations of the holiest and, it may be, tenderest recollections. At that time their hearts were open to kindness, and their habits yet unformed, like a twig which may be bent in any direction now, but which when grown will never bend. A trifling reward would have kindled their enthusiasm, and a 282 ADDRESSES TO THE PRESBYTERY, NO. II. rebuke, or even a frown, would have checked their sin. Having been trained thus in the way they should go, now when they are old they would not have departed from it. All this might have been done when they were children, but, as we allowed them to grow up as heathens then (for heathenism is the natural state of man, and does not need to be acquired), we meet them as heathens now, ridiculing our faith, despising our hypocrisy, and many of them hardened in drunkenness and infidelity against every attempt to reach their understanding and their consciences. We preached, or attempted to preach, to their parents then because they were adults ; but their parents were then exactly what their children are now—hardened against all religious impressions ; and because we expended our labours only on the adults, we are to-day reaping the natural and inevitable fruits of our sad mistake. We ought to keep in mind also that, in any circumstances, the adults will die out, and be succeeded by their children ; if, there- fore, we laid hold and kept hold of these young people, even though we should altogether fail with the adults, the present generation would sooner or later disappear, with all its miseries and all its sins, and give place to a new generation saturated with the Bible. In whatever light, therefore, we look upon it, whether morally or socially, ecclesiastically or politically, the relief would be so unspeakable, the blessing so unbounded, and the gains so incalculable, that it would be more economical to pay the whole expense of the training of the children of one generation, and have done with it, so as to enable us and them wholly to devote ourselves to foreign and colonial missions, than to be continually struggling, paralysed with a home heathenism begotten of our own neglect, and burdened with the taxation, the drunkenness, the pauperism, the democratic tyranny, and the social pollution of the present state of society. Childhood and youth are the Thermopyle of missions, because through that pass must flow forth the future population in a state in YOUTH THE THERMOPYL/ OF MISSIONS. 283 which they are completely under control. Whoever is able to take that pass, and hold it even for a single generation, decides the destiny of the country. It ought, therefore, to be secured and held at all hazards, and at any price, by the friends of evan- gelical Christianity. | THIRD ADDRESS. Not BrinGING THE WHoLE CHURCH INTO ACTION. (From the “ Daily Review,” 28th February, 1873.) The third defect in our present evangelistic arrangements is the want of suitable buildings for our Sabbath schools and other mis- sionary enterprises in which the members of our congregations may be engaged. We are at present half-way between two opposite systems of evangelistic polity, and our misfortunes have arisen from having departed from the one without having as yet fully adopted and carried out the other. The old polity was what has been called the parochial system, in which the country was divided into small parishes, and an endowed minister placed over each, to labour as a pastor over one part of the population and as an evangelist among the others; but as the minister was supposed to be quite able to do all the work, lay evangelism was prohibited. The new system to which we are tending, and which has been creeping into existence during the whole of the present century, is but the revival of the old apostolic principle that every Christian is a missionary. According to this new system, foreign and provincial missions, either where the Church is _ weak or where there is no Church at all, is the work of the evangelist ; home missions is the work of the members of the Church itself, while the work of the pastorate is to feed them, that they may be spiritually strong, liberal in sending out mis- sionaries abroad, and busy in doing their own evangelistic work 284 ADDRESSES TO THE PRESBYTERY, NO. III. at home. But as this new polity has had to run counter to the old habits of nearly three centuries, its progress has been slow, and even yet it exists only in an imperfect and undeveloped form, without the requisite machinery for its working. What I would now respectfully, but most earnestly, press upon the consideration of the Church is the desirableness of at once, like wise and reasonable men, anticipating the future, and saving us from having further leeway to make up, by carrying out the new principle to its fullest and most perfect development. We cannot now revert to the old parochial system, and therefore we have no alternative but to adopt the other, by making such arrangements as at the earliest possible moment will train and bring out into the mission-field the entire membership of the Church. And for this purpose Jet us provide such machinery and apparatus for their use as will make their labours both agreeable and effective. One great advantage of the new system is the far greater range of its operations. The old system was confined to the teaching of the Bible and the preaching of the Gospel; the new system has been dealing with all the duties which the Church owes to the world; and if we had an organisation which would blend and unite these kindnesses and charities with our testimony for Christ, we should win an entrance to the hearts of the people for the Gospel, by its generous and lovely accompaniments. There is a wonderful adaptation and correspondence between the living Church and the dead world—the talents of the one corresponding with and fitting into the wants of the other. It is the many-sidedness of both that gives such applicability and power to the personal labours of the Church ; because, in the first place, every individual in whom we feel interested has many sides on which he may be approached—the intellectual, the musical, the scientific, and many others ; and therefore it is of importance that when we are repulsed on the religious side we should be able to walk round him, and find an entrance THE WHOLE CHURCH BROUGHT INTO ACTION. 285 on another. And so, in regard to the members of the Church, there is great variety of talents and aptitudes among them ; and these, when fitly framed together, and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, enable us to bring the whole Church into personal contact with the whole of our lapsed. population. In the first place, it would be a blessing to the Church itself, because it would tend to withdraw the interest and energies of many of its members from the frivolities and vain pursuits of the world, and make these flow in nobler and holier channels ; awakening their sympathies and kindling their enthusiasm for the conquest of the world for Christ and the happiness of their fellow-men. The human mind must find some object on which to expend its energies, for God has made it so; and if the Church has no work for it to do, it has no choice but to find employment in the service of the world, or worse. And then, as regards the world, nothing but the entire Church will avail for its evangelisation. We have underestimated the greatness of the work to be done in raising a dead world to life. If it required Christ in person to communicate life to the Church, it requires a whole Church, personally applied, to com- municate that life to the world. The Church at present is like Elisha when he sent Gehazi with his staff to lay on the face of the dead child. No staff could be a substitute for the prophet himself, and no staff of missionaries can be a substitute for the living body of Christ. The life that is in every Christian was given to be communicated to others, and no amount of liber- ality will make up for the lack of personal service. The Church, like Elisha, must come itself into personal contact with the dead world ; its living eye must rest in holy compassion on the - dead eye of the world; its living hand must grasp in brotherly sympathy the cold hand of the world; and its living mouth must kiss into warmth the dead lips of the world, before its icy heart can awake to beat in sympathy with Christ’s. 286 ADDRESSES TO THE PRESBYTERY, NO. III. I have now laid before the Presbytery the three great principles which, in my opinion, determine the success or the failure of our home missions. It now remains that I should indicate the means by which they may be brought into harmonious action, and these are so simple that they may be stated in a single sentence : Let each congregation choose a district in the mission field, and build a mission house or Sabbath-school institute there, and the thing is done. The Spirit of God and the irrepressible instincts of a free and living Christianity will do the rest. Every Christian at his conversion has an instinctive desire to work or do something for Christ; but if it be dis- couraged or repressed, it will soon decay. The want of a mission institute in every congregation has especially been a hindrance to the general enlistment of the Christian people in the Lord’s work, and for that reason it has also been a hindrance to the revival of the congregations themselves. How is the young Christian to find employment when there is no one to invite him to work, and no one to show him the way—no companions to work with, and not even a place to work in? And then, in regard to revival, how can there be any extraordinary degree of warmth, or even health, in a congregation where there is no systematic exercise and activity ? The Presbytery is probably aware that these were the prin- ciples which I published and advocated fifteen years ago, when this problem was put into my hands for solution by the Sabbath- School Teachers’ Union ; and that it was for the purpose of testing their power and exhibiting them in action that I com- menced what I called the Experimental Pioneer Home Mission, now known as the Carrubber’s Close Mission. I had long been familiar with Sabbath schools and Sabbath-school teachers. I knew the power and the prevalence of the instincts of which I have spoken ; and I deplored the fact that they were choked and repressed by the want of proper accommodation. I there- fore published a tract, entitled “ Home Missions the People’s THE WHOLE CHURCH BROUGHT INTO ACTION. 287 Work,” and issued a prospectus proposing that twenty terri- torial institutes should be built for the purpose of recovering the lapsed masses of our city, predicting, at the same time, that they would be immediately occupied by a whole army of gratui- tous labourers. The proposal fell to the ground, because, I suppose, nobody believed me; or, more probably, because the Church was not then ripe for the movement. But so confident was I of the truth of my anticipations, and so painfully im- pressed with the necessity of the work, that I resolved to com- mence one of them myself, as an experiment, so as to pioneer the way for the others; and therefore, before I had enlisted a single worker for the mission, I took a lease of Whitfield Chapel, at the foot of Carrubber’s Close ; and, consecrating it to the evangelisation of Edinburgh, I threw it open to all who were willing to labour gratuitously in the cause. Nor was it a failure ; for in one year the institute was filled, not only from morning to night on Sunday, but all the week through, with classes and every kind of evangelistic and elevating enterprise. Had another institute been built, it also would have been filled ; and all this was before the revival. The Sabbath school was the foundation on which was built the rest of the superstructure, and the root and trunk from which they branched forth. There were nearly a thousand children and young people under Bible instruction ; and, to retain their hold of the senior scholars, the teachers, assisted by others, opened classes for other studies during the week, according to the abilities of the teachers and the wishes of the scholars. Writing, arithmetic, geography, music, knitting, sewing, grammar, drawing, and other subjects were taught; and it would be difficult to say whether the effect was more beneficial to the teachers or the taught. It had the - effect of drawing them more closely together, and binding them more thoroughly to the Mission. Branching off from the Sabbath school, there sprang forth Bands of Hope, Children’s Churches, Penny Banks, &e., all of which furnished employ- 288 ADDRESSES TO THE PRESBYTERY, NO. III. ment for additional labourers, and added to the interest of the Mission. For the adults there was a Medical Mission, with Dispensary, Mothers’ Meetings, Temperance Societies, Dorcas Societies, Evangelistic Meetings, and many other enterprises. One of the most interesting of these was what was called the Mission Drawing-room, not so much from what it was, as from what it was wished to be. It was an attractive room, with pictures and other ornaments, and a piano. It was used for tea meetings, at which friendly conversation alternated with hymns and evangelistic addresses, and sometimes ladies would come down and discourse sweet music to the working men and their wives. We could invite whole work-shops to tea at a time, and although we could not change their hearts, we could win their respect and even their affections ; and, above all, we could make sure that not one of them went away without thorongain understanding how and why he might be saved. I know no way in which we can so truly imitate our Master when He ate and drank with publicans and sinners. When every other attraction failed, this never did, so that it was one of our most effective instruments of evangelism. For example, at a small tea meeting given to the masons that built Moray Church, not one declined the invitation, and two out of about twelve traced their conversion to the addresses that were delivered that even- ing. It is true that much prayer preceded it, but prayer and means must go together. I have thought it due to this Presbytery to present to you first, a statement of these leading principles, which, if God will, the rest of my life will be spent in agitating and advocating in this city. I do so for two reasons—first, because I believe that it is in the Church courts that all such movements should originate ; and second, because, while thanking you for giving me the opportunity, I desire to testify in this manner the pro- found respect with which I regard this court, of which I had so lately the honour of being a member. PRESBYTERIAL CONFERENCE ON HOME MISSION WORK, 289 CONFERENCE ON HOME MISSION WORK. (From the “ Daily Review,” 12th June, 1873.) The Edinburgh Presbytery of the Free Church met yesterday in their Hall—Mr, J. H. Wilson, Barclay Church, Moderator. Mr. Gall having been called on by the Moderator to open the subject of conference, began by quoting a sentence from Lord Shaftesbury, to the effect that “all our existing arrangements and organisations for recovering our lapsed population were inadequate, and that some new machinery must be devised in order to be successful.” He agreed with his lordship in think- ing that the mere amplification or extension of our present agencies would never succeed in evangelising the country, but he did not believe that any new organisation was necessary. The Christian Church, or rather the Christian congregation, is the society which was originally instituted by our Lord for evangelising the world, and he did not believe that there was any other kind of organisation that was capable of doing the work. What is needed is that congregations should recognise this as the purpose for which they were instituted, and set themselves vigorously to its accomplishment, All their arrange- ments ought to be made with this in view, and by providing proper accommodation, see that every member is exercising the talent which has been intrusted to him so as to advance the Redeemer’s kingdom. Formerly it was supposed that it was the ministers who were to evangelise. This he regarded as a great mistake. It is the people who are to do the evangelistic work, while the ministers are to be, as it were, the officers, to feed, and train, and bring them into action. It is the Christian Church, and not the ministers only, that are represented as the U 290 PRESBYTERIAL CONFERENCE salt of the earth, and the leaven that is to leaven the world. What the ministers have to do is to see that the salt does not lose its savour, and that the leaven is leavening at every point. Besides the want of suitable missionary accommodation, to which he had called the attention of the Presbytery in his last address, he specified five points upon which he regarded our present evangelistic operation as sdefective. First, he conceived that there was want of faith. We do not sufficiently realise the power of the instruments which have been put into our hands, or the grandeur of the resources at our call—the Bible, the Spirit, the promises, the omnipotence of prayer. With these we might subdue kingdoms and overthrow every adversary. In the second place, we presented far too prominently the motive of compassion for souls, instead of loyalty and devotion to the establishment of the reign of Jesus. Compassion for souls has little power to move hearts so little compassionate as ours, and would never produce a martyr; whereas loyalty to Christ in sight of a world that is in rebellion against its lawful Sovereign can create an enthusiasm greater even than that of the old Jacobites who would willingly have lived or died for “ Prince Charlie.” In the third place, we direct attention too exclusively to the lapsed masses, as if they were the only parties to be Christian- ised, They are but the external symptoms of an internal disease that is destroying the body politic, and which it is our duty to cure. They are the loathsome ulcers that attract our attention and compassion most, which we may dress, but can never eradicate until the cause has been removed, the surround- ing inflammation subdued, and the blood purified. In the fourth place, we are dealing too exclusively with the adults that are almost beyond our reach, while we too much neglect the children which are at present under our power. The former will soon die out, but the latter will grow up to be ON HOME MISSION WORK. 291 either a blessing to society or a curse, and to the Church either valuable friends or destructive foes, In the fifth place, there is too much empiricism in our present home missionary operations. We have not sufficiently studied evangelism as a science, nor cultivated it as an art. One man proposes one thing,—it is good and it is adopted ; another man proposes another thing,—and because it too is good, it also is adopted ; but we have no programme, no well-digested, calculated plan of operations, in which there is the genius of generalship, and in which every movement has its strategic value. This is not what men of the world do in less important matters, such as a military campaign or the building of a tower. We ought to sit down and study the work that has to be done, the dif- ficulties to be encountered, and the resources within our power, and be able to tell, after one thing hag been accomplished, how it is to be made the means for attaining that which is to follow. He was convinced that if the Presbytery entered heart and soul into this great enterprise a glorious day would dawn upon Edinburgh ; and for that reason, instead of agitating this great scheme among the laity, he had addressed himself first to the Presbytery, knowing that if they hung back it would be years before the work would ever be begun. Mr. Arnot was anxious to have an opportunity of expressing his sense of the value of the views contained in Mr. Gall’s addresses and the pleasure he had had in listening to them. They threw fresh light upon the subject, and inspired him with new hope. He hoped that the Presbytery would not allow them to pass without taking action upon them. During his visit to America he had been much impressed with the advantage of having proper buildings for evangelistic work. In this respect the Churches in this country were far behind their Transatlantic brethren. He hoped that this would not continue to be the case, 292 PRESBYTERIAL CONFERENCE ON HOME MISSION WORK. Dr. C. J. Brown concurred in what had been said by Mr. Arnot in regard to the importance of the address to which they had just listened, and passed in review a number of the topics. He was sorry that the attendance was so small, and thought that it would be well to bring up the subject in the autumn, when there would be a larger meeting. It would be well also that the different topics should be taken up by different speakers at the conference, so as to be pressed home more fully in detail. Mr. Mackenzie, from his experience, was afraid that a subject of so much importance being left over so long, the impression made by it might be effaced and their interest in it abated. He suggested that a small committee should be appointed to draw up some definite proposal, which might be submitted to a con- ference in the autumn, and there would also be a propriety in all of them thinking over the matter during the holidays. In this Dr. Brown concurred. Mr. Wilson expressed the opinion that the relief which God had given them from the painful differences which had so long distracted them might be for the very purpose of enabling them more heartily to enter upon the great work of home evangelisa- tion. The conversation was continued by Mr. R. Balfour, Mr. Kelman, and others ; and a committee, consisting of Mr, Arnot, Dr. Brown, Mr. Wilson, and Mr. R. Balfour (convener), was appointed to confer with Mr. Gall, and to bring up a report to be laid before a conference of oflice-bearers to be held in the autumn, (This conference was not held, being anticipated by the arriwal of Messrs. Moody and Sankey in Edinburgh.) ete APPENDIX. 293 B. CONGREGATIONAL INSTITUTES. Our second treatise will take up the strategy and organisation of missions ; we can at present only say a few words for the sake of those who are anxious to see Congregational Institutes established, and who suppose that it requires some extra- ordinary ability and experience to set them agoing. We assure the reader that this is by no means necessary ; for although no doubt there are individuals who possess in a remarkable degree the gift of organising and stimulating those around them (and where there are such persons in the congregation, the growth will of course be all the more rapid), yet even when there are no such persons, an Institute is sure to grow and to succeed wherever there is a proper building and perfect freedom to the members in the using of it. There are two kinds of evangelism, the natural and the artificial,—the artificial may be created, the natural cannot be created, it must grow. Where there is little life in a con- gregation, the evangelism must be artificial, and must consist of paid agents, and a governing committee to direct and super- intend their labours. Natural evangelism is by gratuitous agents ; and the moving power is not from without but from within. Wherever there is life in a congregation, and a vigorous Sabbath school, offer the use of attractive rooms to work in, and there is no fear but that an Institute will grow. The only danger is interference from without and want of liberty within. There are men go very cautious that they. will permit nothing to be done unless they have perfect security that nothing can go wrong (like a general who will not allow any of his soldiers to fight unless he be quite sure that none of them will be killed). When committees must govern a mission, nothing but a paid agency can survive. Unanimity in a 294 APPENDIX. committee is indispensable, and therefore when one mnan is not able to see his way to approve of everything, the whole is brought to a stand-still. There should be a superintendent, but not a committee ; and if the superintendent be disposed to govern, he is the wrong man in the wrong place. It is the spur and not the bridle that is needed for gratuitous agents; and being a natural and not an artificial organisation, the more life and the more liberty there is, the more work and tle more success. In Carrubber’s Close Mission, and Grove Street Institute, although there are plenty of working committees, there are no governing committees. With a governing committee neither one nor other could have survived six months. Carrubber’s Close Mission in 1858 had great advantages. Being the first of its kind, it got the cream of the whole of Edinburgh. But the cream is always gathering, and every congre- gation should try to keep its own cream. ‘The only reason why there is so much extra-congregational work is because there is so much extra-congregational liberty. The cream always rises to the top—that is to say, wherever there is the greatest liberty and the best accommodation. Paid agencies are very robust, and can stand a great deal of government; but the wings of gratuitous evangelism are so tender that they cannot carry committees. If there be any congregation, therefore, where the ruling powers would rather have no mission at all than permit such liberty, they ought to confine themselves to a paid agency, and allow their members to work elsewhere. An Institute in such a congregation is impossible. It may be tried, but it will not succeed. If it be asked what are the enterprises that ought to be set agoing in such an Institute, we answer, We cannot tell—“ they are not made, they grow.” The Sabbath school is the natural trunk, and although there are some branches that almost invar- ably appear—such as prayer and fellowship meetings, Bible readings, Bible classes, evangelistic meetings, and suchlike—it ey APPENDIX, 295 is impossible to predict what might spring forth from these Institutes, It is not desirable that they should copy from one another, or even be like one another; the greater variety, the more natural and the more beautiful. At the same time, it is a great help to know what other Christian workers are about, because hearing suggests, and sometimes encourages. We therefore give three specimens of Institutional work, not for the purpose of providing models, but of showing how wonderful is the variety, and yet how wonderfully they are alike. The first is the Report of the Festival at the close of the first year’s labours of Carrubber’s Close Mission. The second is the “Directory” of the same Mission, after ten years’ experience, and before losing Whitfield Chapel. The third is the present enterprises of the Grove Street Institute in Glasgow. 296 APPENDIX. C. THE FIRST ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF CARRUBBER’S CLOSE MISSION, 7tH May, 1859. Tue First Annual Festival of this Mission was held in Whit- field Chapel, Carrubber’s Close, on Saturday evening. The chapel was beautifully decorated with evergreens aud festoons of flowers; and above-the chairman’s seat were appropriate mottoes — “ Excelsior,’ and ‘Home Missions the People’s Work.” The chair was occupied by the Lord Provost, Sir John Melville; and the platform by the patrons of the Mission. The area of the chapel was filled by the children and young people connected with the different classes and their teachers, and the galleries were occupied by a considerable number of the parents. After the opening services, the General Superintendent explained the nature and purpose of the Mission. As the name implied, it was both an ExprrimMent and a Pionrzr. The Experiment was to test and prove three great principles :— First, 'That Home Missions are the People’s Work: the ten thousand LIVING must come into personal and loving contact with the ten thousand DEAD, before Edinburgh can be evan- gelised. Second, That the Sanpata ScuHoor is the natural root from which all other evangelistic, civilising, and benevolent enterprises may most readily branch forth; and Third, That GRATUITOUS LABOUR can be had to any extent by merely pro- viding free and proper accommodation. As a PIONEER, it was intended that, if it should be successful, other missions on the same plan might rise up over the whole city. For a more detailed account of the operations of the Mission, he referred to the “Annual Report,” which had been printed at the Mis- sion Press,* and which, to save the time of the meeting, had been put into their hands, Just as Mr. Gall had finished his address, the voices of the children of the infant school were heard without in the distance singing the Marching Hymn; and as they entered the chapel, * For the Report see page 298. APPENDIX. 997 and proceeded up the central avenue, all eyes were turned to this unexpected and beautiful spectacle. They were then ranged in front of the platform, and after being shortly ex- amined by their teacher, Miss M‘Naughton, they marched back again to their schoolroom, where they were regaled with cakes and fruit. Mr. M‘Kay then read the reports of the Sabbath morning and evening schools, which had attained a high degree of pros- perity under Mr. Jenkinson’s and his own superintendence ; after which the different classes of children were briefly ex- amined on subjects suited to their ages, and conducted them- selves with the utmost order and decorum. ‘This was followed by another report (read by Mr. Gardiner) of the. free classes which had been established for young men and women, where elementary instruction was imparted, and which were attended by about seventy pupils, taught gratuitously by Messrs. Gauld, Lindsay, Robertson, Gardiner, and M‘Kay. A class of girls for sewing and knitting was also taught gratuitously by Miss Proctor. Mr. Peddie, the superintendent of the Mothers’ Meetings, then gave his report, in an admirable address, showing the im- portance of this department of the Mission. After fruit, the greater number of the children were sent away to make room for the other sections of the Institute, and the remainder of the evening was devoted to the senior branches of the Mission. Reports were given of the vocal and instrumental music classes, instituted and carried on by the young men themselves—led respectively by Messrs. Ross and Fleming, of their own num- ber; and throughout the evening a number of pieces were performed alternately by these two classes, which added greatly to the interest of the meeting. But the great event of the evening was the distribution of decorations to those young men of the Excelsior Institute who had distinguished themselves by passing examinations of their studies at home during the year, in literature, science, and art, and who were called up to the platform for the purpose. These decorations consisted of stars, roses, and harps, of three classes, which the Lord Provost affixed to the breasts of the young men, amidst the cheers of the assemblage. Addresses were then delivered by Mr. Grant, of the Excelsior Institute ; Mr. Gunn, of the Literary Association ; and H. D. Dickie, Esq., Chairman of the Acting Committee. 298 APPENDIX. At the close, the Lord Provost expressed the high gratifica- tion, mingled with astonishment, with which he had witnessed the proceedings of the evening. He had attended many meet- ings, but he could say with all sincerity that he had never attended one in which he had experienced so much pleasure. He regarded this as only the beginning of a great movement, and if one year had been able to produce such results, what might not be expected when the leaven of its principles had pervaded the whole city ? John Scott Moncrieff, Esq., one of the patrons, then moved a vote of thanks to the Lord Provost, and the proceedings terminated. The following report had been printed at the Mission Press, and in order to save time was not read, but distributed among those present :— First Report OF THE EXPERIMENTAL PIONEER HOME Mission, 1859. “In looking back upon the history of this Mission since its commencement in June last, we may well exclaim, ‘What hath God wrought?’ The story of its crigin and progress is a very remarkable one, but it cannot be told here. A year ago it was but a grain of mustard seed, which had not even then been cast into the ground ; to-day it is a stately tree, watered with many prayers, and the fowls of the air are already lodging in its branches. “On Sabbath morning, the 30th of May, 1858, it consisted of four individuals, who, having just obtained the key of Whit- field Chapel, entered and took possession of its dreary walls, and kneeling down, consecrated themselves to the work of God in the evangelisation of the population by which they were sur- rounded. They had no society on which to depend for funds, and no congregation on which to lean for support ; but, as a few friends had united to pay the rent of the chapel, and as their own labours were to be gratuitous, they cast themselves on God’s providence for all the rest. Imploring His Spirit and guidance, they pledged themselves by God’s grace to stand by one another ; confident that if they had only faith, God would _ work mightily by their means, so that Whitfield Chapel, which had for so many years been a noted temple of atheism and APPENDIX. 299 blasphemy upon Sabbath, and a disreputable dancing-saloon through the week, should become the centre of a great missionary work, that should send its influences throughout the whole of Edinburgh. “Their prayers were heard, and from that memorable morn- ing their labours have been accompanied with the most wonder- . ful success. The attraction of their enthusiasm has gathered round them a band of Christian labourers of like mind with themselves, so that in one year their number has been multiplied tenfold. Their labours have taken almost EVERY FORM OF CHRISTIAN ENTERPRISE AND ENLIGHTENED PHILANTHROPY, and have been brought to bear on EVERY AGE and EVERY CLASS OF THE POPULATION: infants and children, young men and young women, mothers and working men, have each been addressed according to their capacities and inclinations, soas to bind them by the strongest ties to the Mission and its labourers, and to win for the Gospel of Jesus Christ a more favourable hearing. The people are visited in their own homes, especially in sickness and affliction. Several of God’s own people in the district have been brought out into active service in the Mission. Bibles have been sold, tracts distributed, a library established, and a clothing society (which is managed by the ladies) pursues its course very usefully, but, for prudential reasons, very quietly among the children. A printing-press has also been added, by which hand-bills, cards, prospectuses, tickets, and, indeed, almost everything required by the Mission, is now printed without expense. ‘The following is a list of the engagements of the Mission :— “‘1. The Teachers’ Prayer Meeting is held every Sabbath morning at nine o'clock. “9. The Sabbath-morning School meets at a quarter before ten o'clock, and is attended by about eighty children, and twelve teachers and pupil teachers. Mr. Jenkinson, superintendent. (This school is used as a training school for young teachers ; and lectures, lessons, and exercises are given in analysing, catechis- - ing, and drawing lessons by the general superintendent. ) «© 3. A children’s afternoon meeting is held at a quarter past two o'clock for those who go to no church. Upwards of forty attend. Mr. Marshall, superintendent. “4, The Sabbath-evening School meets at six o'clock ; the 300 APPENDIX. average attendance being about two hundred children—twenty- five teachers. General exercise of the whole school at seven o’clock ; teachers’ prayer meeting at a quarter before eight. Mr. M‘Kay, superintendent. “5, A Sabbath-afternoon Bible Class for Young Men. Twelve pupils. Mr. Gauld, superintendent. “6, A Band of Hope, consisting of about eighty children, all above eight years of age, who, being convinced of the evils of in- temperance, have resolved to avoid the danger, by abstaining from tobacco and all intoxicating drinks. “7. Monthly Meeting of teachers and agents on the third Friday of each month. “8. Week-day Elementary Classes for Young Men, on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, at eight o’clock P.M. leading, writing, arithmetic, &c. Above forty pupils. Mr. Gauld, superintendent. “9. Week-day Elementary Classes for Young Women. Reading, writing, arithmetic, &c., on Wednesday and Friday, at a quarter past eight p.m. About thirty pupils. Mr. Gardiner, superintendent. “10. A Week-day Evening Class for teaching girls to sew and knit, on Wednesday and Thursday, at seven o'clock.