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THE LIVING PULPIT, 
 
 EIGHTEEN SERMONS 
 
 BY EMINENT LIVING DIVINES 
 
 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 
 
 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE EDITOR, 
 
 BY GEO. W. BETIIUNE, D. D. 
 
 EDITED AND PUBLISI 
 
 BY REV. ELIJAH ' W I L S O N , 
 
 SEVENTH EDITION. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 FOR SALE BY WM. S. MAR TIEN, 
 
 No. 144 CHESTNUT STREET. 
 AND BY SMITII & ENGLISH, 36 NORTH SIXTH STREET. 
 
 185 7. 
 
PRINTED ET C. SHERMAN >fc SON. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Folly op Doubting the Execution op God's 
 
 Threatenings, 
 
 By Rev. E. Wilson, Editor. 
 
 
 
 Worth of the Soul, .... 
 
 
 . 21 
 
 By J. T. Smith, D. D. 
 
 
 
 The Faithful Saying. .... 
 
 • 
 
 . 44 
 
 By Willis Lord, D. D. 
 
 
 
 The Ruling Passion, .... 
 
 B 
 
 . 63 
 
 By W. B. Spra^ue, D. D. 
 
 
 
 Supremacy of the Moral Law, . 
 
 
 . 93 
 
 By J. W. Yoomans, D. B. 
 
 
 
 Distrust of the Word, 
 
 , 
 
 . 109 
 
 By J. W. Alexander, D.^D. 
 
 
 
 Consistency of the Divine Government. 
 
 
 . 129 
 
 By Geo. Junkin, D. B. 
 
 
 
 Efficiency of Christian Principle, . 
 
 
 . 157 
 
 By Thos. Smyth, D.D. 
 
 
 
 The Good Man, 
 
 
 . 174 
 
 By John MDowell, D. B. 
 
 
 
 The House of God, .... 
 
 
 . 188 
 
 By W. A. Scott, D. D. 
 
 (Hi) 
 
 
IV CONTENTS. 
 
 PAOE 
 
 Perpetuity op the Church, t 225 
 
 By J. C. Lord, D.D. 
 
 Seeing Things Invisible, 2-49 
 
 By J. II. Jones, D. D. 
 
 Christ the Life op his People, 263 
 
 By Robert J. Breckinridge, D. D., L. L. D. 
 
 Faith and Sight Contrasted, 299 
 
 By A. T. M'Gill, D. D. 
 
 Catholicity op the Gospel, . . . . .319 
 
 By Chas. Hodge, D. D. 
 
 Christian Submission, 337 
 
 By II. A. Boardrnan, D. D. 
 
 The Prodigal, 353 
 
 By John Leyburn, D. D. 
 
 The Tree Known by its Fruits, .... 374 
 
 By E. P. Humphrey, D. D. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In presenting the Living Pulpit to the Public, the Editor feels 
 that no apology is needed. The book presents a collection of Ser- 
 mons by some of the most eminent living divines of the Presby- 
 terian Church, whose names are a sufficient guaranty that the 
 matter is essential truth, presented in the most attractive form. 
 
 The Sermons were furnished at the request of the Editor ex- 
 pressly for this volume, and are practical and didactic. 
 
 The design of the publication will be fully seen by a reference 
 to the biographical sketch of the Editor, prepared by George TV. 
 Bethune, D. D. 
 
 Whilst the Editor, in common with others engaged in the dis- 
 semination of divine truth by the agency of the press, expects a 
 pecuniary compensation for his labours, yet he trusts that his 
 efforts in this department will meet with the approbation of Ziou's 
 King, and be abundantly blessed by Him to the promotion of his 
 own glory, in the salvation of souls. 
 
 (v) 
 
VJ PREFACE. 
 
 Should this volume meet with puhlic favour, it may be fol- 
 lowed by similar productions from eminent divines of other 
 denominations. 
 
 The Editor would here most gratefully acknowledge his indebted- 
 ness to his brethren, for their kindness and courtesy in furnishing 
 their valuable contributions for the work : and hopes that in the 
 developments of eternity multitudes will be found before the 
 throne of God, who were encouraged in their Christian course, 
 or first directed to the Saviour, by these Sermons, and who will 
 there rejoice with the authors over the hallowed influence of the 
 
 Living Pulpit. 
 
 E. W. 
 
 Philadelphia, Oct. 1st, 1S52. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 THE EDITOR. 
 
 BY GEO. W. BETHUXE, D. D. 
 
 The severe trials of the Rev. Elijah Wilson, and the 
 Christian patience with which he has struggled through 
 them to usefulness, have won for him the sympathy and 
 affectionate respect of many friends. As another method 
 of doing good, and at the same time of honourably meeting 
 unavoidable claims on his exertions, he has been led to 
 publish this volume. The names of the good and able men 
 who have cheerfully assisted his design, by contributing 
 Discourses, give the best proof of the estimation in which 
 he is held, and of the profit to be expected, under the Divine 
 blessing, from the reading of the book. A slight sketch 
 of his history may not be an uninteresting preface. 
 
 He was born in Philadelphia, the only child of James and 
 Mary Wilson. His paternal grand parents were of Scotch- 
 Irish blood, and came to this country a short time before 
 the American Revolution, settling first in Haddonfield, New 
 Jersey, but soon removing to Philadelphia, where James, the 
 father of Elijah, was born in 1774. 
 
 His grand parents on the other side, whose name was 
 Thomas, came from Wales after the close of the war, and 
 settled on a farm in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, 
 where Mary, their only child, was born about 1788, and, at 
 the age of 22, married to Mr. Wilson, who carried her to 
 Philadelphia, in which city they spent their subsequent days. 
 
 Mr. Wilson's family were Episcopalians, but, for the 
 
 (vii) 
 
Vlll BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE EDITOR. 
 
 greater part of his life, he preferred worshipping with Pres- 
 byterians, though he never became a communicant. Mrs. 
 Wilson continued in the principles of her parents, who be- 
 longed to the society of Friends ; but her views of Christian 
 doctrine were highly evangelical, and she strongly inculcated 
 the truths of the Gospel on the growing mind of her son, 
 whose delicate health during boyhood brought him more 
 closely under her happy care and pious teachings. 
 
 From his early years Elijah was noted for an active, 
 inquiring mind. To a great fondness for books, he added 
 not a little mechanical genius, and a taste for art. This last 
 tendency was more or less cultivated at different times, and 
 he attained sufficient skill, especially in landscape painting, 
 to defray the expense of his living and education for some 
 time after death had deprived him (in his fifteenth year) of 
 his father. Previously to this his studies had been inter- 
 rupted by a severe dropsical affection, from which, after a 
 twelvemonth's suffering, he was providentially restored by 
 the skill of his physician, Dr. Hays, of Philadelphia. 
 
 Undiscouraged by such various hindrances and difficulties, 
 he was determined to have a thoroughly classical education ; 
 and, when about eighteen, he entered the Academy at Kin- 
 derhook, New York, then under the able superintendence 
 of Mr. Silas Metcalf. At Kinderhook it was his privilege 
 to sit under the faithful, energetic ministry of the late Rev. Dr. 
 Sickles, minister of the Reformed Dutch Church there ; and, 
 in the summer of 1831, he received, through the distin- 
 guishing grace of God his Saviour, the baptism of the Holy 
 Ghost. He united with the Church in the following autumn. 
 His earnest piety, ready talents, and thirst after knowledge, 
 attracted the approving regard of Dr. Sickles, and other 
 pious friends, who advised him to study for the sacred min- 
 istry ; which counsel, after much anxious, prayerful delib- 
 eration, he followed, and diligently prepared himself for 
 College. In the autumn of 1835 he was matriculated as a 
 member of the Sophomore Class, in Rutgers' College, New 
 Brunswick, New Jersey, and prosecuted his studies with 
 credit and success for the next twelvemonth, supporting 
 himself by his own industry, yet fully keeping up with his 
 more' favoured classmates. But the double tax upon his 
 energies, physical and mental, was too great for a constitu- 
 tion never strong, and shaken by former disease. His 
 nervous system being much impaired, he sought medical aid 
 without success ; yet continued, though feebly and at inter- 
 
BIOGKAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE EDITOR. a 
 
 vals, to pursue the course of the College, until towards the 
 Christmas holidays. Already, however, he had had what 
 he afterwards knew, though not then, to be the forebodings 
 of the darkness which has since enveloped his life. About 
 a year before this he lost his sense of smell, which he has 
 never regained; and in November, 1836, when returning 
 alone from evening prayers in the College Chapel to his 
 lodgings, he was suddenly struck with total blindness. 
 
 For a little while he paused, wondering and alarmed in 
 the darkness ; then attempted to grope his way homeward, 
 but could not. He opened his eyes wide, but they had no 
 sight ; after some moments he turned his face up to heaven 
 and saw the blue sky, though the earth was veiled from him — 
 then the heavy curtain slowly fell, and the world again was 
 revealed to his view. The sense, so strangely suspended, had 
 returned. He reached home, but greatly enfeebled by the 
 stroke to body and mind. The next week, while at his stu- 
 dies, he again, and as suddenly, lost his sight ; but after a 
 few minutes it came back to him as before. Anxious as he 
 was in consequence of these two attacks, he did not antici- 
 pate so terrible a calamity as utter, unrelieved blindness; 
 but, though he relaxed his pursuits, the paroxysms became 
 more and more frequent, until his retirement from College 
 became necessary. His kind mother had been removed 
 from earth a few years before this trial, which was severely 
 aggravated by the loss of her affectionate care, and he 
 sought at his second home, in Kinderhook, for rest and me- 
 dical assistance. The physicians whom he consulted on his 
 way in New York, encouraged him to hope for a cure when 
 his general health should be recruited ; and at Kinderhook 
 he had the advantage of beino; under the able treatment of 
 Dr. Dorr ; but his seasons of darkness continued to return, 
 his strength rapidly failed, and, though in the March follow- 
 ing he was somewhat stronger, all objects were seen by him 
 through a haze, which became more and more dim, until he 
 could not distinguish one thing from another. One night, 
 about the close of April, he went to bed and slept soundly ; 
 but on awaking in the morning he saw no light. He heard 
 the inmates moving about the house — he approached the 
 window of his chamber — the warm rays of the sun fell upon 
 his hands and his face, but the brightness of its beams were 
 not for him. He was entirely blind. He hoped, at the 
 first, that the darkness would be only temporary and partial 
 as before ; but never since has he known the pleasantness 
 
X BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE EDITOR. 
 
 of looking upon the face of nature or the smiles of friends. 
 At the high noon of that sad day he felt that the eclipse was 
 total. His spirit sank within him. He refused to eat bread, 
 and would fain have died. He tried to look up and " see 
 Him who is invisible." He shut himself apart from his 
 sympathising friends, and bemoaned himself in solitude. 
 He knelt to pray, but his very soul was in darkness, and he 
 was constrained to cry, " My God ! my God ! why hast thou 
 forsaken me ?" The only scripture which spake to him, 
 was the melancholy cry of the anguished prophet, " Is thy 
 mercy clean gone for ever?" His agony of heart and mind 
 continued for many days. He wrestled in prayer day and 
 night. His little strength entirely failed. A pain on the 
 top of his head, which he had felt from the beginning of his 
 illness, became more and more acute ; he lost for some time 
 the sense of taste — so that those of touch and hearing only 
 remained to him — his whole system was racked by frequent 
 convulsions — his life was despaired of for more than a fort- 
 night — and, though after that time his spiritual and physi- 
 cal energies were partially restored during a few succeeding 
 months, he fell back into the same bodily distresses — but, 
 through the blessing of God, not into the same mental dis- 
 tress, during the summer. 
 
 The faithful skill of Dr. Van Dyke was, however, re- 
 warded by a kind Providence with the entire restoration of 
 his general health, but with no hope that he would ever 
 again receive his sight. 
 
 It is most pleasing to know that his spiritual faintness 
 was the consequence not of unbelief, but bodily infirmity ; 
 for when his flesh rose from its weakness, and his brain re- 
 covered soundness, his heart again delighted itself in God. 
 "The celestial light shone inward;" and his buoyant tem- 
 per, animated by divine joy, showed itself superior to his 
 trials. This happy Christian courage has ever since ac- 
 companied him, blessing his own life with a radiance from 
 on high, and shedding from his cheerful, thankful example, 
 an edifying pleasure upon all who have had the satisfaction 
 of his society. 
 
 He still fondly clung to the hope of prosecuting his stu- 
 dies, but his friends persuaded him from attempting it; 
 and abandoning his collegiate course, he, by their advice, 
 entered the Institution for the Blind at Philadelphia, with a 
 view of preparing himself to be a teacher of his brethren 
 in affliction. But with limited means of improvement, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE EDITOR. XI 
 
 through the slow process of reading by "raised letters," 
 his ardent mind could not be content ; and he remained at 
 the Institution only from December, 1837, until the follow- 
 ing spring. At that time a severe erysipelas in his head 
 and eyes excited some hope that a favourable change had 
 occurred, and that by skilful treatment his sight might yet 
 be recovered ; but, though he put himself into the experi- 
 enced hands of Drs. Hays and Fox, of Philadelphia, his 
 expectations were baffled. 
 
 Some kind friends (especially one Mr. W., of New York, 
 for whose warm and active regard he has great reason to be 
 grateful) thought that, with the aid of a partner, he might 
 succeed in some branch of business, and had begun to make 
 arrangements to that end. But the good Providence, which 
 had chastened his spirit, intended better things ; for, while 
 on his way up the Hudson to visit Kinderhook, he fell in 
 with the Rev. Sylvester Woodbridge, then the agent of the 
 Auburn Theological Seminary, who advised him to go on 
 with his studies for the ministry ; and, to encourage him, 
 cited the case of his cousin, the Rev. Timothy Woodbridge, 
 who had become blind during his collegiate course, yet had 
 continued his preparation, and was preaching with- success 
 as the pastor of a church. 
 
 Mr. Woodbridge suggested that an arrangement might be 
 effected with some theological students to read the lessons 
 in which they were engaged to him by turns. Mr. Wilson 
 was favourably impressed with the plan, which Mr. Wood- 
 bridge promised his assistance to carry out. While await- 
 ing Mr. Woodbridge's further communication, he was in- 
 vited to visit the home of a college classmate, whose father, 
 Captain John Steele, resided at Paradise, Pennsylvania. 
 There, unwilling to be idle, he occupied and amused by 
 teaching occasionally the two younger sons of his hospitable 
 entertainer. Capt. Steele was so much pleased with the 
 rapid improvement of his boys under Mr. Wilson's teaching, 
 that he requested him to act as the private tutor of his chil- 
 dren, which he did, and taught the two daughters, as well as 
 the two sons of his host, with great success, until the March 
 following, when Mr. Woodbridge wrote to him that he had 
 made the arrangement, which he had promised, for Mr. 
 Wilson's theological studies, at the seminary in Auburn, New 
 York ; and, not without many spoken blessings, accompa- 
 nied by substantial evidence of esteem, from Capt. Steele, 
 he left the home of that generous gentleman, to enter on his 
 
Xll BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE EDITOR. 
 
 course at Auburn, in April 1839, and there continued hia 
 studies most profitably until the spring of 1841, practising 
 his gifts as a public speaker by occasional exhortations in 
 the religious meetings around, which were well received. In 
 March of that year, after a close examination, he was regu- 
 larly licensed as a candidate for the ministry", by the Pres- 
 bytery of Cayuga, on which occasion he received from the 
 members of that revered body many proofs of approbation 
 and encouraging counsel. 
 
 Desirous of yet further improvement before entering upon 
 the full labours of the sacred office, he, by the advice of a 
 friend who was studying in the Theological Seminary at 
 Princeton, and who engaged to make for him there an ar- 
 rangement like that by which he had profited so much at 
 Auburn, he determined to spend a year in the school of the 
 prophets, under the wise superintendence of the Rev. Doc- 
 tors Alexander, Miller and Hodge. In the meantime, he 
 ventured to travel alone to visit his hospitable friend Capt. 
 Steele, and preached frequently on the way ; every where 
 on the road and in the house meeting with attentive kind- 
 ness. In September (having been detained by an illness of 
 several weeks) he entered the Seminary at Princeton, and 
 enjoyed regularly the opportunities of his class until May, 
 1842, when he was transferred from the Presbytery of New 
 Brunswick (to which he had been dismissed from the Pres- 
 bytery of Cayuga) to the Presbytery of New Castle, Dela- 
 ware, by whom he was sent, in June, 1842, as a stated sup- 
 ply for the churches of Newark and Christiana. His ser- 
 vices were so well received, that those churches, in the 
 August following, united in giving him an unanimous call, 
 and he was installed as their pastor on the 12th of the next 
 October. Here he was blessed in winning the affections of 
 a most estimable and intelligent young lady, Miss Ann Gray, 
 daughter of Mr. Andrew Gray, of Chestnut Hill, Newark, 
 whom he married on the 29th of November of the same 
 year. Their union was eminently happy. Mr. Wilson con- 
 tinued in the charge of these churches, preaching regularly 
 and doing the full duty of a pastor for four years. It is 
 but just to say, that his labours were owned of God and the 
 Church. They were richly blessed ; scarcely a sacramental 
 communion passed without the evidence of fruit, and, at 
 one time, a considerable revival crowned his preaching of 
 the Word. So much was he strengthened, notwithstanding 
 his infirmity, that, in the spring of 1844, being invited to 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE EDITOR. xiil 
 
 assist the pastor of the church at Wilmington, he preached 
 for fourteen successive evenings, labouring the while through- 
 out the day in visits of exhortation. This Mr. Wilson 
 gratefully remembers as a most precious season of in- 
 gathering, when "many souls were added unto the Church." 
 
 For several reasons, which he considered sufficient, and 
 his known "aptness to teach," Mr. Wilson was persuaded, 
 in the spring of 1845, to take the superintendence of a 
 "Female Seminary," at Newark, still retaining his pastoral 
 care of the two churches which have been named. In this 
 important school, about forty young ladies pursued a wide 
 range of studies, and Mr. Wilson received high testimonials 
 from most competent judges, to his fidelity as a preceptor, 
 which was shown, at the examinations, by the scholars 
 themselves. The written certificates given to Mr. Wilson 
 speak of this sufficiently. His multiplied labours as a pas- 
 tor of two churches and active principal of such a seminary 
 were, however, too much for his strength. 
 
 In the spring of 1846 he was compelled to resign his 
 pulpits ; and in a year or two afterwards he gave up the 
 charge of the school, which in the spring of 1 847 had been 
 moved to Wilmington. About this period of his life the 
 Lord was pleased again to "bruise our brother, and put him 
 to grief," visiting him with yet more and yet more bitter 
 sorrows. His pecuniary fortunes suffered from some ill-ad- 
 vised changes in his school. Mrs. Wilson's health was shaken, 
 and various circumstances led them to a more private life in 
 the bosom of her father's family, whose residence was now 
 at Wilmington. He was not, however, idle, but assisted 
 Mr. Gayley of the Wilmington Academy, and preached to 
 a feeble Church which had been begun in the outskirts of 
 the city. 
 
 Now, July 1848, came upon him the saddest calamity of his 
 life. His charming and devoted wife had been to him in every 
 respect a helpmeet, enlivening darkness, cheering his labours, 
 solacing his disappointments. God had given them two fair 
 sons, Andrew Gray, (born December, 1844,) Chalmers, (Au- 
 gust, 1847.) Their domestic content was full of sweetness — its 
 chief charm the pious, cultivated, affectionate, clear minded, 
 and strong hearted woman, who in every relation as a daugh- 
 ter, wife, mother, friend and member of Christ's Church, had 
 won love from all who knew her, but especially from her blind, 
 thankful husband. Yet she heard the voice of her Master 
 calling her away, and died of the typhoid fever on the eve- 
 
XIV BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE EDITOR. 
 
 ning of the 10th of the month. u She was not, for God 
 took her." Mr. Wilson sustained, as he could not but be, 
 by the assurance of her sleep in Jesus, suffered far more 
 from the absence of his bosom's comforter, than he had done 
 from the loss of his sight. With her life, his second, better 
 light went out. It was the deepest gloom of midnight to 
 his heart ; an irresistible melancholy came over his soul, 
 which the sympathy of affectionate friends sought to alle- 
 viate, but could not chase away. He had to go on his way 
 blind, without the gentle hand to lead him, which, by the 
 gift of God, had been his ever careful, gentle guide. 
 
 But the children she had bequeathed him demanded his 
 exertions, and the work of his Lord his zeal. His long 
 tried, steadfast friend, the Rev. S. M. Gayley, was mindful 
 of him, and, by generous influence, obtained for him the 
 useful post of assistant chaplain to the Eastburn Mariners' 
 Church of Philadelphia, the Rev. 0. Douglass, the pastor 
 (since gone to rest), having been compelled, by declining 
 health, to leave the main duties in Mr. Wilson's hands. 
 The labours of Mr. Wilson in this pleasing scene of mission- 
 ary work were highly acceptable to the mariners, and those 
 who had the superintendence of the church. 
 
 There he continued to serve, blessing and blest, until 
 early in the spring of 1849, when he received a unanimous 
 call from the Presbyterian Church at Wrightsville, York 
 County, Pennsylvania, to become their pastor, which he 
 accepted. 
 
 His entrance upon this new sphere of exertion was 
 signalised by a copious rain of the Spirit, reviving the 
 church, and causing many plants of righteousness to spring 
 up within the garden of the Lord from the good seed of his 
 word. The ministry of Mr. Wilson continued to be highly 
 appreciated by the congregation of Wrightsville, and he 
 exercised it, notwithstanding his physical disabilities, with 
 ease and comfort. Several of his friends, however, with 
 whose judgment his own agreed, adopted the opinion that 
 his usefulness might be enhanced by his giving himself to 
 the spread of the truth through the press ; and, in order to 
 the making of a full experiment, he resigned the pastoral 
 charge of the Wrightsville Church in December, 1851, 
 though, at the earnest request of the elders and congrega- 
 tion, he still continued to occupy their pulpit as the stated 
 preacher until June 1852. 
 
 It wa3 Mr. Wilson's first intention to publish some of his 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE EDITOR. XV 
 
 own religious writings ; but shrinking from what he modestly 
 feared might be thought undue presumption, he has deter- 
 mined that his opening venture should be with the writings 
 of others, who are widely known and approved throughout 
 the Evangelical Church of this country. How well he has 
 been assisted by his fathers and brethren, the contents of 
 the present volume show. He sends it forth, hopeful of the 
 divine blessing. 
 
 Such is the simple story of his afflicted yet favoured life. 
 The general facts have been taken down from his own lips, 
 as he told what the Lord had done for his soul, and " men- 
 tioned the loving kindness and great goodness" of the angel 
 of the covenant, in leading him " by ways which he knew 
 not, and paths he had not known." If some words of affec- 
 tionate praise are found threaded throughout this narrative, 
 it is because the writer of these pages could not deny him- 
 self the expression of his feelings. They have been written 
 under the bias of a warm friendship ; but that warmth of 
 friendship has been the consequence of his acquaintance with 
 Mr. Wilson's character and course, which have won for him 
 a like esteem from all who knew him. 
 
 No doubt the trials of his experience induced a tender- 
 ness of judgment ; but it is not less certain that his pa- 
 tience, and cheerfulness, and courageous perseverance compel 
 towards him a rare respect and heartfelt good wishes. Nor 
 must it be thought that this opinion of him as a Christian 
 man and an Evangelical minister, has been formed only 
 when considering his difficulties. Were he not blind, he 
 would be entitled to an equal estimation. Pursuing his 
 studies continuously and earnestly, by the help of readers, 
 his memory and his power of attention have been strength- 
 ened by practice. His range of investigation has been 
 wide ; his acquaintance with standard authors in vari- 
 ous departments of theological and general literature is 
 familiar ; his judgment, from the intensity of his thought, 
 while listening to the friend at his side, has become unu- 
 sually quick and sound, so that it may be said with truth, 
 few of our working clergy are better stored with material 
 for the pulpit than he. He thoroughly understands and 
 faithfully expounds the system of truth set forth in the 
 standards of the church to which he is loyally attached. 
 His discourses are notable for their analytical arrangement ; 
 his definitions are apt ; his illustrations happy ; his mode 
 of thought oftentimes fresh ; his language easy and not de- 
 
XVI BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE EDITOE. 
 
 void of unction ; which, united to a demonstrative force, 
 distinct enunciation, and a natural earnestness mingled 
 with pathos, render him, through divine blessing, a forcible, 
 pleasing preacher. The absence of sight interests his hear- 
 ers for him, but occasions no awkwardness of manner, or 
 unpleasant feelings ; and he is listened to with emotions of 
 thankfulness that it pleases God to bring such joyful light 
 out of such darkness. 
 
 His story is instructive, confirming the evangelical doc- 
 trine, that we may, through grace, "glory in tribulation," 
 be made strong by weakness, and "count it all joy when 
 we fall into manifold temptations ;'' nay, that there are no 
 impediments or obstacles insuperable to one who, trusting 
 his Master's promise, is determined upon doing what hia 
 " hands find to do, with all his might." 
 
THE FOLLY OF DOUBTING THE EXECUTION 
 OF GOD'S THREATENINGS. 
 
 BY 
 
 THE REV. E. WILSON, EDITOR. 
 
 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, 
 walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of 
 his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as 
 they were from the beginning of the creation. — 2 Peter iii. 3, 4. 
 
 This is a prophetic declaration of an apostle, rela- 
 tive to the character and conduct of a class of men 
 who would arise in the last days, that is, at the 
 termination of the Jewish polity, and, affecting to 
 discredit the promises and threatenings of God, by 
 scoffing at religion, would walk after their own lusts. 
 
 The history of every age, since the days of the 
 apostles, has furnished lamentable proof of the truth 
 of this declaration. Even in this age, under the in- 
 creasing light of the gospel, scoffers are increasing 
 in number and daring profaneness. So true is the 
 affirmation of Scripture, that "evil men and seducers 
 shall wax worse and w r orse, deceiving and being 
 deceived." "For, as in water face answereth to 
 face, so the heart of man to man." In every age 
 unbelief marks his character, and evinces the truth 
 of Scripture, that " the heart is deceitful above all 
 2 (i) 
 
2 FOLLY OF DOUBTING GOD'S THREAT ENIXGS. 
 
 things, and desperately wicked." With affections 
 thus averse to holiness, he refuses obedience to the 
 divine commands, and yields to his wayward pro- 
 pensities. When urged to the duty of repentance 
 and faith, he flies to some refuge of lies ; and to still 
 the voice of conscience, affects to doubt the truth of 
 divine threatenings. 
 
 My object is to show the folly of those who doubt 
 the execution of God's threatenings. 
 
 Their folly will appear evident from the following 
 reasons : 
 
 1st. Because they demand an immediate fulfil- 
 ment, saying, " Where is the promise of his coming?" 
 The scoffer must see an immediate exhibition of 
 retributive justice, or else he utterly refuses to 
 believe the evidence which God has been pleased 
 to give. 
 
 It needs no very extensive survey of the divine 
 government, to discover that an immediate execu- 
 tion of threatenings is not a principle of its adminis- 
 tration. For an apt illustration of this principle, 
 refer to the history of Manasseh. The character 
 of this prince was of the most detestable kind. He 
 not only filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, but 
 also caused Judah and Jerusalem to sin more griev- 
 ously than any of the surrounding nations. Idolatry, 
 through his influence, became the prevailing religion 
 from the royal court to the meanest subject. In 
 addition to these enormities, the warnings and admo- 
 nitions by the prophets to this proud and idolatrous 
 prince, were rejected by both prince and people with 
 disdain. 
 Thus provoked by contempt, and by the violation of 
 
E. WILSON. 6 
 
 every law of humanity, justice, and mercy, Jehovah 
 threatens Manasseh and his people with a sweeping 
 destruction, saying, " Because Manasseh, king of 
 Judah, hath done these abominations, and hath done 
 wickedly above all that the Amorites did which 
 were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin 
 with his idols ; therefore, thus saith the Lord God 
 of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jeru- 
 salem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it both 
 his ears shall tingle. And I will stretch over Jeru- 
 salem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the 
 house of Ahab; and I will wipe Jerusalem, as a 
 man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside 
 down. And I will forsake the remnant of mine 
 inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their 
 enemies, and they shall become a prey and a spoil 
 to all their enemies ; because they have done that 
 which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me 
 to anger since the day their fathers came forth out 
 of Egypt, even unto this day." But did God, in 
 this instance, immediately execute his threatenings ? 
 No, for the subsequent history shows that Manasseh 
 himself died in peace, and the execution of it on his 
 people was deferred to the reign of Zedekiah, about 
 one hundred years. 
 
 Again, this principle of the divine government 
 is more strikingly illustrated in the history of 
 Amalek. This idolatrous nation made an attack 
 on Israel when weary and enfeebled from their 
 wanderings in the desert; but Jehovah wrought a 
 complete victory for his chosen people. 
 
 This unprovoked attack brought on Amalek the 
 displeasure of Jehovah. And as an expression of his 
 
4 FOLLY OF DOUBTING GODS THREATENINGS. 
 
 righteous indignation, "the Lord said unto Moses, 
 Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it 
 in the ears of Joshua ; for I will utterly put out the 
 remembrance of Amalek from under heaven." Here, 
 again, is sentence against the transgressor immedi- 
 ately executed ? By no means ; for, notwithstanding 
 this threatening, Amalek is, through the divine for- 
 bearance, preserved from immediate destruction. 
 Still, lest it should be inferred from this delay that 
 God had forgotten their sins, or indeed never in- 
 tended to execute his sentence, he, after the lapse 
 of nearly half a century, renews, with additional 
 reasons, his command to the Israelites, the chosen 
 instruments to inflict his wrath, saying, " Remember 
 what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye 
 were come forth out of Egypt, how he met thee by 
 the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all 
 that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint 
 and weary ; and he feared not God. Therefore it 
 shall be, when the Lord thy God hath given thee 
 rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land 
 which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inherit- 
 ance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the re- 
 membrance of Amalek from under heaven ; thou 
 shalt not forget it." 
 
 The subsequent history of this people shows 
 that they continued, from age to age, to cherish 
 towards Israel a hostile disposition, and like modern 
 scoffers, perfectly secure in their sins, they hastened 
 to fill up the measure of their iniquity. 
 
 The long-suffering of God having at length be- 
 come exhausted, he delivers, after the lapse of five 
 hundred and forty-eight years, his final command. 
 
E. WILSON. 5 
 
 through his prophet Samuel, saying to king Saul, 
 " Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy 
 all that they have, and spare them not; but slay 
 both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and 
 sheep, camel and ass." This threatening was now 
 fully accomplished, and the remembrance of Amalek 
 blotted out from under heaven. 
 
 It is true, that the history of Manasseh and 
 Amalek gives but an imperfect view of the testi- 
 mony which might be gathered, to prove that an 
 immediate execution of threatenings is not a princi- 
 ple of the divine administration. But if the testi- 
 mony of Moses and the Prophets fails to convince 
 the scoffer, that God will finally fulfil his word, then 
 would he not be persuaded though one rose from 
 the dead. 
 
 The reason of this long delay of judgment given 
 by the apostle in the chapter whence our text is 
 taken, is, that God is "long suffering to us ward, 
 not willing that any should perish, but that all 
 should come to repentance." And we would natu 
 rally infer, that such an exhibition of forbearance in 
 the midst of deserved wrath, would induce the sin 
 tier to embrace this favourable moment to " seek 
 the Lord while he may be found," and thus escape 
 his judgment. But such is the madness of his heart, 
 and the folly of his course, that in bold defiance of 
 every threatening of the Almighty, he, sheltering 
 himself beneath his unreasonable doubts, still per- 
 sists in his rebellion, and asks, amidst the clearest 
 evidence, " Where is the promise of his coming V 
 "Where is the God of judgment ?" 
 
 II. But, again, their folly is more strikingly mani- 
 fest, hecause they utterly disregard the teachings of 
 Providence. 
 
C FOLLY OF DOUBTING GODS THREATENINGS. 
 
 Every impenitent heart is prone to imagine thai 
 God is a being simply benevolent, overlooking his 
 justice and holiness. This vain notion the sinner 
 continues to cherish, though God, through the abun- 
 dance of his mercy, has, in his providence, added 
 instruction to instruction. But the greater the light — 
 in which God exhibits his determined purpose in- 
 violably to unite in his moral government, justice, 
 mercy and holiness — the more obstinately blind does 
 the sinner remain. And if nothing but an over- 
 whelming exhibition of power, in executing the 
 fierceness of his wrath, could arouse the scoffer from 
 his willing stupidity, God has, even of this, conde- 
 scended to give him abundant examples. 
 
 A moral lesson, irresistible in its impression on 
 the reflecting mind, we have given us in the terrific 
 destruction of the antediluvian world. One hun- 
 dred and twenty years did divine justice, through 
 the intercession of mercy in behalf of its guilty 
 inhabitants, forbear to execute its denunciations of 
 wrath. But like sinners of the present age, those 
 incorrigible and stupid sons of violence suffered the 
 time given them for repentance to pass unimproved. 
 Divine justice, though forbearing, slumbered not. 
 The unexpected, the fatal hour arrived. Mercy re- 
 tired. The door of hope was closed, and justice, 
 with the besom of destruction, swept a guilty race 
 from the face of the earth. God, as if determined 
 that this lesson of instruction should not be lost to 
 any succeeding age, not only recorded it upon the 
 sacred page, but also chronicled it upon the corner- 
 stones of the world, inscribed it on every moun 
 tain top, left its impress on the surface of every 
 
E. WILSON. 7 
 
 valley, and transmitted it through the traditions of 
 all nations. 
 
 But has the hand of divine justice been less truly 
 manifested in the moral government of the world 
 in any succeeding age ? By no means. For where 
 is Nineveh, that once humbled yet impenitent city ? 
 Where are the cities of the plain? We have the 
 answer of the apostle, that " God, turning the cities 
 of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them 
 with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto 
 those that after should live ungodly." The same 
 inquiry and answer may be made in reference to 
 Babylon, Tyre and Sidon, Carthage and Rome. 
 These were among the most renowned cities of the 
 world ; long the subject of prophecy ; distinguished 
 alike for their extent and influence ; the enormity 
 and number of their crimes, and, finally, not less 
 distinguished for the display of divine justice in 
 their destruction. 
 
 But the moral lessons to be derived from the 
 volume of providence, whether the instructive 
 events be remote or near, appear alike inefficient in 
 teaching the scoffer his true character, and in con- 
 vincing him that the most high God ruleth in the 
 kingdoms of men, and that he appointeth over them 
 whomsoever he will. 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar, a proud and idolatrous monarch 
 of Babylon, while walking in the palace of his king- 
 dom, and being elated with the greatness of his 
 capital, and the glory of his dominion, •' spake, and 
 said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for 
 the house of the kingdom, by the might of my 
 power, and for the honour of my majesty?" But 
 
8 FOLLY OF DOUBTING GODS TIIKEATEXINGS. 
 
 how suddenly was he arrested in his career ! " While 
 the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice 
 from heaven, saying, king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee 
 it is spoken, the kingdom is departed from thee ; 
 and they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwell- 
 ing shall be with the beasts of the field ! they shall 
 make thee to eat grass as oxen ; and seven times 
 shall pass over thee, until thou know that the Most 
 High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it 
 to whomsoever he will. The same hour was the 
 thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar." 
 
 Now Belshazzar, his grandson and possessor of 
 his throne, though acquainted with this history of 
 Nebuchadnezzar, yet rejecting all its evidence of the 
 sovereignty of God, pursued a course still more 
 aggravating in the sight of heaven ; the more aggra- 
 vating, because he had the greater means of in- 
 struction. But in the midst of his idolatrous feast 
 " came forth fingers of a man's hand, writing on the 
 wall of his palace — Mene, mene, tekel, uphaksin," 
 the sentence of his condemnation and execution. 
 
 Alarmed at this vision, the king finally brings in 
 the servant of the true God, because he alone was 
 found able to interpret the writing. So true is it 
 that Jehovah will always put honour on his children 
 in humbling his enemies. 
 
 Daniel, when admitted into the royal presence, 
 briefly states the history of Nebuchadnezzar, his 
 crimes, condemnation, humility, and restoration, and 
 declares to the king, " Thou, his son, Belshazzar, 
 hast not humbled thy heart, though thou Jcneivest 
 all this." 
 
 It is true, that time has removed to a great dis- 
 
• E. WILSON. 9 
 
 tance all the events above specified, but the case of 
 the Jewish nation is a standing miracle ; evidencing, 
 beyond reasonable doubt, that Jehovah is still the 
 governor of the nations, the King of kings, and Lord 
 of lords. For who can be ignorant of the fact, that 
 the house of Israel, though long the favourite of 
 heaven, yet has been for ages scattered among every 
 nation of the earth. Cruelly oppressed in every way 
 which human ingenuity could devise, and still pre- 
 served a distinct people ; reserved, both as objects 
 of wrath and mercy, to furnish some forthcoming 
 age a signal exhibition of the divine glory. 
 
 But w r e need not depend for evidence exclusively 
 on the history of nations, for we have ample proof 
 in the life of each individual, that God, from the 
 volume of providence, is giving every man impres- 
 sive lessons for his immediate improvement. 
 
 What though some regard not the work of Jeho- 
 vah, neither consider the operation of his hands, yet 
 to every willing mind he is constantly exhibiting 
 himself rich in mercy, glorious in holiness, wisdom, 
 and power. 
 
 The harmony of our moral and physical consti- 
 tution, with the laws of nature, proves beyond con- 
 tradiction, that the Author of our being not only 
 designs our happiness, but also that w r e should con- 
 stantly associate in our minds obedience and happi- 
 ness, disobedience and misery. For every man finds, 
 from daily experience, that an infringement of these 
 laws is followed, sooner or later, and generally in- 
 stantly, by* pain, disease, misery, and death. And 
 equally indubitable is the testimony of individual 
 experience, that a strict observance of these laws is 
 
10 FOLLY OF DOUBTING GOD'S TIIREATENINGS. 
 
 followed by health and happiness. The full flow 
 of animal spirits consequent on partaking of a cheer- 
 ful meal, in strict accordance with the laws of health, 
 as truly inculcates the doctrine as does the Bible 
 itself, that God purposes in his dealings with us to 
 unite inseparably in our minds obedience and happi- 
 ness. But is the testimony of our experience, as to 
 the effect of regarding or violating the moral law 
 of our being, less certain than that of the physical ? 
 or is it consonant to reason to suppose that less har- 
 mony and order of sequence would exist in the moral 
 Avorld than in the physical ? 
 
 The experience of every man fully accords with 
 the doctrine of the Bible, that the work of right- 
 eousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteous- 
 ness quietness and assurance for ever. Surely these 
 instances are enough to convince every rational per- 
 son that God, in his supervision of the world, is con- 
 stantly furnishing lessons of moral instruction, and 
 that he has not at any time left himself without a 
 witness. What, then, must be the folly of those 
 who utterly disregard the teachings of divine 
 providence ! 
 
 III. Those therefore, who, under such circum- 
 stances still continue to cherish their unbelief, must 
 evidently make their doubting the truth of God an 
 excuse for their sin. This conduct of the sinner is 
 evidently nothing less than to offer one sin as a pre- 
 text for committing many more. But how absurd 
 and vain is such a refuge ! 
 
 Such, however, are the extremes of absurdity to 
 which the sinner is driven by a love of sin; but let 
 
E. WILSON. 11 
 
 conscience awake, and remorse will arise in his mind, 
 from a consciousness of personal guilt, and fear of 
 condign punishment. 
 
 Hence, when the transgressor becomes truly con- 
 scious of personal guilt, he cannot but be tormented 
 with that fearful looking for of judgment and fiery 
 indignation which shall devour the adversaries. So 
 long, therefore, as he continues under the dominion 
 of Satan, and wedded to his lusts, the unequivocal 
 sentence, that "the wicked shall be turned into 
 hell," must pierce him with horror. Here we would 
 infer, that the sinner, from a sense of his guilt and 
 danger, would ground the weapons of his rebellion, 
 and plead for pardon. But no— lest he should be 
 compelled to close with the voice of God and of con- 
 science, he makes lies his refuge, and under false- 
 hood he hides himself. 
 
 Thus, when the conscience has been overpowered 
 by continually resisting all its admonitions, then 
 their wayward passions constitute their only guide, 
 the gratification of their carnal desires the object 
 and end of their being. 
 
 Are not the laws of God, and his plan of salvation 
 by a Mediator, of such a character as to commend 
 themselves to the judgment and conscience even of 
 the impenitent ? If not, why does sudden calamity 
 and fear compel even the vilest of the wicked to 
 implore divine assistance, and earnestly beseech our 
 Lord and Saviour for mercy to avert His impending 
 wrath, which in the day of prosperity they so affect- 
 edly disregard or despise? But let the long-suffer- 
 ing mercy of heaven withdraw His avenging hand, 
 sheathe the sword of justice, and restore prosperity, 
 
12 FOLLY OF DOUBTING GOD'S THREATENINGS. 
 
 how soon do their vain hopes revive, and they again 
 resort to the same subterfuge of lies ! Despising the 
 riches of God's goodness, and forbearance, and long- 
 suffering, they renew boldly and confidently their 
 feeble strength to contend with Omnipotence ; they 
 stretch out their hand against God, and strengthen 
 themselves against the Almighty ; they run upon 
 him, even on his neck, uj)on the thick bosses of 
 his bucklers. 
 
 It is an old adage, and as true as it is old, " that 
 experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn 
 in no other." Now, how wise these men become 
 from experience, for though they have had repeated 
 warnings, yet they seek peace and safety by again 
 opposing their moral nature. 
 
 But does not this conduct evidently show that 
 these men only pretend to disbelieve what they 
 know is true, that they may furnish by doubting 
 an excuse for sin ? On what other conceivable prin- 
 ciple can the fact be explained, that adversity does 
 so effectually destroy their hopes, and compel them 
 to close with the voice of God and of conscience ? 
 It is, therefore, evident that the scoffer's love of sin 
 is so inveterate, that whenever urged to repentance 
 and faith, he is necessitated, though he thus does 
 violence to his moral nature, to shelter himself 
 under the vain refuge of doubting the truth of God, 
 that he may thereby have an excuse for continuing 
 in sin. 
 
 Though the truth is attested by an overwhelming 
 .amount of evidence, when duly weighed, yet because 
 this evidence is not given in such form as the sin- 
 ner himself may capriciously choose, therefore he 
 utterly refuses all evidence. So incredulous is he, 
 
' E. WILSON. 13 
 
 as to reject the truth, though proved by the strongest 
 evidence, and to embrace error though supported by 
 the weakest. In this, his incredulity, he glories, 
 because, in his opinion, it elevates him above the 
 common herd of mankind, and evinces greatness 
 and freedom of intellect. Women, children, and 
 feeble-minded men may believe the w r ord of God on 
 the evidence which he has been pleased to give, but 
 such credulity is beneath the dignity of great intel- 
 lects and capacious minds. No, no. These persons 
 cannot believe the truth when evinced to a cer- 
 tainty, but to show their incredulity must receive 
 error, though disproved by all the evidence that 
 boasted reason itself can adduce. To manifest their 
 incredulity fully, it is necessary to take only one step 
 more, and that is, to exhibit their principles in prac- 
 tice, which they do by " walking continually after 
 their own lusts." 
 
 Thus their very practice furnishes no weak evi- 
 dence of the truth which they affect to disbelieve. 
 Having nothing but the subterfuge of a doubt to 
 offer as an excuse for thus rebelling against God, yet 
 they confidently demand, " Where is the promise of 
 his coming?" "Where is the God of judgment?" 
 But divine justice will not always slumber, and 
 suffer these men to manifest this vain confidence; 
 " for the day of the Lord w r ill come as a thief in the 
 night." " For when they shall say peace and safety 
 then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail 
 upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape." 
 
 IV. Again, their folly will the more evidently 
 appear, because they suspend their highest interests 
 on an unreasonable doubt. 
 
14 FOLLY OF DOUBTING GOD'S TIIREATENINGS. 
 
 Since "there is no work, nor device, nor know- 
 ledge, nor wisdom, in the grave," reason, as well 
 as revelation, would teach us that every one should 
 strive to make his calling and election sure, "while 
 it is the accepted time and the day of salva- 
 tion." But in opposition to the voice of God, of 
 conscience, and of nature through all her works, the 
 impenitent blindly, but wilfully, pursue their way 
 of rebellion and death. " For if we sin wilfully 
 after that we have received the knowledge of the 
 truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but 
 a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery 
 indignation, which shall devour the adversaries." 
 
 Man was created in knowledge, righteousness and 
 holiness, and was endowed with these intellectual 
 and moral powers, that he might, in all the works 
 of creation and providence, behold and reflect the 
 glory of his Creator, and find happiness in obeying 
 his commands. ( 
 
 But the crown has fallen from his head, and all 
 glory has departed from him. In consequence of 
 the innate depravity of his heart, he now rejects the 
 knowledge of the Most High, disregards the glory 
 of his character, yields himself to the service of Sa- 
 tan and the dominion of sin, despises the Son of 
 God and his salvation, and thus effectually destroys, 
 not only his present, but eternal happiness. 
 
 While absorbed in the gratification of his passions, 
 he esteems his own permanent well-being, the hap- 
 piness of the universe, and the glory of the great 
 Jehovah, as objects unworthy of rational pursuit — 
 unworthy of the least regard. And when the 
 gospel urges its claims on his attention, with all its 
 
E. "WILSON. 15 
 
 power of appeal to the heart, he awakes from his 
 lethargy only to doubt, and vainly wish for happi- 
 ness in a course of disobedience and death. For 
 if the gospel, with its promises and threatenings, is 
 true, then the scoffer must perish ; there is no alter- 
 native. But that it may eventually prove true is 
 at least possible, and its bare possibility involves 
 interests too important to be banished from the 
 human mind, or for a moment to be neglected. 
 
 How great, then, must be the folly of those who 
 doubt the execution of God's threatenings, and still 
 more absurd does it appear, since on their very 
 doubt the question turns of their eternal happiness. 
 
 But why is it, that the impenitent take so little 
 interest in their permanent well-being, while they 
 so zealously expend all their powers to lay up 
 treasures on earth, " where moth and rust doth cor- 
 rupt, and where thieves break through and steal." 
 They never suffer a doubt to prevent their most 
 strenuous efforts, while there is the least prospect 
 of obtaining the objects of their carnal desires. A 
 possibility of extending an empire will so arouse 
 all the energies and ambitious hopes of an Alex- 
 ander, or a Bonapart, that they will call into requi- 
 sition all the resources of a nation, and jeopard the 
 life of millions, merely to promote their own 
 aggrandizement. Is there a possibility of the mer- 
 chant increasing his means of earthly enjoyment 
 by foreign commerce ? Without reluctance he will 
 expose all his property, though the product of his 
 toil and exhausting labour for years, to the mercy 
 of the raging storm and treacherous ocean. The 
 same hope, excited by the success of others, inspires 
 
1G FOLLY OF DOUBTING GOD'S TIIREATENINGS. 
 
 the heart of the poor and the oppressed, and calls 
 into vigorous activity all their powers, to increase 
 merely their present happiness. 
 
 What expense will the wicked, when assailed by 
 disease, spare to secure their recovery, and prolong 
 their life for self-indulgence ? Such is their love 
 of the world and fear of judgment, that a mere pos 
 sibility of recovery elates them with hope, and 
 makes them cling even to the last moment of life, 
 as the wrecked mariner clings to a fragment of his 
 shattered bark. 
 
 Now, can men of sane minds deem themselves 
 wise, in sanctioning such conduct in respect to their 
 temporal interests, and the preservation of their 
 bodies, while they suffer an unreasonable doubt to 
 blast the highest interests of their souls ? Would 
 not consistency of conduct absolutely demand, even 
 on the mere possibility of the reality of religion, 
 and of the truth of its promises and threatenings, 
 that they should put forth vigorously their best di- 
 rected efforts, to secure also their permanent well- 
 being ? But Christianity rests not on a bare possi- 
 bility ; its reality is attested by all the evidence 
 which reason can ask for or desire. What, then, 
 must be the inconsistency — nay, consummate folly, of 
 those who not only suspend their own everlasting 
 happiness on an unreasonable doubt, but also utterly 
 disregard the well-being of the universe, and con- 
 temn the glory of the eternal God ? " He that sit- 
 teth in the heavens shall laugh ; the Lord shall have 
 them in derision." 
 
 V. But this leads us to observe, finally, that tJie 
 doubting of the scoffer will not prevent the execution 
 of GocTs threatenings. 
 
E. WILSON. 17 
 
 The punishment of the lawless and disobedient 
 may be regarded as essential to the well-being of 
 human government ; and no principle of the divine 
 government is more fully established than this, viz. 
 that God will by no means clear the guilty. Both 
 the law and the gospel declare that " the wicked 
 shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that 
 forget God." "According to their deeds accordingly 
 he will repay fury to his adversaries, recompense to his 
 enemies." "Though hand join in hand, the wicked 
 shall not be unpunished. For he that believeth not 
 the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God 
 abideth on him. Pie shall break them with a rod 
 of iron ; he shall dash them in pieces like a potter's 
 vessel." 
 
 What, then, is the scoffer's strength, which he can 
 exert in opposing himself to the truth and power of 
 God? His feeble arm can oppose only a doubt and 
 ridicule. With these he encourages himself to wage, 
 as he fondly hopes, successful war against Jehovah, 
 and the highest interests of his illimitable empire, 
 as if Omnipotence was inadequate to crush every 
 opposing power which the sinner can raise. 
 
 Oh what madness ! what extreme folly ! " He that 
 planted the ear, shall he not hear ? he that formed 
 the eye, shall he not see ? he that chastiseth the 
 heathen, shall not he correct ?" 
 
 But if the truth of revelation fails to enlighten 
 and restrain the impenitent, they are nevertheless 
 without excuse ; for much of the nature of God, 
 and of their duty, is revealed to them by the light 
 of creation and providence. " Because that which 
 may be known of God is manifest in them, for God 
 
18 FOLLY OF DOUBTING GOD'S TIIREATEXIXGS. 
 
 hath showed it unto them." For the invisible 
 things of Him, from the creation of the world, are 
 clearly seen, being understood by the things that are 
 made, even his eternal power and Godhead ; so that 
 they are without excuse. And if they regard neither 
 the light of revelation nor providence, y et have they 
 not the law of conscience, which is sufficient to es- 
 tablish the justice of their eternal condemnation? 
 for all men do naturally the things that the law 
 requires, which proves that they have a law in them- 
 selves, since they frequently act according to its 
 rule. The work of the divine law is written in their 
 hearts, by which they discern the difference between 
 right and wrong — what is just and what is unjust. 
 
 If evidence can attest the truth, and facts evince 
 the certainty, of the purpose of God to punish the 
 disobedient, then the actual execution of all his de- 
 nunciations could not furnish stronger ground of cer- 
 tainty than that which God has already given. Un- 
 less, therefore, one of two things can be proved, either 
 that God does not intend to execute his threatenings, 
 _>r that his power is inadequate, the destruction of 
 the scoffer is inevitable. For if Jehovah has pur- 
 posed by his only begotten Son to introduce and 
 maintain his kingdom in the world, will he not, as 
 all powers and agencies are under his control, roll 
 onward unchecked the mighty wheels of his eternal 
 government, though beneath them lie crushed his 
 guilty feeble foes ? 
 
 God's immutable justice, holiness, and truth de- 
 mand the immediate and eternal punishment of the 
 wicked, but through his abundant grace and mercy 
 he condescends to expostulate with them, saying, 
 
E. WILSON. 19 
 
 " As I live I have no pleasure in the death of the 
 wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and 
 live ; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways, for why 
 will ye die?" How strongly marked, therefore, is 
 the folly of those who not only doubt the execution 
 of God's threatenings, but also despise the riches of 
 his goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering, 
 and dare to mock at every thing sacred. 
 
 God has predicted their fearful and eternal destiny, 
 saying, " I also will laugh at your calamity ; I will 
 mock when your fear cometh ; when your fear com- 
 eth as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a 
 whirlwind ; when distress and anguish cometh upon 
 you." " Then shall ye return and discern between 
 the righteous and the wicked, between him that 
 serveth God, and him that serveth him not. For 
 behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven ; 
 and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly 
 shall be stubble, and the day that cometh shall burn 
 them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave 
 them neither root nor branch. But unto you that 
 fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise 
 Math healing in his wings." 
 
 Take heed, brethren, the professed disciples of 
 the Lord Jesus, " lest there be in any of you an evil 
 heart of unbelief in departing from the living God." 
 " Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with 
 truth, and having on the breastplate of righteous- 
 ness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the 
 gospel of peace; above all taking the shield of faith, 
 wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery 
 darts of the wicked." "Let your light so shine 
 before men, that they may see your good works, and 
 
20 FOLLY OF DOUBTING GODS THREATEXINGS. 
 
 glorify your father which is in heaven." And in 
 due time ye shall receive the fulfilment of the 
 promise, that " 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." 
 
 But, dear reader, are you still walking after your 
 own lusts, and saying, in the language of the scoffer, 
 " Where is the promise of his coming ? Where is 
 the God of judgment?" The riches of God's good- 
 ness and forbearance may be despised, his warnings 
 and threatenings may be contemned, " but know 
 thou that for all these things God will bring thee 
 into judgment." Does not your own experience 
 confirm the truth of God, that the way of transgres- 
 sors is hard ? If, therefore, your way is dark and 
 portentous, what shall the end be ? 
 
 Thus saith the Lord, "If I whet my glittering 
 sword, and my hand take hold on judgment, I will 
 render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward 
 them that hate me." Despise not thou the gracious 
 invitations of redeeming love and mercy. Cease to 
 incur the displeasure of Jehovah by doubting the 
 execution of his threatenings. While it is the 
 accepted time, fly to the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
 secure, by repentance and faith, a refuge in him. 
 For " he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting 
 life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see 
 life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." If thou 
 be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself, but if thou 
 scomesi, thou alone shalt bear it. 
 
THE WORTH OF THE SOUL. 
 
 BT 
 
 J. T. SMITH, D. D. 
 
 PASTOR OF THE SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, BALTIMORE, MD. 
 
 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world and 
 lose his own soul ? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his 
 soul? — Mark viii. 36, 37. 
 
 These questions are not of precisely the same 
 import. They are addressed, indeed, to the same 
 individuals, and relate to the same subject ; but 
 the individuals addressed are supposed to be placed 
 in different circumstances, and the form of the ques 
 tion is modified accordingly. The first contemplates 
 the condition of a man who has his chosen portion 
 in this life, and demands of him the profit, "if he 
 should gain the whole world and lose his own 
 soul." The second contemplates the condition of a 
 man in the world of despair, whose soul is already 
 lost, and demands what he would be willing to give 
 " in exchange for his soul." Both questions relate 
 to the comparative worth of the soul. They affirm, 
 in the most emphatic manner, that it is of more 
 value than the whole world ; and, upon the ground 
 of its surpassing worth, they press the great duty 
 of labouring first and chiefly after its welfare. I 
 
 (21) 
 
22 THE WORTH OF THE SOUL. 
 
 propose to detach the prominent idea of the text 
 from the specific relations and connections in which it 
 there stands, and to make the worth of the soul, 
 abstractly and absolutely considered, the subject of 
 my discourse. 
 
 Need I here say one word to secure attention to 
 tliis subject ? You are proud of your extensive pos- 
 sessions, and you do not soon grow weary in telling 
 over the sum of your riches. You have one trea- 
 sure of great price, however, which you may never 
 yet have rated at its full value. I propose, in this 
 discourse, to estimate the worth of this treasure, and 
 thus to show how rich you are. When such is my 
 purpose, may I not hope for an earnest and inter- 
 ested attention? 
 
 Two distinct and independent tracks of illustra- 
 tion open up before us. We may enter upon a 
 direct inspection of the soul itself, and from a sur- 
 vey of its nature, its capacities, its powers, and its 
 destination, infer its value ; and then we may take 
 a wider range, and gather illustrations from without, 
 and from the deep interest which higher orders of 
 being take in its welfare ; and from the high esti- 
 mate which God places upon it ; and from the history 
 of its creation ; and from the still more marvellous 
 history of its redemption, demonstrate still further 
 its value. 
 
 I. We are to sit in direct inspection upon the soul 
 itself, to see if there be any thing in its nature, or its 
 endowments, or its destination, which may serve our 
 purpose. And 
 
 1. As to its Nature. Exhaustless variety is a 
 striking characteristic of the works of God. It was 
 
J, T. SMITH, D. D. 23 
 
 long ago remarked, that in tbe whole universe no 
 two things can be found exactly alike. Resem- 
 blances we find every where, perfect similitude no 
 where. And the remark holds good, not only of 
 the external appearances of objects, but of their 
 intrinsic worth. From the tiniest insect, one rank 
 of being rises above another in excellence, till the 
 whole terminates in that great sum of all excellence, 
 that grand climax of all being— God. High up in 
 this scale of value is found the human soul, standing 
 at the head of all earthly existences, and ranking 
 just a little lower than the angels. 
 
 The human body, delicately, curiously, and beau- 
 tifully framed, is accounted the perfection of mate- 
 rial nature — the very master -piece of the great 
 Architect. But the body feels not, thinks not, 
 wills not, acts not. It is but the blind tool of the 
 agent within. Emotion, thought, hope, happiness, 
 have their seat in the soul. The soul is yourself, 
 the body is a mere appendage which you carry about 
 with you, as you do your clothes. Your high pre- 
 rogatives, as man, are all conferred upon you by the 
 soul, and it alone elevates you above the dust. The 
 body is built of the clay you tread beneath your feet 
 The eye, wonderful as is its mechanism, multiplied 
 and spirit-like as are its uses, is nothing but painted 
 dust ; and the whole fabric is built of what you may 
 see in the " deep damp grave." The confession so 
 often on our lips, " we are but worms of the dust," 
 is not the language of excessive humility. It is the 
 plaih, unvarnished truth. Whether we look to the 
 origin or the end of these, our tabernacles of clay, 
 we must own their fellowship with the worm. 
 
24 THE WORTH OF THE SOUL. 
 
 What material object, then, can be compared, as to 
 its value, with the soul? What utter insignificance 
 does the apostle stamp on the whole material uni- 
 verse, when he tells us, " All these things shall be 
 dissolved !" 
 
 Next above material organism comes animal 
 instinct. And what are the instincts of animals 
 but the reason of God ? What teaches the bee to 
 construct its cell, and the spider to weave its web, 
 and the stork to build its nest on high ? Who 
 warns the birds of the approach of winter, and 
 guides them, unerringly, in their long flights over 
 trackless deserts and wide seas, without map or 
 compass? The instinct of animals is the reason of 
 God, prompting them to provide for their present 
 and sensual wants. But the soul is endowed with 
 an independent reason. Her instincts rise out of 
 her own being, up towards God, and onward to- 
 wards immortality — and over all, conscience, God's 
 vicegerent, keeps watch and ward. 
 
 The soul introduces us into the higher walks of 
 existence, giving us fellowship in the world of 
 spirits, and companionship with God, and angels, 
 and "just men made perfect," and partnership in 
 their pleasures — the pleasures of intelligence and of 
 virtue. If by the body we are linked to dust, by 
 the soul we are allied to God. If by the body we 
 say to the worm, " Thou art my sister," by the soul 
 we are made the fellows of seraphim ! What 
 strange extremes unite in our being! The con- 
 necting link between God and the inferior creation. 
 Our foundation in the dust, we aspire towards 
 Divinity ! The soul is of the highest order of exist- 
 
J. T. SMITH, D. D. 25 
 
 ence — for God and angels are spirit. Immeasurably 
 inferior to these, indeed, in the appendages and ex- 
 pansion of its being; in nature it is precisely the 
 same. And across the wide chasm which now sep- 
 arates it from God, his voice is distinctly heard, and 
 hopefully responded to — " Be }^e perfect, even as 
 your Father which is in heaven is perfect." What 
 means the strange language — " Transformed from 
 glory to glory into the image of the Lord" — " made 
 partaker of the divine nature ?" We can pardon 
 the sublime dream of Plato, that the human soul is 
 a portion of the divine essence — a fragment of Deitj^ 
 imprisoned in dust. It is of most excellent nature. 
 Nothing on earth equals it — nothing in heaven sur- 
 passes it. Consider, 
 
 2. Its endowments. Activity, power, intelligence, 
 moral agenc}^, infinite progression, are among its 
 higher attributes. Passing these, however, we would 
 remark specially upon the capacity of happiness, 
 perhaps the highest prerogative of spirit — '"Man's 
 chief end is to glorify God, and enjoy him for ever." 
 If these ends of our being are not identical, they are 
 at least inseparable ; and the last grand purpose of 
 our being is "to enjoy." 
 
 Happiness is a thing of which the visible world 
 can furnish no emblem to those who have never ex- 
 perienced it. To be understood it must be felt. 
 The gold which kindles such joy in the miser's 
 heart, feels, not the emotion it imparts. The hea- 
 vens, which awaken the poet's fancy, and expand, 
 to something of their own dimensions, the astrono- 
 mer's intellect ; which point the devotee upward to 
 God, and scatter gladness, beauty, and life so lav- 
 
2G THE WORTH OF THE SOUL. 
 
 ishly over the earth, feel in themselves nothing of 
 the glory or the gladness they impart. The sun is 
 cold amidst his own beams — the stars are dark 
 amidst their own radiance. Though so glorious to 
 us, they are nothing to themselves. The earth is 
 joyless, amidst all the pulses of joy which beat upon 
 her surface. When the great Creator had made 
 all — air, land, and sea, and filled them with exhaust- 
 less sources of happiness, he brings man, places him 
 in the new made world, and says, The power to 
 enjoy is yours ; look around, above, beneath, all is 
 exquisitely fitted to minister to your pleasure. 
 
 Every fountain of happiness in the outward world 
 has some channel opened up, through which it emp- 
 ties itself into the soul. Has nature her harmo- 
 nies ? — the ear conveys them to the soul. The eye 
 ranges over all that is beautiful and sublime in the 
 universe of God, and carries back its discoveries to 
 the soul. And thus, by her organs of sense, the 
 soul ranges at will over the universe, and lays all 
 nature .under contribution to her happiness. But 
 she has sources of joy, aye and of sorrow too, within 
 herself; and it is when she shuts up the inlets of the 
 external world, and retires within herself, that she 
 finds the highest rapture or the profoundest despair. 
 Uncover the soul of a saint, see his perfect peace, 
 his high communings, his glorious hopes — there is a 
 heaven there, were there none without ! Uncover 
 the soul of a sinner, see his remorse, his despair, his 
 malignant passions, his fearful apprehensions of 
 " wrath to come," there is a hell there, were there 
 none without ! 
 
 The soul's capacity to suffer and to enjoy we 
 
J. T. SMITH, D. D. li 
 
 cannot fathom. Do you ask, How much can I enjoy ? 
 We can but point you to those exhaustless materials 
 of enjoyment provided ; to your memories of all you 
 have enjoyed ; to your imagination, and your hopes ; 
 the many forms of happiness of which you can con- 
 ceive, for which you hope, and of which you feel 
 yourself capable. Nor can we tell how much you 
 could sutler. Remember your head aches and 
 heart aches; your pains and your sicknesses. Re- 
 member your disappointments, your fears, your de- 
 spair. Have you ever felt remorse ? But were the 
 capacity of suffering filled to its full measure, we 
 cannot tell, an angel's tongue cannot tell, how much 
 you could suffer. And the capacity to enjoy and 
 to suffer, stamps the soul with a value passing all 
 calculation. 
 
 This is but our embryo state, and we cannot, even 
 in imagination, fix any limit to the soul's progres- 
 sion. Give it a more delicately constructed — a 
 spiritual body ; give it senses more perfect in them- 
 selves, and in their adjustment to the objects of the 
 outward world ; let its eye have a wider range, a 
 more piercing scrutiny; let its ear be more finely 
 attuned, and its nerves increased in sensibility ; 
 give it new senses to discern those hidden elements 
 of nature which now escape its closest scrutiny ; 
 remove its pride, its passions, its carnality ; and 
 then, when fitted for heaven, place it there. Afar 
 from these earthly sources of pain and sorrow, sur- 
 rounded with all heaven contains to happify, and 
 who can tell what it shall become where its pro- 
 gress is ever accelerating, where every experience 
 acquired enlarges the basis for future acquisitions, 
 
28 THE WORTH OF THE SOUL. 
 
 where every exertion put forth strengthens for a 
 bolder and loftier attainment. Follow its ascend- 
 ing way on, and on, till imagination tires, and then 
 think of it stretching on, and on, beyond that point 
 out through the untold ages of eternity ! Consider, 
 
 3. Its Destination. And here we might construct 
 an impregnable argument for the immortality of the 
 soul, out of the materials already collected in this 
 discourse. The surpassing excellence of its nature, 
 and its high endowments bespeak its immortality. 
 For it consorts not with the wisdom or the known 
 ways of God, to suppose him to endow it thus highly, 
 and yet give it neither time nor facilities to develope 
 and exercise its powers. Why give it capacities 
 which are never unfolded ? capabilities which are 
 never called forth ? powers which can go out into no 
 adequate exercise ? Its imperfect and undeveloped 
 condition here is irrefragable evidence of its exist 
 ence hereafter. Here it is the chrysalis — there the 
 winged angel of light. This is its childhood — that 
 its manhood. Did this life bound its being, it were 
 but a gorgeous mockery, a solemn cheat. 
 
 The idea of eternity baffles and confounds concep- 
 tion. You are foiled in every attempt to compass 
 it, because you have no measures by which to effect 
 the computation. Take your own life as a measure ; 
 lay it along side of eternity, and it dwindles away to 
 utter nothingness in the comparison. Take the six 
 thousand years which have elapsed since the crea- 
 tion of the world ; multiply them till numbers fail ; 
 still you have not reached a starting point in the 
 computation. Conception is still at fault. Years, 
 ages, cycles of ages, will not serve for measures of 
 
J. T. SMITH, D. D. 29 
 
 eternity. It absorbs all duration, and then stretches 
 on, undiminished and unimpaired, to infinity beyond. 
 No addition can increase it; no subtraction can 
 lessen it. It has no measure, and it defies all con- 
 ception. 
 
 It seems a long time to the prattling child to look 
 forward to the gray hairs of eighty years. It seemed 
 a long time to the spirits who first entered the land 
 of darkness and despair, to look forward through the 
 many ages of pain, and woe, and wailing which 
 must elapse before the judgment of the great day. 
 It seemed a long time to Abel, when he saw his 
 name written first in heaven's register, to look for- 
 ward through unnumbered ages till the last name 
 should be written there. But these long periods of 
 time all pass, and when looked back upon, seem but 
 an hand-breadth. But there is no past in eternity; 
 no future, no starting point, no goal, no beginning, 
 no end. Now the existence of the soul merges into 
 eternity ; and here our conception of it is lost. It 
 claims half the eternity of God. If not without be- 
 ginning of days, it is without end of years. If not 
 from everlasting, it is to everlasting. 
 
 How terrible the thought of an eternity of pain, 
 an immortality in hell ! The sting of the worm is, 
 that it never dies ! The fierceness of the fire is, 
 that it is not quenched ! How long eternity must 
 seem when its every moment is lengthened out by 
 misery ! Imagine a lost soul ages hence, seated in 
 its dungeon, or rolling in the fiery lake, and this 
 may be its sad soliloquy : 
 
 "These limbs are not yet consumed. I feel no 
 symptoms of death. I am stronger to suffer to-day 
 
30 THE WORTH OF THE SOUL. 
 
 than when I first felt these flames. And ever, as 
 they burn higher and hotter, I feel my strength to 
 endure, enlarging with them. I have tried to count 
 the long years as they rolled by, but in vain. I 
 cannot tell how many ages are gone ; but eternity 
 is still to come. I have wished, I have prayed, ! 
 how earnestly, for death — but it mocks my prayer, 
 
 ' I feel my immortality o'ersweep 
 All pains, all fears, all time, all years ; 
 And, like th' eternal thunders of the deep, 
 Proclaim this truth — Thou livest for ever.' " 
 
 Brethren, who among us shall dwell with the 
 devouring fire ? Who among us shall dwell with 
 everlasting burnings ? Shall it be yourself, or the 
 neighbour, the friend, the child sitting by your side. 
 Who shall it be among us ? 
 
 How transporting the thought of an immortality 
 in heaven! Imagine yourself for a moment there. 
 With many of you it will be but anticipating what 
 a few more days shall reveal. Sit down amidst the 
 general assembly and church of the first born 
 above — amidst patriarchs, and prophets, and apos- 
 tles, and martyrs, the greatly good of every age 
 and of every land, who are all contemporaries there. 
 Go with Paul to his glorious mansion — standing 
 near, perhaps next, to the throne ; and look on the 
 many mansions in your Father's house, stretching 
 off on every hand in long perspective ! Wander 
 with Baxter along the banks of the river of life, as 
 it comes gushing from the throne of God, and rolls 
 its glad waters afar over the plains of heaven ! Sit 
 down with Payson under the shade of that tree, 
 which bears twelve manner of fruits, and gives from 
 
J. T. SMITH, D. D. 31 
 
 its leaves healing and immortality to the nations ! 
 Rejoin the company of those who have gone up from 
 your own fireside, and taken their crown ! Among 
 them all " there is no more death, neither sorrow, 
 nor crying, nor pain." God himself has wiped 
 away tears from off all faces. In the midst of the 
 innumerable multitude, there is one " as it had been 
 a Lamb slain." To him every eye is turned ; before 
 him every knee is bowed ; at his feet every crown is 
 cast ; and from unnumbered harps, and from unnum- 
 bered voices, blended in heaven's loudest, sweetest 
 song, swells high the anthem, " Worthy is the Lamb 
 that was slain" — " unto him that loved us, and 
 washed us from our sins in his own blood." To be 
 ever " with the Lord" — this is the very heaven of 
 heaven. 
 II. In passing to our second general topic, we notice, 
 1. The interest manifested for the soul by the 
 higher orders of beings. We are not isolated or 
 companionless in the universe. We are not alone, 
 with God, even in the world. " Millions of spiritual 
 beings walk the earth, both when we wake and when 
 we sleep." Invisible to us, we are well known to 
 them ; and sharing a common spirituality, sub- 
 jected to the same high authority, children of the 
 same great Parent, they can have fellowship and 
 family sympathy with us. The powers of darkness, 
 with all their might and malignity, are leagued 
 against us. Why did Satan tempt our first parents to 
 their fall? Why does he so impiously usurp, and, 
 as a strong man armed, so desperately defend, the 
 empire of the soul ? All along the way to heaven, 
 is not every step contested ? Are not all who travel 
 
32 THE WORTH OF THE SOUL. 
 
 there called to the wrestling " with principalities, 
 and powers, and spiritual wickednesses in high 
 places?" Have you ever thought that the spirits of 
 darkness hold a sleepless watch over you, and 
 brave afresh the threatening thunders of Omnipo- 
 tence, to maintain their mastery over you ? When 
 some subtle suggestion of evil has glided into your 
 mind, or some sudden and lion-like temptation has 
 fiercely sprung upon you, have you ever thought it 
 came from hell — the result of counsel and delibera- 
 tion there held ? 
 
 And the holy angels — what wakeful sympathy 
 and intense solicitude do they feel for us ! Minis- 
 tering spirits as they are, they leave heaven on no 
 errand so gladly, as to minister to the heirs of sal- 
 vation. " There is joy in heaven, among the angels 
 of God, over one sinner that repenteth." The very 
 first movement of repentance in the sinner's bosom, 
 sends a wave of joy over all their bright and bliss- 
 ful abodes. " This our brother that was dead is 
 alive again, the lost is found." 
 
 Were you, reader, while your eye is upon this 
 page, to. repent, we can tell you what would take 
 place in heaven. The angels, who are watching 
 around you, would send up some messenger with 
 the glad tidings. As he sped upward with joyful 
 haste, the band who stand at heaven's gate, or bend 
 over its battlements, to receive messengers from dis- 
 tant worlds, would descry his approach, and come 
 forth to meet him ; and, as they learned the joy- 
 ful tidings he bore, they would gather eagerly around 
 him, and conduct him through the gates into the 
 city, and over its golden streets, and amidst its tro- 
 
J. T. SMITH, D. D. 66 
 
 phied palaces, to the eternal throne. And all the 
 inhabitants of heaven would be gathered, by procla- 
 mation, about him there ; and your name and your 
 repentance would be proclaimed aloud ; for you are 
 well* known — known by name, in heaven; and 
 they would call for the Book of life, and write, or 
 rather read, there your name, and they would call 
 for the book of God's remembrance, and blot out 
 the record of your sins ; and they would publish and 
 proclaim your right to share with them, thenceforth, 
 in the tree of life and in the holy city. And God, 
 the eternal Father, would be well pleased that an- 
 other rebel was subdued, another soul saved ; and 
 Jesus, the blessed Saviour, would see of the travail 
 of his soul, and be satisfied; and the Holy Spirit 
 would rejoice over his new and glorious creation; 
 and angels would rejoice, that their brother, their 
 younger brother, whom they had long mourned for 
 as dead, was alive again; and the saints would 
 raise high, and still higher, their anthem, " Worthy 
 the Lamb that was slain." And perchance the 
 mother who watched over your infancy, or the 
 father who counselled your manhood, or the beloved 
 friends who have gone before you to the spirit- 
 world, would press through the throng, and Oh what 
 speechless joy would thrill through their bosoms! 
 And there would be joy in heaven, more joy in 
 heaven over you, than over all those myriad hosts 
 of bright and unransomed spirits who have kept 
 their first estate. " There is joy in heaven over one 
 sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and 
 nine just persons that need no repentance." 
 
 2. Let us take our stand upon another theatre — 
 4 
 
34 THE WORTH OF THE SOUL. 
 
 amidst the opening scenes of creation. For long 
 unchronicled ages, God dwelt alone, the sole inhabi- 
 tant of space. From his solitary throne he beheld 
 not an atom, nor a living thing; all was a mighty 
 blank, a vast and empty void. God spake — and, 
 responsive to his voice, planets, and suns, and sys- 
 tems sprang forth out of nothing. He poised the 
 sun on its axis, balanced the planets in his 
 hand, and marked out every star its pathway in 
 the heavens ; and the vast solitude of space, which 
 but yesterday was empty, was filled with a uni- 
 verse of mighty, and moving, and peopled worlds. 
 He spake, and the earth came forth out of nothing. 
 It appeared in a hitherto empty place, without 
 foundation, without support; suspended upon no- 
 thing — a huge, and formless, and floating chaos; and 
 a thick darkness, a moonless, and rayless, and star- 
 less night, brooded over it. God spake — and there 
 was light. And the wild waters flowed together 
 into one place, and the dry land appeared, clothed 
 with greenness and fertility, and order and beauty 
 sprang forth from the very bosom of chaos; and 
 the earth was fitted up as a well appointed man- 
 sion for living things ; and exhaustless supplies were 
 provided and garnered up for the provision of all their 
 wants. But as yet there were no living things to 
 partake or enjoy. God spake — and air, and land, 
 and sea, were filled with a crowded population ; the 
 waters were stored with fishes, the fowls ascended 
 on outspread wings towards heaven, and the dry 
 land was covered with myriads upon myriads of 
 living things, from the little insect which sports in 
 a drop, or peoples a leaf, to the giant Behemoth 
 
J. T. SMITH, D. D. DO 
 
 which shakes the solid world with his tread. All 
 these fed upon the bounty, and shared in the good- 
 ness, of the great Creator ; and the hum of activity, 
 and the voice of joy were heard over all the peo- 
 pled earth. And the great Creator looked down 
 upon the world which he had made, and filled with 
 life, and sensation, and happiness, and said, " It is 
 good!" 
 
 And shall the work of creation terminate here ? 
 Shall nature be furnished with no anointed priest ? 
 Shall God have no worshippers ? Among all the 
 myriad tribes of his creatures, shall there be none 
 like himself? none to love, to reverence, and to 
 adore him for all his goodness and his wonderful 
 works ? And was it for soulless creatures of dust, who 
 are incapable of progression here, and whose existence 
 must terminate for ever at death, that God reared 
 up the mighty fabric of the universe ? No. The 
 work is not yet complete; the last and crowning 
 product of creative power is yet to appear. " And 
 God said, Let us make man." There was no consul- 
 tation when the sun was made — none when the 
 heavens were spread abroad as a curtain, and em- 
 broidered with stars. He just spake, and it was 
 done ; he commanded, and it stood fast. But now, 
 when the lord and governor of earth is to be created, 
 there is a pause, a preparation, a consultation. 
 Let us make man. So, as the result of this counsel, 
 so God created man. A simple word sufficed for 
 the creation of all things else. A word called the 
 earth out of nothing, and evoked order out of chaos, 
 and the body of man out of dust. But a far higher 
 instrumentality is employed in the creation of the 
 
36 THE WORTH OF THE SOUL. 
 
 soul. "God breathed into his nostrils the breath 
 of life, and man became a living soul." A word is 
 a thing foreign and external to the individual utter- 
 ing it; a breath is an emanation of himself. And if 
 all that God created by a word was alien from him- 
 self, the soul is the very "inspiration of the Al- 
 mighty." And it is like God, modelled after him • 
 a miniature likeness of him, as finite may be of in- 
 finite. " Let us make man in our image, after our 
 likeness." If God had minded his power, his wis- 
 dom, and his goodness, in the other works of his 
 hand, he would mirror himself entire in the human 
 soul. For nothing but a spiritual and immortal 
 nature could bear the full image and superscription 
 of the Most High. His own image and representa- 
 tive, the soul, was invested with God's prerogatives 
 — knowledge and dominion. Every where else the 
 dominion of blind physical force was established, 
 but the power of knowledge was conferred upon 
 man. By this he was to disarm physical force ; curb 
 and direct the fury of the mightiest elements ; sub- 
 ject the lower tribes of creation to his bidding ; and 
 have the dominion, not of the strong arm, but of 
 the intelligent will over all the earth. Let them, 
 (thus runs the great charter,) " let them have do- 
 minion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl 
 of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the 
 earth." And when God had thus made man he 
 said, " It is very good." And he blessed them, and 
 " the morning stars sang together, and all the sons 
 of God shouted for joy." With such high endow- 
 ments, and in the midst of such august preparations, 
 was man ushered into being, and proclaimed the 
 
J. T. SMITH, D. D. 37 
 
 lord and governor of earth — " a king and a priest 
 unto God for ever and ever." Every circumstance 
 connected with his creation, from the pause and the 
 consultation which preceded, to the emphatic "very 
 good" which crowned it, shows the high estimate 
 which God placed upon the spiritual and immortal 
 nature of man. 
 
 3. Let us take our stand upon another and a 
 higher theatre ; amidst the surpassing wonders of 
 redemption. In creation the goodness of God ope- 
 rated freely without restraint or hindrance. No 
 attribute of his own nature, and nothing without 
 himself, interposed the slightest obstacle in the way 
 of his breaking up the eternal silence and solitude 
 of space, and peopling it with worlds. A simple 
 volition, a naked putting forth of Omnipotence, was 
 all it required to create. He spake to dust, and 
 there rose up a human body. He breathed into that 
 body, and man became a living soul; that is all 
 man's creation cost him. But in redemption there 
 were hindrances in the way; hindrances which 
 Omnipotence alone could not remove. There was 
 a compensation to be made, a satisfaction to be ren- 
 dered, a harmony to be adjusted among the divine 
 attributes, and a security to be obtained for the 
 highest interests of all God's intelligent creation, 
 before Omnipotence could stretch forth its arm to 
 redeem. The very term redemption has a relation 
 to price ; and from the cost of the soul we may deter- 
 mine its real value. For it is a known law of divine 
 action, that means are always accurately adjusted 
 to ends — that more, or more costly means, are never 
 employed than those which are necessary to effect 
 
38 THE WORTH OF THE SOUL. 
 
 the end ; and the price paid for the soul is thus a 
 fair and an infallible index to its value. 
 
 Now, we know the cost of the soul's redemption. 
 " Thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood," is 
 the song of the redeemed in heaven. " Ye were not 
 redeemed with corruptible things, such as silver and 
 gold, but with the precious blood of Christ." Where 
 shall we find terms or illustrations wherewith to set 
 forth the greatness of this price ? Does not the apos- 
 tle plainly intimate that we have no ideas at all ade- 
 quate to this subject, when he tells us that we were 
 not redeemed with corruptible things, such as silver 
 and gold. It is by these " corruptible things" our 
 ideas of value are represented. But " they that 
 trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the 
 multitude of their riches" — the Barings and the 
 Rostchilds of the earth — " none of them can by any 
 means redeem his brother, or give to God a ransom 
 for him." Let the princes of the earth heap their 
 gold, and their silver, and their precious stones 
 together; let the earth disembowel herself of her 
 treasures, and the ocean give up her gems — and they 
 cannot redeem a soul, for " the redemption of the 
 soul is precious," too costly to be bought at such a 
 price. It was himself the great Redeemer gave for 
 us ! Not a single act of obedience, or of suffering ; 
 not a treasure from his coffers, or a limb from his 
 body, or a single pang of his Immanuel-mind — but 
 himself. " He loved us, and gave himself for us." 
 
 Come, then, and view this " unspeakable gift." 
 Come with angels, and see the great Redeemer 
 stooping down from the throne of Godhead, laying 
 aside his kingly crown, emptying himself of the 
 
J. T. SMITH, D. D. 39 
 
 worship and the blessedness of heaven. We know 
 something of what he stooped to, but how little we 
 know of what he stooped from; how little we know 
 of what he forsook ! Come with the shepherds to 
 the manger of Bethlehem. And has the Lord of 
 life and glory stooped so low ? If an angel should 
 voluntarily become a man, or a man a worm, it were 
 for a wonder. But for Christ to descend so low — 
 to cross the infinite chasm which separates him 
 from the loftiest angel — to pass below angels — to de- 
 scend the chain of being so far — to stoop from the 
 majesty and blessedness of Deity down to the 
 weakness and the infirmities of humanity — this 
 passes wonder! God became man — a stable, a 
 manger — not even a palace or a tapestried chamber. 
 No wonder the shepherds said one to another, " Let 
 us now go even to Bethlehem, and see this thing 
 which has there come to pass." Come with the 
 chosen disciples to Gethsemane. See the God-man 
 stretched all night long in agony upon the ground ! 
 See the sweat, as it were great drops of blood, 
 gushing forth and bathing his body. Listen to his 
 cries of anguish, " My soul is exceeding sorrowful, 
 even unto death." " ! my Father, if it be possible, 
 let this cup pass from me !" " Was ever sorrow like 
 unto his sorrow ?" Come with the disciples to Cal- 
 vary. See the victim, whom they have scourged 
 and condemned to death, approach. A crown of 
 thorns is pressed upon his bleeding brow — a heavy 
 cross is laid upon his lacerated shoulders — and the 
 rabble of Jerusalem are following him, with cruel 
 mockings, as he is dragged along through the streets. 
 " It is their hour, and the power of darkness !" They 
 
40 THE WORTH OF THE SOUL. 
 
 drive the nails into his hands, and feet, and then 
 thrust the spear into his side. For six hours he 
 hangs upon the accursed tree — bleeding, dying. 
 There was not a friend to be near, or to comfort him 
 then. Pharisees, and Saclducees, and Jewish priests, 
 and Roman soldiers gathered, in stern array, around 
 his cross, and wagged their heads upon him. He 
 complains not of the friends who had forsaken him, 
 nor of the enemies who so cruelly entreat him ; nor 
 of the nails or the spear, the vinegar or the gall. 
 But one cry of anguish escapes him, " My God ! my 
 God ! why hast thou forsaken me !" To be forsaken 
 of God — that was the cup he trembled to drink — 
 yet he did drink it to its very dregs. 
 
 But why all this ? " God so loved the world as 
 to give his only begotten Son" for its redemption. 
 Not that he needed the world, for the word which 
 created could destroy. His breath could have 
 blotted it out of the universe, and called into being 
 ten thousand other worlds, unblighted by the curse, 
 and peopled by beings higher and holier than we. 
 What was that world which God so loved ? Not 
 this material world, for it is but dust, and soon will 
 be burned with fire. Not these bodies, for they too 
 are dust, and soon will be nothing but food for grave- 
 worms. What was that world which God so loved ? 
 That miniature world in your own bosom. In his 
 estimation it was too precious to be lost — too pre- 
 cious to be annihilated ; and he gave the most 
 hoarded and priceless treasure in his whole empire 
 to purchase it ; and Christ from the throne of hea- 
 ven stooped down to the pain and the ignominy of 
 the cross to redeem your soul. 
 
J. T. SMITH, D. D. 41 
 
 But the payment of the purchase-price alone can- 
 not redeem the captive. It is the office of the Holy 
 Spirit to embellish and beautify. He is at once the 
 beautifying spirit of the material, and the sanctify- 
 ing spirit of the moral, universe. Where he comes 
 not, all is darkness and chaos ; where he comes, all 
 is light, and order, and beauty. In the first creation 
 the earth " was without form and void," and " dark- 
 ness was upon the face of the deep," until the Spirit 
 came and brooded over the chaotic waters. In the 
 new creation, he fits up a world of moral light and 
 beauty out of darkness and chaos. The soul-js in 
 ruins ; her jarring and discordant powers at war 
 with each other, and with God ; and the darkness of 
 ignorance, of error, and of sin, broods gloomily over 
 her. The Spirit descends, and moves upon this spi- 
 ritual chaos ; rebuilds and embellishes ; and, though 
 active voluntary resistance is put forth against him, 
 though often grieved, and often quenched, never 
 tires in his work, until the soul is crowned with 
 more than its pristine honour and glory, and fitted 
 for the " inheritance of the saints in light." Even 
 in her deepest degradation the whole Godhead 
 gather around the soul, to raise it up again to hea- 
 venly places ; and in the mystery of its redemp- 
 tion we find the grand crowning evidence of the 
 worth of the soul. 
 
 Allow me, in conclusion, to gather up this whole 
 subject, and throw its entire weight, as an emphasis 
 upon the question of our text — " What shall it 
 profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and 
 lose his own soul ?" It is but a small portion of the 
 world any one individual can hope to possess. You. 
 
42 THE WORTH OF THE SOUL. 
 
 however, are supposed to obtain the whole. The 
 dream of universal dominion is realized by you. 
 You are crowned a monarch; the broad earth is 
 your empire, and you reign without a rival or a foe. 
 Every land pours its treasures into your coffers. 
 Gold and silver and precious stones glitter around 
 you. The luxuries of every climate are spread 
 profusely upon your table. Crowds of obsequious 
 servants anticipate your slightest wish. When you 
 appear, in your gilded equipage, among the multi- 
 tude, they say, " It is a God." And to the remotest 
 corner of your empire — in the snow huts of the pole, 
 and under the spreading palms of the south — your 
 praises are sung, and all delight to " do you reverence." 
 They watch your slightest look, and chronicle your 
 every word, and obey your every nod. Pleasure waits 
 evermore in your train, and holds her enchanted cup 
 continually to your lips; and you have no wish un- 
 gratified, no hope unfulfilled — for you have gained 
 the whole world. And what will all this profit you, 
 if you lose your own soul ? Will it fill the aching 
 void within? Will it ease you of a single pang? 
 Will it rob death of his sting? Will it pour the 
 light of life and immortality into the darkness of 
 the grave ? Will it buy you a single drop of water, 
 when you are tormented in the quenchless flames ? 
 Will it bribe you an entrance, through the gates, into 
 the city ? And where will be your empire, when 
 the world and all things therein shall be burned with 
 fire ? You may now feel but little solicitude about 
 your salvation. Amidst the pressure of your busi- 
 ness, and the hurry of your pursuits, and the tu- 
 mult of your passions, heaven and hell may seem 
 
J. T. SMITH, D. D. 43 
 
 too far off to demand much attention. Amidst the 
 clamourings of the appetites, and the distractions of 
 the outward world, the soul may seem too impal- 
 pable — its wants and its aspirations too ethereal — 
 its rewards and its punishments too spiritual, to share 
 largely in your thoughts. There is a strange mad- 
 ness in the human heart. While all heaven and all 
 hell are bending over you with unutterable solici- 
 tude, and enlisting their sympathies and their mighty 
 activities in your cause, shall you alone be thought- 
 less and indifferent amidst all the movements which 
 are circling around you? Have you alone no in- 
 terest at stake ? Why stand you here all the day 
 idle ? Just starving for the bread of life, wherefore 
 "spend your money for that which is not bread?" 
 Your eternal salvation to work out, wherefore "spend 
 your labour for that which satisfieth not?" Can you 
 sleep under the uplifted thunderbolts of angry Om- 
 nipotence ? Can you go smiling and sportive onward, 
 when " your way is dark and leads to hell ?" " Awake, 
 thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ 
 shall give thee light." 
 
THE FAITHFUL SAYING. 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIS LORD, D. D. 
 
 PROFESSOR IN THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, CINCINNATI, OHIO. 
 
 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ 
 Jesus came into the world to save sinners. — 1 Tim. i. 15. 
 
 Let us analyze this saying. Let us separate its 
 ideas, that we may give to each a distinct, though 
 brief, consideration. Let us seriously mark their 
 aspect and bearing with reference to our own cha- 
 racter, course and destiny. 
 
 I. " Christ Jesus came." We bid you notice this 
 fact as essential to the power and glory of the evan- 
 gelic doctrine. The grandeur of the person gives 
 grandeur to the truth affirmed concerning him. 
 
 For whom do the words "Christ Jesus" desig- 
 nate? Beyond question, the Son of God. They 
 do indeed express only the name he bore after the 
 incarnation ; but by constant usage of the scriptures, 
 they then denote the person who became incarnate. 
 Differing modes of existence and manifestation did 
 not destroy the divine and eternal personality. 
 The Word was made flesh, but in the flesh thus 
 made he was still the word. 
 
 The affirmation, then, is of a divine person — the 
 Son of God — second in the mysterious subsistence 
 
 (44) 
 
WILLIS LORD, D. D. 45 
 
 of the infinite three. He came. Not an angel of 
 light; not a saint in glory; not Gabriel, who 
 ministered peradventure nearest the burning throne ; 
 not Moses or Isaiah, most exalted perhaps among 
 the redeemed. No — not they; but He came by 
 whose power Gabriel and his angelic associates were 
 created, and by whose blood the lawgiver and the 
 prophet alike were saved. At that sublime moment, 
 when the eternal counsels were about to be express- 
 ed in the great acts of redemption, and . because 
 the exigencies of lost men transcended the wisdom 
 and power of all creatures, it was the voice of Christ 
 Jesus which broke upon the silence of heaven — 
 " Lo, I come to do thy will, God !" 
 
 The fact is incontestable — its importance and 
 grandeur infinite. For how can the purpose and 
 endeavours of such an one fail? What possible 
 contingencies can arise, not foreseen by his omnis- 
 cience ? What combination of difficulties so great, 
 that they must not vanish before his wisdom and 
 power ? If God undertake for the lost, no matter 
 how extreme and appalling their state, they will 
 be rescued. 
 
 This truth, we repeat, is essential. It is the foun- 
 dation of the Christian system. If the victim on 
 Calvary was not the incarnate Word — God though 
 man, and man though God — the hope of salvation, 
 by his obedience and death, is a dream. It may be 
 thought by some consoling, inspiring, joyous, but 
 it is a dream, to be dissipated for ever when we 
 enter the grave. There never was a more absurd 
 notion, than that salvation can be achieved for sin- 
 ners by a creature. Show me that Christ Jesus 
 
46 THE FAITHFUL SAYING. 
 
 was not truly divine, and, by the same argument, I 
 will show you that he cannot be a Saviour. And 
 if he be not, who is ? What shall dying men do, 
 if they may not rest their souls on Christ, as the 
 Son of God — the brightness of the divine glory, and 
 the express image of the divine person ? What can 
 they do, but die without hope — yea, die for ever ! 
 
 II. This divine Being came, continues the text, 
 into the world ; i. e. into this world. 
 
 Very many worlds God has made, of still greater 
 extent and magnificence than this, to circle with it, 
 in its majestic course around the centre of the sys- 
 tem ; but in no other have been enacted the scenes 
 of redemption. It is an exclusive distinction of this 
 world, that by the Church redeemed and existing on 
 its bosom, is made known unto principalities and 
 powers in heavenly places, the manifold wisdom of 
 God, according to the eternal purpose, which he 
 purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Bethlehem and 
 Calvary are here. The garden of that untold agony 
 — the sepulchre, hewn out in the rock, where the 
 Prince of life lay in the embrace of death — the 
 Mount of Olives, whence he ascended, leading cap- 
 tivity captive — all these are here. 
 
 The influences of the cross doubtless, indeed, reach 
 to the outmost limits of God's vast creation, making 
 manifest, as could have been done by nothing else, 
 the wisdom, love, power and glory of Jehovah. But 
 here the cross was reared. Its base was imbedded 
 in the soil of earth ; its top was fanned by the air 
 and bathed in the light which fall upon us. Christ 
 Jesus came into this world ! 
 How did he come ? 
 
WILLIS LORD, D. D. 47 
 
 Not merely, does the apostle mean to say, in his 
 essential and universal presence, as God. In this 
 sense our world has been his dwelling-place from 
 the morning of creation. His arm has upheld the 
 stupendous structure. His power has constantly 
 renewed the face of the earth, and carried forward 
 all the processes and operations of nature. For as 
 he created, so does he sustain all things by the 
 word of his power; by him all things consist. 
 
 Nor did he come, does the apostle mean to say, 
 in the form and presence, wdiich anciently he so 
 often assumed, as the angel of the covenant. It 
 was thus he appeared to the patriarchs and saints 
 of former dispensations. It was thus he was present 
 with Abraham at that strange sacrifice on Moriah, 
 and the day before the fiery overthrow of Sodom 
 and Gomorrah. It was thus he revealed himself to 
 Jacob at Peniel, in that wondrous conflict wherein 
 the patriarch prevailed with God. It was thus he 
 went before his people in the wilderness, when he 
 said, Surely they are my people, they will not lie ; 
 so he was their Saviour. In all their affliction he 
 was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved 
 them, and he bore them, and carried them all the 
 days of old. 
 
 It was another and more marvellous presence of 
 the Son of God the apostle contemplates — his pres- 
 ence by incarnation in the son of Mary, in reference 
 to which the angel said to the shepherds, " Unto you 
 is born this day a Saviour, which is Christ the 
 Lord." " Who being in the form of God, and 
 thought it not robbery to be equal with God, made 
 himself of no reputation, and took upon him the 
 
4S THE FAITHFUL SAYING. 
 
 form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of 
 men." For "forasmuch as the children are par- 
 takers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took 
 part of the same." And so " the Word which was in 
 the beginning with God, the Word which was God, by 
 whom all things were made, and without whom was 
 nothing made which was made ; the Word became 
 flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, 
 the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full 
 of grace and truth." 
 
 In this manner "Christ Jesus came into the 
 world." It is a stupendous truth. It would exceed 
 belief, as it does comprehension, did it not rest on 
 the testimony of God ; and if, furthermore, immeas- 
 urably vast and mysterious as it is, we could not see 
 its divine adaptation and imperative necessity in re- 
 ference to us as sinners. We have been startled, 
 my brethren, at recent and passing political events. 
 They seem to us great — momentous. To see kings 
 abdicating; thrones and princedoms falling; the 
 masses, so long trampled beneath the hoofs of power, 
 rising ; and then the re-action, the crushing again of 
 hope, the re-ascendance of despotism, and the sup- 
 pressed heavings of outraged humanity, while the 
 whole aspect of human things becomes dark and 
 perilous — oh, how all this engrosses the minds of 
 thoughtful men ! And yet inexpressibly tame, 
 trivial, empty, are these things, in comparison with 
 the unique, unparalleled, infinite truth, that " Christ 
 Jesus came into the world ;" that being God, he was 
 found in fashion as a man; that occupying the 
 throne, and receiving the adorations of the universe, 
 he came down to the dependance of a creature and 
 
WILLIS LORD, D. D. 49 
 
 the reproach of worms ; that the source of all au- 
 thority, he made himself subject to law ; and the 
 fountain of all life, he came under the power of 
 death ; that, compelled by no perils that were invad- 
 ing his presence, but moved by the miseries which 
 were overwhelming us, he came ; that, the King of 
 kings, and the Lord of lords, he came to raise us to 
 his own blessedness, to invest us with his own glory, 
 to make us kings and priests unto God for ever ! 
 
 For mark, now, the complete statement of the 
 text, that, 
 
 III. " Christ Jesus came into the world to save 
 sinners!" We must form our estimate of Christian- 
 ity from its real nature and design. If we conceive 
 of it wrongly, we shall judge of it unfairly. In its 
 influence indeed on all the faculties, and all the in- 
 terests of men, it bears the proof of its divine 
 source, and of its power for good. It has amelior- 
 ated the physical condition of the race ; it has given 
 impulse and expansion to the mental powers ; it 
 has imparted tenderness and purity to the social and 
 domestic affections. Civilization has followed in its 
 progress. Commerce and the arts have flourished 
 in its presence. Literature and science have felt no 
 other influence so genial and enriching. Where it 
 has reigned, law has become the expression of justice, 
 and government the safeguard of liberty. It is im- 
 possible to over-estimate the legitimate and benign 
 effects of the gospel of Christ, on the entire condi- 
 tion of men, as the denizens of this world, as well 
 as the heirs of immortality. 
 
 But, then, these effects have all been indirect and 
 secondary, as compared with the main purpose for 
 
 which " Christ Jesus came into this world." That 
 5 
 
50 THE FAITHFUL SAYING. 
 
 purpose was " to save sinners." If you contemplate 
 his mission and work apart from the light of this 
 vast central truth, you may yet see much in them to 
 admire, but you will fail to comprehend their real 
 grandeur and glory. Jesus Christ, my brethren, was 
 far more than a social or civil reformer, attempting 
 to dry up the streams of human degradation and 
 misery, while he left untouched their prolific and 
 inexhaustible fountain. He was far more than a 
 master in philosophy, who came to solve the problems 
 of science, and elaborate systems of morals and meta- 
 physics, after the manner of Plato or Aristotle. He 
 was far more than a jurisconsult or statesman, whose 
 mission it was to announce legal and political max- 
 ims, and propose models of constitutions and govern- 
 ments. He was a Saviour ! The objects of his grace 
 were sinners. They had broken the law of God. 
 They had incurred his holy displeasure. They had 
 yielded themselves as the bond-slaves of Satan. They 
 were therefore sinking, helpless and hopeless, to eter- 
 nal ruin. Christ Jesus came to save them. 
 
 How save them ? In the evangelic sense, what 
 is salvation? The inquiry is important. In the 
 scriptures themselves the term is relative. It is 
 sometimes use^l without any reference to that great 
 spiritual and eternal deliverance contemplated here. 
 A man may be saved from sickness, danger, fear ; 
 from a great variety of evils, merely temporal. The 
 term, therefore, must have its meaning in each sev- 
 eral instance, from that of which it is the contrast. 
 Christ Jesus came to save sinners. Salvation, then, 
 in this case, must be understood by the present charac- 
 ter and condition of those who are to be its subjects. 
 
WILLIS LORD, D. D. 
 
 51 
 
 Who, then, and what are sinners ? In what condi- 
 tion are they ? They are those who have apostatized 
 from God, and broken his law. That law is perfect, 
 eternal, unchanging. Its demands can never be miti- 
 gated — its sanctions must be enforced. It is prepos- 
 terous to think of any other alternative. The earth 
 and the heavens may pass away, but the law of God, 
 in its undiminished authority and extent, and its re- 
 tributive power, must remain for ever. It cannot 
 pass away. 
 
 The effect of this violation of the law is twofold. 
 In the first place, it changes the relations of men 
 to the divine government. They are thenceforth 
 condemned. The fearful penalty of sin is denounced 
 against them. Its execution may be delayed, but 
 at length it must come. From the absolute perfec- 
 tion of the law, there is no possibility, for one who 
 has sinned, of regaining his position and immunities 
 as an innocent man. Guilty he must remain. The 
 penalty, therefore, must be exacted. It is eternal 
 death. 
 
 In the second place, it changes the affections of 
 men towards God. The very nature of the soul is 
 vitiated by sin. What was pure and perfect becomes 
 defaced and polluted. Love to God gives place to 
 aversion and hate. All the moral faculties are per- 
 verted and defiled. Selfishness becomes the master 
 principle or affection. Self, the reigning God. If the 
 divine law, therefore, did not forever bar sinners from 
 heaven, and subject them to woe, their own depraved 
 nature and sinful passions would. 
 
 The salvation of sinners, consequently, has respect to 
 their legal condemnation, and their moral depravity. 
 
52 THE FAITHFUL SAYIXG. 
 
 To be effectual, it must remove the curse of the law 
 which is upon them, and it must form them anew in 
 the likeness of God. Under this conception of it, 
 " Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." 
 Immense, we repeat, and never enough valued, are 
 the benign influences of his coming and work on the 
 social, intellectual, and^ political condition and pros- 
 pects of men. He gave the most salutary precepts. 
 He enjoined and exemplified the most pure and hea- 
 venly affections. He announced the essential princi- 
 ples of truth and righteousness, and demanded of all 
 men, through all time, affectionate and holy submis- 
 sion. His words have been light to the mind, and 
 life to the soul. Wherever they have been permitted 
 to go forth in their fulness and purity, they have 
 regenerated society, and remodelled governments. 
 They are achieving social and civil results now, in 
 view of which hoary oppression trembles. ! if 
 while they are giving to the masses the knowledge 
 of their rights, they shall also be received far enough 
 to aw r aken within them the sense of their responsi- 
 bilities — to lead them to identify rational and endur- 
 ing liberty with the spirit and principles of the gov- 
 ernment of God — who can express what scenes of 
 prosperity and happiness may yet appear ! If men 
 will obey the gospel — Europe, yes, the world shall 
 be gloriously free. If they will not do this, agita- 
 tion and revolution are in vain. Despotism may in- 
 deed give place, at every now and then, but only to 
 a more desolating anarchy. And anarchy, after a 
 little, will lash itself into exhaustion, and subside in 
 the embrace of a still more absolute despotism. The 
 essential elements and means of social well-being, 
 
WILLIS LORD. D. D. OO 
 
 mental elevation, and political freedom, are in the in- 
 structions and institutions of Jesus Christ. 
 
 The mission, however, of the divine Redeemer re- 
 lated directly and chiefly to the souls of men. He 
 came to save sinners. Is it inquired again, How save 
 them ? The answer is, by delivering them from the 
 condemnation of the broken law, and by renewing 
 them after the image of God, in righteousness and 
 true holiness. This is salvation. Less than this 
 is not salvation. 
 
 But this question, thus answered, throws us back 
 on a greater question. How can sinful men be de- 
 livered from the curse of the law ? Helpless they 
 are. They cannot meet its demands. They cannot 
 satisfy, except by enduring its terrific penalty. While 
 they are condemned by it, and utterly without 
 strength^ it must remain, in its precepts and its sanc- 
 tions, unchanging and eternal. How, then, can sin- 
 ners be saved ? 
 
 In the verdict of enlightened reason, two condi- 
 tions must concur in order to this result. 
 
 The principle of substitution must have a place in 
 the government of God. As by no possibility those 
 who are condemned by the law, can deliver them- 
 selves from its curse, it results, that if they are saved 
 at all, it must be by the interposition of some one 
 not thus condemned, in their behalf, who can and 
 will meet for them its claims and its penalties. If 
 in their case there can be no substitution, there can 
 be no salvation. 
 
 This substitution, moreover, must be made by one 
 whose personal character is not only holy, as for in- 
 stance, an unfallen angel, but who also is not orio-in- 
 
54 THE FAITHFUL SAYING. 
 
 ally subject to the law. It would be manifestly im 
 possible for any one, whose own obedience was de- 
 manded, and to the extent (as from the essential per- 
 fection of the law it must be) of all his affections and 
 faculties, to render an obedience in behalf of others. 
 This condition, therefore, excludes every creature, 
 whether man or angel, from the work of saving sin- 
 ners ; for every creature is under law — under law 
 which exacts and exhausts his whole powers in 
 obedience for himself. To find that a qualified sub- 
 stitute for the guilty, we must go beyond the sphere 
 where the law of God has jurisdiction ! And where 
 is that ? Oh ! where is that ? No where, except 
 within the splendors of the uncreated glory ! No 
 where, except with reference to Him who sits upon 
 Godhead's throne ! The result is clear and irresista- 
 ble. There must be a divine Saviour, or there can 
 be no Saviour ! 
 
 The inquiry was one of infinite moment; will 
 God interpose ? Will He, whom we have sinned 
 against, and by whom we are so righteously con- 
 demned, will he, can he, interpose ? Thanks unto 
 his name, grateful as we can render and eternal as 
 our being, God has interposed ! " Christ Jesus came 
 into the world to save sinners !" The simple, yet 
 wonderful announcement, involves all that we have 
 thus represented as indispensable to salvation. For 
 gather up now into one view what it does involve. 
 
 The Word was God. He was God before he came 
 in the flesh. He remained God after he thus came. 
 The two natures, in mysterious union, constituted 
 one divine person, Jesus Christ. He owed no obe- 
 dience to the law, therefore, on his own account. 
 
WILLIS LORD, D. D. 55 
 
 lie was the supreme Lawgiver. His subjection to 
 it was voluntary, even when he became incarnate. 
 He was made under the law, not as the inseparable 
 result of his being born of a woman, but according 
 to his own will, that he might redeem them which 
 were under the law. His whole obedience, therefore, 
 and his whole endurance, were available for those for 
 whom he obeyed and suffered. 
 
 For this interposition of the divine Redeemer was 
 not for himself. It was vicarious. It was made on 
 the declared principle of substitution — the just for the 
 unjust. Indeed, as it could not be on his own ac- 
 count, who had never sinned, and needed no salva- 
 tion, it must have been for the sake of others. And 
 so the constant testimony is, " he bore our griefs and 
 carried our sorrows. The chastisement of our peace 
 was upon him." " He bare our sins in his own body 
 on the tree." 
 
 Substitution involves imputation. The two are 
 inseparable. They are essential parts of one whole. 
 If Christ obeyed the divine law, and endured its 
 penalty in my stead, and for my benefit, that obedi- 
 ence and endurance are mine, by being set to my ac- 
 count ; or what is precisely the same thing, by being- 
 imputed to me. And this truth is perfectly intelli- 
 gible. Men recognise it, and act in accordance with 
 it, in the most common, as well as the most weighty, 
 affairs of life. The principle on which it rests is in- 
 corporated in all law, and exemplified in all govern- 
 ment. It is worse than folly to attempt to expel it 
 from the word and government of God. Despite all 
 human opinions and reasonings it will remain eter- 
 nally true, that " as by one man's disobedience many 
 were made sinners, so by the obedience of one many 
 
56 
 
 THE FAITHFUL SATING. 
 
 shall be made righteous;" that God "hath made Him 
 who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might be 
 made the righteousness of God in him !" 
 
 The result now of these truths is indeed glorious. 
 In his incarnation, in his obedience, in his unexam- 
 pled sufferings and death, Jesus Christ was the substi- 
 tute for sinners. Who can express then the hope that 
 thus comes to the lost ? For though he became man, 
 that he might obey and might die, Jesus Christ was 
 yet God. The worth, therefore, and the sufficiency 
 of his atonement are immeasurable ; as much so as 
 is his divinity. Contemplated in its essential nature 
 and intrinsic efficacy, it is absolutely without limit. 
 You may compare it to the horizon, which, as you 
 approach it, ever recedes and widens. Or you may 
 compare it to an ocean, whose depths reach no bot- 
 tom, and whose waves break on no shore. But all 
 comparisons fail, all language, and all thought, are 
 beggared in the attempt to express or conceive the 
 illimitable fulness and sufficiency of the atonement. 
 
 But there arises a difficulty here — a difficulty which 
 at times presses on serious and thoughtful minds. 
 The penalty of the law is death. To meet and en- 
 dure that was requisite in order to atonement. How 
 could Christ Jesus endure this penalty? 
 
 It is a difficulty, and perhaps it were both more 
 wise and reverent to recognise the impracticableness 
 of its full solution now, and silently wait for the 
 light of eternity. Thus much, however, is obvious, 
 that a penalty must adapt itself in its actual inflic- 
 tion to the nature, and be affected by the dignity, of 
 the being on whom it may fall. So the penalty of 
 the divine law, while remaining the same in its own 
 nature, must manifestly become different in some re- 
 
WILLIS LORD, D. D. bi 
 
 spects when inflicted on different orders of creatures, 
 as on angels, and on men. Hence this point has 
 sometimes been represented thus : " All creatures 
 must endure the penalty of the law, if it fall on 
 them, for ever, because they are finite. The eter- 
 nity of their woe is thus incidental ; i. e., it results, 
 not of necessity from the law, but from their nature. 
 The duration of suffering, therefore, is not absolutely 
 necessary to the proper infliction of the penalty by 
 whomsoever endured, but it is thus necessary when 
 endured by those who are finite ; i. e., by creatures. 
 The Son of God, however, was not a creature. By 
 virtue of his divine, and, therefore, infinite nature, or 
 being, he could exhaust in a limited period that 
 penalty which a creature could never exhaust. It 
 indeed assailed him. It beat upon his humanity. 
 It bore him to the very gates of hell, but his divinity 
 broke the fierceness of its power. It cried out for 
 blood. Its cry was inexorable — unceasing. Along 
 the flight of weary centuries, it had made even the 
 altar and the temple of Jehovah's worship the place 
 of slaughter. Nor could it be satisfied with the life 
 of beasts. It kindled on the souls of men. It drank 
 up their spirits. It burned on from generation to 
 generation. But when it reached the sacrifice on 
 Calvary, the son of man, yet also the Son of God, 
 its rage was spent, its power destroyed. It could 
 not long grapple for the mastery with an uncreated 
 arm. It kindled fiercely on his humanity, and wasted 
 it. It burned towards his divinity, and expired!" 
 " He hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, 
 heing made a curse for us!" 
 
 It is thus, brethren, that Christ Jesus saved sin- 
 ners from the condemnation of the law. The re- 
 
58 THE FAITHFUL SAYING. 
 
 maining exigency of their condition he meets by 
 sending into their souls the Holy Spirit. By his 
 presence and power they are made alive from the 
 dead ; they exercise new and sacred affections ; they 
 become partakers of vast and immortal hopes; in 
 every taste and susceptibility of their moral being ; 
 they are formed and fitted for the glorious and eter- 
 nal kingdom of God. So great, so entire, so endur- 
 ing is the salvation by Jesus Christ. 
 
 IV. In reference to all this we now acid, "it is a 
 faithful saying? It is no more immense and won- 
 derful than it is true. It is to be believed, there- 
 fore, without fear and without hesitation. Every sin- 
 ner this side of death may rest his soul on it securely. 
 
 The testimony of God demonstrates its truth. Over 
 and over again the Scriptures present us with the 
 doctrine of atonement by Jesus Christ. Every where 
 they reveal him as a divine person ; though now, for 
 the purposes of redemption, in mysterious but real 
 association with humanity. Every where they re- 
 present his obedience even unto death, and in death 
 as vicarious, as in the place and for the benefit of 
 sinners. With the clearness and vividness of a sun- 
 beam they trace these words, and such as these — 
 "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was 
 bruised for our iniquities ; on him was laid the ini- 
 quity of us all." In the view of his cross, and as 
 the divine solution of the appalling sacrifice there, 
 they exclaim, " Herein is love, not that we loved 
 God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be 
 the propitiation for our sins !" Yea, that " God so 
 loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, 
 that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, 
 but have everlasting life !" 
 
WILLIS LORD, D. D. 59 
 
 The influence, moreover, of this blessed doctrine, 
 when it is really received, demonstrates its truth. 
 All those effects which it is designed to produce are 
 realized. The sinner is forgiven. He has peace with 
 God. He has the witness of the Spirit. His affec- 
 tions are changed. The objects of his supreme de- 
 sire and pursuit are new and sacred. He takes plea- 
 sure in spiritual things. He becomes increasingly 
 like Christ. His life is a service to God. His death 
 even is a victory over death, and his eternity is hea- 
 ven. 
 
 Yes, beloved brethren, it is a faithful saying. Pa- 
 triarchs believed it, though to them the great sacri- 
 fice was still in the distant future. Prophets fore- 
 told it in their most glowing and majestic strains, 
 and they trusted in what they thus foretold. Apos- 
 tles proclaimed it, and rejoiced that they might seal 
 their testimony with their blood. Martyrs confessed 
 it, and its celestial power was that which took their 
 terror from the fiercest flames. Multitudes in every 
 age have borne witness by lives of holiness and deaths 
 of triumph, that " Christ Jesus came into the world 
 to save sinners !" Oh ! men and brethren, must the 
 sacred succession stop? Shall this faithful saying 
 have no more witnesses here ? Is it possible that you 
 should feel you do not need the blood of atonement ? 
 Or can you suppose for a moment, that in the flow 
 of ages its fulness is exhausted ? You do not need 
 it if you have never sinned. It is exhausted, if that 
 which is infinite can fail. But neither the one nor 
 the other of these things is true. You have sinned — 
 often, long, fearfully. The atonement of Christ re- 
 mains, and will remain, in its undiminished fulness 
 and glory ; and, therefore, worthy, 
 
60 THE FAITHFUL SAYING. 
 
 V. As the apostle finally adds, " worthy of all ao- 
 captation." The meaning is, it is worthy of a prompt, 
 cordial, grateful, whole-souled reception by sinners, 
 and by all sinners. 
 
 Shall we stop to say, that all sinners need this sal- 
 vation? They do need it. No necessity can be 
 more obvious or more imperative. Under the divine 
 government, where there is sin, there must be atone- 
 ment, or there must be death. This necessity 
 grounds itself in the divine nature. Justice is an 
 essential, and therefore immutable attribute of God. 
 It is inseparable from his being, as much so as his 
 spirituality — his infinity — his almighty power. 
 Should he therefore cease to be just, he would cease 
 to be God. For him, therefore, to pass by or forgive 
 sin, on the ground of mere sovereignty, or expedi- 
 ency, or general benevolence, irrespective of the 
 great principles and claims of justice, we hold to be 
 impossible ; as clearly and inexorably so, as it would 
 be for him to be unjust. The necessity of atone- 
 ment, therefore, in the case of sin, and if it be par- 
 doned, is absolute. Where it is not found, the sin- 
 ner must die. Are you sinners ? You need then 
 an atonement. You all need it. There are no 
 creatures in the wide universe who have a more per- 
 sonal or a deeper interest in the saying — that 
 " Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." 
 In the truth of his atoning sacrifice is your only 
 hope for eternity. In your acceptance of and reli- 
 ance on that sacrifice, by faith, is all your salva* 
 tion ! 
 
 Or shall we detain you to repeat that this salva- 
 tion is sufficient for all sinners ? It certainly is thus 
 
WILLIS LOKD, D. D. 61 
 
 sufficient. We speak, of course, of its essential na- 
 ture and fulness. Viewed in itself, the sacrifice on 
 the cross has a worth and adequacy absolutely un- 
 limited. They are restricted only by the revealed 
 purpose of God to apply the atonement to those 
 alone who believe. This purpose does indeed exist; 
 and, like God himself, it is immutable. How 
 could it be otherwise ? No remedy can be effective, 
 unless it be applied. It may possess the most un- 
 questionable and powerful healing properties — but 
 what will these avail, if the diseased and the sick 
 will not use it? God gave his Son, that whosoever 
 helicvetli in him may have everlasting life. But, 
 wonderful as was this gift, illimitable as were the 
 virtue and merit of the sacrifice so made, he that 
 believeth not must perish. It is God's own aver- 
 ment. The atonement itself, with all its fulness of 
 grace, power and glory, cannot save those, who by 
 unbelief persist in rejecting it as the ground and 
 means of salvation. That there are such persons 
 and will continue to be, the history of men and the 
 word of God render certain. But the limitation of 
 the atonement so resulting, is from causes external 
 to itself. It remains still in its own glorious all- 
 sufficiency. If sinful men will receive it and rely 
 on it, no matter who they are, nor how many, nor 
 how multiplied or grievous their sins, it will be 
 effectual; it will save them. If they will not receive 
 it, the die is cast ; there is no atonement for them ; 
 they must perish in their iniquities. It is a result 
 certain as the being of God. It is a result demanded 
 and secured by every principle of fitness and right, 
 by the perfection of the divine character, and the 
 inviolability of the divine government. 
 
02 THE FAITHFUL SAYING. 
 
 Do you, then, believe in Christ ? Will you believe 
 in Christ? In this case the atonement is divinely 
 sufficient. There is not a sin against you, in the 
 book of God, which, in view of it, will not be for- 
 given. There is not a stain of guilt upon your soul, 
 which, through its efficacy, will not be washed out. 
 There is not a want of your immortal being, which, 
 for the Redeemer's sake, will not be freely and for 
 ever supplied. Oh, it is indeed " a faithful saying, 
 and w T orthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus 
 came into the world to save sinners !" 
 
 My brethren, worldly themes occupy you. Truths 
 like these seem to you perhaps foreign, unattrac- 
 tive, spiritless. The scenes of time, which ever flit 
 by you, like shadows, are in your view real and im- 
 portant. Well, they are so. They have a signifi- 
 cance deeper than you are aware. They have a rela- 
 tion to eternity, solemn and fearful. They have an im- 
 perishable record before God ; a record to be read in 
 the judgment. But forgetful of this significance and 
 this relation, you contemplate these scenes in only 
 their present aspect. Such is their power over you, 
 that we fear you will still turn away from the cross, 
 but if you do, remember, " Christ dieth no more !" 
 We fear you will still close your hearts to the glori- 
 ous truth, that " Christ Jesus came into the world 
 to save sinners ;" but if you do, remember " there 
 remaineth no more sacrifice for sins !" The great 
 work of expiation is finished. It stands before you 
 God's amazing provision for the wants of men ; 
 unexampled — sufficient — alone. In view of it, he 
 demands now your decision. It is for you to receive 
 Jesus Christ and live — or to reject Jesus Christ and 
 die. 
 
THE RULING PASSION. 
 
 A SERMON TO YOUNG MEN, 
 
 BY 
 
 "W. B. SPRAGUE.D.D. 
 
 PASTOR OF THE SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ALBANY, K. Y. 
 
 The heart of the sous of men is fully set in them to do evil. — Eccr* 
 
 viii. 11. 
 
 In connection -with 
 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and -with all thy 
 
 soul, and with all thy mind. — Matt. xxii. 37. 
 
 There is scarcely any thing in relation to which 
 men are so jealous as their own rights ; and scarcely 
 any question, which they scan with such severe 
 scrutiny, as who shall be their rulers. Let some 
 important post of civil authority be about to be 
 filled, and you will hardly find a man in the com- 
 munity who is indifferent to the pending question ; 
 and not improbably there may be a tempest raised, 
 that will make the very foundations of society rock. 
 And so, too, men are eagle-eyed to discern the first 
 symptoms of oppression. If rulers are disposed to be 
 tyrants, their subjects quickly find it out ; and even 
 if they have not the courage to resist, or complain, 
 they are still galled by the yoke, and would make 
 an effort to throw it off, if they could. Liberty 
 every man regards as his dearest possession; and 
 
 (63) 
 
G4 THE RULING PASSION. 
 
 whoever discovers a disposition to trifle with it, need 
 not marvel, if he is met with the spirit of resist- 
 ance. 
 
 But it happens, a little strangely, that those who 
 are so jealous of any external encroachment upon 
 their rights, too often manifest little or no concern 
 in respect to the more important dominion in their 
 own bosoms. They will spare no pains to investi- 
 gate the character of the candidate for some paltry 
 office, the influence of which may only slightly 
 affect them, while yet the world within may be com- 
 pletely subject to one tyrant or another, without 
 their ever taking note of the fact that they are op- 
 pressed. In the hope of disturbing carelessness, and 
 enlightening ignorance, on this subject, I design to 
 address you on the ruling passion — its nature — its 
 origin and growth — its influence. 
 
 The general topic upon which I am to dwell ob- 
 viously connects itself with each of the passages 
 which I have cited. The first — u the heart of the 
 sons of men is fully set in them to do evil" — is a 
 declaration that mankind not only, on the whole, 
 prefer the wrong, but that they choose it, and pursue 
 it, with the utmost intensity of purpose. The latter 
 — " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy 
 heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind" 
 — is God's requisition upon the children of men, to 
 give Him their supreme and perpetual homage. I 
 have brought together the two passages, because one 
 exhibits the ruling passion for evil — the other, the 
 ruling passion for good ; and both will necessarily be 
 brought into view, in the contemplation of the gen- 
 eral subject. 
 
W. B. SPRAGUE, D. D. G5 
 
 I. Our first inquiry respects the nature of the 
 ruling passion. What is it that we designate by 
 this appellation? 
 
 The ruling passion, in the most general sense, may 
 be defined — the concentrated energy of the soul. I am 
 aware that this is a legitimate subject for philosophi- 
 cal disquisition ; and that, viewed in this light, 
 much might be said upon it, that would be both 
 true and useful ; while yet the well-defined boun- 
 daries of human knowledge should not be passed. 
 But the time, the place, every thing connected with 
 the occasion, limits me to the more practical view. 
 The definition that I have given, is perhaps as plain 
 as the nature of the subject will admit ; but be that 
 as it may, every individual may know infallibly 
 what it is, if he will make suitable observation upon 
 his own experience. 
 
 The ruling passion may be considered in a more 
 general, or a more restricted sense. 
 
 In the more general sense, it consists in the preva- 
 lence of a sinful or a holy temper ; in other words, 
 in that state of the soul which constitutes man either 
 the enemy or the friend of God. 
 
 It is obvious, alike from Scripture and from experi- 
 ence, that man, in an unrenewed state, lives chiefly 
 for his own gratification ; that his chosen element is 
 amidst the tilings that are seen and are temporal. 
 This the Saviour expresses, by "loving darkness 
 rather than fight ;" and the Apostle, by " minding 
 earthly things f and the wise man in our text, by 
 " the hearts of the sons of men being fully set in 
 them to do evil." And who need be told that all 
 experience coincides with this record ? While there 
 6 
 
GG THE RULING PASSION. 
 
 are many professing to be Christians, who belie their 
 profession by an apparently supreme devotedness to 
 the world, how manifest is it that the multitude who 
 make no profession, are actual idolaters of the world 
 in some form or other ! Their thoughts, their affec- 
 tions, the combined energies of their souls, are em- 
 ployed upon, actually fastened to, the things that 
 must perish with the using. It is by no means ne- 
 cessarily implied that they are profane, or dishonest, 
 or immoral in any sense ; or that they are destitute 
 of naturally amiable and benevolent dispositions; 
 or that they may not perform many acts that shall 
 have an auspicious bearing upon the welfare of soci- 
 ety, and even upon the interests of the church ; but 
 after all, they are lovers of the world more than lov- 
 ers of God. Their ruling passion is towards the 
 earth. They have no heart to relish, nor even an 
 eye to discern, the things that are spiritual. Such is 
 the condition of man — of every man in his unre- 
 newed state. 
 
 But when the renovating act has once passed upon 
 him, new objects of affection and pursuit rise before 
 his mind, and its energies receive a new and corres- 
 pondingly noble direction. From having had a heart 
 fully set in him to do evil, his ruling desire now is 
 to love the Lord his God with all his heart, and all 
 his soul, and all his mind. True, he is yet a miser- 
 ably imperfect being, and he often has occasion to 
 lament that when he would do good evil is present 
 with him ; and sometimes, perhaps, he is in doubt 
 whether he is not still in unbroken bondage to his 
 lusts. But whatever may be his imperfections, or his 
 apprehensions, or his conflicts, the current of his soul 
 
W. B. SPRAGUE, D. D. 67 
 
 is really moving towards God ; his strongest desire 
 is, that God may be glorified in him and by him. 
 And this desire discovers itself in a new course of 
 action. It may not, indeed, be new in every sense ; 
 it may not be new to the undiscerning eye of 
 man ; for it is quite possible that the external de- 
 portment of an unrenewed person, under the more 
 general influences of Christianity, may be scarcely 
 distinguishable from that of the true Christian ; but 
 it is new to the heart-searching eye of God, because it 
 is prompted by a new principle, and directed to a 
 new end. 
 
 I have said that the ruling passion, considered in 
 a more general sense, is that sinful or holy temper 
 which constitutes the moral state of man as the 
 friend or enemy of God — in a more restricted sense, 
 it is the particular form which that temper assumes — 
 the channel through which the energies of the mind, 
 whether working for good or evil, chiefly operate. 
 
 On this point I may be contented to refer you to 
 the results of your own observation. Whether you 
 look into the world, or into the church, or, I may add, 
 into your own hearts, provided }^ou will compare 
 your experience with that of others, you will find a 
 diversity in the ruling passion corresponding to the 
 variety of human pursuits. All bad men are alike 
 in general — that is, in being supremely devoted to 
 their own selfish gratification ; but they differ end- 
 lessly in respect to the form in which the evil ten- 
 dency develops itself. In one, the ruling passion is 
 the love of wealth — in another, the love of praise — 
 in another, the love of pleasure — in all, the love of 
 the world. And the same remark applies to good 
 
68 THE RULING PASSION. 
 
 men — while love to God and man is the great princi 
 pie that presides over all their actions, and gives the 
 general complexion to their character, even this 
 principle discovers itself in a variety of forms — one 
 may be more serious and devout, another more ac- 
 tive and philanthropic ; one may become absorbed 
 in one field of benevolent operation, another in an- 
 other ; and the energies of each may be directed, 
 possibly too exclusively, in his own particular chan- 
 nel ; while yet the actions of all, when they come 
 to be referred to the remoter cause, are found to be 
 dictated by the same spirit. So much for the nature 
 of the ruling passion. 
 
 II. Our second inquiry relates to its origin and 
 growth. We shall still keep in view the distinction 
 already recognised, considering it in a more general 
 and a more restricted sense. 
 
 If we consider the ruling passion as consisting in 
 the general temper of the soul, constituting the in- 
 dividual a sinner or a saint, we shall find, of course, 
 that it has a different origin, as it partakes of a sin- 
 ful or a holy character. 
 
 In the former case, it is evidently to be referred 
 to man's original apostacy. That mankind are born 
 with a propensity to evil, is proved by the same kind 
 of evidence that proves their original propensity to 
 eat and drink ; for if the latter is developed a little 
 earlier, the former discovers itself as soon as the na- 
 ture of the case will admit — namely, with the first 
 indications of moral agency. If there are any who 
 choose to deny this fact, our appeal is to universal 
 experience — even to those very cases which are 
 brought to prove the opposite doctrine ; for amidst 
 
W. B. SPRAGUE, D. D. 60 
 
 the utmost sweetness and loveliness that early child- 
 hood ever exhibits, if you watch narrowly, you will 
 find the workings of an evil propensity — evidence 
 that the spoiler has been there, sowing the seeds of 
 moral death. For the reason of this state of things, 
 we can go no farther back than Paul carries us, when 
 he says, "As by one man sin entered into the world, 
 and death by sin, so death hath passed upon all men, 
 for that all have sinned." Any other theory of the 
 origin and transmission of human depravity than 
 this declaration clearly implies, is unphilosophical, 
 and inconsistent with palpable facts. I say then, 
 man derives his sinful nature, his ruling passion for 
 evil, directly from the great ancestor of the race. 
 In the shock of the apostacy the gold became dim, 
 and the fine gold was changed. 
 
 And whence does the Christian derive Ms ruling 
 passion for good ? I have, in a measure, anticipated 
 the answer under the preceding head — from the re- 
 novating, life-giving agency of the Holy Spirit. The 
 Bible every where attributes this work to the Spirit, 
 without, however, explaining minutely the manner 
 in which it is performed. It is this to which the 
 Prophet refers, when he says, " Not by might, nor 
 by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord." And 
 again, u A new heart will I give you, and a new 
 spirit will I put within you ; and I will take away the 
 stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an 
 heart of flesh." To this also the Saviour refers, when 
 he says, " Excej)t a man be born of the Spirit, he 
 cannot see the kingdom of God ;" and the Apostle 
 also, when he speaks of being saved, " by the wash- 
 ing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Hoiy 
 
70 THE RULING PASSION. 
 
 Ghost." The amount of all that we know on this 
 subject is, that the Spirit of God operates in some 
 mysterious way, by means of the truth, and in ac- 
 cordance with the laws of our moral nature, to the 
 production of a new moral state of the soul, a new 
 ruling passion, a strong relish for those spiritual ob- 
 jects which the individual once regarded with indif- 
 ference or disgust. He is himself conscious of the 
 change, from an inspection of his own inward exer- 
 cises ; and others take knowledge of him that he 
 has been the subject of the change, as both his words 
 and actions breathe a new and heavenly spirit. You 
 may impute the change to something else than a di- 
 vine agency ; you may say that there is some mys- 
 terious power that resides in man's own will,by which 
 spiritual life rises out of spiritual death ; but the 
 subject of the change repudiates such an intimation. 
 He will tell you that he is a monument of divine 
 grace, a living witness to God's mercy and power 
 in the transforming w T ork ; and that hut for this gra- 
 cious interposition, his heart would still have been 
 fully set in him to do evil. 
 
 But if such be the origin of the prevailing temper 
 or habit of the soul, both for good and evil, whence 
 originates the particular form w T hich the good or evil 
 temper assumes? In other words, whence origi- 
 nates the ruling passion, considered in a restricted 
 sense ? 
 
 Doubtless it is to be traced in most instances, pri- 
 marily, to the original constitution of the mind — 
 to the elements of the intellectual and moral nature, 
 as they are supplied by the Creator Himself. No 
 doubt there is a diversity in the original character 
 
W. B. SPRAGUE, D. D. 71 
 
 of men's minds, corresponding to the variety which 
 we see in their external appearance ; and hence we 
 find that children of the same parents, educated by 
 the same teachers, and subjected, so far as possible, 
 to precisely the same training, not unfrequently be- 
 come widely different in their characters ; and that, 
 irrespective of that radical change which may, or 
 may not, have been wrought in them by the Spirit 
 of God. Here, no doubt, in all ordinary cases, is 
 the seed of the ruling passion ; and the mother, if 
 she is watchful, may not unfrequently detect its in- 
 cipient growth, while the child is yet in the nursery. 
 If you will write the history of the man, who, in a 
 fit of revengeful passion, shed his brother's blood, 
 and has had his own blood poured out as an offering 
 to public justice — his mother, if she still survives 
 to tell the story of his childhood, and if she could 
 bring herself to speak out all that is lodged in her 
 memory, would not improbably tell you that she saw 
 that terrible passion in her son, while it was yet in 
 embryo ; and that nothing has happened to him that 
 was not shadowed forth to her anxious spirit almost 
 before he left the cradle. And so, on the other hand, 
 if you will trace the history of some individual 
 whose life has been but an unbroken succession of 
 deeds of mercy, and whose name quickens the pul- 
 sations, and draws forth the tears, of the inmate of 
 many a hovel, you will not improbably learn, that 
 those who watched over his earliest years had often 
 admired the beamings of a kindly and generous 
 spirit in his infantile smiles. Not that there is any 
 thing here to excuse vice ; for these evil propensi- 
 ties belong to a moral agent, and he is bound to see 
 
72 THE RULING PASSION. 
 
 that they are eradicated, instead of being indulged 
 Nor is there any thing, on the other hand, of which 
 the good man has occasion to glory ; for the graces 
 of nature, not less than the Christian virtues, are 
 from above — the former are the production of a 
 creating, the latter, of a new creating agency. 
 
 I have spoken of the origin of the ruling passion 
 — let us now, for a moment, contemplate its growth. 
 This is to be referred to the influence of habit and 
 to the power of circumstances. 
 
 It is a law of our nature that the repetition of any 
 act increases the facility with which it is performed; 
 and hence, we find that that which is originally diffi- 
 cult soon becomes easy, and that which is, at first, 
 indifferent, becomes, at no distant period, like a second 
 nature. Notice the operations of this principle 
 wherever you will, and you will always arrive at the 
 same conclusion. I point you to the poor drunkard, 
 who stands before you completely brutalized, though 
 immortal ; whose nearest friends cannot bear to look 
 upon him, because he is the very personification of 
 idiocy or loathsomeness. There was a time when he 
 was first conscious of the existence of that deadly 
 appetite, and when he began to indulge it, he 
 dreamed not how fearfully strong it was destined to 
 become ; but each successive act of indulgence 
 strengthened the propensity, till now, as you see, it 
 holds him with a giant's grasp. Look, too, at the 
 miser! The passion for accumulating and hoarding 
 up may have originally had a prominence in his 
 moral constitution ; but it was not so prominent, but 
 that, in the earlier part of his career, he could some- 
 times show himself public-spirited, and perhaps even 
 
W. B. SPRAGUE, D. D. 73 
 
 devise liberal tilings. By long continued indulgence, 
 however, this sordid passion has gained the com- 
 plete mastery over him, so that he is as deaf as an 
 adder to the claims of charity, and even to the cries 
 of absolute distress. And the same principle is 
 illustrated in the growth of a habit of philanthropy. 
 Wilberforce was originally possessed of warm and 
 generous sensibilities ; but it was the fact of those 
 sensibilities being always kept awake — the fact of 
 his devoting his life to the cause of the negro's free- 
 dom — that made him tower into such a glorious ex- 
 ample of benevolence as the world has rarely seen. 
 And if we consider the ruling passion in the more 
 general sense, as denoting the sinful or holy nature, 
 it is by this same influence — the influence of repeti- 
 tion, that the sinner becomes more and more a sin- 
 ner, the saint more and more a saint. Possibly, to 
 the eye of man, there may be no very perceptible 
 change, either in the one case or the other ; but to 
 the Omniscient eye the moral state of the soul is 
 changing continually; not an action is performed, 
 not a volition exerted, not a thought cherished, for 
 good or evil, but it has some bearing upon the per- 
 manent state of the soul — that which emphatically 
 constitutes its character. 
 
 The other influence, to which is to be referred the 
 growth of the ruling passion, is that of circumstances. 
 It is a familiar but true remark, that men's charac- 
 ters are formed, in a great degree, by circumstances ; 
 and this effect is produced chiefly through the devel- 
 opment of the ruling passion. True, as we have 
 already seen, this passion grows immediately by suc- 
 cessive acts of indulgence, but then there is the 
 
74 THE RULING PASSION. 
 
 remoter influence of circumstances, ill which these 
 acts of indulgence usually have their origin ; and 
 where the favourable circumstances do not exist of 
 themselves, the ruling passion not unfrequently 
 creates them, and then acts itself out by means of 
 facilities of its own devising ; and, on the other 
 hand, circumstances not unfrequently exert an influ- 
 ence to neutralize, even to change, the ruling pas- 
 sion. Let a child, in the first developments of its 
 moral nature, betray a prevailing inclination to some 
 particular form of vice, and then let it be placed in 
 a condition which furnishes little or no temptation 
 to that species of indulgence, and it is quite likely 
 that some other propensity, originally of less strength 
 than that, may gain the controlling power of the 
 soul, and may keep it till the end of life. There is 
 a tradition that Robespierre was originally of a gentle 
 and sympathetic turn ; and that it was owing to his 
 infidel and bloody training that those horrible pas- 
 sions, which finally made him the terror of all his- 
 tory, gained such a malignant ascendancy in his 
 bosom. But whether this tradition be correct or 
 not, it admits of no question that circumstances often 
 decide what passion is to be in the ascendant; and 
 that they sometimes decide in favour of one which, 
 in its earliest actings, had betrayed no indications of 
 uncommon strength. 
 
 III. I pass now to the third and last general 
 topic, viz : the influence of the ruling passion. 
 
 And my first remark, in illustration of this, is, 
 that this passion has the mastery of the whole in- 
 tellectual, moral and physical man. 
 
 It has the intellectual faculties completely under 
 
W. B. SPRAGUE, D. D. 75 
 
 its dominion. It has its own ends to accomplish, and 
 it employs these faculties as servants to aid in their 
 accomplishment. See how this remark is illustra- 
 ted in particular cases. Mark that individual, whose 
 heart is supremely set upon the honour that cometh 
 from men, and observe how his intellectual powers 
 are all laid under contribution for the attainment of 
 it. His perception and judgment are always in a 
 wakeful state, that he may be able to avoid every 
 thing that is adverse, to avail himself of every thing 
 that is favourable, to his particular object. His 
 memory is continually tasked, that he may take 
 advantage of the lessons that are furnished by the 
 past — perhaps by his own past experience, whether 
 for good or evil. His reasoning faculty, his power 
 of invention, is put into vigorous exercise, that he 
 may, if possible, devise some new facilities for secur- 
 ing to himself the plaudits of his fellow men. And 
 when you have noticed how completely the whole 
 intellectual man is brought into subjection, where the 
 ruling passion is for the honour that cometh from 
 man, look at another individual, and see how the 
 same thing is accomplished, where the ruling pas- 
 sion is for the honour that cometh from God only . 
 What that devoted Christian is striving after, is a 
 crown of immortal glory ; and which of his intellec- 
 tual faculties, think you, finds a dispensation from 
 the glorious work on which his heart is supremely- 
 set ? Is it the perceptive faculty ? But the eye of 
 his mind is continually open to behold the truth, 
 not only in its reality, but in its excellence and glory. 
 Is it the judgment? But without this inconstant 
 exercise, how is he to ascertain what is true and 
 
70 TEE RULING PASSION. 
 
 right; in other words, what he is to believe, and 
 what he is to do? Is it the memory? But it is 
 the memory that supplies him with his materials for 
 gratitude and humiliation, for meditation and devo- 
 tion. Is it the reasoning faculty? But it is by 
 means of this that he is constantly growing in spi- 
 ritual knowledge, and without it he could never be 
 more than a babe in Christ. Believe me, the ruling 
 passion for the heavenly crown allows no one of the 
 faculties of the mind to remain unoccupied. I dc 
 not mean that they are occupied to the extent tha. 
 they might be or ought to be, for-that would be to 
 make no allowance for an only partially sanctified 
 state; but I mean that they all act prevailingly 
 under the influence of the controlling desire of the 
 renovated heart — the desire to glorify God in the 
 attainment of immortal glory. 
 
 But the ruling passion extends its dominion to the 
 moral man, as truly as to the intellectual ; in other 
 words, it controls all the subordinate passions, includ- 
 ing also the animal appetites, together with the higher 
 principle of conscience. 
 
 Observe, first, the influence which it exerts in 
 neutralizing, or keeping in check, those passions or 
 appetites which, if their operation were not re- 
 strained, would be found to conflict with it. If you 
 were to judge of the miser by the coarse fare upon 
 which he subsists, and the miserable tattered gar- 
 ments in which he clothes himself, you would say 
 that he had no taste to distinguish between the 
 coarsest and most delicious food ; and that, as for his 
 clothing, he would as soon appear in rags as in 
 robes. But the truth is, he has, just like other men, 
 
W. B. SPRAGUE, D. D. 77 
 
 his own natural preference for at least decent food 
 and clothing, and possibly he may have had origi- 
 nally strong sensual or ostentatious tendencies ; but 
 the ruling passion for hoarding up is keeping these 
 other tendencies in check, so that you would scarcely 
 know that they belonged to his original constitution. 
 And you might arrive at a similar conclusion in re- 
 spect to the devoted Christian. If you were to judge 
 of him by the moderation which he discovers in re- 
 spect to all worldly enjoyments, you might conclude 
 that he had naturally little or no relish for them; 
 whereas he may naturally possess a very strong rel- 
 ish for them ; but his ruling passion for spiritual and 
 heavenly enjoyments has so far prevailed, that it has 
 brought him to look upon them with comparative 
 indifference. No matter what form this passion 
 may take, it will always show itself mighty to keep 
 the other passions in subjection. 
 
 Nay, it does more than this; it exerts an influ- 
 ence of a yet more positive kind, in rendering the 
 other passions and appetites even subservient to its 
 own ends. Let the love of fame, for instance, be 
 supreme in the bosom, and see how it will employ 
 the love of money in aid of its own gratification ; 
 for great wealth confers a kind of distinction that 
 ambition often greatly covets. Or let the love of 
 God be supreme, and see how the naturally benevo- 
 lent dispositions and sympathies, even the admira- 
 tion of whatever is graceful, or beautiful, or sublime 
 in nature, are all brought into exercise in aid of the 
 homage that is due to the Almighty Parent. In 
 every case, indeed, in which there is not an absolute 
 contrariety between the ruling passion and the sub- 
 
78 THE RULING PASSION. 
 
 ordinate principles of our moral nature, the former 
 bends the latter to its purposes, constituting them, 
 according to its own character, a good or evil minis- 
 tration. 
 
 Moreover, the ruling passion acts with mighty 
 power upon the conscience — that principle of man's 
 nature which confers upon him his highest dignity. 
 And it does this in two ways — as it gives complexion 
 to the testimony which the conscience renders, and 
 as it affects the character of the conscience itself. 
 
 I may appeal to the experience of every one for 
 the fact, that conscience has a mighty influence in 
 rendering man happy or miserable ; and whether the 
 one effect or the other is to be produced, depends 
 upon its decisions in regard, either to particular ac- 
 tions, or the general moral state of the soul. As the 
 ruling passion is, indeed, nothing less than the moral 
 state of the soul, from which also the particular ac- 
 tions of the life take their complexion, it is obvious 
 that this must supply the materials from which the 
 decisions of conscience are formed ; and that, as this 
 has a good or evil direction, supposing conscience to 
 perform its legitimate office, the soul is the seat of 
 peace and joy on the one hand, or of tumult and 
 terror on the other. Who is that wretched being, 
 who is holding a communion of agony with himself, 
 in some solitude which man's eye does not pierce ? 
 Ah ! it is a man, who, in obedience to the strongest 
 impulse of his nature, has murdered his fellow, or 
 done some other desperate deed, which at present is 
 known only to himself; and there is not a single 
 circumstance that would seem to indicate the least 
 danger of exposure; and yet conscience mocks all 
 
W. B. SPRAGUE, D. D. 79 
 
 his efforts to be at rest, by filling his ear with sounds 
 concerning the terrible future. And who is he that 
 feels and evinces such a heavenly tranquillity, amidst 
 the vicissitudes of life — that is not only patient, but 
 even joyful in tribulation ? Why, it is a man who 
 knows no desire so strong as that of glorifying God, 
 and benefiting his fellow creatures ; and as he tra- 
 vels on from day to day, in his beneficent and upward 
 course, he is cheered continually by the whisper of 
 an approving conscience, and tormenting fears find 
 no lodgment in his bosom. In each case, this mighty 
 inward agent has been moved to diffuse terror or 
 peace through the soul, by the ruling passion. 
 
 But this is not all; for the ruling passion affects 
 the character of the conscience itself. What if the 
 heart of an individual be fully set in him to do evil — 
 do you believe that the conscience will be in no 
 danger of sustaining an injury from such an influ- 
 ence ? When the ruling passion first begins to ope- 
 rate in a course of sinful indulgence, conscience of 
 course remonstrates; and as these remonstrances give 
 pain, the mind is put upon devising some means of 
 relief, without yielding up the favourite indulgence. 
 And, generally, it does this by at first palliating, 
 and afterwards excusing altogether the course upon 
 which it is bent, calling evil good and good evil, 
 putting bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. And 
 this process, especially when long continued, is found 
 to act upon the terrors of remorse like a charm, and 
 conscience at length becomes so torpid, that the rul- 
 ing passion can act with the fury of a whirlwind, 
 and not awaken it. The conscience is not dead, 
 after all, but it has become diseased, lethargic, insen- 
 
80 THE RULING PASSION. 
 
 sible. And, then, on the other hand, what if the 
 individual -be under the controlling influence of a 
 principle of love to God and man — do you imagine 
 that there will be no effect exerted upon the con- 
 science by the operation of this principle? I tell 
 you there will be a mighty effect. While the con- 
 science will bear testimony in favour of the ruling 
 passion, and of the course of action to which it 
 prompts, the ruling passion will, in turn, enlighten, 
 and quicken, and purify the conscience. So we find 
 it in actual experience. The farther the Christian 
 advances in the spiritual life, the longer he has 
 yielded obedience to the impulses of his regenerate 
 nature, the keener his discernment becomes for the 
 nicest shades of both good and evil. He walks in a 
 region of spiritual light, and he is in little danger 
 of mistaking the character of the objects which ap- 
 pear in it. He is in intimate communion with the 
 Lord of the conscience, and by such intercourse 
 surely the conscience must be elevated and im- 
 proved. 
 
 I only add, under this article, that the power of 
 the ruling passion extends to the physical nature. I 
 have already intimated that it extends to all the 
 animal appetites, unless indeed it may chance itself 
 to be identified with one of them ; and then it will 
 in some way exercise control over the rest, either 
 by keeping them in check, so that they shall not 
 interfere with itself, or else by making them minis- 
 ter to its own gratification. It extends also to the 
 whole body — the hands, the feet, the lips, move in 
 obedience to its dictates. It extends not unfre- 
 quently even to the bodily health, for where it hap- 
 
W. B. SFRAGUE, D. D. 81 
 
 pens to be identified with any one of the animal 
 propensities, it takes but little time for it to make 
 perfect shipwreck of the body. And even where it 
 is seated more directly in the mind — where, for in- 
 stance, it is ambition, or covetousness, or revenge, it 
 not unfrequently acts with a consuming energy 
 upon the bodily constitution; while, on the other 
 hand, where it takes a virtuous and benevolent 
 character, operating in kindly affections and philan- 
 thropic deeds, it ministers to the general health of 
 the body, and even verifies the declaration of the 
 wise man concerning Wisdom, that " length of clays 
 is in her right hand." 
 
 A second general thought, illustrative of the influ- 
 ence of the ruling passion, is, that it decides both 
 the character and the destiny. 
 
 It decides the character, inasmuch as it makes the 
 man what he is ; for though the original materials, 
 of which the character is formed, are supplied by the 
 Creator, yet they are worked into one form or an- 
 other, according to the direction which the ruling 
 passion may happen to take. It is the ruling passion 
 for evil that constitutes the sinner — it is the ruling 
 passion for good that constitutes the saint ; and con- 
 version is nothing else than a change of the ruling 
 passion from evil to good. If we consider virtue and 
 vice as operating through particular channels, then 
 we may say that it is the ruling passion that consti- 
 tutes the traitor and the tyrant on the one hand, the 
 patriot and the philanthropist on the other. That 
 this must decide the character in view of God, who 
 searches the heart, is self-evident; for as it consti- 
 tutes man what he really is, so Omniscience cannot 
 7 
 
82 THE RULING PASSION. 
 
 but see things just as they are. And it decides the 
 character also in the view of men. In all ordinary 
 cases, it is so manifest as to preclude all just reason 
 for doubt ; and even where there is a studied and 
 constant effort to conceal it, it will be almost sure 
 to work itself out through innumerable channels. 
 Those even who attempt to practise the greatest 
 duplicity — such are the arrangements of Providence 
 — generally pass on the whole for nothing more than 
 they are worth ; for though it may never have oc- 
 curred to you to inquire what the ruling passion is, 
 it is from your observation of the operation of that 
 passion, in their daily conduct, that you form your 
 estimate of their character. 
 
 And if it decides the character, it decides the des- 
 tiny, of course; for man's destiny is nothing more 
 than the condition in which his character places him. 
 In the present life, it must be acknowledged, that 
 a man's' external circumstances are, to some extent, 
 independent of his character ; and he who lives only 
 to curse society, and treasure up wrath against the 
 day of wrath, may be surrounded by the splendours 
 and luxuries of life ; may have every thing at his 
 command to minister to a sensual or ambitious spirit. 
 But the truth is, there is an illusion about this ; there 
 i.s not the happiness here that there would seem to 
 be ; and perhaps there are as many in these circum- 
 stances who find thorns in their pillows, as there are 
 in the humbler walks of life. But if a man's earthly 
 condition is to be estimated by the amount of happi- 
 ness which he finds in it, then, as a general rule, the 
 character decides the destiny even here ; for there 
 is that in virtue that will find sources of enjoyment 
 
W. B. SPRAGUE, D. D. 83 
 
 in adversity; there is that in vice that will trans- 
 mute the richest temporal blessings into a curse. 
 And if this connection between character and destiny 
 is manifest even in this life, much more will it be 
 so in the future. Nothing less than this, surely, can 
 be conveyed by the language of the apostle — " They 
 that sow to the flesh, shall of the flesh reap corrup- 
 tion ; and they that sow to the Spirit, shall of the 
 Spirit reap life everlasting ;" and by that declaration 
 of the Saviour, which He makes as Judge of the 
 world, " These," i. e. the wicked, " shall go away 
 into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into 
 life eternal." The ruling passion then constitutes 
 the character ; the character decides the destiny ; 
 the destiny beyond the grave never changes. Who 
 can estimate the influence of the ruling passion, 
 when it is to decide the condition of both soul and 
 body for ever ? 
 
 The power of the ruling passion may further be 
 seen in the influence which it exerts upon other 
 minds — upon a community — upon the world. 
 
 There are various channels through which men 
 exert an influence upon each other, and upon society 
 at large. There is persuasion, here addressed to the 
 private ear of a friend, and there, moving and melt- 
 ing an immense assembly. There is example, which, 
 though it operates silently as the dew, and by an 
 influence not unfrequently unperceived by the indi- 
 vidual who is the subject of it, yet often accomplishes 
 its ends, where all other influences would fail. There 
 is pecuniary contribution, which can assist largely in 
 causing order and beauty to come forth where there 
 was desolation, or in causing desolation to take the 
 
84 THE RULING PASSION. 
 
 place of order and beauty. There is evil polity and 
 military prowess, by which the destinies of states 
 and nations are often settled. There is the press, 
 all powerful to bless, all powerful to curse. There 
 is prayer, that takes hold even of the Almighty arm. 
 Now all these are but the instruments by which the 
 ruling passion operates for the accomplishment of its 
 purposes. It does not, indeed, always work directly; 
 and it may sometimes seem to be operating in one 
 direction, when it is really operating in another; 
 as, for instance, the love of fame may possibly make 
 a man appear exceedingly humble, or self-denied, or 
 benevolent, when in his heart he is an utter stranger 
 to all these qualities. But, either directly or indi- 
 rectly, the ruling passion exerts an influence upon 
 the whole tenor of the life ; and when an individual 
 finishes his earthly course, if you could get at the 
 complete history of his ruling passion, you would 
 have the record of whatever he had done for the 
 benefit or the injury of his race. 
 
 Would you see what the ruling passion has been 
 able to accomplish in some memorable instances? 
 Look, then, at Napoleon. His ruling passion was 
 the lust of dominion. And it nerved his arm till his 
 arm became a rod of iron. It hardened his heart till 
 his heart became a rock of adamant. It constructed 
 yokes for the nations, as if they had been but cattle. 
 He moved his hand, and a mighty city w r as swept 
 off as with the besom of destruction ; he moved it 
 again, and an immense army was struggling in 
 smoke and blood ; and again, and the great ones of 
 the earth came bending to him to take the chain. 
 His career marked a new epoch in history. His influ- 
 
W. B. SPRAGUE, D. D. 85 
 
 ence was like the whirlwind, except that the whirl- 
 wind is the thing of a moment, but his influence will 
 last for ever. Look at Washington. His ruling pas- 
 sion was that of a patriot — it was the desire to see 
 his country free, and good, and great ; and under its 
 influence, he became the very personification of wis- 
 dom, and valour, and magnanimity ; and while he 
 broke the chain that bound us, bequeathing to us 
 our inheritance in these glorious institutions, he set 
 an example to the world, which has done more than 
 an}- thing else to render the throne of the tyrant, at 
 this hour, an insecure and uncertain thing, and 
 which is destined to tell with mighty power on the 
 ultimate civil regeneration of the world. And, 
 finally, look at Paul, whose ruling passion was pre- 
 eminently a desire to glorify his Master, and save the 
 souls of his fellow men. How intrepid it rendered 
 him in danger, how patient in suffering, how untir- 
 ing in labour, how glorious in death ! And who 
 shall tell how much he achieved for the benefit of 
 the church and the world ? It was through his in- 
 fluence especially that Christianity darted abroad 
 among the nations like the beams of the morning ; 
 that light came out of darkness, and life out of death, 
 where darkness and death had for ages held their 
 undisputed empire. And wherever, to this hour^ 
 Christianity has set up her dominion, it is not too 
 much to say that the hand of Paul has in some sense 
 been in it ; for it is only the carrying forward of the 
 work which he had the honour so gloriously to 
 begin. Had he been constituted with the same 
 powers that he actually possessed, and had his rul- 
 ing passion been for blood and conquest — instead of 
 
86 THE RULING PASSION. 
 
 being remembered in the thanksgivings of earth, and 
 the yet higher thanksgivings of Heaven, his name 
 might have appeared only on some dark page of 
 history, as the name of a scourge and a destroyer. 
 
 I only add, in illustration of this point, that the 
 ruling passion is for ever growing stronger. It may 
 indeed be changed from one direction to another — 
 considered in the more extended sense, it always is 
 changed in every case of genuine conversion ; and 
 considered in the more particular sense, it is some- 
 times changed, independently of conversion ; but it 
 still remains true that, so long as it holds the as- 
 cendancy in the soul, it is, on the whole, always 
 increasing in strength — the only even seeming ex- 
 ception to this remark arising from the decay of the 
 faculties in which it may happen to be seated. Its 
 operation in certain forms may indeed be temporarily 
 suspended, through the influence of circumstances ; 
 but let the circumstances change, and if the ruling 
 passion be not changed, it will be found to have 
 gathered fresh strength from the check that has, for 
 a time, been imposed upon it. I have marvelled 
 sometimes to see how strong it has been in adversity, 
 and even in death. I have seen the drunkard turn- 
 ing himself into a beast, when his own wife lay in 
 her dying agony. I have known the gambler turn 
 away from his mother's new made grave, to his 
 accustomed haunts of delirious revelry. I have 
 known the miser's very death dream to be about 
 gold ; and he has seemed to dread death chiefly be- 
 cause it must separate him from his earthly treasures. 
 And even where the terrors of adversity, or the 
 glooms of the last hour, may, for a moment, silence 
 
W. B. SPRAGUE, D. D. 87 
 
 the sinner's ruling passion, unless God's Spirit inter- 
 pose to change it, it will certainly re-appear, and act 
 with more than its former energy. 
 
 And this leads me to say that the ruling passion 
 will grow stronger in the next world. Admit, if you 
 will, that it may be modified in respect to its parti- 
 cular character; modified by the new circumstances 
 and objects by which it is surrounded. Be it so, 
 that the miser may no longer care for his gold, nor 
 the sensualist for his cups, nor the ambitious man 
 for his laurels ; and, on the other hand, we know 
 there will be no objects in the abodes of the blessed 
 to awaken or to demand the exercise of a spirit of 
 compassion ; nevertheless, the concentrated energy 
 of the soul, for good or evil, will remain unchanged — 
 the sinner will be reaching a more dreadful stature 
 in sin, the saint a more glorious stature in holi- 
 ness, through all the ages of an eternal existence. 
 
 But who, after all, can say that the ruling passion 
 of the sinner may not exist in the next world, in 
 precisely the same form that it does in this, with 
 this terrible difference, however, that there shall be 
 no object to minister to it ? Suppose the craving 
 appetite for sensual indulgence, the burning thirst 
 for power, the sordid desire for wealth, to have gath- 
 ered a thousand fold deeper intensity than the vo- 
 luptuary, the ambitious man, the miser, ever felt on 
 earth ; and suppose each to be shut out from all the 
 means of gratification ; and suppose the ungratified 
 passion to be for ever growing stronger as the ages 
 of eternity roll away — Oh ! tell me, ye who have 
 known something here of the bitterness of cherish- 
 ing desires that could not be met, tell me whether 
 
88 THE RULING PASSION. 
 
 any thing beyond this is necessary to complete the 
 idea of hell. 
 
 Oh how terribly, how gloriously, this thought, that 
 the ruling passion is to grow stronger for ever, bears 
 upon the future ! How it magnifies, beyond any 
 measure that our conceptions can reach, the misery 
 of the lost — the happiness of the saved ! 
 
 Fix your eye upon a man whose outward demon- 
 strations are such, that you cannot even doubt that 
 his ruling passion is for evil. Possibly, he may ap- 
 pear decent enough in his ordinary intercourse ; but 
 whoever knows him well, knows that he is revenge- 
 ful — that it is in his heart to pursue the man who he 
 imagines has injured him, even to the death ; knows 
 that he is profane — that he will, even in cool blood, 
 insult the majesty, and defy the vengeance, of Hea- 
 ven. If you could see him at certain times, when 
 his passions are wrought up into a tempest, the 
 mixture of rage and blasphemy that you would wit- 
 ness, would make you turn from him with shud- 
 dering, as from an incarnate fiend. All this, while 
 he is yet in the body, and subject to the numerous 
 restraints incident to the present state of existence. 
 Keep your eye upon him a little while, and you 
 shall find him a lost spirit; and now mark how 
 that ruling passion for evil, which before seemed 
 so strong, has gathered a degree of strength that 
 mocks at the imbecility of all its previous opera- 
 tions. Mark off a million of ages from his exist- 
 ence, and see how you find the ruling passion then. 
 You may talk of a giant's power, but that conveys 
 no idea of the actual reality. You may collect every 
 image of overpowering strength, and of unqualified 
 
 -J 
 
W. B. SPRAGUE, D. D. 89 
 
 horror ; you may combine the darkness of midnight 
 with the fury of the storm, and let the flashing of 
 the lightning, and the rolling of the thunder, be the 
 terrible accompaniment, and still you will have 
 nothing that will more than faintly shadow forth 
 the might and the misery seated in that sinner's bo- 
 som. And who has thoughts far reaching enough to 
 overtake eternity? And yet eternity, eternity is 
 the field on which the ruling passion is to have its 
 perpetual development ! I know not all the ingre- 
 dients in the cup of trembling, which is put into the 
 hands of the wicked in the next world ; but it is 
 enough for me to know, that the ruling jmssion for 
 evil, whose operations sometimes terrify me here on 
 earth, will not only be an everlasting inmate of the 
 bosom, but will wax more fierce, and strong, and 
 terrible, for ever. 
 
 Now, look at the man whose ruling passion is for 
 good, and take the measure, if you can, of the hap- 
 piness which he enjoys, of the good which he ac- 
 complishes, in its progressive and eternal develop- 
 ment. As you see him here, bearing afflictions with 
 undisturbed tranquillity, encountering difficulties 
 with an overcoming faith, traversing the dark val- 
 ley with an unfaltering step, you feel that the up- 
 ward tendencies of his spirit are strong; and you 
 are not afraid to see him die, because you are satis- 
 fied that his is the good man's death. But, even in 
 all this, you have seen the ruling passion of only an 
 imperfect Christian. Wait a little, till he has passed 
 the heavenly portals, and you may contemplate that 
 of a glorified saint. Lay every thing else, that may 
 enter into the idea of future bliss, entirely out of view — 
 
00 THE RULING PASSION. 
 
 1 am sure you will not doubt that here, in the saint's 
 own bosom, and at the first moment after he has 
 entered Heaven, is enough to constitute the eternal 
 weight of glory. But, here again, look ye down 
 through the vista of future centuries, fasten upon 
 the remotest point to which even your imagination 
 can reach, and the ruling passion for doing good and 
 glorifying God, shall be acting with an energy that 
 is the result of the steady growth of all the millions 
 of ages that have intervened. And that shall be 
 the starting point for a new course of development 
 that shall make all that has preceded appear feeble 
 and infantile. Saint in heaven, I lose myself in the 
 contemplation of thy destiny ! Be thou where thou 
 wilt in God's dominions, that ruling passion of thy 
 soul, ever active and ever growing, will keep thee 
 entranced with the glories of Heaven. 
 
 Oh that I could write, as with the point of a 
 diamond, on the memories and hearts of all our 
 young men, the great practical lessons which this 
 subject suggests to them ; that I could show them 
 how intimately it connects itself with all their 
 responsibilities and prospects. Many of you, I 
 doubt not, have already set your affections on the 
 things that are above, and are running for the 
 heavenly prize; but others of you, I have reason 
 to fear, are making haste for the accomplishment 
 of your own ruin. You are dreaming that the pres- 
 ent is the time for indulgence, and that the future 
 will be the time for repentance ; that it matters 
 little what you do now, in the days of your youth, 
 as there will be time enough to retrieve your er- 
 rors in the graver period of your maturity. As to 
 
W. B. SPRAGUE, D. D. 91 
 
 the probability of your ever seeing that period, I 
 leave it to your own reflection, after you have 
 walked through any burying ground you please, and 
 noticed how large a proportion of the grave stones 
 mark the departure of the young; but the point 
 which I wish to urge upon you is, that you are, im- 
 perceptibly to yourselves, forming a habit of indif- 
 ference to religion ; that each successive act of 
 indulgence, or even procrastination, lessens your 
 power to resist temptation, and increases the proba- 
 bility that you will never repent ; and that, when 
 the anticipated period for giving your hearts to God 
 shall come, you may find yourselves so entirely 
 under the dominion of your own lusts, as to be dis- 
 couraged even from any attempt to escape. I say, 
 then, your own dignity, your own safety, your own 
 immortality, protests against this habit of delay; 
 and if you open your eyes you will see "Danger," 
 "Danger," written in letters of fire upon every un- 
 hallowed object to which your affections incline. 
 But you are not merely to be happy or miserable 
 yourselves — you are to exert a mighty influence in 
 rendering others so ; and that influence will operate 
 in the one direction or the other, according to the 
 character of your own ruling passion. Particularly 
 your country's interests are, to a great extent, 
 bound up in you ; and the wise and far-seeing, at 
 this moment, have their eyes upon you, as they 
 would discern what are the signs of the times. 
 Nay, there is an imploring voice that comes up from 
 the depths of the future — the voice of unborn gene- 
 rations, reminding you that you are the depositories 
 of their interests, and that the period is rapidly 
 
92 THE RULING PASSION. 
 
 passing away in which you can earn their grateful 
 benedictions. 
 
 What, then, is to be done ? I answer, see to it, 
 first, that your own ruling passion be right — that it 
 be for truth and goodness, for conscience and for 
 God. If the great work of making it right is yet 
 to be performed, come penitently, and confidingly, 
 and obediently, and bow down to the Holy Ghost, 
 and you shall receive the clean heart at his hands. 
 And then go abroad and try to change the ruling 
 passion of the world. Labour, with all your might, 
 in dependance on God's grace, to give to men's 
 thoughts and affections an upward direction. Thus 
 you will not only save yourselves, but be your 
 country's benefactors through all successive genera- 
 tions ; and when the ransomed shall all be gathered 
 home, and shall be joining, under the influence of 
 the ruling passion of Heaven, in a common song to 
 Him who hath redeemed them, how ecstatic will be 
 your joy to recognise among them, not one, but 
 many, whose ruling passion, through your instru- 
 mentality, has been changed from sin to holiness, 
 and whose eternal destiny has undergone a corres- 
 ponding change from wo to bliss — from hell to 
 Heaven ! 
 

 1 
 
 SUPREMACY OF THE MORAL LAW. 
 
 BY 
 
 
 J. W. YEOMAN S, D. 
 
 D. 
 
 PASTOR OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 
 
 DANVILLE, PA. 
 
 
 Tt is easier for heaven and earth to pass than one tittle of .he law to 
 fail. — Luke xvi. 17. 
 
 When the Saviour was derided by covetous 
 Pharisees, for teaching that men could not serve 
 God and mammon, he reminds them of an univer- 
 sal and unchangeable law, by which the actions and 
 characters of all moral creatures were to be tried. 
 He warns them that, easily as they might justify 
 themselves before men, there was yet a tribunal 
 where not actions only, but hearts would be judged ; 
 and the verdict of the degenerate sentiment around 
 them could be no safe criterion to prove their man- 
 ners blameless, and their prospects fair. Many 
 things highly esteemed among men are abomination 
 in the sight of God ; and the judgment of God is 
 the decision of a last appeal. It decides by a rule 
 which is, by eminence, " the law." And, however 
 men may evade an honest and fair conformity, by 
 glossing or wresting the letter, they cannot change 
 or annul the law itself. That law underlies the 
 scheme of the universe. It came out into clear 
 
 (93) 
 
94 SUPREMACY OF THE MORAL LAW. 
 
 view ill the decalogue. It inspirited the ceremonials 
 of the ancient church. It breathed in all the 
 prophets until John. And now that the kingdom 
 of God is preached, and every man rushetk into it 
 that same immutable law remains and pervades the 
 whole system. " It is easier for heaven and earth 
 to pass than one tittle of the law to fail." 
 
 The rank thus given to " the law," above other 
 laws of the universe, may be traced by infallible 
 signs in the course of divine dispensations. Indeed, 
 it is the fair presumption, that if the principle of 
 this supremacy of the law belongs to the s3 T stem 
 of created things, it will reveal itself in the opera- 
 tion of the system, and, most of all, at those points 
 where the finger of God most immediately appears. 
 
 It is common to speak of moral law as most 
 properly the law of God, in distinction from the 
 laws of nature. But all the laws of the creation 
 are both laws of God and laws of nature — laws of 
 God, because God is their author — laws of nature, 
 because conceived to reside in the nature of created 
 things. By law, in the widest sense, we mean the 
 principle conceived as determining the states and 
 actions of persons and things. In this broad use it 
 is applied alike to matter and spirit, even to God 
 himself; in matter, regulating force and motion ; in 
 spirit, controlling thought and feeling, reason and 
 conscience. It is in connection with reason and 
 conscience that this principle takes the name of 
 moral law. Expressed in words, it becomes, as in 
 the Scriptures, a body of precepts, defining and en- 
 joining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong; 
 and is received as the written will of God, to be the 
 
J. W. TEOMANS, D. D. 95 
 
 guide of our life. This moral law is the kind of 
 law which can never fail ; and the signs which God 
 has given of his supreme regard for moral law, are 
 to be the subject of our consideration in this dis- 
 course. " It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, 
 than one tittle of the law to fail." 
 
 1. Of all possible signs of the supremacy of moral 
 law, one of the most comprehensive and impressive, 
 is the dominion given to man over the rest of the 
 earthly creation. God said, Let us make man in 
 our own image, after our likeness, and let him have 
 dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl 
 of the air, and over all the earth, and over every 
 creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. Thus 
 to man, a moral creature, and the only moral in- 
 habitant of the earth, is given dominion over all the 
 earth. And this donation is made to his rational 
 and moral nature ; to the image and likeness of God 
 in him. All things else on the earth are put under 
 him. He may use them all for his benefit. What- 
 ever has the capacity of serving him he may employ 
 in his service. He is not required to prefer the life 
 or the enjoyment of any other earthly creatures to 
 his own ; but when their labour or suffering may 
 be useful to him, he may exact it. When their 
 death will promote his well being, he is at liberty to 
 take their life. 
 
 This gift of dominion over all the earth shows the 
 high esteem of the Creator for the moral principle 
 in the creation, and the rank he has given to moral 
 law. A creature who, without these divine endow 
 ments of reason and conscience, would be no way 
 superior to the other living creatures of the earth, 
 
 i 
 
90 SUPREMACY OF THE MORAL LAW. 
 
 is invested with an authority claimed solely for his 
 moral nature. The living tribes present themselves 
 before him to receive their names, as if to offer their 
 obeisance and their service. All take their places 
 at his feet. And while he keeps his purity, which 
 is really the condition of his power, he holds an easy 
 and honourable sway. This exaltation over other 
 creatures comes not from an arbitrary decree, to be 
 enforced by outward power, against the nature of 
 things. It rises from the nature of man ; from the 
 moral image of God within him ; from the essential 
 supremacy of the moral principle in the universe. 
 It signifies, that in the realm of God morality is not 
 to be subservient, but supreme; that the natural 
 must serve the moral ; that no power can arrest or 
 change the course of moral law ; that every valley 
 shall be raised, and every mountain and hill shall 
 be brought low, and that the way shall be every 
 where prepared for fulfilling the moral purposes of 
 God. 
 
 2. It is another impressive proof of the supremacy 
 of moral law, that the other laws of earth and hea- 
 ven are so evidently used for moral ends. 
 
 In that portion of the history of the world which 
 is contained in the Holy Scriptures, we find the 
 pleasure and displeasure of God with the righteous- 
 ness and unrighteousness of men very commonly 
 expressed through the changes in the material world. 
 Sunshine and rain, cold and heat, all the various 
 properties and motions of the elements, are so freely 
 used to convey the blessing or the curse of God to 
 men, as to suggest the thought that they were made 
 for nothing else. Hence that natural expectation 
 
 L 
 
J. w. YEOMAN S, D. D. 97 
 
 which so widely prevails among men, that a people 
 with whom God is well pleased will have fruitful 
 seasons, health, success in their labours, and order 
 and peace in their society ; and that a people with 
 whom God is displeased will suffer from famine, or 
 pestilence, or the failure of their favourite enter- 
 prises, or the distraction and ruin of their social 
 state. And as of communities, so of individuals. 
 However the course of providence may seem, at 
 times, to depart from this rule, we still find that this 
 subserviency of physical laws to moral ends is one 
 of the most common matters of national expectation 
 among men. 
 
 We cannot know how far these laws are thus ap- 
 plied in fact, except by intelligent and constant 
 observation, with the eye of religious faith. Do you 
 believe in a particular providence ? Do you see the 
 hand of a moral ruler at all in the changes of nature 
 around you ? Then do you hear the earth, with 
 her fields of barrenness and fertility; the ocean, with 
 its calms and its storms; the seasons, with their 
 riches and their poverty; the living tribes, with their 
 services and their depredations; the very hearts of 
 men, with their friendships and their enmities, all 
 uttering, with a majestic and overwhelming elocu- 
 tion, the moral sentiments of God. The moral 
 events of the kingdom of God are brought to their 
 issue by the natural operation of physical laws. Is 
 there a famine in Egypt and Canaan ? It occasions 
 the promotion of Joseph in the government of Egypt, 
 the preservation of his father's family, their removal 
 into Egypt, the long and grievous bondage of the 
 Hebrews there, their deliverance by a mighty hand, 
 8 
 
9S SUPREMACY OF THE MORAL LAW. 
 
 their wonderful pilgrimage through the wilderness, 
 their establishment in the land of promise ; together 
 with all the moral effects which followed those 
 events, and which will follow them to the end of 
 time. When we consider the event, which issued 
 in all these consequences, as a result of the natural 
 operation of the laws of matter, we can hardly resist 
 the conviction that those laws had these effects for 
 their object, and were an important link in the chain 
 of causes for filling the earth with the moral glory 
 of the Lord. 
 
 This instance of natural laws resulting in moral 
 effects, is rendered unquestionable and illustrious by 
 having been recorded and explained in the book of 
 inspiration. The history of the events is written 
 by the infallible pen, and the events are placed in 
 their true relation to each other. But suppose all 
 history to be written by inspiration of God ; what 
 but that same infallible discernment would be needed 
 to trace all physical changes to moral effects ? "Would 
 not all nature then seem instinct with the moral de- 
 signs of her Maker ? Who could then doubt that the un- 
 conscious, as well as the conscious, being of the world, 
 is geared into the spiritual kingdom, and forms one 
 system with it, and is moving always, under the 
 guidance of God, towards his moral ends? Thus 
 all the changes of the world become illustrations 
 and supports of moral character and moral law. 
 Each contributes to its appropriate moral effect, as 
 each ray of converging light contributes to form the 
 bright and burning focus. Not that each separate 
 event must have, by itself, a moral significancy, any 
 more than each letter in a volume of history must 
 
J. W. YEOMANS, D. D. 99 
 
 have a distinct historical signification ; but the 
 series, as a whole, is an inscription of the moral law, 
 and the moral character of God on the material 
 tables of the universe. 
 
 Now it is not at all essential to the authority and 
 power of moral law, that it should always have this 
 form of expression. It may, for the present, be con- 
 venient; it may suit the circumstances of the sub- 
 jects who dwell on the earth, and who, like ourselves, 
 are interwoven with a material and temporary sys- 
 tem; but for subjects under other circumstances, 
 these same spiritual laws may be better expressed 
 in other characters. It is convenient for English 
 people that their laws should be written in the 
 English tongue ; but for people of other languages, 
 the English law books would be useless, an incum- 
 brance, fit only for burning, while the laws them- 
 selves, in their spirit, might suit other people, and 
 remain to be expressed in other forms. Thus will 
 the time come when the heavens and the earth, as 
 books of moral law, will have no further use ; when 
 these forms of moral expression will become obso- 
 lete, superfluous, fit only for the fire; when the 
 heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll, and, 
 being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements 
 shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also, and all 
 the works that are therein shall be burned up ; while 
 the laws of truth and righteousness, which the hea- 
 vens and the earth have so long been used to explain 
 and enforce, shall remain in their authority and 
 glory for ever. " It is easier for heaven and earth to 
 pass than one tittle of the law to fail." 
 
 3. Yet more shall we feel the force of this truth 
 
100 SUPREMACY OF THE MORAL LAW. 
 
 when we observe, how often and signally God has, 
 for moral purposes, actually interrupted the order 
 of nature. 
 
 Aiming at a moral impression on the world, he 
 does mighty works in Egypt ; and, beginning with 
 Moses, he shows a bush burning with fire, but not 
 consumed; he changes a rod into a serpent, and 
 the serpent again into a rod; he makes the hand 
 of Moses, at one moment, leprous — at another, 
 whole; then, turning upon Egypt, he changes the 
 waters into blood, covers the land w T ith darkness, 
 with flies, and with frogs — afflicts the people with a 
 storm of hail, with murrain upon their cattle, with 
 boils and blains upon themselves, and, finally, with 
 the death of the first born of every family; and all 
 this by a professed departure from the ordinary 
 course of nature. Thus awfully were earth and 
 heaven confounded, to give Egypt and the world an 
 impression of the true God ; and, as the Hebrews 
 went forth from bondage, iliey also must be con- 
 firmed in the knoAvledge and fear of the Lord ; and, 
 for this purpose, a path for them is made through 
 the sea, and their pursuers are destroyed in the re- 
 turning waters. Forty years long was nature 
 turned out of her ordinary course, six days of every 
 seven, to supply that people with their daily bread ; 
 and every day of the seven to form a cloud for 
 their guidance by day and their defence by night. 
 Water flows from the rock for their thirst; quails 
 flock to their camp as a supply of meat ; the Jor- 
 dan parts its overflowing waters, as of its own 
 accord, to give them a dry passage. At their en- 
 trance on the land of promise the walls of Jericho, 
 
J. W. YEOMANS, D. D. 101 
 
 as of themselves, fall down to give them posse ssion. 
 The Lord thus led that people through a wilder- 
 ness of miracle, to teach them and the world his 
 name and will ; to establish with them the practical 
 supremacy of moral law ; to show that people that 
 the natural is made for the spiritual ; that the 
 world, in all its other departments of law and of 
 life, must yield to disruption, dislocation, nay, to 
 utter confusion and destruction, to exalt the laws of 
 the Spirit. Behold how the Creator will prepare the 
 way of his moral authority and power, through the 
 solid mountains of his physical dominions, wiierever 
 they cross his path, and may help forward his moral 
 work. The sun and moon stop in their courses, at 
 the word of one of his servants ; those great lights 
 leave their apparent place in the firmament to con- 
 vince men that the God of Israel is Jehovah. The 
 heavens might be deranged, but the w r orld must not 
 be without the knowledge of the living and true 
 God. It was easier for the heavens to be thrown 
 into disorder, than for an impression in favour of 
 moral law to be lost. It was " easier for heaven and 
 earth to pass than one tittle of the law to fail." 
 
 But, of all the illustrations of this branch of our 
 subject, the most commanding is given in the incar- 
 nation of the Son of God. In the person of the 
 Mediator between God and man, there w T as an amaz- 
 ing departure from the established course of nature. 
 And what lifts this case immeasurably above all 
 others, which either have been or can be, is the fact, 
 that it involves, not only deviation from the estab- 
 lished laws of human nature, but also a mysterious 
 and astonishing departure from the mode of the 
 
102 SUPREMACY OF THE MORAL LAW. 
 
 divine existence itself, as previously known. In 
 other cases, God has taken creatures out of the 
 course which he had established for them ; in this 
 case, he himself steps out of the previous mode of 
 his existence and action. He gives what may be 
 called, in a peculiar sense, a miraculous manifesta- 
 tion of himself, and takes a relation to humanity 
 altogether extraordinary — the only case of the kind 
 in the history of his self-revelations. He takes hu- 
 manity to himself as a personal constituent, with 
 even an earthly body. The nature of God becomes 
 joined to the nature of man, not as God is joined to 
 other beings, who live, and move, and have their 
 being in him, but as a constitutional part of a per- 
 son, as the body is the part of the man. 
 
 Although man had fallen from the law of the 
 Spirit of life, yet must he not be allowed wholly to 
 fail of this glorious property and end of his being. 
 It must be restored to him ; and, to accomplish this, 
 the Creator produces a new creation, and sets him- 
 self before the world in a person and a relation 
 which we know not how to describe. The very 
 sight of this wonder, with the eye of an enlightened 
 faith, is overwhelming. Man had the laws of his 
 formation established from the first, and uniformly 
 observed, by the Author of human generations, till 
 the appearance of the Son of God in the flesh. God 
 had his modes of existence and of revelation, which 
 had appeared to be established from the time that 
 man existed to behold them, and which had never 
 before, in the whole course of divine manifestations, 
 presented such a form as this. But an interest of 
 the spiritual kingdom is to be secured. Now the 
 
J. W. YEOMANS, D. D. 103 
 
 way of God in saving men is no longer to be pur- 
 sued invisibly, but is to be fully declared, that its 
 impression may be fixed in the hearts of angels and 
 of men, and that it may bear its part in the consti- 
 tution and advancement of the church. And what 
 were the laws of the human nature now? What 
 were now the laws (for so we may here call them) 
 which had controlled before the modes of the Divine 
 existence, and determined the previous relations of 
 God to created things ? To make men believe his 
 word, and accept his favour, he takes away both the 
 human nature and the divine from the course of 
 their previous and accustomed manifestations, and 
 presents them in an extraordinary, a miraculous, re- 
 lation to each other. It was easier for the estab- 
 lished law of human generations to be given up, 
 than for the violated law of spiritual life in man to 
 be suffered utterly to fail ; it was easier for a man 
 to be conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, 
 and to be born of a virgin, than for one tittle of that 
 law of spiritual life to fail ; it was easier for God to 
 be born of a woman, to be made under the law of 
 humanity, to become properly and truly a man, to 
 grow up in body and in mind like a human child, to 
 think, feel, and act as a man, to labor, suffer, and 
 die as a man, than for one tittle of that law to fail. 
 When we behold God clothed in the form, and sub- 
 ject to the conditions, of humanity, and a man per- 
 vaded by the nature of God ; when we see the hand 
 of that mysterious person parting the net work of 
 nature wherever he would have a passage through 
 it to his moral ends ; when we see him walking on 
 the sea, stilling the tempest, causing the blind to 
 
104 SUPREMACY OF THE MORAL LAW. 
 
 see, the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak, and the 
 dead to live ; when we see Him, who only hath im- 
 mortality, sinking under mortal pains, and giving 
 up the ghost like a dying man, and continuing under 
 the power of death for a time, while the sun is dark- 
 ened, the rocks are rent, graves are opened, and the 
 earth quakes to its centre; we then behold what 
 confusion may come to the material laws of earth 
 and heaven, rather than that one tittle of the spi- 
 ritual law should fail. 
 
 This wonder, wrought for the introduction of the 
 gospel, is but the beginning of wonders. The whole 
 work of redemption, as carried on in the church, 
 and in the souls of individual believers, is, as it 
 were, a propagation of this miracle. The natural 
 powers of heaven and earth are wrought into the 
 system, and made subservient to redemption at the 
 pleasure of the Redeemer ; while the efficient power 
 which works through them, to the perfection of the 
 new creation, is the Holy Ghost. Thus the law of 
 life is restored. God may condescend, in all the 
 forms of his manifestation, as Father, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost, to dwell in his people. The entire fashion 
 of the old creation may pass away. God, the Eter- 
 nal, the Infinite, may bring earth and heaven to- 
 gether to form for himself an abode among men, but 
 not a tittle of the law can fail. 
 
 4. We may finally observe, how this supremacy 
 of moral law in the universe finds acceptance with 
 the reason and conscience of man. We feel a natu- 
 ral agreement with it, and act in conformity with it, 
 when we follow the higher dictates of our nature. 
 
 If the moral sentiments of men vary with their 
 
J. W. YEOMANS, D. D. 105 
 
 different degrees of cultivation, this fact is strongly 
 to our point; for it shows that the more a man is 
 cultivated, according to the laws of his nature, the 
 more does he exalt the moral above the physical. 
 Among savages, where physical power is law, the 
 strongest man is the greatest man. The progress 
 of culture elevates reason and intelligence, in the 
 estimation of men, and assigns to mere bodily 
 strength a lower place. And when the moral senti- 
 ments of a community begin to share in the judg- 
 ments of reason, the moral qualities rise, at once, 
 above all others ; and the maxim is established, 
 that the good alone are truly great. Hence every 
 man, of the true moral culture, makes no account 
 of bodily comfort, of property, or of intellectual 
 reputation and influence, when his moral character 
 is at stake. Hence all people, sufficiently enlight- 
 ened to distinguish the physical, the intellectual, 
 arid the moral in man, instinctively regard the 
 moral as the crown of human nature ; the part of 
 man for which the other parts were made ; the 
 foundation of all the real improvement and happi- 
 ness of the race. This preference for moral excel- 
 lence rises from the constitution of man. It ap- 
 pears wherever man has any just development; and 
 wherever it thus appears, it exemplifies and illus- 
 trates the supremacy of moral law in the universe. 
 Suppose, now, this order of things in the world 
 reversed. Let the moral kingdom be made for the 
 physical; let it be once proclaimed that man was 
 made for the horse, the sparrow the worm ; for the 
 cedar, the thorn and the thistle ; that men are to be 
 reared as food for the lion, or as nourishment for the 
 
106 SUPREMACY OF THE MORAL LAW. 
 
 oak; that their reason must be trained to secure 
 that end; that the conscience must be employed 
 only to prevent, or to detect and punish all devia- 
 tions from that course ; let it once be enjoined on 
 men to obey their bodily appetites alone, subjecting 
 reason and conscience wholly to their sway, and 
 holding the spirit in bondage to the flesh in all 
 things ; could such an order of things be received 
 by man ? What a war would it raise between the 
 world without and the world within ! Without, the 
 natural claiming supremacy — within, the moral ; 
 the facts of observation without at constant strife 
 with reason and conscience within. To make such 
 a world, and put such a creature as man upon it, 
 would show such want of natural adaptation in the 
 parts of the creation, it would be so unlike God as 
 we now know him, that we could not believe its 
 possibility. To us it must ever seem a thing im- 
 possible with God, so imperiously does the moral 
 sense of mankind demand the supremacy of moral 
 law. And such a decision is worthy of our moral 
 nature. Those high powers which make us the 
 kindred of angels and of God, however we degrade 
 them in practice, we cannot disparage in theory. 
 Men challenge honour for reason and conscience, 
 though they may not follow their counsel. We are 
 the natural and necessary advocates of the su- 
 premacy of moral law, and whenever the principle 
 is asserted in the hearing of our higher nature, we 
 say, Amen ; let it be " easier for heaven and earth to 
 pass than one tittle of the law to fail." 
 
 Of the practical suggestions which arise from this 
 view of the supremacy of moral law, I mention, 
 
J. W. TEOMANS, D. D. 107 
 
 1. The natural necessity of ruin as a consequence 
 of sin. We are familiar with the consequences of 
 breaking the physical laws of our being. If a man 
 will not sow, he cannot reap ; if a man will not con- 
 sider, he must fall into trouble ; if he walks among 
 pits, with his eyes shut, he must fall ; the sluggard 
 must see his poverty come as one that travelleth, 
 and his wants as an armed man ; the drunkard 
 must abide his poverty, his broken health, his shat- 
 tered intellect, his premature death. From such 
 penalties of physical transgression how shall he es- 
 cape ; but sooner, far sooner, may the sluggard 
 grow rich, the careless and imprudent prosper, the 
 drunkard drink health, wealth, long life, and mental 
 power and splendor from his cups, than the breaker 
 of the least commandment of the moral law escape 
 the threatened punishment. Not a tittle of the law 
 can fail. 
 
 2. In the light of this inviolable law, how pre- 
 cious is the gospel. Jesus Christ came to seek . and 
 to save them that are lost ; but how hopelessly lost 
 are the transgressors of such a law. Think of those 
 bonds of nature which hold the rivers in their course 
 to the ocean; which hold the ocean in its bed, and 
 the mountain on its base, and preserve the harmony 
 of the celestial world. The planet, falling by an in- 
 ward infirmity from its orbit, what power of nature 
 can restore it? What can save it from being a wan- 
 dering star, to which is reserved the blackness of 
 darkness for ever? But all the stars of heaven, once 
 Mien, might easier rise again, by a self-restoring 
 power, than a man, fallen from the guidance of his 
 moral nature, by an inward infirmity, restore him- 
 
108 SUPREMACY OF THE MORAL LAW. 
 
 self to righteousness and happiness. How mighty 
 and merciful the hand which redeems from such a 
 fall ! Let every sinner lay hold upon it ; for how 
 shall he escape if he neglect so great salvation ? 
 
 3. In the light of this subject, the value of our 
 spiritual interests appears altogether inestimable. 
 What is the brief welfare of the present life in the 
 comparison ? Even the lawful pursuits of this life, 
 and those most important to our earthly happiness, 
 have only a superficial and transient worth. The 
 true basis of our prosperity, for time and eternity, is 
 the law of our moral nature. Seek first the king- 
 dom of God. Lay up your treasures in heaven. 
 Build on the rock which forms the basis of the uni- 
 verse. The loose and dissoluble masses which have 
 been collected on that rock, and which the weight 
 of temporal interests seems almost to have petrified 
 upon it, will not continue. A catastrophe is coming. 
 The imperishable foundations of the moral world 
 will rise, heaving from their surface the dissolving 
 rubbish of a temporal economy, and thenceforth 
 remaining only the glorious support of perfect righte- 
 ousness for ever. 
 
DISTRUST OF THE WORD. 
 
 BT 
 
 J. "W. ALEXANDER, D. D. 
 
 PASTOR OF THE DUANE STREET CHURCH, NEW YORK. 
 
 The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned 
 back in the day of battle. — Psalm Lxviii. 9. 
 
 Tins ill conduct of the Ephraimites, in turning 
 their backs upon the enemy, is referred by expositors 
 to various events. It is by no means unnatural to 
 consider the Psalmist as alluding to the surrender of 
 the ark to the Philistines; for Shiloh, then the seat 
 of the tabernacle, was within the tribe of Ephraim. 
 1 Sam. iv. 4. Whenever and wherever it occurred, 
 it presented the mortifying spectacle of a host in re- 
 treat, and this when amply furnished with weapons 
 of war. Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, 
 turned back in the day of battle. The passage 
 stands in the midst of rehearsals of victories and de- 
 liverances, and of rebukes for unbelief and doubt. 
 It was "written for our learning," and we cannot 
 meditate on it, without a sad reflection that we, as 
 a part of God's Israel, are engaged in a warfare, and 
 summoned to "fight the good fight of faith;" that tee 
 are armed with the grand weapon of faith — the Word 
 of God ; that we too have sometimes turned to flight, 
 or proved cowards in Christ's cause ; and that the 
 
 (109) 
 
110 DISTRUST OF THE WOKD. 
 
 shame of our sin is the greater, inasmuch as the 
 weapon which we have distrusted is of divine power. 
 Believing Israel to be a type of the church, and the 
 words of the text to be for all ages of Christianity, I 
 do not consider it in the least opposed to the analogy 
 of New Testament precedent, to give this general 
 principle of the Hebrew psalm a particular applica- 
 tion. Dismissing the figure, therefore, let us seriously 
 meditate on what it represents. 
 
 It is true of multitudes who are engaged in the 
 Christian warfare, that they are distrustful of their 
 own weapons. For a soldier, there could hardly be 
 a more unfortunate prepossession. His blows must 
 be half-delivered, and his disposition to parley or to 
 flee, exceedingly subversive of bold fighting. The 
 grand weapon of the Christian soldier is thus ex- 
 pressed, in the most general terms, and in a meta- 
 phor — " the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of 
 God." This is the great instrument of assault against 
 the world and against himself; for it is a peculi- 
 arity of our warfare, that some of our most obstinate 
 battles take place within the walls. The truth of 
 God, however largely understood, is the name of 
 our whole offensive armour. This truth in general, 
 and certain prominent truths in particular, are pre- 
 cisely what the Captain of Salvation has put into our 
 hands, to be used against the adversary. It is a firm 
 confidence in the temper, strength, and edge of these 
 weapons, which makes the brave combatant. And 
 it is the distrust of our unbelieving minds in these 
 qualities of the Word of God, which I would endea- 
 vour to stigmatise and remove. The fault here pointed 
 out is not the fault of one and another merely, bui 
 
J. W. ALEXANDER, D. D. Ill 
 
 in some degree of us all ; of ministers as well as peo- 
 ple ; of societies and churches, as well as of humble 
 individuals. 
 
 I shall endeavour to show how this distrust of 
 divine truth is exhibited; how it operates against 
 the success of Christian effort, and how it may be 
 removed. 
 
 I. Distrust of divine truth, as the main offen- 
 sive WEAPON OF THE CHRISTIAN WAR, IS EVINCED IN A 
 VARIETY OF WAYS. 
 
 1. By the disposition common to us all, to resort 
 to other instruments than those which God has ap- 
 pointed. Not error merely, in opposition to truth ; 
 but sundry agencies, of a purely secular kind, are 
 employed by Christians to accomplish those very ends 
 for which the Scriptures are put into their hands. 
 If the world is to be reformed, we fly to arrange- 
 ments and causes which are external, economical, 
 patriotic, literary, or simply moral, rather than to 
 that which is spiritual. Things good in themselves, 
 and pre-eminently good when subordinated to the 
 gospel, become usurpations, malign and dangerous, 
 when they supplant God's ordinance. The world is 
 to be reformed, and, under God, we are to reform it ; 
 but in God's way, and by his methods. The cor- 
 rupt mass of mankind, tending, by virtue of internal 
 maladies, to a catastrophe of disorder, vice and woe, 
 is to be regulated, purified and blessed by a certain 
 prescribed agency, set forth in all its details in this 
 book. In the midst of the great self-destroying mass 
 is placed a small but mighty engine, to accomplish 
 an end for which philanthropists and politicians are 
 sighing and labouring in vain. This energy within. 
 
112 DISTRUST OF THE WORD. 
 
 which is to change the face of human society, and 
 insure universal brotherhood, is the Church: the 
 Church, my brethren; not of Rome, of England, or 
 of Geneva, but the Church of the first-born of God; 
 namely, the family of true believers, sanctified by the 
 truth called out of all nations, washed in the blood 
 of the Lamb, and enclosing an infant generation 
 baptized into the Lord's name. The means by which 
 this community is to effect so gigantic a result is 
 one and simple ; it is the truth revealed in the Scrip- 
 ture. To substitute for this any other agency, for 
 the same ends, and not in subordination to this di- 
 vine principle, is to change the whole method of war- 
 fare, and to forsake our own professions and stand- 
 ards. If the Church could be proved insufficient 
 for what it proposes, this would afford a just reason 
 for trying other means ; but it would, at the same 
 time, prove the claims of Christianity to be groundless. 
 If other ends, not contemplated by the gospel methods, 
 are proposed, they may indeed be sought by other 
 means; but such ends are, by the very supposition, 
 temporal, and therefore inferior. The great moral 
 changes which would make our world a happy world, 
 are exactly what the Church is ordained to effect, by 
 means of the truth ; and for all these ends the Church 
 is sufficient. When wisdom has fully considered the 
 line between these two classes of results, and allotted 
 to Christianity those which are her part, it is a sort 
 of disrespect to the system we profess, to use for the 
 same purpose other machinery than that which God 
 has prescribed ; and to do so is to manifest distrust 
 of God's way. 
 
 2. The same distrust is evinced by a proneness in 
 
J. W. ALEXANDER D. D. 113 
 
 many of us to modify or conceal the statements of re- 
 vealed truth. All truths are not alike fundamental, 
 nor applicable alike to all cases and at all times ; 
 but every truth of this record has its place and sea- 
 son of application, and is then and there to be ap- 
 plied without reserve or tampering — for this plain 
 reason, that it is the God of truth who utters it. 
 But how often does it happen, that in addresses to 
 the body of believers, in exhortations to the una- 
 wakened, in counsel to the inquiring, or appeals to 
 our own hearts, we falter in delivering the pure, un- 
 adulterated word, and feel half afraid that it may do 
 more harm than good! How often does worldly 
 fear seal up the lips which were ready to pronounce 
 the doctrine of God's sovereign election ; or worldly 
 policy drive back the free current of gracious invita- 
 tion ! More watchful against momentary offence, and 
 occasional abuse, than against the permanent and 
 destructive influence of ignorance and all error, we 
 seal up the very fountains which God has caused to 
 flow from the smitten rock. Hence we shudder 
 when the preacher declares the statements of Jeho- 
 vah himself, respecting his own awful decrees, or the 
 irrevocable damnation of the dying Irypocrite ; and, 
 on the other hand, stand ready, when he publishes 
 the grace of Calvary, to hang chains and weights on 
 the freedom of an offer which flies far and high above 
 all legal preparations and conditions. Thus have a 
 thousand errors and heresies arisen. Men have 
 thought themselves more prudent than the All-wise. 
 The Law has been lowered lest sinners should call it 
 hard ; the way has been hedged up, lest the blind, 
 and the halt, and the lame, should find it too easy : 
 9 
 
114 DISTRUST OF THE WORD. 
 
 the Church has been barricaded with walls of cere- 
 mony, and garrisoned with ranks of officials, lest some 
 of its riches should be pilfered by dissent ; and the 
 blessed Gospel, free as the air of Paradise, has been 
 laden with conditions and restrictions, lest faith 
 should be too simple. In every one of these, and in 
 a thousand like ways, men show their distrust of 
 divine revelation. 
 
 3. Another proof of distrust in regard to the truth 
 of God, is the small measure and luJceivarm temper in 
 which we actually use it. If it is what Ave profess 
 to believe, it is an instrument suited to an infinite 
 diversity of objects, all included in the one result of 
 making men better and happier. With this persua- 
 sion deeply fixed in our minds, we should be per- 
 petually employing it for these ends; we should 
 bring it forth, and apply it to the daily emergencies 
 of labour, study, trade, and domestic life ; we should 
 use it for a standard, as we use the familiar stand- 
 ards of our common business, when we measure, 
 weigh, or calculate. We should bring to this test 
 the morality and expediency of many an act, and 
 the purity of many a motive. That we do not, is 
 only a proof how little we are Christians. It shows 
 at how low a rate we estimate the cogency of scrip- 
 tural principle; that there are so many things in 
 commerce, in study, in politics, in education, and in 
 social reform, (all involving moral relations,) which 
 we never bring into the light of God's word. We 
 carry on our affairs, and dispose of our property, and 
 plan our amusements, and execute great changes in 
 life, and bring up our children, and make our wills, 
 without once turning to God's book to find how these 
 
 -J 
 
J. W. ALEXANDER, D. D. 115 
 
 several steps, which really make up the aggregate 
 of our lives, are regarded in heaven. 
 
 He who trusts in God's word as an infallible di- 
 rectory, will never find a day in which he can live 
 without its guidance. He cannot rise from sleep, 
 without a query how the day's plan may be laid so 
 as to find him, like Enoch, walking with God ; or 
 take his early meal, without a purpose that it be 
 sanctified by the word of God and ■prayer. He can- 
 not receive his dues, without considering how much 
 he oweth unto his Lord, and how much he is in dan- 
 ger from the mammon of unrighteousness. He can- 
 not meet a friend, without casting about for a scrip- 
 ture maxim which may sanctify their union ; or an 
 enemy, without guarding his temper by the precept 
 of forgiveness. Nor can he close his doors, and " go 
 up to the habitation of his bed," until he has looked 
 back over the journey of the day, and applied to it 
 the lesson of God's statutes. And the fact that all 
 this is unknown in the days of any professing Chris- 
 tians, is too conclusive an argument of their habitual 
 distrust of heavenly truth as the instrument of their 
 sanctification. 
 
 4. One evidence more will suffice to show our dis- 
 trust of divine truth. It is our neglect of this vol- 
 ume. The soldier who has a favourite weapon is 
 apt to be very much engaged in exercising it, and 
 preparing to wield it. We have read of the knights 
 in the days of chivalry, and of their trusty swords, 
 many of which had inscriptions of honour and names 
 of endearment. Many were the hours spent in 
 sharpening and polishing these blades ; many more 
 in brandishing them by way of preparation, so as to 
 
116 DISTRUST OF THE WORD. 
 
 learn their qualities, and how to make them effect- 
 ual. All this proved how truly they valued their 
 arms, and it tended towards valorous conflict and 
 easy victory. But we have a sword which we treat 
 after a different fashion. It lies on our pulpits, per- 
 haps on our tables. We bring it forth on special oc- 
 casions, and never . mention it but with devotion. 
 We enshrine it, and praise it — would fight for it, but 
 not with it. It lies, like the sword of Goliath the 
 Philistine, at the dwelling of the priest Abimelech, 
 "wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod." 1 Sam. 
 xxi. 9. Whereas we should say of it, as did David: 
 " There is none like that : give it one." The sword of 
 the Spirit, which is the Word of God, requires to be 
 taken up iii the way of daily exercise. It will be so 
 handled by those who rely on it. The Scriptures, 
 as the great magazine of truth, available for all the 
 demands of life, will be resorted to in serious medi- 
 tation by every man who is convinced that his own 
 life and salvation, and the life and salvation of mil- 
 lions, depend on it; and he who is little engaged 
 in close examination of the Bible, gives the best evi- 
 dence possible that he has little practical belief in its 
 amazing power. It is vain, and all but ludicrous, for 
 any one to avow his supreme reverence for the Scrip- 
 tures as the means of regenerating society and open- 
 ing heaven, when he spends hours over the daily 
 journal, or the book of gaiety, for minutes bestowed 
 on prophets and apostles, and the words of Jesus, the 
 Son of God. Let us change our practice or abate 
 our professions ; let us cease to applaud Moses, Isa- 
 iah and Paul, unless we mean to read them; for 
 while we neglect our chief weapon, we plainly tell 
 
J. W, ALEXANDER, D. D. 117 
 
 the world that we have no confidence in its virtues. 
 If these marks are of any value, they show, my 
 brethren, that in a greater or a less degree we are 
 all guilty of ascribing less than is just to the chosen 
 instrument of the Holy Ghost, the truth of revela- 
 tion ; and if we are conscious of the fault, we are 
 in a good condition to deepen our sense of its folly, 
 by contemplating, in the second place, 
 
 II. The operation of this distrust, in regard to 
 Christian activity. The activity here meant is 
 that which concerns our enemies, and the enemies 
 of the Church, who are more numerous, and more ma- 
 lignant, and more formidable, than all human foes ; 
 and though fellow mortals may be sometimes " God's 
 sword," and are often the devil's hirelings, you will 
 behold, if your eyes are opened, an array yet more 
 fearful, and a battle yet more bloody ; for we wres- 
 tle not as with flesh and blood, but against princes, 
 against powers, and the rulers of the darkness of 
 this world, and against spiritual wickedness in high 
 places. The odds would be fearful were not He that 
 is for us greater than they that are against us. 
 But divine aid in this contest, like all divine aid, is 
 ordered and prescribed. God has provided armour, 
 both on the right hand and on the left ; that is to 
 say, both sword and shield — both offensive and de- 
 fensive. Every piece is named; the inventory is 
 here — helmet, breastplate, girdle, buckler, and shoes ; 
 but all in vain, unless the warrior endue himself with 
 the harness, and utterly ineffectual without the 
 weapon of attach — the sword of the Spirit. This 
 we have found reason to believe has been, with 
 some, rusting in the scabbard ; its heavenly temper 
 
118 DISTRUST OF THE WORD. 
 
 is disallowed ; and of this distrust the effect is mani. 
 fold disability, weakness, fear and defeat. Let us 
 more closely examine these effects. 
 
 1. Distrust of the Word of God, as an instrument, 
 indisposes the soul for spiritual warfare. He who 
 doubts his bow will avoid the conflict. Let me not 
 be misunderstood, as if what I meant was religious 
 controversy, in its common acceptation. Controversy 
 there is indeed ; but not the war of words, or simple 
 battling for opinions. The war which rages under 
 our banners is a war for life or death ; it began when 
 sin entered ; it will end when sin is eternally ex- 
 pelled. In the individual soul, it begins when grace 
 enters ; it ends when glory is made sure. It is the 
 flesh lusting against the Spirit, and the Spirit against 
 the flesh. The new nature, like God its author, is 
 essentially the antagonist of sin, in its principle and 
 its acts. From the soul, that is, from the centre out- 
 wards, it urges an influence of opposition which is 
 penetrating, expulsive, and destroying. It struggles 
 to bring all things to its own likeness, and therefore 
 to annul all that is unlike it ; this is the law of the 
 kingdom of heaven, which is leaven, and salt, and 
 light. While this process goes on in the individual 
 soul, it goes on also in communities. That which 
 the seed of grace does in one, the piety of God's peo- 
 ple does in many in the world at large ; and both 
 in one case and in the other, it is truth which is the 
 instrument. To make it accomplish this, its office, 
 there is need of constant, restless activity. Let this 
 cease in the soul, and sin gains ground ; let it cease 
 in the Church, and Christianity makes no progress 
 — which will account for a number of painful phe- 
 
J. W. ALEXANDER, D. D. 119 
 
 nomena, such as backsliding, the loss of comfort, 
 the decline of revivals, the decay of missionary 
 spirit, the arrest of reformation work, in a word, the 
 ". turning back in the day of battle." But you per- 
 ceive at once, that a cause could scarcely be named 
 more certain to produce this result, than distrust of 
 the truth. Undervalue the power of this means, 
 and you will be indisposed to war ; you will love 
 the shades of carnal peace ; you will have a Chris- 
 tianity which is tamed down to servile acquiescence 
 in all that sin proposes, and all that the world al- 
 lows. Distrust of the armour of truth must needs 
 indispose for the spiritual warfare. 
 
 2. Distrust of the Word of God, as an instrument, 
 makes the soul weak when forced into the struggle. 
 He who doubts his bow will fight feebly. This ap- 
 plies to those who actually contend against sin in 
 some degree ; but they contend at a disadvantage. 
 
 It was not the least of the causes of primitive 
 success, that the apostles and martyrs confided in 
 the Gospel as an instrument of irresistible force. 
 They were not ashamed of it. It had transformed 
 them ; it could transform others. It was the power 
 of God unto salvation, whether wielded against Jew- 
 ish prejudice or Greek philosophy. In their hands 
 it destroyed the wisdom of the wise, and brought to 
 nothing the understanding of the prudent. They 
 spoke in words which the Holy Ghost teacheth. 
 This was their confidence ; this made them strong 
 in the battle — good soldiers of Jesus Christ. They 
 dealt no doubtful blows ; they ran not as uncer- 
 tainly ; they fought not as one that beateth the air. 
 Even Paul, who, in presence among the Corinthians, 
 
120 DISTRUST OF THE WORD. 
 
 could say that he was " base" among them, could 
 also say of his Christian valour, " We do not war 
 after the flesh, casting down imaginations and every 
 high thing that exalteth itself against the know- 
 ledge of God." Nay, such was his estimate of this 
 weapon, that he cries, " I count all things but loss 
 for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ." 
 And, my brethren, if you will turn over all the 
 books of church history, and all your recollections 
 of good men, you will not find an individual, an- 
 cient or modern, in the pulpit or out of it, remarka- 
 ble for great success in promoting religion, who had 
 not, at the same time, a high confidence in the 
 truth of the Gospel to produce this very result. 
 
 How different the spectacle in our day ! There 
 are enemies enough to fight, but we sit still; or 
 when we contend, how feebly is it ! Vice triumphs 
 around us — error stalks abroad ; but our blows are 
 scarcely felt, because we ourselves think them im- 
 potent. The remedy would be for us to acquire 
 such a holy admiration for the Bible, as the instru- 
 ment of invasion and victory, as should lead the 
 feeblest woman, and the youngest Sabbath school 
 teacher, to shout, " The sword of the Lord and of 
 Gideon /" Then should our success be such, that the 
 church would renew the exclamation of Habakkuk, 
 " Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the 
 oaths of the tribes — even thy word!" Hab. iii. 9. 
 How can we shame and intimidate our foe when we 
 doubt our very arms ? 
 
 3. Distrust of the Word of God, as an instrument, 
 tends to maize the soul retreat before its enemies. He 
 who distrusts his bow will flee. 
 
J. W. ALEXANDER, D. D. 121 
 
 Grant that you do not avoid conflict ; grant that 
 you ply your adversary, the devil, with some show- 
 ers of arrows; yet any diffidence, in regard to the 
 instrument you employ, will suggest cessation and 
 flight. To begin a battle is not to conquer. In the 
 evil day you are to stand, to war courageously, 
 "and, having done all, to stand." Cowardice is 
 certain, if you feel no strength ; to doubt your 
 armour is to be unarmed. David went out between 
 two lines of fierce array, holding up his ruddy coun- 
 tenance with elation, though he carried only a 
 shepherd's staff, a sling, and five smooth stones out 
 of the brook ; but he was strong in the Lord, and in 
 the power of his might. " Thou comest to me with 
 a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield ; but I 
 am come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, 
 whom thou hast defied." 
 
 Our grand business is to carry on a warfare which 
 our predecessors began. The world is to be subdued, 
 and every Christian is in the ranks. You know 
 your weapon of attack; you ought to know its 
 power. But if, when assaulted, you have misgiv- 
 ings about this, and if these misgivings continue, 
 you will faint, you will fly. Hence, when error has 
 come into the church, and ministers and people 
 have used the truth, as men use a bow which they 
 expect to break, or a piece of ordnance which they 
 fear will burst, the result has been according to that 
 threatening against Israel : " The Lord shall cause 
 thee to be smitten before thine enemies ; thou shalt 
 go out one way against them, and flee seven ways 
 before them." Deut. xxviii. 25. In every engage- 
 ment, in the heart or in the world, doubt as to the 
 
122 DISTRUSr OF THE WORD. 
 
 efficacy of the means will produce fearfulness and 
 retreat. 
 
 4. Distrust, in regard to God's truth, mill be likely 
 to cause defeat. He who doubts his bow will gene- 
 rally -be conquered. I admit that, in the great con- 
 cern, namely, personal salvation, every regenerate 
 man is safe ; he cannot be defeated ; his redemption 
 is sure; but it is because he is in Christ's hands; 
 because no one can pluck him thence ; because the 
 believer abides in him, John xv. 6, and Christ's 
 words abide in the believer. It is by the truth that 
 even saints persevere ; but even saints may be re- 
 pulsed in those lesser engagements which precede 
 their final conquest. Israel may be chased by the 
 Amorites, and destroyed by them in Seir, Deut. 
 i. 44, though they are eventually to cross Jordan ; 
 they may be smitten before Ai, so that Joshua may 
 say, " Lord, what shall I say when Israel turneth 
 their backs before their enemies?" Josh. vii. S, 
 though they are eventually to possess the land. 
 Private Christians may lose the field, and, for a 
 time, be subject to the world; congregations may 
 lose the savour of divine things, and cease to influ- 
 ence the mass around them ; public enterprises may 
 fail, by reason of declining faith, in such as should 
 support them ; branches of the visible church may 
 fall back before their adversaries, dwindle, and even 
 disappear. All these are temporary conquests by 
 the enemy. Thus Shiloh, once the seat of the ark, 
 became a proverb of desertion. Jer. vii. 12, 14; 
 1 Sam. iv. 11; Psa. lxxviii. GO. Wittenberg, the 
 cradle of the Reformation, is profaned by rational- 
 ism; Geneva, where Calvin taught, is held by bap- 
 
J. W. ALEXANDER, D. D. 123 
 
 tised infidels ; and Cambridge, where the Puritan 
 fathers rejoiced in a divine Saviour, is the citadel 
 of Socinianism. Distrust of the truth, failure to em- 
 ploy it, substitution of something in its place — these 
 are the causes of the dire reverse. And it may be 
 that Protestant America, unless she take a manlier 
 hold on the Scriptures, may become the western 
 ally of the Beast, and shine with the splendid jew- 
 els, and crosses, and mitres of subjugation. In a 
 word, if we would have the blessings of religion we 
 must prize its means; and if we would be victo- 
 rious against sin, Satan, worldly fashion, error, infi- 
 delity, Popery, idolatry, and vice, we must feel that 
 the Bible is an instrument, which, in God's hand, 
 shall bring them all to destruction. It is the la- 
 mentable want of this persuasion which makes us, 
 though armed, to turn back in the day of battle ; 
 and it is the remedy for this disease of the soul, to 
 which I call your attention; it is the third and last 
 head of my discourse. 
 
 III. Before stating the means' of recovery, let us 
 look once again at the evil, and its opposite good. 
 The evil is distrust of God's word ; the opposite good 
 is a high estimate of divine truth as the weapon of 
 our warfare. The question is, How shall this just 
 valuation of the truth be increased in us ? And the 
 answer to this may be comprised in a few simple, 
 but I trust important particulars. 
 
 1. It will be our duty to consider what this wea- 
 pon has already achieved. This was the method 
 taken by the Psalmist in the context. He recounts 
 the victories of Israel. It had been their sin that 
 "they forgat God's works, and his wonders that he 
 
124 DISTRUST OF THE WORD. 
 
 showed them." v. 11. He rehearses these works 
 and wonders — " They believed not in God, and 
 trusted not in his salvation." v. 22. The Psalm- 
 ist goes over the pilgrimage in the desert — " They 
 remembered not his hand, nor the day when he de- 
 livered them from the enemy." v. 42. The sacred 
 poet accumulates the trophies^ of God's host; in 
 like manner, my brethren, let us look back at the 
 conquests of truth. Whatever Christianity has done, 
 has been done by the Word. This is the weapon 
 which, in God's hand, routed the hosts of heathen- 
 ism, razed the ancient temples, struck the oracles 
 dumb, quenched the fire of altars, staunched the 
 flow of human blood, broke the chains of slavery, 
 raised the feebler sex td" membership with Christ, 
 and fortified ten thousand citadels with virtuous 
 bulwarks; and when Christianity had grown cor- 
 rupt, and superstition and idolatry threatened once 
 more to come in like a flood, under a Christian name, 
 the Lord lifted up a standard against them. It was 
 this divine truth which effected the Reformation ; it 
 was this book which, found in the convent at Er- 
 furt, became in the hands of Luther a sword to 
 pierce the vitals of the Beast ; it is this instru- 
 ment which forced a way for our fathers into this 
 western continent, and which their sons are carrying 
 to the uttermost parts of the earth ; it is a consid- 
 eration which may be administered as a cordial to 
 the fainting Ephraimite. 
 
 2. Nor is it in the past only that we find such en- 
 couragement. Consider, I pray you, what this ivea- 
 pon is accomplishing this day. From a thousand 
 high places in Zion, in this Sabbath hour, the bow 
 
J. W. ALEXANDER, D. D. 125 
 
 is drawn at a venture, and the arrows of Messiah 
 are sharp in the hearts of the king's enemies, 
 whereby the people fall under him. God's people 
 are still like Joseph — "the archers have sorely 
 grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him ; but 
 his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his 
 hands are still made strong by the hands of the 
 mighty God of Jacob." Gen. xlix. 24. The Word, 
 read and hear*d, is awakening sinners, comforting 
 sufferers, supporting the weak, confirming the strong, 
 and sanctifying the imperfect. While I speak, it is 
 urging on to victory part of the host, who are this 
 moment struggling on the verge of the river ; and 
 from whose lips I hear the voice of the last battle- 
 cry — " death, where is thy sting? grave, where 
 is thy victory ?" Beloved, let us not distrust our 
 weapons, until they shall cease to do such things as 
 these. 
 
 3. But this is not all; the half has not been told 
 you ; for consider what tliis instrument is yet to achieve. 
 It is the triumphal song of all the prophecies. They 
 so illuminate the future, as that it becomes to the 
 past and present what the noonday is to the morning- 
 watch. Let me reserve for other Sabbaths the fuller 
 recital of what holy seers have told us of that latter 
 glory ; enough for us to-day, that all these glories 
 are the effects of truth. In other words, the triumph 
 of Christianity is the triumph of faith. Our Captain 
 of Salvation is leading us on to a victory, of which 
 the philosophers of this world have not dreamt. He 
 addresses us, in view of the coming onset, as he ad- 
 dressed Joshua thirty-two centuries ago ; he so ad- 
 dresses us, as if he solemnly put our hands upon the 
 
126 DISTRUST OF THE WORD. 
 
 sword and on the bow—" This booh of the law shall 
 not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt medi- 
 tate therein day and night ; for then thou shalt make 
 thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good 
 success ; have not I commanded thee ? Be strong, 
 and of a good courage ; be not afraid, neither be thou 
 dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee, whi- 
 thersoever thou goest." Josh. i. 8, 9. 
 
 We learn, then, to confide in our weapons, by con- 
 sidering what they have done, what they are doing, 
 and what they are yet to do. 
 
 4. Is it not then a plain duty, for the very end 
 proposed, to maize ourselves familiar loith this blessed 
 volume, in a degree which we have never yet known ? 
 Surely the Mohammedan will rise in judgment against 
 us; for he cleaves to his Koran, he studies it, he 
 passes days over it, he commits it to his memory. 
 If our Christianity is destined, as I hope it is, greatly 
 to revive in this age ; if the Lord's battle is to be 
 fought with unexampled vigour, it will not be until 
 we give new attention to the scriptures of truth. 
 Then, when this Bible takes its due place in colleges, 
 in schools, in social circles, in families, in counting 
 rooms, in ships upon the sea ; when it is craved and 
 called for by thousands, as in the days of the reform- 
 ers, we shall behold a reformation of which that from 
 Popery was but the type. Then shall heathen sages, 
 if such remain, exclaim of the Church, as did Balaam 
 concerning Israel, " The Lord his God is with him, and 
 the shout of a king is among them !" Num. xxiii. 21. 
 Then shall heathenism, and rationalism, and com- 
 munism, and Romanism, and all the battalions of 
 errorism, leave the field. " One shall chase a thousand, 
 
J. W. ALEXANDER, D. D. 127 
 
 and two put ten thousand to flight!" Deut. xxxii. 30. 
 What, 0, brethren, is the instrument in these certain 
 changes ? It is truth, before which all that is corrupt 
 shall burn, and all that is stubborn shall be broken. 
 " Is not my word like as a fire, saith the Lord, and 
 like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces V 
 Jer. xxiii. 29. 
 
 5. Once more ; as a remedy for distrust, 'place 
 yourselves in circumstances in which you will have to 
 observe the energy of this weapon. This truth, whether 
 you are aware of it or not, is even now working won- 
 ders. It is healing hard hearts ; it is transforming 
 lions to lambs ; it is pulling down strong holds. To 
 behold all this, be persuaded, Christian professors, to 
 enter the ranks yourselves. Draw forth the bow ; 
 put the arrow upon your string; engage in actual 
 service ; leave the world for a little to whirl without 
 you, and venture out of winter quarters to do some- 
 thing for God. Even if your own army be asleep, 
 steal forth and survey the enemy's camp, as did 
 Gideon and his servant Phurah, and perhaps you 
 will have cause to say with him, " Arise, for the Lord 
 hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian !" 
 Judg. vii. 15. Attain the mastery of your bow by 
 practice, and you Shall no longer turn your backs in 
 the day of battle. 
 
 6. There is one further suggestion, and the series 
 will have an end. Of all means of gaining confi- 
 dence in the truth, none can be compared to this : 
 to become personally experienced in its poicer. It can 
 w r ound, and it can heal. Open your bosom to its ef- 
 ficacy. Ye who have meditated in the word, day 
 and night, have no distrust of its power. It has 
 
128 DISTRUST OF THE WORD. 
 
 made you what you are; it is yet to make you 
 wiser, purer, stronger, and happier. Pray, without 
 ceasing, that God would fulfil in you " all the good 
 pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with 
 power." 2 Thess. i. 11. All the conquests of reli- 
 gion are so many new steps of Christian experi- 
 ence; new exercises or new subjects; and all ex- 
 perience is by faith. Say continually, "Lord increase 
 our faith!" This is the victory that overcometh the 
 world, even our faith. 1 John v. 4. Thus exer- 
 cised, you will rise above all doubt as to the armour 
 and the bow ; believing, you will wonder at your 
 foregoing timidity; and when all the church shall 
 thus deeply feel the energy of the Word, the closing 
 words of this passage shall come true : " Then Je- 
 hovah awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty 
 man that shouteth by reason of wine. And he 
 smote his enemies in their retreat ; he put them tc 
 a perpetual reproach." 
 
CONSISTENCY OF THE DIVINE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 BT 
 
 GEO. JUNKIN, D. D. 
 
 PRESIDENT OF WASHINGTON COLLEGE, VIRGINIA. 
 
 For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all 
 things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of 
 their salvation perfect through sufferings. — Heb. ii. 10. 
 
 Man is a creature of sensation before lie is capa- 
 ble of reasoning and moralizing. His first pains and 
 pleasures are those resulting from the exercise of his 
 merely animal senses. His ear, his eye, his taste, 
 his touch, his smell, first awake his soul to con- 
 sciousness, and let in the light of joy upon the 
 hitherto darkened mind. After these he is compe- 
 tent to reason, and then capable of moral sensibili- 
 ties. What period of time, and what amount of 
 enjoyment, are written out in the records of his 
 conscious felicities, before he experiences the higher 
 happiness of his rational and moral nature, it is im- 
 practicable to determine. They will vary according 
 to the infinitely varying characteristics of the physi- 
 cal organization and of the mental and moral struc- 
 ture. It is obvious, however, that in all cases they are 
 very considerable. Infant humanity reaps a large 
 harvest of harmless joys from the wide fields of na- 
 
 10 ( 129 ) 
 
130 CONSISTENCY OF THE DIVINE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 turc, and habits of reliance upon these, as its chief 
 good, become strongly fixed at an early period. 
 These habits are often encountered in subsequent 
 efforts to develope the higher faculties of the soul. 
 We find it extremely difficult to give a reflective 
 turn to the current of thought ; to lead the mind 
 away from the external to the internal ; to divert 
 the affections from the pleasures of mere sense, to 
 the deeper flow, and more enduring satisfaction, of 
 spiritual contemplations. 
 
 Here lies the philosophy of the general fact, that 
 within the sphere of religion, the externals, the mere 
 outward drapery, dazzles the eye and arrests the at- 
 tention, whilst the inner, spiritual substance, passes 
 unnoticed. Children in years and knowledge see 
 with the eye and hear with the ear, while with the 
 heart they understand not. Let religion put on an 
 outward gorgeous ceremonial ; let her appear ar- 
 rayed in purple and scarlet ; let her head wear the 
 jewelled coronet ; let her majestic service be accom- 
 panied with all the enchantments of choral and in- 
 strumental harmonies, and the undeveloped mind 
 will hail her with exquisite delight ; but let her ap- 
 pear meek and lowly, humble and unadorned, and 
 there is no beauty seen in her ; she is as a root out 
 of a dry ground, despised and rejected of men. 
 
 Thus the Church, in the period of her nonage, was 
 attracted by the splendid and imposing ritual of the 
 Levitical dispensation. The visible symbols, the 
 gorgeous embellishments, the outward solemn pomp 
 and parade, filled the eye and the ear, and capti- 
 vated the imagination of a people not yet grown to 
 maturity in the things of the Spirit. From this 
 
GEO. JUNKIX, D. D. 131 
 
 ■state of necessary pupilage, under tutors and gov- 
 ernors, the Church must, however, pass ; but the 
 transition will, of course, be accompanied with 
 strong emotions and a violent struggle. Like the 
 incipient efforts of the youthful mind to take in an 
 abstract thought, and to reflect upon its own actions, 
 the Israelite turns away with difficulty from the ven- 
 erable and long venerated rites prescribed by Moses, 
 to the unostentatious simplicity of Gospel institu- 
 tions. David's Lord, in becoming David's Son, has 
 laid aside the external appliances and trappings of 
 worldly grandeur ; and, therefore, to the carnal Jew, 
 he is what he seems to be, and consequently is 
 treated with contempt. " Can any good thing come 
 out of Nazareth ?" This is the stumbling stone, this 
 the rock of offence over which the great body of the 
 Israelites fell and were broken. We have Abraham 
 to our father, we had Moses as our leader, and 
 David as our king : the brazen altar, the golden can- 
 dlestick, the gilded tabernacle, the glorious ark of 
 the testimony, the gorgeous temple, the outstretched 
 wings of the golden cherubim, the solemn choirs, 
 and all the majesty of that magnificent service — 
 oh, how shall we abandon this, all this, for Him 
 who was born in a stable, cradled in a manger, 
 crucified at Golgotha ! 
 
 Entrenched behind these prejudices lie the great 
 body of the Hebrew people, Paul's brethren accord- 
 ing to the flesh. Behind these fearful barriers had 
 the apostle himself lain, in all the confident security of 
 individual and national self-righteousness. There- 
 fore did he feel and fear for them ; and, therefore, 
 against these apparently impregnable bulwarks did 
 
132 CONSISTENCY OF THE DIVINE GOVERN MENT. 
 
 he direct the first discharge of his heavenly artil- 
 lery. Well aware that, whilst these prejudices re- 
 mained, no arrow could penetrate the breast, he 
 opens up to them at once the true dignity of the 
 king Messiah, as found in his personal character, 
 not in his external decorations. By presenting the 
 pre-eminent grandeur and glory of the Son of God 
 he aims to remove the offence of the cross. This 
 he does in the first chapter, where he introduces 
 him as Prophet, Creator, and King, and demon- 
 strates, by abundant testimonies of Scripture, his 
 lordship over the universe. 
 
 Now, if the Son holds pre-eminence over all in 
 telligent nature, and if all the angels of God wor- 
 ship him, how much more should we reverence his 
 teachings, and bow to his supreme authority ! And 
 if we should neglect either, how can we escape the 
 fearful consequences ? 
 
 From this practical inference, the apostle passes 
 over to the objection so naturally recurring to the 
 Hebrew mind : If the Messiah stands thus pre-emi- 
 nent above all created intelligence, how came he to 
 the degradation of the manger, the cross, and the 
 tomb ? How is it possible to reconcile such contra- 
 dictory states ? If he be the Son of God, and Lord 
 of the universe, why hangs he on a tree ? If God 
 were his Father, wherefore did he permit the pain- 
 ful, humiliating, and contemptuous treatment of his 
 only begotten and well beloved? Physical evils 
 have their root in moral causes ; cOuld such sorrow 
 and anguish, as he endured, be without a cause ? How 
 can such extremes be brought together without im- 
 peaching the love, the wisdom, and the justice of God ? 
 
GEO. JUNKIN", D. D. 133 
 
 To this the apostle presents the testimony of ac- 
 knowledged Scripture. The eighth Psalm is uni- 
 versally allowed to refer to the Messiah. This the 
 Hebrews maintained, and here is proof that the Son 
 must be, for a little time, lessened in comparison of 
 the angels, in order that he may suffer death for every 
 child of God. The humiliation of Christ is not a 
 bald fact, detached from his moral and legal rela- 
 tions ; not a mere arbitrary freak in the Divine gov- 
 ernment; not an outburst of popular phrenzy out- 
 side of the Divine economy; not a spontaneity, 
 having neither antecedent nor consequent. On the 
 contrary, it is a part of the Divine plan of universal 
 government; which plan embraces eternity and all 
 its contents, minute and magnificent. It is a link 
 in the endless chain of causes and effects, by which 
 Jehovah 
 
 " Hangs creation like a precious gem, 
 Though little, on the footstool of his throne." 
 
 The mystery of the Word made flesh loses its para- 
 doxical character the moment its legal relations are 
 understood. Should it appear that, for an adequate 
 reason, the Lord of glory bowed the heavens, and 
 came down, and veiled his divinity in human flesh ; 
 should ends be answered, by this amazing transac- 
 tion, in the moral government of the universe, meet 
 and worthy of the Governor, then our amazement 
 must cease, all that is paradoxical must pass away, 
 the harmony of the divine attributes be displayed, 
 and God stand justified, in all his acts, before the 
 intelligent universe. And this is our position, " For 
 it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom 
 
134 CONSISTENCY OF THE DIVINE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to 
 make the Captain of their salvation perfect through 
 sufferings." 
 
 An act, or work, is said to become a person, when 
 it is such as people of good taste would generally 
 expect from his known character and condition. It 
 implies suitableness, propriety, and consistency; and 
 pre-supposes a usual order of things. A dress is 
 becoming when its texture, material, colour, and 
 form, are such as is ordinarily found on persons of 
 the same rank, in such circumstances. Gorgeous 
 attire were unbecoming at a funeral ; good works, 
 Paul tells us, are the modest apparel "which be- 
 cometh women professing godliness." 
 
 " For whom are all things," marks the final cause 
 — on account of whom — for the manifestation of 
 whose glory. " By whom are all things ;" this covers 
 the work of creation and government — by whom the 
 universe was made, and by whom it is sustained, di- 
 rected, and controlled. The phrase, " bringing many 
 sons unto glory," has reference to the Captain of 
 Salvation, as the object of the action described in the 
 expression, " to make perfect through sufferings ;" 
 this last means, to complete, to finish up — as on the 
 cross He said, "it is finished" — completed, brought 
 to a close — all the bitter ingredients of the cup are 
 exhausted. 
 
 " Bringing many sons unto glory," is delivering 
 men from degradation, shame, and sin, and conduct- 
 ing them to holiness, and happiness, and heaven. 
 The term " Captain" is descriptive, also, of the work ; 
 it means a leader in the way — one who goes before, 
 and directs, guides, and draws others onward in the 
 
GEO. JUNKIN, D. D. 135 
 
 same way. " These follow the Lamb whithersoever 
 he goeth." 
 
 The doctrine of our text then is, that the great 
 work of mans salvation, by the sufferings of Christ, is 
 consistent with the character of God, as tlie Creator, 
 Governor, and Proprietor of the universe. 
 
 In the discussion of this subject we must con- 
 sider, 
 
 I. The work to be performed — bringing many sons 
 unto glory. 
 
 II. The means of accomplishing this work — the 
 sufferings of Christ. 
 
 III. The consistency of these two combined, with 
 God's character as Creator, Governor, and Proprietor 
 of the universe. 
 
 I. The work — bringing many sons unto glory. 
 
 They are at a distance from glory. All mankind 
 are by nature in a degraded and ruined condition — 
 those who are to be brought unto glory equally with 
 others ; and a rescue from this is implied. 
 
 This degraded state involves condemnation under 
 the law; and of course the first movement towards 
 leading them to heavenly glory, is their deliverance 
 from condemnation. Until such deliverance is ef- 
 fected, they cannot take the first step in the way to 
 glory. How this can be effected we shall see in its 
 proper place. 
 
 But again, the state of heavenly glory is unattain- 
 able except as the reward of holy obedience. Life 
 and eternal joy are positive blessings, and can be 
 conferred only in consequence of positive compliance 
 of the divine law — " if thou wilt have life, keep the 
 commandments." These two pre-requisites regard 
 
13G CONSISTENCY OF THE DIVINE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 the legal relations of those who shall be brought 
 unto glory; other parts of the work regard their 
 moral qualities. 
 
 The spiritually dead man cannot walk in the way 
 of life. These sons must be made alive before they 
 can follow the Captain of their salvation. " Ye must 
 be born again." Renovation to spiritual life must take 
 place. 
 
 No unbelieving and impenitent man can see God's 
 face in peace. " He that believeth not the Son shall 
 not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." 
 " Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." 
 True faith and sincere repentance belong to this 
 work. 
 
 The state of glory is a state of purity ; into it 
 nothing unclean can enter. Be ye holy, for I am 
 holy. Without holiness no man shall see the Lord. 
 These sons must be sanctified before they can enter 
 the gates of glory. 
 
 Heaven is the home of active benevolence. "God 
 is love, and he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in 
 God, and God in him." But the heart of man is 
 naturally at enmity against God ; it is not subject to 
 the law of God, neither indeed can be. This work 
 involves, therefore, the slaying of the enmity, and 
 the shedding abroad, in the heart, of this heavenly 
 love. 
 
 The entire persons of these sons are to be brought 
 unto glory ; not the souls only, but also the bodies. 
 This work, then, includes the resurrection of the bo- 
 dies, and their entire transformation into the like- 
 ness of his glorious body. " Beloved, now are we 
 the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we 
 
GEO. JUNKIN, D. D. 137 
 
 tmall be, but we know that when he shall appear 
 we shall be like him, for we shall see him as 
 he is." 
 
 II. The means of accomplishing this work — the 
 sufferings of the Captain of their salvation. 
 
 When the law has pronounced its sentence there is 
 no evasion ; it must be executed. Justice is an es- 
 sential attribute of God ; his law can pronounce none 
 but a just sentence, and all the holiness of his cha- 
 racter is pledged to its execution. " Though hand 
 join in hand, the wicked shall not go unpunished." 
 If Jesus has pledged himself to bring many sons unto 
 glory, he has therein pledged the removal from them 
 of the sentence of condemnation, which can be ef- 
 fected only by enduring it. "Die, he or justice 
 must." There is no other method of breaking the 
 yoke of bondage, and letting the captives sold under 
 sin go free. That this method is practicable, the 
 Scriptures abundantly testify. In verse 14, it is 
 very explicitly stated, as the object of the incarna- 
 tion, "that through death he might destroy him 
 that had the power of death, that is, the devil ; and 
 deliver them who, through fear of death, were all 
 their lifetime subject to bondage." So in chapter 
 ix. 15 — "That by means of death, they which are 
 called might receive the promise of eternal inherit- 
 ance." " Who his own self bare our sins in his own 
 body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should 
 live unto righteousness ; by whose stripes ye were 
 healed." 1 Peter ii. 24. " All we, like sheep, have 
 gone astray ; we have turned every one to his own 
 way ; and the Lord hath laid on him the inicmity 
 of us all." Isa. liii. G. So throughout the typical sa- 
 
138 CONSISTENCY OF THE DIVINE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 crifices of the old law, this is the leading thought— 
 the death of Christ, our passover, procures exemp- 
 tion to us from death. No language of man, no 
 symbol, no figure of speech, can ever be devised to 
 express this master idea more clearly, fully, or for- 
 cibly. The sons who are to be brought into glory 
 are condemned and ruined; their leader in the way 
 of life must and does place himself under their sen- 
 tence, and meet the p'enal claims of God's justice. 
 For this reason he must become incarnate. " Foras- 
 much as the children are partakers of flesh and 
 blood" (of humanity) "he also himself likewise 
 took part of the same." 
 
 This doctrine is not incidentally taught, not occa- 
 sionally to be met with in the Bible, but it is pre- 
 eminently the doctrine of the book. It is all pervad- 
 ing ; it is the alpha and the omega. Take it out of 
 the Bible, and it is no longer the book of God ; strike 
 it out of the system, and the sun is gone — darkness 
 reigns. Annihilate the law of gravitation, and the 
 material universe is a chaos ; annihilate the doctrine 
 of atonement, and the moral universe is a chaos. 
 " Other foundation can no man lay." 
 
 But we have seen many other items in the work ; 
 many other stones are necessary to the building be- 
 sides the foundation ; therefore, the relative position 
 of this doctrine of atonement has much to do in en- 
 hancing its importance. The foundation stone in an 
 edifice may be rough, unsightly, and buried beneath 
 the earth ; it may have less labour bestowed upon it 
 than others, but in importance it is inferior to none. 
 This, however, may not be owing to its intrinsic pro- 
 perties, but to its relative position. Without it the 
 
GEO. JUXKIN, D. D. 139 
 
 house cannot stand ; all the other stones must fall ; 
 or rather, could not rise into an edifice at all. So 
 the atonement is indispensable as a pre-requisite to 
 all the other doctrines of salvation. But for this, 
 the doctrine of justification through the righteous- 
 ness, that is, the active obedience, of Christ imputed 
 to the sinner, and received by faith alone, must re- 
 main a cold and dead abstraction. No man can be 
 justified by the perfect righteousness of the Son of 
 God, and by consequence receive life eternal, whilst 
 he abides under condemnation, and so in death. He 
 cannot be both condemned and justified, dead and 
 alive, at the same time. Eternal life can be given 
 as the reward of obedience only; the obedience of 
 Christ in our nature. This, and this alone, entitles 
 the believer to life ; but before he can possibly receive 
 and enjoy it, he must be delivered from condemna- 
 tion imposing death. He must be pardoned ; and par- 
 don, that is, the lifting up and removing of his sen- 
 tence of death from him, can be effected only by 
 Christ's suffering under the law for him. When 
 Christ takes away sin by the sacrifice of himself; 
 when he unites the sinner to himself by faith, and 
 applies to him the blood bought pardon, then the 
 merit of his positive righteousness becomes actually 
 available ; the sinner puts on the spotless wedding 
 garment, and stands justified and complete in him. 
 This relative position of the two doctrines of atone- 
 ment, and of justification proper, is referred to by 
 our apostle, in Rom. iii. 24 : "Being justified freely 
 by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ 
 Jesus" — the redemption, the releasing, by paying 
 the proper price. Death is the medium through which 
 
140 CONSISTENCY OF THE DIVINE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 his righteousness becomes actually efficient to out 
 justification. 
 
 Now, as with this, so it is with all other parts of 
 the work under consideration. Still, it will be kept 
 in mind, that these two, atonement by Christ's death, 
 and righteousness by his obedience, regard man's legal 
 relations; the other parts enumerated regard his 
 moral character ; and , yet they stand in the same 
 order of subsequence to the former. Of course, I 
 speak not of order as to time, but as to nature. Could 
 we, however, mark time here, it would most probably 
 be found, that what I have called the natural, and 
 might perhaps more correctly call the logical order, 
 was also the order of actual succession as to time. 
 But as this is only partly practicable, it is not neces- 
 sary to affirm it here. 
 
 Thus regeneration is dependent on the atonement 
 of Christ, because the mission of the Holy Spirit, 
 who alone can change the heart and new create the 
 soul, is dependent upon the Saviour's intercession; 
 and all his power, as our advocate with the Father, 
 springs from the perfection of his work whilst on 
 earth. Had not he finished this work ; had not he 
 been made perfect through sufferings, he could not 
 have risen from the dead, nor ascended to glory, nor 
 appeared as our advocate, nor sent the Spirit into 
 the soul for regeneration and conversion. This chain 
 of relations Peter uses in his pentecostal address, and 
 with it he binds the yoke of Christ upon the necks 
 of three thousand of the former servants of Satan. 
 This same chain the Saviour throws around his 
 hearers at the first sacramental supper, where his 
 longest recorded address was delivered. "It is expe- 
 
GEO. JUNKIN, D. D. 141 
 
 dient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, 
 the Comforter will not come unto you ; but if I de- 
 part, I will send him unto you." John xvi. 7. The 
 entire work of the Holy Ghost, then, in the regene- 
 ration, conversion, faith, repentance, holy living, love, 
 joy, peace, of the sons of God, unto their entire sanc- 
 tification and glorification, is dependent upon the 
 finished atonement of the gracious Mediator. So, 
 also, is the final and grand act of raising them from 
 the dead, and presenting them before the presence of 
 the Father's glory. "If Christ be not risen, then is 
 our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain;" 
 but " if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, 
 even so them also which, sleep in Jesus shall God 
 bring with him." But for the perfection of his suf- 
 ferings, he could not rise from the dead and ascend to 
 his glory, much less lead his many sons thither. How 
 inconceivably important is this finishing operation ! 
 How transcendently glorious are the issues from death ! 
 What hopes cluster around the cross of Calvary! 
 
 These, all these, must pass away, and black de- 
 spair for ever brood upon the human spirit, unless he 
 drink the bitter cup, and cry " it is finished !" 
 
 III. We proceed now to the main topic of our text — 
 The consistency of accomplishing this work by these 
 means, with Jehovalis character as Creator, Governor, 
 and Proprietor of the universe. 
 
 The salvation of lost man is a display of divine 
 love under a peculiar form — that called mercy ; the 
 extension of the highest favours to persons the most 
 undeserving. It is the outgoing of goodness, and, 
 if viewed alone, must command universal admiration, 
 and call forth praise from all, and gratitude un- 
 
142 CONSISTENCY OF THE DIVINE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 bounded from the favoured race. As to its consist- 
 ency with God's benevolent character, there can be 
 no question. If Jehovah were all love, all goodness, 
 all benevolence, we have in this work its counter- 
 part. But he hath not so revealed himself to us, 
 either in his works or in his word. Other attributes 
 belong to his nature. Justice and judgment are the 
 habitation of his throne, whilst mercy and truth gc 
 before him. His providence teaches the same lesson. 
 Evils innumerable are visited upon men in this world, 
 and a dread surmise springs up in the mind, unaided 
 even by a revelation, that the present are not all the 
 evils man may possibly endure at the hand of his 
 offended and insulted Creator. But this idea is no 
 longer vague and undetermined when we open the 
 sacred volume. Here it shines forth with terrible 
 clearness ; all doubt passes away ; God is holy, just, 
 and true ; he will punish crime ; he will vindicate 
 the claims of justice. 
 
 Two views divide mankind on this subject. One 
 theory assumes as its basis, the principle of infinite 
 benevolence : God is good, benevolent, and merciful. 
 This is the controlling attribute of his nature; in- 
 deed, they virtually deny him any other, and say 
 there is no such attribute as justice essential to his 
 nature ; it is a contingency in the Creator. He may 
 exercise justice, or he may omit its exercise ; he may 
 punish crime, or he may omit its punishment. Vin- 
 dictive justice belongs not to God. It is blasphemy, 
 in the opinion of these men, to represent God as 
 angry ; as a vindictive Being, marking sins as they 
 occur, and pouring his wrath sooner or later upon 
 the culprit. This, in their estimation, makes him 
 
GEO. JUNKIN, D. D. 143 
 
 malevolent and revengeful. But such philosophers 
 have closed the Bible, and shut one of reason's eyes. 
 They forget that it is written, " Though hand join in 
 hand, the wicked shall not go unpunished." " The 
 wages of sin is death." " God is angry with the 
 wicked every day." " The Lord will not hold him 
 guiltless who taketh his name in vain." To this class 
 of men, more benevolent than God, he addresses a 
 severe rebuke — " Thou thoughtest that I was alto- 
 gether such an one as thyself; but I will reprove 
 thee, and set them in order before thine eyes. Now 
 consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in 
 pieces, and there be none to deliver." 
 
 They also close the eye of reason, and therefore 
 see not that justice is as necessary an attribute in the 
 government of God as in that of man. As man cannot 
 exist without justice, as society would instantly run 
 into utter chaos and ruin, so is this glorious attribute 
 indispensable in the Divine government; and God has 
 exhausted human language in order to enforce a due 
 apprehension of this idea upon the human under- 
 standing. But still there are multitudes who will 
 not believe it, even upon the innumerable testimonies 
 written in God's holy Word. But their unbelief does 
 not make the testimonies void ; nor shall their un- 
 belief last for ever, for "the Lord trieth the righteous, 
 but the wicked, and him that loveth violence, his 
 soul hateth. Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, 
 fire, and brimstone, and an horrible tempest; this 
 shall be the portion of their cup." Psa.xi. 5, 6. "And 
 these shall go away into everlasting punishment, pre- 
 pared for the devil and his angels." Matt. xxv. 46. 41, 
 God is a just God, and a Saviour, Justice is an at- 
 
144 CONSISTENCY OF THE DIVINE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 tribute essential to his being ; love or goodness is so 
 also ; but mercy, which is the flowing forth of love 
 toward transgressors, is a contingency. It is not 
 necessary to the being of God, that he extend his 
 boundless goodness to any particular class of sinful 
 beings, or to all sinners. But if he in sovereignty do 
 so extend it, his justice must be satisfied; its claims 
 must be met. The question before us is not, whether 
 the salvation of men is consistent with the Divine 
 character ; on this there is no dispute ; but whether 
 the accomplishment of this work, by the sufferings 
 of Christ, be consistent. Does the exposure of the 
 only Beloved to shame, and ignominy, and death, 
 comport with the dignity of the supreme Governor ? 
 Assuming the scriptural facts, that God did send his 
 Son into the world, expressly that he might obey and 
 die under the curse of the law for lost men ; that God 
 did put into the hands of the Captain of Salvation 
 the bitter cup of Divine wrath, and when he cried 
 and prayed that it might pass, if possible, the Father 
 did not remove it ; that it pleased the Lord to bruise 
 him ; to make his soul an offering for sin — this un- 
 deniable scripture doctrine, this suffering of Jesus, 
 by express appointment of God the Father, is this 
 consistent ? Can it be reconciled with his character 
 as Creator, Governor, Proprietor of all things ? The 
 affirmation is Paul's assertion, and the proof now de- 
 mands our attention. 
 
 1. It became him as Creator. The character of 
 the maker is seen in the thing made. As long as 
 men reason from cause to effect ; as long as like 
 causes produce like effects, will they judge of the 
 tree by its fruits. It is on this principle that history 
 
GEO. JUNKIN, D. D. 145 
 
 teaches. From a man's actions we infer his cha- 
 racter. This, too, is the productive principle of all 
 the inductive sciences. We note things as they ap- 
 pear, classify them, and infer the laws of nature 
 from her works. This standard of judgment is safe; 
 and, therefore, it is universally relied on. Our busi- 
 ness, then, is to view the work of salvation in the 
 method here contemplated, and then to inquire 
 whether the attributes, or powers, or qualities dis- 
 played therein, are such as become the Creator, God. 
 And we see, first, the highest manifestation of jus- 
 tice : he would not spare even his own Son. 
 
 Again, truth shines forth in connection with 
 justice, as it is a fulfilment of the Divine declara- 
 tion, that sin should be punished. 
 
 And, again, love is conspicuous : God so loved 
 the world that he gave his only begotten Son to die 
 for the lost. 
 
 Again, mercy to rebels, a modification of love, is 
 pre-eminent. Here we have such an exhibition of 
 Divine perfections as cannot be found in any other 
 work of the Creator. We merely name them now, 
 as in a moment they will come up in another 
 relation. 
 
 2dly. Under the administration of a perfect govern- 
 ment, suffering bespeaks previous wrong-doing. 
 Painful endurance must have its origin in trans- 
 gression of law. No moral being can be made to 
 endure physical calamity, but in consequence of 
 moral evil. This truth is assumed as an element in 
 morals. All men acknowledge it — feel it, as it were, 
 and instantly, upon seeing a person suffer peculiar 
 calamity, begin to seek for its moral cause. " Who 
 11 
 
146 CONSISTENCY OF THE DIVINE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 did sin, this man or his parents ?" " No doubt this 
 man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped 
 the sea, yet vengeance (justice) suffereth not to live." 
 The only error, in reasoning here, is the not keeping 
 in mind the sin of nature ; original sin, as the gene- 
 ral cause of all calamity, and in supposing that God's 
 government, like man's, was always specific, and 
 every particular calamity was a precise infliction for 
 some particular sin. But the general idea is the 
 same, which lies at the foundation of all moral gov- 
 ernment. u The soul that sinneth, it shall die ;" 
 "the wages of sin is death;" "sin shall not go 
 unpunished." 
 
 Sufferings do fall sometimes upon persons who 
 have not themselves, individually, transgressed the 
 law. God, in his providence, does visit the iniqui- 
 ties of fathers upon their children. Did not Israel 
 groan under calamities unutterable, for the sin of 
 David in numbering the tribes ? Is it any thing 
 new for the fearful scourge of war to fall upon a 
 whole people for the sins of their rulers ? Have 
 not thousands of millions of widowed mothers and 
 fatherless children, been crushed under calamities 
 too dreadful to endure, to gratify the pride of kings, 
 and maintain the figment of their blood-stained 
 honour ? 
 
 But all these cases involve the fact of some pre- 
 existent relation ; some connection between the par- 
 ties affected, in consequence of which the calamities 
 were brought about. In many cases we are unable 
 to understand the reasons of the connection, and 
 perceive how the results necessarily follow. But 
 this, by no means, disproves such connection as jus- 
 
GEO. JUNKIN, D. D. 147 
 
 tifies the Divine government. Human ignorance is 
 not an adequate condemnation of Divine justice. It 
 may be right that the children suffer in consequence 
 of the father's crimes, though we may not be able to 
 explain it. Yea, we must admit it, or charge God 
 foolishly, which is to turn atheist. When the 
 Psalmist saw the wicked prospering, he could not 
 reason out the case, and was tempted to deny God's 
 just administration, until he went to the sanctuary, 
 and learned from revelation the doctrine of a future 
 judgment. So must we admit the facts of provi- 
 dence, and fall back upon the revealed explanation, 
 that he does visit the iniquities of the fathers upon 
 the children, of the rulers upon the people. 
 
 Now, whilst we maintain the personal, spotless 
 purity of the divine Redeemer, we must find some 
 way to account for the fact of his sufferings, without 
 charging the universal Governor foolishly. There 
 must be a reason for his laying upon him the iniqui- 
 ties of us all. Such connection between Christ and 
 his people does exist, as renders it right and proper, 
 and every way befitting the attributes of the Divine 
 character, to visit the Captain of Salvation with 
 the perfection of sufferings. All the difficulties of 
 the case vanish before the light of the glorious 
 truth, that God, in eternity, appointed the Son as a 
 covenant head of his people ; a surety who volunta- 
 rily guaranteed their deliverance from death and 
 introduction to eternal glory, by meeting all the 
 requirements of law on their account. The Scrip- 
 tures accordingly assure us, that believers were 
 chosen in him before the foundation of the world ; 
 that he became the surety of a better testament; 
 
148 CONSISTENCY OF THE DIVINE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 that he freely offered himself as the head of his 
 body, the Church. " Lo, I come to do thy will ; 
 God I take delight." Now it is this covenant rela- 
 tionship, voluntarily entered into by the glorious 
 Mediator, which constitutes the just reason why the 
 Father laid on him the sins of a ruined world, and 
 why, in the fullness of time, he endured the unut- 
 terable anguish of the curse for crimes that we had 
 done. These countless heavy woes fell on him, as 
 the necessary and legal consequences of his surety- 
 ship. 
 
 Here we have the principle, and the only princi- 
 ple, by which we can "justify the ways of God to 
 men." This covenant of grace, which no created 
 intellect could have devised, which no human wis- 
 dom could have discovered, which could originate 
 only in the bosom of everlasting love, and find its 
 way to created minds only by supernatural revela- 
 tion — this everlasting covenant, ordered in all 
 things and sure — this alone solves the mystery, and 
 makes known how God can be just, and yet the jus- 
 tifier of the sinner that believes in Jesus. On the 
 cross of Calvary justice and mercy meet together, 
 righteousness and peace, the righteousness of God 
 and the peace of man, embrace each, other. When 
 Jesus said, " It is finished," the sword of God's jus- 
 tice was bathed in heaven ; the command, " Awake, 
 sword, against my Shepherd," was fulfilled, and 
 yet no injustice is done. This blow is no injury to 
 the Shepherd, although he himself had personally 
 done no evil, but always felt and acted out the prin- 
 ciple, " My meat is to do the will of him that sent 
 me, and to finish his work." Still, " it pleased tho 
 
GEO. JUNKIN, D. D. 149 
 
 Lord to bruise him." How can this be ? Because 
 Jesus, " his own self bare our sins in his own body 
 on the tree." Now the position before us is, that 
 this smiting and its effects, under these circumstan- 
 ces, are becoming in God, the universal Governor, for 
 whom, and on whose account, all things were made. 
 
 That its effects are so, is manifest on its face, for 
 the perfection of government consists in promoting 
 the greatest good, and preventing the greatest evil ; 
 that is, in the perfect administration of justice. But 
 this work of saving men secures to them the highest 
 happiness, and for the longest duration, even for 
 ever and ever. 
 
 Nor let it be objected, that he does not save all ; 
 some go away into everlasting punishment, for we 
 have no question as to what he did not do; our 
 question is whether the thing he did be consistent 
 with good and wise government. And this we af- 
 firm with confidence. In saving men by blood no 
 injustice is done to them, nor even to those whom 
 he does not bring unto glory ; they receive nothing at 
 his hand against which they can complain; but, on 
 the contrary, infinite blessings which they personally 
 have not merited. Let it not be objected, again, in 
 reference to this last, that giving what a man is not 
 entitled to is not justice, any more than withholding 
 what he is entitled to. This is true, but it is not in- 
 justice. It is not a matter against which complaint 
 can lie as a wrong thing ; no, not even from a third 
 party, to whom similar benevolence is not extended. 
 " Is thine eye evil, because I am good ? may not I 
 do what I will with mine own ?" is the most rea- 
 sonable reply of the Master to such objection. 
 
150 CONSISTENCY OF THE DIVINE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 Besides, the benevolence displayed in this salvation, 
 does not, properly speaking, spring from govern- 
 mental power, but from sovereign love. Pardon is 
 not an act of governing power, but of sovereignty 
 and benevolence. 
 
 The greatest evils are also prevented. Sons 
 brought unto glory sin no more. Their deliverance 
 from physical is not more perfect than from moral 
 evil, and both are perpetual and eternal. 
 
 So the smiting of the Shepherd, under the circum- 
 stances, is proper; for the Shepherd stands, in the eye 
 of the law, as the head of his body, the church — the 
 sons brought into glory. He became their surety, 
 and, by necessary consequence, their failure devolves 
 upon him the whole legal responsibilities of their 
 guarantee. From these he could not shrink. Jus- 
 tice demanded of him what she had a right to exact 
 from his people. The law rightly held them respon- 
 sible to death, and it rightly exacted death from 
 him ; so, conversely, he having met the rightful re- 
 quisition, having died the death, has a rightful 
 claim for their exemption from death. 
 
 This transaction is equally consistent and becom- 
 ing the universal Proprietor, for whom are all 
 things. 
 
 The final cause of the universe, is the glory of its 
 Creator — " for thy pleasure they are and were cre- 
 ated." " The chief end of man is to glorify God, and to 
 enjoy him for ever." This being undeniable, the ma- 
 nifestation of mercy, heaven's darling attribute, pro- 
 motes this end in a very high degree ; yea, " glory 
 to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will 
 to men." There is no higher attribute of Jehovah 
 
GEO. JUNKIN, D. D. 151 
 
 than his love, none holier than his justice ; there are 
 no two that to created reason seem more at va- 
 riance. Man sins ; the trembling culprit stands self- 
 condemned, heaven-condemned, before his Judge; 
 the arm of Almighty justice is raised; the terrible 
 blow that must smite the wretched sinner down to 
 an everlasting hell is just ready to descend : when 
 lo ! Love, divine love springs forward — " Father Al- 
 mighty, forbear ! On me let the stroke of thy ven- 
 geance fall : smite the Shepherd !" The fiery blade 
 is seized, and its burning point turned in upon the 
 bosom of the innocent victim. Love bleeds — the lan- 
 guid head droops : " It is finished" — the agony is 
 over — the curse exhausted. Mercy rises from the 
 tomb, a lovely form, a new attribute, heretofore un- 
 known in the universe of God. Angelic messengers, 
 now for the first time beholding in its fulness the glory 
 of their God, escort the heaven-generated, but earth- 
 born stranger to the realms of day. The song of sal- 
 vation swells from myriads of golden harps, and all 
 heaven is filled with the echo of the beloved name. 
 
 In conclusion, let us glance at the bearings of this 
 stupendous fact in the Divine government upon the 
 destinies of the moral universe. 
 
 It is the act confirmatory. The nail that fastened 
 Christ to the cross, gave the rivet of unchangeability 
 to government throughout all its departments, human 
 and divine. 
 
 It is confirmatory, in that it exhibits to all the 
 intelligent creation, the highest evidence it has ever 
 had, perhaps the highest it can have, of the immu- 
 tability of Divine justice, and so of the stability 
 of the moral system. The government of God is 
 
152 CONSISTENCY OF THE DIVINE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 not, as man's too often is, one of mere expediency ; 
 it is based on fixed and unalterable principles, and 
 will remain the same for ever. Here and now, if 
 ever, justice must relax. Had it been possible, this 
 cup would have passed from the Saviour's lips with- 
 out his drinking it : for never was such an appeal 
 made by intelligent nature under suffering — " Oh my 
 Father ! if it be possible, let this cup pass from me." 
 It did not pass; thereby giving confirmation, full 
 and perfect, to the unchangeableness of justice. 
 
 We may therefore expect that human govern- 
 ments will be stable, regular, fixed, and efficient, in 
 proportion to the people's knowledge and practice 
 upon the great doctrine of atonement — of salvation 
 by the sufferings of Christ. To this facts corre- 
 spond. In what countries do we find the best govern- 
 ments, the most justice, the freest, and the purest, 
 and the happiest people ? What says history ? What 
 is the testimony of the present ? One voice comes 
 down to us through the long line of ages ; one voice 
 rises up from the world's whole surface — that voice 
 directs us to Calvary. Where the doctrines of Christ 
 and him crucified are most known, there are to be 
 found the freest, and happiest, and best governed 
 nations. " These have washed their robes and made 
 them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore 
 are they before the throne of God, and serve him 
 day and night in his temple." How deep then the 
 debt, and how solemn the obligation, of all free na- 
 tions, to the true evangelical church of God ! How 
 happy the people who wear the yoke of Christ ! 
 
 This confirmation extends to the lost portion of 
 our sinful race, who go away into everlasting fire. 
 
GEO. JUNKIN, D. D. 153 
 
 That justice unchangeable, which upholds the Di- 
 vine throne, falls as a crushing weight upon all who 
 aim at tearing down this throne, and grinds them to 
 powder. They are sealed up in endless death ; but 
 the sufferings of Christ do not produce this. Will 
 the justice, which yielded not even to his strong 
 crying and tears, relax, in order to let go the rebel 
 who, to all the sins of his life and nature, adds the 
 crowning one of unbelief? Shall he escape who 
 tramples under foot the Son of God, and puts him to 
 an open shame, accounting his precious blood an un- 
 holy thing ? Shall not double vengeance fall upon 
 his soul ? He puts away from himself, by a wilful 
 and deliberate resistance, the only salvation which 
 infinite love ever provided; how then can he be 
 saved ? He seals his own condemnation, and justice 
 confirms the deed for ever. 
 
 Still more obvious is the confirmation of God's re- 
 deemed in the joys of eternal salvation. Perish they 
 cannot, for justice immutable has no claim against 
 them, and has proclaimed the fact in raising Jesus 
 from the dead ; and trumpet tongues of thousands 
 of angels have heralded the glad tidings throughout 
 the universe. His blood has washed away the guilt 
 of all their sins, and procured a full pardon. His 
 sufferings procured him admission to his throne of 
 glory in the heavens, sent the Holy Spirit down, 
 created their hearts anew, sanctified their entire soul 
 and body, arrayed them in his own glorious righte- 
 ousness, and filled all their soul with heavenly 
 love. Thus redeemed, regenerated, justified, and 
 sanctified, how can they be kept from glory? — 
 Where is the power to reverse the sentence passed 
 
154 CONSISTENCY OF THE DIVINE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 upon them, and turn them back to perdition ? 
 "Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's 
 elect ? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that con- 
 demneth ? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that 
 is risen again." " Who shall separate us from the 
 love of Christ?" 
 
 To fallen angels, the sufferings of Christ in the 
 room of his people afford fearful evidence of the 
 hopelessness of their case. If God spared not his 
 own Son, if justice could not relax to save him, 
 how shall it abate its demands to save them ? This 
 may account for the deep interest Satan and his de- 
 mons felt in Christ's mission and work; their eager- 
 ness to know whether this Jesus was the Messiah, 
 and whether he could be diverted from his purpose 
 to satisfy justice, by his death; and for all their ma- 
 chinations to thwart his plans for leading his sons to 
 glory. 
 
 Is Jesus a confirming head of moral influences to 
 the holy angels and the entire universe ? By con- 
 firming head is, of course, meant, not that he re- 
 deemed angels, but that his sufferings stood in such 
 relations to the Divine government, and to them 
 under it, as to put an end to their probation, and 
 place them beyond the possibility for ever of falling, 
 as Diabolus and the demons fell. Until the resur- 
 rection of Christ, the conception is, that the holy 
 angels were in a probationary or trial state, liable 
 individually to sin, as Satan did, as Adam did, and 
 perish under God's wrath. But after he had finished 
 his work, and ascended to glory, that state ceased, 
 and the Divine power and protection henceforth 
 secures them for ever, as it does the saints redeemed; 
 
GEO. JTJNKLNT, D. D. 155 
 
 so that they can go no more out, and are subject no 
 more to the dread possibility of sinning, but rest in 
 the ineffable felicity of a full assurance of life 
 eternal. 
 
 To the affirmative of this question my mind 
 strongly preponderates, and for the folllowing rea- 
 sons : 
 
 The language of the text seems to imply it. "It 
 became Him for whom are all things." In this 
 precise relation, as universal Proprietor and Gover- 
 nor, there was a suitableness and propriety in put- 
 ting the cup into his hands. But where is the 
 ground of this propriety, if the other parts of the 
 universe are uninfluenced by it ? How could they 
 be uninterested in the glory of their Governor ? But 
 if they are to be both influenced and interested, it is 
 difficult to see any other way, than that this glorious 
 transaction confirms the Divine government and 
 them in the blessedness of its protection. 
 
 Again, this idea corresponds with the interest felt 
 by the holy angels in the concerns of Christ and his 
 Church. " Are they not all ministering spirits, sent 
 forth to minister unto them who shall be heirs of 
 salvation ?" Do not they watch over the camp of 
 Israel for good, and combat the legions of hell? 
 Did not they herald the advent of their Lord Crea- 
 tor as our Lord Redeemer ? Did they not guard his 
 steps from the manger to the cross ? Did they not 
 cluster in embattled phalanx there, marking with 
 intensest interest the agony in which he died ? Did 
 they not, on wings of light, bear the glad tidings of 
 his resurrection to the regions of immortal day? 
 Did they not now, and for the first time, learn from 
 
156 CONSISTENCY OF THE DIVINE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 the Church below the manifold wisdom of God, and 
 understand those things into which they had long 
 desired to look? Let it, then, be supposed that 
 these heavenly hosts were, till this hour, on proba- 
 tion, and not assured that Satan might not yet pre- 
 vail, and they fall and perish ; but that now confir- 
 mation came, and their destiny is for ever safe. Oh ! 
 what a moment of joy to them ! With what glad 
 emotions they hail the rising of the Sun of Righte- 
 ousness ! The mystery of redemption is unveiled, 
 and the mystery of confirmation thrills through the 
 boundless universe ! 
 
 My third reason for favouring this idea, is found in 
 its own magnificence. It seems to me the brightest 
 ray which shines from this Sun of Righteousness. It 
 enhances the riches of his mercy, and magnifies the 
 glory of his cross. " Our earth's aceldama — this 
 field of blood" — becomes the battle-ground on which 
 is decided the fate of the universe. The groans of 
 Gethsemane, and the agonies of the cross, establish 
 the throne of Jehovah Jesus, and put into his nail- 
 pierced hand the sceptre of dominion over the entire 
 realm of nature, and all the creatures of God wor- 
 ship him. Surely " it became Him, for whom are 
 all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing 
 many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their 
 salvation perfect through sufferings." 
 
EFFICIENCY OF CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLE. 
 
 BY 
 
 THOS. SMYTH, D. D. 
 
 PASTOR OF THE SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, CHARLESTON, S. C. 
 
 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness 
 unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive 
 from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness 
 unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you : for ye are 
 not under the law, but under grace. — Romans vi. 13, 14. 
 
 The first thing which demands our attention, in 
 unfolding the meaning of this passage of the Word 
 of God, (which is so pregnant with meaning that we 
 must pass by any introductory observations,) is the 
 duty which is here laid down as binding upon all 
 men. This duty, to which we are all summoned 
 by the authority of this inspired and divinely com- 
 missioned ambassador from the courts of heaven, 
 is expressed both affirmatively and negatively. We 
 are admonished what that is which we are required 
 to do, and also what that is from which we should 
 abstain. 
 
 It is commanded that we shall not yield our mem- 
 bers as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. 
 The word translated "yield," means to give up to 
 the use and control of another. " Your members, " 
 include not only the organs of the body, but also the 
 powers, faculties, and capacities of the mind, and is 
 
 (157) 
 
158 EFFICIENCY OF CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLE. 
 
 used as a periphrasis for yourselves, that is, the whole 
 man; as composed of a living body and a reasonable 
 soul. These members we are not to yield as instru- 
 ments unto sin. Sin is here personified as a mon- 
 arch, ruler, or guide, and we are forbidden to allow 
 to sin, in any of these capacities, the use or control 
 of our mental or physical powers. When so em- 
 ployed, they are perverted, abused to a purpose con- 
 trary to their original design, and alienated from that 
 service wherein they ought to be employed. If they 
 are so devoted, voluntarily, and by our own choice, 
 we are guilty of robbery, treachery, unfaithfulness, 
 and disobedience, since we are stewards of these 
 heavenly gifts, and responsible for their proper and 
 intended use to the righteous Judge of all. Thus 
 to yield them, therefore, as servants to sin, is a 
 crime of inexcusable turpitude, for which we shall 
 be held justly responsible at the bar of heaven. On 
 the other hand, does sin lay siege to our hearts, and 
 by the open assaults and fiery darts of grievous 
 temptations, or by the secret wiles of more insinu- 
 ating artifices, seek to gain possession of our cita- 
 del, and reduce us to a state of subjection and of 
 vassalage ? then are we to regard him as an usurper 
 and a rebel, as without any right or title to such 
 authority, and as one to whom on no conditions, and 
 under no possible extremity, are we permitted to ren- 
 der our obeisance. Whatsoever may be the seve- 
 rity of his threatenings ; whatsoever the strength 
 and power with which he storms our hearts, and to 
 whatever straits we may be brought by his long pro- 
 tracted warfare, yet at the peril of our soul's salva- 
 tion let us not yield unto him. He that so yields 
 
THOS. SMYTH, D. D. 159 
 
 becomes the servant of sin, the captive of Satan, and 
 the enemy of God. 
 
 It is our duty, therefore, as subjects of the moral 
 government of God; as having been created, pre- 
 served, and redeemed by him, and as being under 
 his absolute control, to "yield ourselves unto God" 
 — that is, to give ourselves up to his service and 
 control. "And yield your members as instruments 
 of righteousness unto God ;" that is, yield yourselves 
 in all your powers and faculties, whether of mind 
 or of body, that they may be employed in God's ser- 
 vice, and to his honour and glory. Now it is here 
 evidently implied, as it is throughout the whole Word 
 of God, that men are at present in such a lapsed and 
 ruined condition as to be alienated from the service 
 and love of God, and enthralled by the love and do- 
 minion of sin. Such is the disposition of mankind 
 universally, that they listen with a ready ear to the 
 voice of the tempter, and are incredulous to the fore- 
 warning of Jehovah. They bow willingly to the 
 yoke of sin and Satan, hard and ignominious though 
 it be, and they openly and blasphemously declare by 
 their practical enunciations, which speak louder than 
 any words, " As for God we will not have him to 
 reign over us. We love the wages of unrighteous- 
 ness, and after sin we will go." 
 
 It is also here as plainly taught us, that however 
 this may be the determination of mankind, and how- 
 ever unanimous they may be in thus casting off the 
 yoke and authority of God — that, nevertheless, the} 
 are still under his government, under untransferrable 
 obligation to obey him, and amenable to that law 
 whose wrath is revealed from heaven, not only 
 
160 EFFICIENCY OF CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLE 
 
 against all unrighteousness, of whatever character and 
 degree, but also against the ungodliness of all men, 
 of whatever name, rank or station. 
 
 It is further and very clearly taught that, how- 
 ever men may be now guilty, and held justly ac- 
 countable for the endurance of that penalty in 
 which, by one man's disobedience, we are all in- 
 volved; however they may have ratified that sin 
 by their own voluntary choice of a course of like 
 disobedience; and however habituated they may have 
 become to the service of iniquity, they are not one 
 whit the less under obligation, or less bound to render 
 unto God a full and perfect obedience. By the very 
 fact that God has permitted them to live, given to 
 them the exercise of a free agency, and presented to 
 them motives for such obedience, they are impera- 
 tively required, by every consideration of justice, to 
 render unto God, and to his service, those powers and 
 faculties with which he has endowed them. These 
 powers are in no sense theirs, and cannot, therefore, 
 without robbery, be withdrawn from the superin- 
 tending care and claims of him by whom they were 
 originally given, and by whom they are constantly 
 sustained. 
 
 God has placed in the breast of every man a will, 
 to which is given authority and power to govern and 
 direct the movements of the inner man. By this 
 the passions, affections, and desires move and exer- 
 cise their being, and without its consenting fiat no 
 rational act can be performed. Now, in the present 
 corrupt state of human nature, this will has been 
 seduced into the service of sin, and withdrawn from 
 all natural allegiance to the dominion of heaven. 
 
THOS. SMYTH, D. D. 1G1 
 
 God, however, does not release from subjection 
 this will, which he alone could either give or main- 
 tain. He, therefore, enters his demand in the con- 
 science of every human being; and, calling heaven 
 and earth to witness, he solemnly forbids that ho- 
 mage which the sinful heart of man renders to the 
 god of this world, on the peril of everlasting death ; 
 while he encourages its devotion to himself and his 
 service by the promise of everlasting life. And it 
 is of God's infinite mercy that any such demand is 
 made to that which is in itself of no account to 
 him, and of which he has been so unworthily de- 
 spoiled. It is because of God's unspeakable mercy 
 we are spared at all, borne with in any patience, or 
 permitted the opportunity of returning to our alle- 
 giance to him. And that we should be invited thus 
 to submit our wills to him, and to devote ourselves 
 to his glorious service, by those motives which are 
 presented in the gospel of his Son, this truly is a 
 mystery of love, whose height, and depth, whose 
 length and breadth, is beyond our comprehension. 
 
 You will observe, too, how the exhortation re- 
 quires not that we should, in this life, be absolutely 
 free from sin as a law or principle within us, which 
 would be impossible. The evil tendency, or law of 
 our members, remains even in regenerated men, and 
 is still read}' to war against their renewed nature. 
 This tendency we are not required, therefore, utterly 
 to destroy, which it were impossible, while in this 
 body of sin and death, that we should ; but volun- 
 tarily to submit to this inward propensity, or to 
 yield ourselves to its suggestions, so as to do its will, 
 
 this is forbidden, and this we may not do. On the 
 12 
 
1G2 EFFICIENCY OF CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLE. 
 
 contrary, to be resolutely determined not to submit 
 to this law of concupiscence or sin, but, contrariwise, 
 to follow out, at every cost, the dictates of the law 
 of holiness ; this is what we are under obligation to 
 perform at once and without delay, with full know- 
 ledge of what is required of us ; with serious con- 
 sideration; with a determinate judgment; with lib- 
 erty of spirit, having disengaged ourselves from all 
 other masters ; with a belief in and acceptance of 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, and of God in him as our 
 only Lord, Sovereign, and Master ; with all humility, 
 joy, and^ gladness ; and with the entire surrender of 
 all that we are and have to his guidance and direc- 
 tion. This is that duty to which we are each called 
 by all that is winning in mercy, and by all that is 
 fearful in that wrath which burnetii even to the 
 lowest hell. 
 
 This duty is ours as fully as if we retained all 
 man's original power and inclination to discharge it. 
 It is plainly and absolutely commanded. And it is 
 by simply believing that in doing what God has 
 thus warranted and required, God will as certainly 
 " work in us both to will and to do ;" it is by thus 
 casting ourselves before his footstool, in the entire 
 surrender of ourselves to him in Christ Jesus, and 
 trusting to Christ's righteousness and meritorious 
 intercession, that every sinner has been, or ever will 
 be, made able and willing to "yield himself unto 
 God, and his members as instruments of righteous- 
 ness unto him." 
 
 But this brings us, in the second place, to the con- 
 sideration of the principle upon which this duty is 
 here made to rest. This, also, is expressed both 
 
TII0S. SMYTH, D. D. 1G3 
 
 negatively and affirmatively. We are exhorted and 
 required to devote ourselves to God, and to with- 
 draw all allegiance from the service of the world, by 
 the assurance that we are "alive from the dead." 
 Herein is contained the principle upon which, as the 
 only true and living root, the apostle would graft 
 the duty of obedience. We are called upon to 
 make this self-dedication unto God, not that we may 
 thereby obtain life, but as those for whom that life 
 has already been obtained ; not that we may merit 
 life, but as those upon whom it has already been 
 most graciously conferred ; not that, by any sacrifice 
 on our part, it may be wrought out, but as those for 
 whom it has been already purchased by the precious 
 blood of Christ. The principle of the apostle is, 
 therefore, diametrically opposite to the principle of 
 legalism in all its forms. It is at direct variance 
 with all the prescriptions by which men, in their 
 arrogant pretensions to wisdom, would secure this 
 heavenly blessing. " Yield yourselves unto God," 
 they would tell us " that, by such a holy devoted- 
 ness, ye may commend yourselves to God, and thus 
 secure the blessings of life and salvation at his 
 hands. Enter, therefore, upon this way of formal 
 and ceremonial purification, since, without holiness, 
 it is impossible that you can ever see God." Such 
 would be the exhortation of those who build their 
 hopes upon a righteousness within them, and not 
 upon a righteousness without and beyond them, and 
 who thus seek to be justified for their own doings, 
 and not for the work and merit of " the Lord our 
 righteousness." 
 
 But how widely different is the prescription of this 
 
1G4 EFFICIENCY OF CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLE. 
 
 divine apostle. He inspirits us to this act of a self- 
 devoting sacrifice, not so much by the prospect of 
 what may in future be gained by it, as by the thought 
 of what has been already achieved on our behalf; 
 not so much by the hope of conciliating the divine 
 clemency, as by the glorious assurance that God has 
 been already reconciled. " As those who are" already 
 " alive from the dead," and to whom there is held 
 forth the promise of an ascension to glory, even to 
 that glory with which Christ has been glorified, are 
 we here urged to " yield ourselves to God." 
 
 There is a peculiar force and expressiveness in this 
 declaration, which plucks up by the very roots all 
 dependence, for the production of holiness, upon the 
 ability or self-righteousness of the creature. " As in 
 Adam all died, so in Christ shall all" the redeemed 
 " be made alive ;" " for as by one man's disobedience 
 many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one 
 shall many be made righteous." By sinning in the first 
 Adam, as our public head and representative, we were 
 all constituted sinners, and are treated by the divine 
 Lawgiver as guilty in his sight, "and so death hath 
 passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Thus 
 were we, and our entire race, under sentence of death, 
 and bound over to the endurance of this dread penalty. 
 And the righteousness of such a sentence we have all 
 attested by the fact, that out of the universal race 
 of man, there has not yet been found "one righteous, 
 no, not one ; all having gone out of the way, each in 
 his own way" of sin and folly. But by becoming 
 united to the second Adam, the Lord from heaven, 
 the head and representative of the whole family of 
 the redeemed, we are constituted righteous through 
 
TIIOS. SMYTH, D. D. 1G5 
 
 the merit of his righteousness, which is imputed to 
 us, and are treated by God accordingly. " There is, 
 therefore," we are assured, " now no condemnation 
 to them that are in Christ Jesus." Death hath no 
 dominion over them. The law has no demands 
 against them. For since death has been endured by 
 their Surety on their behalf, and since the law has 
 been magnified and satisfied for them, they can walk 
 forth in all the freedom of deliverance, and rejoice in 
 " the glorious liberty wherewith Christ hath made 
 them free." 
 
 This, then, is one view of this all powerful mo- 
 tive, by which the apostle urges us to an entire devo- 
 tion to God. Inasmuch as all the claims of that 
 law, which you had broken, have been fully met, and 
 the uttermost of its denounced penalty has been 
 borne ; since He who thus suffered for you still 
 lives to intercede on your behalf; and since this 
 whole plan of salvation was of God's devising, and 
 has been completed unto God's well pleasing; as 
 those, who are thus redeemed from the threatened 
 penalty of death, and who are thus made legally en- 
 titled to the sentence of divine approval, "yield 
 yourselves unto God," "who is now in Christ Jesus 
 reconciling the world unto himself." Instead, there- 
 fore, of urging us to holiness, by the motive of thereby 
 meriting the Divine favour, we are urged to it by the 
 very fact, that thereby we can merit no favour, that 
 propitiation having been already secured by the me- 
 diation of the Son of God; and instead of inviting 
 to the pursuit of holiness, that we may thus open 
 up a way of access unto God, it is by the very plea 
 that such a way has been already made plain and 
 
16G EFFICIENCY OF CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLE. 
 
 obvious, that we are encouraged to approach. It is 
 no longer, therefore, argues the apostle, impossible 
 for you thus to yield yourselves as sinners unto God, 
 seeing that every let and hindrance has been removed * 
 that an "atonement" has been made, and that God is 
 now "just, and yet the justifier of the ungodly." The 
 doctrine of salvation is thus adapted by the God of 
 nature to the mightiest principle of nature — " for we 
 are saved by hope." We are begotten by the Gospel 
 to the blessed hope of an immortal life. We are cer- 
 tified that the battle has been fought and the victory 
 won, and that now there is announced to us, through 
 Him who was mighty to save, that Gospel which 
 bringeth good tidings of great joy, even "peace on 
 earth, and good will to men." 
 
 But, while in this argument of the apostle, there 
 is an appeal made to the principle of hope, the most 
 potent affection of our nature, this argument is also 
 addressed to the principle of gratitude, which is per- 
 haps one of the most pure, pleasant, and disinter- 
 ested of those affections by which the heart of man 
 is actuated. " Yield yourselves unto God as those 
 that are dead." By the very fact, that you who 
 were dead; dead in law, dead by the utterance 
 against you of heaven's righteous sentence of ever- 
 lasting death ; dead to all hope of any possible de- 
 liverance; by the thought that you "are now alive;" 
 and by the infinite mercy of God in Christ delivered 
 from that condition of despairing wretchedness — 
 "yield yourselves unto God." Withhold not that 
 soul from God, which had been brought under the 
 sentence of eternal death by its apostacy from him, 
 and which has now been re-purchased from the hands 
 
TIIOS. SMYTH, D. D. 167 
 
 of eternal justice ; "not with corruptible things, such 
 as silver and gold," but by the endurance, in our 
 stead, by God's only begotten Son, of all this deserved 
 misery. 
 
 Sin is here, as I said, likened to some cruel and 
 despotic monarch, who, after he has seduced poor 
 and deluded souls into his service, by the pleasures 
 which he affords them for a season, then gluts his 
 bloody and ferocious spirit, by putting them to fierce 
 and endless torments. " The wages of sin is death." 
 We are now in the position of those who, by the 
 interposition of another, have been rescued from the 
 grasp of this destroyer ; and we are, therefore, called 
 upon to yield ourselves henceforth unto His service, 
 by whom we have been redeemed, and by whom 
 alone we can be preserved, and not again to yield 
 ourselves to one from whose determined vengeance 
 we were so mercifully and so wonderfully preserved. 
 Let us take the recorded instance of that princely 
 father, whose own son was found to be the first vio- 
 lator of a law, the penalty of whose infraction was 
 the loss of both eyes. In the yearnings of paternal 
 love, and yet as governed by the mastering principle 
 of sovereign equity, he desires to maintain justice, 
 and yet exercise compassion. The prince, therefore^ 
 humbles himself, though innocent of the crime, to a 
 substituted endurance of one half of the denounced 
 penalty, and was deprived, on behalf of his guilty 
 son, of one of his own eyes. Now, were that son 
 again actuated with a desire, whose indulgence would 
 incur the vengeance of the law, how ought he to be 
 dissuaded from such a suicidal act, by the affecting 
 remembrance, that he was now freed from the full 
 
16 S EFFICIENCY OF CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLE. 
 
 endurance of that penalty, which he had in part 
 suffered, through the satisfaction rendered to the law 
 by the suffering and loss of another? And how would 
 his heart be made to relent, by the recollection that 
 he who did so interpose on his behalf, was no other 
 than his own offended father ? 
 
 Now just such, though immeasurably stronger, 
 is the appeal here made to us. We were condemned, 
 not to the loss of our eyes merely, but to the loss of 
 life itself; not to the loss of our bodily life merely, 
 but to the loss of our spiritual and eternal life also, 
 involving, as this necessarily does, the misery of 
 eternal death. We "were dead in trespasses and 
 sins," and "already condemned." And we may 
 imagine, that having actually endured the bitter 
 curse of death, we are again alive, through the mi- 
 raculous and all merciful agency of the divine Re- 
 deemer. As those, therefore, who have been thus 
 restored to life ; as those whose death is not again 
 required to meet the claims of a violated law ; as 
 those for whose deliverance salvation has been 
 wrought out by none other than the very power 
 against which we had so grievously offended ; we 
 are persuaded not again to bring ourselves into bon- 
 dage to sin and Satan, but to throw ourselves upon 
 the mercy of Him " who hath loved us, and given 
 himself for us," and who was made a curse for us, 
 being put to death in the flesh, that we, through his 
 death, might have everlasting life. 
 
 Nor is this all that is contained within the com- 
 pass of this heavenly principle. It makes its appeal 
 not only to hope, which is the strongest, and to 
 gratitude, which is the loveliest principle of our 
 
TIIOS. SMYTH, D. D. 1G9 
 
 nature, but also to the assured certainty of success, 
 which must leave us inexcusable for our disobe- 
 dience. "As those who are alive from the dead." 
 Not merely does this teach us, that by the merito- 
 rious sacrifice and atoning death of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ are we alive legally, the sentence of the law 
 having been endured by another. Not merely does 
 it teach us that, being thus alive, we are bound 
 gratefully to live unto Him who thus died for us, 
 and by whom, also, we may be completely redeemed ; 
 but it teaches us, also, that if we will only believe 
 on this Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, as thus able, 
 and willing, and mighty to save us, yea, "even to 
 the uttermost," and though we be the u very chief 
 of sinners," there is in him an omnific virtue by 
 which we shall as certainly be made alive spiritu- 
 ally. We shall be made " alive unto God" as we 
 have hitherto been alive only to sin. We shall be 
 so wrought upon by the power of that Spirit, whose 
 divine agency Christ has secured for us, by virtue 
 of the everlasting covenant, that we shall become, 
 as it were, " new creatures in Christ Jesus," Ci being 
 born again" by a new and celestial birth. If any 
 man will thus cast himself, in a believing acceptance 
 of him, upon Christ Jesus, "he is a new creature," 
 for " though he were dead he shall be made alive," 
 even for evermore. Christ Jesus is thus our head, not 
 only legally, but also vitally. He is the source, not 
 only of justification from the guilt of sin, but of 
 sanctification also from the power of sin. He has 
 not only wrought out a work of grace for us, he 
 also accomplishes a work of grace ■within us. He 
 opens the heart. He sends into it his quickening 
 
170 EFFICIENCY OF CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLE. 
 
 spirit. He imparts to the soul spiritual energy and 
 life. 
 
 He, therefore, in whom we are to believe, has 
 power also to enable and dispose our hearts to 
 believe upon him. He, to whom we are to yield 
 ourselves, is able also to make us willing for such a 
 consecration ; and he, to whose service we are to be 
 given, is also ready to fit and prepare us for all its 
 requisitions, and to " give us power to become the 
 sons of God." 
 
 Are you, then, now disabled by sin, and far gone 
 from original righteousness ? Christ, who raised up 
 the dead by his mighty power, is also able to 
 quicken your souls, and to make them alive unto 
 God. Are you under the dominion of sin, and 
 bound down hand and foot by its iron fetters? 
 Only yield yourselves to Christ, and those chains 
 shall burst asunder, and fall from around you as did 
 the cerements of the grave from around the reno- 
 *vated Lazarus, or as did the fetters from the freed 
 limbs of the imprisoned apostles. He who speaks 
 the word gives the power. He who commands alsc 
 inspires. He who bids the dead come forth, breathes 
 into him the breath of life, and empowers him to 
 walk forth in newness of life. He who requires you 
 to yield yourselves unto him, is able also to assure 
 you of your success, for " sin shall not have do- 
 minion over us." 
 
 And are you under a debt of obligation to God's 
 holy and righteous law, which you are incompetent 
 to satisfy, and exposed to its vengeance, which you 
 dare not confront? Nay, but my fellow-sinner, 
 "you are not under the law, but under grace." 
 
THOS. SMYTH, D. D. 171 
 
 Yours is a dispensation of mercy, and not of justice. 
 Yours is the offer of a free purchase and gratuitous 
 pardon ; and the law itself rejoices, since " mercy 
 and truth have in Christ Jesus met together, 
 righteousness and peace have embraced each other." 
 
 Neither is yours " the spirit of bondage, that you 
 should again fear," but the spirit of freedom and of 
 love, that you should draw near in confidence, and 
 even boldness. The law, as your creditor, has no 
 demand; for, in the obedience of Christ, the debt 
 has been more than liquidated. 
 
 If, then, there is any power in hope to inspire and 
 animate the human breast; if there is any thing in 
 gratitude to call forth its tenderest sensibilities ; if 
 there is aught in the assurance of success to inspirit 
 to noble daring ; if these motives are powerful, and 
 the objects to which they lead invaluable, then 
 surely there is in this argument of the apostle the 
 law of evangelical holiness, and all the strength of 
 divine principle. And hence may you perceive the 
 ignorance and fatuity of vain and conceited men, 
 who charge the doctrine of a free, unlimited, and 
 gratuitous mere}'', with the consequences of licen- 
 tiousness in practice, and weakness in motive, or 
 who fear to proclaim to men, in all its fullness, " the 
 glorious gospel of the blessed God." The spirit of 
 the Christian is free and not constrained. It is sponta- 
 neous, and not forced. It is filial, and not slavish. 
 It is cordial, and not formal. It is liberty, and not 
 law. It is love, and not fear. 
 
 The condemnation wherewith the finally impeni- 
 tent sinner shall be everlastingly condemned will be, 
 not that he could not discover the knowledge of the 
 
172 EFFICIENCY OF CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLE. 
 
 Most High, but that he would not come to the light, 
 lest his deeds should be reproved ; not that he would 
 not come unto God by his own power, which he 
 could not do, but that he would not come unto God 
 by Christ, who is " the way, the truth, and the life j" 
 not that he did not make himself whole when he 
 was diseased, or alive when he was dead, or righte- 
 ous when he was sinful, or holy when he was pol- 
 luted, but that he would not come unto that blessed 
 Saviour, who, as a physician, is able to restore him ; 
 who, as almighty to save, can even quicken souls 
 which are spiritually dead, and who of God is made 
 unto every one that believeth wisdom, and righte- 
 ousness, and sanctification, and complete redemp- 
 tion. 
 
 Just, then, as inexcusable is the obstinate and self- 
 destroyed sinner, as is the man who, when sick, re- 
 fuses to send for a physician, or to receive his medi- 
 cine when offered. Yes, just as everlastingly self- 
 condemned will you be, my impenitent reader, who 
 now in this, the day of thy merciful visitation, put- 
 teth away from thee the things that belong to thy 
 peace. Only continue in thy present course, and 
 soon it will be said of thee, " but now they are for 
 ever hidden from thine eyes, for thou hast destroyed 
 thyself." " Because thou sayest I am rich, and in- 
 creased with goods, and have need of nothing ; and 
 knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, 
 and poor, and blind, and naked : I counsel thee to 
 buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be 
 rich ; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, 
 and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear ; 
 und anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou 
 
TIIOS. SMYTH, D. D. 173 
 
 mayest see." "Behold, I stand at the door, and 
 knock : if any man hear my voice, and open the 
 door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, 
 and he with me. To him that overcome th will I 
 grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also 
 overcame, and am set down with my Father in his 
 throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what 
 the Spirit saith unto the churches." 
 
THE GOOD MAN. 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN M'DOWELL, D. D. 
 
 PASTOR OF THE SPRING GARDEN PRESBYTERIAN CriURCH, PHILADITtrniA. 
 
 " He was a good man." — Acts xi. 24, first clause. 
 
 This was said of Barnabas. He was a Levite, of the 
 country of Cyprus. - Some suppose he was one of the 
 seventy disciples, whom our Lord sent out to preach 
 the Gospel ; but of this we have no certain evidence. 
 He introduced Paul to the apostles and disciples at 
 Jerusalem, and assured them of his conversion. He 
 was afterwards, for several years, the companion of 
 Paul in his travels, and his fellow labourer in the 
 gospel ministry; and he was with him, as a dele- 
 gate from the Syrian churches to the famous Coun- 
 cil at Jerusalem. There was finally a dissension 
 between him and Paul, about taking Mark Avith 
 them on a missionary tour, and they separated, and 
 Barnabas went to Cyprus, and we hear no more of 
 him. 
 
 At the time, in the history of Barnabas, when 
 the testimony in the text was given of him, he was 
 at Antioch, in Syria, whither he had been sent by 
 the church of Jerusalem, on hearing of a special 
 work of grace in that city. When Barnabas came 
 
 (174) 
 
JOHN M'DOWELL, D. D. 175 
 
 to Antioch, " and had seen the grace of God, he was 
 glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of 
 heart they would cleave unto the Lord." Our text 
 is given as a reason why he was glad at the pros- 
 perity of the religion he witnessed, and why he ex- 
 horted the new converts as he did ; "for he was a 
 good man." The term good here expresses the 
 whole religious character of the real Christian. In 
 this sense the term will be understood in the ensuing 
 discourse, the object of which will be 
 
 To give the character of the good man, or real 
 Christian, and 
 
 1. The good man has had his heart changed. No 
 person, however amiable in the sight of men his 
 natural temper may be, has naturally a heart that 
 is good in the sight of God, or in the sense in which 
 the word is applied to men in the Scriptures. In 
 his natural state every person is "dead in tres- 
 passes and sins." Eph. ii. 1. He " receiveth not the 
 things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness 
 unto him ; neither can he know them." 1 Cor. ii. 14. 
 He is carnal, for " that which is born of the flesh is 
 flesh," or carnal. John iii. 6. And " the carnal 
 mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to 
 the law of God, neither indeed can be." Rom. viii. 7. 
 Such, according to the "Word of God, is the native 
 character of all men, and such was once the cha- 
 racter of every one who is now a good man. 
 
 But, by the special operations of the Holy Spirit, 
 the naturally corrupt heart of him who is now a 
 good man has been changed. He has been "re- 
 newed in knowledge, after the image of Him that 
 created him." Col. iii. 10. And " after God," or 
 
176 THE GOOD MAN". 
 
 after his image, he has been " created in righteous- 
 ness and true holiness." Eph. iv. 24. He has had 
 imparted to him, by the Holy Spirit, a temper of 
 conformity to the image and will of God. This 
 change every good man or true Christian has ex- 
 perienced; for we read, "Except a man be born 
 again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Except 
 a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot 
 enter into the kingdom of God. Marvel not that I 
 said unto thee, Ye must be born again." John iii. 
 3, 5, 7. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new 
 creature ; old things have passed away ; behold, all 
 things are become new." 2 Cor. v. 17. The time 
 and manner of this change may be different in dif- 
 ferent persons, and in some it may be more marked 
 than in others ; but the change itself every good 
 man, without exception, has experienced; and in 
 vain do any lay claim to the character of a good 
 man if they are strangers to regeneration. 
 
 2. The good man has come to Christ by faith, and 
 has placed his reliance for pardon and acceptance 
 with God solely on his merits. With Paul, " know- 
 ing that a man is not justified by the works of the 
 law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, he has believed 
 in Jesus Christ, that he might be justified by the 
 faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law." 
 Gal. ii. 16. Sensible of his sinfulness, guilt, and de- 
 served condemnation, and that he has no righteous- 
 ness of his own to merit forgiveness and acceptance 
 with God, and approving of the way of salvation 
 through Christ, he has renounced his own righte- 
 ousness, and cordially accepted Christ as the Lord 
 his righteousness ; and on his merits alone he relies 
 
JOHN m'dowell, d. d. 177 
 
 for justification. Christ is the good man's all in the 
 article of justification. 
 
 He is his all, too, in the article of sanctification. 
 He feels that he is, of himself, unable to subdue his 
 corruptions, and do his duty, and lead a life of holi- 
 ness before God, and that Christ alone is the be- 
 liever's life. He therefore relies on him, by his 
 Spirit, to mortify sin within him; to impart, pre- 
 serve, and quicken grace; to strengthen him to 
 resist temptations, and do his duty; and to keep 
 him, through faith, unto final salvation. He is 
 sensible that without Christ he " can do nothing," 
 and therefore he relies on him for every thing. 
 
 3. The good man is a true penitent for sin. He 
 has been convinced of sin, and felt himself to be a 
 sinner; he has been convinced of the odious and 
 evil nature of sin, and of his desert of the wrath of 
 God for his sins, and that God would be just in pun- 
 ishing him ; he has sorrowed on account of his sins, 
 been self-abased before God, and, with contrition of 
 heart, made confession to him ; and he has, with 
 hatred of sin, turned from it unto God. This is 
 repentance unto life, and every good man has exer- 
 cised it ; for our Saviour declared, " Except ye re- 
 pent, ye shall all likewise perish." Luke xiii. 3. 
 And the good man not only repented, when he 
 first became pious, but he still repents. He is sen- 
 sible that sin still cleaves to him, and dwells in him, 
 and that his best services are marked with imper- 
 fection and sin. Sin is still odious and evil in his 
 sight; he still feels that he deserves the wrath of 
 God for his sins ; he still mourns that he ever sinned 
 against God, and still sins, and comes short of his 
 
 13 
 
178 THE GOOD MAX. 
 
 clutv : and he still confesses his sins to God, and 
 hates them more and more. 
 
 4. The good man is, in general, correct in the 
 articles of Ms faith. It is an incorrect and danger- 
 ous sentiment, that it is a matter of indifference 
 what a man helieves if his life be good, for the Word 
 of God requires us to believe the truth he has re- 
 vealed, as well as do what he has commanded ; and 
 the doctrines of the gospel have such an intimate 
 influence on the temper and practice, that it is very 
 doubtful whether a man's life ever be really good, 
 when his faith, in regard to the great doctrines of 
 religion, is wrong. There are some doctrines which 
 are fundamental in the Christian system ! The 
 belief of such doctrines is essential to the character 
 of the good man. These doctrines are such as the 
 following : the depravity and ruined state of man ; 
 salvation only through Christ ; that he is a divine 
 person, God equal with the Father ; that he made 
 atonement for sin, which is the only just foundation 
 of a sinner's reconciliation with God ; justification 
 only by faith in him ; regeneration and sanctifica- 
 tion by the Holy Spirit ; also a divine person, and 
 the necessity of holiness of heart and life. These 
 doctrines good men of all denominations believe, 
 though they may differ on some points of less im- 
 portance. 
 
 The good man, whatever name he may bear, takes 
 the Scriptures implicitly as the rule of his faith. He 
 does not set up his reason, or inclination, above the 
 Word of God ; he desires to know what the truth of 
 God is, and as far as he knows, he believes what 
 God has revealed ; though he may not be able fully 
 
JOHN m'dowell, d. d. 170 
 
 to explain or comprehend it, and though it may be 
 contrary to his preconceived opinions, and humbling 
 to his pride. 
 
 5. The good man leads a holy life. If the heart 
 be good, the outward conduct will also be good. " A 
 good man, out of the good treasury of the heart, 
 bringeth forth good things." Matt. xii. 35. The good 
 man faithfully endeavours to keep a conscience void 
 of offence towards God and man ; " he does justly, 
 loves mercy, and walks humbly with God." Mic. vi. 8. 
 And, " denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, he 
 lives soberly, righteously, and godly in this present 
 world." Titus ii. 12. He takes the Word of God im- 
 plicitly as his rule of conduct ; he reads and searches 
 it, that he may know the will of his heavenly mas- 
 ter ; and he follows its directions, however self-de- 
 nying and unfashionable they may be; whatever 
 sacrifices they may require him to make, and to 
 whatever opposition and trials they may expose him. 
 He does not part with some sins while he retains 
 others, but renounces all sin. Though a sin may have 
 been to him as dear as a right hand, he cuts it off; 
 or a right eye, he plucks it out. He does not desire 
 to reconcile the service of God with that of Mammon, 
 and endeavour to serve both ; but the Lord is his only 
 master. He gives him an undivided heart, and he 
 makes every pursuit, even that of the world, subser- 
 vient to his service. He faithfully endeavours to 
 know his duty, and when he knows it, to perform 
 it, whether it be to God, his fellow men, or himself. 
 
 In the performance of the duties which he owes 
 more immediately to God, he engages habitually, and 
 with delight in his worship. He reads and searches 
 
180 THE GOOD MAN. 
 
 the Scriptures; he meditates upon them; "his delight 
 is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he 
 meditate day and night." Psa. i. 2. With David he 
 can say, " I have loved the habitation of thy house, 
 and the place where thine honour dwelleth." Psa. 
 xxvi. 8. And he is statedly seen at the house of 
 God, in the seasons of public worship. He is not 
 willingly a half day worshipper on the Sabbath. 
 The tabernacles of the Lord are amiable to him ; and 
 when he is necessarily kept from the house of God, 
 he feels it to be a privation and affliction. He loves 
 to meet with the people of God, for his worship, on 
 other days beside the Sabbath ; and when other du- 
 ties will permit, he embraces the opportunity. He 
 delights to renew his covenant with God at his table, 
 and obey the command of his Saviour, "Do this in 
 remembrance of me." He is not ashamed to own 
 before the world, that he is a disciple of Christ ; on 
 the contrary, he glories in it. He loves the Sabbath ; it 
 is to him the best day in all the seven. He is not seen 
 travelling on this sacred day, or riding, or walking 
 for pleasure, or engaging in secular business, or spend- 
 ing its hours in idleness. The Sabbath is not a 
 weariness to him, but he esteems it a "delight, the 
 holy of the Lord, and honourable," and he remem- 
 bers it to keep it holy. 
 
 He lives a life of prayer; and he prays, not merely 
 because he feels it to be a duty, to which he is driven 
 by conscience, but because he loves to pray. His 
 affections are engaged in prayer, and he presents to 
 his Heavenly Father the sincere and earnest desires 
 of his heart ; and when in prayer his affections are 
 languid, and he does not meet his God, he is dis- 
 
JOHN m'dowell, d. d. 181 
 
 satisfied with himself, and mourns. He is daily in 
 his closet engaged in secret prayer, at least morning 
 and evening. Is he the head of a family ? He is 
 the priest in his own house ; and there, with his col- 
 lected family, he daily offers the . morning and the 
 evening sacrifice. Instead of allowing prayer to give 
 way to worldly business, when they seem to inter- 
 fere, he makes worldly business yield to prayer. It 
 is with him a settled rule, that whatever is neglected, 
 prayer must not be, in its stated seasons. Follow 
 the good man to his daily occupations, and could you 
 witness what passes in his heart, you would find his 
 thoughts frequently going out after God, and fixing 
 on divine things, and devout ejaculations ascending 
 to heaven. In short, the good man engages with 
 delight in all the ordinances of divine worship. 
 
 In the performance of the duties he owes his 
 fellow men, the good man is equally faithful. In 
 his conduct towards them he follows the rule laid 
 down by his divine Master : " All things whatsoever 
 ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so 
 to them." Matt. vii. 12. He is strictly honest and 
 just in all his dealings ; and if he has any thing 
 that belongs to another, when he discovers it he 
 restores it, or makes restitution. 
 
 And he not only does justly, but he also loves 
 and practices mercy. He has pity on the poor. 
 According to the Word of God, " a good man showeth 
 favour, and lendeth; he hath dispersed, he hath 
 given to the poor." Psa. cxii. 5, 9. He feels also for 
 the spiritual necessities and miseries of others, at 
 home and abroad, and is ready, by his prayers, 
 labours, and contributions, to do them spiritual 
 
182 THE GOOD MAN. 
 
 good. He is a kind and obliging neighbour; he 
 sympathizes with the distressed ; he rejoices in the 
 prosperity of others, and grieves at their adversity ; 
 " he rejoices with them that do rejoice, and weeps 
 with them that weep." Rom. xii. 15. 
 
 He is tender of the good name of others; he is 
 no slanderer nor tale-bearer; he "rejoiceth not in 
 iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth ;" he bridles his 
 tongue, and suffers it not to be used to the injury of 
 others. When variances arise, between him and 
 others, he readily becomes reconciled, and forgives 
 them who have injured him. According to apos- 
 tolic injunctions, " Laying aside all malice, and 
 all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil 
 speakings," 1 Pet. ii. 1, he " puts on, as the elect of 
 God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, 
 humbleness of mind, meekness, long suffering, for- 
 bearing, and forgiving one another." Col. iii. 12, 13. 
 The peace of God rules in his heart, and he even 
 loves his enemies with a love of benevolence, desir- 
 ing their good, and disposed to assist them when 
 distressed or in need. According to the command 
 of his divine Master, he " blesses them that curse 
 him, does good to them that hate him, and prays for 
 them which despitefully use and persecute him." 
 Matt. v. 44. 
 
 He faithfully performs the duties of his stations 
 and relations in life. Is he a magistrate, high or 
 low ? he discharges his official duties in the fear of 
 God, and with impartiality according to law and 
 justice. Is he a private citizen ? he respects the laws 
 of his country, and is subject to every ordinance of 
 man which does not interfere with the rights of con- 
 
JOHN M'DOWELL, D. D. 183 
 
 science for conscience sake. He "renders to all 
 their dues, tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to 
 whom custom, fear to whom fear, honour to whom 
 honour." Rom. xiii. 7. Is he a husband ? he loves 
 his wife, and is not bitter against her. Col. iii. 19. 
 Is the Christian a wife ? she reverences her husband, 
 Eph. v. 33, and submits herself unto him as is fit in 
 the Lord. Col. iii. 18. Is the good man a parent? he 
 loves his children, and trains them up in the way 
 they should go. Is he a child ? he honours and 
 obeys his parents in the Lord. Is he a pastor ? he 
 loves the souls of his people, and watches for them 
 as one who must give account, and labours diligently 
 for their spiritual good. And is the good man one 
 of the flock ? he esteems his pastor " very highly in 
 love for his work's sake." 
 
 With respect to himself, the good man denies 
 himself sinful gratifications. He is sober, temperate, 
 and chaste. He " keeps under his body, and brings 
 it into subjection ;" he " mortifies his members, 
 which are upon the earth," and he " crucifies the 
 flesh, with the affections and lusts;" he stands 
 aloof from the fashionable vices of the world. You 
 will not find the good man at the gaming table, in 
 the ball room, or at the theatre. The Word of God 
 directs him, " Whatsoever ye do, in word or deed, 
 do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks 
 to God and the Father by him." Col. iii. 17. And, 
 under the influence of this and similar instructions, 
 he stands aloof from these places and amusements. 
 He is " not conformed to this world, but transformed 
 by the renewing of his mind ;" he comes out from 
 the people of the world, and is separate ; he con- 
 
184 THE GOOD MAN. 
 
 fesses himself a stranger and pilgrim, on the earth, 
 and that he desires a better country, even a heavenly. 
 His conversation is in heaven, and his affections 
 are there, set on things above, where Christ sitteth 
 at the right hand of God. Such are the temper and 
 conduct of the good man, as described in the Word 
 of God. 
 
 It is true he is not a perfect man ; for in many 
 things he offends, and comes short of his duty, and 
 his best services are imperfect. But this grieves 
 him, and causes him to complain with the apostle 
 Paul, " The good that I would I do not ; but the 
 evil which I would not, that I do. I find a law that 
 when I would do good, evil is present with me. I 
 see another law in my members, warring against the 
 law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to 
 the law of sin, which is in my members. wretched 
 man that I am ! who shall deliver me from the body 
 of this death." Rom. vii. 19, &c. The good man is 
 not satisfied, as some professors appear to be, with 
 just so much religion as they think will gain them 
 admission into heaven. He delights in the service 
 of God, and he desires greater conformity to him, 
 more zeal in his service, to glorify him more, and to 
 enjoy more intimate communion with him. And he 
 cannot rest satisfied with present attainments as 
 long as he comes short of perfection in holiness, 
 which will be as long as he continues in the body. 
 He, therefore, with Paul, "forgetting those things 
 which are behind, and reaching forth unto those 
 things which are before, presses toward the mark 
 for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ 
 Jesus." Phil. iii. 13, 14. 
 
 J 
 
JOHN MCDOWELL, D. D. 185 
 
 Such is the character of the good man, as drawn 
 by the unerring pen of inspiration. 
 
 Who of us possess this character ? Each one ought 
 to ask himself, is this my character ? Are any ready 
 to say, the description is too highly wrought ? my 
 character will not stand the test ? In reply, I ask, 
 is the description more highly wrought than the 
 Word of God authorizes and requires ? In most of 
 the description, the language, and in a considerable 
 part of it, the very words of Scripture have been 
 used ; and by the Scriptures we must be tried, and 
 if our character does not correspond to the character 
 of the good man as there drawn, in vain do we hope 
 that we are the people of God. 
 
 Some who profess religion will probably, in view 
 of this discourse, say, either the description which 
 has been given of the good man is not correct, or we 
 have deceived ourselves. It would not be strange 
 if the latter part of this alternative were true, with 
 respect to some professors ; for, doubtless, many pro- 
 fess religion who are strangers to its reality. Our 
 Lord said, " Strait is the gate and narrow is the way 
 which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find 
 it." Matt. vii. 14. He called his flock, to whom it 
 is the " Father's good pleasure to give the kingdom," 
 a " little flock." Luke xii. 32. And he declared that 
 in the day of account, many will say to him, "Lord, 
 Lord," claiming a relation to him as his people — to 
 whom he will say, " I never knew you ; depart from 
 me, ye that work iniquity." Matt. vii. 23. 
 
 The Scriptures are complete and fixed. Nothing 
 can be added to them or taken from them. Many 
 desire, and endeavour to persuade themselves, that 
 
180 THE GOOD MAN. 
 
 they are less strict than they appear to be, in their 
 obvious meaning; or, at least, that their strict letter 
 related only to primitive times — but this is a great 
 and dangerous mistake. The way to heaven is the 
 same now that it was in the time of the Scripture 
 saints ; and if we ever get to heaven, we must tread 
 in the steps of those ancient worthies, who, through 
 faith and patience, inherited the promises. We must 
 come up to the scriptural standard of true piety, in 
 its plain and obvious meaning. The Scriptures can- 
 not be changed or relaxed, to come down to our de- 
 sires or practice, as to the way to heaven. Let us 
 make sure work in the great business of our salva- 
 tion. The interests of our immortal souls are at 
 stake, and to make a mistake in regard to such 
 interests, would be inexpressibly dreadful. 
 
 The Word of God declares, that " the righteous 
 are scarcely," or with difficulty, " saved" — and if this 
 be so, " where," as the sacred writer adds, " shall the 
 ungodly and the sinner appear ?" If the good man 
 alone can enter heaven — and it is so difficult, as we 
 have seen, to be really a good man ; and if many 
 who profess to have this character, and manifest 
 something of it, are deceived, and will fail at last — 
 where shall those ajmear who have no pretensions 
 to scriptural piety, manifest nothing of it, and care 
 for none of these things ? That they are in the way 
 to perdition is as clear as a sunbeam. Let such be 
 alarmed at their state, and while they are yet pri- 
 soners of hope be induced, without delay, to flee from 
 the wrath to come ; and to flee by faith to Christ, 
 the only Saviour, and enter into the narrow way of 
 life, in which the good man walks. 
 
JOHN MCDOWELL, D. D. 
 
 187 
 
 And let all who entertain a hope that they possess 
 true religion, and are in the way to heaven, carefully 
 and frequently examine themselves, and bring their 
 character to the test of God's unerring word. And 
 while they examine themselves, let them offer the 
 prayer of the Psalmist, "Let me not be ashamed of 
 my hope. Lord, search me, and try me, and see if 
 there be any evil way in me, and lead me in the 
 way everlasting." Amen. 
 
THE HOUSE OF GOD. 
 
 BY 
 
 W. A. SCOTT, D. D. 
 
 PASTOR OF THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, NEW ORLEANS, LA* 
 
 One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after ; that I may 
 dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the 
 beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. — Psalm xxvii. 4. 
 
 The sentiment of the royal Psalmist in this verse, 
 is one of devoted attachment to the service of God. 
 Many are the passages of holy Scripture that ex- 
 press the great delight which the pious have found 
 in the ordinances of the sanctuary. Those who 
 have long been accustomed to the blessings of Chris- 
 tian worship, and those who, like Gallio, care for none 
 of these things, may not readily appreciate the value 
 of the Christian Church, neither in a temporal nor 
 spiritual point of view. Because the kingdom of God 
 cometh not with observation, they see it not at all. 
 Because its heavenly influences are noiseless as the 
 dew, men acknowledge them not, although every 
 day enjoying them. It is our purpose to consider 
 some of the advantages which the House of God 
 
 CONFERS UPON SOCIETY. • 
 
 (188) 
 
w. a. scott, d. d. 180 
 
 The House of God is the forerunner, ally, and 
 supporter of the best forms of civilization. 
 
 Civilization, whatever it is, in modern times owes 
 its best estate to Christianity.* It is true that some 
 ancient nations, as the Phoenicians, Egyptians, Greeks, 
 Etrurians and Romans, attained to considerable emi- 
 nence in refinement, in elegance of manners, and to 
 honourable distinction in arts and arms without the 
 Gospel. But it is also true that historians are agreed 
 — first, that much of their knowledge, their philoso- 
 phy, and of course their refinement, was handed 
 down to them from their ancestors, that is, by tradi- 
 tion from the sons of Noah ; from whom are de- 
 scended the whole human race, and who were doubt- 
 less instructed in the religion of the Bible by their 
 pious father. This opinion is supported by the an- 
 alogy that is to be found in their respective systems 
 of worship, of astronomy and of mythology, and by 
 their own united testimony down to Aristotle — that 
 cdl hnoidedge teas derived from tradition. Hence, 
 to become learned in ancient times, it was necessary 
 to travel, not only because there were then no printed 
 books, and but few MSS, and literary institutions 
 were scarce, but chiefly that the traditions of all 
 lands might be picked up. Their knowledge, and 
 even their philosophy, was to be found in the songs 
 of the Rhapsoclists and the proverbs of their wise 
 men. But, secondly, historians are agreed that even 
 
 *" I lenow that the civilization of the aye is derived from Chris- 
 tianity, that the institutions of this country are instinct with the 
 same spirit, and that it pervades the laws of the State, as it does 
 the manners, and, I trust, the hearts of the people." — Gov. Ham- 
 mond, of South Carolina, in his letter of the Ath Nov. 1844, to 
 the Israelites of Charleston. 
 
100 THE IICUSE OF GOD. 
 
 Phoenicia; Egypt and Greece, as also Persia and Rome, 
 were not civilized without religion. Lord Wood- 
 houselee expressly declares that Greece could not be 
 civilized until the religion of the Titans was incor- 
 porated with that of the Aborigines.* It was no1 
 until the Pelasgi and the other tribes of Greece were 
 taught to be religious, that laws were established 
 among them. And thirdly, I ask any candid man 
 whether the highest refinement ever known in Greece 
 or Rome, even with all the light that glimmered upon 
 them by tradition from the temple of the true God 
 at Jerusalem, can be compared with that of the Gos- 
 pel. I have not the time, nor is it necessary, for it 
 has often been done by able hands, to draw a con- 
 trast between the morals of the purest systems of 
 heathen ethics and the precepts of Christianity. But 
 I leave it to the honesty and intelligence of any well 
 read community to say whether Socrates is to be 
 compared with Jesus Christ. Nay, Rousseau, Jef- 
 ferson, and Paine himself, have already acknow- 
 ledged that Christianity, in the sublimity of its doc- 
 trines, and the purity of its precepts, is immeasur- 
 ably superior to any thing known to heathen philos- 
 ophy. In a barbarous or savage state, passion pre- 
 dominates over reason, and lust over conscience. 
 The animal is gratified at the expense of the intel- 
 lectual nature of man. But when this order is re- 
 versed, when men are governed by an enlightened 
 
 * " It is universally allowed that from the period of those 
 strangers settling among them, the Greeks assumed a new cha- 
 racter, and exhibited in some respects the manners of a civilized 
 nation. The dawnings of a national religion began to appear, for 
 the Titans were a religious people." — Tytler's Universal History ; 
 vol. i. 600/1; i. chap. vi. p. 52. 
 
W. A. SCOTT, D. D. 191 
 
 conscience, then civilization in its best form exists. 
 But no such a state as this is found without the Gos- 
 pel. The missionaries sent to Greenland laboured ten 
 years -without success, in attempting to civilize its in- 
 habitants without the Gospel. Then they exhibited, 
 with all the eloquence of fervid feeling, the doctrine 
 of a Saviour crucified, with an effect that more than 
 realized their most sanguine expectations. The at- 
 tention of the people was arrested, they received the 
 faith that purifies the heart, and works by love ; and 
 this laid the foundation for civilization. Schools 
 among our own Indians have always failed, except 
 when they have been established under the influ- 
 ence of the Gospel. 
 
 It is the testimony of travellers and of missiona- 
 ries to foreign lands, that savages cannot be civilized 
 by systems of mere education. It is true religion, 
 and true religion only, that changes the heart ; and. 
 until the heart is changed, there can be no real ele- 
 vation of character, for out of the heart are the 
 issues of life ; and, until it is changed by the grace 
 of God, it is the hole of every foul spirit, and the 
 cage of every unclean and hateful bird. How can 
 sweetness of manners mark the intercourse of so- 
 ciety so long as ferocious passion is permitted to 
 rage and brutify the human mind, and put out the 
 light of truth, and hush the voice of conscience ? 
 Why has not infidelity supported missionaries in 
 heathen lands ? Why have infidels not civilized 
 some island of the sea, or some spot of the globe ? 
 Why, if the Gospel is not necessary as the fore- 
 runner and ally of civilization ? Let them point to 
 a single spot of earth in Europe, Asia, Africa, or 
 
192 THE HOUSE OF GOD. 
 
 America, or to a single island of sea or ocean that 
 infidelity has civilized, refined, and blest. Let them 
 point to a single family, neighbourhood, town or in- 
 dividual that has been made better, that has been 
 educated, that has been made more useful and 
 happy by infidelity. The infidels of England and 
 the United States waited until Christian missionaries 
 had partially civilized India, and then they sent 
 thither their own books. The cross first civilized 
 the poor Hindoo — taught him to read — then the 
 infidel goes and endeavours to turn his reading to 
 wormwood. Christianity opens the fountain of 
 knowledge, then infidelity attempts to turn it all to 
 poison. The only w r ay to civilize and to refine, and 
 to give permanent elevation to any community, is to 
 give it the Gospel. Erect the pulpit, and around it 
 schools and benevolent institutions will spring up, 
 as the thousand lesser stars follow the evening star. 
 The accompaniments of the sanctuary are the 
 living ministry, the preached gospel, the Sabbath, 
 the ordinances of religion, and the blessings of edu- 
 cation. Schools, acadamies, and colleges owe their 
 very existence to the House of God. Ministers of 
 religion are entrusted with the keys of the kingdom 
 of knowledge, not to exercise despotism over the 
 minds of men, but to impart truth for their re- 
 demption from ignorance and vice. As a class, the 
 clergy have ever been the first great leaders in the 
 work of education. Harvard University owes its 
 foundation to the dying munificence of an humble 
 minister of the Gospel, who landed on the shores of 
 America, but to lay his bones in its dust.* The 
 
 * Everett's Orations. 
 
W. A. SCOTT, D. D. 193 
 
 great reform in our prisons, which has accomplished 
 wonders of philanthropy and mercy, and made the 
 penitentiaries of America the model of the penal 
 institutions of the world, had its origin in the visit 
 of a minister of the Gospel, with his Bible in his 
 hand, to the convict's cell. The missionary enter- 
 prise, the glory of our age, is an offspring of the 
 house of God. From the sanctuary the champions 
 of truth have gone forth to the heathen, conquering 
 and to conquer, beneath 
 
 " The great ensign of the Messiah 
 Aloft by angels borne, their sign 
 In heaven." 
 
 A large portion of the literary institutions of the 
 world are under the influence of the clergy. This 
 is not strange. They are in fact, and by profession, 
 the friends of knowledge and of intellectual im- 
 provement. Their religion is a system of light. In 
 it is no darkness at all. It is their daily office to 
 pour the light of mind and of the glorious Gospel 
 upon the chaos of human intellect. Upon them, 
 therefore, chiefly rests the responsibility of directing 
 the education of youth. As a class, they create and 
 circulate a larger portion of our literature than any 
 other profession.* In judging of the literary excel- 
 
 * No disparagement of the other learned professions is intended 
 here. There are learned and good men in all professions and in 
 all denominations. There are literary men, and friends of general 
 education, who are not even pious men. But, as a class of men, 
 clergymen are the educators of our country. In nine cases out 
 of ten, those that are eminent as teachers and as friends of educa- 
 tion, who are not in the ministry, are the sons or the pupils of 
 clergymen. It is too rarely the case that men qualified to be the 
 14 
 
194 TIIE HOUSE OF GOD. 
 
 lence of the performances of clergymen, it ought to 
 be remembered that they appear before the public 
 much oftener, and with less time to prepare their 
 discourses, than any other class of public speakers. 
 Who but clergymen come before an intelligent audi- 
 ence two or three times a week, from year to year, 
 with original discourses ? and that, too, usually 
 without any change of circumstances, without any 
 relief from the arduous duties of pastoral charges, 
 and without the rivalry of the bar, or the excite- 
 ment of the halls of legislation. No one perform- 
 ance of any clergyman should be regarded as a test 
 of his abilities, or of his literary attainments. It is 
 a curious, but a truly philosophical fact, that the 
 more a clergyman feeds his people with knowledge, 
 the more they require of him. Sometimes, indeed, 
 the people are like Pharaoh's task masters ; they re- 
 quire the full tale of brides, without furnishing straw. 
 They require him to make great intellectual efforts 
 every Sabbath, without allowing him either books to 
 read, or time to study. After all due allowance is 
 made for prosing sermons and quackery in the pul- 
 pit, the clergy as a profession, are men of mind, of 
 intelligence, and learning. The ablest constitutional 
 lawyer of America has recently pronounced their 
 eulogy in the celebrated Girard case, and professor 
 Vethak has given them and the learned professions 
 their proper place in the productive capital of the 
 nation. Their lips keep knowledge ; works of cha- 
 
 instructors of youth, are willing to make the sacrifices required 
 of the successful teacher. Learned men of the secular professions 
 generally prefer the pleasures of literature, or the pursuits of 
 wealth or ambition. 
 
W. A. SCOTT, D. D. 195 
 
 rity are their robes of state ; mind is their empire ; 
 the pen is their sceptre; eternal truth is their throne. 
 
 The Gospel is not only the forerunner and ally 
 of civilization, but its chief supporter. 
 
 Without the House of God, we shall go back to 
 the skins, and acorns, and idols of our ancestors. 
 Some two thousand years ago our forefathers were 
 painted savages, wandering on the shores of the Ger- 
 man ocean, drinking their beer out of human skulls, 
 and worshipping Wodin and Thor. And what 
 makes the Anglo Saxon of the nineteenth century 
 to differ from the ancient Briton ? The same that 
 makes Christian nations differ from Heathen nations 
 — that makes Tahiti with the Gospel, to differ from 
 Tahiti wiihxmt the Gospel. Christianity poured its 
 light into the minds of Alfred and Charlemagne, and 
 thence the civilization of Europe. The Bible has 
 incorporated itself into the laws, languages, institu- 
 tions, and philosophy of Christendom. Arts and 
 sciences, jurisprudence, commerce, and national po- 
 litics, owe their present advanced state to the Bible. 
 Hume has ascribed the civil liberty of England to 
 the Puritans. Mcintosh says that the doctrine of 
 Justification by Faith, the preaching of which by 
 Luther produced the great reformation from Popery, 
 lies at the foundation of all civil and religious lib- 
 erty.* So emphatically is man's existence and hap- 
 piness summed up in his religion, that the history 
 of the religions of various nations is the history of 
 their manners, literature, government and philoso- 
 
 * History of England, Henry VIII. ch. ix. " A principle which 
 is the basis of all pure ethics, the cement of the eternal alliance 
 between morality and religion," &c. p. 218. 
 
196 THE HOUSE OF GOD. 
 
 phy. The philosophy of literature and of history is 
 nothing more — can be nothing less — than the philo- 
 sophy of the various systems of religious worship that 
 have quickened and formed, or degraded and fettered 
 the inhabitants of the world. 
 
 Without the House of God — without the Sabbath 
 and a regular living ministry of the Word of God, we 
 shall go back to heathenism. We cannot stand still. 
 Motion is the law of our nature. The amount of 
 knowledge does not seem at any time to be greatly 
 augmented. It changes places, and passes from one 
 generation to another, but does not seem to be 
 greatly increased. Its progress is rather that of a 
 door on hinges, backwards and forwards, now in the 
 East, now in the West, and anon to the East. Ter- 
 ritories once republican are now sunk into the most 
 degraded despotism. Territories once traversed by 
 the feet of the blessed Saviour and his Apostles, have 
 run back to heathenism, and why ? Because their 
 Candlesticks, in the language of Holy Writ, their 
 Churches, have been removed out of their places. 
 When the sanctuary declines, all that pertains to the 
 ennobling of man declines. Pull down all our houses 
 of worship, and let the church going bell utter no 
 more hints of salvation through the Cross, and there 
 will follow a train of litigations, and bankruptcies, 
 and imprisonments, and frauds, and divorces, and 
 murders, that no human power can control. A pal- 
 pable darkness will come over the land, and gross 
 darkness fall upon the people. Refinement will be- 
 come sensuality — low and vulgar vices, clownishness 
 of manners, coarseness of attire, and depravity of 
 mind and morals, will complete the history. Sepa- 
 
W. A. SCOTT, D. D. 197 
 
 rate civilization from the Gospel, and it will degen- 
 erate into heathenism. Separate institutions of 
 learning and benevolence from the higher institutions 
 of religion, and they will perish, sure as the frosts 
 of autumn strip the forests of their foliage. Reli- 
 gion, science, and benevolence, are inseparably con- 
 nected with the sanctuary. 
 
 II. The House of God increases the value of 
 all useful PROPERTY. This may be a novel propo- 
 sition, but it does not follow that it is either fanciful 
 or incapable of proof. It is a proposition sustained 
 by the preceding, thus : civilization is necessary to 
 give property its greatest value : the Gospel is the 
 forerunner, pre-requisite, ally, and supporter of civil- 
 ization : ergo, &c. The proposition is not only ca- 
 pable of demonstration, but is sustained by numerous 
 facts. Time allows, however, of reference to but a 
 few. Men are so prone to think of religion not at 
 all, or to think of it as a mere abstraction, a thing 
 altogether spiritual, and as having to do altogether 
 with the next world, that they forget its influence 
 upon the present. They remember not the words 
 of an Apostle who has told us that godliness with 
 contentment is great gain, having the promise of the 
 life that now is, and of that which is to come. Men, 
 too, are so apt to regard what they give to the sup- 
 port of religious institutions, as either thrown away 
 or bestowed in charity, that they do not seem to con- 
 sider for a moment that for the value of their pro- 
 perty they are greatly indebted to the Bible. This, 
 however, is a proposition so clearly established by 
 facts, that the dullest apprehension must admit it 
 when it is properly considered. Let any one ao- 
 
108 THE HOUSE OF GOD. 
 
 quainted with the history of the Jews reflect, and 
 see if property was not worth more when David and 
 Solomon reigned in Jerusalem, than during the reign 
 of the unprincipled Ahab. The reason is obvious 
 enough. In the reign of David and Solomon, reli- 
 gious institutions were honoured, and moral influ- 
 ence restrained the depravity of men, so that their 
 rights, persons, and property w r ere held sacred. — 
 While in the reign of Ahab, a false religion was sub- 
 stituted for the true, and thus moral restraint was 
 generally removed from the public mind. The vine- 
 yard of Naboth was not worth half so much under 
 Ahab, as when Solomon was on the throne of Israel. 
 Ahab was a wicked, avaricious, and cruel prince ; 
 under his administration every thing was in confu- 
 sion, uncertainty, and peril. Solomon feared God, 
 and his reign was just, and good, and prosperous. 
 What was the value of Lot's house in Sodom, though 
 it was, perhaps, built of the most costly materials, 
 decorated with all the art, and furnished with all the 
 elegancies of his age, yet subject to the invasion of 
 a most depraved and licentious community, com- 
 pared with the humble tent of Abraham under the 
 oak in the plains of Mamre. Lot's neighbours were 
 not under the influence of religion. Abraham's peo- 
 ple were. A sense of insecurity depreciates the value 
 of property. Thus in the time of war, when our 
 coasts are ravaged, our cities plundered, our houses 
 burned, and our fields laid waste, real estate falls far 
 below its intrinsic value. During the invasion of 
 Louisiana in 1814-15, land and houses were worth 
 scarcely a tithe of what they were after the treaty 
 of peace. In France, during the Reign of Terror, 
 
W. A. SCOTT, D. D. 109 
 
 property sunk far below its ordinary value. And 
 why was this ? Because during the reign of terror, 
 there was no security afforded by the government to 
 life and property. And there was no security to life 
 and property, because all religious institutions had 
 been annihilated, and infidelity, cruel and licentious, 
 had been set up in their stead, and as a necessary 
 consequence, religious restraints were taken from 
 the minds of the people. Men fearing not God, re- 
 garded not their fellow men. Not being devout to- 
 wards God, they were not just and merciful towards 
 their neighbours, nor did the public mind become 
 settled, and property and life secure, till the re-estab- 
 lishment of the forms of religion, and of law. Let a 
 false religion be substituted among us for the true, 
 let rampant and licentious infidelity prevail, let all 
 the hallowed influences of the sanctuary be with- 
 drawn from off the public mind, and how much 
 would your houses and lands decline in value ! Take 
 away all the restraints of our religious institutions, 
 and what stability would remain ? Who would be 
 willing to risk his life and property in a community 
 void of all moral restraints? 
 
 It is said that the intrinsic value of the soil 
 of Turkey is greater than that of America; and 
 yet the poorest acre of these United States is worth 
 more than five of the richest land in Turkey. And 
 why ? because here you are protected in your rights 
 by a vigorous conscience in the bod} T politic ; while 
 in Turkey, you are constantly exposed to lawless 
 rapacity, your property liable to be confiscated at 
 any moment, and you yourself to perish by the hand 
 of violence. Remove the House of God and its in- 
 
200 THE HOUSE OF GOD. 
 
 stitutions from the United States, and we shall be* 
 come as ferocious as the Turk. It is admitted that 
 the Mahommedan faith has destroyed the agricul- 
 ture of Persia ; and Chardin thinks that if the Turks 
 were to inhabit that country, it would soon be more 
 impoverished than it is. Persia was once renowned 
 for its fertility ; but even the temporal prosperity 
 
 OF A NATION DEPENDS UPON THE PRINCIPLES OF ITS RE- 
 LIGION.* 
 
 It is a remarkable fact, that no where, except where 
 Christianity prevails, do we find those partnerships 
 in trade and commerce, so indispensable to give pro- 
 perty its greatest value. Travellers and missionaries 
 inform us, that in pagan countries there are no asso- 
 ciations for commerce and trade, for exchange, for 
 banking, and for benevolent purposes. To use the 
 language of another: "Why cannot heathens, as 
 well as Christians, combine their wealth, so as to 
 give it greater value, by giving it greater power of ac- 
 cumulation ? It is because their religion, or rather the 
 want of true religion, forbids the exercise of mutual 
 confidence, creating universal distrust, and making 
 every man an iceberg to his neighbour. Hence the rea- 
 son why their resources are crippled, and the public 
 mind is stagnant, But let the Christian Pulpit be 
 planted there, and the truth, as it is in Jesus, pervade 
 the hearts and minds of the people, and the now dead 
 mass would at once exhibit signs of life, and put on 
 such an aspect of enterprise and prosperity as Heath- 
 enism never saw, and can never produce." So true is 
 this connection, that a distinguished instructor was ac- 
 customed to say to his pupils, " Give me the religion 
 * Ancient History, Vol. III. p. 32. 
 
W. A. SCOTT, D. D. 201 
 
 of a country, and I will tell you all the rest ;" — the 
 kind of religion chiefly determines the language, litera- 
 ture and characteristics of the people — whether they 
 are torpid or active — ignorant or enlightened — bond 
 or free. An instance is cited in a discourse by the Rev. 
 Mr. Clarke, of Stockbridge, Mass., which will illus- 
 trate the point in hand. I give it in his own words : 
 " In one of the towns in a neighbouring county, the 
 people voluntarily deprived themselves of a preached 
 Gospel for several years, till the difference between 
 them and the adjoining towns, in want of thrift and 
 prosperity, became proverbial, and till they them- 
 selves were convinced, that, in forsaking the Pulpit, 
 they had forsaken their own mercies. At length, 
 they repaired their weather-beaten and almost ruined 
 church, and settled a devoted minister of the Gos- 
 pel, with an effect so marked on the enterprise of 
 the people, that one of their most intelligent men 
 remarked, but a few weeks since, that their farms 
 had increased fifty per cent, in value, and that an 
 entirely new aspect had been put on the dwellings, 
 as well as on the spirit of the people."* 
 
 The proposition is, that the House of God increas- 
 es THE VALUE OF USEFUL PROPERTY. The proof is tllUS : 
 
 First, security of life and property is necessary to give 
 property its highest value : moral restraints are ne- 
 cessary to give security to life and property : and 
 moral restraints are produced and maintained only 
 by the Gospel. And, secondly, it is in Christendom 
 alone that trade and commerce are carried on with 
 the enterprise of combined wealth and mutual confi- 
 dence. Almost the only government known among 
 
 * Clarke, in National Preacher. 
 
202 THE HOUSE OF GOD. 
 
 men without the Gospel is tyranny. The ability of 
 heathen statesmen consists in knowing how to de- 
 ceive others by hypocrisy, fraud, perfidy, and per- 
 jury. Where the House of God is not, there is no 
 bond of union between man and man. True hon- 
 our, humanity, justice and commercial enterprise are 
 promoted by the principles of the Bible. The Eng- 
 lish government supports missions partly for the 
 sake of extending her commerce. Even the vicinity 
 of houses of Christian worship, in several well known 
 instances in some of our largest cities, has greatly en- 
 hanced the value of property — first, because of the 
 convenience of being near the House of the Lord, 
 and secondly, because a church-going people are good 
 tenants, and thirdly, because the influence of the 
 House of God changes the character of the popula- 
 tion in its neighbourhood. Corrupt, licentious, pro- 
 fane, Sabbath-breaking communities have become, 
 through the preaching of the Gospel, decent, sober, 
 intelligent, industrious, pious and well-to-do in the 
 world. 
 
 III. The House of God is not so expensive as 
 the synagogues of SataN. This is a plain proposi- 
 tion, and like the two preceding, it addresses itself 
 to men's temporal interests. It is simply this : — 
 That vice costs more than virtue. It costs more to 
 support a drunkard than a sober man ; more to sus- 
 tain the licentious than the chaste ; more to secure 
 and convict a criminal than it would have cost to 
 have prevented him from becoming a criminal by 
 placing him under religious influence. Sabbath- 
 breaking is an expensive vice. One Sabbath spent 
 in idleness and dissipation — in neglecting the sane- 
 
W. A. SCOTT, D. D. 
 
 203 
 
 tuary, costs more than five days spent in the dis- 
 charge of their appropriate duties. Which costs the 
 most, to lounge at the corner of the streets, bet on 
 elections, ride to the country, attend the military 
 parade or the horse race on the Sabbath, drink at 
 the Exchange, and then to the theatre at night, or 
 to worship God in his Holy Temple ? Which costs 
 the most, livery stable bills, Sunday dinners, oyster 
 suppers, opera tickets, masquerade balls and coffee 
 house indulgences, or attendance upon the sanctu- 
 ary ? Which is best, to spend the Sabbath in idle- 
 ness or in dissipation, and resume business Monday 
 morning, with an empty purse, and languid spirits, 
 and a heart aching under the remorse of conscience ? 
 or to lay aside business affairs at a proper hour Satur- 
 day evening, close the ledger and lock the desk, and 
 shut the world up in the counting room, and relax 
 the energies of the week in the social endearments 
 of the family — 
 
 u The only bliss that has survived the fall ?" 
 
 Rise early Sabbath morn, and begin the day with its 
 appropriate duties, and then to the Sabbath school, 
 to swim in the smiles and glad faces of earth's 
 brightest similitudes of Heaven — little children — and 
 then mingle with the people of God, who keep holy 
 time, and send up the voice of supplication and the 
 shout of praise to the Most High — and then melted, 
 softened, awed, refined, better fitted for society and 
 for social and civil duties, return home to the Sab- 
 bath collation — and Monday, with health repaired, 
 spirits refreshed, and the bright sunshine of the soul, 
 a good conscience, which is a '"continual feast," be- 
 
204 THE HOUSE OF GOD. 
 
 gin the labours of the week? I speak as unto wise, 
 men, judge ye. 
 
 IV. The House of God wields the only power 
 
 TO REFORM THE HEARTS AND LIVES OF MEN. Christi- 
 anity is the only preventive of crime. We are aware 
 that we live in an age of excitement and of bold ex- 
 periments. The spirit of the day is restless, inno- 
 vating. We have numberless forced systems of 
 economy, of politics, of morals and of education. 
 One cries, lo here ! another, lo there ! Each cries 
 out, / have found it — / have found it, and a long 
 line of Esqrs., Genls., D. D's, L. L. D's, and learned 
 professors echo the lying sound. But, in a few days, 
 like their predecessors, they in their turn give place 
 to seven other ill favoured and lean kine, that "eat 
 up the fat fleshed and well flavoured." And, like the 
 flies in the fable, each succeeding swarm of quacks, 
 strolling lecturers and reckless innovators, is more 
 greedy than the first — more impudent and more ig- 
 norant. But with all the nostrums which have in 
 their turn been promulgated as certain specifics for 
 all our civil and moral diseases — such as those effi- 
 cacious Protean balsams, cordials, pills and sudorifics, 
 which are infallible cures, (or if no cure, no pay,) for 
 the hepatitis, consumption, fever, and gout, for old 
 men, young men, maidens, and children — is it not 
 true of us, as Pope said, turning from his doctor : 
 "Alas! dear sir, I am dying every day of the most 
 favourable symptoms." 
 
 Our state pharmacopolists, each one like a scribe 
 well instructed, can tell why the currency was de- 
 ranged, why commercial credit depreciated, and why 
 the times are hard, and show the errors of all past 
 
1 
 
 W. A. SCOTT, D. D. 205 
 
 administrations, and if the people would only put 
 him and his party in power, he would turn the very 
 stones into gold. On the one hand, some savans 
 have asserted that nature has endowed all the tribes 
 of the earth with precisely the same dispositions, 
 and fitted them in their turn for the same sort of 
 institutions, and that there is no reformation to be 
 expected — no elevation to be hoped for. That all 
 our inventions and discoveries in government and in 
 science, are but the recovery of what we have lost — 
 and that, in short, we are doomed to float about in 
 eddies, and fly round in circles — but that there is no 
 progress, no elevation, no redemption for our race.* 
 
 Others teach that crime is owing entirely to the 
 vagueness of accident — that vic£ r and virtue are 
 essentially nothing but the result of chance — the 
 "rouge et noir" of life; and consequently, there is 
 no redemption from the bondage of vice, but to wait 
 the "fortunate concurrence of fortuitous atoms." 
 
 Others say law is the sole cause of crime — that 
 the very fact that there are laws, which are intended 
 to debar men from crime, begets a disposition to vio- 
 late them — that by the law is the knowledge of sin ; 
 that is to say, because there are balustrades around 
 the pit, to keep men from falling into it, men will 
 plunge into it for the mere pleasure of getting over 
 the obstructions put in their way for their good. 
 "The danger's self is lure alone," and that, conse- 
 quently, the only way to prevent crime is to annul 
 all the existing laws of society, remove all restraints, 
 reduce all to a common chaos, to a community of 
 rights, and of wices, and of goods. But the history 
 
 * M. Foumier de Dojon, author of the Phalansterian sect. 
 
20G THE HOUSE OF GOD. 
 
 of mankind abundantly proves that man is the crea- 
 ture of laws ; that no society can exist without laws, 
 not even a community of robbers, they must have a 
 common bond of union — a code of rules. Laws are 
 essential to our individual and social existence, and 
 if we have no oilier, we must submit to the dominion 
 of passion ; and then we should see again the bloody 
 clays of Caligula, and of Nero, and of Robespierre. 
 
 But again, others assert that all crime is the result 
 of education, that men are vicious because they 
 have been improperly instructed ; and that, there- 
 fore, all that we have to do is to reform our system 
 of education, for that education is competent to heal 
 all our maladies^, and to exhibit man 
 
 'n f _ 
 " Full orb'd in his round of rajs complete." 
 
 This system is called the Hylopathian, or the 
 Anaximandrian, from its author, Anaximancler, one 
 of the earliest Greek Atheists. He taught that 
 education is the creator of all things ; that all things, 
 even life and understanding, are educated out of mat- 
 ter, and are to be considered as nothing more than 
 the passions and affections of matter; that all life 
 and understanding are the products of these qualified 
 atoms, hot and cold, moist and dry. Anaxagoras 
 taught, at a later period, the same system, with this 
 exception : he held to an uncreated mind. :i: This 
 system, in substance, has been frequently advanced, 
 and has even now its warm advocates. But all 
 these systems fail to give life to man's moral powers. 
 They all fall short of reforming his heart and regu- 
 lating his life. They do not give the true cause of 
 
 ♦Cudworth's Int. Sys. Vol. I. p. 41. 
 
W. A. SCOTT, D. D. 207 
 
 crime, and consequently they fail to afford any ade- 
 quate remedy. They undertake to build without a 
 foundation. Tliey daub with untempercd mortar. 
 The spring-head of all crime is that black spot which 
 the Arabs say is in every man's heart by nature, 
 which is very little at first, but at last spreads all 
 over him — original sin — corruption of nature — a 
 heart deceitful above all things, and desperately 
 wicked. And as is the heart, so also is the life. 
 Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, 
 murders and seditions. The heart is the fountain 
 of influences. Out of it are the issues of life. The 
 only effectual remedy for the disorders of society is 
 to change the heart — to make the tree good, and 
 then the fruit will be good. It can be proved most 
 conclusively, but for the want of time the proof is 
 here omitted, from the history of Prussia and France, 
 that intelligence, mere education, does not prevent 
 crime; "that knowledge is power" indeed, but that 
 it may be power to do evil as w r ell as good. The 
 more intelligence, the more power to serve the pas- 
 sions and the appetites. Knowledge awakens new 
 desires and developes new and strong passions, and 
 must then of necessity become the instrument of 
 their gratification. 
 
 The history of Italy in the dark ages proves this 
 fact. Italy was then the centre of civilization, the 
 only illumined spot on the globe, and Italy was then, 
 also, the scene of the darkest crimes on the catalogue 
 of the human race. The same may be truly said of 
 England at this moment. The most enlightened 
 and greatest nation under heaven ; yet, considering 
 her moral and religious institutions, without a ques- 
 
208 the nousE of god. 
 
 tion the most haughty, ambitious, and wicked nation 
 on earth. Education, as it is used, is a savour of 
 life unto life, or of death unto death. The sources 
 of power and pleasure, of dignity and wealth, may 
 also become the sources of crime and vice, degra- 
 dation and poverty. We practically acknowledge 
 this when we make laws to keep our servants in 
 ignorance, lest they should be wise to do evil. The 
 stream of civilization too nearly resembles that 
 mysterious river, whose waves both fold the croco- 
 dile and carry the fertilizing loam to the same 
 shore. Let an evangelical pulpit sanctify our lite- 
 rature, and education will be the handmaid and sup- 
 porter of morals. An appeal to criminal statistics — 
 to figures that cannot lie — shows most conclusively, 
 that while mere science does not prevent crime, but 
 rather increases misdemeanors and felons ; that, on 
 the other hand, religious knowledge, education on 
 Christian principles, literature sanctified by the pul- 
 pit, does prevent crime. The experiment made by 
 the Prussian Government — the history of Sabbath 
 schools — the statistics of the United States and of 
 Scotland, compared with England and Ireland, all 
 
 Show that RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE IS A PREVENTIVE OF 
 CRIME. 
 
 There is no country on the face of the earth so 
 much affected by the facts here alluded to as our 
 own. In our government the people are the sove- 
 reign. They rule — they make our legislators and 
 our rulers. Consequently, if we should have wise 
 and virtuous statesmen, we must have wise and vir- 
 tuous citizens. Let the Bible, through the pulpit, 
 and the school-room, and the press, give tone to 
 
W. A. SCOTT, D. D. 209 
 
 public sentiment, and we shall not have legislators, 
 and senators, and public functionaries, that can pro- 
 fane the day and the name of God. Let public 
 sentiment be purified and elevated, and our cities 
 would be rid of those hundreds of high-ways to hell 
 that are to be found along our streets, and at almost 
 every corner. Let the influence of the pulpit be 
 felt, and our land would have a Sabbath, and vice 
 would be put to shame and confusion. The fearful 
 responsibility of our national sins is to be resolved 
 back upon the sovereign people. Why has not the 
 United States, why has not England, produced a 
 Handel, a Haydn, a Weber, or a Beethoven ? Be- 
 cause the public have little taste for music. Their 
 ear is only for the sound of the hammer and the 
 thundering of the steam engine ; while in Germany 
 every man is a musician, and every family is an or- 
 chestra. Why did England produce, in the seven- 
 teenth century, her Walton, Castell, Usher, Selden, 
 Lightfoot, and Pococke ? Then England was per- 
 vaded with the spirit of biblical inquiry and theo- 
 logical investigation. Why has France produced La 
 Place, La Land, and La Grange ? France honours 
 and rewards science. Her scholars are her peers. 
 It is true that ever and anon a mighty spirit arises, 
 who leads captivity captive — who inspires and leads 
 the people ; such were Luther, Calvin, Knox, New- 
 ton and others. They may be said to have created 
 their own age — to have marked out their own era. 
 Still, to some extent, even they were the embodyings 
 forth of the people. The people gave the response 
 when they called, or they had never been heard. 
 Columbus, the bold and adventurous, was but the 
 
 15 
 
210 THE HOUSE OF GOD. 
 
 crucible in which the traditions and the floating 
 knowledge of the public, its hopes and conjectures, 
 were reduced to a form, and breathed into action. 
 Very much the same may be said of Dante, Ariosto, 
 and Milton ; Bacon, Washington, and Napoleon. 
 
 To a very great extent, public men are the mir- 
 rors of the morals and knowledge of the great public, 
 the omnific people. Why have we pettifoggers, quack 
 doctors, and ignorant preachers? because the peo- 
 ple not only tolerate, but patronize them. Tole- 
 rated they should be, not patronized. Tolerated, be- 
 cause we allow liberty of conscience, and declare 
 life and the pursuit of happiness an inalienable 
 right; but patronized they should not be, because 
 thereby an evil is inflicted upon the body politic and 
 moral, which no man has a right to do, do what he 
 may with or to himself. And least of all, should 
 an ignorant, unsound preacher, be countenanced. 
 It is better to have ignorance at the bar, or in the 
 senate, or in medicine, than in the pulpit. Let me 
 lose my property through the negligence, or ignorance, 
 or unshilfulness of my attorney ; let me he murdered 
 oy a quack, rather than that my soul perish, eternally 
 perish, through the error, or ignorance, or unfaith- 
 fulness of my spiritual guide. 
 
 " If the people are industrious and virtuous, their 
 representatives will be men of like spirit. But if 
 ignorance, licentiousness, and a disregard of all reli- 
 gious obligation prevail in the community, then 
 reckless demagogues, and loud disunionists, and 
 abandoned profligates, will sit in the sacred halls of 
 legislation, and ambition, and self-aggrandizement, 
 and love of power, will take the place of patriotism 
 
W. A. SCOTT, D. D. 211 
 
 and public spirit, and an unshaken attachment to 
 the best interests of the nation. In such a state of 
 society, the elective franchise, which is the peculiar 
 glory of America, will become one of its deadliest 
 scourges." 
 
 In many other countries the government, by a 
 standing army, by racks, dungeons and spies, and 
 by disarming the people, preserves some kind of 
 public order ; but here the people govern themselves, 
 and keep the peace, and go through the most excit- 
 ing elections without bloodshed and without a po- 
 lice. And why ? Because the people of this coun- 
 try are free, and are under the influence of the Bible. 
 The power of the world to come has always exerted 
 an extensive influence on the hearts of the people 
 of this country. They fled from oppression to this 
 wilderness with the Bible in their hand, for " free- 
 dom to worship God," and they have made it blos- 
 som as the garden of the Lord. The Huguenot and 
 Pilgrim fathers brought the sanctuary to America, 
 and hence its independence, and its prosperity, and 
 its illimitable influence on the destinies of mankind. 
 
 V. Public sentiment is mainly formed by the 
 instructions of the House of God. — However great 
 the influence of public sentiment may be upon the 
 institutions of other countries, in our country it is 
 greater. Oar government is the people themselves. 
 Every citizen is a part, it may be an humble part, 
 but still a visible, a living and accountable part of 
 the sovereignity of the nation. Divine Providence 
 has bound us together by the ties of family, of coun- 
 try, aud of necessity. We are twined and inter- 
 woven into the great web of our political institutions, 
 
212 THE HOUSE OF GOD. 
 
 like the threads of flax or the locks of wool in a piece 
 of linen or cloth. The beauty and strength of Ame- 
 rican institutions is, that the fine and the coarse 
 threads are so wonderfully interwoven and twisted 
 together, that it is impossible to part them without 
 tearing the whole to pieces. One cannot distinguish 
 between the threads of a piece of cloth, which are 
 manufactured out of the wool of the lean, from those 
 which are manufactured from the wool of the fat of 
 the flock — no more can a distinction be made be- 
 tween the rich and the poor, learned and ignorant 
 citizen in the sovereignty of our country. The 
 great principles of republican representation, and 
 the pure sovereignty of the people, are the in- 
 alienable, indivestible inheritance of every American. 
 And what are the consequences ? The consequences 
 are fearfully momentous : namely, that our govern- 
 ment and institutions are what public sentiment is- 
 The vices and the virtues of every one form an essen- 
 tial part of our national character. The wickedness of 
 one, the drunkenness of another ; the atheism, infi- 
 delity, or profligacy of a third; the avarice, cruelty 
 and deceit of a fourth ; the malice, knavery, and 
 idleness of a fifth ; the Sabbath breaking, neglect of 
 family education, worship, and government of a 
 sixth — all these make up the gross amount of our 
 national character and guilt, just as a mountain is 
 made up of sands, or as the great and mighty ocean 
 is made up of drops of water. The purity of public 
 sentiment is therefore the pillar of cloud by day and 
 the pillar of fire by night, which alone can preserve the 
 peace and glory of republican America. By this 
 only shall she conquer. This is her heaven de- 
 
W. A. SCOTT, D. D. 213 
 
 scended banner. The good order, the intelligence, 
 and the religions influence of the family is the bul- 
 wark and strong tower of our defence. Every in- 
 stance of parental neglect, of ungoverned, disobedient, 
 and wicked children, tends to draw down the curse 
 of God upon our country. Every evil word, every 
 blasphemous oath, every malicious thought, every 
 violation of the holy Sabbath, every species of con- 
 tempt to the Lord's house, and the institutions and 
 ministers of the everlasting Gospel ; every sin, secret 
 or public, against God, is a sin against our country, 
 and is high treason against the State. And on the 
 other hand, every virtuous feeling, every victory 
 over our baser appetites, every benevolent aspiration, 
 every tear of contrition, every groan of repentance, 
 every sacrifice of our will and wishes to the supre- 
 macy of law ; every holy act, every prayer of faith 
 from the humblest cottage — every such act adds 
 another stone to the spiritual rampart, which for so 
 many years has surrounded and defended us. Righte- 
 ousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any 
 •people. 
 
 The conscience of the body politic, and the main- 
 tenance of law, are but developments of public sen- 
 timent. The best laws are perverted, misapplied, 
 or neglected, wdien public opinion is against them. 
 The statutes of departed wisdom, and the legacies 
 of sainted worth, are no better than dead letters, 
 when not in favour with the omnific public. 
 
 But what law cannot do, public sentiment can. 
 To the ungodly, public sentiment is law irresistible. 
 The thief and the robber are bound by it. Sur- 
 round them with purity of sentiment, and you make 
 
214 THE nOUSE OF GOD. 
 
 them honest; first, because no man can habitually 
 do what all about him disapprove. The most de- 
 praved will be perfectly wretched, embosomed in a 
 holy community. They would break from it as 
 from a prison, and seek some mountain glade or 
 wilderness cave, where they might associate with 
 men of their own stamp. Man cannot live without 
 the countenance and sympathy of his fellow man. 
 And, secondly, because where public sentiment is 
 correct, human laws will be executed. Let duelling 
 be regarded by public opinion, as it is in fact, mur- 
 der, and it will no longer be the mark of a gentle- 
 man and the badge of honour. Let suicide be 
 marked with the universal horror and disgrace of 
 public feeling, and men will no longer take their 
 own lives. Let Sabbath breaking, and drunkenness, 
 and vices which are so depraved they may not be 
 named, receive the detestation, and united and over- 
 whelming frown of all who love morality and 
 religion, and they will be abandoned. And for the 
 formation of a correct public opinion, there is no 
 means so powerful as the House of God. Its influ- 
 ence operates not only upon those that attend the 
 public preaching of the Word, moulding and sanc- 
 tifying their principles, but it goes out into the 
 crowd that never attend the sanctuary. For the 
 men who hear the Gospel, bear out into society, 
 and act out, in their deportment, its principles ; and 
 others catch the moralizing influence, and spread it 
 wider and still wider over the surface of the com- 
 munity, till the whole mass is in some degree leav- 
 ened. " Hence, that portion of society which stand 
 aloof from the House of God, and perhaps gnash 
 
W. A. SCOTT, D. D. 215 
 
 their teeth upon its holy solemnities, are blessed 
 through its influence. It bears obliquely upon 
 them : but it is mighty, like no other law they 
 listen to. It gives them indirectly all their civil 
 privileges, the peaceable possession of their rights, 
 security of life, and exemption from midnight de- 
 predations, and from hourly oppressions. It sets a 
 watch about them and places a guard over their 
 goods and persons at the expense of others;"* a 
 watch and guard, which they should be ashamed to 
 let their fellow citizens sustain alone, but without 
 which society would be a den of thieves. 
 
 VI. The House of God furnishes the only true 
 standard of morals. — Without a rule it is not known 
 what is straight or what is crooked. Without some 
 standard of excellence, from which there can be no 
 appeal, it is not known what is right or what is 
 wrong. The Bible is the only rule of life by which 
 to form our creed, and regulate our private and pub- 
 lic actions. Conscience, although it is not, as Mcln 
 tosh asserts, "a human generation," is, neverthe- 
 less, very much the creature of education. Set up 
 conscience as the infallible standard, and then it will 
 be right to worship the Grand Lama — to immolate 
 widows upon the funeral piles of their husbands, 
 and to murder our children and our parents. Con- 
 science- may be educated to tolerate any thing. It 
 may be reared so as to approve of the most monstrous 
 and cruel rites of Paganism. 
 
 Public opinion, though worthy of consideration, is 
 not a safe standard. It is wayward and blind, fickle 
 and feeble. 
 
 * Tract No. 223 of the American Tract Society, p. 6. 
 
216 THE HOUSE OF GOD. 
 
 The laws of the land are also defective. There 
 are many virtues which they cannot enforce : such 
 as gratitude, fidelity in friendship, charity, proper 
 education of children, and the duties of piety, love 
 to God supremely, and to our neighbour as ourselves. 
 There are, on the other hand, many vices and crimes 
 which the laws of the land and the magistrates can- 
 not prevent; such as luxury, wasting, disrespect to 
 parents, partiality in voting, betting on elections, se- 
 cret fraud and peculation, and the such like. And 
 besides, the laws of the land and the civil magis- 
 trates never reach the heart. They cannot ferret 
 out the motives and secret purposes of the soul, nor 
 can they change and purify the heart. And what 
 is still more, how often are statutes dead letters ? 
 The laws are perverted, misapplied, or neglected. 
 Either from ignorance or fear, negligence or parti- 
 ality, the guilty escape, and the innocent are op- 
 pressed. 
 
 If, then, it is desirable that men should live by 
 Gospel precepts, that they should love their country 
 — -fear God and honour the magistrate; that they 
 should be fervent in spirit, diligent in business, seiz- 
 ing the Lord — upright in all their dealings with their 
 fellow men, and faithful in all their duties, let them 
 be brought under the influence of an able, evangeli- 
 cal pulpit. 
 
 VII. The House of God is the only preventive 
 
 FROM A FALSE RELIGION — THE BlBLE IS THE ONLY AN- 
 TIDOTE of Polytheism. — Whenever the Jews left off 
 the worship of Jehovah, they bowed down to 
 idols. Men may and do change their forms of re 
 ligion, but they cannot abandon all religions. To 
 
W. A. SCOTT, D. D. 217 
 
 what extent some individuals may have succeeded 
 in eradicating religious truth from their minds, it is 
 not for us to determine ; but all history, and our 
 own observation, teaches that no nation can exist 
 without some kind of religion. A nation of Athe- 
 ists is no where to be found ; nor can man exist with- 
 out some religious sentiments, as long as he is in pos- 
 session of his present faculties, intellectual and moral. 
 Some kind of religion is as indispensable in order to 
 meet the demands of his intellectual and moral na- 
 ture, as food is to satisfy the cravings of his appe- 
 tite. A man without some religious sentiments is 
 just as much deformed and mutilated in his moral 
 nature, as his physical would be without a limb or 
 an eye, or as his intellect would be without the power 
 of reason. The question, then, is not whether we 
 shall have no religion at all, but whether we have a true 
 or a false religion ; whether we will have Maliomme- 
 danism, or Judaism, Paganism or Christianity ; Mor- 
 monism or any other fanaticism, or the religion which 
 is pure and undefiled in the sight of God the Father. 
 The religion of the Gospel is not only true and 
 excellent, but it is recommended by its economy. 
 Some system of religion we will have. It is infi- 
 nitely important, then, that we should have the best. 
 Here w r e must take it for granted, that you believe 
 the religion of the Bible, which is the religion of 
 Protestants, and is the religion of this great nation, 
 to be the most excellent system known upon earth. 
 The religion of the Bible is also the cheapest reli- 
 gion. Every religion has its priests and altars ; Pa- 
 ganism has its thousands of altars and its array of 
 priests to attend on every altar, and its thousand; 
 
218 THE HOUSE OF GOD. 
 
 thousand victims. The appeal is made to your in 
 telligence, to your knowledge of false religions from 
 history and travellers, to show that they are more 
 expensive than the true. Your reading will also 
 remind you of the evils and expenses of religious 
 establishments supported by the State. Time for- 
 bids to notice the struggles of the people of Europe 
 under the patronage law and oppressive tithes, col- 
 lected at the point of the bayonet, to support a do- 
 tard hierarchy, overgrown, corrupt and tyrannical; 
 These are things which we know by the hearing of 
 the ear, and they make our ears to tingle, but they 
 are not parts or parcels of our own glorious history. 
 The people of the United States are not, and never can 
 he, a tax-ridden people, because they are not, and by 
 the power of truth and the ever-living God, they never 
 shall be a king or priest-ridden people. 
 
 But think }'ou, beloved hearers, if one should 
 sweep, as with the besom of destruction, all Christian 
 temples from our land, that we should not have to 
 erect infidel or heathen ones in their stead ; think 
 you that if you do not support the American Pro- 
 testant evangelical pulpit, that you will escape from 
 all pecuniary contributions to religious institutions ? 
 By no means. 
 
 " Where'er ye shed the honey, the huzzing flies will crowd ; 
 Where'er ye fling the carrion, the raven's croak is loud; 
 Where'er down Tiber garbage floats, the greedy pike ye see" — 
 
 Wheresoever the carcass is, there will (lie birds of 
 prey be gathered together. 
 
 Silence the Protestant pulpits of America, and the 
 vultures of a corrupt hierarchy would fatten on the 
 wealth of the land. Look at Mexico, with all the 
 
W. A. SCOTT, D. D. 219 
 
 wealth of nature ; poor and ignorant, torn and dis- 
 tracted, wretched indeed — because it has long, even 
 from the beginning, been subject to a wicked, ava- 
 ricious, blood thirsty priesthood. The same may be 
 said of South America ; blest with every climate and 
 every product, from tropical fruits and birds " on 
 starry wings," to the gold and diamonds of Brazil, 
 and the plumage and furs of colder skies. Let the 
 Anglo Saxon Protestant go to Mexico and South 
 America, and introduce his laws, language and reli- 
 gion, and they will become as the garden of the 
 Lord. 
 
 Look at France sixty years ago. Popery, the 
 established religion, with 400,000 ecclesiastics to 
 clothe and feed, who were princes of luxury, rolling 
 in every species of sumptuous living and high de- 
 bauchery, consuming the labours of the people — and 
 at Spain, superstitious, bloody, unhappy Spain, with 
 180,000 priests, and you may form some idea of 
 what it would cost to support Popery. The religion 
 of the Bible is not only the true religion, but it 
 is the cheapest. It demands fewer ministers, and a 
 simpler dress ; requiring a far less expensive appa- 
 ratus for worship ; neither robes, nor sceptres, nor 
 mitres, nor crucifixes, nor gorgeous altars, nor pomp 
 and splendid ceremonial ; but a broken heart, a 
 broken and a contrite spirit ; a simple, pure formula, 
 the word of God, and a ministry evangelical, of pure 
 hearts and clean hands. This is the religion of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 VIII. The House of God is the depository of 
 truth. — The pulpit is the expositor and interpreter 
 of the Bible, which is truth itself. If the Bible were 
 
220 the house of god. 
 
 but the ruins of ancient learning ; the fragments of 
 remote annals, it would be a venerable document : 
 were it a fiction only, it would be a grand one ; then 
 how much more interesting and valuable as it is 
 truth, ancient, eternal truth — truth that is indisso- 
 lubly connected with our very existence and well- 
 being here and hereafter. 
 
 There is in the human mind a native love for 
 truth. It is agreeable to our natural constitution, 
 or, as Lord Shaftsbury has somewhere expressed it, 
 " Truth is so congenial to our minds that we love 
 the very shadoiv of it." Hence, truth is much easier 
 than falsehood, and hypocrisy itself is but the hom- 
 age of vice to virtue. And, on the same principle, 
 Horace, in his rules for the construction of an epic 
 poem, advises that "fictions in poetry should re- 
 semble truth." Then, as the Bible is the word of 
 God, and the pulpit is its authorized interpreter, 
 how necessary is the pulpit to our present and eter- 
 nal well-being. As the eye was formed for light, 
 and the ear for sound, so the mind is constituted for 
 the reception and enjoyment of truth. As the limbs 
 of youth resist confinement, so the mind abhors 
 darkness. The eyes of the soul are formed to gaze 
 on the light of truth, and to revel in its ever new and 
 yet unchanging beauties. Must not the heart be 
 educated as well as the head ? and what but the en- 
 lightening, saving and purifying truth of the Bible 
 as the Holy Ghost presents it, can form man's heart 
 to holiness ? Is it not the pulpit that explains, de- 
 fends and brings home to the conscience and the 
 heart, the truths of Revelation ? Is it not from ths 
 pulpit religious instruction is to be chiefly sought ? 
 
W. A. SCOTT, D. D. 221 
 
 Then, if school houses, universities and state houses 
 are worth the expense of their erection, how much 
 more are temples to the living God ? 
 
 The House of God ever has been, and ever must 
 be, the grand receptacle of light from heaven, 
 whence it issues to restrain the passions and mould 
 the manners of men, and repair the ruins of the 
 apostacy. Where the House of God is not erected, 
 false religions eat up the people like a pestilence. 
 Falsehood, fraud and theft, and rapine and murder 
 so prevail, that no man sees another in whom he 
 places confidence. Domestic happiness and conjugal 
 fidelity, and parental and filial regard, are things 
 unknown, and for which many heathen languages 
 have not even a name. And every where, where 
 the Gospel is not, there prevails a government that 
 rules with a sceptre of iron. The hardest despotism 
 is rendered necessary by the absence of moral re- 
 straint. The Church is both the light and salt of 
 the earth. It was the blessed Saviour's prayer for 
 the heirs of salvation : " Sanctify them through thy 
 truth." It is by the truth we are to be saved. And 
 it is ordinarily by the truth from the lips of a living 
 ministry, waiting on the courts of the Lord's House, 
 that men are convicted of sin, and converted to God. 
 " By the foolishness of preaching it pleases God to 
 save them that believe." The subjects of divine 
 grace are taken usually from those that are in the 
 habit of attending Church, and hearing the truth 
 preached from Sabbath to Sabbath. In revivals of 
 religion, those families are generally the most blest 
 who are Church-going families. And far the greatest, 
 proportion of youth who unite with the Church are 
 
222 THE HOUSE OF god. 
 
 such as have been baptised in infancy. The Lord 
 is faithful in all his promises. "His mercy is from 
 everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, 
 and his righteousness unto children's children, to 
 such as keep his covenant, and to those that remem- 
 ber his commandments to do them." Prostrate the 
 sanctuary, and we shall have neither creed, nor 
 covenant, nor communion, nor revival, nor liberty 
 of conscience, nor toleration of opinion, nor Bible in 
 our houses nor in our schools, nor the voice of sup- 
 plication and praise ; and our children would soon 
 be without God, and without Christ, and without 
 hope in the world. 
 
 Finally. — The House of God is the fountain 
 
 OF LIGHT, LIFE, AND JOY TO THE WORLD. It is the 
 
 altar of prayer. It is the presence chamber of the 
 Great King, "whose sceptre pardon gives." It is 
 there His honour dwells, and there he hath recorded 
 his name — A God that heareth prayer. Better 
 give up every other privilege than to have no share 
 in the prayers of God's people. " I would," says 
 one, " be without the means of self-defence, without 
 the protection of law, and without a shelter for my 
 head at night, but should not dare to cut myself off 
 from an interest in the prayers of the sanctuary. 
 Let no shower or dew fall on my field, or breezes fan 
 my habitation, or genial sun warm me ; but let me 
 not be excluded from the health beaming influence 
 of the House of Prayer. I would do without a 
 roof to cover my head, and have my lodging in the 
 clefts of the rock ; but I must go to the House of 
 the Lord, and fix my dying grasp upon the horns 
 of his altar." It is in the House of God that law 
 
W. A. SCOTT, D. D. 223 
 
 and conscience speak out ; that a future state of ex- 
 istence, and a day of judgment and final retribution 
 are held up before the intellectual vision ; that life 
 and immortality are brought to light; that the 
 Gospel of the free grace of the ever blessed God is 
 preached, glad tidings of great joy to all people, 
 peace on earth, and good will to men. The House 
 of God instructs our ignorance, enlightens our un- 
 derstandings, corrects our judgments, renews our 
 wills, and reforms our lives. It imparts knowledge 
 to the poor, it gives the orphan a parent, the stran- 
 ger a friend, the sailor a brother, the prisoner a 
 companion, and the young man from home a guide. 
 The Lord of the Sabbath and the God of the sanc- 
 tuary hath said : " Come unto me all ye that labour 
 and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." In 
 the House of God we learn how to live usefully 
 and happily, and how to die gloriously. Here, 
 parents and children, husbands and wives, masters 
 and servants, magistrates and people, are taught 
 their duties, and to enjoy their privileges. Here 
 they are taught how to live so as to gain everlasting 
 life in glory ; how to live that they may meet again, 
 after death, in the heavenly world, where there is 
 no more sorrow, nor crying, nor pain, nor sin, nor 
 separation, nor death. The House of God enlight- 
 ens, soothes, comforts, cheers, elevates, sanctifies, 
 and saves. It imparts salvation to the sin sick soul, 
 and seals it with pardon an heir of grace. It 
 hushes into a calm the tempest raised in the bosom 
 by conscious guilt, for it proclaims there is balm in 
 
 GlLEAD, THERE IS A PHYSICIAN THERE THERE IS FOR- 
 GIVENESS with God that he may be feared. The 
 
224 THE HOUSE OF GOD. 
 
 BLOOD OF HIS SON CLEANSETH US FROM ALL SIN. It 
 
 melts the most obdurate into tenderness and con- 
 trition. It cheers the broken hearted, and brings 
 the tear of gladness into eyes swollen with grief. 
 It maintains serenity under calamities that drive 
 the worldling mad. It reconciles the sufferer to his 
 cross, and raises songs of praise from lips quivering 
 with agony. It teaches the fading eye to brighten 
 at the sweet promises of Jesus, and brings a fore- 
 taste of heaven down to the " chamber where the 
 good man meets his fate." 
 
 " Jesus can make a dying bed 
 Feel soft as downy pillows are." 
 
 Blessed is the people that know the joyful 
 sound : they shall walk, lord, in the light of 
 thy countenance. 
 
 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. 
 Blessed be the Lord for evermore. Amen and 
 Amen. 
 
PERPETUITY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 J. C. LORD, D. D. 
 
 PASTOR OF THE CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, BUFFALO, N. T. 
 
 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom that cannot be moved, let us have 
 grace whereby we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and 
 godly fear. — Heb. xii. 28. 
 
 What kingdom is this which cannot be moved ? 
 What kingdom is that which has not been moved, and 
 shall not be for ever ? Where is the law of absolute 
 permanency manifested ? Where are the everlasting 
 foundations that never shall be shaken ? Shall we 
 turn to the kingdom of nature for an example, ex- 
 pecting to find unchangeableness there? Upon a 
 careful examination, a state of facts will be discerned 
 at war with the commonly received opinions of the 
 permanency and fixedness of the course of nature. 
 If we go back a few centuries in our investi- 
 gations, we find that extraordinary interruptions 
 and changes have marked the history of this king- 
 dom, since God created the heavens and the earth, 
 the proofs of which are graven in the rocks by the 
 finger of the great Architect; the memorials of which 
 
 16 ( 225 ) 
 
226 PERPETUITY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 are as numerous as the heights of the earth, and the 
 depths of the sea. Our globe has been shaken by 
 convulsions, which have overwhelmed existing or- 
 ders of life ; which have thrust the mountains sky- 
 ward, and hollowed out the profound depths where 
 are gathered the waters of the ocean. The chaotic 
 state which preceded the present order of things, 
 when the earth was without form and void, has left 
 every where visible and indubitable marks of its 
 existence. The ancient forms of life have passed 
 away, and new ones have been created to supply 
 their places. The economy of existence, in this 
 world, has been changed more than once ; and the 
 present order of things reposes on the WTecks of pre- 
 existent and extinguished forms of life. The ruins 
 of primitive forests, of a diverse order or sjDecies 
 from those which now exist, constitute the beds of 
 toal from which we draw inexhaustible supplies 
 of fuel. The metals w r e use were melted in furna- 
 ces in the interior of the earth, and injected in veins 
 through the masses of igneous rocks, broken by a 
 power which shattered the crust of the globe, and 
 upheaved the mountains, whose scattered debris 
 constitute the soils which now produce the precious 
 fruits of the earth. The attrition and decompo- 
 sition of substances forced out of the bosom of the 
 planet, and distributed by the alternate action of 
 cold and heat, by the agency of fire, air, and water, 
 constitutes the basis of all vegetable production, and 
 the support of the present kingdom of life. The 
 roots of the present economy draw their sustenance 
 from the graves of its predecessors. We build not 
 only upon, but with the tombs of extinct orders of 
 
J. C. LORD, D. D. 227 
 
 life ; more than this, the regularity and uniformity 
 of the present order of things is the result of a pre- 
 vious designed irregularity and disorder, which pre- 
 pared the globe for the support of its present inhab- 
 itants. Mountains and valleys are the ridges of 
 ancient volcanoes, which drove the plowshare of ap- 
 parent ruin through the crust of the earth, only to 
 prepare the way for man, and the orders of life with 
 which it pleased God to surround him. The ancient 
 vegetable kingdom was buried as a deposit for his 
 use ; before this, in the era of fire which preceded 
 all forms of life, the metals were fabricated, and 
 then deposited, or rather driven, near the surface by 
 volcanic action, for the same wise and benevolent 
 purpose. All the primitive systems have passed 
 away, having performed their office by furnishing 
 the means of support to that which was to succeed 
 them. 
 
 The scriptural chronology commences with the 
 creation of man, after a brief intimation of a pre- 
 existing amorphous condition of the earth ; and it is 
 conceded that geological phenomena do not indicate 
 a longer time than six thousand years for the pre- 
 sent order or kingdom of life. The Bible no where 
 limits the length of that period during which the 
 planet was in an imperfect and forming condition ; 
 nor are we told how long the Spirit of God was mov- 
 ing upon the face of the waters, preparatory to the 
 last six day's work of creation. But without dwel- 
 ling further on this interesting theme, may we not 
 presume that enough has been said to show that the 
 kingdom of nature has none of the permanency 
 spoken of in the text? It has been revolutionized; 
 
228 PERPETUITY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 it has been shifted from foundation to foundation ; 
 it has been moved from its earlier conditions ; it has 
 been without all life under the dominion of fire ; it 
 was inhabited for a time only by the inferior forms 
 of existence, which sport in the waters, or by gigantic 
 lizards, which haunted the marshes among ferns sixty 
 feet high; it has experienced numerous interrup- 
 tions destructive of the earlier organisms, which have 
 been succeeded by new acts and new forms of creation. 
 The present economy under which we live is con- 
 tinued now by no necessity of nature, and abides in 
 an orderly way, only because God " upholdeth all 
 things" by the same word of power by which he called 
 order and form, and life and light, out of darkness 
 and death, out of emptiness and nothingness. It is 
 the sure word of promise that perpetuates the king- 
 dom of nature during the appointed time, for God 
 said to Noah, when he came out of the ark, " While 
 the earth remaineth summer and winter, seed time 
 and harvest, cold and heat, and day and night shall 
 not cease." 
 
 But as this kingdom of nature has been moved by 
 the concurrent testimony of science and religion, so 
 there is the same evidence that it is destined to new 
 revolutions and changes. The promise to Noah im- 
 plies the end of the present economy ; " while the 
 earth remaineth," that is, during the appointed period 
 of its present state, " seed time and harvest shall not 
 fail." 
 
 The apostle Peter, in his second epistle, declares 
 that "the heavens shall pass away with a great 
 noise, the elements melt with fervent heat; the earth 
 also, and the works that are therein shall be 
 
J. C. LORD, D. D. 220 
 
 burned." He announces that " all these things shall 
 be dissolved;" '"nevertheless," continues the apostle, 
 "we, according to his promise, look for a new heavens 
 and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." 
 It appears to be the meaning of the inspired writer, 
 that the present economy, its order, its laws, its at- 
 mosphere, its forms of matter, and life shall be dis- 
 solved ; not annihilated, but reduced by fire to the 
 same rudiments out of which God before educed the 
 first creations. " We look," he says, "for a new hea- 
 vens and a new earth," implying, we think, a new 
 and JiigJier organism, to be fashioned out of the old 
 materials, because he adds, "wherein dwelleth right- 
 eousness." How strikingly analagous is this declara- 
 tion of the final consummation of the divine plan, 
 in the new heavens and the new earth, with the phy- 
 sical history of the planet, at first a globe of fire, 
 upon which was superinduced, at length, an inferior 
 economy of life, followed by new kingdoms, advanc- 
 ing in importance, increasing in beauty and glory, 
 until man appears made in the image of God. But 
 this condition, impaired by the apostacy and defaced 
 by sin, must give way at length to a "new heavens 
 and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." 
 That the globe has once been a mass of fire, proves 
 that it may again become so; and as God has super- 
 induced new and more perfect creations upon the 
 destruction of the older organisms, have we not here 
 a confirmation of the divine word, which promises 
 a new heavens and a new earth at last, perfect in 
 righteousness — an immovable kingdom ? 
 
 But there is proof in the present arrangement of 
 our globe, that the kingdom of life that now subsists 
 
230 PERPETUITY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 upon it must be dissolved. Is it not manifest that 
 our economy is to wax old, and at last vanish away, 
 or be changed into what the apostle calls a new hea- 
 vens and a new earth ? Consider, for a moment, what 
 renders the world habitable. Are not the moun- 
 tains and the valleys of our planet, its rivers and 
 seas, essential to the healthy condition of its atmos- 
 phere, no less than to the productiveness of its soil, 
 and its eligibility, in numerous respects, as an abode of 
 man, and the circle of life of which he is the head' 1 
 Now, it is philosophically and strictly true, that a 
 time must come, however remote the period, when 
 the earth, by the operation of known laws, will cease 
 to be a suitable habitation for our race. The newly 
 cut and sharply defined caverns of the ocean, made 
 by the convulsions which preceded the existing econ- 
 omy, are slowly filling up, and must in time cease 
 to fulfill their office. A single river, like the Gan- 
 ges or the Mississippi, would, in a period which can 
 be ascertained and stated in figures, discharge a conti- 
 nent into the sea. Every mountain on the globe, by 
 an observable process, must in time be precipitated, 
 until at last a dreary and stagnant level, exposed tc 
 the incursions of the sea, would characterise all its 
 continents and islands. The earth grows old, like 
 a decaying edifice, and by the operation of known 
 physical causes must at length become uninhabita- 
 ble — a worn out and broken dwelling, requiring the 
 return of another chaos, a new fracture of its flat- 
 tened crust, new convulsions destructive of all life, 
 to heave up new mountains and hollow out fresh 
 cavities, and then a new creation to people the new 
 world. So then the kingdom of nature is not the 
 
J. C. LORD, D. D. 231 
 
 kingdom spoken of in the text, which cannot be 
 moved, for this kingdom has been moved, and shall 
 again be ; which is taught also by these words of the 
 apostle in the context, " whose voice then shook the 
 earth, but now he hath promised, saying, yet once 
 more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven ; 
 and the words once more signifieth the removing of 
 those things that are shaken as of things that are 
 made, that those things which cannot be shaken may 
 remain ; wherefore we, receiving a kingdom that 
 cannot be moved, let us have grace whereby we may 
 serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear." 
 
 The apostle here contrasts the visible things of 
 the Hebrew economy, and with them all temporal 
 and material forms which are to be shaken, with a 
 kingdom which, he informs us, cannot be moved. 
 
 Where, then, are we to look for this kingdom ? Is 
 it among the kingdoms of the world ? Let history 
 answer ; let us listen to the voices from the sepul- 
 chres of empires ; let us mark the wrecks of king- 
 doms that lie scattered on the shores of time. Where 
 are the first, and perhaps the grandest of monarchies 
 among men, of the days of the giants of old, men of 
 renown, who filled the earth with violence ? Where 
 are the antediluvian kingdoms, to which the first 
 sixteen centuries gave birth, when men lived a 
 thousand years, and had time to perfect their know- 
 ledge, to complete their plans, to make durable their 
 monuments, and, if it were possible with temporal 
 things, to lay immovable foundations? They are 
 utterly finished, their memorials have perished from 
 among men ; all record of them is lost, save only 
 the brief narration in Genesis of their guilt and their 
 
232 PERPETUITY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 doom. The last great catastrophe in nature was 
 ordained for their judgment, for God saw that the 
 earth was filled with violence, and that all flesh had 
 corrupted his way, and opened the windows of hea- 
 ven, and broke up the foundations of the great deep, 
 and swept away the debased populations who had 
 filled the earth with blood and the heavens with in- 
 dignation. The sea roars over the broken monu- 
 ments of the antediluvian kingdoms which perished 
 beneath its waves. Over the chasm of forty centu- 
 ries the wail of the primative generations comes echo- 
 ing upon our ears like the noise of many waters. 
 " He uttered his voice, the kingdoms were moved, 
 the earth trembled; thou coverest with the deep as 
 with a garment ; the waters rose above the moun- 
 tains, at thy rebuke they fled, at the voice of thy 
 thunder they hasted away." 
 
 Was there no kingdom that survived that general 
 doom? Mark you yon vessel upon that wild waste 
 of waters, that fathomless and shoreless sea, the 
 sport of storms that sweep from the equator to the 
 poles ? Keeps she, amid the terrors of the deluge, 
 such a charge ? Bears she a kingdom there, pre- 
 served out of the universal destruction, and which 
 shall never be moved ? If so, no wave shall break 
 her bulwarks ; no yawning grave of billows shall 
 enclose her priceless freight. Who sails with her 
 shall come to land, though naught but a howling 
 sea, and a leaden sky are now visible ; though every 
 element of destruction rage around her battered hull, 
 like roaring lions, greedy for their prey. 
 
 Where is that post diluvian kingdom, whose seat of 
 power was in the plain of Shinar, through which flows 
 
J. C. LORD, D. D. 233 
 
 the ancient river Euphrates, once bearing upon its 
 bosom the commerce of nations, the wealth of the 
 world? Where is that capitol city that styled her- 
 self the Lady of Nations, the Queen of Kingdoms, 
 to whom a hundred and twenty provinces, compre- 
 hending all languages and tongues, sent tribute, and 
 before whom, as to a divinity, they rendered homage ? 
 Where is that gorgeous Babylon, whose golden tow- 
 ers shone ever in that cloudless climate, reflecting 
 the sun by day, and the stars by night ? Where is that 
 glory of the Chaldean's excellency, whose circuit, for 
 a swift rider, was the journey of a day; upon whose 
 walls, higher than the commemoration columns of 
 modern times, three chariots could drive abreast, 
 fearless of the dizzy height, and sheer descent on 
 either hand ? Alas ! there is no response. Babylon 
 gives no sign, though the neighbouring Nineveh is 
 rendering up her sculptured forms, her glorious spe- 
 cimens of art, concealed for centuries, to the curious 
 eyes of a generation, wise in its own conceit, but 
 who from the Assyrian tombs might learn humility, 
 if this were possible. But no man knows the pre- 
 cise site of Babylon ; the Euphrates, which treach- 
 erously admitted Cyrus within its walls, spreads out 
 her channel to conceal her crime, enwrapping in one 
 dark morass the first and most magnificent of all 
 the capitols of the world ; and thus the royal word 
 of prophecy, uttered before the glor}* of Chaldea had 
 begun to diminish, is fulfilled ; "And Babylon, the 
 glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldean's ex- 
 cellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom 
 and Gomorrah ; it shall never be inhabited, neither 
 shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation : 
 
234 PERPETUITY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there ; neither 
 shall the shepherds make their fold there ; but wild 
 beasts of the desert shall be there. And their houses 
 shall be full of doleful creatures, and owls shall dwell 
 there, and satyrs shall dance there. And the wild 
 beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, 
 and dragons in their pleasant palaces, and her time 
 is near to come, and her days shall not be pro- 
 longed." The kingdom was removed from Babylon 
 with a destruction like that which overtook the 
 cities of the plain, where the sluggish waters of the 
 Dead Sea mark the place and the manner of the 
 divine judgment. The site of the one is a noxious 
 marsh, of the other a putrid sea, whose barren shores 
 are watered by no dews from heaven, The wild 
 Arab, himself the child of prophecy, avoids both as 
 spots accursed of God, and pitches his tent neither 
 by the sea of death, nor the marsh of the Euphrates, 
 filled with doleful creatures. 
 
 What kingdoms of this world have not been 
 moved, what political foundations have not been de- 
 stroyed ? The fate of Babylon and Rome, the first 
 and last of the universal monarchies is the history 
 of all the empires and kingdoms of this world. It 
 is true a shrunken spectre yet haunts the banks of 
 the Tiber with "the horns of a lamb but the voice 
 of a dragon," claiming ghostly dominion over men, 
 pretending to be the head of a kingdom that shall 
 not be moved, exalting himself to the throne of God, 
 nay, above all that is called God or worshipped, 
 wearing upon his triple crown the words of blas- 
 phemy, changing times and laws, forbidding* to 
 marry, and commanding to abstain from meats ; but 
 
J. C. LORD, D. D. 
 
 235 
 
 he is a king of death among the dead, a ghoul amid 
 the tombs, a galvanized corpse mimicking life in a 
 sepulchre, a starving vampire amid the skeletons of 
 nations, a throned shadow aping the old despotism 
 that once set its heel upon kings. The scarlet 
 mantled harlot of prophecy, drunk with the blood 
 of saints, sits still upon the seven hills, with the pro- 
 phetical name upon her forehead, seen in vision by 
 the apostle John, " Mystery, Babylon the great ;" ( 
 but her strength is broken, the shuddering nations 
 Avill no more drink from the golden cup of her abo- 
 minations ; she waits the day of her predicted doom. 
 Rome is a city of dead men's bones, a tomb of giants 
 haunted by pigmies. The kingdom spoken of in the 
 text is not there; the spiritual tyranny that is en- 
 throned in the place of God in the western church 
 had its beginning and will have its end ; it is an 
 antichristian usurpation, whose days are numbered 
 by the sure word of prophecy; the Pontiffs are des- 
 tined to the same doom as the Caesars. The fate of 
 the empire will overtake the remorseless despotism 
 which has ever imitated the splendour of Pagan 
 Rome, and fashioned itself after the model of its 
 government, and baptised its heathenish ritual with 
 Christian names ; which has travestied the example 
 of the Lycaonians, who called Paul Jupiter and Bar- 
 nabas Mercurius, by worshipping Jupiter under the 
 name of Peter, and the demi-gods under the appel- 
 lation of saints. 
 
 The souls of the martyrs, whose blood the Papacy 
 has shed for the word of God and the testimony of 
 Jesus, does still cry out from under the altar, saying, 
 "How long, Lord, holy and true dost thou not 
 
236 PERPETUITY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell in 
 the earth ?" and voices in heaven and earth respond, 
 "Their judgment now of a long time lingereth not." 
 Where is the kingdom among men that has not 
 been moved, from the golden head seen in Daniel's 
 vision of the four great monarchies, to the feet of 
 iron and clay ? Have they not all been broken with- 
 out hand and perished for ever? Are not the solemn 
 words "passing away" engraven on all the monu- 
 ments of modern civilization, on all the glory of the 
 existing nations ? What flaming portents of change 
 and revolution come flashing across the Atlantic, 
 visible in the new world ; what rumors of oppres- 
 sion, usurpation and w r ar are wafted on the winds; 
 what wailing of the down trodden populations of 
 Europe sweeps sighing over the ocean! Have they 
 not found, from an exile on our own shores, a voice 
 of surpassing eloquence, penetrating all hearts, filling 
 all eyes with tears of compassion and sympathy? 
 Like the restless w r aves the kingdoms of our own 
 day are moved ; they stagger to and fro like drunken 
 men ; they heave like the earth, which treasures in 
 its bosom the fires of the volcano ; as Samson, bound 
 to the pillars of Dagon's house, shook its foundations 
 in his death agony, so the populations of the world 
 are writhing in their chains and shaking the eccle- 
 siastical and political despotisms which crush them. 
 Those scenes which were witnessed a few years 
 since in Europe seem about to be repeated ; 
 
 Wben Death was riding grimly forth with Terror by his side, 
 And blood stained war and pestilence, and famine hollow eyed. 
 
 And while the kingdoms of the old world are 
 moved, is there no danger for us ? Shall we pre- 
 
J. C. LORD, D. D. 237 
 
 sume upon our precocious infancy, upon our gigantic 
 and vigorous youth, in our wide territory and ra- 
 pidly advancing population, in our free institutions 
 and glorious union of States? Is there not danger 
 that we may forget our exposedness to this universal 
 law of change? Have not clouds already arisen 
 upon our horizon, which, though no bigger than a 
 man's hand, have threatened the dissolution of the 
 Republic, and darkened the hopes of political and 
 religious liberty over the world ? Have we not seen 
 enough to teach us the mutability of national great- 
 ness, and to lead us to implore the Founder and 
 Ruler of nations to preserve that which he has 
 established, to save us from evil counsels, from ruin- 
 ous divisions, that we may not perish as a people in 
 our childhood, but may at least pass through the 
 period ordinarily allotted to great empires, and that 
 we may not madly hasten and anticipate that de- 
 cline and decay which sooner or later fall upon the 
 most fortunate kingdoms of this world ? 
 
 But you have already anticipated the direct an- 
 swer to the question, " where is this law of perma- 
 nence? where is the unchangeable foundation of 
 which the apostle speaks in the text ? You know 
 it is the kingdom of God, the church purchased by 
 the blood of Christ, the people assured to him in the 
 counsels of the eternal Trinity, and by the covenant 
 of redemption. But a question still remains. Where 
 is the attribute of permanency manifested ? In what 
 does this unchangeableness consist ? There are va- 
 rious aspects under which the kingdom of Christ may 
 be considered. In which does the declaration of the 
 apostle find its verification ? Let us briefly reply. 
 
238 PERPETUITY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 In order intelligibly to decide this inquiry, we 
 must look for those things in the kingdom of Christ 
 which exhibit the unity of the church ; which have 
 been the same in all generations, and which must 
 continue the same to the end. 
 
 It will not be denied, by any called Christians, 
 that this immovable kingdom has existed from the 
 beginning; that the Church was founded in the 
 family of Adam, and had its fundamental doctrine 
 in the word which God uttered in the ears of our 
 apostate jDrogenitors, as they were driven forth from 
 Eden, " the seed of the woman shall bruise the 
 serpent's head ;" that it had its first sacrament in the 
 lamb offered by Abel as an expiation, symbolising 
 the lamb of God slain in the divine purpose before 
 the foundation of the world. What the external 
 order of worship was in the antediluvian church we 
 know not, but it is obvious that the apostle, in the 
 text, has no reference to this, because he is con- 
 trasting the visibilities of the Hebrew economy, 
 which were now passing away with that in the 
 Church, which is ever unchangeable. "And this 
 word," says the apostle, " signifieth the remaining 
 of those that are shaken as of things that are made, 
 that those things which cannot be shaken may 
 remain, wherefore we, receiving a kingdom that 
 cannot be moved, let us have grace whereby we 
 may serve God acceptably, with reverence and with 
 godly fear." As though he had said that which is 
 external and visible in the Hebrew economy is 
 shaken, and will pass away with all temporal things ; 
 what is immovable and unchangeable in the king- 
 dom of God and of Christ, we receive in the dispen* 
 
J. C. LORD, D. D. 239 
 
 sation of the Gospel, which is committed to us. 
 The external order of the Church has ever partaken 
 of the same law of change which we observe in 
 the kingdoms of this world. There have been va- 
 rious dispensations, various external successions, and 
 diverse forms of government in the kingdom of 
 Christ. The Church has worshipped under different 
 forms and administrations ; she has had priesthoods 
 and rituals, and she has been without them ; she 
 has had sacred localities to which her service has 
 been confined, and where it has been prescribed. 
 " Our fathers," said the woman of Samaria, " wor- 
 shipped in this mountain, and }"e say that in Jeru- 
 salem is the place where men ought to worship. 
 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour 
 cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor 
 yet at Jerusalem, worship -the Father." The He- 
 brew was shut up to the hill of Zion ; the tribes 
 went up to worship God at the sacred temple ; there 
 was the holy of holies ; there was the Shekinah, the 
 visible glory of the invisible king ; there only could 
 the sacrifice of the law be offered. Of that locality 
 the Holy Ghost had uttered these words, "His 
 foundation is the holy mountain ; the Lord loveth 
 the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places 
 of Jacob ; glorious things are spoken of thee, city 
 of God; all my springs are in thee." But the true 
 succession, the unchangeable priesthood, the one 
 sacrifice that perfecteth for ever, was not in the tem- 
 ple service which passed away, because it was but a 
 shadow of the substantial things in that kingdom 
 that cannot be moved. The same faith that had 
 been symbolised in the temple for centuries, pre- 
 
240 PERPETUITY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 served, as in a fortified city, by the Hebrew, to whom 
 was committed the oracles of God, embalmed in his 
 economy, defended like some forms of life in nature 
 in the chrysalis state, until the appointed day of 
 their enlargement, when they can spread their wings 
 safely in the sun. The faith of Abel, and Enoch, 
 and Noah, and Abraham, was now proclaimed in 
 every valley and on every mountain. Christ cru- 
 cified was set forth in every habitation, from the 
 palace of Nero at Rome, to the hut of the savage 
 Scythian in the northern wilderness. " The Church 
 of God, which is in thy house," was the language 
 of the apostles in their epistles to the brethren; 
 the congregation of believers assembled for worship 
 in dens and caves of the earth ; the sacred symbols, 
 of the most holy passion of our Lord, were exhibited 
 in fields and forests, or wherever else the Christian 
 minister and his flock could escape from the obser- 
 vation of their persecutors. The ensigns of the 
 kingdom that cannot be moved went out from the 
 temple and the ritual of the Hebrews, to be given to 
 the breeze in every island, and continent, and sea. 
 
 Nor is ecclesiastical order in the house of God the 
 element of permanency spoken of in the text. There 
 can be no doubt of its value and importance in its 
 place, but it is very certain that no visible priest- 
 hood, no one form of church government, no un- 
 broken succession of ordinations or ordinances have 
 constituted or manifested the unchangeableness of 
 that kingdom that, cannot be moved. There are 
 many administrations, though but one Lord. The 
 Church is represented by the apostle as having an 
 unchangeable priesthood only in Christ, who abideth 
 
J. C. LORD, D. D. 241 
 
 for ever ; the doctrines of the Cross and not the forms 
 in which they are exhibited remain, through succes- 
 sive dispensations, and survive them all, the same 
 with the divine Authors "yesterday, to-day and 
 for ever." 
 
 There is an analogy in civil governments which 
 are ordained of God, in which we perceive a diver- 
 sity of administrations, or rather a diversity of forms 
 under which they may be and are administered. 
 We have a right to our opinion as to which of these 
 is preferable, but it is no where contended that go- 
 vernment can have no valid existence except in a 
 particular mode. We think the Scriptures clearly 
 make the validity of statutes, and the recognition of 
 the authority of the magistrate to consist, not in the 
 form but in the fact of government, and this is 
 agreeable to the principles of international law. 
 States do not refuse to recognise each other because 
 their governments are administered under different 
 forms ; it is only a condition of anarchy which is out 
 of the pale of all national fellowship. " The powers 
 that be," says the apostle, "are ordained of God," 
 that is, existing powers or administrations, under 
 whatever diversities they appear; the fact and not 
 the form of government is that which is divinely 
 ordained, and hence the former is universal and un- 
 changeable, according to the purpose and will of the 
 supreme Governor, while in respect to the latter 
 there is no law of permanency, but rather one of 
 change, accommodated to the wants, the progress 
 and circumstances of particular nations, ages and 
 races. Is there any evidence that a different prin- 
 ciple prevails for the government of the church, or 
 
 17 
 
242 PERPETUITY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 that God has prescribed an infallible order of exter- 
 nal rituals, without which all faith and all penitence 
 are vain? Has the Most High bound his Church to 
 any thing more than the fact of government, upon 
 the general principles found in the New Testament, 
 since the day that the shadows of the Hebrew eco- 
 nomy gave place to the light and liberty of the gos- 
 pel dispensation? While we endeavour to approxi- 
 mate as nearly as possible to what appears to us to 
 have been the order of the apostles and the primi- 
 tive Church, have we a right to refuse to all others 
 the Christian name; to say with the Jews, "The 
 temple of the Lord are we," or to exclude from the 
 pale of the visible kingdom of God and from our 
 Christian charity, those who cast out devils in the 
 name of Christ, though they follow not with us? 
 That charity has its boundaries we freely concede, 
 but we do not believe that they are to be found in 
 mere questions of church order, for these are not the 
 immutable foundations of the kingdom of Christ. 
 Wherever the fundamental doctrines of the gospel 
 are denied, there is no basis for fellowship, and to 
 form one in such a case is betraying the Master into 
 the hands of his enemies. " If there come any to 
 you," says the apostle John, " and bring not this doc- 
 trine, receive him not into your house, neither bid 
 him God speed ; he that abideth not in the doctrine 
 of Christ hath not God, and every spirit that con- 
 fesseth not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh 
 is not of God ; he is antichrist that denieth the Fa- 
 ther and the Son, and whosoever denieth the Son 
 the same hath not the Father." The doctrines of 
 the divinity, incarnation and sacrifice of Christ, of 
 
J. C. LORD, D. D. 243 
 
 the divinity and office of the Holy Spirit, and his 
 work of conviction, regeneration and sanctification, 
 of salvation by grace without the deeds of the law 
 and of eternal judgment, are fundamental in the 
 gospel scheme, and if rejected compel us to refuse 
 fellowship with those who deny them. 
 
 That is a true Church which maintains what has 
 been common in all the dispensations of the king- 
 dom of Christ — the doctrine of redemption by the 
 sacrifice of the Son of God, and the symbol or sacra- 
 ment of it as found in all the economies of the 
 Church. The first revelation of the truth was in the 
 garden ; its symbol or sacrament, which is the visible 
 sign and expression of it, was in the sacrifices com- 
 mon to all the dispensations of the Church until the 
 coming of Christ, when the Lord's supper took its 
 place, pointing back to the cross, or to a perfected 
 work, as the former had prefigured it before its con- 
 summation. Upon this view that congregation of 
 worshippers who profess the common doctrine, and 
 exhibit the common sacrament, which has been main- 
 tained in the kingdom of God hi all ages, dispensa- 
 tions and changes, is a true Church of Christ, and to 
 be recognised as such by all believers, whatever ex- 
 ternal differences of order, ritual or government may 
 distinguish them. 
 
 But there is another aspect in which this subject 
 may be presented, another sense in which the im- 
 mutability, and, consequently, the real visibility and 
 unity of the church may be apprehended. The king- 
 dom of grace, as established in the soul of every be- 
 liever, called according to the purpose of God, is one 
 that is immovable; and that this is principally in- 
 
244 PERPETUITY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 tended in the text, may be argued from the form of 
 the expression, " we receiving a kingdom that can- 
 not be moved," for we come to what is external and 
 ritual in the church ; we receive what is renewing and 
 sanctifying ; we come by a public profession to the 
 city of the living God; toe receive by. divine grace 
 "the kingdom of heaven within us." 
 
 The kingdom of grace is that principle of holiness 
 which is imparted to, and sustained in, the soul by 
 the Holy Ghost. It is practically manifest and visi- 
 ble to men in a cordial reception of divine truth, and 
 in practical obedience to the commandments. It is 
 known by its unity of faith and character in all 
 ages and dispensations. Here is the abiding unity 
 of the Church from the family of Adam to the 
 present day, and to the existing company of be- 
 lievers, by whatever name called ; here is the " holy 
 generation, the royal priesthood, the peculiar peo- 
 ple," whose succession is visible not merely from the 
 apostles, and for the last two thousand years, but 
 for sixty centuries, and from Abel and Enoch, from 
 Noah and Abraham. As the book of Genesis and 
 the gospel of Mathew, as the revelation of Job and 
 that of John, contain the same doctrine, so there is a 
 succession of men, from the apostacy to the present 
 time, receiving the same faith, practising the same 
 godliness, and exhibiting the same sacrament. Here 
 is the remnant after the election of grace, here the 
 true Israel, for what is real and fundamental in 
 Christian experience is real and fundamental in the 
 visibility of the Church, and constitutes that true 
 unity which binds together all true believers from 
 the beginning to the end of the world. 
 
J. C. LORD D. D. 245 
 
 But, more particularly, let us inquire why this 
 kingdom of grace cannot be moved. 
 
 1. Because it is a spiritual kingdom set up in the 
 soul itself, which does not partake of the changeable 
 character of temporal foundations. " The things 
 that are seen are temporal," even in the Church of 
 God ; but the things which are unseen are eternal. 
 The visible and external dispensations of the Church 
 have each in turn been shaken and moved, and 
 shall be ; its rituals and ordinances, its government 
 and sacraments, have their appointed day, and must 
 at last disajmear, when time is swallowed up in 
 eternity, and death in victory ; but the kingdom of 
 grace, set up in the soul, abides for ever. The 
 heavens shall pass away, the elements shall melt 
 with fervent heat, all visible things and forms shall 
 wax old, and, as worn out vestures, shall be folded 
 up, but this kingdom, like its Author, shall not fail, 
 and of its years there shall be no end. 
 
 This kingdom shall not be moved for another 
 reason. It originated in the purpose of God, and is 
 maintained by his power. It can never die out of 
 the world, because the Father hath given a seed to 
 the Son in all generations ; because, in the covenant 
 of redemption, the heathen are promised to him for 
 his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth 
 for a possession. The Church for this has survived 
 all changes, outlived all persecutions, and, with im- 
 mortal youth, walks among the graves of false phi- 
 losophies, of decayed superstitions, purifying the 
 polluted atmosphere, and pointing the heirs of sin 
 and death to an inheritance incorruptible and unde- 
 nted, eternal in the heavens. So, in the soul, if the 
 
246 PERPETUITY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 kingdom of grace be set up, it cannot be moved ; 
 for it is the Spirit that quickeneth, it is Christ that 
 died, yea rather that is risen again, who ever liveih to 
 make intercession for us, so that neither death, nor 
 life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor 
 things present, nor things to come, nor heighth, nor 
 depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to sepa- 
 rate us from the love of God, which is in Christ 
 Jesus our Lord." 
 
 This kingdom cannot be moved because it is that 
 on account of which all others exist. God perpetu- 
 ates the race, and ordains governments and exercises 
 a universal providence over the evil and the good, 
 for the reason that he has a people which he will 
 take out of all nations and races. For this the 
 wicked live, because in their generations are num- 
 bered the elect ; for this empires are founded, and 
 nourish and fall ; for this the tares and the wheat 
 grow together till the harvest; for this "the hea- 
 then are permitted to rage and the people to ima- 
 gine a vain thing," until the day when all nations 
 shall hear the voice of him that sitteth in the hea- 
 vens, saying, "Yet have I set my king upon my holy 
 hill of Zion, and I will give him the uttermost parts 
 of the earth for his possession." All temporal king- 
 doms are but scaffolding for the building of God; all 
 revolutions tend to accomplish his designs. Wars 
 break down the barriers which prevent the progress 
 of the gospel; migrations for gold are caravans to 
 carry the Bible and the missionary of the Cross to 
 the dark places of the earth. God and the Church 
 are the explanation of history, without which it is a 
 dark unreadable enigma. 
 
J. C. LORD, D. D. 247 
 
 This kingdom of grace is immovable, because its 
 author and head, its prophet, priest and king, is 
 divine, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and 
 the Holy Ghost. The eternity and immutability 
 of his nature attaches itself to the church purchased 
 by his blood; because he lives and reigns, his people 
 shall live and reign with him. The two natures of 
 the God-man mediator may be said to symbolise the 
 two aspects under which his church may be viewed ; 
 in one we see the weakness and changeableness of 
 finite things, in the external order of his visible king- 
 dom, in its exposedness to corruptness, declensions 
 and heresies ; in its various dispensations and chang- 
 ing rituals ; in the other, we see the law of absolute 
 permanency in the one faith and the one sacrament 
 preserved in all generations. So in the individual 
 Christian, the weakness of a finite nature and its 
 remaining corruptions are ever in noticeable con- 
 trast with the power of that divine life in the souls 
 of believers, which is the working of the Holy Spi- 
 rit, who is able to keep them from falling, as the 
 Son in his own righteousness is able to present them 
 faultless and spotless before the presence of the Fa- 
 ther with exceeding joy. , 
 
 Finally, do you inquire how can a congregation 
 of professed worshippers know that they belong to 
 this immovable kingdom ; how can the individual 
 satisfy himself whether he be of the household of 
 faith to whom pertain the promises ? The answer 
 is easy ; upon the principles we have suggested, the 
 congregation have only to ascertain whether they 
 have the faith and the sacrament that has charac- 
 terised the true Church in all her dispensations ; for 
 
248 PERPETUITY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 this they must search the Scriptures, and seek to 
 know the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking in them, 
 the only infallible guide to truth and judge of con- 
 troversies. • 
 
 There is no view of the subject which can furnish 
 so solid a ground of satisfaction to the individual as 
 the one we have suggested. Whether he has re- 
 ceived this kingdom, is upon the basis presented, a 
 matter of consciousness ; it is not a matter of inves- 
 tigation, of endless genealogies, full of difficulties 
 which perplex even the learned, but a question of 
 fact in the believer's personal experience. Is the 
 kingdom of God within him ? Is the love of God 
 shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost ? Are 
 the fruits of the Spirit manifested in his life ? Are 
 the truths of the gospel dear to him ? Does he cleave 
 to Christ and his imputed righteousness as the sole 
 ground of his justification? Are the doctrines which 
 exalt God and stain the pride of human glory pre- 
 cious to his soul ? Has he some foretaste of heaven 
 in the religious emotions, the gratitude and praise 
 that are kindred in his bosom ? Has he received the 
 same spiritual baptism with holy men of old, and 
 
 does he find the revelation of his own conflict with 
 
 « 
 
 the world, the flesh, and the devil, in the inspired 
 record of their trials and their experience ? Is not 
 here the only reasonable and satisfactory assurance 
 of eternal life ? Is not all else of the nature of for- 
 malism or rationalism vague, uncertain and unsatis- 
 factory? I speak to wise men, judge ye! 
 
SEEING THINGS INVISIBLE. 
 
 BY 
 
 J. H. JONES, D. D. 
 
 PASTOR OF THE SIXTH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which aie 
 not seen. — 2 Cor. iv. 18. 
 
 And this furnishes a key to the changed conduct 
 and life of Paul after "his conversion. His sundering 
 of personal, social, and domestic ties ; his voluntary 
 renunciation of so many things that were gain to 
 hi m — wealth, distinction, and honour — for the sake 
 of Christ. However appalling to others the prospect 
 before him — disgrace, poverty, extreme bodily peril, 
 and probable martyrdom — yet none of these things 
 moved him. There were other things, and greater 
 far than these, by which he was influenced, and 
 which had a substantial presence, though invisible 
 to the eye of sense. Those grand and awful realities 
 of the unseen world that were hidden from others 
 were visible to him. Hence the apostle acted as 
 if the Judge of quick and dead, to whom he was 
 to give account, was ever present to counsel, direct, 
 and overawe him. But what is here asserted by the 
 
 (249) 
 
250 SEEING THINGS INVISIBLE. 
 
 author of our text concerning himself, is verified in 
 the life of all who are governed by his principles. 
 While the things that present the predominant mo- 
 tives of their conduct are not seen, they act as if 
 they were habitually before them, as really as are 
 the objects of sense, which so much affect the con- 
 duct of others. This is the truth on which it is 
 proposed to enlarge in this discourse, and use for our 
 practical advantage. 
 
 The thought here is complex, and may be ex- 
 pressed in the two following propositions : 
 
 I. That the things which furnish the most cogent 
 motives to a religious life are invisible, but 
 
 II. That the consistent believer lives habitually 
 as if he saw them. 
 
 The former of these propositions, it is well known, 
 has been urged by the sceptical as a serious objec- 
 tion to our religion, viz : that its motives are, to such 
 an extent, derived from things unseen, and not from 
 objects best suited to affect us in our present condi- 
 tion ; that its rewards and punishments are, in the 
 main, prospective, and look to a future state, and not 
 the present. The same has been said of its doctrines 
 generally, that they are abstruse and incomprehen- 
 sible. What a dense and impenetrable mist of dark- 
 ness hangs over the grave ! Death, we are taught, 
 is but the beginning of an endless life ; that it is not 
 the end of consciousness, but a physical change 
 merely — a separation of the mortal from the immor- 
 tal part of man for a season only, when they are to 
 be reunited in a state of eternal retribution. But 
 how little of this is warranted by what we see? 
 Even the Saviour, who is represented as the only 
 
J. H. JONES, D. D. 251 
 
 hope of the guilty, is also concealed ; and God no 
 man hath seen nor can see. He dwelleth in light 
 ivhich no man can approach unto, and why is this? 
 Why should that sort of truth, on whose practical 
 influence depends the eternal welfare of the soul, be 
 so hidden from our senses ? Why not indulge us 
 occasionally with the sight of a resurrection — a fa- 
 vour which it is so easy for God to grant ? Why not 
 permit the reappearing of a departed acquaintance 
 or relative, to tell us about the invisible world? 
 Why could not Paul, or Augustine, Luther, Baxter, 
 Watts, or some other distinguished saint, come back 
 to the earth for a time, as Moses and Elias did for 
 the special instruction of Peter and John? What a 
 confirmation of our faith if we might be permitted 
 to see them ! 
 
 The objection implied in these and similar queries 
 would be reasonable, if the evidence of sense were 
 the only sort that is satisfactory and conclusive ; or 
 were the main obstacles to a practical belief of the 
 truth to be found in the mind, and capable of being 
 dislodged by argument, and not in the heart beyond 
 the reach of any appeals merely to the reason ; 
 or had not the impotency of ocular demonstration 
 been exposed by repeated cases of restoration to life, 
 and in none more signal than the example of Laza- 
 rus. But the influence of vision was tried, and its in- 
 efficiency shown, under both the Old Testament and 
 the New. The Saviour tested its power in the case 
 to which I have just referred, and had he opened the 
 door of the unseen world a hundred times, and 
 evoked Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and scores of de- 
 parted Hebrews from the unseen world, it could have 
 
252 SEEING THINGS INVISIBLE. 
 
 proved no more concerning a future state of existence 
 than was witnessed in thus recalling the spirit of 
 one of the family at Bethany. The Jews, who saw 
 this resurrection, w r ere just as sceptical afterwards 
 as they had been before. Nor would your heart, 
 reader, nor mine, be more impressed by the sight of 
 apparitions from the other world than theirs were. 
 It is equally true concerning us, that if we hear not 
 Moses, the prophets and apostles, neither will we be 
 persuaded, though one rose from the dead. 
 
 It is a mistake, therefore, to assert that the mo- 
 tives of religion are so inoperative, because they are 
 drawn from things not seen or remote. On the 
 other hand, it could easily be shown that our know- 
 ledge, even of sensible objects, is rather presumptive 
 than real, and that our senses are continually lead- 
 ing us into error. Indeed, the terms of what we call 
 science are rather symbols of what we do not know, 
 than exponents of what we do know. There is 
 much that is mysterious and inexplicable in matter, 
 motion, electricity, life, &c, as well as in original 
 sin, the Trinity, or regeneration. The technical de- 
 finitions of philosophy would seem to be invented to 
 conceal her ignorance ; and we are just as unac- 
 quainted with the real nature or essence of things 
 that we see, taste and feel, as we are with the in- 
 visible things of God. It is well known that Dr. 
 Berkeley, bishop of Cloyne, disproved the existence 
 of matter in opposition to the testimony of the 
 senses, and not by quibble and soj)histical reasoning, 
 but, as Reid says, by taking up the principles laid 
 down by Descartes, Malebranche, and Locke, and 
 carrying them out to their legitimate conclusions. 
 
J. H. JONES, D. D. 253 
 
 It is the boast of those who reject the supernatural 
 and unseen in religion, that we have a competent 
 guide and instructor in reason ; but the history of 
 the inquiries which philosophers have instituted 
 into the powers and laws of the mind, is suited to 
 impress us far more deeply with the imperfection of 
 our faculties than their greatness. 
 
 It is now the nineteenth century of progress in 
 human philosophy since the advent ; ample time, we 
 should say, for arriving at definite conclusions on the 
 most familiar subjects, as, for example, the problem 
 of our own nature, the number, the office, and the 
 laws of our several faculties. We should naturally 
 suppose it to be easier to gain a knowledge of these 
 than of the elements and laws of the material world. 
 And yet there* is no question, among the metaphy- 
 sicians of the day, more absolutely unsettled than 
 this. Some of them tell us that " God is the only 
 cause in the universe, and that we are but the sub- 
 jects or organs of effects which he immediately pro- 
 duces. Others, that we are real and responsible 
 agents. Some teach that creatures are a part of God ; 
 others, that God is but the aggregate of his creatures ; 
 and others again, that w r e are wholly material, mind, 
 soul, and body, and that we perish at death ; most, 
 however, that w T e have a spiritual and immaterial, 
 as well as corporeal nature. Some maintain that 
 none of our perceptions and thoughts are any thing 
 more than sensations; others that we have ideas 
 of immaterial things, as well as of those that are 
 discerned by the senses. Some that we indeed have 
 conceptions of God, but are without any proofs of 
 their truth ; others that we are capable of a real 
 
254 SEEING THINGS INVISIBLE. 
 
 knowledge of him. Many contend that we put 
 forth our choice under the impulse of blind power, 
 and others that we exert our volitions for reasons 
 of which we are conscious." 
 
 Here then, are no less than twelve proposed so- 
 lutions of this problem of our nature, which appears 
 to be just as open to debate now as it ever was. 
 We might turn, then, upon the boaster of the suffi- 
 ciency of reason and inquire, Why is this ? Why is 
 knowledge derived through the senses or by study 
 so uncertain and unsatisfying? Why are things 
 tangible and visible so deceptive, that we need only 
 love and follow them with all our heart to be in- 
 volved in certain ruin? Though they inspire us 
 with the highest hopes, they fulfil none of their pro- 
 mises. They never make us happier in this world, 
 nor fit us to be happy in the world to come. What 
 other explanation can be given of this perplexing 
 fact than that which is furnished by the volume of 
 Eevelation ? Here we learn that the wliole creation 
 groans and sympathizes in the lapsed and unhappy 
 condition of man. That the "things seen" are in 
 their very nature uncertain, unsatisfying and falla- 
 cious, and that those which are real and worthy of 
 our love and confidence are invisible. And while 
 they who look only at the former will be disap- 
 pointed and lost, those will be infallibly happy as 
 well as safe who look at the latter, and who rely on 
 that higher good which lies beyond and without the 
 scope of mortal vision. To those who have not 
 made the trial, this may seem impracticable, but it 
 is just the reverse with those who have made it, and 
 who, like the apostle Paul, judge from experiment 
 
J. II. JONES, D. D. 255 
 
 Of these there has always been a " little flock" in 
 the world, from Abel and Enoch downwards, and 
 the day is fast approaching when their number will 
 be greatly increased. 
 
 Having offered these few hints concerning the 
 former, and the power of those motives which are 
 drawn from things invisible, I proceed to notice the 
 other truth inculcated by the apostle, that 
 
 II. The consistent believer lives habitually as if 
 he saw them. He "looks not at the things that are 
 seen, but at those which are not seen." That won- 
 derful faculty, by which a man is enabled to realize 
 the paradox of seeing the things that are invisible, 
 is called faith. And because both classes to which I 
 refer, they who look at the visible as well as those 
 who look at the things not seen, lay claim to this 
 faith, the Scriptures discriminate. In the nomen- 
 clature of theology the faith of the one is called spec- 
 ulative, and the other an evangelical faith ; a differ- 
 ence founded not on the comparative amount of their 
 intellect, advantages of education, standing in society, 
 or extent even of their religious knowledge, but 
 solely on the different state of their hearts. 
 
 The things unseen, though commended to the 
 mind with the cogency of moral demonstration, are 
 repelled by the one, because they are distasteful. 
 The mind assents to the truth of them as things 
 that are proved, but they are not obeyed because 
 they are rejected by the heart, just as a patient often 
 admits the excellency of a medical prescription, which 
 he will not follow because it is nauseous. This is 
 the faith of one class of believers. In the case of 
 the other, these invisible things receive at once the 
 
256 SEEING THINGS INVISIBLE. 
 
 approbation of the mind and the heart. By the in- 
 fluence of the Spirit their heart has been so pre- 
 pared, that its affections and tastes are brought into 
 conformity with those invisible realities of the spir- 
 itual world, which are now made to influence their 
 conduct. Hence their view of the unseen things, 
 by faith, is not only more accurate, but it is more 
 operative than are any discoveries of reason, or even 
 of sense. 
 
 It is more accurate. Indeed, as it is the pro- 
 vince of reason to correct the errors of sense, it 
 is the prerogative of faith to correct the mistakes 
 of reason. If we look upwards and survey the hea- 
 vens, the planet Venus appears to the eye as diminu- 
 tive as the blaze of a candle. This is an error of 
 sense, which reason corrects by having discovered 
 that it is nearly the size of our earth, and the cause 
 of its seeming so little is its distance. So the re- 
 jecter of Christianity is equally deceived by his rea- 
 son in his estimate of Jesus Christ, and the cause is 
 the same — his immense moral distance. " This mis- 
 taken man accounts the Saviour and his glory a 
 smaller matter than his own gain, honour or plea- 
 sure ; for these are near to him, and he counts them 
 bigger, yea, and far more valuable than they really 
 are." But they who, like our apostle, can look at 
 things that are not seen by others, and by help of 
 the telescope of faith can see the remote glories of 
 Christ in their proper dimensions, regard the coveted 
 pleasures and honours of the world as dross ; they are 
 but a taper, when compared with the light of the sun. 
 
 It is well known, moreover, that constant sight 
 produces familiarity, so that the effect of objects 
 
J. II. JONES, D. D. 257 
 
 seen grows less. It is not so with faith ; this be- 
 comes stronger by continuance, and the more fre- 
 quently we dwell upon any object by faith the more 
 we feel its power; a familiar fact, which suggests 
 another answer to the objection against Revelation, 
 already noticed, founded on the want of sensible 
 evidence. We see that faith is better adapted to 
 bring the sublime truths of the gospel home to the 
 soul, and make them to be felt at once, and more 
 permanently, than if they were apprehended by 
 reason only, or sense. 
 
 Reason, says Pascal, acts so tardily, and on the 
 ground of so many different views and principles, 
 which she requires to have always before her, that 
 she is continually becoming drowsy and inert, or 
 going actively astray for want of seeing the whole 
 case at once. It were well, then, after our reason 
 has ascertained what is truth, to endeavour to feel 
 it, and to associate our faith with the affections of 
 the heart. For with the heart man believeth unto 
 righteousness. " The heart has its reasons, of which 
 reason knows nothing. We find this in a thousand 
 instances. It is the heart which feels God, and not 
 the reasoning powers ; and this is faith made per- 
 fect ; God realized by feeling in the heart." 
 
 But this view of invisible things by faith is 
 more operative. — The unseen heaven is constantly 
 before such a believer as his home, and the place of 
 his everlasting rest. The unseen hell is before him, 
 not as a figment of the Christian school, nor a fright- 
 ful invention of pagan mythology, but a reality, to 
 be escaped for his life, as Lot fled from the fire and 
 brimstone that were bursting on Sodom. The law 
 
 18 
 
258 SEEING THINGS INVISIBLE. 
 
 of God is before him ; it was invisible once, like the 
 angel with his sword in the path of Balaam, or, like 
 Saul of Tarsus, he was alive without it ; but the 
 scales have fallen from his eyes also, and he sees it 
 plainly now. His faith renders the truths of Reve- 
 lation all palpable and real. As the apostle so em- 
 phatically defines this grace, it is the substance of tilings 
 hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 
 
 Such, then, is the characteristic difference between 
 the two classes of believers to which I have referred. 
 How they are divided, or what the ratio of real to 
 nominal or speculative believers, who but the 
 Searcher of hearts can tell ? But if only they be- 
 long to the former who evince their faith in the 
 unseen realities of religion by their lives, the num- 
 ber is very small compared with the multitudes who 
 are known as religious professors. Where is the 
 man who lives as if he felt the eye of the invisible 
 and rein-trying God to be continually upon him ? 
 Who is he that obeys the precepts of the law as if 
 the omniscient Author were always jDresent, to be- 
 stow its gracious rewards or enforce its penalties ? 
 And if you look abroad, from the Church to the 
 world, how are we impressed with the abounding 
 practical atheism? 
 
 Who is the Almighty, say the multitude by their 
 conduct, that we should serve him, and what profit 
 should ice have if we pray unto him ? To them he 
 is only a Deity in theory, an article of a creed, a 
 metaphysical abstraction, a G6d afar off, and not at 
 hand. But how soon must this epicurean dreaming 
 be over, and the curtain fall which separates the 
 seen from the invisible ? It may seem remote to 
 
J II. JONES, D. D. 259 
 
 many of you at the same time that it is fearfully 
 near. A slip of your foot, a mistake of your 
 apothecary, a cold, a fever, an attack of epidemic 
 disease or some arrow from the ten thousand which 
 fill the Almighty's quiver, may lay some of us low 
 even before another week, and reveal the retribu- 
 tions of eternity. Happy, healthful, and sanguine 
 as you now are, so short a time as this, may bring 
 you to the bar of this unseen but disregarded and 
 dishonoured God. Nor are these things any more 
 distant and unreal, because so many live as if they 
 were at an infinite remove ; because they are little 
 more heeded than if they were the mere epic fictions 
 of a Virgil or Dante, and not the inspirations of 
 God. It was amazing effrontery in Jehoikim to 
 treat the message of Jeremiah with so much con- 
 tempt, in spite of the expostulations of Elnathan, 
 Delaiah, and Gemariah. But his despismg of the 
 prophecy did not rescue this infatuated prince from 
 being made a captive, put to death, and having his 
 body cast into a common sewer, like the unburied 
 carcass of an ass. His coolly taking the prophet's 
 roll, cutting it with a penknife, and casting it into the 
 fire, did not prevent its fulfilment. And however 
 the gay and the worldly may disregard the inspired 
 roll of warnings, expostulations, and promises which 
 are addressed to them, the time is coming when they 
 will all be verified. Heaven and earth shall pass 
 away, but His word shall not pass away. The dis- 
 tinction between a life of Christian virtue, and a life 
 of sin, which so many will not see now, they will be 
 compelled to see and acknowledge when they begin 
 to feel its results. And, in view of such humiliating 
 
2G0 SEEING THINGS INVISIBLE. 
 
 facts in human experience and conduct, who, that 
 reflects and feels their import, can doubt man's need 
 of supernatural aid ? He is not an alien and a wan- 
 derer from God, because his true condition has not 
 been revealed to him. He does not reject the Sa- 
 viour because he does not hear him preached, and 
 even listen with assent to the recital of his advent, 
 life, and death, as the substitute and friend of the 
 guilty ; but with all this persuasion of the mind and 
 conscience, like some spectators at the resurrection 
 of Lazarus, the truth does not reach his heart. The 
 real beauty and excellency of the Saviour are in- 
 visible, nor are any teachings of the pulpit and pen 
 sufficient to make them known. There is an obsta- 
 cle to knowledge here, which man has neither the 
 desire nor the power to remove. 
 
 Imagine a garden of exquisite beauty, and adorned 
 with every plant, fruit and flower that money and 
 taste can collect, with fountains and rivulets to en- 
 hance its varied attractions. Suppose that you meet 
 a stranger here, who, with an eye to all appearance 
 healthful, passes along without bestowing the least 
 attention upon a single object. In your bursts of 
 ecstatic delight, as you look at this or that beautiful 
 parterre, so blooming and fragrant, he is silent, re- 
 turning only a vacant gaze. Surely, you would say, 
 this stranger is blind; he cannot see as I see, or 
 what I sec ; and, upon inquiiy, you find your con- 
 jecture to be correct; this man has eyes that see 
 not. What you perceive and enjoy is invisible to 
 him, and something more is needed than 3-011 can 
 impart by your taste and botanical knowledge to 
 make him share in your enjoyment. The case sup- 
 
J. II. JONES, D. D. 2GJ 
 
 posed is easily interpreted : the natural man re- 
 ceiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they 
 are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, 
 because they are spiritually discerned. Some time 
 ago, a young man of gay and dissipated habits, on 
 returning from a meeting of kindred spirits, at a late 
 hour of the night, discovered on his table a printed 
 sheet, left there he knew not by whom ; he was a 
 despiser of tracts, and scarcely less of those who 
 distributed them ; but, w r earied and exhausted, and 
 yet, unsatisfied as he was with the pleasures of the 
 evening, he was in a mood for any .thing that would 
 occupy his thoughts. This little sheet proved to be 
 a messenger of God ; his mind had been well in- 
 structed in the truths of religion before, but they 
 had never reached his heart ; the night was spent 
 in a state of deep and overwhelming conviction, but 
 morning came at length, and with it the beams of 
 the sun of righteousness; he left his chamber, he 
 knew not what, so changed were his feelings and 
 views of every thing ; he looked upwards, and " the 
 heavens declared the glory of God." He never saw 
 it there before ; he looked abroad, and every object, 
 and every stream, plant, flower, tree, bird and beast, 
 reflected the same. The Bible was new and full of 
 God, especially as manifested in Christ. 
 
 When God revealed his gracious name, 
 
 And changed his mournful state, 
 The rapture seemed a pleasing dream, 
 
 The grace appeared so great. 
 
 The whole creation was teeming with beauties, 
 thrown over them by the hand of God, and, though 
 hidden before, they were visible now. And can you 
 
2G2 SEEING THINGS INVISIBLE. 
 
 tell me, reader, why? The heavens were not 
 changed, nor the earth, nor the objects that cover 
 it ; these were all the same, but the change was in 
 himself. And does any one inquire in what re- 
 spect? How were his eyes opened? He was a tro- 
 phy of the Spirit ; the man was born again ; old 
 things had passed away, and all things had become 
 new. Are there not some among the readers of his 
 story who need the same change ? Do you know 
 that this life giving Spirit is promised to all who 
 seek his influences ? And what is so ineffably im- 
 portant as that you should know or practically feel 
 the teaching of the Saviour to the Jewish ruler, 
 except a man he born again he cannot see the kingdom 
 of God. 
 
CHRIST, THE LIFE OF HIS PEOPLE. 
 
 A DISCOURSE 
 
 TO ILLUSTRATE THE NATURE OF THE DIVINE LIFE ; AND ITS DEVELOP- 
 MENT IN OUR SPIRITUAL, OUR MORTAL, AND OUR ETERNAL BEING. 
 
 ROBERT J. BRECKINRIDGE, D. D., L. L. D. 
 
 PASTOR OF THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, LEXINGTON, KY., AND SUPERIN- 
 TENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION FOR THE COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY. 
 
 Christ, who is our life. — Col. iii. 4. 
 
 The grand point of view in which we should 
 habitually contemplate the Scriptures, is as a divine 
 revelation of the only mode in which lost sinners 
 can be saved. As a history of much that has hap- 
 pened in this world of ours, the enduring importance 
 of its statements results from their setting before us 
 the method in which this salvation is brought to 
 light, and applied practically to men. As a spiritual 
 system, unfolding and enforcing a most peculiar 
 view of the unseen world, and our relations to it, its 
 living power is derived from the bearing of its doc- 
 trines upon our eternal destiny, as depraved crea- 
 tures to whom divine mercy is offered in a particular 
 way. As a code of morals suited to direct the con- 
 science, and to regulate the life of such beings as we 
 
 (263) 
 
2G4 CHRIST THE LIFE OF HIS PEOPLE. 
 
 are, it is the connection of its precepts with the doc- 
 trines which constitute its spiritual system, and the 
 dependence of both upon its great proposal of salva- 
 tion for sinners, which invests its rules of duty with 
 so much majesty, and gives such sublime force to the 
 idea of duty itself. As a source of support, of con- 
 solation, of peace, and of joy, in such a world as 
 this, and in such a course as our pilgrimage through 
 it must needs be, it can avail us nothing, except as 
 we receive its precepts, and accept its doctrines, and 
 believe its statements, as one and the other bear 
 directly upon the grand conception of the Gospel — 
 salvation for lost sinners. Every thing short of this 
 is little better than trifling with our own souls. 
 Every thing inconsistent with this is little else than 
 handling the word of God deceitfully. 
 
 Whatever men may imagine concerning other 
 portions of the contents of God's Word, it is past all 
 doubt that the portion which relates to the person, 
 the work, and the glory of the Lord Jesus, must be 
 invested with divine power, or must be absolutely 
 useless in the matter of our salvation. That part 
 of the Scriptures is a glorious revelation, or it is a 
 most empty imposture. Let us proudly conceive 
 what may suit our vain and foolish hearts, about the 
 history, the morality, nay, even the religion of the 
 Bible, using the word religion in its largest sense, 
 and persuade ourselves, if we will, that all these 
 things are level to our unaided faculties, and that no 
 divine wisdom, nor any divine power, is manifested 
 in them. The moment we come upon the concep- 
 tion of the Son of God incarnate to save sinners, 
 and begin to expatiate amidst any of the multij^lied 
 
ROBERT J. BRECKINRIDGE, D. D. 265 
 
 and overwhelming exhibitions which are made, 
 throughout the Scriptures, of this vast conception, 
 we find ourselves carried at once, into a region 
 where, at every step, we must recognise the' guid- 
 ance and the presence of God, or we must nerve 
 ourselves before the most daring of all human im- 
 postures, invested with more than all human force 
 md grace, and all available to no end. There is not 
 cue solitary point connected with the person, the 
 vork, or the glory of Jesus Christ — nothing that 
 touches his humiliation or exaltation — that is in- 
 vdved in his prophetic, his priestly, or his kingly 
 ollce — that concerns his incarnation, his sacrifice, 
 or his resurrection — that fits him to be the Re- 
 deemer of God's elect, or exhibits his work of 
 redemption — that relates to his eternal being or his 
 etenal reign ; there is absolutely nothing, in the 
 presaice of which human nature can stand and say, 
 I knew this to be true, or, I know this to be effectual 
 in tht manner, and for the end proposed ! God 
 must jitter it, God must propound it, or it must be 
 utterec and propounded alike in mockery of God 
 and mm — an audacious braving of the majesty of 
 heaven— a ferocious trifling with the sorrows and the 
 hopes cf earth — a fiendish aggravation of the woes 
 of hell ! 
 
 The alternative we take is the one which gives us 
 peace anl reconciles us to God. They who like can 
 take the other, and reap its fruits. Taking that 
 alternative, we must bear in mind its fundamental 
 condition as a question to be settled at the bar of 
 human rcson, namely, that this whole doctrine of 
 Christ, anc of the salvation offered to us through 
 
266 CHRIST THE LIFE OF HIS PEOPLE. 
 
 him, is a matter of pure and absolute revelation. It 
 is God who has spoken, it is God who propounds it 
 to us ; we accept, in its simplicity and its fulness, 
 every word which has proceeded out of the mouth 
 of God ; and we attest our sincerity herein by sitting 
 down at the feet of Jesus, to learn of him, and by 
 resting our souls upon him. We must remember 
 also, the second great condition, which in the ver r 
 nature of the case "controls the whole questioi, 
 namely, that all these utterances of God, all that le 
 propounds concerning his only begotten Son, ace 
 matters connected, more or less, directly with the 
 salvation of lost sinners, and that herein lies the sim 
 total of our interest in it all. Thus full of the seise 
 of God's presence in his Word ; thus alive to the 
 awful interest with which that Word is invested for 
 us — there is no part of it in which we may not find 
 some manifestation of that infinite grace in vhich 
 all of it is conceived, and we shall see, with joyful 
 surprise, how directly and how continual^ this 
 recovery of our souls is its burden and its :heme. 
 Amongst ten thousand other 23assages, my teit is all 
 alive with this precious Saviour, and this gnat sal- 
 vation. To him as our life, and to the natue of the 
 life we enjoy in him, in our spiritual, our motal, and 
 our eternal being, the apostle, in this passage directs 
 our thoughts. Such is, therefore, the subject of our 
 present meditations. 
 
 Amongst the things expressly revealed o us, con- 
 cerning the origin and destiny of our race are these 
 which follow, namely, that the Lord Jesis Christ is 
 the only and the absolute Creator of the entire 
 physical universe, and every part of it ; that he is 
 
ROBERT J. BRECKINRIDGE, D. D. 267 
 
 the author of all that we call life, the bestower of 
 every thing that we understand by conscious exist- 
 ence, throughout the universe ; and that every 
 form, and every grade of what we mean by intelli- 
 gence, from the lowest manifestation of it, in any 
 living thing, up to its most exalted exhibition in his 
 presence around God's throne, is an emanation and 
 a gift from him. (John i. 1 — 14.) By the entrance 
 of sin, first into heaven, and then upon the earth, 
 this universal frame of nature has Mien under 
 God's curse ; and every creature that possesses con- 
 scious existence, and every being endowed with 
 intelligence — each in proportion to its own degree, 
 and its own connection and dependence with fallen 
 angels and fallen men — has lost its primeval estate, 
 and fallen under the divine wrath. (Gen. iii. 14 — 19 ; 
 Rom. v. 12—21, and viii. 20—23 ; Jude 6.) 
 
 The wages of sin is death, (Rom. vi. 23.) This is 
 the comprehensive, the unalterable necessity which 
 pervades the universe, and which God has an- 
 nounced to us as the simple and universal result of 
 the administration of divine justice against sinners. 
 They who sin must die ; transgression leads directly 
 to death ; in the nature of the case, and without any 
 exception, and by the eternal ordination of God, 
 when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin, and 
 sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death, (James 
 i. 15.) This terrible and universal penalty of sin 
 is set before us in the Scriptures in a threefold light. 
 
 1. In a point of view purely moral; namely, the se- 
 paration of our whole man, in this life, from the 
 likeness and favour of God — which is spiritual death. 
 
 2. In a point of view purely physical; namely, the 
 
268 CHRIST THE LIFE OF HIS FEOPLE. 
 
 separation of our souls and bodies from each other — 
 which is temporal death. 3. In a point of view re- 
 sulting from a certain combination of both the pre- 
 ceding ; namely, the ruin of our souls and bodies in 
 hell for ever — which is the second death. (Ephe- 
 sians h. 1 — 3 ; Ecclesiastes xii. 7 ; Matt. xxv. 41 ; 
 Rev. xx. 14.) To each one of these conditions, as 
 fully comprehended in the penalty of death de- 
 nounced against sin, every sinner of the human race 
 is exposed. He is liable to have the sentence of 
 death executed upon him, in every one of these as- 
 pects, in exact proportion, as to the measure of its 
 relative severity, as comparing the case of one sin- 
 ner with another, to the demerit of his offences. 
 As a sinner, he already lies under the condemnation, 
 and only awaits the full execution of the entire sen- 
 tence, because God does not desire him to perish, 
 but would rather he should turn and live. Under 
 each aspect of the penalty denounced against him 
 for his sins, is involved all the sorrows and all the 
 anguish which the very vilest can ever incur or en- 
 dure ; and he may so run to the most terrible excess 
 of riot, that the depth of his pollution and spiritual 
 death, the anguish and degradation of his physical 
 existence, and the temporal death which will close 
 it, and the eternal agonies of his soul and body in 
 hell, when the second death shall swallow him up 
 for ever — may make any sinner, who now least ex- 
 pects it, a monument of eternal horror. As sinners, 
 we are actually, to every moral intent, dead in tres- 
 passes and in sins ; as sinners, we are actually dying 
 daily, as to every physical intent ; as sinners, we 
 have not yet incurred the irreversible sentence of 
 
ROBERT J. BhECKINRIDGE, D. D. 2G9 
 
 the second death, simply because our souls and our 
 bodies are not yet separated by the stroke of tem- 
 poral death. To add to all the terrors of such a 
 condition, it is absolutely remediless by all human 
 means ; nay, even according to any human concep- 
 tion ; and the interposition of God himself is liable 
 to conditions resulting from his own glorious being, 
 and from the very nature of his relations to his 
 fallen creatures, which appal human reason, and 
 crush the wildest human hopes. We have not only 
 incurred this death — we have not only deserved it — 
 but our destiny is cast under a divine administra- 
 tion, in which there is an absolute necessity for that 
 which is deserved to be done ; an unalterable deter- 
 mination to inflict that which is incurred. 
 
 Thus are we undone ; thus are we sold under sin ; 
 thus are we shut up under the law. All behind us 
 is shame ; all within us and around us is darkness ; 
 all before us is terror. And now it is, through all 
 this gloom, and above all this despair, that heavenly 
 accents fall upon our trembling hearts: "Come unto 
 me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I 
 will give you rest!" And then the majestic utter- 
 ance, before which hell and the grave tremble, bursts 
 over our troubled souls : " He that believeth in me, 
 though he were dead, yet shall he live ; and whoso- 
 ever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die !" 
 And then the sublime and consoling appeal, at once 
 to our reason and our faith : " The first man, Adam, 
 was made a living soul ; he was of the earth, earthy; 
 as is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy; 
 and ye have borne the image of the earthy. But the 
 last Adam was made a quickening spirit; he is the 
 
270 CHRIST THE LIFE OF HIS PEOPLE. 
 
 Lord from heaven; as is the heavenly, such are 
 they also that are heavenly ; and ye shall also bear 
 the image of the heavenly." (Matt. xi. 28 ; John 
 xi. 25, 26 ; 1 Cor. xv. 45—9). "Behold the new and 
 living way ! He who knew no sin hath been made 
 sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness 
 of God in him. Jesus Christ hath abolished death, 
 and hath brought life and immortality to light 
 through the gospel." (2 Cor. v. 21 ; 2 Tim. i. 10.) 
 
 Now, then, standing in the very centre of the 
 plan of salvation, we are prepared, as we look in all 
 directions through the unsearchable riches of God's 
 grace, to appreciate with clearness the sense in 
 which Christ is our life. And knowing that all that 
 was lost through the first Adam is more than reco- 
 vered through the last, and that where sin hath 
 abounded and reigned unto death, grace shall much 
 more abound and reign through righteousness unto 
 eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord, we may, 
 with a firm hand, take up and unravel the thread of 
 our sad destiny as sinners ; and, as we retrace the 
 jDoints of our condemnation unto death, develope 
 that life of our souls, of our bodies, and of both 
 united to all eternity, which, though we be dead, is 
 hid with Christ in God. 
 
 And, First, of Christ, as the life of our souls. — If 
 you would either see or enter into the kingdom of 
 God — if you would comprehend or possess the divine 
 life — you must be born again. This is the simplest, 
 the most elemental principle of spiritual religion. 
 Do not marvel at it, said Christ to Nicodemus, for it 
 is the first and the clearest part of all that portion 
 of the mystery of Christ which is developed in this 
 
ROBERT J. BRECKINRIDGE, D. D. 271 
 
 world ; and the comprehension and reception of this 
 earthly part lie at the foundation of our ability to 
 comprehend and to possess all its heavenly parts. 
 Do you not perceive ? You are dead in sin : but 
 God so loved the world that he gave his only begot- 
 ten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not 
 perish, but have everlasting life. As Moses lifted 
 up the serpent in the wilderness, that all who looked 
 upon it might live, so is the Son of Man lifted up, a 
 sacrifice for sin, that a divine Saviour, crucified for 
 us, might become the specific object of that saving 
 faith by which, being united to him, we obtain eter- 
 nal life. For, by our union with him, he bears our 
 sins in his own body on the tree, and offers up to 
 divine justice a full satisfaction for them all. Now, 
 then, can God be just and justify those who believe 
 in Jesus Christ. But still further — this offering up 
 by Christ of himself for the redemption of his people 
 hath wrought far deeper than any outward work, 
 even for the pardon of sin. That which is spirit 
 can be born only of the Spirit; and your spirit is 
 dead, in the only sense in which a spirit can die ; it 
 is corrupt, depraved, alienated from God. The life 
 inherited from the living soul, Adam, is utterly for- 
 feited and polluted, and is incapable of being healed 
 again any more for ever — infinitely incapable of re- 
 creating itself. But there is a power adequate to 
 this new creation ; and there is, as has been already 
 shown, a ground and a cause adequate to justify it. 
 The eternal love of God is cause enough, and the 
 infinite sacrifice of his Son Jesus Christ, is ground 
 enough; and it is plain enough, that if we could 
 live at all by reason of our connection with that first 
 
272 CHRIST THE LIFE OF HIS PEOPLE. 
 
 Adam, who was only a living soul, we may also live 
 a new and better life by reason of our connection 
 with the last Adam, who is a life giving spirit. A 
 spiritual power, sent down from heaven, is therefore 
 expressly declared by Christ to be the efficient 
 agency in our new creation; and this is true, without 
 exception, concerning every one that is born again. 
 Because God has loved us with an unchangeable 
 love, Christ has redeemed us with his most precious 
 blood; and the divine Spirit of life covenanted in 
 that blood, and purchased by it, sets us free from 
 the power of sin and death, opens our eyes, and turns 
 us from darkness to light, and from the power of 
 Satan unto God, that we may receive forgiveness of 
 sins and inheritance amongst them which are sanc- 
 tified by faith that is in Christ. As the wind blow- 
 eth where it listeth, so this free Spirit, sovereign as 
 it is divine, cometh and goeth, not by mortal con- 
 trol; but so cometh and goeth as forever to justify 
 and honour Christ ; for ever to condemn the world 
 for its darkness and its evil deeds ; for ever to com- 
 fort and bless all the children of the light and the 
 truth; for ever to manifest his special presence 
 while he abides, and leave ineffaceable proofs of his 
 work when it is done. (John iii. 1 — 21.) 
 
 Verily — verily — is the reiterated assurance of 
 Christ ; marvel not — marvel not — his earnest com- 
 mand. Why should we doubt — why distrust God ? 
 This doctrine of a spiritual and supernatural regen- 
 eration is not only distinctly and continually asserted 
 throughout the Scriptures, as the very foundation of 
 the life of God in our souls, but it underlies every 
 portion of God's dealings with the human race, both 
 
ROBERT J. BRECKINRIDGE, D. D. 
 
 273 
 
 in time and eternity, as those dealings are explained 
 to us in his holy Word. When we speak of the fall 
 of man, we utter we know not what, unless we in- 
 tend to signify that man has lost the image of God 
 and needs to be restored to it. When we dilate on 
 the whole work of Christ, in his estate of humilia- 
 tion, we rob that tremendous dispensation of all its 
 significance the moment we lose sight of the condi- 
 tion of man, as helpless and depraved, and the ne- 
 cessity of a divine intervention to save him from 
 perdition. When we speak of the entire work of 
 the Holy Ghost, we utter sheer nonsense, unless we 
 mean that man needs, and that God has provided, in 
 the agency of that Spirit, the effectual means of his 
 moral renovation. When we think of God as the 
 moral ruler and final judge of a race of sinners, we 
 have no alternative but to admit the universal de- 
 struction of the whole race, or to admit the existence 
 of some divine and efficacious mode of restoring a 
 sinful soul to God. When we contemplate our race 
 as rational creatures, having any souls at all, no 
 matter how sinful those souls may be, it is the 
 merest absurdity to speak of any regeneration for 
 them that is not purely spiritual; and when we 
 survey them as helpless creatures, morally helpless 
 through their depravity, though still spiritual crea- 
 tures, every thing short of supernatural aid is a 
 mere trifling with their despair. Every part of the 
 plan of salvation revealed in the Scriptures involves 
 the idea of a supernatural and spiritual regeneration 
 of the soul of man ; and every fact upon which that 
 glorious plan rests, and every issue to which it 
 points, is contradicted and rendered nugatory the 
 
 19 
 
274 CHRIST THE LIFE OF HIS FEOPLE. 
 
 moment we reject the doctrine of the Holy Ghost 
 in its divine fulness. And then, to crown all, and 
 as if to set in the most awful light God's estimate 
 of the necessity under which we lie, to perish if we 
 are not born again, and of the clearness with which 
 that necessity is revealed to men, he forewarns us 
 that the sin against the Holy Ghost is one for whose 
 pardon Ave need not pray, for it will never be for- 
 given! Yet, beyond all doubt, a low appreciation 
 of the work of God's Spirit in the hearts of the chil- 
 dren of men lies at the root of most of the heresies 
 that now dishonour and deface the nominal Church 
 of God, and is the cause of most of the deadness and 
 unfruitfulness of the true followers of Christ. Be- 
 lief in the emcaty of forms and ceremonies, confi- 
 dence in the power of rites and ordinances, bigotted 
 advocacy of errors and delusions, daring rejection 
 of saving truths, growing indifference to instructive 
 and pungent ministrations, aversion to strictness in 
 doctrine and in life, mournful departures from 
 simplicity and spirituality, shallow interpretations 
 of God's word, increase of ostentation and laxity in 
 all religious things, and wide spread restlessness, 
 commotion, and love of carnal excitement in spiritual 
 matters ; all these, and how many other sorrowful 
 proofs rise upon every side, to attest that the work 
 of the Spirit is not cherished amongst men, and that 
 Christ is not the life of their souls in that exalted 
 sense which the Scriptures inculcate, and which 
 other times have witnessed. It is the Spirit that 
 quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. (John vi. 
 43—65.) 
 
 Still, the life of God in the soul remains the fun- 
 
ROBERT J. BRECKINRIDGE, D. D. 275 
 
 damental necessity of every renewed heart, as it is 
 the first and simplest element of practical Christi- 
 anity ; and in connection with the aspect of it pre- 
 sented in my text, there are several things fur- 
 ther which ought to be briefly suggested, before I 
 pass from this topic. You will note, in the first 
 place, the peculiar turn of the ■ apostle's thought. 
 He does not content himself w T ith saying, that "we 
 have a life derived from Christ, nor yet that Christ 
 has bestowed on us a life essentially like his own ; 
 but he mounts to the loftiest height, and declares 
 that Christ is himself our life ! Christ is found in 
 his people, the hope of glory. In receiving, accept- 
 ing, and relying upon him, there is a lofty and hal- 
 lowed sense in which they are nourished by him. I 
 am, said he, the bread of life ! (John vi. 48.) Be- 
 side all that Christ has uttered — and he spake as 
 never man spake ; beside all that he hath done for 
 us — and he hath done more than it has entered into 
 our hearts to conceive ; there is Christ himself, the 
 friend, the teacher, the master, the Saviour, the 
 very life of our souls ! Again : you are to remem- 
 ber that this abolishing of our spiritual death by 
 Christ, and this regeneration of our souls by his 
 Spirit, is the condition not only of all other and 
 further mercies to be received through him, but, in 
 part, constitutes our very capacity to enjoy any of 
 them aright, and the chief of them at all. The 
 carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not sub- 
 ject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 
 Without form and without comeliness ; or the chief- 
 est amongst ten thousand, and altogether lovely; 
 one or other of these two is the only view we can 
 
276 CHRIST THE LIFE OF HIS PEOPLE. 
 
 take of him. One is the view of a dead soul, hast- 
 ening to perdition, and fit only for it. The other 
 is the view of a living soul, renewed in the image 
 of the invisible God, and meet to partake of the 
 inheritance of the saints in light. Once more : you 
 will bear in mind that the Lord has said, this spi- 
 ritual regeneration is an earthly, in contradistinction 
 to a heavenly, thing. It must occur, if it occurs at 
 all, while you are in the flesh. The life of Jesus, 
 if it is ever manifested in us, " must be made mani- 
 fest in our body" — " in our mortal flesh." (2 Cor. iv. 
 10, 11.) Temporal death puts an end for ever, to 
 every hoj)e of impenitent men. From the instant 
 that the soul and the body are separated, the expec- 
 tation of the wicked shall perish. Whatsoever thy 
 hand findeth to do, do with thy might ; for there is 
 no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in 
 the grave, whither thou goest. (Eccl. ix. 10.) Still 
 further : you may rejoice in the divine assurance, 
 that the gift of this new and imperishable life in 
 Jesus Christ, draws after it every other blessing, and 
 every other benefit of the covenant of grace, in so 
 far as is needful to bring you off more than con- 
 querors, through him that loved us. Many toils — 
 many tears — fightings without — fears within — trou- 
 bles on every hand — fierce temptations — fearful 
 backslidings — the malice of hell — the plagues of 
 your heart ! It is no light thing to make such sin- 
 ners angels of light. Nevertheless it can be done. 
 It has been done. It will be done again. If when 
 w r e were enemies we were reconciled to God by the 
 death of his Son, much more being reconciled we 
 shall be saved by his life ! For I am persuaded that 
 
ROBERT J. BRECKINRIDGE, D. D. 277 
 
 neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, 
 nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 
 nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall 
 be able to separate us from the love of God which 
 is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. v. 10, and viii. 
 38, 39.) And finally : you may, take continual 
 comfort, and make continual progress in that new 
 life into which you have been begotten by the Holy 
 Ghost ; more and more of the knowledge of God ; 
 a conformity unto him, greater and greater ; an in- 
 sight into his word, and into divine things, deeper 
 and deeper ; a love of Christ more and more fervent ; 
 a more rooted abhorrence of all sin ; increasing joy 
 in the Holy Ghost ; compassion for sinners, tenderer 
 every day ; hardness borne as becomes a good soldier 
 of the cross ; the good fight of faith manfully waged; 
 the cross borne aloft through our pilgrimage ; Christ, 
 and him crucified, more and more the life of our 
 souls ! For the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the 
 whole family in heaven and earth is named, doth 
 grant, according to the riches of his glory, that you 
 may be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the 
 inner man ; that Christ may dwell in your hearts 
 by faith ; that ye, being rooted and grounded in 
 love, may 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 pass- 
 eth knowledge, that ye may be-filled with all the ful- 
 ness of God. Therefore, unto him that is able to do 
 exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, 
 according to the power that worketh in us, unto him 
 be glory in the Church, by Christ Jesus, throughout 
 all ages, .world without end. (Eph. iii. 10 — 21.) 
 
278 CHRIST THE LIFE OF HIS PEOPLE. 
 
 Secondly — Of Christ as the life of our mortal na- 
 ture. I remind you that the whole doctrine of 
 Christ is matter of pure revelation. It is only from 
 God himself that we can know what Christ is, and 
 what Christ does. All this is not less true concern- 
 ing every portion of Christ's work in us, and every 
 part of our relations to him, than concerning the es- 
 sential truths which relate to his own being, and to 
 his relations to the Godhead, and to the whole uni- 
 verse, of which he is the central object. 
 
 Temporal death, as we call the separation of the 
 human soul and body, is to the human race the di- 
 rect result of the entrance of sin into the world. 
 God not only forewarned Adam of a fact infinitely 
 certain, in the nature of that dependence in which 
 the whole creation stood, but denounced to him the 
 ordained penalty of transgression, when he told him 
 that in the day he should eat of the tree of the 
 knowledge of good and evil, "dying he should die." 
 From that moment he and all his race should endure 
 the power, and incur the judgment of death in their 
 bodies, as well as pollution in their souls ; and start- 
 ing from that point of deliberate rejection of God, 
 dying they should die, man after man, and genera- 
 tion after generation, as long as the curse of a vio- 
 lated covenant, and the penalty of a broken law, 
 worked together with the power of sin in the ruins 
 of their Mien nature. And then, after the work of 
 ruin was begun, and to prevent the immortal con- 
 tinuance of death itself upon the earth, "lest he put 
 forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, 
 and live for ever," the Lord God drove out the man 
 from the garden of Eden, and placed a cherubim and a 
 
ROBERT J. BRECKINRIDGE, D. D. 279 
 
 ilaming sword to keep the way of the tree of liie. 
 (Gen. ii. 17, and iii. 22 — 24.) Expounding and en- 
 forcing these solemn truths, prophets and apostles 
 have argued the whole matter with unusual fulness, 
 and made it clear above most of the wonders of our 
 being. By one man, even Adam, sin entered into 
 the world, and death by sin ; and so death passed 
 upon all men, for that all have sinned. That offence 
 was an act of deliberate disobedience ; and that death 
 which followed it, was not only a condemnation, but 
 a judgment. And if we shall say that death reigned 
 from Adam to Moses, that is, before the giving of the 
 law, and that sin is not imputed when there is no 
 law, and, therefore, death cannot be either the fruit 
 or the penalty of sin ; the divine answer is, that we 
 have just perverted the facts and drawn an inference 
 that is precisely opposite to the one which those facts 
 imply. For as death is both the fruit and the pen- 
 alty of sin, God being the judge, the reign of death, 
 before the law was given, proves that there is a law 
 deeper than that given by Moses, even that cove- 
 nant of works, under whose curse we lie, and that 
 law of our very being, created in the image of God, 
 and that law of eternal order, and fitness, and truth, 
 which is involved in the very being of God, and to 
 which he has made the human conscience respon- 
 sive ; and that the violation of each one of these 
 primeval laws is, in a proper sense, sin, and is im- 
 puted. Again, if we answer further, that death 
 reigned, even from the beginning, over those who 
 never sinned after the similitude of Adam's trans- 
 gression ; that is, over those who never wilfully trans- 
 gressed the known law of God, and, therefore, this 
 
280 CHRIST THE LIFE OF HIS PEOPLE. 
 
 plainly shows that death is neither the fruit nor the 
 penalty of sin, the divine response is, that herein 
 we abuse ourselves by a false idea of sin, as before 
 by a false idea of law; for the fundamental truth 
 being, that death is the result of sin, simply, abso- 
 lutely and universally, in the absence of known law 
 and deliberate transgression, death proves the ex- 
 istence of that which is properly sin, and which God 
 will impute ; namely, sin in our very being, original 
 and congenital with us, derived from the first parent 
 of our race, as its natural and its covenanted head, 
 in whom we fell. And again, if we now turn to at- 
 tack the very nature of such an order of things, and 
 urge that it cannot be after this fashion, because it 
 involves that the sin of Adam should be imputed to 
 his race ; that through the offence of one man judg- 
 ment should come upon all men to condemnation ; 
 that for one offence so terrible and universal ruin 
 should occur; and that by the fall and death of one 
 man death should pass upon all men ; the divine an- 
 swer is, that as before we deceived ourselves as to 
 the nature of sin, and the nature of law, so here we 
 delude ourselves about the nature of God's relations 
 to his creatures, and attack the very foundations of di- 
 vine grace. For the righteousness of Christ must be 
 imputed to his people ; the obedience and sacrifice of 
 Christ must lie at the foundation of that free gift which 
 came upon all men to justification of life ; and by one 
 man, even Jesus Christ, and by one sacrifice of him- 
 self, grace must reign through righteousness unto eter- 
 nal life ; or else, where sin has abounded it must con- 
 tinue to abound for ever, and where death has reigned 
 it must continue to reign eternally. Rom. v. 12 — 21. 
 
ROBERT J. BRECKINRIDGE, D. D. 281 
 
 Taking their start from this point, the Scriptures 
 develope the whole dispensation of man. For 
 awhile he abides here on earth, his ordinary condi- 
 tion being that of an immortal but sinful soul united 
 to a mortal and sinful body, and his best estate that 
 of a partially sanctified soul united to that mortal 
 and sinful body. His soul may be regenerated, and 
 to a certain degree sanctified, while in union Math 
 the body ; and this change, as has been shown, must 
 occur during that union here below, or never occur 
 at all. By and by he dies. His soul and his body 
 are separated ; the latter returning to the dust, as it 
 was — the former to God who gave it. In their 
 separated state, regenerated souls pass at death into 
 the presence and fruition of God; and impenitent 
 souls pass to a place of torment. Of the whole 
 human race two men only, Enoch and Elijah, have 
 as yet escaped the stroke of death ; and at the se- 
 cond coming of Christ, his people who are then alive 
 will also escape that stroke. (1 Cor. xv. 31 ; 1 Thess. 
 iv. 15 — 17.) But that second coming of Christ will 
 cut short this dispensation of man upon earth, and 
 bring death itself to its second great arbitrement. 
 The dead will arise. A resurrection of life — a re- 
 surrection of damnation. This is the end of tem- 
 poral death. The souls and the bodies of men are 
 united once more, and so united will undergo the 
 final judgment. (1 Cor. xv.) 
 
 It is said of our divine Redeemer, that in order 
 that he might be a merciful and faithful High 
 Priest, it behooved him to be made like unto his 
 brethren in all things. (Heb. ii. 17.) In every part, 
 therefore, of this human dispensation, this resem- 
 
282 CHRIST THE LIFE OF HIS PEOPLE. 
 
 blance exists to the utmost degree possible. He has 
 taken a true human soul, and a true human body, 
 into ineffable and eternal union with his divine 
 nature. The man Jesus of Nazareth was as really 
 a man as any man that ever was born of woman, 
 though supernaturally made in the womb of the 
 virgin Mary, and so not begotten under the cove- 
 nant of works, and thus not polluted by original sin. 
 He tabernacled amongst men — tempted in all points 
 like as they are, and bearing all those temporal 
 sorrows which the Scriptures embrace under the 
 wide appellation of death — so far as that was possi- 
 ble to one free from sin. Being sinless, he was, so 
 to speak, naturally free from temporal death, in its 
 proper sense, whether as the fruit or the penalty of 
 sin. Though he was crucified, yet it is also true 
 that he laid down his life, of which there was no 
 power in the universe that was able to rob him. 
 (John x. 18.) Like his brethren, who are to be 
 changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, 
 he was transfigured upon the mount. Like his 
 brethren, who endure the stroke of death, he also 
 gave up the ghost. Like his brethren, whose sepa- 
 rate souls dwell with God, while their bodies sleep 
 in the grave, his separate human soul was in the 
 bosom of God, while his human body laid three days 
 in the sepulchre. Like his brethren, who are to 
 arise and shine, he first of all arose from the dead. 
 And so we may not doubt that the parallel will 
 complete itself utterly; and his brethren like him 
 will yet walk the earth in their resurrection bodies, 
 and then ascend like him in glory to the highest 
 heavens ! (Rev. xx. 4, 6, 15.) 
 
ROBERT J. BRECKINRIDGE, D. D. 283 
 
 Now, then, I may group together, as under the 
 preceding head, several topics too essentially con- 
 nected with the subject matter of my text, to be 
 passed by even in the briefest exposition of the sub- 
 ject. And, first : you will perceive how absolutely 
 our life depends on Christ, and how completely the 
 whole scheme of the resurrection rests upon him 
 and terminates in him. Since the fall, we are as 
 essentially mortal as we are depraved. In him we 
 not only live and move and have our being ; by him 
 and for him not only were all things created, and 
 by him do all things consist ; but, since by man came 
 death, by man came also the resurrection of the 
 dead; for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall 
 all be made alive. (1 Cor. xv. 21, 22.) Except by 
 the power of Christ, and for the sake of Christ, there 
 is no reason why the human race, or any individual 
 of it, should live for a single moment, or receive a 
 single mercy while they live ; or why, having died, 
 they should rise again from the dead ; just as there 
 is no reason why any human being should be either 
 regenerated or sanctified, except for the sake and by 
 the work of Christ ; for to this end Christ both died, 
 and rose, and revived, that he might be the Lord 
 both of the dead and living. (Rom. xiv. 9.) Again: 
 It is very obvious from what has just been said, how 
 fundamental to the whole theory of Christianity, and 
 therefore to the whole destiny of man, is the fact of 
 the resurrection of Christ himself. To establish this 
 fact is one main end of all the Gospels ; to illustrate 
 its bearing is one capital object in all the discourses 
 of the apostles and inspired evangelists that have 
 come down to us ; and to settle it in our hearts as 
 
284 CHRIST THE LIFE OF HIS PEOFLE. 
 
 a truth, at once infinitely certain and infinitely preg- 
 nant, is the aim of perhaps a larger portion of the 
 New Testament Scriptures than is devoted to any 
 other single point ; for if Christ did not rise from 
 the dead, then we shall never rise; then is our 
 preaching vain, and your faith vain ; then are the 
 apostles false witnesses of God, and we are yet in 
 our sins, and all they which are fallen asleep in 
 Christ are perished. But if Christ, who is the image 
 of the invisible God, and the first born of every crea- 
 ture, has risen from the dead and become the first 
 fruits of them that slept, then it is certain that in 
 him shall all be made alive, every man in his own 
 order, and next after Christ himself they that are 
 Christ's at his coming. (1 Cor. xv. 3 — 23.) Still 
 further : though the union of the divine and hu- 
 man natures in the person of Christ, and his death 
 and resurrection, establish the unalterable certainty 
 of the utter destruction of temporal death and the 
 resurrection of the whole human race, yet the resur- 
 rection of the righteous, and the resurrection of the 
 wicked, will be infinitely diverse in their manner 
 and in their results. It is of the bodies of men only 
 that the Scriptures predicate the idea, and proclaim 
 the fact, of a resurrection. Death and resurrection 
 will produce on the bodies of the righteous a change 
 so far analogous as is possible to the change wrought 
 upon their souls by regeneration and sanctification ; 
 and they will in like manner produce upon the bodies 
 of the wicked a change analogous to that produced 
 in their souls, by the total and final withdrawal of 
 the Holy Spirit from them, and their own complete 
 and irreversible rejection of Christ and salvation. 
 
ROBERT J. BKECKINRIDGE, D. D. 285 
 
 There will be a resurrection of life and a resurrec- 
 tion of damnation. In the latter, the wicked will 
 rise to shame and everlasting contempt ; monuments 
 of dishonour, of corruption and of the second death. 
 In the former, the righteous will arise to incorrup- 
 tion, immortality and eternal glory ; monuments of 
 the grace of God and of the triumph of Christ over 
 his last enemy. (Eev. xx. 4 — 15.) Once more: in 
 the very nature of the whole case, as the Scriptures 
 open it to us, the necessity of our enduring what we 
 do, is clearly set forth. God has provided for us an 
 immortal existence, not here, but in another and 
 higher estate. For his own glory, and for our 
 blessedness, the scheme of redemption is so arranged 
 as to operate upon us partly while our souls and 
 bodies are united, partly after they are separated, 
 and partly after they are united again. In the first 
 period of its operation, it proposes to do nothing di- 
 rectly for our mortal nature, beyond what is involved 
 in the bearing of its provisions for our immortal part 
 upon our mortal during its pilgrimage. Therefore 
 we suffer, and weep, and die. Jesus himself suf- 
 fered, and wept, and died. Yet even in these con- 
 ditions the grace of God presses to the very limit of 
 the possibility which his own glorious goodness and 
 wisdom had established. Our sufferings are made 
 the means of drawing us to Christ and perfecting us 
 in holiness ; our tears are wiped away as they flow, 
 by the hand of God himself; all the struggles through 
 which we pass give greater vigour to the life of God 
 within us ; when we come to die, our very death is 
 precious in the sight of God, and the grave yields to 
 us a glorious victory ; and then comes the resurrec- 
 
286 CHRIST THE LIFE OF HIS PEOPLE. 
 
 tion, to own and crown us heirs of light! (Psalms 
 xxxvii ; Kom. viii.) And, finally : from the begin- 
 ning to the end of all, how completely is Christ our 
 life; and how wonderfully is the foundation of all 
 laid, and the surprising result brought about ! In 
 such a world as this, what would w T e be without a 
 throne of grace to which we could flee ? Amidst 
 the afflictions and temptations of life, what are we 
 without divine support ? Under the burden of sin, 
 and the doom of impending death, and the darkness 
 of a fathomless eternity, whither can we turn with- 
 out a Saviour ? But who would ever have thought, 
 with hearts full of enmity to God, of asking him tc 
 save us, by the sacrifice of his only begotten Son ? 
 Who would have conceived the idea of the incarna- 
 tion, or, after it, that of redemption by the blood of 
 Christ ? Who would have imagined the stupendous 
 concatenation of removing the sting of death by 
 removing the virulence of sin ; of getting rid of the 
 guilt of sin by satisfying the law which denounced 
 it ; of silencing the law itself, by enduring its curse 
 and penalty ; of conquering death, which the law 
 denounced, by entering into the consuming and piti- 
 less grave ? In such a case, such a plan, with such 
 a result ! Oh ! the depth of the riches both of the 
 wisdom and knowledge of God ! Oh ! the unsearch- 
 able riches of Christ! (1 Cor. xv. 54 — 58; Eph. 
 iii. 8—21.) 
 
 Thirdly, of Christ as the life of our eternal being. 
 The Scriptures hardly recognize what we ordinarily 
 call life, as an estate worthy of that name. The 
 pollution of our moral nature, the darkness of our 
 rational faculties, and the perishing and suffering 
 
ROBERT J. BRECKINRIDGE, D. D. 287 
 
 condition of our physical man, make up an estate 
 not so much of life as of living death ; the resur- 
 rection of the wicked is expressly distinguished from 
 a resurrection of life, by being called a resurrection 
 of damnation ; and the final estate of the impeni- 
 tent is denominated their second death — the doom 
 of Satan, and of all who are deceived by him, of 
 " the beast and the false prophet," and of all whose 
 names are not found written in the Book of Life, 
 (Rev. xx. 10 — 15.) God alone hath life in himself; 
 and the Lord Jesus, claiming for himself this divine 
 prerogative, and the right, at his own good pleasure, 
 to bestow life upon others, expressly sets it forth as 
 'a proof of his own Godhead. Himself the way, the 
 truth, and the life, it was his express errand upon 
 earth to bestow eternal life upon as many as the 
 Father had given him ; and this, saith he, is life 
 eternal, that they might know thee, the only true 
 God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. (John 
 v. 2G, and xvii. 3.) I have already traced the ope- 
 ration of this incorruptible life in man, up to the 
 period of the resurrection. It remains, under the 
 present topic, to indicate briefly its after course. 
 
 God hath appointed a day, in the which he will 
 judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom 
 he hath ordained ; whereof he hath given assurance 
 unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the 
 dead. (Acts xvii. 31.) This, you will observe, is the 
 pith of the crushing argument w r hy men ought to 
 repent of their sins, addressed by the great apostle 
 of the Gentiles to the Epicurean and Stoic philoso- 
 phers in the Areopagus at Athens ; the last men to 
 hear, and the last place in which to utter such an 
 
288 CHRIST THE LIFE OF HIS PEOPLE. 
 
 appeal, unless there was that in it to which the hu- 
 man conscience responds, and on which the human 
 reason may rest. Somewhat dilated the argument 
 might run thus : You are sensible of your ill desert, 
 and that you ought to be held accountable for it ; the 
 proper result of that state of mind is repentance ; but 
 this is the more urgent when you consider that your 
 inward sense of ill desert and accountability is but 
 the shadow of your impending destiny, for the true 
 God has in fact appointed not only a time to judge 
 you, but also the judge, even Jesus Christ, whom I 
 preach unto you ; and of these truths he has given 
 you absolute assurance in the resurrection of Jesus, 
 which resurrection not only I, and hundreds besides, 
 still live to attest, but which the power of the divine 
 truths I proclaim, and the power of the eternal 
 Spirit accompanying those truths in your souls, 
 which truths and which Spirit alike proceed from 
 Christ, enforces with an intimate and divine demon- 
 stration. Probably not one of these sceptics and fa- 
 talists had ever, before he saw Paul, had any distinct 
 idea of any single one of all the great elements of 
 this universal and overwhelming argument, delivered 
 that day on Mars' hill. Natural enough, therefore, 
 was it that some mocked, and that others doubted ; 
 and most natural of all that the link they struck at 
 in the argument was the one they knew least about, 
 and on which all turned — the resurrection of the 
 dead ; for even they could see, and that on the first 
 hearing, that if that were true, all the rest must 
 needs follow. Howbeit, Dionysius the Areopagite, 
 and certain men beside, and a woman named Dama- 
 ris, and others with her, clave unto Paul and be- 
 
ROBERT J. BRECKINRIDGE, D. D. 2S'J 
 
 lieved ; God thus attesting that his servant had 
 divine warrant for what he uttered. And therein, 
 through eighteen centuries, clown to this very hour, 
 the proclamation of this impending judgment — of its 
 divine demonstration — and of its eternal issues — has 
 been the burden of the message of Christ's servants 
 to a ruined world. To it we are now come. 
 
 Let us stand first in the midst of the just, that we 
 may see how completely Christ, in this tremendous 
 period of their being, is to every one of them eternal 
 life. Here are the redeemed of every race — every 
 age. Patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs — all are 
 there. They who had seen from afar the promised 
 Messiah ; the}- who had followed him as he went in 
 and out upon earth, despised and rejected of men ; 
 they who had heard and believed, through all suc- 
 ceeding ages, the sound of him, as it went out through 
 the whole world, not one of them is missing. The 
 throng that had fought the good fight; the hosts 
 that had passed through great tribulation ; the mul- 
 titudes who had sung the song of rejoicing, and the 
 still greater multitudes who had wept all along the 
 ascent of Zion ; pilgrims who had counted their 
 years by centuries ; pilgrims whose days had been 
 few and evil ; pilgrims snatched from the evil to 
 come, who had seen of earth only the valley of 
 the shadow of death ; multitudes — multitudes — thou- 
 sand thousands — ten thousand times ten thousand ! 
 Here and there are scattered those who never tasted 
 death ; they had been changed in a moment at the 
 coming of the Lord. The rest had been with Christ 
 in glory, and their sleeping dust had heard the 
 
 trump of God ; and now they stand arrayed in glo- 
 20 
 
290 CHRIST THE LIFE OF HIS PEOPLE. 
 
 rious, spiritual bodies. Mortal has put on immor- 
 tality ; death is swallowed up in victory ! And yet 
 it is judgment, eternal judgment, to which they have 
 come. And there are thrones, and dominions, and 
 principalities, and powers, and heavenly hierarchies 
 — all the exalted spirits of the upper world. And in 
 the midst of all — enthroned in light that is inacces- 
 sible and full of glory — one like unto the Son of 
 man — the Judge of quick and dead ! Think of Pi- 
 late's bar — where he once stood and was condemned, 
 and then see him seated on the throne of the uni- 
 verse, with all that universe contains of pure and 
 good, waiting with adoring trust to hear his judg- 
 ments. Think of his crown of thorns, and then 
 behold the diadems which are cast down before him, 
 in token of exulting love that will not be repressed ! 
 Think of the cruel mockings, the unpitied agony of 
 Calvary, and then listen to the triumphant alleluias 
 that arise around his throne, and, mounting with 
 eternal melody, strain after strain, from countless 
 millions, re-echo from the highest spheres, and swell 
 beyond the farthest star ! Alleluia ! salvation, and 
 glory, and honour, and power unto the Lord our 
 God ! Alleluia ! King of Kings, and Lord of Lords ! 
 (Matt. xxv. 31 ; Rev. v. 9—13 ; xv. 3 ; xix. 1—16.) 
 Yes, it is a judgment, but a judgment of the just 
 made perfect. Of the countless millions who have 
 part in that resurrection of life, there is not one who 
 has not been washed in the blood of the Lamb, and 
 been made a king and a priest unto God. (Rev. i. 
 5 — 6.) It is not a judgment to ascertain whether 
 they will be saved or not — for they are saved al- 
 ready ; nor to ascertain whether they are worthy of 
 
 J 
 
ROBERT J. BRECKINRIDGE, D. D. 291 
 
 eternal life — for every one of them has already re- 
 ceived it at the hands of Christ. Most of them have 
 been with him in glory; the rest were changed, and 
 caught up to him, at his second coming. But still 
 the Books are opened — that Book which is the rule 
 of eternal judgment — God's blessed Word, which we 
 have in our hands to-day ; the Books of convincing 
 testimony, in which is written the whole record of 
 our lives ; the Book, also, in which are set down the 
 names of the redeemed — the Lamb's Book of Life ! 
 One by one the story of every saved sinner is traced. 
 All the secrets of his heart are revealed — all the ac- 
 tions of his life are recounted — all the greatness of 
 his ill desert established and confessed. But along 
 with all this, the dealings of Christ with his soul — 
 the commencement, the progress, the consummation, 
 of the grace of God towards him — the life of God 
 within him. And then his glorified Saviour, the 
 God-man, proclaims, as King of Kings, the result he 
 has reached as eternal Judge, and the precise method 
 of that result in that individual case. Come, ye 
 blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared 
 for you from the foundation of the world ! Here is 
 the mansion you are to inhabit for evermore; here 
 is your seat at the marriage supper of the Lamb ; 
 here is the light with which you are to shine to all 
 eternity ; here is the service in which you are to be 
 glorified for ever and ever ! Enter into the joy of 
 your Lord ; inherit eternal life ! And then new al- 
 leluias arise from all the armies of Heaven! And 
 so another exhibition of God's method of grace and 
 salvation, and renewed alleluias. And then another, 
 and another, and another; onward, and onward, as 
 
202 CHRIST THE LIFE OF HIS PEOPLE. 
 
 the eternal cycles pass over a universe in which time 
 no longer exists to be measured ; until every mani- 
 festation of God's grace in every redeemed sinner 
 shall be exhibited to all the angels of God, and to 
 all the just made perfect; and until the fact and the 
 method of salvation, in the case of every saved sin- 
 ner, shall be judicially ascertained, and the position 
 of each one in the heavenly hosts proclaimed from 
 the throne of God, in the hearing of all worlds ! Oh ! 
 what majesty to God ; what blessedness to the re- 
 deemed; what glory with Christ their life in this 
 first period of their eternal being, as they reign with 
 him in the heavenly Jerusalem, and expatiate 
 through a universe wherein he has made all things 
 new ! (Matt, xxv. ; 2 Pet. iii. ; Rev. xx.) 
 
 And where are the impenitent ? David has told 
 us long ago that sinners shall not stand in the con- 
 gregation, nor the ungodly in the judgment of the 
 righteous. (Psalm i. 5.) Christ himself has said, that 
 when he comes in glory he will separate the blessed 
 from the accursed, as a shepherd separates his sheep 
 from his goats, and then will judge the righteous 
 first, and afterwards doom the accursed. (Matt. 
 xxv. 32.) "We are abundantly informed that there 
 is a first and a second resurrection ; that there is an 
 eternal order, both in the resurrection and the judg- 
 ment, by which the triumphant acquittal of the re- 
 deemed precedes the doom of the wicked ; and by 
 which the rest of the dead live not again till the 
 thousand years are fulfilled, during which those who 
 have part in the first resurrection live and reign with 
 Christ. (1 Cor. xv. 23. Rom. xx. 3 — 6.) And now, 
 when the hour is come for the Lord Jesus to be re- 
 
ROBERT J. BRECKINRIDGE, D. D. 293 
 
 vealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flam- 
 ing fire, to take vengeance on them that know not 
 God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, they shall be punished with everlasting de- 
 struction from the presence of the Lord, and from 
 the glory of his power. (2 Thess. i. 7 — 8.) Now is 
 the hour fully come for fire to come down from God 
 out of heaven and destroy all the wicked ; for hell 
 to give up the dead that are in it ; for Satan to be 
 cast into the lake of fire ; for death and hell to per- 
 ish ; for the enemies of God to be tormented day and 
 night for ever and ever ; for the second death to be- 
 gin its interminable reign ! (Rev. xx.) As we con- 
 template this scene of horror, and bear in mind that 
 we have deserved to incur its eternal woe, and will 
 escape it only because Christ is our life, we ought to' 
 have some foretaste of the thrill with which the 
 hosts of God turn away from the abyss and shout 
 hosannah to the Lamb ! 
 
 There is another point. The Scriptures teach us, 
 with abundant clearness, that although every part 
 of the dispensation of God's grace has direct relation 
 to the person, the work and the glory of Christ, yet 
 Christ occupies, in many respects, a different posi- 
 tion under each successive development of the whole 
 plan of God's infinite mercy. During his personal 
 ministry on earth, he occupied a position materially 
 dissimilar to any he had ever occupied before ; and 
 so now, seated at the right hand of God, his position 
 is widely different from what it had ever been before 
 his infinite exaltation. In like manner, when the 
 dispensation of grace, strictly so called, is ended by 
 the second coining of Christ and the resurrection of 
 
294 CHRIST THE LIFE OF HIS PEOPLE. 
 
 the righteous, a new aspect of his work and his rela- 
 tion to his people manifests itself; and again an- 
 other, in all that constitutes the judgment and ac- 
 quittal of the righteous, and the doom of the wicked. 
 After these things, what will follow ? Let us hear 
 what the Holy Ghost saith. In his great discourse 
 on the day of Pentecost, under which three thousand 
 souls believed, and in his second mighty exposition 
 a little after, in the temple, under which five thou- 
 sand men believed, the apostle Peter carries us far 
 into these sublime events. The heavens must re- 
 ceive Jesus Christ, said he, until the times of the 
 restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by 
 the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world 
 began ; and he urged that great testimony of David : 
 " The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right 
 hand until I make thy foes thy footstool." (Acts ii. 
 34, and iii. 21.) That exaltation and that reign of 
 Christ was not, therefore, the final dispensation ; it 
 was a dispensation and a reign until such a time and 
 such events. I suppose the second coming of Christ, 
 and the resurrection of the righteous dead, will de- 
 velope what was wrapped up in that until. Again : 
 in the revelation of Jesus Christ, amongst the infi- 
 nite blessings and glories promised to those who 
 shall come off conquerors, the crowning promise is : 
 " To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with 
 me in my throne, even as I also overcame and am 
 set down with my Father on his throne." (Rev. iii. 
 21.) Here is a very broad distinction between the 
 throne of the Father and that of the glorified God- 
 man ; and a very clear indication that, as yet, the 
 latter had not been ascended; that until before 
 
ROBERT J. BRECKINRIDGE, D. D. 295 
 
 spoken of stood between the two thrones ; the whole 
 period, namely, from the ascension of Jesus Christ 
 till his second coming. Now, of those who have 
 part in the first resurrection is it expressly written, 
 that they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand 
 years. (Rev. xx. 4, 5.) The Lord Jesus plainly said 
 to his apostles, that 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. 
 (Matt, xix. 28.) And the apostle Paul, in his trea- 
 tise on the resurrection, declares that the resurrec- 
 tion of Christ's people, at his second coming, will be 
 followed by the reign of Christ till he has put all his 
 enemies under his feet, and that the last enemy that 
 shall be destroyed is death. (1 Cor. xv. 23, 25, 26.) 
 Here, then, is another limitation, another until; and 
 as we are told that death will be destroyed when 
 Satan is cast into hell, and the wicked enter upon 
 the second death, (Rev. xx. 10, 14,) this until is ex- 
 plained to us, and a new development of the dispen- 
 sation of Christ intimated to commence after the 
 doom of the wicked. There remains, therefore, 
 after that, another development of the eternal life 
 of the blessed; and the Scriptures briefly, but clearly, 
 initiate us into the knowledge of it. 
 
 In the passage just cited from the first epistle to 
 the Corinthians, this order is declared touching the 
 sublime topic of which the apostle is treating. 
 First, the resurrection of Christ himself; afterward, 
 who can tell how long afterward ? the second coining 
 of Christ, and the resurrection of his people at that 
 coming; then, when he shall have put down all 
 rule, and all authority, and all power, and shall 
 
296 CHRIST THE LIFE OF HIS PEOPLE. 
 
 have destroyed death, then, after that reign of the 
 saints with Christ, cometh the end! (1 Cor. xv. 
 23—26.) And then will Christ deliver up the 
 kingdom to God, even the Father, (verse 24.) He 
 will deliver up the kingdom to the Father, upon the 
 Lamb's Book of Life, (Rev. xx. 15, and xxi. 27,) that 
 glorious record containing a complete list of their 
 names, and being of itself a perfect evidence of their 
 redemption, their regeneration, their sanctification, 
 their glorious resurrection, their acquittal in the day 
 of judgment, their reign with Christ, and their 
 right, through him, to inherit the eternal kingdom. 
 And then shall the Son also himself be subject unto 
 Him thai put all things under him, that God may 
 be all in all. (1 Cor. xv. 28.) And here made 
 partakers of the divine nature — admitted to the 
 immediate presence and full fruition of God — made 
 perfectly blessed in the enjoyment of him — the 
 Scriptures launch us upon this eternal and incon- 
 ceivably glorious and exalted state of existence, and 
 close the revelations of God ! The dispensation of 
 Jesus Christ, as the Redeemer of God's elect, has 
 passed through all its wondrous phases ; the king- 
 dom, the power, and the glory, have all been illus- 
 trated and established ; nothing remains that is not 
 subject to him, except only He which did put all 
 things under him (1 Cor. xv. 27); the end is fully 
 reached, in that highest conception which mortals 
 can have of it, that God is all in all ! The human 
 race, too, has passed through all its revealed phases ; 
 its existence upon earth ; its existence after death ; 
 its existence after the resurrection; and its high 
 service and enjoyment of God in glory to all eter- 
 
OP,' 
 
 ROBERT J. BRECKINRIDGE, D. D. Z\) I 
 
 nity, is begun. In the broadest view it is possible 
 for us to take of all Christ's work, and our own 
 career and destiny, as well as in the most minute 
 and circumstantial examination we can make of 
 every particular part, both of one and the other, 
 nothing is so clearly and so constantly obvious, as 
 that Christ is our life in the whole, and in every 
 part ; the life of our spiritual nature, the life of our 
 mortal being, the life of our immortal existence. 
 This is the sublime and consoling truth we set out to 
 elucidate by the testimony of God. 
 
 If we desire to live under the impression which 
 this divine truth ought to create, and which this 
 glorious destiny requires, we have only to listen to 
 what the apostle has told us in connection with the 
 words of my text, to discover what is required of 
 us in that great endeavour. We ought, says he, to 
 seek those things which are above, and set our affec- 
 tions on them, and not on things on the earth ; re- 
 membering that we are dead, and that our life is hid 
 with Christ in God. We ought to mortify our mem- 
 bers which are upon the earth ; for the lack of doing 
 which, we are prone to fall into those sins, for the 
 sake of which the wrath of God cometh on the chil- 
 dren of disobedience, and in which Ave once lived 
 ourselves. But now, seeing that we have put off the 
 old man, with his deeds, and have put on the new 
 man, which is renewed in knowledge, after the im- 
 age of him that created him ; we ought continually 
 to shun all evil, and pursue all good ; under the fixed 
 and felt conviction, that to us Christ is all and in 
 all. We ought, as the elect of God, who profess 
 righteousness and who trust that God loves us, to 
 
298 CHRIST THE LIFE OF HIS PEOPLE. 
 
 put on bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of 
 mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearance, forgive- 
 ness ; striving to imitate the Lord Christ, and crown- 
 ing all with that charity which is the bond of per- 
 fectness. Thus may the peace of God reign in our 
 grateful hearts ; thus may the Word of Christ dwell 
 in us richly in all wisdom ; thus the power of the 
 Lord Jesus may be shown forth in us ; thus in all 
 the relations which we sustain upon earth, may we 
 adorn the doctrine we profess, and honour the Lord 
 whom we adore. So may we be able, by God's 
 grace, to make our way good out of this, a ruined 
 world, and get safely, perhaps triumphantly, through 
 the sin and death that reign in it. And when Christ, 
 ivlio is our life, shall appear, then may we also ap- 
 pear with him in glory. And when all the redeemed 
 shall be presented faultless before God, and be de- 
 livered up upon the Lamb's Book of Life, then may 
 we too inherit the kingdom, prepared from the foun- 
 dation of the world, for all the blessed of the Father ! 
 Glorious hope, which maketh not ashamed ! 
 
FAITH AND SIGHT CONTRASTED. 
 
 BY 
 
 A. T. M'GILL, D. D. 
 
 PROFESSOR IN THE WESTERN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, ALLEGHANY, PENNA. 
 
 For -we walk by faith, not by sight. — 2 Cor. 5 — 7. 
 
 It is a singular fact, in the history of redemption, 
 that the faculty in man, which deceived him to his 
 ruin at the first, is never restored to perfect confi- 
 dence this side of heaven. That faculty is sense, in 
 the widest acceptation of the term, which we here 
 extend to internal emotion as well as external per- 
 ception. While, in the direction of ordinary life, the 
 most simple and unerring of all evidence is that of 
 the senses, in the great duty of dealing with God, 
 in reference to the conduct, acceptance, and ever- 
 lasting welfare of the soul, it is the most imperfect 
 and fallacious of all reliances. Through this avenue 
 sin entered, and God seems to have closed it indig- 
 nantly against all further intercourse with him, 
 while we continue in this evil tenement. As if it 
 were some facile door, through which thieves and 
 robbers once entered, and would still enter, to mar 
 and spoil the house, the glorious Builder will have it 
 opened no more, in spiritual communication with 
 himself, until the whole building shall be taken 
 
 (299) 
 
300 FAITH AND SIGHT CONTRASTED. 
 
 down, and reconstructed on the model of a glorious 
 immortality. 
 
 Through the senses it was that the tempter first 
 invaded the soul ; " when the woman saw that the 
 tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to 
 the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, 
 she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave 
 also to her husband with her, and he did eat." Now 
 that eye, that ear, that touch, that taste, that sense 
 of every kind is all disparaged in the remedial deal- 
 ing of God ; and faith is the eye, the ear, the touch, 
 the taste, the one all engrossing faculty by which 
 grace renovates and rules the soul. Religion and 
 the senses are divorced. These are degraded to the 
 rank of handmaiden ; and never will the soul repose 
 with confidence upon them more, until error and 
 frailty shall have been for ever removed. The apostle 
 intimates, in this connection, that we shall hereafter 
 walk by sight. When appearances will no longer 
 deceive us ; when the highest good will be for ever 
 present to the soul ; when the senses will be glori- 
 ously transformed, and made perfect in heaven, we 
 shall walk by what we do see and know. But, for 
 the present, wherever there is spiritual life, 
 
 I. We walk by faith, and not by carnal sight. 
 II. We w r alk by faith, and not by spiritual sight. 
 
 III. We walk by faith, and not by glorified sight. 
 
 I. " All men have not faith." There is all the 
 difference between those who have this grace, and 
 those who have it not, that another sense would 
 make in the range of man's power and enjoyment. 
 How immeasurably wider the perceptions of a blind 
 man, when suddenly admitted or restored to the 
 
T. m'gill, d. d. 301 
 
 window of the eye. Where he had groped along, 
 and stumbled with faltering footsteps, a wide, and 
 distant, and adorned horizon bursts upon his 
 view. More extended, more enchanting, more im- 
 portant unspeakably, is the enlargement when God 
 restores the eye of faith to the soul. It sees a 
 guide, a chart, a destination, which the spiritually 
 blind can never perceive. It spreads another hue 
 on all it scans ; inspires new emotions, new estima- 
 tions, and animates to incomparably greater speed 
 the career on which it enters the soul. 
 
 1. Sight regards only things which are seen; but 
 faith, things which are not seen. (2 Cor. iv. 18.) It 
 could not be otherwise with maimed and defective 
 nature than to seek those things only which its 
 powers are fitted to perceive. We may crowd as- 
 surances of divine realities upon the natural man, 
 and compel his assent to the evidence that they are 
 realities of momentous import, and yet he is no more 
 actuated by them, in his conduct, than is the deaf 
 man by all the harmonies of music. There may be 
 a notional apprehension entertained with zeal. Men, 
 from what they read in the Word of God, and what 
 they see in the conduct of others, and what they 
 love by the dint of habit, and what they fear by the 
 force of conscience and superstition, may seem to 
 walk at times as though divine realities were be- 
 lieved, when all the w r hile it is but sight that actu- 
 ates them. Every thing short of the faith, which 
 fixes a clear, and calm, and steadfast, and transform- 
 ing reliance on the Lord Jesus Christ, "whom, hav- 
 ing not seen, we love ; in whom, though now we see 
 him not, yet believing, w r e rejoice with joy unspeak- 
 
302 FAITH AND SIGHT CONTRASTED. 
 
 able and full of glory;" every thing short of the 
 faith which "endures as seeing him who is invisi- 
 ble," is sight ; which gathers all its motives and ac- 
 tivity from what is visible and palpable. 
 
 2. Sight regards what is present, faith what is 
 future. It is "the substance of things hoped for," 
 as well as "the evidence of things not seen." It is 
 its great peculiarity, not only to displace palpable 
 things in their power on the heart, by things of 
 purely fiducial realization, but to grasp these as they 
 lie in futurity also. It is not only impossible that 
 the natural man be influenced by what is unseen, 
 more than what is seen and felt, but still more, that 
 he be influenced by unseen realities, in anticipation, 
 more than by what is in present and actual contact 
 with his feelings and desires. Without true faith, 
 to fill up the void with animating hopes of the fu- 
 ture, religion, which sweeps from the soul its tem- 
 poral gratifications, would be an agonizing empti- 
 ness — the most intolerable of all conditions. All men 
 would forsake it, like Demas, through love of this 
 present world. Sight is always spreading enchant- 
 ment over the present scene. Fast as experience 
 detects the mockery of one illusion, she spreads 
 another and a fresh attraction, persuading the soul, 
 in spite of its sober convictions, to live as though 
 its inward thought were, " this house shall continue 
 for ever, this dwelling place to all generations." But 
 faith unmasks the charm, and however faintly done, 
 holds the future with steady and constraining influ- 
 ence before us; all is disenchanted at her touch; 
 the world is a wilderness ; the soul is made to come 
 up from it, leaning on none of its pleasures, repos- 
 
A. T. m'gill, d. d. 303 
 
 ing'on none of its confidences — leaning on "the be- 
 loved" alone. " But now they desire a better coun- 
 try, that is an heavenly; wherefore God is not 
 ashamed to be called their God, for he hath pre- 
 pared for them a city." While the companions of a 
 believer, like the children of Reuben, are always 
 choosing their inheritance on this side of Jordan, his 
 eye is onward and over to Canaan itself. While one 
 takes up with this, and another with that earthly 
 portion, " God forbid that I should glory, save in the 
 cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world 
 is crucified to me, and I unto the world." 
 
 3. Sight regards what is pleasant; faith what is 
 good. It is pleasant to choose a broad and down- 
 ward way through this rugged and inhospitable 
 world; and to crowd the way with as large a com- 
 pany as possible, where we have so many mutual 
 wants and dependencies — pleasant to incur the re- 
 proach or disfavour of no one in the journey, but go 
 hand in hand with the multitude, who " measure 
 themselves by themselves, and compare themselves 
 among themselves." It is pleasant to avoid every 
 high hill and threatening danger on the road ; and 
 to turn away backward, or wind circuitously onward, 
 rather than encounter hardships and perils in the 
 straightest course. But faith gives other counsel. 
 " Enter in at the straight gate ; for wide is the gate 
 and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and 
 many there be that go in thereat." " Be not con- 
 formed to this world." " The fear of man bringeth 
 a snare ; but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord 
 shall be safe." " Cursed is the man that trusteth in 
 man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart 
 
304 FAITH AND SIGHT CONTRASTED. 
 
 departeth from the Lord." " Woe to them that* call 
 evil good and good evil, that put darkness for light 
 and light for darkness, hitter for sweet and sweet 
 for bitter." Through every gilded pleasure, faith 
 perceives the poison and the sting ; through every 
 kiss of kind profession, faith detects a dagger for the 
 heart; through every green and flowery resting 
 place, faith discerns bowels of burning lava under- 
 neath, ready to engulph the soul, and drown it in 
 destruction and perdition. " Come," says sight, " I 
 have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with 
 carved works, with fine linen from Egypt ; I have 
 perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon ;" 
 and, " as a bird hasteth to the snare of the fowler, 
 and knoweth not it is for his life," we would go after 
 her, but for the guardian counsel of faith ; " the dead 
 are there, her guests are in the depths of hell." 
 " Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me 
 ffom Lebanon; look from the top of Amena and 
 Shenir, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of 
 the leopards." 
 
 4. Sight recoils from present evil as eagerly as it 
 embraces present good ; while faith welcomes pres- 
 ent evil as cordially as it rejects the present gilded 
 good. " Therefore I take pleasure," says the apos- 
 tle, " in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in 
 persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake ; for 
 when I am weak, then am I strong." Affliction, 
 which sight considers heavy, too heavy for us to 
 bear, faith considers "light;" affliction, which sight 
 will reckon to be long as life, and for ever, faith con- 
 siders to be but " for a small moment ;" affliction, 
 which sight and sense regard as deadly, baleful to 
 
A. T. m'gill, d. d. 305 
 
 every fond hope of the future, faith discovers to 
 work " a far more exceeding and eternal weight of 
 glory." He hates me, says sense, and therefore chas- 
 tises me ; " whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth," 
 says faith, " and scourgeth every son whom he re- 
 ceiveth." She is never ashamed or confounded, 
 world without end. The darkest hour of night is to 
 her the harbinger of brilliant morning. " When 
 clouds and darkness are round about him," she sees 
 that " righteousness and judgment are the habitation 
 of his throne." 
 
 II. We walk by faith, and not by spiritual sight. 
 Besides that carnal sight, which believers retain, to 
 some extent, in common with other men, and which, 
 although subdued by grace, and subordinated by the 
 pow r er of faith, is ever beclouding and enfeebling the 
 exercise of this heavenly grace, there is in the re- 
 newed man a consciousness of spiritual life and 
 power, which impels him to the duties and enjoy- 
 ments of religious experience, in a manner that is 
 clearly distinguishable from the controlling power of 
 faith. This principle of walking is known by vari- 
 ous names in theological parlance — the religion of 
 feeling, sensible assurance, spiritual affection, &c. 
 But, however delightful and animating this impul- 
 sion may be to the soul, it is not the great principle 
 by which we walk ; it is not the means of our daily 
 strength and comfort in the service of God. Faith, 
 as even distinguished from this sensible experience, 
 constitutes the mainspring of all our present obedi- 
 ence and enjoyment. 
 
 Faith is duty — sight or sense of grace is privilege 
 Duty is ever incumbent and invariable — privilege is, 
 21 
 
306 FAITn AND SIGHT CONTRASTED. 
 
 for the most part, occasional, and granted or with- 
 held according to the sovereign pleasure of God. 
 " Trust in the Lord at all times," says the Psalmist ; 
 "Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that 
 obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in 
 darkness and hath no light, let him trust in the 
 name of the Lord, and stay upon his God." All be- 
 lievers have faith in God; but all have not sensible 
 joy in the light of his countenance. This, like 
 every other privilege, is granted only where He sees 
 it to be for our good. It would be of no benefit to 
 some believers to enjoy full assurance in themselves, 
 that they stand firm and safe in the everlasting 
 covenant. Some servants of the world are such 
 prodigals in living that their wages must be kept 
 from them until the season of working is over ; some 
 children of God have so much pride and self-confi- 
 dence besetting their spiritual life, that glimpses of 
 sensible delight are withheld from them for a life- 
 time, in order to develope the most needful graces 
 and give them appropriate culture. Mortification 
 and self-abasement peculiarly befit their constitu- 
 tional weakness, and every disclosure of divine love, 
 which this weakness might readily pervert, must be 
 in mercy withheld ; so that the very same love of 
 God which imparts to humble believers transporting 
 demonstrations of covenanted favour, denies them to 
 the proud through a long probation, which may be 
 lasting as life. You are as safely held in the secu- 
 rities of the great salvation without one gleam of 
 absolute assurance, through all the course of your 
 pilgrimage, if faith be following hard after God, as 
 if you could see and feel the certainty of this salva- 
 
A. T. m'gill, d. d. 307 
 
 tion at every step of your journey; although, indeed, 
 a sad deprivation of heaven upon earth must be the 
 loss of such a diversity in your spiritual lot. 
 
 Faith is direct — sense is reflex. It is only in the 
 way of exercising faith — it is only after faith has 
 journeyed onward for a distance, that we can look 
 back and see that our pathway is certainly right and 
 heavenward. They who would walk by a sight of 
 grace in their hearts, and hesitate in the exercise of 
 faith upon Christ, because they do not first feel and 
 know that he is gracious, are about as reasonable as 
 men who would try to know how far they have tra- 
 velled towards their destination before they take a 
 step in the journey. Faith is the hand which opens 
 the fountain of every blessing; and long must a 
 fountain flow into a broken cistern before it is full 
 enough to reflect the image of Jesus from the calm 
 surface of a bosom replenished with graces. Faith 
 is precious seed, which contains the germ of sensible 
 assurance as one of its fruits or developments ; and 
 while other fruits must be put forth, more or less, 
 under all circumstances of the present life, here is 
 one which we may expect only in soil peculiarly 
 cultivated with the graces of humility and meekness. 
 And for us to falter and hesitate in believing, be- 
 cause we do not already enjoy this sensible experi- 
 ence, is about as reasonable as to expect fruit before 
 we have planted the germ, and to decline all ordi- 
 nary fruits because we do not first enjoy one of rare 
 and extraordinary production. 
 
 This sensible experience of grace in the heart is 
 not necessary, even as an evidence that we do be- 
 lieve ; the fruits exhibited in our life and conduct 
 
308 FAITH AND SIGHT CONTRASTED. 
 
 are such evidence. Be this all your concern — to 
 prove your faith by your works, and be assured that 
 joy in the Holy Ghost, "joy unspeakable and full 
 of glory," will be vouchsafed, so far as it is needful, 
 to help you on the way to heaven. 
 
 Faith gives more glory to God than does sensible 
 delight. Thomas would not believe unless he saw 
 the object of faith in every particular of sensible de- 
 monstration ; and it was then said, with an emphasis 
 for ever memorable: "Blessed are they who have 
 not seen, and yet have believed." It gives God but 
 little glory when we can trust him only as we trust 
 our fellow men, on whom we must lean by the help 
 of something beyond their simple words — when we 
 cannot venture the soul upon a promise without 
 some feeling that it will be fulfilled. Abraham was 
 "strong in faith, giving glory to God," because, 
 "against hope he believed in hope;" against all 
 probabilities for the fulfilment of a promise, and 
 even mountain impossibilities to the eye of sense, he 
 reposed, with unshaken trust, upon the truth and 
 faithfulness of God. This, indeed, is to honour his 
 word. And until our faith is schooled in the art of 
 clinging to the naked truth of Jehovah in his pro- 
 mise, without a ray of visible demonstration, within 
 us or without us, it is not schooled enough for 
 heaven. 
 
 Faith is uniform — sense is fluctuating . The Chris- 
 tian career is called a walk, a race, a fight ; without 
 discharge for a moment. If we travelled on shoes 
 which are not "iron and brass" in durability — on 
 wheels of agitation, which are ever and anon rolling 
 off from us ; or the ebbing and flowing of a tide, 
 
A. T. M'GILL, D. D. 309 
 
 which tosses us to heaven to-day, and leaves us drag- 
 ging on a rock to-morrow — could we ever make the 
 destination sure ? Must we not have a principle of 
 progress that is uniform in acting, and always ready; 
 that will pierce the heavens for light when they are 
 embossed in thickest darkness, and make even the 
 lightning flash of God's anger help along the way of 
 duty when his face is hidden with impenetrable 
 gloom ? 
 
 Faith is indubitable — sense may deceive the soul 
 with innumerable counterfeits. The object of faith 
 is the Lord Jesus Christ — the warrant of faith is his 
 true and faithful word ; and while ever it holds this 
 object, by the strength of this warrant, heaven and 
 earth may fail, and your very existence prove a de- 
 lusion before such a faith can fail or deceive the 
 soul. But we know how miserably fallacious may 
 be the religion of feeling, and how false a joy may 
 pervade even the breast of a true believer. " Where 
 is then the blessedness ye spake of?" may be the 
 reproachful query, after many a season of mistaken 
 delight. u My mountain stands strong, I shall never 
 be moved," said the Psalmist, in a season of high 
 feeling and emotion; but how quickly afterwards 
 does he exclaim, " Thou didst hide thy face, and I 
 was troubled." 
 
 Faith will triumph in death, lohen the religion of 
 feeling may he all overivhelmed. When all the pow- 
 ers of darkness are summoned to their last efforts of 
 hostility and rage ; when fiery darts of doubt, dis- 
 quietude, and fear, are hurled by a thousand prac- 
 tised arms of temptation ; when our natural strength 
 is all abated and sunk to the feeblest infancy ; when 
 
310 FAITH AND SIGHT CONTEASTED. 
 
 memory itself has failed, and not one Bethel of 
 happy communion, not one anointed pillar in the 
 way, can be recalled for comfort, what shall be the 
 refuge of the soul, or what its armour ? What we see 
 and feel of grace in the heart, or demonstration in 
 the life which is now passing away ? Ah, here may 
 be the source of direst terror and dismay in that 
 critical hour ! What can it be, but that shield of 
 heavenly temper with which alone we can now 
 "quench the fiery darts of the wicked?" Faith 
 only can make us fearless then ; faith only can 
 repulse the enemy and proclaim the victory. The 
 rod and staff of the promise, grasped by a present 
 faith in Jesus, can vanquish every evil in the valley 
 and shadow of death. " My flesh and my heart 
 faileth, but God is the strength of my heart, and my 
 portion for ever." 
 
 III. But we advance to another contrast, between 
 faith and sight, essentially different from any that 
 we have noticed; when the scale is turned, and 
 faith is dropped in vision; when the home is 
 reached, and the talisman is laid by as necessary no 
 more ; when the battle is ended, and the " shield" is 
 hung high in the temple of God, where we shall 
 endure as pillars, " to go no more out." Here sight 
 and sense cannot be trusted. Without faith they 
 lead us to perdition; and even with faith in the 
 heart, culturing and refining them with experience 
 of grace, they cannot be trusted. But the day is 
 coining when this miserable crazy tenement of folly 
 and mistake shall stand a glorious and unerring me- 
 dium, through which the soul will for ever drink 
 blessedness at the fountain of life. Faith will then 
 
 I 
 
A. T. M<GILL, D. D. 311 
 
 be superseded, as a principle of walking, and cease 
 to shine as the star in heaven ceases when the sun 
 is risen to meridian splendour • cease to flow in " the 
 desire of our soul to his name, and the remembrance 
 of him," as the majestic river ceases when its waters 
 mingle with the ocean. 
 
 1. The object of faith is obscure and reflected; 
 the object of sight will be direct and resplendent. 
 Now " we see through a glass darkly." We see not 
 the very person of the Saviour, but, as it were, his 
 image reflected from a mirror ; and we see not this 
 image with a direct and simple eye, but, as it were, 
 through many reflections in a telescope. The Word 
 of God is not dark in itself; it contains as bright a 
 manifestation of Jehovah Jesus as the present con- 
 dition of humanity could bear. Subdued emotions, 
 and mitigated transports, are all that mercy intends, 
 for the frailty on which he looks from " behind our 
 wall," and " through the lattice" of means and ordi- 
 nances. But in the heavenly vision, " we shall see 
 him as he is," admitted to his own immediate pre- 
 sence, for ever " to behold his glory." 
 
 Incomparably brighter is the revelation we enjoy 
 than that of our fathers, under the cloud of Old 
 Testament figures and shadows. In eager longing 
 for our time, when " the day would break, and the 
 shadows flee away," how did they rejoice to catch 
 even a glimpse of Gospel resplendence. Their time 
 was that of the shadow — ours is that of the image ; 
 between the shadow and the image there may be 
 comparison, but between the image and the substan- 
 tial and present reality, there can be none. 
 
 2. Faith's object is unseen at times; vision's ob- 
 
312 FAITH AND SIGHT CONTRASTED. 
 
 ject will be for ever unclouded before us. Between 
 the telescope and the mirror, the '"star of Bethle- 
 hem" is often hidden from our sight. " My beloved 
 had withdrawn himself and was gone." " Behold, 
 I go forward, but he is not there ; and backward, but 
 I cannot perceive him; on the left hand where he 
 doth work, but I cannot behold him ; he hideth him- 
 self on the right hand, that I cannot see him." But 
 there " we shall be ever with the Lord." " The Lord 
 shall be to thee an everlasting light, and thy God 
 thy glory." No darkness nor desertion can be there 
 indeed, where there is " no need of the sun, neither 
 of the moon to shine in it : but God doth lighten it. 
 and the Lamb is the light thereof." 
 
 3. Faith itself is imperfect in its operations ; vision 
 will be perfect and complete. In the very nature 
 of the thing there must be imperfection with the use 
 of an instrument, whose materials are altogether 
 imperfect. How much does the exercise of faith 
 depend on the knowledge of God and of Christ ; how 
 much on the memory of his promises ; how much 
 on diligence in spiritual reflection, and contempla- 
 tion ; and how deplorably defective are all these, in 
 the present life of lapse and corruption ! Add to 
 these the interruption of the world and Satan. 
 Even if the object of faith were ever before us, with 
 steady twinkling, and without a cloud ; if no film 
 of error shaded the eye, nor tremor of weakness 
 agitated the arm ; and we could hold the glass of 
 faith, in all its realizing power, unshaken by any in- 
 herent debility of our own ; yet would the jostle of 
 the world and the rage of hell turn, ever and anon, 
 the telescope aside. But vision on high will bo 
 
A. T. m'gill, d. d. 313 
 
 sound and energetic in itself, rich and perfect in 
 every material, and for ever sustained by surround- 
 ing influences there. 
 
 Witness the amazing acuteness and perfection of 
 Stephen's vision, as he was just advancing to the 
 portals of "the excellent glory." One beam of it 
 burst through the canopy of heaven and lighted on 
 his face, and counsellors of even bloodshot eye " look- 
 ing steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been 
 the face of an angel." And such was the effect on 
 his own vision, of this initial ray from the paradise 
 of God, that through all the incalculable distance 
 between this earth and the home of the blessed in 
 heaven; through clouds, through planets, through 
 suns, through depths of unfathomable ether, his 
 piercing eye beheld " the glory of God, and Jesus 
 standing at the right hand of God!" If eyes of 
 mortal flesh can be empowered so by one beam of 
 that celestial glory, what will not the effulgence of 
 noontide produce ? If eyes of mortal flesh, by one 
 blink of heavenly vision, can descry at a distance 
 which no tongue can tell and no imagination com- 
 pute, ineffable and transporting glory, what will not 
 eyes of glorified humanity discover when admitted 
 to the very throne of God and centre of its brilliance? 
 
 4. Faith is slow, and gradual, and successive, in 
 making up the image of her contemplation ; sight 
 will comprehend at once, with glance of intuition. 
 Here we glean one lineament of Jesus in this chap- 
 ter, and another in that, of his holy Word; some- 
 times we see him in the vision ; sometimes in the 
 allegory ; sometimes in the plain description. Some- 
 times we see him as a prophet, then a priest, then a 
 
314 FAITH AND SIGHT CONTRASTED. 
 
 king; and thus, culling a flower here, and another 
 there, one grace of his person in the Old Testament 
 and another in the NeAV, faith makes up her aggre- 
 gate at length, and exclaims with delighted conclu- 
 sion, "He is altogether lovely!" It could not be 
 otherwise at present. A sight like that of Isaiah, 
 in vision, of the Lord, "sitting on his throne, high 
 and lifted up," Avould strike us down with terror; 
 " Woe is me, I am undone !" Even the beloved dis- 
 ciple, who had reclined on his bosom familiarly in 
 the days of his flesh, could not enjoy a glimpse of 
 the glorified Redeemer without falling as dead at 
 his feet. 
 
 If all the luminaries in heaven were converged 
 into one brilliant centre, it would destroy these eyes 
 with its flood of burning light ; but distributed along 
 the firmament, in sun, moon and stars, we drink in 
 the mild radiance with pleasure wherever we direct 
 the eye. If all the glories of Jesus Christ were con- 
 verged into one direct and intense description, even 
 by words, it would overwhelm and crush these 
 feeble powers of the soul ; but, diffused over the 
 whole firmament of Old and New Testament Scrip- 
 ture, we survey with pleasing contemplation the 
 truth as it is in Jesus, studded and proportioned, as 
 one star differeth from another star in glory. But 
 the heavenly vision will scan, with steady rapture, 
 all that is bright in Jesus, blended and concentered 
 in one blazing sea of glory. 
 
 5. Faith, in her highest exercise on earth, must 
 groan, being burdened ; but sight, in her lowest range 
 of felicity in heaven, will shout with hallelujahs. 
 "'In this tabernacle we groan, being burdened." 
 
A. T. m'gill, d. d. 315 
 
 When wings of faith and love would rise with fer- 
 vor to the mount of God, a leaden body drags them 
 down. This frame work is too narrow for the com- 
 pass of faith when she reaches to Christ and swells 
 with foretaste of his glory. "Ourselves also, which 
 have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves 
 groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to 
 wit, the redemption of our body." As the man 
 whose soul is fired with enthusiastic zeal to read the 
 starry heavens must groan impatiently, if some low 
 vaulted prison ever prevents him from lifting his 
 longest telescope on high ; so, and more, infinitely, 
 groans the believer, when faith lies checked and dis- 
 appointed in this environed and contracted taber- 
 nacle. But the frame work of immortal life will be 
 spacious and spiritual as its inmate ; the shouts of 
 glory in the highest will be loud, as the conceptions 
 of the soul are grand ; pure and unfailing, and inse- 
 parable, will be the powers of eye, and hand, and 
 heart, when "we shall see him as he is," and our 
 vile bodies will be "fashioned like unto his glorious 
 body." 
 
 We learn from this subject how ennobling faith is, 
 and how much dignity and excellence it stamps on 
 human nature. Men of the world look on faith as 
 weakness, and fancy a disparagement of reason a 
 debility of intellectual force, an easy, erring cre- 
 dulity, when we speak of living by faith, walking, 
 and fighting, and dying by faith. But so did not 
 the Spirit of inspiration estimate the worth of human 
 character, when beginning the notice of each Old 
 Testament worthy, with emphatic mention of his 
 faith. Ileb. xi. So does not common sense estimate 
 
316 FAITH AND SIGHT CONTRASTED. 
 
 the worth of human character, when we behold a 
 poor, short sighted, trembling worm of the dust, 
 quailing at every change, deceived by every show, 
 blind to the present, blind to the future, and a 
 wretched victim of ignoble sense, suddenly stand 
 triumphant over weakness, superior to time and 
 change, able to value present things as they are and 
 future things as they will be ; able to comprehend 
 eternity better than he understood one day before. 
 Such a transformation is vastly more noble and 
 sublime than any deification of man that heathen 
 idolatry ever imagined. Superstition never gave to 
 the gods an attribute so godlike as the faith of an 
 humble believer. And if we had no other and no- 
 bler motive, the favour of God, to please whom " with- 
 out faith it is impossible," peace of conscience, victory 
 over sin and Satan, over the world and death, and 
 an everlasting inheritance of glory — all of which are 
 sealed to the soul the moment faith is in exercise ; 
 if we had none of these unspeakable benefits, the 
 very enlargement of soul which it brings, empower- 
 ing the human mind to see invisible things, and 
 future things, and things substantially good, and 
 things in all their eventful consequences, were motive 
 enough to impel men to plead with God day and 
 night that he would " give it to them, on the behalf 
 of Christ, to believe in his name ;" and that he would 
 " fulfil in them the good pleasure of his goodness, 
 and the work of faith with power." 
 
 We learn again, from this subject, how to test 
 religion in ourselves and others, most truly ; where 
 alone is the lively oracle which gives certain re- 
 sponses on this all important interest. Not our 
 
A. T. M'GILL, D. D. 317 
 
 frames and feelings ; not our present enjoyments ; 
 not all our experience, past and present ; but the 
 exercise of faith on Jesus Christ, the reality and 
 power of which are evinced by holy living. How 
 many a precious hour of time have we lost ; how 
 many a pang of unnecessary anguish have we felt 
 in standing upon bubbles which burst, in attempting 
 to trace our hope of glory on a surface of excited 
 feeling, which is fluctuating as the sands of the sea, 
 shifting as the winds of heaven. It is true, indeed, 
 that our religion is one of mighty emotion, and no 
 man ever felt its power without feeling the most 
 powerful of all excitement; and it is equally true 
 that our prayers and devout endeavours must always 
 be exercised to stir emotion and revive the power 
 of feeling, as well as to learn its precious truths, and 
 imbibe its sanctifying efficacy. But let us never 
 forget, that all excitement is spurious which is not 
 the offspring of faith, and that all faith is spurious 
 which does not vividly apprehend the word of God, 
 in its supreme authority and power ; that faith may 
 exist where there is but little outward manifestation 
 of feeling, and that a conversation becoming the gos- 
 pel is worth ten thousand gusts of delighted feeling; 
 and no kind of feeling should ever be cherished for 
 a moment which will not correspond with the sober- 
 ness of a life of faith upon the Son of God. Vast 
 inequality in the tide of religious emotion has done 
 more to arm the power of infidelity in the world, 
 than all the logic besides which unbelief could ever 
 command. " The spirit of power and of love," is 
 the spirit of " a sound mind." 
 
 Finally, we learn from this subject to anticipate 
 
318 FAITH AND SIGHT CONTRASTED. 
 
 gladly the joys of that eternal world, where all the 
 faculties of mortal and immortal man, set free from 
 frailty and sin, restored from the debasement of the 
 present life, and the widowed sleep of a long germi- 
 nation in the grave, shall become not only perfect in 
 use, to be honoured and trusted always, but immea- 
 surably enhanced in the original adaptation to min- 
 ister happiness ; by a new creation in Christ Jesus, a 
 resurrection through the power of his life, and 
 translation to the immediate presence of his Father 
 and ours. u It doth not yet appear what we shall 
 be." The pleasure of the senses, which divine 
 goodness spared, in some degree, from the ruins of 
 the curse, to make the present life a happy one for 
 temperance and virtue, must rise with this identical 
 body, which will have " slept in Jesus," not only re- 
 paired, refined, exalted, indestructible ; not only 
 re-admitted to communion with God in his direct and 
 constant manifestation, but also advanced to the 
 inconceivable felicity which is implied in being 
 " partakers of the divine nature ;" a destination of 
 superlative dignity and joy, whose range of perfect 
 happiness must be all that the glorious Creator 
 would confer on any creature. 
 
CATHOLICITY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 BY 
 
 CHAS. HODGE, D. D. 
 
 PROFESSOR IN THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY. 
 
 Is he God of the Jews only, and not of the Gentiles also ? Ko- 
 mans iii. 29. 
 
 We are so familiar with the truth contained in 
 these words that we do not appreciate its importance. 
 Accustomed to the varied beauties of the earth, we 
 behold its manifold wonders without emotion ; we 
 seldom even raise our eyes to look at the gaudeous 
 canopy of heaven, which every night is spread over 
 our heads. The blind, however, when suddenly re- 
 stored to sight, behold with ecstacy what we regard 
 with indifference. Thus the truth that God is not 
 a national God, not the God of any one tribe or 
 people, but the God and Father of all men, and that 
 the Gospel is designed and adapted to all mankind, 
 however little it may affect us, filled the apostles 
 with astonishment and delight. They were slow in 
 arriving at the knowledge of this truth ; they had 
 no clear perception of it until after the day of Pen- 
 tecost ; the effusion of the Spirit which they then 
 received produced a most remarkable change in 
 their views and feelings. Before that event, they 
 
 (319) 
 
320 CATHOLICITY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 were Jews; afterwards, they were Christians; he- 
 fore, they applied all the promises to their own na- 
 tion ; the only Jerusalem of which they had any 
 idea was the city where David dwelt; the only 
 temple of which they could form a conception was 
 that in which they were accustomed to worship. 
 But when they received the anointing of the Holy 
 Ghost, the scales fell from their eyes ; their nation 
 sank and the Church rose on their renovated sight ; 
 the Jerusalem that now is, disappeared when they 
 beheld the New Jerusalem descending out of heaven ; 
 the temple on Mount Zion was no longer glorious, 
 by reason of the excelling glory of that temple 
 which is the habitation of God by his Spirit ; old 
 things passed away, all things became new; what 
 they had mistaken for the building proved to be the 
 scaffolding ; the sacrifices, the incense, the pompous 
 ritual of the old economy, which they had so long 
 regarded as the substance and the end, were found 
 to be but shadows. What was the blood of bulls 
 and of goats to men who had looked upon the blood 
 of Him who, with an eternal Spirit, offered himself 
 unto God ? What were priests and Levites to the 
 great High Priest, Jesus, the Son of God ? What 
 was the purifying of the flesh secured by the sprink- 
 ling the ashes of a heifer, to the eternal redemption 
 secured by Him who is a priest for ever after the 
 order of Melchizedec ? What was access to the 
 outer court of a temple, in which even the symbol 
 of the divine presence was concealed by a veil, to 
 access to God himself by the Spirit ? What were 
 the tribes of Israel coming up to Jerusalem, to the 
 long procession of nations coming to the New Jeru- 
 
CIIAS. nODGE, D. D. 321 
 
 salem, and kings to the brightness of her rising ; the 
 multitudes from Midian and Epha ; they too from 
 Sheba, bringing their gifts with them ; the flocks of 
 Kedar and the rams of Nebaioth ; the sons of stran- 
 gers and the forces of the Gentiles, hastening to that 
 city whose walls are salvation, and whose gates are 
 praise ? 
 
 This change in the views of the apostles seems to 
 have been almost instantaneous. While Christ was 
 upon earth, they were constantly misapprehending 
 his doctrines ; even in the night in which he was 
 betrayed, there was a contention among them who 
 should be the greatest in his kingdom. But as soon 
 as they received the baptism of the Holy Ghost they 
 ceased to speak and act like Jews, and announced a 
 religion for the whole world. 
 
 I. In the general proposition, that the Gospel is 
 designed and adapted for all mankind, there are 
 several important truths involved. The most com- 
 prehensive is that contained in the text : God is 
 the God of the Gentiles as well as of the Jews. It 
 is obvious that the Jews generally, and the aj>ostles, 
 as Jews, entertained very erroneous views on this 
 until they were enlightened by the Holy Ghost; 
 they mistook even the spirit of the old dispensation. 
 It is true that Jehovah chose their nation for a pe- 
 culiar people, and that he was their God in a sense 
 in which he was not the God of the heathen. He 
 revealed himself to them as he did not unto the 
 world ; he instituted for them a system of religious 
 observances ; sent them his prophets to declare his 
 will ; exercised over them a special providence, and 
 
 constituted them, in the strictest sense, a theocracy. 
 22 
 
322 CATHOLICITY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 There was nothing, however, in the Old Testament 
 which justified the proud and self-righteous spirit 
 which the Jews manifested towards the heathen ; 
 they were not authorized to look upon them as 
 reprobates shut out from the hope of salvation, as 
 unworthy of having even the offer of the true reli- 
 gion made to them. The surprise expressed by the 
 apostles that God had granted unto the Gentiles re- 
 pentance unto life, that the gate of heaven was wide 
 enough to admit more than the descendants of Abra- 
 ham, shows how much they had misconceived the 
 spirit of their own religion. 
 
 Their great mistake, however, was in supposing 
 that the exclusive spirit, as far as it did in fact be- 
 long to the old economy, was meant to be perpetual. 
 They mistook a temporary for a permanent arrange- 
 ment, and supposed that the glory of the theocracy 
 under the Messiah involved nothing beyond the ex- 
 altation and extended dominion of their own nation. 
 They were blind to the plainest declarations of their 
 own Scriptures, which foretold that God would pour 
 out his Spirit upon all flesh ; that the Messiah was 
 to be a light to the Gentiles, to make known the 
 salvation of God to the ends of the earth ; and that 
 the, sons of the stranger were to have in his king- 
 dom a name and a place, better than those of sons 
 and daughters. Even the affecting parables of 
 our Lord, designed to rebuke the narrow spirit of 
 his disciples, failed to make any adequate impression 
 on their minds. Though they were told that the 
 prodigal son was to be restored to his father's house, 
 clothed with the best robe, and rejoiced over with 
 peculiar joy, they understood it not. 
 
CIIAS. HODGE, D. D. 323 
 
 It is not to be supposed that the ancient Jews con- 
 ceived of Jehovah as a local Deity, confined in his 
 essence to any one place, or restricted in his autho- 
 rity to any one people. From the beginning they 
 had been taught that he was the Creator of all things; 
 that he filled heaven and earth ; that he was al- 
 mighty, doing his pleasure among the armies of 
 heaven and the inhabitants of the earth ; but they 
 believed him to be indifferent to the welfare of 
 other nations ; they did not know that he had pur- 
 poses of mercy for the Gentiles, as well as for them- 
 selves. When they called Jehovah their God, they 
 meant not only that he was the God whom they ac- 
 knowledged, but that he belonged exclusively to 
 them, that they monopolized his favour, and were 
 the sole heirs of his kingdom. What Christ taught 
 them by his Word and Spirit was, that God was as 
 favourably inclined to the Gentiles as to the Jews ; 
 that the same Lord was rich toward all who called 
 upon him ; that there existed no reason in the Di- 
 vine mind, why the heathen should not be fellow 
 heirs and partakers of the grace of the Gospel, why 
 they might not be fellow citizens of the saints and 
 of the household of God. This is what is meant, 
 when it is said he is the God of the Gentiles as 
 well as of the Jews ; he stands in the same general 
 relation to both ; he is as favourable to the one as 
 to the other; as ready to receive one as the other; 
 as willing to receive and save the one as the other. 
 Christ came not as the minister of the circumcision 
 only, but that the Gentiles might glorify God for his 
 mercy, as it is written : Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with 
 his people ; praise the Lord all ye Gentiles, laud 
 
324 CATHOLICITY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 him all ye people. This is the ground, brethren, on 
 which we stand. We are in the Church, not by 
 courtesy of man ; not by toleration or sufferance ; 
 not as strangers or proselytes, but as fellow citizens 
 and fellow heirs. We that were not beloved, are 
 now beloved ; we that were not his people, are now 
 the people of God, though Abraham be ignorant of 
 us, and though Israel acknowledge us not. It is 
 this glorious truth, that God is the God of the Gentiles, 
 that expands the Gospel and makes it a religion 
 suited for the whole world. It is no longer the slug- 
 gish Jordan flowing through its narrow channel, it 
 is a sea of glory which spreads from pole to pole. 
 The mercy and love of God are commensurate with 
 his ubiquity ; whenever he looks down on man and 
 says, My children, they may look up to him and say, 
 Our Father ! Praise him, therefore, ye Gentiles, 
 laud him, ye people, for Israel's God is our God 
 and our Redeemer. 
 
 II. Again, the proposition that the Gospel is de- 
 signed and adapted for all mankind, supposes the 
 spiritual nature of Christ's kingdom; that is, that 
 the service which is now required is a spiritual, in 
 opposition to a ritual and ceremonial service ; that 
 the government of that kingdom is a spiritual gov- 
 ernment, and that its blessings are spiritual bless- 
 ings. The old economy was, from its ritual and 
 ceremonial character, incapable of including all na- 
 tions. Without the shedding of blood there was no 
 remission, but sacrifices could be offered only at Jeru- 
 salem ; there was the temple, the priest, and the 
 altar ; there was the symbol of the Divine presence ; 
 thither the tribes were required to repair three times 
 
CIIAS. HODGE, D. D. 0J0 
 
 every year. Innumerable cases were constantly 
 occurring, which rendered attendance at the place 
 where God had recorded his name absolutely neces- 
 sary. As the Jewish ritual could not be observed 
 out of Jerusalem, it was impossible that the whole 
 world should be subjected to that form of worship. 
 Those who were afar off were without an offering, 
 without a priest, without access to God. The lamen- 
 tations of David, when absent from the court of 
 God, his earnest longings after liberty of access to 
 the place where God revealed his glory, show how 
 intimately the happiness of the people of God was 
 connected with the services of the sanctuary. Our 
 Lord announced a radical change in the whole econo- 
 my of religion, and one which disenthralled it from 
 all these trammels, when he said to the woman of 
 Samaria, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh and 
 now is, when ye neither in this mountain, nor yet at 
 Jerusalem, shall worship the Father; the true wor- 
 shippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in 
 truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 
 God is a Spirit, and they that worship him, must 
 worship in Spirit and in truth. It was here taught, 
 not only that the worship of God was no longer to 
 be confined to any one place, but also that it was no 
 longer to be ceremonial but spiritual. It is no longer 
 necessary to go up to Jerusalem, in order to 
 draw near to God, but wherever two or three are 
 met together in his name, there is he in the midst 
 of them. The temple, in which his people now 
 worship, is no longer a temple made with hands, 
 but that spiritual temple made without hands. Its 
 pillars rest on the four corners of the earth, and it 
 
326 CATHOLICITY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 surmounts the heavens ; the southern African, the 
 northern Greenlander, the innumerable company of 
 angels, and the general Assembly and Church of the 
 first born, are all included in its ample courts. The 
 sacrifice which is now offered is not the blood of 
 bulls and of goats, but the precious blood of Christ, 
 as a lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 
 The incense which now ascends before the throne of 
 God, comes not from brazen censers, but from living 
 hearts. 
 
 Again, under the old economy the Church had a 
 visible head, who dwelt at Jerusalem, by whom the 
 annual atonement was made for the sins of the peo- 
 ple. He was their intercessor before God ; the me- 
 dium of communication between God and his people ; 
 the arbiter and director of the whole congregation. 
 Those, therefore, who were at a distance from the 
 High Priest were necessarily cut off from many of 
 the most important advantages of the theocracy. 
 Under the Gospel all this is changed. The head of 
 the Church, the High Priest of our profession is no 
 longer a man dwelling in any one city, but Jesus, 
 the Son of God, who by the one offering up of him- 
 self hath for ever perfected them that are sanctified ; 
 who is every where accessible, every where present 
 to guide and comfort his people, and who ever lives 
 to make intercession for them. The believer cannot 
 be where Christ is not. At any time and in every 
 place he may approach his throne, he may embrace 
 his knees or wash his feet with tears, and hear him 
 say, Son, or daughter, be of good cheer, thy sins are 
 forgiven thee. 
 
 Once more, as to this point : the blessings which 
 
CIIAS. IIODGE, D. D. 327 
 
 the Gospel offers being spiritual are adapted to all 
 mankind. The benefits connected with the old econ- 
 omy were in a great measure external and temporal. 
 This idea the apostle expresses by saying its rites 
 could avail only to the purifying of the flesh. Con- 
 sidered in themselves they could do no more than 
 secure for those who observed them the benefits 
 of the external theocracy. Those who were cir- 
 cumcised became members of the Hebrew com- 
 monwealth ; those who kept the law, had the pro- 
 mise of fruitful seasons; those who had forfeited 
 their right of access to the sanctuary, had it restored 
 by offering a sacrifice ; those who were defiled by 
 any ceremonial uncleanness, might be purified within 
 the temple by the officiating priest. Apart, there- 
 fore, from its reference to the Gospel, the blessings 
 secured by that dispensation were exclusively of this 
 external character, for it was impossible that its 
 rites should take away sin. These benefits were 
 not only of little value, but they were necessarily 
 confined to a limited sphere ; they were incapable 
 of being extended to all mankind. How low must 
 have been the expectations of those w^ho considered 
 the Messiah's kingdom as nothing but an enlarge- 
 ment of this system. How complete a revolution 
 must it have produced in all their views and feelings 
 to discover that Christ's kingdom was not of this 
 world ; that the blessings which it promised were 
 not worldly prosperity, not a pompous ritual or 
 splendid temple, not dominion over other nations, 
 but the forgiveness of sin, the renewal of the heart, 
 reconciliation with God and eternal life. These are 
 blessings, not only of infinite value, but such as arc 
 
dZO CATHOLICITY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 confined to no one locality. They are not more 
 needed by one set of men than another ; they are 
 incapable of being monopolized, for they constitute 
 an inheritance which is rather increased than les- 
 sened by the number of the heirs. We say then 
 that the Gospel dispensation is catholic, or designed 
 for the whole world, because it is a spiritual dispensa- 
 tion ; the worship which it requires may be as ac- 
 ceptably offered in one place as another ; the head of 
 this new covenant is every where present and every 
 where accessible, and the blessings which he confers 
 are suited to the necessities of all mankind. 
 
 III. Another point of no less importance, is, that 
 the righteousness of Christ, by which these blessings 
 of pardon, regeneration and eternal life are secured, 
 is such as to lay an ample foundation for the offer 
 of salvation to all men. This is a point with regard 
 to which the minds of the apostles underwent a 
 great change. Under the old dispensation, the High 
 Priest, as the representative of the people, made a 
 confession of their sins, imposing them on the head 
 of the victim, and made reconciliation by sprinkling 
 the blood upon the mercy seat. By that atonement 
 the sins of the people, considered as committed 
 against the external theocracy, were forgiven, and 
 the blessings of that dispensation were actually se- 
 cured. It is obvious that this was an atonement 
 limited in design to that people, having no reference 
 to any other nation. It was limited also in its value, 
 having no intrinsic worth, but deriving all its effi- 
 cacy from the sovereign appointment. It was also 
 limited in its very nature ; being attached to a na- 
 tional covenant, it was in its nature available to 
 
CIIAS. HODGE, D. D. 329 
 
 none who were not included in that covenant ; it 
 was a Jewish sacrifice, designed for Jews, belonging 
 to a covenant made with Jews, and securing blessings 
 in which other nations had no concern. 
 
 In complete contrast with all this, we know, in 
 the first place, that the work of Christ was not 
 limited in design to any one nation. Christ himself 
 said, he laid down his life for his sheep, and other 
 sheep he had which were not of that fold ; in this 
 sense it is said he is the propitiation for our sins, 
 and not for our sins only, but for the sins of the 
 whole world ; or, as the same apostle expresses the 
 same truth in another place, Jesus died not for that 
 nation only, but that he should gather together in 
 one the children of God that were scattered abroad. 
 
 In the second place, there is no limit to be placed 
 to the value of Christ's righteousness ; its worth is 
 not to be measured by the duration or intensity of 
 the Saviour's sufferings, but by the dignity of his 
 person. In contrasting the sacrifices of the Old Tes- 
 tament with that of the New, the apostle says the 
 former were inefficacious because mere animals were 
 offered ; that of Christ was effectual, once for all, 
 because he offered up himself. It is the nature of 
 the offering that determines its value ; and as the 
 dignity of Christ's person is infinite, so is the value 
 of his sacrifice ; if it suffices for the salvation of one 
 man, it is sufficient for the salvation of all ; it is 
 incapable of increase or diminution. The light of 
 the sun is not measured by the number of those who 
 enjoy its brightness ; millions can see by it as well 
 as a single individual; it is not the less because 
 many are affected by it, nor would it be the greater 
 
330 CATHOLICITY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 though only one enjoyed it. So also the righteous* 
 ness of Christ is in value infinite and inexhaustible, 
 because it is the righteousness of God. 
 
 In the third place, the righteousness of Christ is 
 in its nature suited to all men. As the annual pro- 
 pitiation under the old dispensation belonged to the 
 covenant formed with the whole people of Israel, and 
 was in its nature suited to all included within that 
 covenant; so the righteousness of Christ fulfils the 
 conditions of that covenant under which all mankind 
 are placed. He perfectly obeyed the precepts and 
 endured the penalty of that law by which all man- 
 kind are bound ; hence his righteousness, being what 
 was due from every man, is in its nature suited to 
 each and every man. As the work of Christ, as 
 connected with the covenant of grace, has special 
 reference to all included in that covenant, and effec- 
 tually secures their salvation ; but as in performing 
 the stipulations of that covenant, he fulfilled the 
 conditions of the covenant of works which all man- 
 kind had broken, his work is, in its nature, appli- 
 cable to all who are under the covenant made with 
 Adam. 
 
 Inasmuch, then, as the righteousness of Christ is 
 not limited in the design of God to any one nation ; 
 as it is of infinite value ; and as it is, in its nature, 
 equally applicable to all men, we are authorized to 
 go to Jew and Gentile, to barbarians, Scythians, 
 bond and free, yea, to every creature, with the offer 
 of salvation. If any man refuses the offer, his blood 
 will be upon his own head ; he perishes not for want 
 of a righteousness, but because he rejects that which 
 is of infinite value and suited to all his necessities. 
 
CHAS. HODGE, D. D. 331 
 
 The gospel, therefore, is not tramelled ; we can go 
 with it round the world, and announce to every crea- 
 ture that Christ has died the just for the unjust; 
 that he has wrought out an everlasting righteous- 
 ness, which any man may accept and plead before 
 the throne of God. 
 
 IV. Again, the catholic character of the gospel is 
 apparent from its offering salvation on conditions 
 suited to all men. It does not require us to ascend 
 into heaven, or to go down to the abyss ; its de- 
 mands are simple, intelligible and reasonable; it 
 requires nothing peculiar to any sex, age, or class 
 of men ; it is not a religion for the rich in distinc- 
 tion from the poor, or for the poor in distinction from 
 the rich ; it is not a system of philosophy intelligible 
 only to the learned, nor is it a superstition which 
 none but the ignorant can embrace. It is truth, 
 simple and transcendent ; in all that is essential, in- 
 telligible to a child, and yet the object of admiration 
 and wonder to angels. It does not suspend our sal- 
 vation on any particular ecclesiastical connection ; 
 it does not require us to decide between conflicting 
 churches which has the true succession ; nor does it 
 make grace and salvation to depend on the minis- 
 tration or will of man ; it is not the religion of any 
 one sect or church, and nothing but the wickedness 
 can equal the folly of the attempt to confine the 
 grace of God to the shallow channel of a particular 
 ecclesiastical organization. What the gospel de- 
 mands is nigh thee, in thy heart and in thy mouth ; 
 that is, the word of faith which we preach, that if 
 thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, 
 and believe in thy heart that God hath raised him 
 
332 CATHOLICITY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the 
 heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with 
 the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Here, 
 then, are terms of salvation which are suited equally 
 to all men, the Jew and the Greek, the wise and the 
 unwise, the bond and the free. 
 
 V. Again, the rule of life prescribed by the Gos- 
 pel is adapted to all men, in every age and in every 
 part of the world ; it is the great law of love, which 
 commends itself to every man's conscience, and is 
 suited to all the relations of domestic, social, and 
 political life. It is a principle which disturbs nothing 
 that is good, which can amalgamate with nothing 
 that is wrong, Avhich admits of being acted out un- 
 der all circumstances, and of accommodating itself to 
 all states of society, and to all forms of government. 
 
 How free, how catholic, how pure, how elevated 
 is the spirit of the Gospel, which reveals God as an 
 universal Father; which makes known a religion 
 confined to no locality, burdened with no expensive 
 ritual, conferring on those who embrace it, not 
 worldly distinctions, but the spiritual blessings of 
 pardon and holiness ; which reveals a righteousness 
 sufficient for all, and suited for all ; which offers that 
 righteousness to all on the simplest of all conditions, 
 that of sincerely accepting it ; whose moral precepts 
 and principles of religious duty, and of ecclesiastical 
 organization admit of being carried out with equal 
 purity and power, in all ages and in all parts of the 
 world. 
 
 1. The catholic character of the Gospel, which 
 we have now been considering, affords one of the 
 strongest arguments for its divine origin. No reli- 
 
CHAS. HODGE, D. D. 333 
 
 gion can be true which is not suited to God as its 
 author, and to man for whom it is intended. The 
 Gospel is suited to God because it supposes him to 
 be, as he in fact is, not a national God, but the God 
 and Father of all men ; and it is suited to men be- 
 cause it meets not the wants of any one class, nor 
 any one class of wants, but all the wants of every 
 class, tribe or nation. But besides this, this catholi- 
 city is the very characteristic which it would be 
 most difficult to account for on the supposition of 
 its human origin. The apostles were Jews, the very 
 name for all that is narrow, national and exclusive ; 
 how could the most enlarged and comprehensive 
 system of religion owe its origin to such men ? We 
 know that the apostles retained much of the nar- 
 row and exclusive spirit of their countrymen, as 
 long as their Master was upon earth. When he died 
 they were ready to despair, saying, We trusted it 
 had been He who would have redeemed Israel. 
 Even after his resurrection their eyes were still but 
 half opened, for the last question which they put to 
 him was, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the 
 kingdom unto Israel ? Yet, a few days afterward, 
 these same men began to preach that the kingdom 
 of Christ was a spiritual kingdom, not designed 
 specially for Israel, but for all mankind. This fact 
 admits of no other solution than that recorded in 
 the Acts, after the apostles had received the promised 
 effusion of the Spirit ; they spake as they were moved 
 by the Holy Ghost, making it apparent that the Gos- 
 pel is not the product of Jewish minds, but of men 
 divinely instructed and inspired. 
 
 This argument may be viewed in another light. 
 
334 CATHOLICITY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 The revelations of God, as contained in the Scrip, 
 tures, admit of being divided into three portions : 
 those written before the advent of Christ ; those re- 
 ferring to his personal ministry on earth ; and those 
 written after the effusion of the Spirit, on the day 
 of Pentecost. In the first portion, all, at first view, 
 is national and exclusive ; the prosperity of Jerusa- 
 lem and the exaltation of the Jews would seem to 
 be the great subject of prophecy and promise ; still 
 there is a constant gleaming through of the impri- 
 soned glory; constantly recurring intimations of a 
 spiritual Jerusalem and of a spiritual Israel, in whom 
 the glorious things spoken of Zion were to meet 
 their accomplishment. 
 
 The personal instructions of our Saviour were 
 conveyed mostly in parables, designed to correct the 
 misapprehension and to repress the false expecta- 
 tions of his countrymen, but rather intimating than 
 fully disclosing the nature of his kingdom and the 
 design of his mission. The descent of the Holy 
 Spirit shed a flood of light on the whole series of 
 divine revelations, back even to the first promise 
 made to our first parents ; it is the clear exhibition 
 of the economy of redemption, made in the books 
 written after the day of Pentecost, that enables us 
 to read the outlines of the gospel in the law and the 
 prophets ; the relation of these several portions of 
 the Scriptures to each other, written at intervals 
 during the course of fifteen hundred years, shows 
 that the whole is the work of one omniscient Spirit; 
 and the fact that the catholic spirit of the gospel, as 
 unfolded in the later books of the New Testament, 
 is in apparent contradiction, though real agreement 
 
CIIAS. HODGE, D. D. 335 
 
 with the earlier portions of the Word of God, is a 
 decisive proof that the Bible is indeed the word of 
 God and not the word of man. 
 
 2. If the gospel, as has been represented, is de- 
 signed and suited for all men, it is suited to us. We 
 need the salvation which it reveals ; we, being des- 
 titute of any righteousness of our own, must accept 
 the righteousness which the gospel offers, or perish 
 in our sins. That righteousness being all that any 
 sinner needs, and being freely and sincerely offered 
 to all who hear the Gospel, we are entirely without 
 excuse if we refuse or neglect the invitations of 
 mercy. 
 
 3. If the gospel is suited to all men, it should be 
 maintained wherever it is known, and sent wherever 
 it has not yet been preached. This is the inference 
 which the apostle draws from this subject. If there 
 is no difference between the Jew and Greek ; if the 
 same Lord is rich towards all who call upon him, 
 then it is the will of God that all should call upon 
 him. But how shall they call on him on whom 
 they have not believed ? And how shall they be- 
 lieve on him of whom they have not heard ? And 
 how shall they hear without a preacher ? And how 
 shall they preach except they be sent ? The Gospel 
 being suited to all men, and being needed by all, not 
 for their temporal well-being, but for their eternal 
 salvation, woe is us if we do not make it known ; it 
 is an inheritance in which we are but joint heirs 
 with all mankind, and we cannot keep the know- 
 ledge of this inheritance to ourselves without mani- 
 fest injustice and cruelty. 
 
 Let us, then, endeavour to enter more fully into 
 
336 CATHOLICITY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 the catholic spirit of the gospel ; let us remember 
 that the unsearchable riches that are in Christ 
 Jesus are an inheritance for all the poor and per- 
 ishing ; and while we thankfully apprehend those 
 riches for ourselves, let us labour that they may be 
 made accessible to all mankind. 
 
CHRISTIAN SUBMISSION. 
 
 BT 
 
 H. A. BOARDMAN, D. D. 
 
 PASTOR OP THE TENTH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 It is the Lord; let him do what seemeth him good.— 1 Sam. iii. 18. 
 
 In this life we are sanctified but in part. The 
 best of men have their infirmities. Even the most 
 symmetrical and shining characters disclose, in one 
 form or another, the imperfection which attaches to 
 all things human. The case is still stronger than 
 this. Eminent virtues are often associated with sig- 
 nal blemishes. Individuals conspicuous for certain 
 Christian graces, are scarcely less conspicuous for 
 grievous defects. The venerable Eli was an exam- 
 ple. He was the High Priest of Israel. From the 
 brief sketch we have of his history he would seem to 
 have been a sincere, humble, devout man — attentive 
 to his official engagements, and truly concerned for 
 the welfare of the people, and the honour of their 
 Divine king. But in one department of duty Eli 
 was culpably remiss — he had no family government. 
 His two sons, his assistants in the temple-rites, were 
 profligate young men, whose conduct brought a great 
 scandal upon religion — and yet he tolerated it. He 
 reproved them, it is true, but in so mild a form that 
 23 < 337 > 
 
338 CHRISTIAN SUBMISSION. 
 
 it produced no effect upon them — precisely, indeed, 
 as many parents in our own day deal with the delin- 
 quencies of children whom they have, by their mis- 
 placed indulgence, trained to respect their authority 
 only so far as it may suit their convenience. After 
 repeated warnings had been given to no purpose, God 
 at length informs the aged and erring priest that he 
 had determined to destroy his sons, and to transfer 
 the priesthood to another family — "I have sworn 
 unto the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house 
 shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for 
 ever." This threatening was first made known to 
 " the child Samuel," who communicated it to Eli 
 only after he had been solemnly adjured to do it. 
 It would be difficult to conceive of a more appalling 
 message to the heart of a pious father. To such a 
 father, the announcement that a child was to be 
 struck down by a sudden death, must, under any 
 circumstances, be very afflictive ; but to be told that 
 two of his sons — sons, not in their infancy or child- 
 hood, but grown up to manhood — sons who had be- 
 come notorious for their wickedness, and who neither 
 had, nor were likely to have, the slightest prepara- 
 tion for death — that God had resolved, as well for 
 Ms sin in not restraining them as for their own 
 crimes, to cut off these sons by some terrible judg- 
 ment which should " make the ears of every one 
 that heard it to tingle" — to be told this must have 
 been overwhelming. How does the unhappy old 
 man receive it ? " It is the Lord ; let Mm do what 
 seemeth him good !" Such was his answer — his whole 
 answer ; not another word escaped him. Wonderful 
 submission ! Wonderful illustration of the efficacy 
 
H. A. BOARDMAN, D. D. 339 
 
 of Divine grace in controlling the strongest affections of 
 the human heart, and subduing man's rebellious will 
 into an unrepining acquiescence in the will of God ! 
 
 It behooves us all to know something of this rare 
 endowment. "We, too, may have occasion to say, 
 "It is the Lord; let him do what seemeth him 
 good." My subject, then, is Christian submission". 
 
 To discuss it in detail is not my aim. All I pro- 
 pose is, to specify some of the chief elements which 
 enter into it. 
 
 1. Christian submission excludes murmuring. 
 
 This proposition is self-evident, but the thought 
 deserves to be dwelt upon. 
 
 It is natural to murmur under afflictions and 
 losses. The voice of nature — that is, of our fallen 
 nature — is not the voice of God, but contrary to it. 
 It is as natural for us to murmur, when deprived of 
 what we love, or disappointed in our hopes, as for 
 holy beings to submit promptly and cheerfully to 
 the Divine will. We are apt to feel that what we 
 have is our own unconditionally; that when we 
 have framed and prosecuted our plans with great 
 prudence and energy, we are entitled to success; 
 that when we have accumulated a fortune, we have 
 an implicit right to keep it ; that when we have col- 
 lected the varied means and appliances of an elegant 
 and graceful life, we ought to be permitted, for a 
 period at least, to enjoy them ; that when we are 
 surrounded with a healthful and happy family, strong 
 in each others' affections, and rejoicing in each others' 
 companionship, no power may lawfully invade the 
 charmed circle to strike down even the humblest or 
 the feeblest of its loved ones. And if, in any of 
 
340 CHRISTIAN SUBMISSION. 
 
 these cases, disappointment, bankruptcy, death, ac- 
 tually comes, the perverted instincts of the heart 
 spring up in rebellion against God. I say " against 
 God •" but the quarrel is, for the most part, not with 
 him directly ; fear prevents this. We dare not " curse 
 God ;" we deal with his instruments. Upon these 
 the lacerated heart pours out its resentments ; these 
 it charges with injustice or cruelty. 
 
 It is not asserted that this is always done ; far 
 from it. But this is the native tendency of the heart, 
 a tendency to set up its own will against God's will, 
 to question his sovereignty, to cavil at his dispensa- 
 tions, to complain that " his ways are not equal," 
 and that he afflicts us more than we deserve. That 
 this disposition does not uniformly disclose itself is 
 easily accounted for. In many it has ceased to exist. 
 Nature has given place to a new nature . Grace has 
 changed the lion into a lamb. Instead of saying, 
 " Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice ?" 
 the feeling is, " Not as I will, but as thou wilt !" In 
 other cases the tendency to murmur is held in check 
 by prudential considerations, such as the dread of 
 fresh inflictions, and the like. But in too many in- 
 stances it breaks forth in impious complaints, or in 
 impatient struggles to escape from the pressure of 
 God's chastising hand. Wicked men, by their toss- 
 ings and murmurings in affliction, often verify that 
 striking image of the "troubled sea when it cannot 
 rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt." 
 
 It is too evident to admit of argument, that this 
 spirit is incompatible with the tender inspired by 
 tie gospel ; in other words, that Christian submis- 
 sion excludes murmuring. 
 
H. A. BOARDMAN, D. D. 341 
 
 2. It excludes repining. 
 
 Under great trials, it is no less natural to repine 
 than to murmur. The heart sinks into despondency. 
 The feeling is, " This affliction must' crush me — 
 God has forgotten to be gracious; He has deter- 
 mined, as a just punishment for my sins, to destroy 
 me utterly." Or the feeling is, " Now that this ca- 
 lamity has befallen me, life is stripped of its sweetest 
 charm; the world is a dreary void; all that re- 
 mains to me is valueless ; there is nothing left worth 
 living for." And thus the oppressed soul gives itself 
 up to the sway of sorrow, nurses its grief, and re- 
 fuses to be comforted. So the Israelites, when pent 
 up between the Egyptians and the sea, giving up all 
 for lost, cried to Moses and said, "Because there 
 were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away 
 to die in the wilderness ?" And the prophet, in be- 
 wailing his own trials with those of his nation in the 
 captivity, "He hath led me and brought me into 
 darkness, but not into light. My flesh and my skin 
 hath he made old ; he hath broken my bones. He 
 hath builded against me and compassed me with 
 gall and travail. He hath set me in dark places, as 
 they that be dead of old. He hath hedged me about 
 that I cannot get out; he hath made my chain 
 heavy. Also, when I cry and shout, he shutteth 
 out my prayer. He hath enclosed my ways with 
 hewn stone ; he hath made my paths crooked. He 
 was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion 
 in secret places. He hath turned aside my ways 
 and pulled me in pieces ; he hath made me deso- 
 late. . . He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath 
 made me drunken with wormw T ood. . . And I said. 
 
342 CHRISTIAN SUBMISSION. 
 
 'My strength and my hope is perished from the 
 Lord ; remembering mine affliction and my misery, 
 the wormwood and the gall.'" (Lam. iii. 1 — 19.) 
 In strains like these, even the believer will some- 
 times bemoan his miserable condition when under 
 the rod of chastisement. The prophet, it is true, 
 did not pause here; hope was blended with his 
 deepest anguish, and he emerges from this thick 
 gloom of despondency exclaiming, " The Lord is my 
 portion, saith my soul, therefore will I hope in him." 
 It is the surrender of the heart to despondency — a 
 self-abandonment to repining and hopelessness — of 
 which I speak in saying that it is excluded from the 
 elements of Christian submission ; for this is to 
 " faint when we are rebuked" of God ; it is to dis- 
 trust his faithfulness or his power ; to interpret his 
 dispensations by "feeble sense;" to assume that he 
 has "turned against us to be our enemy," simply be- 
 cause he has visited us with peculiar trials, when 
 his word every where makes such allotments a 
 pledge of his love and a signature of discipleship 
 Christian submission excludes repining. 
 
 3. It excludes insensibility. 
 
 Here, perhaps, more persons fail than in either of 
 the particulars already specified. They suppose 
 themselves to be exercising submission to the Divine 
 will, when they are simply indifferent to his chas- 
 tisements. There can be no genuine submission 
 where there is no sensibility. It seems but a mockery 
 of God to exclaim, " Thy will be done !" where the 
 event which elicits the sentiment involves no trial, 
 and is felt to be no affliction. We may conceive of 
 a case in which the conflagration of a man's ware- 
 
H. A. BOARDMAN, D. D. 343 
 
 house would augment his property to a degree that 
 he would sooner it should burn up than not ; or of 
 a case in which parents were so destitute of natural 
 affection that, on mere pecuniary grounds, they 
 would rather a child should die than live ; and in 
 examples of this sort the parties, unless they were 
 playing the hypocrite, would manifest no sorrow 
 under their " losses ;" but who would think of call- 
 ing this " Christian submission ?" 
 
 So far, indeed, is this apathy under afflictive dis- 
 pensations from belonging to the nature of submis- 
 sion, that the Scriptures hold it up as a grievous sin. 
 Afflictions have a voice, and we have no right to 
 shut our ears against it. They are designed to make 
 us feel, and if we do not feel when we are smitten, 
 we "despise the chastening of the Lord." It was 
 one of the characteristic sins of Israel, that they 
 would not " regard the works of the Lord, nor the 
 operations of his hands," and he threatened, there- 
 fore, to destroy them. (Psalm xxviii. 5.) " Thou 
 hast stricken them," says the prophet, "but they 
 have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but 
 they have refused to receive correction." (Jer. v. 3.) 
 A child that remains unconcerned under parental 
 chastisement, who takes the reproof in a sort of 
 stoical silence, which, being interpreted, means, " I 
 care nothing about your displeasure, and you may 
 punish me or not, as you see fit" — such a child is 
 already hardened in sin. To characterize his indif- 
 ference as filial submission, would be a flagrant per- 
 version of terms, since this pretended " submission" 
 would really have in it the essence of filial impiety. 
 What better can be said in behalf of that " resigna- 
 
344 CHRISTIAN SUBMISSION. 
 
 tion" to the will of Providence, which resigns nothing, 
 which parts with nothing it would not sooner part 
 with than retain, which makes no sacrifice, is con- 
 scious of no loss, misses none of its customary plea- 
 sures, feels no aching void, and looks out upon a 
 world as bright and joyous as ever ? Can this be 
 "submission?" No, my brethren. The heart must 
 be cleft before this divine virtue can flow out. These 
 strong affections and gentle sympathies must be 
 crushed before they can give forth the savour of 
 true resignation. These stubborn wills must wage a 
 stern conflict with the hand that is stretched forth 
 against them, before they can say in the spirit of 
 the Gospel, "It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth 
 him good." — Christian submission excludes insensi- 
 bility. 
 
 4. It includes a reverential acknowledgment of 
 God's liand in the afflictive dispensation. 
 
 Nature and unbelief eye second causes; faith 
 fastens its eye upon the great First Cause. It is not 
 meant by this that it is wrong to contemplate second 
 causes ; they make up a great part of the book of 
 Providence, and we not only may but must study 
 them. But to stop at second causes is to exclude 
 Providence. Nothing is more certain than that his 
 agency is concerned, directly or indirectly, in all 
 events, afflictive or otherwise. " Is there evil in the 
 city and the Lord hath not done it ?" " I kill and I 
 make alive; I wound and I heal." When Job's 
 flocks and children were swept away, he does not 
 regard the tempest, the Chaldeans, and the Sabeans, 
 the instruments of his calamities; if he had, he 
 might have murmured. But he looked beyond 
 
n. A. BOAKDMAN, D. D. 345 
 
 these, and in the spirit of true submission exclaimed, 
 " The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away ; 
 and blessed be the name of the Lord." So, too, with 
 the venerable Naomii, when she returned to her na- 
 tive town from her sojourn in Moab, a desolate and 
 impoverished widow, and the citizens gathered 
 around her, and said one to another, with mingled 
 surprise and sympathy, "Is this Naomi?" "Call 
 me not Naomi," she replied, " call me Mara ; for the 
 Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went 
 out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again 
 empty; why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the 
 Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty 
 hath afflicted me ?" To her view, all her afflictions 
 spoke of God, and they were submissively to be re- 
 ferred to his providence. There can be no genuine 
 submission without this feeling. Nor is it enough to 
 acknowledge his agency in the event simply. He 
 orders as well the minutest circumstances of our 
 trials as the trials themselves. In these circum- 
 stances, there is frequently much to harass the feel- 
 ings. " We could have borne the stroke, (so we are 
 apt to ruminate upon it,) had it been ordered thus 
 and so ; had this thing been done or that left un- 
 done ; could we only have known beforehand that 
 the blow was about to fall ; could we have attempted 
 by such or such expedients to avert it ; or, failing in 
 this, could we at least have had the melancholy 
 satisfaction of seeing it fall, it would have been less 
 insupportable." So we reason ; but how unwisely ! 
 with what unbelief! Does God notice the falling 
 sparrow ; has he numbered the hairs of our heads ; 
 and does he overlook any, the most trivial incident 
 
346 CHRISTIAN SUBMISSION. 
 
 in the afflictions of his creatures, and especially of 
 his own children ? Let us check these fond suggest 
 tions of flesh and blood, and say of every circum- 
 stance, however slight, in the dispensations of his 
 hand, " It is the Lord ; let him do what seemeth 
 him good." 
 
 5. It includes a conviction of Ms perfect rigid to do 
 what lie has done. 
 
 The Christian, under the influence of genuine sub- 
 mission, contemplates God as the universal Creator 
 and Proprietor; as having a right, underived and 
 unconditional, save as the exercise of it may be 
 limited by his own infinite perfections, to dispose of 
 any and all creatures, as may seem good in his 
 sight. Ascribing to him an unrestricted sovereignty- 
 over every department of human affairs, he feels that 
 he may, without trenching upon any real or imagi- 
 nary "rights" on the part of his creatures, deal with 
 them in the manner best adapted to promote his 
 own glory. If he chooses to send poverty, sickness, 
 pestilence, domestic troubles, mental disquietude, 
 bereavements, or trials of other kinds, faith will vin- 
 dicate the equity of the procedure even while the 
 heart is bleeding at every pore, and will ask, " Shall 
 not the Judge of all the earth do right ?" I do not 
 say that this will in every case be done without a 
 struggle ; nature is nature still, though sanctified. 
 And sometimes the freshets of affliction burst so ab- 
 ruptly upon the soul, arid pour themselves over it 
 with such irresistible fury, that faith is for the time 
 well-nigh severed from the rock, and hope's anchor 
 drags from its fastening within the vail, and de- 
 struction seems inevitable. But presently that voice 
 
H. A. BOARDMAN, D. D. 347 
 
 which said to the raging Gcnnesareth, "Peace, be 
 still !" goes out over the tempestuous flood, and the 
 alarmed and desponding soul again lifts up a tearful 
 but confiding eye to heaven, and cries, " Father, thy 
 will be done !" Only let the believer realize that it 
 is God who is dealing with him, and he is satisfied 
 that all his allotments are ordered in righteousness 
 and equity. He needs no argument to convince him 
 that even where "clouds and darkness are round 
 about Him, righteousness and judgment are the 
 habitation of His throne." Nor is this all. Submis- 
 sion not only has respect to God's perfect right to 
 do what he has done, and to the righteousness of 
 his dispensations, but, 
 
 6. It includes an assurance of His wisdom, faith- 
 fulness, and love, in the affliction he has sent. 
 
 It was a common sentiment among the ancient 
 heathen, that great trials marked a man as an object 
 of the Divine displeasure. Job's friends interpreted 
 his afflictions in the same way. The Christian has 
 been taught differently. He knows that affliction 
 has ever been a part of the heritage of the saints. 
 " In the world ye shall have tribulation." , " If ye be 
 without chastisement, then are ye bastards and not 
 sons." It is the specific reason assigned for the pun- « 
 ishments inflicted upon Israel, that they were God's 
 children. " You only have I known of all the fami- 
 lies of the earth, therefore will I punish you for all 
 your iniquities." And herein he has reference, not 
 simply to their aggravated guilt and consequent 
 desert of punishment, but also to the benefits they 
 might derive from his inflictions. They were his 
 own people, and therefore instead of allowing them 
 
348 CHRISTIAN SUBMISSION. 
 
 to sin with impunity until their cup was full, he 
 would chastise them and bring them to repentance. 
 " When we are judged we are chastened of the Lord, 
 that we should not be condemned with the world." 
 
 This view of affliction puts another aspect upon 
 it. To the eye of sense it is frowning and terrific ; 
 it speaks of vengeance ; it forebodes destruction. But 
 faith takes the soul up to the throne, and unveils the 
 other phase of the dispensation — that which is averted 
 from our mortal eyes, and of which flesh and sense 
 can form no conception. Then it is seen that the 
 rod is held by a Father's hand ; that it is he who has 
 cast his child into the furnace, and that his bosom 
 yearns over him with all the love and tenderness 
 which a fond father feels towards a son whom he is 
 constrained to punish for his faults. He may not 
 be apprised of all the grounds and motives of the 
 infliction, but he will at least be conscious that he 
 deserves chastisement. u I know, Lord, that 
 thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithful- 
 ness hast afflicted me." Such is the language of true 
 submission. God has engaged to perfect his work 
 in the hearts of his people, to withhold no good thing 
 from them, to do for them whatever may be re- 
 quisite, not for their present ease, but for their sanc- 
 tification and meetness for heaven. The rod is too 
 valuable an implement in carrying forward this 
 process to be neglected. If he consulted simply the 
 feelings of his children, he would seldom resort to 
 chastisement — for what child will ask to be chas- 
 tised ? Or, if his affection for them partook of the 
 infirmity which so often attaches to parental affec- 
 tion among men, he might suffer their sins to go un- 
 
II. A. BOARDMAN", D. D. 349 
 
 reproved j but he is a faithful and covenantrkeeping 
 God. No mistaken tenderness will ever lead him 
 to withhold the chastisement which is essential to 
 his people's happiness. He loves them too well and 
 too wisely not to let them drink sometimes of the 
 cup of sorrow. 
 
 The Christian is not often left without adequate 
 evidence that his afflictions are ordered in wisdom 
 and faithfulness. One of the first effects of affliction 
 is to drive him to self-examination. Communing 
 with his own heart, and reviewing his life, he will 
 usually find abundant indications of infirmity and 
 sin. He has, perhaps, been the slave of pride or of 
 sensuality ; he has cherished an irascible and vin- 
 dictive temper ; he has pursued his secular business 
 with an avidity which has left no time for his soul 
 and for God ; he has floated far away from his true 
 anchorage, on the current of worldly fashion and 
 frivolity ; he has grown remiss in watchfulness and 
 prayer; he has undervalued and neglected the 
 means of grace ; he has failed to profit by former 
 chastisements ; and by these or other sins and 
 omissions, he has declined in spirituality, and lost 
 much of his enjoyment in religion, and surrendered 
 his soul to barrenness. With these impressions of 
 his own unfaithfulness and criminality, he will see 
 how wisely, as well as how mercifully, his afflictions 
 are adapted to break up his delusive slumber, recover 
 him from his declension, and bring him back where 
 the light of God's countenance will once more shine 
 upon him. 
 
 And even when the affliction may be of such a 
 nature that the grounds of it are not readily de 
 
350 CHRISTIAN SUBMISSION. 
 
 tected, when it consists in one of those awful dis- 
 plays of his sovereignty with which God sometimes 
 startles and confounds his creatures, even then the 
 Christian will struggle against the douhts and terrors 
 with which unbelief would overwhelm him, and bow 
 to the rod which smites him, with the feeling — 
 
 " God is his own interpreter, 
 And he will make it plain." 
 
 7. Finally, Christian submission properly includes 
 a desire and determination to profit by the affliction. 
 
 This is an indispensable test of its sincerity. 
 There can be no genuine submission, without an 
 earnest desire to have the lessons the affliction is 
 fitted to suggest, written upon the heart and carried 
 out into the life. It is not for his own pleasure that 
 God afflicts his people ; it is from no caprice or cru- 
 elty; but "for their profit." It is that they may be- 
 come "partakers of his holiness," and be assimilated 
 to Christ their Head. When w r e say, therefore, 
 " Thy will be done !" it is not a bare acquiescence 
 in the trial ; it is a prayer that the gracious ends he 
 proposes to effect by the stroke may be accom- 
 plished ; a prayer that it may be so sanctified as to 
 yield to us the "peaceable fruit of righteousness." 
 To secure this result should be the great concern of 
 the afflicted. The remark is as just as it is com- 
 mon, that trials do not leave us as they find us; 
 they either harden our hearts or mollify them ; they 
 are either a blessing or a curse. The Christian is, 
 or should be, too w r ell aware of this, not to tremble 
 at the thought of misimproving his afflictions. God 
 has come very near to him ; he is waiting to see the 
 
H. A. BOARDMAN, D. D. 351 
 
 effect of his dispensations. How solemn, how criti- 
 cal a season is it in the history of that stricken Chris- 
 tian ; how closely connected with his peace and use- 
 fulness; how vital in its bearings upon his whole 
 future career ! He sees this. He feels it. With a holy 
 jealousy he watches over himself. He studies the 
 Scriptures with renewed diligence. He pours out 
 his soul, day by day, in fervent supplications for 
 wisdom, strength, deliverance from sin, and in- 
 creasing holiness. And he addresses himself with 
 vigour and alacrity to the duties of his station, re- 
 solved, with the help of God, to live henceforth for 
 Him who has loved him and died to redeem him. 
 
 Such is an imperfect account of Christian submis- 
 sion. Imperfect as the delineation is, it will readily 
 occur to you, that it is a virtue of rare excellence 
 and of most difficult attainment. That which con- 
 stitutes its excellence, reveals the reason why it is 
 so difficult of attainment, viz., its contrariety to our 
 natural character. " If any man will come after me, 
 let him deny himself, and take up his cross and fol- 
 low me." True religion consists much in self-cruci 
 fixion, and self-crucifixion belongs to the essence of 
 Christian submission. 
 
 To inculcate this virtue is easy; to practise it 
 exceeds our unassisted powers. Blessed be God for 
 the promise, " My grace is sufficient for thee, for my 
 strength is made perfect in weakness." " The things 
 which are impossible with men are possible with 
 God." But for the "everlasting arms," his people 
 would faint and die under the calamities of life ; but 
 he upholds them. " They that wait upon the Lord 
 shall renew their strength ; they shall mount up on 
 
352 CHRISTIAN SUBMISSION. 
 
 wings as eagles ; they shall run and not be weary, 
 they shall walk and not faint." 
 
 There are few amongst us who have not tested 
 the truth of these Divine promises ; who have not 
 been called, in one way or another, io say, " It is the 
 Lord, let him do what seemeth him good." He has 
 stripped you of your property, he has prostrated 
 you with sickness, he has permitted your children 
 to plant your path with thorns, he has baffled your 
 cherished plans of worldly success and honour, he 
 has sent death to fill your hearts and your homes 
 with desolation. You know, then, how hard it is 
 to say, u Not as I will, but as Thou wilt !" But you 
 also know, I trust, that what you cannot say in your 
 own strength, he can enable you to say ; and that 
 however painful the stroke at the time, he can so 
 sustain and sanctify you, that you shall afterwards 
 look back upon it with the subdued and grateful 
 feeling, u It is good for me that I have been afflicted." 
 
THE PRODIGAL. 
 
 BT 
 
 JOHN LEYBURN, D. D. 
 
 EDITOR OP THE PRESBYTERIAN, PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 I will arise and go to my Father. — Luke xt. 18. 
 
 The parable of the prodigal son is among the most 
 interesting and affecting portions of the Word of 
 God. Its strong pictures stand out with great bril- 
 liancy and force. Its tender associations, drawn from 
 the family hearth-stone, grouping together a father's 
 love, the waywardness of intractable boyhood, the 
 prodigal's alienation from home, his spendthrift life, 
 and what it brought him to ; the coming to himself 
 amidst the wretchedness and want his sins had in- 
 duced, his return, the old father still, though years 
 had passed, looking out for his lost one, and recog- 
 nizing him afar off in his rags, the meeting, the forgive- 
 ness, the rejoicing — did ever painter have a finer suc- 
 cession of scenes for pencil and canvass, than inspi- 
 ration has here written in its simple, telling language ? 
 
 This parable, however, has other bearings, far out- 
 reaching its mere dramatic interest. Whilst it speaks 
 of the relation of father and son, of alienation, re- 
 turn and forgiveness, it shadows forth under beauti- 
 ful imagery great scriptural truths, which have to do 
 
 24 (353) 
 
354 THE PRODIGAL. 
 
 with the immortal welfare of the soul. Under the 
 person of the father is represented God, the one 
 great Father of us all ; the son is the sinner, fallen 
 and estranged, and loving his wanderings well ; the 
 far country is the world of sin and misery, in which 
 he makes his home ; the coming to himself, his con- 
 viction of sin ; his return, his repentance ; and his 
 acceptance and the rejoicings over him, his regenera- 
 tion and adoption into the household of the righte- 
 ous. The parable, then, has great practical bear- 
 ings ; and in order to bring these into such shape as 
 that they may favourably affect you, my readers, 
 we shall educe from the passage a few of its plain, 
 practical teachings. 
 
 1. The first thought which the passage suggests 
 is — that God has given to all men a portion of sub- 
 stance. Over and above that, which may be re- 
 garded as in some measure mediately the result of 
 our own application and industry, we are endowed 
 by nature with certain important gifts, which may 
 be regarded as a capital in hand, wherewith to do 
 our trading for time and for eternity, and of which 
 all after accumulations are but the workings up. 
 What greater gift could the Father of us all bestow 
 upon one of his creatures, than a reasonable soul ? 
 This he has not given to beasts, birds, creeping things, 
 or to any other order of creation connected with this 
 planet where we dwell. A soul, rational and immor- 
 tal, is man's possession alone. It uplifts him from 
 the common ground on which stand all other earth- 
 born creatures, invests him with a lofty superiority, 
 and makes him to have dominion over them all. A 
 great gift is this soul of man — more valuable than 
 
JOHN LEYBURN, D. D. 355 
 
 gems, than mines of gold, or crowns and kingdoms 
 — than all the world beside. Especially does this 
 gift of a soul seem to be a valuable portion when we 
 look at its varied faculties and capabilities. 
 
 It is endowed with an understanding. It has ca- 
 pacities for high intelligence. It can discern, appro- 
 priate, digest, and powerfully use knowledge. It 
 can reason, analyze, pursue long and difficult logical 
 processes, and fairly revel in the great fields of thought 
 which stretch out over the vast universe of God. It 
 has imagination, and can create from next to nothing 
 realms of fancy, peopling them at pleasure from her 
 vast store-houses. 
 
 The soul has a conscience also. It has capacities 
 not only for intelligence, but is possessed of moral 
 susceptibilities; it can discern truth and approve it; 
 it can know evil and condemn it. Rightly edu- 
 cated and directed, of all the elements of a human 
 soul, conscience is of most importance. Better could 
 we do without any thing else than do without that 
 which God has put within us as a sort of vicegerent 
 for himself — sent to occupy the inner temple of our- 
 selves, to make right suggestions, to chide us when 
 we would go astray, to encourage and cheer us on 
 in all right-doing. Conscience — the law written on 
 the heart, excusing and accusing — when properly en- 
 lightened, is as if we heard the voice of God, speak- 
 ing in audible terms approbation or displeasure. 
 
 And, further, to the soul also belongs a will ; it 
 has powers of volition ; like the pilot of the boat, it 
 can turn the soul about, bearing it onward or keep- 
 ing it steadfast, consenting to evil or refusing, ac- 
 cepting the offered ways of life and walking in them, 
 
356 THE PRODIGAL. 
 
 or else choosing the road to death and travelling 
 there. In this will lies the power of the man ; turn 
 this and you turn one's whole self; fix this to pur- 
 poses of good, and you have lashed the bark's helm, 
 with her bows towards a peaceful haven, from which 
 no adverse winds or currents can divert her. 
 
 The soul has affections too ; it can love and it can 
 hate. Among the chiefest joys life affords, are the 
 knitting together of hearts by ties of warm affection, 
 so that in each other they find something to approve 
 and delight in, to enlist the sympathies and sensi- 
 bilities — something to enjoy and almost live for. 
 Men love their children, wives, neighbours — they 
 have sympathies warm and tender beating in com- 
 mon with a circle in whose veins runs their blood, 
 or in whose minds dwell kindred sentiments and 
 purposes. 
 
 Here, then, in this soul, with its treasure of un- 
 derstanding, conscience, will and affections, we have 
 the portion of goods which God our Father from on 
 high bestows upon us all, at the outset of life. A 
 rich inheritance truly is ours, worth infinitely more 
 than houses, lands, ships or stocks. 
 
 2. The impenitent have taken this, their sub- 
 stance, and gone into a far country. 
 
 This present evil world, with its pride, covetous- 
 ness, lust and self-seeking, is a country far from 
 God. God is, indeed, in his essence and by his ever- 
 present providence, not far from every one of us. 
 The sinner, with all his efforts, cannot escape from 
 the vision of the Omniscient, nor from the immedi- 
 ate proximity of the Omnipresent, nor from the all- 
 powerful grasp of the Omnipotent. The wings of 
 
JOHN LEYBURN, D. D. obi 
 
 the morning cannot bear him from God's sight, nor 
 can the darkness hide him, nor the uttermost parts 
 of the earth, nor the depths of hell conceal him. 
 
 Still, as to that nearness of the soul to God, which 
 presumes a resemblance to him in moral nature, a 
 sympathy in the things hated and delighted in, and 
 a close and joyful communion of spirit with him, 
 there is none of it. It is matter of no great diffi- 
 culty, impenitent reader, to prove from the actings 
 out of your own life towards all that represents your 
 God and Saviour here on earth, that you have wan- 
 dered far from him. Here, for instance, is his Word. 
 In this blessed book of inspiration is the very lan- 
 guage of his utterance, placed on record for the in- 
 struction and admonition of mankind ; historically 
 it is an interesting book ; poetically, strikingly sub- 
 lime and beautiful ; as to the times in which it was 
 produced, it runs through the lapse of ages, and in 
 the subjects of which it treats, extends through eter- 
 nity. There is no reason, therefore, in the Bible 
 itself, why it should not be as attractive as any other 
 volume. But is it so ? Under the suggestions of 
 an uneasy conscience, you may at rare intervals, or 
 perhaps even statedly, read over a chapter or two, 
 but in these glorious themes with which its pages 
 are enriched, and which are so well adapted to en- 
 kindle the enthusiasm and affections of the soul, 
 how far are you from any thing of this ! To the 
 unregenerate man, God's word is not so welcome as 
 an ordinary history, or a poem, a novel, or a news- 
 paper; its perusal is absolutely uninteresting and 
 irksome ; if read at all, it is read under the direct 
 stress of conscience ; you do not love its truths, nor 
 
358 THE PRODIGAL. 
 
 do its great principles wake up any congenial chord 
 in your bosom. You will hence generally neglect it, 
 treat it with practical contempt, allow it to lie until 
 the dust accumulates on its unopened covers, ever 
 trying to get away from what will bring God and 
 eternity before you. 
 
 So also it is with prayer. Prayer is a direct 
 speaking to God through the intervention of his Son. 
 It is when the soul is engaged in earnest supplica- 
 tion that God, by his Spirit, deigns to visit the soul. 
 The closet is a place of constant, sweet communion 
 to the true disciple, akin in its pure, heart-cheering 
 enjoyments to heaven ; but the sinner has no appre- 
 ciation of the privilege ; he does not find comfort in 
 pouring out his soul to Him whose ear is ever open 
 to the suppliant's cry ; if he utters what is called 
 prayer, it is but the idle repetition of words ; no 
 wrestlings of the soul are there, no taking hold of 
 the promises, no visions of Christ, no well-springs 
 of consolation; all is dull, unattractive, repulsive. 
 Hence he seldom goes through even the form of pri- 
 vate prayer to God. He lives day after day without 
 asking the Divine blessing upon him for this world 
 and the next — without even thinking of it. In fact, 
 if by any means he should be reminded that living 
 prayerless is an offence before God, so that his con- 
 science begins to rebuke him, he bestirs himself 
 straightway to silence conscience or drug it to sleep. 
 He does not wish to pray; he has no desire for com- 
 munion with heaven ; he has taken his portion of 
 goods and wandered far away ; he does not wish to 
 speak with God. 
 
 In regard to the public services of God's house, 
 
JOHN LEYBURN, D. D. 359 
 
 too, the same spiritual phenomena occur. This is a 
 place where God vouchsafes to be present. His 
 children, who love him, and desire to enjoy his 
 favour, delight to be there. They can say, like the 
 Psalmist, " How amiable are thy tabernacles, Lord 
 of Hosts !" " A day in thy courts is better than a 
 thousand." " I had rather be a door-keeper in the 
 house of God, than to dwell in the tents of wicked- 
 ness." Not so with the sinner. He had rather 
 dwell in the tents of wickedness. No desire has he 
 to keep the doors of the sanctuary. Not that we 
 would intimate that he is not a church-goer. Edu- 
 cation, a vague sense of religious obligation, a general 
 impression of the importance of sustaining the ordi- 
 nances and influences of Christianity for the public 
 good, and other circumstances, may have rendered 
 him quite a punctual attendant at church. Nor is he 
 always an uninterested hearer. When the preacher 
 delivers his message with fine rhetorical accompani- 
 ments, it may be in his ears as the melodious sound of 
 a pleasant instrument. When good hits are made at 
 the short-comings of religious professors, or at gen- 
 eral public evils, he can listen with real enjoyment, 
 and say, That was well done. When a doctrinal 
 point is discussed, he can follow the speaker in his 
 logical connections, appreciate the argument, confess 
 that he has made good his points, and give his judg- 
 ment that he is an able minister of the Word of God. 
 But let the minister forget his rhetoric, and, leav- 
 ing generalities, or abstract doctrines and other 
 people's sins, come directly home to the sinner's own 
 case, charging his transgressions down upon him, 
 waking up conscience to say, " Thou art the man," 
 
3G0 THE PRODIGAL. 
 
 and pointing to the terrible retributions threatened 
 against such as he, then what has this hearer to say? 
 Wearily he sits beneath such messages ; no praises 
 has he now for the preaching, and but little admira- 
 tion for the preacher. He is disposed to be captious, 
 perhaps wishes for a change of ministers, or a change 
 of his church for one where he will hear things less 
 unpleasant, or, it may be he forsakes the sanctuary al- 
 together. It was not from love of the truth, or love to 
 God, he ever went there ; but from habit, interest in 
 good speaking, or of a well-digested argument, and 
 other extrinsic influences ; and now, when these are 
 withdrawn, and God, through the instrumentality 
 of his Word, is revealed, he wishes to flee away and 
 hide himself. He has left his father's house, and 
 gone so far astray that he does not wish to have 
 God even speak to him. 
 
 So far has he gone, too, and so fixed is he in 
 his purpose to stay at a distance, that hitherto all 
 means have failed to bring him back. Preaching, 
 persuasions of friends, the example of others re- 
 turning, solemn and affecting providences, and even 
 the occasional movings of the Spirit, have all been 
 unsuccessful. He has taken his goods and gone 
 into a far country. 
 
 3. In the far country, whither the sinner has 
 gone, like the prodigal, he is squandering his goods. 
 Understanding, affections, conscience, and will, may 
 not indeed be buried in a napkin, but they are traded 
 with for self and this world, instead of for God. 
 What seekings after divine truth, what flames of 
 heavenly love, what heart-searching to bring out 
 hidden sins that they may be slain, what self-morti- 
 
JOHN LETBURX, D. D. 361 
 
 ficatioiL, what purposes to lay out the life for Christ 
 and his cause, are ever seen in him ! Alas ! to all 
 these he is as much a stranger, and they as much 
 strange to him, as if such things were never set forth 
 as a part of the obligations incumbent upon him. 
 According to that high and holy sense in which 
 God looks upon nothing as rightly done, which has 
 not as its prime motive a desire for his glory, the 
 sinner's whole life has been fruitless. From the 
 dawn of his being, to the present hour, he has not 
 done one act, nor spoken one word, nor exercised a 
 single affection nor volition, nor cherished a thought 
 which heaven can approve. Neither his own soul, 
 nor the souls of others are, by any intention upon 
 his part, the better of his having come into this 
 world. As to all the rich and glorious revenues, 
 which God had a right to expect from the priceless 
 inheritance he has given him, he has been a most 
 unprofitable servant. 
 
 But this neglect, rightly to use his goods, is only 
 the negative aspect of his sin. He has positively 
 misused and squandered them ; he has diverted 
 them to ends absolutely mischievous ; he has lived 
 for self, for family, and for worldly aggrandize- 
 ment. If sensual pleasures have been most agree- 
 able, to these he has devoted himself, and, in 
 that delusive department of things earthly, has gone 
 the rounds of gaiety and fashionable dissipation, 
 laying out himself for sumptuous living, worldly 
 show, or more vulgar vice, and saying, " Soul, take 
 thine ease." Or if his tastes have been of an avari- 
 cious cast, he has gone out into the market place, 
 and there, with care and toil, has lived but to ac- 
 
362 THE PRODIGAL. 
 
 cumulate, and having accumulated, still abandoned 
 himself to the same. Or if ambition has been his 
 ruling passion, he has sought, by all devices which 
 ingenuity could suggest, and all the industry of which 
 he w r as capable, for power and place. These have 
 constituted the one great object for which the por- 
 tion of life already past has been exhausted — to 
 which the talents given him have been devoted. 
 Fruitless as to the chief end for which he was 
 created, and fruitful in all that is forbidden, in the 
 far country of this world of sin, he has squandered 
 his substance on things which have produced no 
 profit, either for God's glory, for the highest welfare 
 of his fellow men, or for his own eternal interests. 
 With such riotous living have his talents been 
 wasted. 
 
 4. Like the jorodigal, also, the sinner is in a perish- 
 ing condition. Restive was the wayward son with the 
 restraints of his father's house ; puffed up with the 
 vain conceit that he could do better for himself than 
 could be done for him at his native home ; imagining 
 that the indulgences from which parental love with- 
 held him were things to be desired, and wishing to 
 be where he could revel amid such pleasures unmo- 
 lested, he secured his portion of goods, and w T ent away 
 to lead a life of sensuality. For a season, perhaps, 
 all went on well. Vice yielded a transient satisfac- 
 tion. With money at command and none to hinder, 
 he could betake himself to such pleasures to his 
 heart's content. He probably wondered that he 
 could so long have endured the mopish life at home. 
 The freshness of sinful joys enables him to enter into 
 them with a full relish. But soon the scene changes. 
 
JOHN LEYBURN, D. D. 000 
 
 He finds that sin has a bitter as well as a sweet ; 
 that the chalice, whose delicious draughts have so ex- 
 hilarated, had wormwood amongst its dregs. Hours 
 of revelry left days of ennui, and an aching, empty, 
 desolated heart. Soon money was gone — that which 
 had bought the momentary pleasures — and with that 
 went friends, and the joys of the sinful, lustful 
 life. He has tried in vain to find the real good which 
 he had sought for. With all his gettings, his soul is 
 emptier than at first; and now he has not where- 
 with to get, at all. He lacks the very necessaries 
 for existence — he perishes with hunger. 
 
 Now to this end has the prodigal sinner already 
 come. With all his toil he has never been satisfied. 
 Every acquisition, however eagerly and patiently 
 sought for, and whatever he may have hoped from 
 it, has but left the same void within. His plans may 
 have been well laid, they may have been judiciously 
 prosecuted, they may have been successful. But 
 what then ? Success when achieved has been his 
 bane instead of his lasting joy. The end attained, all 
 the exhilaration and interest of the pursuit have 
 vanished, and he finds himself in possession of that 
 which, if honest, he can only hold up before his 
 mind's eye, and look at, whilst he exclaims, " How 
 hast thou cheated me? With hard toil, for long 
 months, with much care and weariness, I have sought 
 thee, and now thou art mine, what art thou ? What 
 joy canst thou give to this empty soul, thou inert 
 thing? What sorrows canst thou soothe, what cares 
 drive away ? What am I better than before ?" With 
 all his getting, he has gotten but the chaff which 
 the swine do eat, and is still perishing with hunger. 
 
3G4 THE PRODIGAL. 
 
 Is not such the experience of the ungodly world ? 
 Who amongst the throngs that crowd the broad road 
 to the second death, have ever found that houses and 
 lands, stocks and moneys at interest, operas, routes 
 and gay apparel, or crowns, kingdoms, and sceptres, 
 satisfied the cravings of the soul? Pythius, who 
 lived in Asia Minor in the time of Xerxes, and 
 who was, next to that monarch, the wealthiest 
 man in the world, but who was still grinding the 
 faces of the poor, received a most eloquent rebuke, 
 as to the folly of so setting his heart on gold, from 
 his wife, when she had a splendid banquet prepared 
 with nothing to eat on the table but gold. Saladin, 
 one of the sovereigns of Asia, after all the glories 
 he had won, when at last his dying hour approached, 
 could but say to his standard bearer — '•' Go show this 
 flag of the dead to the army, and tell them that the 
 lord of the East could bring nothing but a single gar- 
 ment to the grave." All the world's promised good, 
 however fascinating in appearance, like the beauti- 
 ful apples of Sodom, falls to ashes at the touch. Far, 
 far have you wandered amidst such vain pursuits ; 
 long, long, has your aching heart craved for some- 
 thing to fill its vast desires ; but all earth's resources 
 exhausted, has there not remained the aching, empty 
 heart still? Are you not hungering, perishing 
 still? The priceless treasure, the immortal soul, 
 which God gave you as } 7 our inheritance, is, indeed, 
 still yours, but in the wanderings and squanderings 
 it has become stupified with sin, and is of itself in- 
 capable of yielding any revenue of real good ; and 
 there, lying in your helplessness, with only the 
 swine's chaff for your diet, you perish with hunger. 
 
JOHN LEYBURN, D. D. 3G5 
 
 5. The only remedy in this sad extremity is, first 
 of all, like the prodigal, to come to yourself. 
 
 Amidst the wretchedness and ruin which his reck- 
 less course had brought upon him, God's mercy still 
 allowed him to remember that there were good things 
 in the home he had left. At that father's house 
 want was never known 5 no rags were seen even on 
 the lowest menial who waited within its portals; 
 none ever hungered in vain, amid the plenty with 
 which that board was spread; all were cared for 
 bountifully, cheerfully, and to their hearts utmost 
 content. How does he envy the lot of the lowest 
 who dwell there. Happy are they ; whilst he, who 
 once as a son shared the bounties of that board, is 
 here in a far country, in the fields amidst the swine, 
 striving to keep off famine with the husks on which 
 the poor brutes he is tending seem to revel, but 
 which refuse to refresh and nourish him. Why did 
 he ever leave that home? What compensation has 
 his riotous living afforded, for the peaceful plenty 
 and comfort he there relinquished ? How was he 
 deluded in imagining that a life of folly and sin was 
 more to be desired, than the gentle and wholesome 
 restraints which prevailed in the paternal mansion. 
 The spell which rested on him has been broken, and 
 he now sees things in their proper light. He has 
 come to himself; he was beside himself before. 
 
 And how truly may it be said of every wanderer 
 from God, who is seeking his treasures among earthly 
 things, that he is beside himself. What man in his 
 sane mind could choose a portion such as this world 
 affords, in preference to that offered him from the 
 Father's house on high ; and especially when his oft- 
 
3G6 THE PRODIGAL. 
 
 repeated experience has taught him how vain are 
 all things here below ? In that house there are in- 
 deed restraints, but these are only to bar the soul 
 from what would bring but disappointment, sorrow 
 and shame, were they ours. With kind paternal 
 tenderness and discrimination, and with a full know- 
 ledge of what is best for his children, our Father in 
 heaven places his prohibitory mandate only over the 
 gateways which lead to wretchedness and ruin. 
 His commandments are not grievous. His ways are 
 ways of pleasantness, and all his paths are peace. 
 He spreads rich banquets of heavenly provision ; he 
 opens up fountains of consolation and enjoyment, 
 such as know no poisonous intermixture ; his own 
 Son received by faith is meat indeed for the famish- 
 ing soul ; his word is spirit and life ; he gives peace 
 of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, and a hope of 
 eternal life beyond the grave ; and in the ways of 
 obedience to him, and the fruition of the promises, 
 there is a welling up of a fountain from which, if a 
 man drink, he need never thirst again. With such 
 provision all his children are supplied bountifully 
 and freely ; none need ever want ; there is enough 
 and to spare. 
 
 Why should the sinner forsake such a home to 
 wander in the deserts of this world ; and instead of 
 this wholesome nutriment, prepared for the soul by 
 him who made it and knew its wants, endeavour to 
 satisfy himself with the husks of earthly good? 
 Never can he satiate his hungerings until he come 
 to his right mind, and sees things in their real and 
 relative value. If this world has yielded no fruits 
 such as the soul would have, why will he not look 
 
JOHN LEYBURN, D. D. 3G7 
 
 where alone they can be found ? If wandering from 
 God has brought only disappointment and sorrow, 
 why will he not return to God and find real joy ? 
 Heaven's resources have not been exhausted by the 
 glorious multitude who feed at its banquet tables. 
 The portals of that forsaken home are open to re- 
 ceive him if he will but return; what folly and 
 madness, then, to stay away ! Let reason resume 
 her throne. Let him whom God has made capable 
 of the high dignity of a son appreciate his privilege, 
 and seek to dwell where he properly belongs. Let 
 him come to his right mind ; let him prefer the real 
 to the counterfeit, the substance to the shadow, the 
 solid gold to worthless dust, the banquets of his 
 Father's house to the poor husks of the swine- 
 herds. 
 
 6. But, unhappily, like the prodigal, the sinner, 
 finding himself in want, often betakes himself for 
 aid to some citizen of the country where he dwells. 
 All his inheritance being gone, the famine pressing 
 hard upon him, and no other prospect in view but 
 death by hunger, unless he finds relief from some 
 source, the prodigal seeks the help nearest at hand 
 and most congenial. As yet he has hardly thought 
 of returning to his long forsaken home ; he does not 
 care to go there ; he fears to meet the piercing, re- 
 proachful glance of an injured father; his great ob- 
 ject is to avert the calamity which stares him in the 
 face ; he hopes to do this by becoming a hireling, 
 and forthwith joins himself to a citizen of that far 
 off country, and goes into the fields as a tender of 
 swine. 
 
 A most striking counterpart of the prodigal's 
 
368 , THE PRODIGAL. 
 
 course is found in the almost uniform conduct of the 
 sinner awakened to a sense of his perishing condi- 
 tion. He finds himself in want ; hunger is gnawing 
 at his vitals, the world has never satisfied him, he 
 sees worse things in store, death is coming on and 
 he must perish if he remains where he is. Forth- 
 with, therefore, instead of resorting at once to the 
 full provisions of the Gospel, he sets himself to 
 work out some righteousness of his own, by joining 
 himself to what at best must be regarded as belong- 
 ing to the country of this present world, and not to 
 the kingdom which is from above. He betakes him- 
 self to reformation, breaking off from his more overt 
 sins ; he abandons Sabbath breaking, profane swear- 
 ing, licentiousness, attendance on places of worldly 
 amusement and folly, and is outwardly a very dif- 
 ferent man. He hopes to be better satisfied under 
 his new system of living. Finding this, however, 
 unavailing, he goes further, and now opens his long 
 neglected Bible, reading portions of it every day; 
 he bows his knees in secret to pray ; he is regular 
 in his attendance on the sanctuary, and perhaps be- 
 gins to frequent the weekly social meetings. In 
 these he hopes to find relief for his famishing soul. 
 But, alas ! no relief comes ; the Bible is a sealed 
 book to him ; his prayers seem idle words ; the mes- 
 sages of the minister bring no comfort to his bosom. 
 In fact the longer he continues his toilsome routine 
 of religious services the more hopeless his prosj^ects 
 seem to be ; his heart is hard ; he cannot feel, or 
 think, or act as he would do. He begins to despair 
 of help from these sources. And well he may. He 
 has been striving to work out a righteousness of his 
 
JOHN LEYBURN, D. D. 
 
 369 
 
 own, instead of humbly seeking that which is 
 Christ Jesus. The means of grace, however im- 
 portant in their place as means, and an outward 
 reformation, however indispensable, will not of them- 
 selves avail ; he has stopped short of the right re- 
 fuge, and joined himself to what are best but citi- 
 zens' of the country of this present world. If he 
 o-oes no further for help, he must still perish with 
 
 hunger. 
 
 7. And this leads to the remark, that, like the 
 prodigal, and with the same spirit also, the sinner 
 must return to his father's house. 
 
 Temptations, indeed, there may be to keep him 
 where he is. Looking at the distance to which he 
 has gone, and the steps which must be retraced, the 
 way back seems long and difficult. In his poverty 
 and rags he may think himself badly prepared for 
 the journey. Should he reach the gates of the 
 homestead, how does he know that he will be re- 
 ceived ? He erred in forsaking that home ; and his 
 career since, together with his present wretched ap- 
 pearance, have nothing to recommend him. Has 
 not his father cast him off for ever ? With kindred 
 doubts and fears may the sinner, whom God's Spirit 
 has convinced of the vanity of the world and the 
 wretchedness of his condition, be perplexed when 
 he thinks of returning to God. A long way, indeed, 
 has he wandered in sin. Difficult does it seem for 
 him to retrace his steps. With a soul all polluted 
 and guilty— in spiritual rags and wretchedness, what 
 has he to recommend him? He has treated with 
 fixed and intentional neglect and contempt the calls 
 to return which have been long ringing in his ears. 
 
 25 
 
370 THE PRODIGAL. 
 
 Even should he go begging to be received again, will 
 the paternal doors be opened to him ? 
 
 And yet, what would the prodigal gain by staying 
 away ? Like the leprous men at the gate of Sama- 
 ria, if he stays there he will perish, and he can but 
 jierish if he goes. He will relinquish all idea of 
 sonship ; he will humble himself, and beg, as matter 
 of special grace, to be but admitted as a servant. 
 And so, also, we may ask the prodigal sinner think- 
 ing of a return, but kept back by doubts and fears, 
 what will it profit you to stay where you are in your 
 sins ? You are dying with hunger ; a little longer, 
 and the famine will have clean overtaken you, and 
 you will have perished for ever. Death is inevitable 
 — the undying, everdying second death, should you 
 remain in your sins ; if you go to your neglected 
 God and Saviour, seeking for mercy, you can but 
 perish. In the whole universe there is no hope of 
 safety but in this one thing of returning. You have 
 no merit of your own to plead ; but you can confess 
 your sins, and beg for mercy ; and peradventure par- 
 don will ensue. So thought the prodigal, and in 
 that dark and guilty soul the struggle was ended ; 
 the last resolve was made ; the swine-herds and the 
 husks were to be forsaken ; and from his trembling 
 lips fell the words, " I will arise and go to my father, 
 and say unto him, Father, I have sinned against 
 heaven and in thy sight." Such a resolution, rising 
 from the heart-depths of a sinner, evinces the very 
 spirit of evangelical penitence. Here is a sense of 
 sin ; a willingness frankly and fully to confess it ; 
 the conviction that it has all been against the holy 
 and excellent law of God ; an abandonment of all 
 
JOHN LETBURN, D. D. 371 
 
 pretension to self-righteousness and a willingness to 
 plead guilty, and acquiesce in the sentence which 
 would debar him from sonship for ever ; and withal, 
 a determination to return, casting himself upon the 
 mercy of God in Christ Jesus as his only hope. 
 Herein is that mingled despair and rising hope — that 
 giving up of self, and the going out of faith towards 
 an all-sufficient Saviour, which marks the transition 
 of a soul from the kingdom of darkness into that of 
 God's dear Son. With such a spirit, no sinner need 
 fear to seek an injured father's face. 
 
 8. And this leads us finally, to say, that returning 
 with the spirit of the prodigal, a favourable and joy- 
 ful reception is certain. Long though it had been 
 since that wayward son had fled his home, the kind- 
 ness of a father's heart had not grown cold. Wicked 
 as has been his life, and wretched as he is in 
 his poverty and rags, he will not be spurned from 
 the homestead doors. His trembling footsteps bring 
 him near that home ; his fainting heart almost dreads 
 to make the appeal to be received again ; at the last 
 moment he is almost ready, like Lot's wife, to look 
 back to Sodom. But just then the Father's eye 
 discerns him, the long lost son is recognized, the 
 tender heart of paternal love melts in compassion ; 
 the prodigal begins his confessions, but ere they have 
 been ended, he is embraced by a father's arms, for- 
 given for all his wanderings, and acknowledged as a 
 son once more. Robes white and clean are put upon 
 him, he is adorned with gold, the fatted calf is killed, 
 and the whole household echoes with strains of joy. 
 He that was as good as dead, is made alive again j 
 the lost is found. 
 
372 THE TKODIGAL. 
 
 Such a reception, free and joyful, awaits you, my 
 unconverted reader, if in your wretchedness and 
 ruin you come pleading for mercy, at the doors of 
 the kingdom. Through the riches of grace, which 
 is in Christ Jesus, all your sins can be forgiven ; by 
 the Spirit which he has purchased a new heart can 
 be put within you ; and in the pure garments of his 
 righteousness you can stand accepted. More fa- 
 voured than the prodigal, you have a divine, all- 
 powerful friend to plead your cause. God the Father, 
 and this elder brother Jesus Christ, in the counsels 
 of eternity, devised a plan for securing the return 
 for such as you. The Redeemer's incarnation ; his 
 life of faithful obedience; his agonizing death on 
 Calvary, and his intercession at the right hand of 
 the Father in heaven, all were designed to prepare 
 the new and living way by which the prodigal sin- 
 ner may come back to God. His own honour and 
 the compensation for the travail of his soul are in- 
 volved in the rescue of the lost. Every prodigal 
 returned is a fresh contribution to the rich revenue 
 of glory he is to receive as recompense for his shame, 
 dishonour and death ; every wanderer brought back 
 from sin and hell, is a new token of his triumph over 
 his enemies — another star added to the lustre of his 
 peerless crown. In such conquests all heaven sym- 
 pathises — for there is joy among the angels even 
 over one sinner that repenteth. Why then should 
 you not come ? The way through Christ is an open 
 way. " Him that cometh to me," says he, " I will 
 in no wise cast out," and in him your utmost desires 
 shall be satisfied, for he also says, " I am the bread 
 of life ; he that cometh to me shall never hunger." 
 
JOHN LEYBURN", D. D. 6 i i) 
 
 More willing is the Father to receive you, than you 
 are to return. His yearning heart pities you, his kind 
 voice calls you, and if 3011 but come you shall be a 
 son and an heir in that glorious household. No 
 sooner will the broken utterances of your guiltiness 
 foil from your lips, than they shall be heard, and the 
 lofty courts of heaven shall reverberate with songs 
 
 of joy. 
 
 And will you come ? Let me plead with you to 
 tarry no longer away. Does your proud spirit at 
 last relent ? Has the great resolve been made ? From 
 your troubled heart has the language gone forth, 
 " I will arise and return ?" Then, blessed, thrice 
 blessed w T ill you be. A Saviour's blood will w r ash 
 your sins away, and your rags will be exchanged 
 for a robe of righteousness. A prodigal returned ; 
 how great the change ! No more a stranger, but a 
 son at home ; no longer away in a desert land among 
 the swine, perishing with hunger, but here at a 
 father's board, where there is enough and to spare. 
 The husks all gone ; the empty aching heart at last 
 filled — the longing soul satisfied from the rich pro- 
 visions of a Saviour's love ; and though but yester- 
 day an outcast beggar, now an heir of God, a joint 
 heir with Jesus Christ, in full brotherhood with the 
 saints on earth and in heaven, and but waiting for 
 the mansions prepared above, for the full fruition of 
 a kingdom and a crown. Joy, joy for ever ! The 
 dead is made alive ! The lost is found ! 
 
THE TREE KNOWN BY ITS FRUITS. 
 
 BT 
 
 E. P. HUMPHKEY, D. D. 
 
 PASTOR OP THE SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY. 
 
 Preached before the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church at the open« 
 ing of its Sessions in Charleston, S. C, May 20, 1852. 
 
 Even so, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree 
 bringeth forth evil fruit. — Matt. vii. 17. 
 
 These words of our Lord contain a profound and 
 comprehensive truth. As the nature of the tree, 
 whether good or corrupt, is made known by its fruit, 
 even so, the Master observes, false prophets may be 
 detected. They come in sheep's clothing, yet being 
 inwardly ravening wolves, their rapacity invariably 
 betrays itself. Now we may give to this maxim a 
 wider application, and suggest that a religious faith, 
 as well as a religious teacher, whether true or false, 
 will develope, by outward and significant marks, all 
 its vital peculiarities. The inner life of Judaism, in 
 its purer days, and then that life in the period of its 
 degeneracy, clearly revealed its nature by many 
 striking phenomena. The same remark applies to 
 Christianity in all the phases which it assumes. 
 These phases are determined by the peculiar the- 
 ology which, from time to time, is received into the 
 fixed and inward convictions of mankind. The 
 
 (374) 
 
E. P. HUMPHREY, D. D. 375 
 
 true discovers itself as good, and the false as evil, by 
 inevitable developments. " Even so, every good 
 tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree 
 bringeth forth evil fruit." The text, as thus ex- 
 plained, prescribes to this occasion a discourse of 
 
 OUR THEOLOGY IN ITS DEVELOPMENTS. 
 
 The purposes of this argument do not require a 
 discussion of our theology in its sources and eviden- 
 ces. Nor is it needful, in this presence, to expound 
 its peculiar doctrines. These have been made widely 
 known through its living disciples, its written for- 
 mularies, its celebrated teachers of former genera- 
 tions, and their powerful adversaries. Few intelli- 
 gent persons are ignorant of the doctrines w r hich its 
 faithful disciples deduce from the Scriptures, even 
 those touching the sovereignty of God and the de- 
 pendence of the creature; his purpose as foreor- 
 daining, and his glory as the end of creation, sin, 
 and redemption; the imputation unto all of the 
 guilt of the first man, our federal head ; the utter 
 corruption of human nature ; the election unto sal- 
 vation of a certain and definite number; their re- 
 demption by the vicarious obedience and penal suf- 
 ferings of the Son of God ; the work of the Holy 
 Spirit persuading and enabling them to accept of 
 Christ; their justification by faith alone; and their 
 infallible perseverance, secured by the immutability 
 of the decree of election. 
 
 These doctrines are further verified as of the sub- 
 stance of our theology, by its celebrated symbols. 
 Our faith is held within the brief compass of the 
 Lambeth articles ; it is stated at large in the Latter 
 
37G THE TREE KNOWN BY ITS FRUITS. 
 
 Confession of Helvetia; it is delivered systemati- 
 cally in the judgment of the Synod of Dort; and it 
 is yet more accurately defined in our own accepted 
 standards, the Confession and Catechisms of West- 
 minster. 
 
 Our system of doctrine is also identified closely in 
 some things, and substantially in the most, with the 
 names of the illustrious men who, since the days of 
 Paul, and of Him the greater than Paul, have been 
 masters in this school of divine learning; even 
 Augustine, Calvin, and Edwards. We speak with 
 reverence too, of Beza, Turretin, Owen, Ridgley, 
 Witherspoon, Bellamy, and Chalmers ; " hovvbeit 
 these attained not unto the first three." 
 
 This faith is identified, still further, with the repu- 
 tation of its great adversaries — Pelagius, Arminius, 
 the Jesuit antagonists of the Port Royal, the Tri- 
 dentine Fathers, and Pope Clement XL in the Bull 
 Unigenitus. 
 
 I may assume, therefore, that our distinctive prin- 
 ciples are, for the purposes of this argument, suffi- 
 ciently familiar to every intelligent hearer, and 
 especially to the members of the venerable court in 
 whose presence I am required to appear. This 
 being assumed, I proceed at once to indicate some 
 of the fruits of our doctrinal system. 
 
 In the first place, it clevelopes a 'peculiar type of 
 spiritual life. The piety which has been subjected 
 to the influence of our theology, includes a deep 
 sense of personal unworthiness. The man perceives 
 that he has violated God's law in instances without 
 number; so that he is by wicked works a sinner. 
 Still further, he ascertains that his actual transgres- 
 
E. P. HUMPHREY, D. D. o rf / 
 
 sions proceed from a disposition to sin inherent in 
 his moral constitution, and that not only is his 
 nature the source of sin, but its corruption is itself, 
 like all the motions thereof, truly and properly sin; 
 so that he is, in that double sense, a sinner by 
 nature. He acknowledges, yet further, that he is 
 wholly disabled to good, and wholly inclined to evil, 
 so that he is a sinner only. And finally, he con- 
 fesses that this death in sin is an hereditary corrup- 
 tion conveyed to him from the first man, Adam ; so 
 that he is a sinner of a sinful race. I spend no 
 labour in showing that a conviction of sin fastened 
 on the conscience by a sense of active, innate, total, 
 and hereditary depravity, must be most thorough 
 and pungent. 
 
 Nor is this all. The kindred feeling of utter help- 
 lessness rests on his mind. He perceives that every 
 one of his unnumbered sins deserves the wrath and 
 curse of God for ever ; and, further, that he can offer 
 no atonement to a violated law. He is fully con- 
 scious, also, of his absolute want of power to change 
 his evil nature, itself being one main ground of his 
 condemnation. Another step brings him to a know- 
 ledge of the condemnation that rests upon him with 
 the imputed sin of Adam, our federal head. Now 
 some may say, that his understanding is strangely 
 perverted who accepts all these things as true ; yet 
 even they must concede that he who does in fact 
 believe them, and believing, feels their power, will 
 realize the ideas both of guilt and of helplessness to 
 the uttermost. This theology brings the sinner face 
 to face with his own inexcusable and aggravated 
 transgressions, and face to face, also, with a condem- 
 
378 TIIE TREE KNOWN BY ITS FRUITS. 
 
 nation, from which, as touching man or angel, every 
 ray of hope is excluded, and in which is mingled 
 every element of despair. 
 
 But our doctrines do not rest here. They impart 
 to the piety of the believer the element of an un- 
 doubting faith. The Word of God, as expounded 
 by our divines, exhibits the believer as a chosen in 
 Christ from before the foundation of the world ; so 
 that his salvation springs from the eternal purpose 
 of God. It further declares, that the love of God 
 has abounded towards him in a plan of redemption ; 
 so that the believer's safety is secured by the mercy 
 of God. Going still deeper, he learns that an atone- 
 ment has been made for sin by the vicarious and in- 
 finite sacrifice of the Lord Christ, and that in this 
 expiation, he hath fully obeyed the precept of the 
 law, and exhausted its penalty, and now all law and 
 all justice demand the pardon of the penitent sin- 
 ner, so that he is saved from death by the act of God, 
 not only meditating in mercy, but judging in righte- 
 ousness. Still further, this expiation relieves us 
 from the condemnation we lie under, by reason of 
 our actual transgressions, our evil natures and our 
 relation to the sin of the first man ; so that this is an 
 abounding salvation. The Holy Spirit, moreover, 
 regenerates and sanctifies God's chosen ones by his 
 efficacious grace, and secures also their perseverance 
 unto the end; so that it is a complete salvation. 
 
 Now if the believer comprehend these wondrous 
 truths ; if he rest his soul on the unchangeable pur- 
 pose of God, the finished righteousness of Christ, and 
 the renewing power of the Eternal Spirit ; if he ap- 
 prehend all this to be true, planting his feet firmly 
 
E. P. HUMPHREY, D. D. 370 
 
 here, he realizes the stupendous idea of salvation by 
 grace, and may raise the triumphant demands of the 
 Apostle, "Who is he that condemneth?" "Who 
 shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect ?" 
 " Who shall separate us from the love of Christ ?" 
 
 It might also be shown, that the spiritual life, de- 
 veloped by our theology, is the piety of humility ; 
 that it is, further, the piety of gratitude ; and fur- 
 ther yet, that it gives to Christ, as of debt, and re- 
 ceives from him as of grace : " You go to receive 
 your reward," was said to the dying Hooker ; " I go 
 to receive mercy," was his reply. If all these things 
 be so, we may well say that our theology developes 
 a type of spiritual life, which is not only peculiar, 
 but the highest possible to humanity in its mortal 
 state. 
 
 In the second place, this theology developes the 
 principles of a free ecclesiastical polity. 
 
 It were easy to show that our theolog}^ when 
 traced to its logical conclusions, wholly divests the 
 ministry of the sacerdotal character, denies that or- 
 dination hath any sacramental efficacy whatever, 
 distinguishes between the right of administering 
 sealing ordinances and the power of government, 
 affirms that all believers are, equally, and as such 
 kings and priests unto God, and declares for the 
 Lord Jesus Christ as the sole and supreme Head 
 of the Church. In these conclusions, or rather in 
 these articles of faith, our doctrinal system developes, 
 theoretically, the four great principles which enter 
 into the basis of a free Church government. These 
 are the parity of the ministry, the authority of the 
 laity as equal and co-ordinate with that of the clergy 
 
380 THE TREE KNOWN BY ITS FRUITS. 
 
 in every ecclesiastical judicatory, the election of all 
 church officers by the people, and the independence 
 of the Church in relation to the State.* Now, 
 treating this topic historically, we cannot fail to re- 
 cognize a thorough alliance between our distinctive 
 faith and each of these principles. The equality in 
 office of all men ordained to the work of the ministry 
 has been from the beginning invariably affirmed, 
 and the doctrine of the prelacy has been constantly 
 rejected, by all the churches strictly called reformed 
 in Europe and America. Such conceptions of the 
 ministerial office did they obtain from their theology, 
 that the bishop's lawn or mitre would have been a 
 spectacle, quite as rare in the French, Belgic, or 
 Helvetian churches, as it would have been in a Pres- 
 bytery of the old Scottish Kirk, or in a Puritan con- 
 venticle, or, as I take leave to add, in a company of 
 the apostles. 
 
 * The doctrine of our ecclesiastical polity involves these two 
 among other propositions. First, that its principles are laid down 
 in the Word of God ; secondly, that the same principles are indi- 
 cated by our theology. The first proposition discovers the au- 
 thority on which Presbyterianism, as a form of church government, 
 rests; and the other discloses its logical relations. These two 
 propositions are distinct, true, and in no degree inconsistent. The 
 limits of this discourse did not admit the discussion of the higher 
 topic — the authority on which our polity rests. The author was 
 obliged to restrict himself to a brief view of the other particular 
 — the logical relations of our theology and our polity. Not sup- 
 posing that any hearer or reader of the discourse would regard the 
 affirming of the second proposition as a denial of the first, the au- 
 thor is as much surprised as are the Princton Reviewers, " to learn 
 that some hearers took exception to his discourse, as though he 
 placed the whole authority of our system on its logical relations." 
 The same remarks apply to the treatment of the third head of the 
 discourse. 
 
 J 
 
E. P. HUMPHREY, D. D. 381 
 
 The representation of the people in all ecclesias- 
 tical courts has almost invariably attended our doc- 
 trinal system. Our congregational brethren affirm 
 this principle in its broadest sense, by investing the 
 brotherhood in each congregation with the whole 
 power of government. In most of the Reformed 
 Churches, the office of the ruling elder is held to be 
 of scriptural authority. The incumbents of this 
 office are usually of the people, elected by "the peo- 
 ple, ordained in the name of Christ, and invested 
 with a divine right to sit in every church court, and 
 to share in all its deliberations. Their numbers, 
 intelligence, and piety, give them a predominant in- 
 fluence in ecclesiastical affairs. Their office, at once 
 the ornament and bulwark of a free Church, saves 
 the kingdom of the saints from degenerating into a 
 kingdom of the clergy. 
 
 Not less incontestable is it that our doctrinal sys- 
 tem carries with it the free election of all church 
 officers by the people. In the Romish establishment 
 the sacerdotal order perpetuates itself. The Pope 
 is the creature, and, in his turn, the creator of the 
 cardinals. He also appoints the bishops, and they 
 designate the priests ; and this spiritual close corpo- 
 ration takes its charter from the dogmatic faith of 
 the Church, as settled at Trent. In the Anglican 
 establishment, the crown invests the bishops, the 
 bishops appoint the priests, and the patron — it may 
 be a profligate peer — endows them with a parish 
 and a living. This hierarchy experiences no dis- 
 turbing influences from the theology with which it 
 is associated. But with a partial exception, soon to 
 be mentioned, the churches which receive our pecu- 
 
382 THE TREE KNOWN" BY ITS FRUITS. 
 
 liar faith affirm that the election of persons to preach 
 the Word, administer the sacraments, and use autho- 
 rity is in the people ; and that the act of power, whe- 
 ther civil or ecclesiastical, which places in the con- 
 gregation a pastor not of its own free choice, is an 
 intrusion which is to be for ever denounced as un- 
 scriptural, and resisted as intolerable. 
 
 The fourth principle, the separation of the Church 
 from the control of the civil power, exhibits, in its 
 historical development, a remarkable illustration of 
 the vital forces of our divinity. Calvin, Cranmer, 
 and the Scottish Reformers committed to the secular 
 power an injurious control over spiritual affairs, be- 
 cause their intellects, though large and comprehen- 
 sive, were not large enough to comprehend fully the 
 immense results of their theology. They did not 
 perceive that their own principles, when carried to 
 their legitimate conclusions, would deliver the Church 
 of Christ from the dominion of both kings and re- 
 publics, and establish it as a purely spiritual and in- 
 dependent power on earth. It was their high office 
 to fix in the convictions of men a religious faith, 
 which, being itself true, should gradually correct the 
 errors of its most illustrious teachers ; and, being 
 pure, should purge itself from all human ordinances; 
 and, being free, should throw off every yoke of spi- 
 ritual servitude, until it became the inner and po- 
 tential life of a Church, like our own, which answer- 
 eth not to the Jerusalem that then was, and was 
 in bondage with her children, but to the Jerusa- 
 lem which is above, which is free, and the mother 
 of us all. 
 
 It may be suggested, that the Established Churches 
 
E. P. HUMPHREY, D. D. 383 
 
 of England and Scotland exhibit clear instances of 
 a coalition, rather than a repugnance, between our 
 theology and the institutions of Prelacy and Eras- 
 tianism. But as to the Anglican Church, it may 
 well be said in reply, that although the doctrinal 
 portions of the thirty-nine articles are orthodox in 
 terms, yet an Arminian sense has been fastened on 
 them by the general consent of all concerned. The 
 form of sound words is but a form ; the Genevan 
 ingredient, originally cast into the Alembic, has 
 long since evaporated, leaving undisturbed, hence- 
 forth, the Prelatical and Erastian elements in the 
 crucible. As a further reply, it may be stated that 
 when the Anglican Church was most distinguished 
 for its orthodoxy, the doctrine of the prelacy sat but 
 loosely on the convictions of its bishops and doctors. 
 The theological views of Cranmer, the first Protest- 
 ant Archbishop of Canterbury, are made known by 
 the fact, that his advocacy of predestination and 
 election was as decided as that of Augustine himself; 
 and his opinions touching the ministry are revealed 
 in his plain avowal of the conviction, that in primi- 
 tive times there was no distinction between bishops 
 and priests. So long as his successors in the pri- 
 macy perpetuated his theology, they perpetuated 
 also his gentle views of prelacy ; one of them only, 
 Bancroft, venturing to assert its divine authority. 
 It was reserved for Archbishop Laud to inaugurate 
 the Arminian theology in the Church, and with that 
 a zeal for diocesan episcopacy, as an ordinance of 
 God, a passion for ceremonies, and a merciless per- 
 secution of those who believed, without subscribing 
 the creed which he subscribed without believing. 
 
384 THE TREE KNOWN BY ITS FRUITS. 
 
 The history of this establishment, therefore, instead 
 of weakening, confirms our argument. 
 
 Not less significant is the history of the Church 
 of Scotland, where our theology has been perpetuated 
 for three hundred years. Its developments in the 
 way of order have been infinitely remarkable. In 
 the first place, the persuasions of the English court, 
 and the bayonets of her armies, have not been able 
 to fasten an Episcopacy on the Kirk. Secondly, a 
 representation of the people, sitting in all the Church 
 courts, has ever been of the substance of her polity. 
 Thirdly, the Kirk, although condescending to be by 
 law established, has never been Erastian ; and the 
 moderate party, so called, which verged towards 
 Erastianism in policy, exhibited at the same time 
 the most unequivocal tendencies towards Arminian- 
 ism in doctrine ; while the opposite party contended 
 both for orthodoxy in faith, and for the rights of 
 God's people in the free choice of their pastors. 
 Lastly, the unexhausted forces of our theology, hav- 
 ing delivered the Kirk from every other element of 
 bondage, is perpetually struggling through a series 
 of agitations and disruptions, to purge her from the 
 remaining iniquity of patronage. These disturb- 
 ances will be incessantly renewed, from generation 
 to generation, until the venerable Kirk must take 
 her choice between disowning her patronage, or losing 
 all her children, or abandoning that ancient faith, 
 which teaches them to vindicate their rights, even 
 unto a separation from her sacraments. Either her 
 theology, as in England, or her subjection to the 
 State, as in this country, must disappear from the 
 crucible, or the crucible itself will be broken by the 
 
E. P. HUMPHREY, D. D. 385 
 
 antagonism of its ingredients. So intolerant is this 
 theology of any other than a polity absolutely free. 
 
 In the third place, our theology developes a simple 
 and spiritual mode of icorship. The ritual of a 
 religion is a most accurate expression of its system 
 of doctrine. Comparing the Romish Church with 
 our own, for example, we shall ascertain that their 
 forms of worship are dissimilar, because their the- 
 ologies are repugnant. The ceremonials of Rome 
 are not accidents of the system, nor were they 
 devised for dramatic effect alone. They embody a 
 meaning ; they express a doctrine ; they address not 
 more directly the imagination than the faith of the 
 worshippers. It is held by that establishment thai 
 the sacrament of the supper, when rightly adminis- 
 tered, hath an inherent power to save. It derives, 
 this power from the fact, that the elements are 
 changed into the body and blood, the soul and 
 divinity of Jesus Christ, and as such are presented to 
 God, a true propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of the 
 living and the dead. It is the function of the offici 
 ating clergymen to offer up this atoning sacrifice ; ht 
 is, therefore, in fact a priest, and the table on which 
 he lays the oblation is, in strictness of speech, an 
 altar. The priest officiates moreover in the person 
 of Christ. His vestments, the decorations of the 
 altar, and all the surroundings, represent incidents 
 in the passion of Christ. The practised eye of the 
 devotee beholds, in the garments and bands worn 
 by the priest, symbols of the robe in which Christ 
 was clothed, and the cords by which he was bound. 
 The crucifix, embroidered on the back of the robe, 
 represents the cross which Jesus bore on his shoul- 
 
 26 
 
386 THE TREE KNOWN BY ITS FRUITS. 
 
 ders, and the tonsure of the priest denotes the crown 
 of thorns. The altar is the figure of Calvary, and 
 its furniture represents the linen clothes in which 
 the body of Jesus was wrapped, the sepulchre, and 
 the stone which was rolled against the door. The 
 crucifix is the image of Christ's passion and death ; 
 the lighted candles are in honour of his triumph ; 
 and the ascending incense is symbolical of prayer. 
 The circular form of the wafer denotes the perfec- 
 tions of the Deity. In the wafer Christ is person- 
 ally present; its elevation is the fearful immolation ; 
 and the prostration of the worshippers is in adora- 
 tion of the atoning lamb. Every gesture and pos- 
 ture of the priest embodies a theological significancy. 
 When he kisses the altar or the book, when he 
 spreads forth his hands, or bathes the tips of his 
 finger, or mingles water in the wine, or breaks the 
 bread, or makes the sign of the cross, or smites upon 
 his breast, or bows, or kneels, he does not perform one 
 empty ceremony, but in every, even the minutest, 
 act of the sacred pantomime, he exhibits some one 
 element in the single definite idea of the great 
 apostacy — salvation by the sacraments in the keep- 
 ing of the priesthood. This central idea, this inte- 
 rior life of the system, not only prescribes its ritual, 
 but regulates also the form, and size, and adorn- 
 ments of its sacred buildings. The cathedral is not 
 designed for the preaching of the Word, nor yet for 
 prayer and praise, but precisely for the dwelling- 
 place of the Lord Christ present in the sacrament, 
 and for the work of sacrifice. It is, therefore, at 
 once a palace and a temple. As such it must 
 assume the form of the cross, and must be of splen- 
 
E. P. HUMPHREY, D. D. 387 
 
 did architecture. Were the conception fully real- 
 ized, every stone in its walls, though hidden from 
 mortal sight, would be* hewn and polished for the 
 eye of the Master. Its massive doors would be 
 curiously wrought in solid brass, so that men might 
 gaze in wonder on the beautiful gate of the temple. 
 Within, its pillars would shoot far upwards towards 
 the heavens ; its marble pavement would resemble 
 the solid earth, and its swelling dome the bending 
 skies. Exquisite creations of genius would adorn 
 its walls ; gold, and silver, and all rubies, the glory of 
 Lebanon, and the purple of Tyre, would enrich its 
 shrines; the incense burned at its altars would 
 breathe Sabean odours ; and music would invoke its 
 utmost melody to fill the amplitude of the temple 
 and its mighty dome with the articulate joy of the 
 Te Deu?n, or the dolorous wail of the Miserere. 
 
 Returning now to our own doctrinal standards, we 
 are taught that the believer is first chosen according 
 to the eternal purpose of God, then justified by the 
 finished righteousness of Christ, and renewed by the 
 power of the Holy Spirit. The ritual, which ex- 
 presses these ideas, is too simple to be called a 
 ritual. When the Westminster doctrine, justifica- 
 tion by faith, takes the place of the Tridentine dog- 
 ma, justification by the sacraments, instantly the 
 priest becomes a minister, and the altar a com- 
 munion table. The bread and the wine are no 
 longer the body and blood of Christ, but the memo- 
 rials of these. The impious immolation of the mass 
 is turned into a sweet and holy feast, and the mut- 
 terings of the priest are exchanged for the pastor's 
 prayer. The devotee, kneeling to the bread and 
 
388 THE TREE KNOWN BY ITS FRUITS. 
 
 robbed of the cup, is regenerated into the communi- 
 cant, sitting, as the disciples sat, to receive the bro- 
 ken bread, and to drink from the cup of blessing, 
 which in the Master's name we bless. The temple 
 becomes a house of prayer ; the preaching of Christ 
 supersedes the elevation of the host ; the hearing 
 ear takes the place of the stupid stare ; the lacera- 
 tions of penance are exchanged for the sighs of peni- 
 tence ; the closet banishes the confessional ; and the 
 believer's act of faith, receiving Christ as the Sa- 
 viour, supplants for ever the Auto de Fe of the In- 
 quisitor, committing God's chosen ones to the flames. 
 How quickly, how utterly does the true doctrine 
 exterminate the idolatrous ritual of Rome ! Away 
 go surplice, tonsure, rosary, bowings, kneelings, 
 mutterings, and antiphonies; away, away go cru- 
 cifixes, paintings, images, dead men's bones, incense, 
 lighted candles, the sign of the cross, masses for 
 the dead, and indulgences for the living. All these 
 symbols of a baptized idolatry do unquestionably 
 proceed from the Romish theology ; even so, every 
 corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. But how 
 simple and spiritual the worship prescribed by our 
 theology; the reading of the Word, the song of 
 praise, the prayer, the sermon, the baptism, the 
 supper, and the blessing upon the people ; even so, 
 every good tree bringeth forth good fruit. 
 
 In the fourth place, our theology developes the 
 intellectual powers. Not only was pure religion re- 
 vived at the period of Reformation, but the human 
 mind was inspired with new activity. It were an 
 easy task to trace this intellectual awakening to the 
 theology of the Reformers. The doctrine of justify 
 
E. P. HUMPHREY, D. D. 389 
 
 cation by faith alone was, perhaps, their first great 
 discovery. Then five of the seven sacraments were 
 discarded as fraudulent, and the two that remained 
 were wrested from their superstitious uses. Next 
 the Word of God was rescued both from the hierar- 
 chy and the unknown tongue which concealed its 
 light. A step further revealed the fundamental 
 principle that the Bible is the only infallible rule of 
 faith and practice. A final step brought them to 
 the knowledge of our theology. Under the increas- 
 ing light and power of these successive discoveries, 
 sacerdotalism, ritualism, the sanctity of tradition, the 
 legends of saints, the dreams of the fathers, the 
 insolence and fraud of priestcraft, and the credulity 
 and servility of its subjects, withered away. The 
 human mind, so long darkened, or intimidated, or 
 smothered by the midseyal faith and worship, now 
 experienced the vitalizing impulse of the apostolical 
 theology. Other systems have inflamed the ardour 
 of leading minds, but this communicated an up- 
 heaving force to the masses. Never since the days 
 of the Apostles had there been such a wide spread 
 and wonder working excitement. 
 
 It was a spiritual and intellectual resurrection. 
 The dead were raised ; the soul dead in sin, and the 
 intellect dead in imbecility, were made alive. What 
 was true then is true to this day. It cannot be de- 
 nied that our theology, saying nothing here of its 
 saving efficacy, is a mighty intellectual power on 
 earth. It is an universal, unfailing educator. It 
 planted in Scotland the free parochial school, and 
 used the Shorter Catechism to discipline the mind of 
 the peasant's child up to the comprehension of all 
 
390 THE TREE KNOW In BY ITS FRUITS. 
 
 liberal learning. A missionary, sent by one of our 
 Boards to a community where there is neither 
 church nor school, will soon establish both, and his 
 preaching will invigorate the understanding of his 
 hearers, while it saves their souls. A sermon on the 
 divine decrees, delivered by a passing stranger, in a 
 place where that doctrine was never before ex- 
 pounded, has been known to agitate the minds of 
 the whole community, planting in the bosoms of 
 many a strangely quickening power. A doctrinal 
 book, issued by our Board of Publication and car- 
 ried, we know not how, to a distant frontier settle- 
 ment, has led the reader not only to pray as he 
 never prayed before, but to meditate with an inten- 
 sity he never experienced before. "Thy testimo- 
 nies," saith the Psalmist, "are wonderful, therefore 
 doth my soul keep them. The entrance of thy words 
 giveth light, it giveth understanding unto the simple." 
 
 If we would describe the effect of our theology 
 on the development of individual minds, Ave should 
 know not where to begin, and beginning we should 
 know not where to end our labours. The pages of 
 history fatigue the eye with the names of illustrious 
 men, who have arisen in every land penetrated by 
 this doctrine. The learning of scholars, the elo- 
 quence of preachers, the irresistible logic of contro- 
 versialists, the wisdom of statesmen, and the genius 
 of great commanders have borrowed the highest in- 
 spiration from their and our accepted faith. Let us 
 discharge this part of our duty with the mention of 
 a single name. 
 
 John Calvin was twenty years of age before he 
 was converted from Rome to Christ. When, soon 
 
E. P. HUMPHREY, D. D. 391 
 
 afterwards, our theology struck its forces into his 
 mind, it roused him to the utmost stretch of thought. 
 It was like a lire in his bones. So vital was the 
 new life within him, that at the age of twenty-six he 
 had deduced our entire system of doctrine from the 
 Word of God, adjusted its elements into a master- 
 piece of logical coherence, and published it to the 
 world in his immortal Institutes. The twenty-eight 
 years of life that remained to him were laden with 
 affliction both of mind and body. Physical infirmi- 
 ties multiplied upon him, until no less than seven 
 distinct maladies laid siege to his attenuated frame. 
 He suffered also every private grief, even that do- 
 mestic bereavement which he styled " an acute and 
 burning wound." 
 
 It is impossible to look, without wonder, at the 
 labours he prosecuted amidst all this weariness and 
 painfullness. The products of his pen exist in nine 
 huge folios of printed matter, besides several hun- 
 dred letters, and more than two thousand sermons 
 and theological treatises yet unpublished. He pre- 
 pared a copious commentary on most of the Scrip- 
 tures ; he edited a French translation of the word 
 of God ; he disputed by tongue and pen with Bolzec 
 on the doctrine of predestination, with Westphal and 
 Hesshus on the sacraments, with Welsius on the free 
 will, with Pighius on free grace, and Servetus on 
 the Trinity. He wrote against relics and astrology, 
 the Anabaptists, the Libertines, and the Pelagians. 
 He employed his wit and sarcasm in assailing the 
 Sorbonne, his powers of argumentation in confuting 
 the Tiidentine Decrees, and his noble eloquence in 
 behalf of the Emperor against the Pope. He cor- 
 
392 THE TREE KNOWN BY ITS FRUITS. 
 
 responded incessantly with his contemporaries — Fa- 
 rel, Viret, Beza, Melancthon, Knox, Cranmer, and 
 the Kings of Sweden, Poland, and Navarre; pro- 
 jecting, by his long and masterly letters, his own 
 intellectual and spiritual life into the leading minds 
 of Europe. With an asthmatical cough upon him, 
 he lectured three days in the week on theology, and 
 preached daily on every alternate week. He pre- 
 sided every Thursday at the Court of Morals, at- 
 tended the frequent assembly of the clergy, assisted 
 in settling the civil and ecclesiastical affairs of Ge- 
 neva ; he founded there a seminary of liberal learning, 
 and when the city was threatened with siege, laboured 
 at the fortification. He educated preachers of the 
 gospel; performed many journeys; Avas consulted on 
 all important subjects ; occupied the pulpits of his 
 brethren in their absence ; and did not neglect pas- 
 toral labour in the congregation. Besides all these 
 things, he composed the dissensions which perplexed 
 the Reformers, and the strifes which afflicted the 
 churches; and aided in settling the affairs of the 
 Reformation in Poland, France, Germany, Scotland 
 and England. At last, being compelled by mortal 
 disease to relinquish public duties, he received in his 
 chamber all who sought his advice, and wore out 
 his amanuenses by dictating to them his works and 
 letters. When his shortening breath and failing 
 voice terminated these labours, his kindling eye and 
 heaving breast indicated that he was in constant 
 prayer. On a beautiful evening in May, seven days 
 later in the month than this the day of our solemn 
 convocation, just as the setting sun was irradiating, 
 with its purple light, the waters of Lehman and the 
 
E. P. HUMPHREY, D. D. 393 
 
 Rhone, the Jura mountains and the more distant 
 glaciers of the Alps, this great man rested from his 
 labours. He gave directions that his body should 
 be buried without the slightest pomp, and that his 
 grave should be marked by neither monument nor 
 headstone. His commands were obeyed, and "no 
 man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this da}^." 
 
 In the fifth place, our theology develops the prinf 
 oijpJes of republican liberty. The full treatment of 
 this topic falls more naturally into an historical dis- 
 course, than into one strictly religious. Yet a dis- 
 tinct mention, with a brief illustration of this part 
 of the case, is essential to the completeness of our 
 argument. We use no labour in showing that the 
 principles inherent in a free commonwealth are iden- 
 tical with those which have been mentioned in this 
 discourse, as inherent in a free Church. The theo- 
 logy, which in its full development, leaves no place 
 for a bishop in the Church, will also rule the king 
 out of the State. John Wicklifte understood this 
 thoroughly when he uttered the memorable words, 
 " dominion belongs to grace ;" and Charles the First 
 was no mean logician when he declared that " there 
 was not a wiser man seen since Solomon, than he 
 whd said — no bishop, no king." The doctrinal sys- 
 tem which conducts to the conclusion that all church 
 officers should be elected by the people, will push on 
 to the adjacent conclusion, that hereditary authority 
 in the State is an intolerable usurpation. The creed 
 which demonstrates- the right of the people to sit by 
 their representatives in all church courts, and which 
 vindicates this right as divine, and which further 
 denies that the assembly excluding the popular 
 
394 THE TREE KNOWN BY ITS FRUITS. 
 
 element is a scriptural assembly, that creed will 
 characterize as unlawful and iniquitous any civil 
 government whereof the people are not the masters. 
 Indeed, our system of faith does not more conclu- 
 sively sweep away the last vestige of sacerdotal usur- 
 pation from the Church, than it exterminates every 
 anti-republican institute out of the State. The tem- 
 poral must follow the spiritual, and whom Christ 
 makes free, he is free indeed. 
 
 Such is the conclusion of logic in the premises, 
 and such, I now add as briefly as possible, is matter 
 of fact. Any profound examination of the history 
 of the Huguenots, will show that their church, in 
 its faith and order, was essentially republican, and 
 as such, was crushed by the monarchy; and that 
 the political position of modern France, is to be re- 
 ferred, first, to the life, and then to the destruction 
 of that old predestinarian church ; its life so far sur- 
 viving in the heart of the nation, as to render a 
 fixed monarchy impossible, and that life so nearly 
 extinguished, as to render a stable republic also im- 
 possible. Even a superficial examination of the his- 
 tory, of England, Scotland, and Ireland, will show 
 that this divinity, expounded by its divines in the 
 pulpit, espoused by great statesmen in Parliament, 
 and defended by illustrious commanders on the field 
 of battle, infused into the British constitution the 
 soul of rational liberty, until that constitution is, 
 with a single exception, the richest repository on 
 earth of free principles. What "that exception is, we 
 know, and where it received its treasures we know. 
 This same divinity came with the Puritans to Ply- 
 mouth, with the Dutch Calvinists and the Scottish 
 
E. P. HUMPHREY, D. D. 395 
 
 Presbyterians to New York and New Jersey, and 
 with the Huguenots and Presbyterians to South 
 Carolina. Our fathers did not found monarchical 
 institutions on the shores of Massachusetts bay, or 
 on the banks of the Hudson, and the Ashley and 
 Cooper, for the same reason that they did not set 
 up the w r orship of the Virgin. Monarchy and idol- 
 atry were, both of them, repugnant to their religious 
 faith, and they repudiated both, and established a 
 true worship, and a free commonwealth on all these 
 shores. This ancient faith, and the institutions 
 rising from it, were perpetuated from generation 
 to generation, until they culminated in the w r ar of 
 Independence, and in the formation of these sepa- 
 rate commonwealths, together with their great con- 
 federacy. From that faith, as from a living root 
 planted on our virgin soil, and by our rivers of wa- 
 ters, have sprung the witness bearing Church, and 
 the republican State. These, in their turn, seeking 
 a higher development, have flowered out with all 
 spiritual joys, and all the fragrant charities of life : 
 
 " So from the root 
 Springs lighter the green stalk, from thence the leaves 
 More gery, last the bright consummate flower 
 Spirits odorous breathes."* 
 
 In the sixth place, our theology develops its life 
 in the patience of the confessors and martyrs. The 
 
 * The conduct of the ministers, ruling elders, and communi- 
 cants of the Presbyterian Church in the Revolutionary war, fur- 
 nishes some remarkable illustrations of this topic. Among the 
 ministers who were actively engaged in the struggle, were John 
 Witherspoon, who signed the Declaration of Independence; James 
 
396 THE TREE KNOWN BY ITS FRUITS. 
 
 martyrs of Protestantism have been almost exclu- 
 sively drawn from the bosom of the Reformed 
 churches, rarely from the Lutheran or Arminian 
 communions. A century before Luther was born, 
 John Huss was consigned to the flames by the coun- 
 cil of Constance, on charge of teaching, among other 
 heresies, the doctrines of predestination and the per- 
 severance of the saints. The charge was clearly 
 sustained, for he had written in his book, that " no 
 part or member of the church doth finally fall away, 
 because the charity of predestination, which is the 
 bond and chain of the same, doth never fall away." 
 Jerome of Prague having avowed his faith in the 
 preaching of Huss, was burned on the same spot by 
 order of the same infamous Council. The works of 
 
 Caldwell of New Jersey, who was murdered by a British soldier 
 for his patriotic exertions ; William Graham of Liberty Hall Aca- 
 demy, Virginia, who, hearing that Tarlton was advancing on Staun- 
 ton, raised a company of volunteers and led them in pursuit of 
 the enemy as far as Lafayette's camp, below Charlottsville; Pre- 
 sident Smith of Hampden Sidney College, who repeatedly marched 
 at the head of his pupils to repel the enemy ; James Hall of 
 North Carolina, who assembled his congregation, and besought 
 them to take up arms for the common defence, and immediately 
 raised among them a company of cavalry, and took both the com- 
 mand and the chaplaincy ; Samuel Houston, who used his rifle 
 with deadly effect at the battle of Guildford Court House ; David 
 Caldwell, for whose head Lord Cornwallis offered a reward of 
 £200 ; Thomas McCaule, who led his flock to the camp, and stood 
 by the side of General Davidson when he fell on the Catawba ; 
 and Hezekiah Balch, who, with nine ruling elders and other citi- 
 zens, put forth the celebrated Mecklenburg Declaration. The 
 military services of the ruling elders and communicants of the 
 Church were so important and numerous that a few could not be 
 specified, without seeming invidiousness towards the many that 
 must necessarily be excluded from a brief note. 
 
E. P. HUMPHREY, D. D. 397 
 
 Jolm Wickliffe being found by the council to con- 
 tain similar doctrines, his body which had lain forty- 
 one years was dug up and burned. As the old his- 
 torian writes : " They cast his ashes into the Swift, 
 a neighbouring brook running hard by ; this brook 
 hath conveyed his ashes into Avon, Avon into Sev- 
 ern, Severn into the narrow seas, they into the main 
 ocean. And thus the ashes of Wickliffe are the em- 
 blem of his doctrine, which now is dispersed all the 
 world over." 
 
 One hundred and forty years later brings us to the 
 reign of Mary the bloody. On the 4th of February, 
 1555, John Rogers w r ent to the stake at Smithfield, 
 having, during his imprisonment, set his hand to a 
 confession instinct with the Genevan doctrines. On 
 the following day, Dr. Roland Taylor, three days 
 later Lawrence Sanders, one day after him, Bishop 
 John Hooper, three weeks yet later Bishop Ferrar, 
 and in the June following John Bradford, confessors 
 with Rogers by signing the same memorable docu- 
 ment, became martyrs likewise with him, giving 
 their bodies to be burned. In October of the same 
 year, Ridley and Latimer, both bound to one stake 
 at Oxford, testified to the truth of our divinity in 
 their last words to the Church and their dying prayer 
 to God. In December following, Archdeacon Phil- 
 pot, and not long after him the illustrious Cranmer, 
 in the profession of the same faith, and the suffering 
 of the same death, entered into the joy of the Lord. 
 
 Turning now to the sister kingdom, we learn that 
 nearly thirty years before Rogers was burned in 
 London, Hamilton passed through the fires of St. 
 Andrews. If the cruelty of the English Bishop 
 
398 THE TREE KNOWN BY ITS FRUITS. 
 
 justifies the historian in exclaiming, "that lion, 
 tiger, wolf, bear, yea, a whole forest of wild beasts 
 met in Bonner," he was well matched by the Scot- 
 tish Cardinal Beaton. The priory of St. Andrews 
 is no less monumental of Wishart's sufferings than 
 is the gate of Baliol College of Ridley's ; and the 
 altar on Castle Hill, at Edinburgh, smoked as inces- 
 santly as that in Smithfield, with the blood of the 
 saints. It is as certain, moreover, that the Scottish 
 martyrs were of the faith of Knox, as that the 
 English martyrs were of the faith of Cranmer. 
 
 I may not detain this argument with a detail 
 of the sufferings endured for Christ, d urine; the 
 seventeenth century, by the non-conformists of Eng- 
 land and the Presbyterians of Scotland. The intol- 
 erance of Archbishop Laud in the one country had 
 its counterpart in the bigotry of Archbishop Sharpe 
 in the other ; the judicial murders of Jeffries were 
 equalled in atrocity by the military butcheries of 
 Claverhouse ; the high commission answered to the 
 court of justiciary; the " Bloody Assizes" of sixteen 
 hundred and eighty-five, in England, corresponded 
 to the " Killing Time" of sixteen hundred and 
 eighty-four, in Scotland ; and the grave yard of Bun- 
 hill Fields, in London, and that near the Grass- 
 market, in Edinburgh, gave rest to a multitude 
 of "them that were beheaded for the witness of 
 Jesus." Of the peculiar theology, to which all 
 these gave testimony, there is no need that one 
 should speak. 
 
 The martyrology of the Netherlands is not less 
 decisive in support of our argument. The theology 
 which entered these countries at the period of the 
 
E. P. HUMPHREY, D. D. 399 
 
 Reformation, was unquestionably the same that was 
 subsequently affirmed by the judgment of the Synod 
 of Dort. It is true that Holland was the original 
 seat of Arminianism, and the birth place of its great 
 teacher ; yet it is also true that, twenty-four years 
 before that teacher was born, William Tyndal was 
 strangled and burned at Antwerp, having translated 
 the New Testament Scriptures, and deduced from 
 them the doctrine that, such is his own language, 
 "in Christ the believer was predestinated and or- 
 dained unto eternal life before the world began." 
 Five years before the birth of Arminius, the morose 
 fanatacism, with which Charles V. had pursued the 
 saints of the most High God, gave place to the 
 wilder fury of Philip, the husband of Mary the 
 bloody. The founder of the new theology was a 
 lad of only eight years, playing in the streets of 
 Oudewater, when the Duke of Alva entered the low 
 countries and established the Council of Blood ; and 
 he was only fourteen years of age when the Duke 
 left the Netherlands, boasting that he had, within 
 five years, delivered eighteen thousand heretics to 
 the executioners. If it be needful to add another 
 word, we may observe that the Papal persecution 
 had nearly, if not quite, spent its rage in Holland 
 before Arminius became an Arminian. 
 
 And now, turning to the martyr Church, what 
 shall be said of the theology which was received, 
 and the sufferings that were endured by the Hugue- 
 nots ? Of the former it were enough to sa}^, that 
 the very germ of the Reformation was planted in 
 France by Leclerc and Farel ; that Calvin dedicated 
 his Institutes to Francis I. as containing the precise 
 
400 THE TREE KNOWN BY ITS FRUITS. 
 
 doctrines preached by the Reformers in the king- 
 dom ; that the confession of the French Protestant 
 Church was drawn up by the hand of the same 
 master, and was little more than an epitome of his 
 " Institutes ;" and that as late as the year preceding 
 the massacre of St. Bartholomew, the National 
 Synod sat under the presidency of Beza, who was 
 second only to Calvin in ability, and not inferior to 
 him in attachment to the Augustinian doctrines. 
 The story of their sufferings should begin with the 
 punishment, in 1523, of Leclerc, the proto-martyr 
 of France. It should describe the fete of Paris, in 
 January, 1535, when Francis I. closed the festivities 
 of the day by suspending six Protestants from a 
 beam, which was so nicely balanced that its motion 
 plunged the sufferers successively and repeatedly 
 into a blazing furnace, until they were destroyed. 
 It should relate how Henry II., amidst the tourna- 
 ments and illuminations which graced his coro- 
 nation, passed from place to place to regale himself 
 with the mortal agonies of men dying for the faith. 
 It should also describe the massacre of St. Bartho- 
 lomew, turning the Seine into blood, choking the 
 current of the Rhone with the bodies of the slain, 
 and awakening Te Deums and merry cannonades on 
 the banks of the Tiber. Thousands were buried 
 alive in dungeons. Some were tortured, and then 
 delivered, so that women received, as it were, their 
 dead raised to life again ; others were tortured, not 
 accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a 
 better resurrection. They were burned, they were 
 scourged, were gashed with knives, were branded, 
 were hanged, were drowned, were slain with the 
 
E. P. IIUMPIIREY, D. D. 401 
 
 sword. But let me not wound your sensibilities 
 with these details. I willingly turn from them, if 
 nothing more be needed to identify our theology 
 with the sufferings endured in all lands by those of 
 whom the world was not worthy. 
 
 In the seventh place, our theology developes the 
 elements of an expanding and aggressive Christianity. 
 
 A doctrinal treatment of this part of the case 
 would demonstrate that a church, which incorporates 
 into its inner life an intelligent faith in the fixed 
 decrees of God, must become, by the necessity of its 
 nature, a missionary church ; one of these decrees, 
 as declared by the Son of God, being that the hea- 
 then shall be given to him for his inheritance, and 
 the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession. 
 Indeed, our doctrines are, in a twofold sense, divinely 
 adapted to this work ; as dwelling in the bosom of 
 the church, they sustain an intense and exalted life, 
 even the life of God, urging his people to spread the 
 everlasting gospel throughout the earth; as termi- 
 nating on the world, they are clothed with a tran- 
 scendent and mighty power, the power of God unto 
 salvation. 
 
 The actual progress of Christ's kingdom, under 
 the promulgation of these doctrines, confirms every 
 word th.at has now been uttered. This theology 
 entered Geneva, and in the space of thirty years 
 caused the wrath of man to praise God, and the re- 
 mainder it restrained. In France it made such 
 headway against unrelaxing and unrelenting perse- 
 cution,- that within sixty years from its introduction 
 into the kingdom, the National Synod had under 
 its charge more than two thousand churches, the 
 27 
 
402 TIIE TREE KNOWN BY ITS FRUITS. 
 
 greater part of these being furnished with two min- 
 isters, and some of them with five or six ; and not 
 a few of the congregations numbering more than ten 
 thousand communicants. Entering Holland, En s- 
 land, Scotland and Poland, it subdued kingdoms, 
 " wrought righteousness and obtained the promises." 
 Having been planted on this continent, it is the ac- 
 cepted faith — though in some instances less purely 
 and rigidly held than we could desire — of deno- 
 minations numbering, in the aggregate, six thou- 
 sand ministers, seven thousand five hundred con- 
 gregations, and eight hundred thousand communi- 
 cants. 
 
 The history of its missionary undertakings is not 
 less remarkable. Our brethren of the English church 
 are about to celebrate the jubilee of the Society for 
 the propagation of the Gospel in foreign parts. Yet 
 this oldest Protestant Missionary Association on 
 earth received its charter from William III., who 
 was orthodox after the Synod of Dort. The enter- 
 prise of foreign missions, in this country, received 
 its earliest impulse in a college, the theology of 
 which is indicated by the fact that soon afterwards, 
 our own Griffin assumed its Presidency. 
 
 The zeal for Domestic Missions originated almost 
 simultaneously in our own General Assembly, and in 
 churches of whose faith, at the time, the Saybrook 
 Platform and the Shorter Catechism were the expo- 
 nents. The diffusive tendencies of our theology are 
 still further indicated by the missionary schemes of 
 the Scottish churches, established and dissenting; 
 the Boards of our own church ; and the voluntary 
 societies sustained by brethren of other names, w4io 
 
E. P. HUMPHREY, D. D. 403 
 
 profess our faith in the "substance," if not in the 
 "system of doctrine." 
 
 But it may be thought that the Arminian divinity, 
 as preached by John Wesley, has developed a type 
 of Christianity no less diffusive than our own. Now, 
 while we may not conceal the profound conviction 
 that our own theology, even when it diners from 
 Wesley's, is the theology of the Bible, yet we would 
 do all homage to the vital truths which that great 
 man adopted into his system of faith, and to the 
 zeal and success with which he and his disciples 
 have proclaimed them. But the progress of this 
 system raises several questions of immense impor- 
 tance. One of these respects the peculiar type of 
 piety which it developes. On that question I do 
 not propose to enter. Another question touches the 
 elements of its power. It might be clearly shown, 
 as I humbly conceive, that its past success is to be 
 referred not to those doctrines which are peculiar to 
 itself, but to those which are common to both theo- 
 logies ; not to its denials respecting election, effica- 
 cious grace, and perseverance, but to its utterance 
 concerning original sin, justification, and regenera- 
 tion. 
 
 A third inquiry relates to the continued and fu- 
 ture efficiency of modern Arminianism. Is it a per- 
 manent, redeeming power on earth ? On this part 
 of the case I take leave, without intending any thing 
 disrespectful towards brethren of other persuasions, 
 to make a few suggestions. 
 
 It is now only a few years over a century since 
 Wesley began his career. A religious system ma- 
 tures slowly. The truths asserted may, for a long 
 
404 THE TREE KNOWN BY ITS FitUITS. 
 
 period, hold in check the serious errors with which 
 they are combined. The errors, if not eliminated, 
 will at last work out the dissolution of the system. 
 It may indeed outlast many generations, but what are 
 even ages to the life of a true, permanent theology ? 
 It is to be remembered, also, that the Arminian 
 scheme has yet to be reduced to a systematic and 
 logical form. Where are its written formularies, 
 pushing boldly forth, to their final and inevitable 
 conclusions, all its doctrines touching predestination, 
 free-will, and efficacious grace ? We have its brief 
 and informal creed in some five-and-twenty articles; 
 but where is its complete confession of faith in thirty 
 or forty chapters ? Where is its larger catechism ? 
 Nav, where is even its shorter catechism ? Where 
 is its whole body of divinity, from under the hand 
 of a master, sharply defining its terms, accurately 
 stating its belief, laying down the conclusions logi- 
 cally involved therein, trying these conclusions no 
 less than their premises by the Word of God, refut- 
 ing objections, and adjusting all its parts into con- 
 sistent and systematic whole ?* It has furnished us 
 indeed with some detached negations and philoso- 
 
 * Without disparaging the ability displayed in the " Theological 
 Institutes" of the eminent Wesleyan divine, Richard Watson, we 
 may suggest, that the points at issue between the Arminian theo- 
 logy and our own, are not discussed in that work with the tho- 
 roughness, the rigid and penetrating analysis, and the scientific 
 order which are displayed in other parts of the book, and which 
 are demanded at the present time. Of the Catechisms No. I. and 
 No. II., " compiled and published by the British Conference," 
 we may remark, that these manuals contain few allusions, much 
 less any explicit and dogmatic propositions, touching debated 
 points, corresponding to Questions and Answers 20, 30, 36, etc., in 
 our Shorter Catechism. 
 
E. P. HUMPHREY, D. D. 405 
 
 pliical theories. We have, for example, its flat de- 
 nial of our doctrine of predestination ; but has it to 
 this day met, for itself, the problem of foreknowledge 
 infinite by a more plausible solution than the cele- 
 brated sophism, that although God has the capacity 
 of foreknowing all things, he chooses to foreknow 
 only some things ? We have, also, its notion of the 
 freedom of the will, wherein there was supposed to 
 be the germ of a systematic Arminianism ; but this 
 budding promise was long since nipped by the un- 
 timely frost of Jonathan Edwards' logic. It is clear 
 that an exposition of this theology, which shall sat- 
 isfy the logical consciousness, is indispensable to its 
 perpetuity; otherwise it cannot take possession of 
 educated and disciplined minds — educated by the 
 Word and Spirit of God, and disciplined to exact 
 analysis and argument ; otherwise, again, although 
 it may exert a temporary influence, it will retire be- 
 fore advancing spiritual and intellectual culture. It 
 is also clear that the first century of its existence has 
 not produced that exposition. Another century may 
 demonstrate that such a production is impossible, by 
 showing that the logical and scriptural element is not 
 in the Arminian system; that the law of affinity and 
 chrystallization is wanting to its disjointed princi- 
 ples ; that this theology, combining many precious 
 truths, and many capital errors, resembles a mingled 
 mass of diamonds and fragments of broken glass and 
 broken pottery, which no plastic skill of man or 
 power of fire can mould into a single transparent, 
 unclouded, many-sided, equal-sided crystal, its angles 
 all beaming, and its points all burning with light — 
 a Kohinoor indeed ! 
 
406 THE THEE KNOWN BY ITS FRUITS. 
 
 Again, it is to be seen whether this divinity has 
 not, on the one hand, an inherent tendency to pre- 
 lacy, as in the Anglican Church, and on the other, 
 an inherent repugnance to the popular element — the 
 representation of the people in church assemblies — 
 as in the Wesleyan societies in England and this 
 country. If the case be so, we must be permitted 
 to doubt both its soundness and its permanency. 
 
 Still further, it remains to be determined whether 
 this divinity can abide any great day of trial. Are 
 its vital energies equal to such a work for God as 
 was accomplished by another theology between the 
 birth of John Calvin and that of James Arminius ? 
 Could it survive such a century of ceaseless strug- 
 gles as that which culminated in the English revo- 
 lution ? Not only surviving itself, could it uphold 
 a great nation through every terrible convulsion ; 
 every exterminating war and treacherous peace ; its 
 bow abiding in strength ; its quiver ever full ; smel- 
 ling the battle afar off, with the thunder of the cap- 
 tains and the shouting ; lifting its brow and its war- 
 cry undaunted in the dreadful array ; its chariot 
 plunging into the thickest of the fight, and yet bear- 
 ing aloft, flaming and unextinguished, its two sacred 
 torches — even the truth, man's heritage in the 
 Church, and liberty, his heritage in the State ? And 
 then is that theology equal to the task of exiling 
 itself to another and distant continent, planting there 
 two new commonwealths, the spiritual and the civil, 
 both free, each separate from the other, and each in- 
 dependent of every power on earth besides ; pene- 
 trating the vast interior ; founding powerful States 
 and prosperous churches under every latitude, from 
 
E. P. HUMPHREY, D. D. 407 
 
 the frozen to the burning zone, and under every me- 
 ridian, from our own resounding sea to the golden 
 shores of the West ? Let the future age solve these 
 momentous problems, and with them every question, 
 touching both the Arminian theology and our own, 
 as permanent or transient, as vital or decaying. 
 
 Here we close our inquiries into the developments 
 of our theology. But before retiring from this vast 
 and unexhausted theme, we should give attention to 
 some reflections suggested both by our subject and 
 the present occasion. The teaching and ruling Pres- 
 byters, in whose presence I stand, are about to con- 
 stitute the General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
 Church. To this judicature belong high spiritual 
 powers, and its deliberations are of subjects infinitely 
 momentous. Yet the most of these may be reduced 
 to three general issues ; and I take leave, in the 
 close of this discourse, to indicate the bearings of 
 our subject on each of these. 
 
 It belongs to the General Assembly, in the first 
 place, to conserve the accepted theology of the Church. 
 The results of the foregoing discussion apply with 
 irresistible force to this part of our official duty. 
 What are the fruits of this theology? At least 
 these seven : an exalted type of spiritual life, a free 
 church polity, a simple and spiritual method of wor- 
 ship, high intellectual vigour, civil liberty, the pa- 
 tience of martyrs and confessors, and the force of an 
 expanding and aggressive Christianity. From each 
 of these particulars springs an argument, pleading 
 with us, most persuasively, to contend earnestly for 
 the faith once' delivered unto the saints. Each of 
 these is a blessing and a heritage, and, taken together, 
 
4 OS THE TREE KNOWN BY ITS FRUITS. 
 
 they compose our whole heritage of blessings. Our 
 love for the fruitage must measure our zeal in be- 
 half of the parent stock. Let it come into the ears 
 of all men, every where, that we cannot give up our 
 theology ; we can spare none of its peculiarities, not 
 one of its "five points;" no, not one. We are jeal- 
 ous even for the terms in which its truths are con- 
 veyed. When the discourse is of our relation to the 
 sin of Adam, we retain the word imputation, even 
 with the guilt it implies, lest we lose the word, and, 
 with the word, the blessing it speaks of when we 
 describe the righteousness of Christ. We keep our 
 hold upon the terms guilt, condemnation, and pun- 
 ishment, lest we lose our hold upon the terms right- 
 eousness, justification, and propitiation. We adhere 
 to the expression "original sin," lest men conclude 
 that the phrase having disappeared from our ser- 
 mons, the thing has ceased out of their hearts. 
 These terms may be condemned as antiquated, but 
 they express ancient truths. An old oaken, iron- 
 bound casket is. quite suitable to the crown jewels 
 of the oldest kingdom on earth, of truth and right- 
 eousness. 
 
 It belongs, secondly, to this supreme tribunal to 
 cherish the spiritual life of the Church. 
 
 We should ever bear in mind that vital piety is 
 of the very substance of faith in our theology. The 
 assent of the understanding to our doctrines, as clear 
 deductions from the Word, is not necessarily a faith 
 in the doctrines themselves; it may be no more 
 than a faith in the processes of an impregnable logic. 
 We are not saved by receiving our catechisms as 
 true, nor even by believing in justification by faith, 
 
E. T. HUMFHKE7, D D. 409 
 
 but by believing in Christ. Curs is the high office 
 to conserve our theology ; but this we can do in no 
 other way than by cherishing in the Church the 
 spirit of genuine and unaffected piety. We should 
 give earnest heed that we do not allow other senti- 
 ments to take the place of that in our hearts. Let 
 us beware of the Churchmanship, which is the token 
 of bigotry, as distinguished from the charity which 
 is the bond of perfectness. A selfish love of the 
 Church, as our Church, is possible ; an unholy pride 
 in its numbers, and learning, and wealth, and influ- 
 ence, and moral power, is possible ; liberality to our 
 Boards, because they enlarge our borders, and so 
 give greater consequence to ourselves, as Presbyte- 
 rians, is possible ; a zeal for our polity as merely 
 republican and free, while it is compact and phalanx- 
 like, is possible ; nay, these are sins that do easily 
 beset. Let our theology teach us better things than 
 these. Let it plant in our hearts that sweet and 
 blessed mystery, the life that is hidden with Christ 
 in God. Let it move us to cherish, in all our com- 
 municants, the divine life, which shall lead them to 
 abhor their sins, to cleave to the Saviour, to frequent 
 the closet and the family altar, to love the house of 
 prayer and the communion of the saints — a life 
 which shall generate in their bosoms an intelligent, 
 perpetual zeal for the honour of God in the salvation 
 of souls — a life which shall thirst after God, even 
 the living God. 
 
 Our subject enforces, not less powerfully, the third 
 great duty laid on this high judicatory, even tlie duty 
 of giving to the Gospel the icidest possible extension. 
 We have seen that our Church derives from its 
 
410 THE TREE KNOWN BY ITS FRUITS. 
 
 theology the capacities of a free, rapid, and world 
 wide expansion. But why does not the Church 
 experience such an expansion ? It has accomplished 
 something ; why has it not done immeasurably more 
 for the cause of the Master? Through its four 
 Boards, it has given no small extension to the truth 
 at home and abroad; why has it not planted ten 
 churches in this country where now there is only 
 one; and why has it not preached the Gospel in 
 every land, yea, to every creature under heaven? 
 Whether we measure the spiritual forces with which 
 our doctrines are clothed, or trace out their proper 
 developments, or examine the history of their 
 achievements, we are conducted to the humiliating, 
 but certain conclusion, that the energies now dor- 
 mant in our church immensely exceed those that 
 are in action. We seem to resemble, by a strange 
 anomaly, both the faithful and the unfaithful ser- 
 vant in the parable ; the faithful, to whom the Mas- 
 ter gave the ten pounds, and the unfaithful, who 
 went and hid his Lord's money. 
 
 The question forces itself upon our consciences, 
 why does not a church, w r hich rests on such a foun- 
 dation, fulfil more perfectly its office? Let the 
 judgment, which this inquiry brings to the house of 
 God, begin at the pulpit. Does the ministry faith- 
 fully preach our peculiar doctrines? It has been 
 thought that such preaching is uninteresting to the 
 hearers ; or if not wearisome, disbelieved ; or if not 
 rejected, unpopular ; or if not unpopular, practically 
 powerless. But what injurious mistakes are these ! 
 Our doctrines uninteresting? When clearly ex- 
 pounded, they compel the attention of men. In- 
 
E. P. HUMPHREY, D. D. 411 
 
 credible ? They master the understanding of not a 
 few by the force of a complete and irresistible dem- 
 onstration. Unpopular? They are endowed with 
 a sort of fascination, constraining those who heard 
 them yesterday with fixed aversion, to hear them 
 to-day with profound attention. This preaching 
 powerless ? Let no man say that within the pre- 
 cincts of a church which has gathered into a single 
 grave yard the ashes of Samuel Davies, Archibald 
 Alexander, and Jonathan Edwards ; the first mem- 
 orable for the awakening power of his sermons ; the 
 second trying the spirits and discerning even the 
 thoughts of our rising ministry; and the third 
 preaching a sermon on the doctrine of election, 
 which was mighty in the conversion of sinners, and 
 delivering another, so instinct with the terrors of the 
 Lord as to bring his audience to their feet, and com- 
 pel the preacher, who sat behind him in the pulpit, 
 to start up with the exclamation, " Mr. Edwards, 
 Mr. Edwards, is not God merciful too ?" The sep- 
 ulchres of these men are with us until this day, 
 and so is their theology; but where the spirit of 
 profound meditation and importunate jDrayer with 
 which they prepared their sermons ? Where is 
 their vehemency and tenderness of utterance? 
 Where their annihilating reply to the disputers of 
 this world, their masterly appeal to the understand- 
 ing, and their onset on the conscience ? 
 
 And then let the judgment pass to our ruling 
 elders and deacons, to all our two hundred thousand 
 communicants, men, women, parents, children, mas- 
 ters, servants, all. Where are the people who are 
 mighty in prayer, full of faith and the Holy Ghost ? 
 
412 THE TREE KNOWN BY ITS FRUITS. 
 
 Why are revivals of religion rather diminishing, 
 than multiplying, in frequency and power? Who 
 among the rich give heed to the apostolical charge 
 to " do good, to be rich in good works, ready to dis- 
 tribute, willing to communicate ?" Who among the 
 poor imitate her example, which is spoken of in all 
 the world where this gospel is preached? Why 
 does our Board of Foreign Missions entreat the 
 Church in vain to send the bread of life to starving 
 millions ? Why is our Board of Domestic Missions 
 fainting under pecuniary embarrassments in the very 
 heat and stress of its great work? Why is our 
 Board of Education suffered to deplore, from year 
 to year, the want of candidates for the sacred office ? 
 Why does not our Board of Publication expound 
 and vindicate our faith in every mansion in the city, 
 and in every log cabin in the wilderness ? Here is 
 our theology, not only embalmed in our standards, 
 but received into our hearts. Here are its forces 
 and its developments, many and mighty. Here are 
 ministers and churches, and missions and schools, 
 and colleges and seminaries of sacred learning. Here 
 are all the elements of a redeeming power on earth, 
 a paramount, permanent, expanding power. Why 
 do we fail to realize its efficacy ? 
 
 This venerable court of Jesus Christ is, by divine 
 appointment, the tribunal to which such inquiries 
 belong. And not less appropriate to them is the 
 place of its present deliberations. Nearly one hun- 
 dred and sixty-seven years ago, the revocation of 
 the Edict of Nantz drove from the kingdom of France 
 more than five hundred thousand Huguenots. They 
 fled to all the Protestant States of Europe, to Eng- 
 
E. P. HUMPHREY, D. D. 413 
 
 land, to the Cape of Good Hope, and to the shores 
 of the Western Continent. Invited by the genial 
 climate of the South to the infant colony of Caro- 
 lina, large numbers of these exiled people of God 
 found rest, some on the borders of the Santee, and 
 others on the banks of the Cooper river. The latter 
 company built their house of worship in a little vil- 
 lage, a few miles distant, called Charleston. Thither, 
 on the Lord's day, they were borne on the bosom 
 of the river, by the gentle flow of its waters, or the 
 motion of the oar, or the ebbing of the tide. In 
 their forest homes, and in their humble sanctuary, 
 they wept for joy as the voice of their supplications 
 and the melody of their songs, rising upon the tran- 
 quil and fragrant air, stood contrasted with the car- 
 nage and terror from which they had fled. This is 
 the ancient Carolina. This, too, is Charleston. Near 
 us is the site of their first house of prayer. Yonder 
 is the Cooper river. There are the fields in which 
 they set up their dwellings and domestic altars. 
 There the rich and odorous vegetation of the early 
 summer repeats for us the life it lived for them. 
 Around us lies their dust, awaiting the resurrection 
 to meet their kindred dust, as that too shall rise 
 from the graves of murdered saints beyond the seas. 
 Here, in this presence, are their children. The 
 blood which moistened the beautiful valleys of Lan- 
 guedoc and Tours, which stained the waters of every 
 river, and the pavements of every city, from the 
 English Channel to the Mediterranean, now runs in 
 the veins of those with whom we worship God this 
 morning. With what unanimity these adhere to 
 that ancient faith, a stranger may not presume to 
 
414 . TIIE TREE KNOWN BY ITS FRUITS. 
 
 inquire. But they are our witnesses, this day, that 
 in faith, order and worship, our Church is identical 
 with their own ancestral Church in its pure and 
 heroic day. Not these alone; for here are they 
 also, whose fathers brought hither, many genera- 
 tions ago, the living and fruit-bearing stock of Pres- 
 byterianism. Let these, our own brethren, par- 
 takers with us of the root and fatness of the olive 
 tree, and let believers of every name, and them who 
 believe not, discover in our proceedings, and in us, 
 no spirit of contention, or uncharitableness, or evil- 
 speaking. May they see nothing in this august 
 council but a pious zeal for the theology, the spi- 
 rituality, and the extension of the Church, and for 
 the glory of its Eternal King. 
 
 Now, fathers and brethren, the God of peace that 
 brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that 
 great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of 
 the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every 
 good work, to do his will, working in you that which 
 is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, 
 to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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