PBESENTED TO THE LIBRARY PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINKRY Pi PRACTICAL RELIGION. To come out from the world of course is not an easy thing. It cannot be easy so long as human nature is what it is, and a busy devil is always near us. It requires a constant struggle and exertion ; it entails incessant conflict and self-denial ; it often places us in exact opposi- tion to members of our own families, to relations and neighbours ; it sometimes obliges us to do things which give great offence, and bring on us ridicule and petty persecution. It is precisely this which makes many hang back and shrink from decided religion. They know they are not right ; they know that they are not so " thorough " in Christ's service as they ought to be, and they feel un- comfortable and ill at ease. But the fear of man keeps them back. And so they linger on through life with aching, dissatisfied hearts, — with too much religion to be happy in the world, and too much of the world to be haj)py in their religion. I fear this is a very common case, if the truth were known. Yet there are some in every age who seem to get the victory over the world. They come out decidedly from its ways, and are unmistakably separate. They are indepen- dent of its opinions, and unshaken by its opposition. They move on like planets in an orbit of their own, and seem to rise equally above the world's smiles and frowns. And what are the secrets of their victory ? I Avill set them down. (a) The first secret of victory over the woi'ld is a rigid heart. By that I mean a heart renewed, changed and sanctified by the Holy Ghost, — a heart in which Christ dwells, a heart in which old things have passed away, and all things become new. The grand mark of such a heart is the bias of its tastes and affections. The owner of such a heart no longer likes the world, and the things of the world, and therefore finds it no trial or sacrifice to give them up. He has no longer any appetite for the company, the conversation, the amusements, the occupations, the THE WORLD. 305 books which he once loved, and to " come out " from them seems natural to him. Great indeed is the expulsive power of a new principle ! Just as the new spring-buds in a beech hedge push off the old leaves and make them quietly fall to the ground, so does the new heart of a believer invariably affect his tastes and likings, and make him drop many things which he once loved and lived in, because he now likes them no more. Let him that wants to " come out from the world and be separate," make sure first and foremost that he has got a new heart. If the heart is really right, everything else will be right in time. " If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." (Matt. vi. 22.) If the affections are not right, there never will be right action. (6) The second secret of victory over the world is a lively practical faith in unseen things. What saith the Scripture ? " This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." (1 John v. 4.) To attain and keep up the habit of looking steadily at invisible things, as if they were visible, — to set before our minds every day, as grand realities, our souls, God, Christ, heaven, hell, judgment, eternity, — to cherish an abiding conviction that what we do not see is just as real as what we do see, and ten thousand times more important, — this, this is one way to be conquerors over the world. This was the faith which made the noble army of saints, described in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, obtain such a glorious testimony from the Holy Ghost. They all acted under a firm persuasion that they had a real God, a real Saviour, and a real home in heaven, though unseen by mortal eyes. Armed with this faith, a man regards this world as a shadow compared to the world to come, and cares little for its praise or blame, its enmity or its rewards. Let him that wants to come out from the world and be separate, but shrinks and liangs back for fear of the things seen, pray and strive to have this faith. "All things are possible to him that X 306 PRACTICAL RELIGION. believes." (Mark ix. 23.) Like Moses, he will find it possible to forsake Egypt, seeing Him that is invisible. Like Moses, he will not care what he loses and who is displeased, because he sees afar off, like one looking through a telescope, a substantial recompense of reward. (Heb. xi. 26.) (c) The third and last secret of victory over the world, is to attain and cultivate the habit of boldly confessing Christ on all proper occasions. In saying this I would not be mistaken. I want no one to blow a trumpet before him, and thrust his religion on others at all seasons. But I do wish to encourage all who strive to come out from the world to show their colours, and to act and speak out like men who are not ashamed to serve Christ. A steady, quiet assertion of our own principles, as Christians, — an habitual readiness to let the children of the world see that we are guided by other rules than they are, and do not mean to swerve from them, — a calm, firm, courteous maintenance of our own standard of things in every company, — all this will insensibly form a habit within us, and make it comparatively easy to be a separate man. It will be hard at first, no doubt, and cost us many a struggle ; but the longer we go on, the easier will it be. Repeated acts of confessing Christ will produce habits. Habits once formed will produce a settled character. Our characters once known, we shall be saved much trouble. Men will know what to expect from us, and will count it no strange thing if they see us living the lives of separate peculiar people. He that grasps the nettle most firmly will always be less hurt than the man who touches it with a trembling hand. It is a great thing to be able to say " No " decidedly, but courteously, when asked to do anything which conscience says is wrong. He that shows his colours boldly from the first, and is never ashamed to let men see "whose he is and whom he serves," will soon find that he has overcome the world. THE WORLD. 807 and will be let alone. Bold confession is a long step towards victory. It only remains for me now to conclude the whole subject with a few short words of application. The danger of the world ruining the soul, the nature of true separation from the world, the secrets of victory over the world, are all before the reader of this paper. I now ask him to give me his attention for the last time, while I try to say something directly for his personal benefit. (1) My first word shall be a question. Are you over- coming the world, or are you overcome by it ? Do you know what it is to come out from the world and be separate, or are you yet entangled by it, and conformed to it ? If you have any desire to be saved, I entreat you to answer this question. If you know nothing of " separation," I warn you affec- tionately that your soul is in great danger. The world passeth away ; and they who cling to the world, and think only of the world, will pass away with it to everlasting ruin. Awake to know your peril before it be too late. Awake and flee from the wrath to come. The time is short. The end of all things is at hand. The shadov are lengthening. The sun is going down. The night cometh when no man can work. The great white throne will soon be set. The judgment will begin. The books will be opened. Awake, and come out from the world while it is called to-day. Yet a little while, and there will be no more worldly occupations and worldly amusements, — no more getting money and spending money, — no more eating, and drinking, and feasting, and dressing, and ball-going, and theatres, and races, and cards, and gambling. What will you do when all these things have passed away for ever ? How can you possibly be happy in an eternal heaven, where holiness is all in all, and worldliness has no place ? Oh SOS PRACTICAL RELIGION. consider tlicse things, and be wise ! Awake, and break the chains which the world has thrown around you. Awake, and flee from the wrath to come. (2) My second word shall be a counsel. If you want to come out from the world, but know not what to do, take the advice which I give you this da3^ Begin by applying direct, as a penitent sinner, to our Lord Jesus Christ, and put your case in His hands. Pour out your heart before Him. Tell Him your whole story, and keep nothing back. Tell Him that you are a sinner wanting to be saved from the world, the flesh, and the devil, and entreat Him to save you. That blessed Saviour "gave Himself for us that He might deliver us from this present evil world." (Gal. i. 2.) He knows what the world is, for He lived in it thirty and three years. He knows what the difficulties of a man are, for He was made man for our sakes, and dwelt among men. High in heaven, at the right hand of God, He is able to save to the uttermost all who come to God by Him, — able to keep us from the evil of the world while we are still living in it, — able to give us power to become the sons of God, — able to keep us from falling, — able to make us more than conquerors. Once more I say. Go direct to Christ with the prayer of faith, and put yourself wholly and unreservedly in His hands. Hard as it may seem to you now to come out from the world and be separate, you shall find that with Jesus nothing is impossible. You, even you, shall overcome the world. (3) My third and last word shall be encouragement. If you have learned by experience what it is to come out from the world, I can only say to you. Take comfort, and persevere. You are in the right road ; you have no cause to be afraid. The everlasting hills are in sight. Your salvation is nearer than when you believed. Take comfort and press on. No doubt you have had many a battle, and made many THE WORLD. S09 a false step. You have sometimes felt ready to faint, and been half disposed to go back to Egypt. But your Master lias never entirely left you, and He Avill never suffer you to be tempted above that you are able to bear. Then persevere steadily in your separation from the world, and uever be ashamed of standing alone. Settle it firmly in your mind that the most decided Christians are always the happiest, and remember that no one ever said at the end of his course that he had been too holy, and lived too near to God. Hear, last of all, what is written in the Scriptures of truth : " Whosoever shall confess Me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God." (Luke xii. 8.) " There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, " But he shall receive an hundred-fold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions ; and in the world to come eternal life." (Mark x. 29, 80.) " Cast not away therefore your confidence, Avhich hath great recompense of reward. " For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. "For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry." (Heb. x. 35 — 37.) Those words were written and spoken for our sakes. Let us lay hold on them, and never forget them. Let us persevere to the end, and never be ashamed of coming out from the world, and being separate. We may be sure it brings its own reward. 310 PRACTICAL RELIGION. NOTE. Thoughtful and intelligent readers will probaldy observe tliat, under the head of worldly amusements, I have said nothing about ball-going and card-playing. They are delicate and difficult subjects, and many classes of society are not touched by them. But I am quite willing to give my opinion, and the more so because I do not speak of them without experience in the days of my youth. (a) Concerning hall-gn'mg, I only ask Christians to judge the amuse- ment by its tendencies and accompaniments. To say there is anything morally wrong in the mere bodily act of dancing would be absurd. David danced before the ark. Solomon said, " There is a time to dance." (Eccle. iii. 4.) Just as it is natural to lambs and kittens to frisk about, so it seems natural to young people, all over the world, to jump about to a lively tune of music. If dancing were taken up for mere exercise, if dancing took place at early hours, and men only danced with men, and women with women, it would be needless and absurd to object to it. But everybody knows that tliis is not what is meant by modern ball-going. This is an amusement which involves very late hours, extravagant dressing, and an immense amount of frivolity, vanity, jealousy, unhealthy excitement, and vain conversation. Who would like to be found in a modern ball-room when the Lord Jesus Christ comes the second time? Who that has taken much part in balls, as I myself once did, before I knew better, can deny that they have a most dissipating effect on the mind, like opium-eating and dram-drinking on the body ? I cannot withhold my opinion that ball-going is one of those worldly amusements which "war against the soul," and which it is wisest and best to give up. And as for those parents who urge their sons and daughters, against their wills and inclinations, to go to balls, I can only say that they are taking on themselves a most dangerous responsibility, and risking great injury to their children's souls. (6) Concerning card-play'ing, my judgment is much the sam :. I ask Christian people to try it by its tendencies and consequences. Of course it would be nonsense to say there is positive wickedness in an innocent game of cards, for diversion, and not for money. I have known instances of old people of lethargic and infirm habit of body, unable to work or read, to whom cards in an evening were really useful, to keep them from drowsiness, and preserve their health. But it is vain to shut our eyes to facts. If masters and mistresses once begin to play cards in the parlour, servants are likely to play cards in the kitchen ; and then comes in a whole train of evils. Moreover, from simple card-playing to desperate gambling there is but a chain of steps. If parents teach young people that there is no harm in the first step, they must never be surprised if they go on to the last. THE WORLD. SH I give this opinion with much difRJence. I lay no claim to infalliliilitj'. Let every one be persuaded in his own mind. But, considering all things, it is my deliberate judgment that the Christian who wishes to keep his soul right, and to "come out from the world," will do wisely to have nothing to do with card-playing. It is a habit which seems to grow on some people so much that it becomes at last a necessity, and they cannot live without it. "Madam," said Eomaine to an old lady at Bath, who declared she could not do without her cards, — "Madam, if this is the case, cards are your god, and your god is a very poor one." Surely in doubtful matters like these it is well to give our souls the benefit of the doubt, and to refrain. (c) Concerning field-sportx, I admit that it is not easy to lay down a strict rule. I cannot go the length of some, and say that galloping across country, or shooting grouse, partridges, or pheasants, or catchinf^ salmon or trout, are in themselves positively sinful occupations, and distinct marks of an unconverted heart. There are many persons, I know, to whom violent out-door exercise and complete diversion of mind are absolute necessities, for the preservation of their bodily and mental health. But in all these matters the chief question is one of degree. Much depends on the company men are thrown into, and the extent to which the thing is carried. The great danger lies in excess. It is possible to be intemperate about hunting and shooting as well as about drinking. We are commanded in Scripture to be "temperate in all things," if we would so run as to obtain ; and those who are addicted to field-sports should not forget this rule. The question, however, is one about which Christians must be careful in expressing an opinion, and moderate in their judgments. The man who can neither ride, nor shoot, nor throw a fly, is hardly qualified to speak dispassionately about such matters. It is cheap and easy work to condemn others for doing things which you cannot do yourself, and are utterly unable to enjoy ! One thing only is perfectly certain, — all intemperance or excess is sin. The man who is wholly absorbed in field-sports, and spends all his years in such a manner that he seems to think God only created him to be a "hunting, shooting, and fishing animal," is a man who at present knows very little of Scriptural Christianity. It is written, "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Matt, vi, 21.) XIII. ETCHES AND POVERTY. " There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in furple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day : "And there was a certain heggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, "And desiring to be fed with the crumhs which ftll from the rich man's table : moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. " And it came to pass that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried ; " And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom." — Luke xvi. 19—23. There are probably few readers of the Bible who are not familiar with the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. It is one of those passages of Scripture which leave an indelible impression on the mind. Like the parable of the Prodigal Son, once read it is never forgotten. The reason of this is clear and simple. The whole parable is a most vividly painted picture. The story, as it goes on, carries our senses with it with irresistible power. Instead of readers, we become lookers on. We are wit- nesses of all the events described. We see. We hear. We fancy we could almost touch. The rich man's banquet, — the purple, — the fine linen, — the gate, — the beggar lying by it, — the sores, — the dogs, — the crumbs, — RICHES AND POVERTY. 313 the two deaths, — the rich man's burial, — the ministering angels, — the bosom of Abraham, — the rich man's fearful waking up, — the fire, — the gulf, — the hopeless remorse, — all, all stand '>ut before our eyes in bold relief, and stamp themselves upon our minds. This is the perfection of lanoruasfe. This is the attainment of the famous Arabian standard of eloquence, — " He speaks the best who turns the ear into an eye." But, after all, it is one thing to admire the masterly composition of this parable, and quite another to receive the spiritual lessons it contains. The eye of the intellect can often see beauties while the heart remains asleep, and sees nothing at all. Hundreds read Pilgrim's Progress with deep interest, to whom tbe struggle for the celestial city is foolishness. Thousands are familiar with every word of the parable before us this day, who never consider how it comes home to their own case. Their conscience is deaf to the cry which ought to ring in their ears as they read, — "Thou art the man." Their heart never turns to God with the solemn inquiry, — " Lord, is this my picture ? — Lord, is it I ? " I invite my readers this day to consider the leading truths which this parable is meant to teach us. I purposely omit to notice any part of it but that which stands at the head of this paper. May the Holy Ghost give us a teachable spirit, and an understanding heart, and so produce lasting impressions on our souls ! I. Let us observe, first of all, how different are the conditions luhich God allots to different onen. The Lord Jesus begins the parable by telling us of a rich man and a beggar. He says not a word in praise either of poverty or of riches. He describes the circum- stances of a wealthy man and the circumstances of a poor man ; but He neither condemns the temporal position of one, nor praises that of the other. 314 PRACTICAL RELIGION. The contrast between the two men is painfully striking. Look on this picture, and on that. Here is one who possessed abundance of this world's good things. " He was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day." Here is another who has literally nothing. He is a friendless, diseased, half-starved pauper. " He lies at the rich man's gate full of sores," and begs for crumbs. Both are children of Adam. Both came from the same dust, and belonged to one family. Both are living in the same land and subjects of the same government. And yet how different is their condition ! But we must take heed that we do not draw lessons from the parable which it was never meant to teach. The rich are not always bad men, and do not always go to hell. The poor are not always good men, and do not always go to heaven. We must not rush into the extreme of supposing that it is sinful to be rich. We must not run away with the idea that there is anything wicked in the difference of condition here described, and that God intended all men to be equal. There is nothing in our Lord Jesus Christ's words to warrant any such conclusion. He simply describes things as they are often seen in the world, and as we must expect to see them. Universal equality is a very high-sounding expression, and a favourite idea with visionary men. Many in every age have disturbed society by stirring up the poor against the rich, and by ^^reaching up the popular doctrine that all men ought to be equal. But so long as the world is under the present order of things this universal equality cannot be attained. Those who declaim against the vast inequality of men's lots will doubtless never be in want of hearers ; but so long as human nature is what it is, this inequality cannot be prevented. So long as some are wise and some are foolish, — some strong and some weak, — some healthy and some diseased. RICHES AND POVERTY. 315 — some lazy and some diligent, — some provident and some improvident ; — so long as children reap the fruit of their parent's misconduct ; — so long as sun, and rain, and heat, and cold, and wind, and waves, and drought, and blight, and storms, and tempests are beyond man's control, — so long there always will be some rich and some poor. All the political economy in the world will never make the poor altogether "cease out of the land." (Deut. xv. 11.) Take all the property in England by force this day, and divide it equally among the inhabitants. Give every man above twenty years old an equal portion. Let all take share and share alike, and begin the world over again. Do this, and see where you would be at the end of fifty years. You would just have come round to the point where you began. You would just find things as unequal as before. Some would have worked, and some Avould have been idle. Some would have been always careless, and some always scheming. Some would have sold, and others would have bought. Some would have wasted, and others would have saved. And the end would be that some would be rich and others poor. Let no man listen to those vain and foolish talkers who say that all men were meant to be equal. They might as well tell you that all men ought to be of the same height, weight, strength, and cleverness, — or that all oak trees ought to be of the same shape and size, — or that all blades of grass ought to be of the same length. Settle it in your mind that the main cause of all the suffering you see around you is sin. Sin is the grand cause of the enormous luxury of the rich, and the painful degradation of the poor, — of the heartless selfishness of the highest classes, and the helpless poverty of the lowest. Sin must be first cast out of the world. The hearts of all ooen must be renewed and sanctified. The devil must be bound. The Prince of Peace must come down and take Eis great power and reign. All this must be before there 316 PRACTICAL RELIGION. ever can be universal happiness, or tlie gulf be filled up which now divides the rich and poor. Beware of expecting a millennium to be brought about by any method of government, by any system of education, by any political party. Labour might and main to do good to all men. Pity your poorer brethren, and help every reasonable endeavour to raise them from their low estate. Slack not your hand from any endeavour to increase knowledge, to promote morality, to improve the temporal condition of the poor. But never, never forget that you live in a fallen world, that sin is all around you, and that the devil is abroad. And be very sure that the rich man and Lazarus are emblems of two classes which will always be in the world until the Lord comes. II. Let us observe, in the next place, that a mans temporal condition is no test of the state of his soul. The rich man in the parable appears to have been the world's pattern of a prosperous man. If the life that now is were all, he seems to have had everything that heart could wish. We know that he was "clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day." We need not doubt that he had everything else which money could procure. The wisest of men had good cause for saying, " Money answereth all things." " The rich hath many friends." (Eccles. x. 19; Prov. xiv. 20.) But who that reads the story through can fail to see that in the highest and best sense the rich man was pitiably poor? Take away the good things of this life, and he had nothing left, — nothing after death, — nothing beyond the grave, — nothing in the world to come. With all his riches he had no " treasure laid up in heaven." With all his purple and fine linen he had no garment of righteousness. With all his boon companions he had no Friend and Advocate at God's right hand. With all his sumptuous fare he had never tasted the bread of life. RICHES AND POVERTY. 317 With all his splendid palace he had no home in the eternal world. Without God, without Christ, without faith, without grace, without pardon, without holiness, he lives to himself for a few short years, and then goes down hopelessly into the pit. How hollow and unreal was all his prosperity! Judge what I say, — The rich man luas very poor. Lazarus appears to have been one who had literally nothing in the world. It is hard to conceive a case of greater misery and destitution than his. He had neither house, nor money, nor food, nor health, nor, in all probability, even clothes. His picture is one that can never be forgotten. He "lay at the rich man's gate, covered with sores." He desired to be "fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table." Moreover, the dogs came and " licked his sores." Verily the wise man might well say, " The poor is hated even of his neighbour." "The destruction of the poor is their poverty." (Prov. xiv. 20 i X. 15.) But who that reads the parable to the end can fail to see that in the highest sense Lazarus was not poor, but rich ? He was a child of God. He was an heir of glory. He possessed durable riches and righteousness. His name was in the book of life. His place was prepared for Him in heaven. He had the best of clothing, — the righteous- ness of a Saviour. He had the best of friends, — God Himself was his portion. He had the best of food, — he had meat to eat the world knew not of And, best of all, he had these things for ever. They supported him in life. They did not leave him in the hour of death. They went with him beyond the grave. They Avere his to eternity. Surely in this point of view we may well say, not " poor Lazarus," but " rich Lazarus." We should do well to measure all men by God's standard, — to measure them not by the amount of their income, but by the condition of their souls. When the 318 PHACTICAL RELIGION. Lord God looks down from heaven and sees the children of men, He takes no account of many things which are highly esteemed by the world. He looks not at men's money, or lands, or titles. He looks only at the state of their souls, and reckons them accordingly. Oh, that you would strive to do likewise ! Oh, that you would value grace above titles, or intellect, or gold ! Often, far too often, the only question asked about a man is, "How much is he worth ? " It would be well for us all to remember that every man is pitiably poor until he is rich in faith, and rich toward God. (James ii. 5.) Wonderful as it may seem to some, all the money in the world is worthless in God's balances, compared to grace ! Hard as the saying may sound, I believe that a converted beggar is far more important and honourable in the sight of God than an unconverted king. The one may glitter like the butterfly in the sun for a little season, and be admired by an ignorant world; but his latter end is darkness and misery for ever. The other may crawl through the world like a crushed worm, and be despised by every one who sees him ; but his latter end is a glorious resurrection and a blessed eternity with Christ. Of him the Lord says, " I know thy poverty (but thou art rich)." (Rev. ii. 9.) King Ahab was ruler over the ten tribes of Israel. Obadiah was nothing more than a servant in his household. Yet who can doubt which was most precious in God's sight, the servant or the king ? Ridley and Latimer were deposed from all their dignities, cast into prison as malefactors, and at length burnt at the stake. Bonner and Gardiner, their perse- cutors, were raised to the highest pitch of ecclesiastical greatness, enjoyed large incomes, and died unmolested in their beds. Yet who can doubt which of the two parties was on the Lord's side ? Baxter, the famous divine, was persecuted with savage EICHES AND POVERTY. 319 malignity, and condemned to a long imprisonment by a most unjust judgment. Jeffreys, the Lord Chief Justice, who sentenced him, was a man of infamous character, without either morality or religion. Baxter was sent to jail and Jeffreys was loaded with honours. Yet who can doubt which was the good man of the two, the Lord Chief Justice or the author of the " Saint's Rest" ? We may be very sure that riches and worldly greatness are no certain marks of God's favour. They are often, on the contrary, a snare and hindrance to a man's soul. They make him love the world and forget God. What savs Solomon ? " Labour not to be rich." (Prov. xxiii. 4.) What says St. Paul ? " They that will be rich, fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition." (1 Tim. vi. 9.) We may be no less sure that poverty and trial are no certain proof of God's anger. They are often blessings in disguise. They are always sent in love and wisdom. They often serve to wean man from the world. They teach him to set his affections on things above. They often show the sinner his own heart They often make the saint fruitful in good works. What says the book of Job ? " Happy is the man whom God correcteth ; there- fore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty." (Job V. 17.) What says St. Paul? "Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth." (Heb. xii. 6.) One great secret of happiness in this life is to be of a patient, contented spirit. Strive daily to realize the truth that this life is not the place of reward. The time of retribution and recompense is yet to come. Judge nothing hastily before that time. Remember the words of the wise man : " If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter : for He that is higher than the highest regardeth, and there be higher than they." (Eccles. v. 8.) 320 PRACTICAL RELIGION. Yes ! there is a day of judgment yet to come. That day shall put all in their right places. At last there shall be seen a mighty difference " between him that serveth God, and him that serveth Him not." (Malachi iii. 18.) The children of Lazarus and the children of the rich man shall at length be seen in their true colours, and every one shall receive according to his works. III. Let us observe, in the next place, how all classes alike come to the grave. The rich man in the parable died, and Lazarus died also. Different and divided as they were in their lives, they had both to drink of the same cup at the last. Both went to the house appointed for all living. Both went to that place where rich and poor meet together. Dust they were, and unto dust they returned. (Gen. iii. 19.) This is the lot of all men. It will be our own, unless the Lord shall first return in glory. After all our scheming, and contriving, and planning, and studying, — after all oui inventions, and discoveries, and scientific attainments, — there remains one enemy we cannot conquer and disarm, and that is death. The chapter in Genesis which records the long lives of Methuselah and the rest who lived before the flood, winds up the simple story of each by two expressive words : "he died." And now, after 4,800 years, what more can be said of the greatest among ourselves ? The histories of Marlborough, and Washington, and Napoleon, and Wellington, arrive at just the same hum- bling conclusion. The end of each, after all his greatness., is just this, — "he died." Death is a mighty leveller. He spares none, he waits for none, and stands on no ceremony. He will not tarry till you are ready. He will not be kept out by moats, and doors, and bars, and bolts. The Englishman boasts that his home is his castle, but with all his boasting, he cannot exclude death. An Austrian nobleman forbade death and RICHES AND POVERTY. 821 the smallpox to be named in his presence. But, named or not named, it matters little, in God's appointed hour death will come. One man rolls easily along the road in the easiest and handsomest carriage that money can procure. Another toils wearily along the path on foot. Yet both are sure to meet at last in the same home. One man, like Absalom, has fifty servants to wait upon him and do his bidding. Another has none to lift a finger to do him a service. But both are travelling to a place where they must lie down alone. One man is the owner of hundreds of thousands. Another has scarce a shilling that he can call his own property. Yet neither one nor the other can carry one farthing with him into the unseen world. One man is the possessor of half a county. Another has not so much as a garden of herbs. And yet two paces of the vilest eailh will be amply sufficient for either of them at the last. One man pampers his body with every possible delicacy, and clothes it in the richest and softest apparel. Another has scarce enough to eat, and seldom enough to put on. Yet both alike are hurrying on to a day when " ashes to ashes, and dust to dust," shall be proclaimed over them, and fifty years hence none shall be able to say, " This was the rich man's bone, and this the bone of the poor." I know that these are ancient things. I do not deny it for a moment. I am writing stale old things that all men know. But I am also writing things that all men do not feel. Oh, no ! if they did feel them they would not speak and act as they do. You wonder sometimes at the tone and language of ministers of the Gospel. You marvel that we press upon you immediate decision. You think us extreme, and ex- travagant, and ultra in our views, because we urge upon you to close with Christ, — to leave nothing uncertain, — to Y 322 PRACTICAL RELIGION. make sure that you are born again and ready for heaven. You hear, but do not approve. You go away, and say to one another, — " The man means well, but he goes too far." But do you not see that the reality of death is con- tinually forbidding us to use other language ? We see him gradually thinning our congregations. We miss face after face in our assemblies. We know not whose turn may come next. We only know that as the tree falls there it will lie, and that "after death comes the judgment." We must be bold and decided, and uncompromising in our language. We would rather run the risk of offending some, than of losing any. We would aim at the standard set up by old Baxter : — "I'll preach as though I ne'er should preach again, And as a dying man to dying men ! " We would realize the character given by Charles II. of one of his preachers : " That man preaches as though death was behind his back. When I hear him I cannot go to sleep." Oh, that men would learn to live as those who may one day die ! Truly it is poor work to set our affections on a dying world and its shortlived comforts, and for the sake of an inch of time to lose a glorious immortality ! Here we are toiling, and labouring, and wearying ourselves about trifles, and running to and fro like ants upon a heap ; and yet after a few years we shall all be gone, and another generation will fill our place. Let us live for eternity. Let us seek a portion that can never be taken from us. And let us never forget John Bunyan's golden rule : " He that Avould live well, let him make his dying day his" company-keeper." IV. Let us observe, in the next place, how precious ai believer's soul is in the sight of God. The rich man, in the parable, dies and is buried. EICHES AND POVERTY. 323 Perhaps he had a splendid funeral, — a funeral proportioned to his expenditure while he Avas yet alive. But we hear nothing further of the moment when soul and body were divided. The next thing we hear of is that he is in Tiell. The poor man, in the parable, dies also. What mannei of burial he had we know not. A pauper's funeral among ourselves is a melancholy business. The funeral of Lazarus was probably no better. But this we do know, — that the moment Lazarus dies he is carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom, — carried to a place of rest, where all the faithful are waiting for the resurrection of the just. There is something to my mind very striking, very touching, and very comforting in this expression of the parable. I ask your especial attention to it. It throws great light on the relation of all sinners of mankind who believe in Christ, to their God and Father. It shows a little of the care bestowed on the least and lowest of Christ's disciples, by the King of kings. No man has such friends and attendants as the believer, however little he may think it. Angels rejoice over him in the day that he is born again of the Spirit. Angels minister to him all through life. Angels encamp around him in the wilderness of this world. Angels take charge of his soul in death, and bear it safely home. Yes ! vile as he may be in his own eyes, and lowly in his own sight, the very poorest and humblest believer in Jesus is cared for by his Father in heaven, with a care that passeth know- ledge. The Lord has become his Shepherd, and he can " want nothing." (Ps. xxiii. 1.) Only let a man come un- fcignedly to Christ, and be joined to Him, and he shall have all the benefits of a covenant ordered in all things and sure. Is he laden with many sins ? Though they be as scarlet they shall be white as snow. Is his heart hard and prone to evil ? A new heart shall be given to him, and a new spirit put in him. S24 PRACTICAL RELIGION. Is he weak and cowardly ? He that enabled Peter to confess Christ before his enemies shall make him bold. Is he ignorant ? He that bore with Thomas' slowness shall bear with him, and guide him into all truth. Is he alone in his position ? He that stood by Paul when all men forsook him shall also stand by his side. Is he in circumstances of special trial ? He that enabled men to be saints in Nero's household shall also enable him to persevere. The very hairs of his head are all numbered. Nothing can harm him without God's permission. He that hurteth him, hurteth the apple of God's eye, and injures a brothei and member of Christ Himself. His trials are all wisely ordered. Satan can only vex him, as he did Job, when God permits him. No temptation can happen to him above what he is able to bear. All things are working together for his good. His steps are all ordered from grace to glory. He is kept on earth till he is ripe for heaven, and not one moment longer. The harvest of the Lord must have its appointed proportion of sun and wind, of cold and heat, of rain and storm. And then when the believer's work is done, the angels of God shall come for him, as they did lor Lazarus, and carry him safe home. Alas ! the men of the world little think whom they are despising, when they mock Christ's people. They are mockingf those whom angels are not ashamed to attend upon. They are mocking the brethren and sisters of Christ Himself Little do they consider that these are they for whose sakes the days of tribulation are shortened. These are they by whose intercession kings reign peacefully. Little do they reck that the prayers of men like Lazarus have more weight in the affairs of nations than hosts of armed men. Believers in Christ, who may possibly read these pages, you little know the full extent of your privileges and RICHES AND POVERTY. 825 possessions. Like children at school, you know not half that your Father is doing for your welfare. Learn to live by faith more than you have done. Acquaint yourselves with the fulness of the treasure laid up for you in Christ even now. This world, no doubt, must always be a place of trial while we are in the body. But still there are comforts provided for the brethren of Lazarus which many never enjoy. V. Observe, in the last place, ivhat a dangerous and soul-ruining sin is the sin of selfishness. You have the rich man. in the parable, in a hopeless state. If there was no other picture of a lost soul in hell in all the Bible you have it here. You meet him in the beginning, clothed in purple and fine linen. You part with him at the end, tormented in the everlastinof fire. And yet there is nothing to show that this man was a murderer, or a thief, or an adulterer, or a liar. There is no reason to say that he was an atheist, or an infidel, or a blasphemer. For anything we know, he attended to all the ordinances of the Jewish religion. But we do know that he was lost for ever ! There is something to my mind very solemn in thi? thought. Here is a man whose outward life in all pro- bability was correct. At all events we know nothing against him. He dresses richly ; but then he had mone} to spend on his apparel. He gives splendid feasts and entertainments ; but then he was wealthy, and could well afford it. We read nothing recorded against him that might not be recorded of hundreds and thousands in the present day, who are counted respectable and good sort of people. And yet the end of this man is that he goes to hell. Surely this deserves serious attention. (a) I believe it is meant to teach us to heivare of living only for ourselves. It is not enough that we are able to say, " I live correctly. I pay every one his due. I 326 PRACTICAL RELIGION. discharge all the relations of life with propriety. I attend to all the outward requirements of Christianity." There remains behind another question, to which the Bible requires an answer. " To whom do you live ? to yourself or to Christ ? What is the great end, aim, object, and ruling motive in your life ? " Let men call the question extreme if they please. For myself, I can find nothing short of this in St. Paul's words : " He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them and rose again." (2 Cor. v. 15.) And I draw the conclusion, that if, like the rich man, we live only to ourselves, we shall ruin our souls. (6) I believe, further, that this passage is meant to teach us the damnable nature of sins of omission. It does not seem that it was so much the things the rich man did, but the things he left undone, which made him miss heaven. Lazarus was at his gate, and he let him alone. But is not this exactly in keeping with the history of the iudgment, in the twenty-fifth of St. Matthew? Nothing is said there of the sins of commission of which the lost are guilty. How runs the charge ? — " I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat : I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink : I was a stranger, and ye took me not in : naked, and ye clothed me not : sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not." (Matt. xxv. 42, 43.) The charge against them is simply that they did not do certain things. On this their sentence turns. And I draw the conclusion again, that, except we take heed, sins of omission may ruin our souls. Truly it was a solemn saying of good Archbishop Usher, on his death-bed : " Lord, forgive me all my sins, but specially my sins of omission." (c) I believe, further, that the passage is meant to teach as that riches bring special danger with them. Yes ! riches, which the vast majority of men are always seeking after, — riches for which they spend their lives, and of which they make an idol, — riches entail on their possessors RICHES AND POVERTY. 327 immense spiritual peril! The possession of them has a very hardening effect on the soul. They chill. They freeze. They petrify the inward man. They close the eye to the things of faith. They insensibly produce a tendency to forget God. And does not this stand in perfect harmony with all the language of Scripture on the same subject ? What says our Lord ? " How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God ! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God ! " (Mark x. 23, 25.) What says St. Paul ? " The love of money is the root of all evil; which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." (1 Tim vi. 10.) What can be more striking than the fact that the Bible has frequently spoken of money as a most fruitful cause of sin and evil? For money Achan brought defeat on the armies of Israel, and death on himself For money Balaam sinned against light, and tried to curse God's people. For money Delilah betrayed Sampson to the Philistines. For money Gehazi lied to Naaman and Elisha, and became a leper. For money Ananias and Sapphira became the first hypocrites in the early Church, and lost their lives. For money Judas Iscariot sold Christ, and was ruined eternally. Surely these facts speak loudly. Money, in truth, is one of the most U72 satisfying of possessions. It takes away some cares, no doubt ; but it brings with it quite as many cares as it takes away. There is trouble in the getting of it. There is anxiety in the keeping of it. There are temptations in the use of it. There is guilt in the abuse of it. There is sorrow in the losing of it. There is perplexity in the disposing of it. Two-thirds of all the strifes, quarrels, and lawsuits in the world, arise from one simple cause, — money ! Money most certainly is one of the most ensnaring and 328 PRACTICAL RELIGION. Iteart-clianging of possessions. It seems desirable at a distance. It often proves a poison when in our hand. No man can possibly tell the effect of money on his soul, if it suddenly falls to his lot to possess it. Many an one did run well as a poor man, who forgets God when he is rich. I draw the conclusion that those who have money, like the rich man in the parable, ought to take double pains about their souls. They live in a most unhealthy atmos- phere. They have double need to be on their guard. (cZ) I believe, not least, that the passage is meant to stir up special carefulness about selfishness in these last days. You have a special warning in 2 Tim. iii. 1,2: " In the last days perilous times shall come : for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous." I believe we have come to the last days, and that we ought to beware of the sins here mentioned, if we love our souls. Perhaps we are poor judges of our own times. We are apt to exaggerate and magnify their evils, just because we see and feel them. But, after every allowance, I doubt whether there ever was more need of warnings against selfishness than in the present day, I am sure there never was a time when all classes in England had so many comforts and so many temporal good things. And yet I believe there is an utter disproportion between men's expenditure on themselves and their outlay on works of charity and works of mercy. I see this in the miserable one guinea subscriptions to which many rich men confine their charity. I see it in the languishing condition of many of our best religious Societies, and the painfully slow growth of their annual incomes. I see it in the small number of names which appear in the list of contributions to any good work. There are, I believe, thousands of rich people in this country who literally give away nothing at all. I see it in the notorious fact, that few, even of those who give, give anything proportioned to their means. I PwICHES AND POVERTY. 329 see all this, and mourn over it. I regard it as the selfish- ness and covetousness predicted as likely to arise in " the last days." I know that this is a painful and delicate subject. But it must not on that account be avoided by the minister of Christ. It is a subject for the times, and it needs pressing home. I desire to speak to myself, and to all who make any profession of religion. Of course I cannot expect worldly and utterly ungodly persons to view this subject in Bible light. To them the Bible is no rule of faith and practice. To quote texts to them would be of little use. But I do ask all professing Christians to consider well what Scripture says against covetousness and selfishness, and on behalf of liberality in giving money. Is it for nothing that the Lord Jesus spoke the parable of the rich fool, and blamed him because he was not " rich towards God " ? (Luke xii. 21.) Is it for nothing that in the parable of the sower He mentions the " deceitfulness of riches " as one reason why the seed of the Word bears no fruit ? (Matt. xiii. 22.) Is it for nothing that He says, " Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unright- eousness" ? (Luke xvi. 9.) Is it for nothing that He says, " When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours ; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind : and thou shalt be blessed ; for they cannot recompense thee ; for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just " ? (Luke xiv. 14.) Is it for nothing that He says, " Sell that ye have and give alms ; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth"? (Luke xii, 33.) Is it for nothing that He says, "It is more blessed to give than to receive " ? (Acts xx. 35.) Is it for nothing that He warns us against the example of the priest 330 PRACTICAL RELIGION. and Levite, who saw the wounded traveller, but passed by on the other side ? Is it for nothing that He praises the good Samaritan, who denied himself to show kindness to a stranger ? (Luke x. 34.) Is it for nothing that St. Paul classes covetousness with sins of the grossest description, and denounces it as idolatry ? (Coloss. iii. 5.) And is there not a striking and painful difference between this language and the habits and feeling of society about money ? I appeal to any one who knows the world. Let him judge what I say. I only ask my reader to consider calmly the passages of Scripture to which I have referred. I cannot think they were meant to teach nothing at all. That the habits of the East and our own are different, I freely allow. That some of the expressions I have quoted are figurative, I freely admit. But still, after all, a principle lies at the bottom of all these expressions. Let us take heed that this principle is not neglected. I wish that many a professing Christian in this day, who perhaps dislikes what I am saying, would endeavour to write a commen- tary on these expressions, and try to explain to himself what they mean. To know that alms-givins: cannot atone for sin is well. To know that our good works cannot justify us is excellent. To know that we may give all our goods to feed the poor, and build hospitals and cathedrals, without any real charity, is most important. But let us beware lest we go into the other extreme, and because our money cannot save us, give away no money at all. Has any one money who reads these pages ? Then " take heed and beware of covetousness." (Luke xii. 15.) Re- member you carry weight in the race towards heaven. All men are naturally in danger of being lost for ever, but you are doubly so because of your possessions. Nothing is said to put out fire so soon as earth thrown upon it. Nothing I am sure has such a tendency to quench the fire of religion EICHES AND POVERTY. 331 as the possession of money. It was a solemn message which Buchanan, on his death-bed, sent to his old pupil, James I. : " He was going to a place where few kings and great men would come." It is possible, no doubt, for you to be saved as well as others. With God nothing is impossible. Abraham, Job, and David were all rich, and yet saved. But oh, take heed to yourself! Money is a good servant, but a bad master. Let that saying of our Lord's sink down into your heart : " How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God." (Mark X. 23.) Well said an old divine : " The surface above gold mines is generally very barren." Well might old Latimer begin one of his sermons before Edward VI. by quoting three times over our Lord's words: "Take heed and beware of covetousness," and then saying, "What if I should say nothing else these three or four hours ? " There are few prayers in our Litany more wise and more necessary than that petition, "In all time of our wealth, good Lord deliver us." Has any one little or no money who reads these pages ? Then do not envy those who are richer than yourself. Pray for them. Pity them. Be charitable to their faults. Remember that high places are giddy places, and be not too hasty in your condemnation of their conduct. Perhaps if you had their difficulties you would do no better yourself. Beware of the " love of money." It is the "root of all evil." (1 Tim. vi. 10.) A man may love money over-much without having any at all. Beware , of the love of self It may be found in a cottage as well as in a palace. And beware of thinking that poverty alone will save you. If you would sit with Lazarus in glory, you must not only have fellowship with him in suffering, but in grace. Does any reader desire to know the remedy against that love of self which ruined the rich man's soul, and cleaves to us all by nature, like our skin ? I tell him plainly there 332 PRACTICAL RELIGION. is only one remedy, and I ask Him to mark well what that remedy is. It is not the fear of hell. It is not the hopo of heaven. It is not any sense of duty. Oh, no ! The disease of selfishness is far too deeply rooted to yield to such secondary motives as these. Nothing will ever cure it but an experimental knowledge of Christ's redeeming love. You must know the misery and guilt of your own estate by nature. You must experience the power of Christ's atoning blood sprinkled upon your conscience, and making you whole. You must taste the sweetness of peace with God through the mediation of Jesus, and feel the love of a reconciled Father shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Ghost. Then, and not till then, the mainspring of selfishness will be broken. Then, knowing the immensity of your debt to Christ, you will feel that nothing is too great and too costly to give to Him. Feeling that you have been loved much when you deserved nothing, you will heartily love in return, and cry, " What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits?" (Ps. cxvi. 12.) Feeling that you have freely received countless mercies, you will think it a privilege to do anything to please Him to whom you owe all. Feeling that you have been " bought with a price," and are no longer your own, you will labour to glorify God with body and spirit, which are His. (1 Cor. vi. 20.) Yes : I repeat it this day. I know no effectual remedy for the love of self, but a believing apprehension of the love of Christ. Other remedies may palliate the disease : this alone will heal it. Other antidotes may hide its deformity : this alone will work a perfect cure. An easy, good-natured temper may cover over selfishness in one man. A love of praise may conceal it in a second. A self-righteous asceticism and an affected spirit of self- denial may keep it out of sight in a third. But nothing will ever cut up selfishness by the roots but the love of Christ revealed in the mind by the Holy Ghost, and felt RICHES AND POVERTY. 333 in the heart by simple faith. Once let a man see the full meaning of the words, " Christ loved me and gave Himself for me," and then he will delight to give himself to Christ, and all that he has to His service. He will live to Him, not in order that he may be secure, but because he is secure already. He will work for Him, not that he may have life and peace, but because life and peace are his own already. Go to the cross of Christ, all you that want to be delivered from the power of selfishness. Go and see what a price was paid there to provide a ransom for your soul. Go and see what an astounding sacrifice was there made, that a door to eternal life might be provided for poor sinners like you. Go and see how the Son of God gave Himself for you, and learn to think it a small thing to give yourself to Him. The disease which ruined the rich man in the parable may be cured. But oh, remember, there is only one real remedy ! If you would not live to yourself you must live to Christ. See to it that this remedy is not only known, but applied, — not only heard of, but used. (1) And now let me conclude all hy urging on every reader of these pages, the great duty of self-inquiry. A passage of Scripture like this parable ought surely to raise in many an one great searchings of heart. — " What am I ? Where am I going ? What am I doing ? What is likely to be my condition after death ? Am I prepared to leave the world ? Have I any home to look forward to in the world to come ? Have I put ofif the old man and put on the new ? Am I really one with Christ, and a pardoned soul ? " Surely such questions as these may well be asked when the story of the rich man and Lazarus has been heard. Oh, that the Holy Ghost may incline many a reader's heart to ask them ! (2) In the next place, / invite aU readers who desire to have their souls saved, and have no good account to give 334 PRACTICAL RELIGION. of themselves at present, to seek salvation while it can be found. I do entreat you to apply to Him by whom alone man can enter heaven and be saved, — even Jesus Christ the Lord. He has the keys of heaven. He is sealed and appointed by God the Father to be the Saviour of all that will come to Him. Go to Him in earnest and hearty prayer, and tell Him your case. Tell Him that you have heard that "He receiveth sinners," and that you come to Him as such. (Luke xv. 2.) Tell Him that you desire to be saved by Him in His own way, and ask Him to save 3^ou. Oh, that you may take this course without delay! Remember the hopeless end of the rich man. Once dead there is no more change. (3) Last of all, i entreat all professing Christians to encourage themselves in habits of liberality towards all causes of charity and mercy. Remember that you are God's stewards, and give money liberally, freely, and without grudging, whenever you have an opportunity. You cannot keep your money for ever. You must give account one day of the manner in which it has been expended. Oh, lay it out with an eye to eternity while you can ! I do not ask rich men to leave their situations in life, give away all their property, and go into the workhouse. This would be refusing to fill the position of a steward for God. I ask no man to neglect his worldly calling, and to omit to provide for his family. Diligence in business is a positive Christian duty. Provision for those dependent on us is proper Christian prudence. But I ask all to look around continually as they journey on, and to remember the poor, — the poor in body and the poor in soul. Here we are for a few short years. How can we do most good with our money while we are here ? How can we so spend it as to leave the world somewhat happier and somewhat holier when we are removed ? Might we not abridge some of our luxuries ? RICHES AND POVERTY, S3 5 Might we not lay out less upon ourselves, and give more to Christ's cause and Christ's poor ? Is there none we can do good to ? Are there no sick, no poor, no needy, whose sorrows we might lessen, and whose comforts we might increase? Such questions Avill never fail to ehcit an answer from some quarter. I am thorougly persuaded that the income of every religious and charitable Society in England might easily be multiplied tenfold, if English Christians would give in proportion to their means. There are none surely to whom such appeals ought to some home with such power as professing believers in the Lord Jesus. The parable of the text is a striking illus- tration of our position by nature, and our debt to Christ. We all lay, like Lazarus, at heaven's gate, sick unto the death, helpless, and starving. Blessed be God ! we were not neglected, as he was. Jesus came forth to relieve us. Jesus gave Himself for us, that we might have hope and live. For a poor Lazarus-like world He came down from heaven, and humbled Himself to become a man. For a poor Lazarus-like world He went up and down doing good, caring for men's bodies as well as souls, until He died for us on the cross. I believe that in giving to support works of charity and mercy, we are doing that which is according to Christ's mind, — and I ask readers of these pages to begin the habit of giving, if they never began it before ; and to go on with it increasingly, if they have begun. I believe that in offering a warning against worldliness and covetousness, I have done no more than bring forward a warning specially called for by the times, and I ask God to bless the consideration of these pages to many souls. XIV. THE BEST FRIEND. " This is my friend." — Cant. v. 16. A FRIEND is one of the greatest blessings on earth. Tell me not of money : affection is better than gold ; sympathy is better than lands. He is the poor man who has no friends. This world is full of sorrow because it is full of sin. It is a dark place. It is a lonely place. It is a disappointing place. The brightest sunbeam in it is a friend. Friend- ship halves our troubles and doubles our joys. A real friend is scarce and rare. There are many who will eat, and drink, and laugh with us in the sunshine oi prosperity. There are few who will stand by us in the days of darkness, — few who will love us when we are sick, helpless, and poor, — few, above all, who will care for our souls. Does any reader of this paper want a real friend ? I write to recommend one to your notice this day. I know of One "who sticketh closer than a brother." (Prov. xviii. 24.) I know of One who is ready to be your friend for time and for eternity, if you will receive Him. Hear me, while I try to tell you something about Him. The friend I want you to know is Jesus Christ. Happy is that family in which Christ has the foremost place ! Happy is that person whose chief friend is Christ ! THE BEST FRIEND. 837 I. Do we want a friend in need ? Such a friend is the Lord Jesus Christ. Man is the neediest creature on God's earth, because he is a sinner. There is no need so great as that of sinners : poverty, hunger, thirst, cold, sickness, all are nothing in comparison. Sinners need pardon, and they are utterly unable to provide it for themselves ; they need deliverance from a guilty conscience and the fear of death, and they have no power of their own to obtain it. This need the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world to relieve. " He came into the world to save sinners." (1 Tim. i. 15.) We are all by nature poor dying creatures. From the king on his throne to the pauper in the workhouse, we are all sick of a mortal disease of soul. Whether we know it or not, whether we feel it or not, we are all dying daily. The plague of sin is in our blood. We cannot cure ourselves : we are hourly getting worse and worse. All this the Lord Jesus undertook to remedy. He came into the world " to bring in health and cure ; " He came to deliver us " from the second death ; " He came "to abolish death, and bring life and immortality to light through the Gospel." (Jer. xxxiii. 6; Rev. ii. 11; 2 Tim. i. 10.) We are all by nature imprisoned debtors. We owed our God ten thousand talents, and had nothing to pa}'. We were wretched bankrupts, without hope of discharging ourselves. We could never have freed ourselves from our load of liabilities, and were daily getting more deeply involved. All this the Lord Jesus saw, and undertook to remedy. He engaged to " ransom and redeem us ; " He came to "proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound ; " " He came to redeem us from the curse of the law." (Hos. xiii. 14; Isai. Ixi. 1; Gal. iii. 13.) We were all by nature shipwrecked and cast away. We could never have reached the harbour of everlasting life. We wei'e sinking in the midst of the waves, shiftless z 838 PRACTICAL RELIGION. hopeless, helpless, and powerless ; tied and bound by tlie chain of our sins, foundering under the burden of our own guilt, and like to become a prey to the devil. All this the Lord Jesus saw and undertook to remedy. He came down from heaven to be our mighty "helper;" He came to " seek and to save that which was lost ; " and to " deliver us from going down into the pit." (Psalm Ixxxix. 19; Luke xix. 10 ; Job xxxiii. 24.) Could we have been saved without the Lord Jesus Christ coming down from heaven ? It would have been impossible, so far as our eyes can see. The wisest men of Egypt, and Greece, and Rome never found out the way to peace with God. Without the friendship of Christ we should all have been lost for evermore in hell. Was the Lord Jesus Christ obliged to come down to save us ? Oh, no ! no ! It was His own free love, mercy, and pity that brought Him down. He came unsought and unasked because He was gracious. Let us think on these things. Search all history from the beginning of the world, — look round the whole circle of those you know and love : you never heard of such friendship among the sons of men. There never was such a real friend in need as Jesus Christ. II. Do you want a friend in deed? Such a friend is the Lord Jesus Christ. The true extent of a man's friendship must be measured by his deeds. Tell me not what he says, and feels, and wishes ; tell me not of his words and letters : tell me rather what he does. " Friendly is that friendly does." The doings of the Lord Jesus Christ for man are the grand proof of His friendly feeling towards him. Never were there such acts of kindness and self-denial as those which He has performed on our behalf. He has not loved us in word only but in deed. For our sakes He took our nature upon Him, and was THE BERT FRIEND. 839 born of a woman. He who was very God, and equal with the Father, laid aside for a season His glory, and took upon Him flesh and blood like our own. The almighty Creator of all things became a little babe like any of us, and experienced all our bodily weaknesses and infirmities, sin only excepted. " Though He Avas rich He became poor, that we through His poverty might be rich." (2 Cor. viii. 9.) For our sakes He lived thirty-three years in this evil world, despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. Though He was King of kings. He had not Avhere to lay His head : though He was Lord of lords, He was often Aveary, and hungry, and thirsty, and poor. " He took on Him the form of a servant, and humbled Himself." (Philipp. iii. 7, 8.) For our sakes He suffered the most painful of all deaths, even the death of the cross. Though innocent, and without fault. He allowed Himself to be condemned, and found guilty. He who was the Prince of Life was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and poured out His soul unto death. He "died for us." (1 Thess. v. 10.) Was He obliged to do this ? Oh, no ! He might have summoned to His help more than twelve legions of angels, and scattered His enemies with a word. He suffered voluntarily and of His own free will, to make atonement for our sins. He knew that nothing but the sacrifice of His body and blood could ever make peace between sinful man and a holy God. He laid down His life to pay the price of our redemption : He died that we might live ; He suffered that we might reign ; He bore shame that we might receive glory. " He suffered for sins, the just foi the unjust, that He might bring us to God." "He was made sin for us, who knew no sin: that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him," (1 Peter iii. IS; 2 Cor. V. 21.) Such friendship as this passes man's understanding. 340 PRACTICAL EELIGION. Friends wlio would die for those who love them, we may- have heard of sometimes. But who can find a man who would lay down his life for those that hate him ? Yet this is what Jesus has done for us. " God commendeth His love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. v. 8.) Ask all the tribes of mankind, from one end of the world to the other, and you will nowhere hear of a deed like this. None was ever so high and stooped down so low as Jesus the Son of God : none ever gave so costly a proof of his friendship ; none ever paid so much and endured so much to do good to others. Never was there such a friend in deed as Jesus Christ ! III. Do we want a 'niigldy and powerful friend ? Such a friend is Jesus Christ. Power to help is that which few possess in this world. Llany have will enough to do good to others, but no power. They feel for the sorrows of others, and would gladly relieve them if they could : they can weep with their friends in affliction, but are unable to take their grief away. But though man is weak, Christ is strong, — though the best of our earthly friends is feeble, Christ is almighty: " All power is given unto Him in heaven and earth." (Matt, xxviii. 18.) No one can do so much for those whom He befriends as Jesus Christ. Others can befriend their bodies a little : He can befriend both body and soul. Others can do a little for them in time : He can be a friend both for time and eternity. {a) He is ahle to pardon and save the very chief of sinners. He can deliver the most guilty conscience from all its burdens, and give it perfect peace with God. He can wash away the vilest stains of wickedness, and make a man whiter than snow in the sight of God. He can clothe a poor weak child of Adam in everlasting righteous- ness, and give him a title to heaven that can never be THE BEST FRIEND. S41 overthrown. In a word, He can give any one of us peace, hope, forgiveness, and reconciliation with God, if we will only trust in Him. " The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin." (1 John i. 7.) (6) He is able to convert the hardest of hearts, and create in man a new spirit. He can take the most thoughtless and ungodly people, and give them another mind by the Holy Ghost which He puts in them. He can cause old things to pass away, and all things to become new. He can make them love the things which they once hated, and hate the things which they once loved. "He can give them power to become the sons of God." " If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature." (John i. 12; 2 .Cor. V. 17.) (c) He is able to loreserve to the end all who believe in Him, and become His disciples. He can give them grace to overcome the world, the flesh and the devil, and fight a good fight at the last. He can lead them on safely in spite of every temptation, carry them home through a thousand dangers, and keep them faithful, though they stand alone and have none to help them. " He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him." (Heb. vii. 25.) {d) He is able to give those that love Him the best of gifts. He can give them in life inward comforts, which money can never buy, — peace in poverty, joy in sorrow, patience in suffering. He can give them in death bright hopes, w'hich enable them to walk through the dark valley with- out fear. He can give them after death a crown of glor^ , which fadeth not away, and a reward compared to which the Queen of England has nothing to bestow. This is power indeed: this is true greatness; this is real strength. Go and look at the poor Hindoo idolater, seeking peace in vain by afflicting his body ; and, after fifty years of self-imposed suffering, unable to find it. Go and look at the benighted Romanist, giving money to his 342 PEACTICAL RELIGION. priest to pray for his soul, and yet dying without comfort. Go and look at rich men, spending thousands in search of happiness, and yet always discontented and unhappy. Then turn to Jesus, and think what He can do, and is daily doing for all who trust Him. Think how He heals all the broken-hearted, comforts all the sick, cheers all the poor that trust in Him, and supplies all their daily need. The fear of man is strong, the opposition of this evil world is mighty, the lusts of the flesh rage horribly, the fear of death is terrible, the devil is a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour ; but Jesus is stronger than them all. Jesus can make us conquerors over all these foes. And then say whether it be not true, that there never was so mighty a friend as Jesus Christ. IV. Do we Avant a loving and affectionate friend? Such a friend is Jesus Christ. Kindness is the very essence of true friendship. Money and advice and help lose half their grace, if not given in a loving manner. What kind of love is that of the Lord Jesus toward man? It is called, "A love that passeth knowledge." (Ephes. iii. 19.) Love shines forth in His reception of sinners. He refuses none that come to Him for salvation, however unworthy they may l)e. Though their lives may have been most wicked, though their sins may be more in number than the stars of heaven, the Lord Jesus is ready to receive them, and give them pardon and peace. There is no end to His compassion : there are no bounds to His pity. He is not ashamed to befriend those whom the world casts off as hopeless. There are none too bad, too filthy, and too much diseased with sin, to be admitted into His home. He is willing to be the friend of any sinner : He has kindness and mercy and healing medicine for all. He has long proclaimed this to be His rule : " Him that Cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out." (John vi. 37.) THE BEST FRIEND. 343 Love shines forth in His dealings lulth sinners, after they have believed in Him and become His friends. He is very patient with them, though their conduct is often very trying and provoking. He is never tired of hearing their complaints, however often they may come to Him. He sympathizes deeply in all their sorrows. He knows what pain is : He is " acquainted with grief." (Is. liii. 3.) In all their afflictions He is afflicted. He never allows them to be tempted above what they are able to bear: He supplies them with daily grace for their daily conflict. Their poor services are acceptable to Him: He is as well pleased with them as a parent is with his child's endeavours to speak and walk. He has caused it to be written in His book, that " He taketh pleasure in His people," and that " He taketh pleasure in them that fear Him." (Ps. cxlvii. 11 ; cxlix. 4.) There is no love on earth that can be named together with this ! We love those in whom we see something that deserves our affection, or those who are our bone or our flesh : the Lord Jesus loves sinners in whom there is no good thing. We love those from whom we get some return for our affection : the Lord Jesus loves those who can do little or nothing for Him, compared to what He does for them. We love where we can give some reason for loving : the great Friend of sinners draws His reasons out of His own everlasting compassion. His love is purely disinterested, purely unselfish, purely free. Never, never was there so truly loving a friend as Jesus Christ. V. Do we want a tuise and prudent friend ? Such a friend is the Lord Jesus Christ. Man's friendship is sadly blind. He often injures those he loves by injudicious kindness: he often errs in the counsel he gives ; he often leads his friends into trouble by bad advice, even when he means to help them. He some- times keeps them back from the way of life, and entangles o4i PRACTICAL RELIGION. them in the vanities of the world, when they have well nigh escaped. The friendship of the Lord Jesus is not so : it always does us good, and never evil. The Lord Jesus never spoils His friends by extravagant indulgence. He gives them everything that is really for their benefit; He withholds nothing from them that is really good ; but He requires them to take up their cross daily and follow Him. He bids them endure hardships as good soldiers: He calls on them to fight the good fight against the world, the flesh, and the devil. His people often dislike it at the time, and think it hard ; but when they reach heaven they will see it was all well done. The Lord Jesus makes no mistakes in managing^ His friends' affairs. He orders all their concerns with perfect wisdom : all things happen to them at the right time, and in the right way. He gives them as much of sickness and as much of health, as much of poverty and as much of riches, as much of sorrow and as much of joy, as He sees their souls require. He leads them by the right way to bring them to the city of habitation. He mixes their bitterest cups like a wise physician, and takes care that they have not a drop too little or too much. His people often misunderstand His dealings ; they are silly enough to fancy their course of life might have been better ordered : but in the resurrection-day they will thank God that not their will, but Christ's was done. Look round the world and see the harm which people are continually getting from their friends, Mark how much more ready men are to encourage one another in worldliness and levity, than to provoke to love and good works. Think how often they meet together, not for the better, but for the worse, — not to quicken one another's souls in the way to heaven, but to confirm one another in the love of this present world. Alas, there are thousands who are wounded unexpectedly in the house of their friends 1 THE BEST FRIEND. S45 And then turn to the great Friend of sinners, and see how different a thing is His friendship from that of man. Listen to Him as He walks by the way with His disciples ; mark how He comforts, reproves, and exhorts with perfect wisdom. Observe how He times His visits to those He loves, as to Mary and Martha at Bethany. Hear how He converses, as He dines on the shore of the sea of Galilee : "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me?" (John xxi. 16.) His company is always sanctifying. His gifts are always for our soul's good ; His kindness is always wise ; His fellowship is always to edification. One day of the Son oi Man is better than a thousand in the society of earthly friends : one hour spent in private communion with Him, is better than a year in kings' palaces. Never, never was there such a wise friend as Jesus Christ. VI. Do we want a tried and proved friend ? Such a friend is Jesus Christ. Six thousand years have passed away since the Lord Jesus began His work of befriending mankind. Durinir that long period of time He has had many friends in this world. Millions on millions, unhappily, have refused His offers and been miserably lost for ever; but thousands on thousands have enjoyed the mighty privilege of His friendship and been saved. He has had great experi- ence. (a) He has had friends of every rank and station in life. Some of them were kings and rich men, like David, and Solomon, and Hezekiah, and Job ; some of them were very poor in this world, like the shepherds of Bethlehem, and James, and John, and Andrew: but they were all alike Christ's friends. (6) He has had friends of every age that man can pass through. Some of them never knew Him till they were advanced in years, like Manasseh, and Zacchseus, and pro- bably the Ethiopian Eunuch. Some of them were His 34-6 PRACTICAL RELIGION. friends even from their earliest childhood, like Joseph, and Samuel, and Josiah, and Timothy. But they were all alike Christ's friends. (c) He has had friends of every possible temperament and disposition. Some of them were simple plain men, like Isaac ; some of them were mighty in word and deed, like Moses ; some of them were fervent and warm-hearted, like Peter ; some of them were gentle and retiring spirits, like John ; some of them were active and stirring, like Martha ; some of them loved to sit quietly at His feet, like Mary ; some dwelt unknown among their own people, like the Shunamite ; some have gone everywhere and turned the world upside down, like Paul. But they were all alike Christ's friends. (d) He has had friends of every condition in life. Some of them were married, and had sons and daughters, like Enoch; some of them lived and died unmarried, like Daniel and John the Baptist ; some of them were often sick, like Lazarus and Epaphroditus ; some of them were strong to labour, like Persis, and Tryphena, and Tryphosa ; some of them were masters, like Abraham and Cornelius ; some of them were servants, like the saints in Nero's household ; some of them had bad servants, like Elisha ; some of them had bad masters like Obadiah; some of them had bad wives and children, like David. But they were all alike Christ's friends. (c) He has had friends of almost every nation, and feople, and tongue. He has had friends in hot countries and in cold ; friends among nations highly civilized, and friends among the simplest and rudest tribes. His book of life contains the names of Greeks and Romans, of Jews and Egyptians, of bond and of free. There are to be found on its lists reserved Englishmen and cautious Scotchmen, im- pulsive Irishmen and fiery Welch men, volatile Frenchmen and dignified Spaniards, refined Italians and solid Germans, rude Africans and refined Hindoos, cultivated Chinese and THE BEST FRIEND. 347 half-savage New Zealanders. But they were all alike Christ's friends. All these have made trial of Christ's friendship, and proved it to be good. They all found nothing wanting when they began : they all found nothing wanting as they went on. No lack, no defect, no deficiency was ever found by any one of them in Jesus Christ. Each found his own soul's wants fully supplied ; each found every day, that in Christ there was enough and to spare. Never, never was there a friend so fully tried and proved as Jesus Christ. VII. Last, but not least, do we want an unfailing friend? Such a friend is the Lord Jesus Christ. The saddest part of all the good things of earth is their instability. Riches make themselves wings and flee away ; youth and beauty are but for a few years; strength of body soon decays ; mind and intellect are soon exhausted. All is perishing. All is fading. All is passing away. But there is one splendid exception to this general rule, and that is the friendship of Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus is a friend who never changes. There is no fickleness about Him : those whom He loves. He loves unto the end. Husbands have been known to forsake their wives ; parents have been known to cast off their children ; human vows and promises of faithfulness have often been forgotten. Thousands have been neglected in their poverty and old age, who were honoured by all when they were rich and young. But Christ never changed His feelings towards one of His friends. He is " the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." (Heb. xiii. 8.) The Lord Jesus never goes away from His friends. There is never a parting and good-bye between Him and His people. From the time that He makes His abode in the sinner's heart. He abides in it for ever. The world is full of leave-takings and departures : death and the lapse 348 PRACTICAL RELIGION. of time break up the most united family ; sons go forth to make their way in life ; daughters are married, and leave their father's house for ever. Scattering, scattering, scattering, is the yearly history of the happiest home. How many we have tearfully watched as they drove away from our doors, whose pleasant faces we have never seen again ! How many we have sorrowfully followed to the grave, and then come back to a cold, silent, lonely, and blank fireside ! But, thanks be to God, there is One who never leaves His friends ! The Lord Jesus is He who has said, " I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." (Heb. xiii. 5.) The Lord Jesus goes with His friends ivherever they go. There is no possible separation between Him and those whom He loves. There is no place or position on earth, or under the earth, that can divide them from the great Friend of their souls. When the path of duty calls them far away from home. He is their companion ; when they pass through the fire and w^ater of fierce tribulation, He is with them ; when they lie down on the bed of sickness, He stands by them and makes all their trouble work for good ; when they go down the valley of the shadow of death, and friends and relatives stand still and can go no further. He goes down by their side. When they wake up in the unknown world of Paradise, they are still with Him ; when they rise with a new body at the judgment day, they will not be alone. He will own them for His friends, and say, " They are mine : deliver them and let them go free." He will make good His own words : " I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." (Matt, xxviii. 20.) Look round the world, and see how failure is written on all men's schemes. Count up the partings, and separations, and disappointments, and bereavements which have happened under your own knowledge. Think what a privilege it is that there is One at least who never fails, THE BEST FRIEND. 349 and in whom no one was ever disappointed ! Never, never was there so unfailing a friend as Jesus Christ. And now, suffer me to conclude this paper with a few plain words of application. I know not who you are or in what state your soul may be ; but I am sure that the words I am about to say deserve your serious attention. Oh, that this paper may not find you heedless of spiritual things ! Oh, that you may be able to give a few thoughts to Christ ! (1) Know then, for one thing, that I call upon you to consider solemnly whether Christ is your Friend and you are His. There are thousands on thousands, I grieve to say, who are not Christ's friends. Baptized in His name, outward members of His Church, attendants on His means of grace, — all this they are, no doubt. But they are not Christ's friends. Do they hate the sins which Jesus died to put away ? No. — Do they love the Saviour who came into the world to save them ? No. — Do they care for the souls which were so precious in His sight ? No. — Do they delight in the word of reconciliation ? No. — Do they try to speak with the Friend of sinners in prayer ? No. — Do they seek close fellowship with Him ? No. — Oh, reader, is this your case ? How is it with you ? Are you or are you not one of Christ's friends ? (2) Know, in the next place, that if you are not one of Christ's friends, you are a poor miserable being. I write this down deliberately. I do not say it without thought. I say that if Christ be not your friend, you are a poor, miserable being. You are in the midst of a failing, sorrowful world, and you have no real source of comfort, or refuge for a time of need. You are a dying creature, and you are not ready to die. You have sins, and they are not forgiven. You are going to be judged, and you are not prepared to meet God : 350 PRACTICAL RELIGION. you might be, but you refuse to use the one only Mediator and Advocate. You love the world better than Christ. You refuse the great Friend of sinners, and you have no friend in heaven to plead your cause. Yes : it is sadly true ! You are a poor, miserable being. It matters nothing what your income is : without Christ's friendship you are very poor. (3) Know, in the third place, that if you really want a friend, Christ is willing to become your friend. He has long wanted you to join His people, and He now invites you by my hand. He is ready to receive you, all unworthy as you may feel, and to write your name down in the list of His friends. He is ready to pardon all the past, to clothe you with righteousness, to give you His Spirit, to make you His own dear child. All He asks you to do is to come to Him. He bids you come with all your sins ; only acknowledging your vileness, and confessing that you are ashamed. Just as you are, — waiting for nothing, — unworthy of anything in yourself, — Jesus bids you come and be His friend. Oh, come and be wise ! Come and be safe. Come and be happy. Come and be Christ's friend. (4) Know, in the last place, that if Christ is your friend, you have great privileges, and ought to tualk worthy of tJtem. Seek every day to have closer communion with Him who is your Friend, and to know more of His grace and power. True Christianity is not merely the believing a certain set of dry abstract propositions: it is to live in daily personal communication with an actual living person — Jesus the Son of God. " To me," said Paul, " to live is Christ." (Phil. i. 21.) Seek every day to glorify your Lord and Saviour in all your ways. " He that hath a friend should show himself friendly " (Prov. xviii. 24), and no man surely is under such mighty obligations as the friend of Christ. Avoid every- THE BEST FRIEND, 351 thing which would grieve your Lord. Fight hard against besetting sins, against inconsistency, against backwardness to confess Him before men. Say to your soul, whenever you are tempted to that which is wrong, " Soul, soul, is this thy kindness to thy Friend ? " Think, above all, of the mercy which has been shown thee, and learn to rejoice daily in thy Friend ! What though thy body be bowed down with disease ? What though thy poverty and trials be very great ? What though tliine earthly friends forsake thee, and thou art alone in the world ? All this may be true : but if thou art in Christ thou hast a Friend, a mighty Friend, a loving Friend, a wise Friend, a Friend that never fails. Oh, think, think much upon thy friend ! Yet a little time and thy Friend shall come to take thee home, and thou shalt dwell with Him for ever. Yet a little time and thou shalt see as thou hast been seen, and know as thou hast been known. And then thou shalt hear assembled worlds confess, that HE IS THE RICH AND HAPPY MAN WHO HAS HAD CHRIST FOR HIS FRIEND. XV. SICKNESS. "He whom Thou lovest is side." — John xi. 3. The chapter from which this text is taken is well known to all Bible readers. In life-like description, in touching interest, in sublime simplicity, there is no writing in existence that will bear comparison with that chapter. A narrative like this is to my own mind one of the great proofs of the inspiration of Scripture. When I read the story of Bethany, I feel " There is something here which the infidel can never account for." — " This is nothing else but the finger of God." The words which I specially dwell upon in this chaptei are singularly affecting and instructive. They record the message which Martha and Mary sent to Jesus when their brother Lazarus was sick : " Lord, behold he whom Thou lovest is sick." That message was short and simple. Yet almost every word is deeply suggestive. Mark the child-like faith of these holy women. The}' turned to the Lord Jesus in their hour of need, as the frightened infant turns to its mother, or the compass- needle turns to the Pole. They turned to Him as their Shepherd, their almighty Friend, their Brother born for adversity. Different as they were in natural temperament, the two sisters in this matter were entirely agreed. Christ's help was their first thought in the day of trouble. SICKNESS. 353 Christ was the refuge to which they fled in the hour of need. Blessed are all they that do likewise ! Mark the simple humility of their language about Lazarus. They call Him " He whom Thou lovest." They do not say, " He who loves Thee, believes in Thee, serves Thee," but " He whom Thou lovest." Martha and Mary were deeply taught of God. They had learned that Christ's love towards us, and not our love towards Christ, is the true ground of expectation, and true foundation of hope. Blessed, again, are all they that are taught likewise ! To look inward to our love towards Christ is painfully unsatisfying : to look outward to Christ's love towards us is peace. Mark, lastly, the touching circumstance which the message of Martha and Mary reveals : " He whom Thou lovest is sick." Lazarus was a good man, converted, believing, renewed, sanctified, a friend of Christ, and an heir of glory. And yet Lazarus was sick ! Then sickness is no sign that God is displeased. Sickness is intended to be a blessing to us, and not a curse. " All things work together for good to them that love God, and are called according to His purpose." " All things are yours, — life, death, things present, or things to come : for ye are Christ's ; and Christ is God's." (Rom. viii. 28 ; 1 Cor. iii. 22.) Blessed, I say again, are they that have learned this ! Happy are they who can say, when they are ill, " This is my Father's doing. It must be well." I invite the attention of my readers to the subject of sickness. The subject is one which we ought frequently to look in the face. We cannot avoid it. It needs no prophet's eye to see sickness coming to each of us in turn one day. " In the midst of life we are in death." Let us turn aside for a few moments, and consider sickness as Christians. The consideration will not hasten its coming, and by God's blessing may teach us wisdom. In considering the subject of sickness, three points a2 354 PRACTICAL RELIGION. appear to me to demand attention. On each I shall say a few words. I. The universal prevalence of sickness and disease. II. The general benefits which sickness confers on mankind. III. The special duties to which sickness calls us. I. The universal prevalence of sickness. I need not dwell long on this point. To elaborate the proof of it would only be multiplying truisms, and heaping up common-places which all allow. Sickness is everywhere. In Europe, in Asia, in Africa, in America; in hot countries and in cold, in civilized nations and in savage tribes, — men, women, and children sicken and die. Sickness is among all classes. Grace does not lift a believer above the reach of it. Riches will not buy exemption from it. Rank cannot prevent its assaults. Kings and their subjects, masters and servants, rich men and poor, learned and unlearned, teachers and scholars, doctors and patients, ministers and hearers, all alike go down before this great foe. " The rich man's wealth is his strong city." (Prov. xviii. 11.) The Englishman's house is called his castle ; but there are no doors and bars which can keep out disease and death. Sickness is of every sort and description. From the crown of our head to the sole of our foot we are liable to disease. Our capacity of suffering is something fearful to contemplate. Who can count up the ailments by which our bodily frame may be assailed ? Who ever visited a museum of morbid anatomy without a shudder ? " Strange that a harp of thousand strings should keep in tune so long." It is not, to my mind, so wonderful that men should die so soon, as it is that they should live so long. SICKNESS. 355 Sickness is often one of the most humbling and distressing trials that can come upon man. It can turn the strongest into a little child, and make him feel " the grasshopper a burden." (Eccles. xii. 5.) It can unnerve the boldest, and make him tremble at the fall of a pin. We are " fearfully and wonderfully made." (Psalm cxxxix. 14.) The connection between body and mind is curiously close. The influence that some diseases can exercise upon the temper and spirits is immensely great. There are ailments of brain, and liver, and nerves, which can bring down a Solomon in mind to a state little better than that of a babe. He that would know to what depths of humiliation poor man can fall, has only to attend for a short time on sick-beds. Sickness is not preventible by anything that man can do. The average duration of life may doubtless be some- what lengthened. The skill of doctors may continually discover new remedies, and effect surprising cures. The enforcement of wise sanitary regulations may greatly lower the death-rate in a land. But, after all, — whether in healthy or unhealthy localities, — whether in mild climates or in cold, — whether treated by homoeopathy or allopathy, — men will sicken and die. " The days of our years are three-score years and ten ; and if by reason of strength they be four-score years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow ; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away." (Psalm xc. 10.) That witness is indeed true. It was true 3300 years ago. — It is true still. Now what can we make of this great fact, — the universal prevalence of sickness ? How shall we account for it ? What explanation can we give of it ? What answer shall we give to our inquiring children when they ask us, " Father, why do people get ill and die ? " These are grave questions. A few words upon them will not be out of place. Can we suppose for a moment that God created sickness 356 PRACTICAL RELIGION. and disease at the beginning ? Can we imagine that He .who formed our world in such perfect order was the Former of needless suffering and pain ? Can we think that He who made all things " very good," made Adam's race to sicken and to die ? The idea is, to my mind, revolting. It introduces a grand imperfection into the midst of God's perfect works. I must find another solution to satisfy my mind. The only explanation that satisfies me is that which the Bible gives. Something has come into the world which has dethroned man from his original position, and stripped him of his original privileges. Something has come in, which, like a handful of gravel thrown into the midst of machinery, has marred the perfect order of God's creation. And what is that something ? I answer, in one word, It is sin. " Sin has entered into the world, and death by sin." (Rom, V. 12.) Sin is the cause of all the sickness, and disease, and pain, and suffering, which prevail on the earth. They are all a part of that curse which came into the world when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and fell. There would have been no sickness, if there had been no fall. There would have been no disease, if there had been no sin. I pause for a moment at this jDoint, and yet in pausing I do not depart from my subject. I pause to remind my readers that there is no ground so untenable as that which is occupied by the Atheist, the Deist, or the unbeliever in the Bible. I advise every young reader of this paper, who is puzzled by the bold and specious arguments of the infidel, to study well that most important subject, — the Difficulties of Infidelity. I say boldly that it requires far more credulity to be an infidel than to be a Christian. I say boldly, that there are great broad patent facts in the condition of mankind, which nothing but the Bible can explain, and that one of the most striking of these facts is the universal prevalence of pain, sickness, and disease. SICKNESS. S57 In short, one of the mightiest difficulties in the way cf Atheists and Deists, io the body of man. You have doubtless heard of Atheists. An Atheist is one who professes to believe that there is no God, no Creator, no First Cause, and that all things came together in this world by mere chance, — Now shall we listen to sucu a doctrine as this ? Go, take an Atheist to one of the excellent surgical schools of our land, and ask him to study the wonderful structure of the human body. Show him the matchless skill with which every joint, and vein, and valve, and muscle, and sinew, and nerve, and bone, and limb, has been formed. Show him the perfect adaptation of every part of the human frame to the purpose which it serves. Show him the thousand delicate contrivances for meeting wear and tear, and supplying daily waste of vigour. And then ask this man who denies the being of a God, and a great First Cause, if all this wonderful mechanism is the result oi chance ? Ask him if it came together at first by luck and accident ? Ask him if he so thinks about the watch he looks at, the bread he eats, or the coat he wears ? Oh, no ! Design is an insuperable difficulty in the Atheist's way. There is a God. You have doubtless heard of Deists. A Deist is one Avho professes to believe that there is a God, who made the world and all things therein. But He does not believe the Bible. " A God, but no Bible ! — a Creator, but no Chris- tianity ! " This is the Deist's creed. — Now, shall we listen to this doctrine ? Go again, I say, and take a Deist to an hospital, and show him some of the awful handiwork of disease. Take him to the bed where lies some tender child, scarce knowing good from evil, with an incurable cancer. Send him to the ward where there is a loving mother of a large family in the last stage of some ex- cruciating disease. Show him some of the racking pains and agonies to which flesh is heir, and ask him to account for them. Ask this man, who believes there is a great and 358 PRACTICAL RELIGION. wise God who made the world, but cannot believe the Bible, — ask him how he accounts for these traces of disorder and imperfection in his God's creation. Ask this man, who sneers at Christian theology and is too wise to believe the fall of Adam, — ask him upon his theory to explain the universal prevalence of pain and disease in the world. You may ask in vain ! You will get no satisfactory answer. Sickness and suffering are insuperable difficulties in the Deist's way. 31 an has sinned, and therefore man suffers. Adam fell from his first estate, and therefore Adam's children sicken and die. The universal prevalence of sickness is one of the indirect evidences that the Bible is true. The Bible explains it. The Bible answers the questions about it which will arise in every inquiring mind. No other systems of religion can do this. They all fail here. They are silent. They are confounded. The Bible alone looks the subject in the face. It boldly proclaims the fact that man is a fallen creature, and with equal boldness proclaims a vast remedial system to meet his wants. I feel shut up to the conclusion that the Bible is from God. Christianity is a revelation from heaven. " Thy word is truth." (John xvii. 17.) Let us stand fast on the old ground, that the Bible, and the Bible only, is God's revelation of Himself to man. Be not moved by the many new assaults which modern scepticism is making "on the inspired volume. Heed not the hard questions which the enemies of the faith are fond of putting about Bible difiiculties, and to which perhaps you often feel unable to give an answer. Anchor your soul firmly on this safe principle, — that the whole book is God's truth. Tell the enemies of the Bible that, in spite of all their arguments, there is no book in the world which will bear comparison with the Bible, — none that so thoroughly meets man's wants, — none that explains m much of the state of mankind. As to the hard things SICKNESS. 859 in the Bible, tell them you are content to wait. You find enough plain truth in the book to satisfy your conscience and save your soul. The hard things will be cleared up one day. What you know not now, you will know hereafter. 11. The second point I propose to consider is the general benefits which sickness confers on Tiiankind. I use that word " benefits " advisedly. I feel it of deep importance to see this part of our subject clearly. I know well that sickness is one of the supposed weak points in God's government of the world, on which sceptical minds love to dwell. — " Can God be a God of love, when He allows pain ? Can God be a God of mercy, when He permits disease ? He might prevent pain and disease ; but He does not. How can these things be ? " Such is the reasoning which often comes across the heart of man. I reply to all such reasoners, that their doubts and questionings are most unreasonable. They might as well doubt the existence of a Creator, because the order of the universe is disturbed by earthquakes, hurricanes, and storms. They might as well doubt the providence of God, because of the horrible massacres of Delhi and Cawnpore. All this would be just as reasonable as to doubt the mercy of God, because of the presence of sickness in the world. I ask all who find it hard to reconcile the prevalence of disease and pain with the love of God, to cast their eyes on the world around them, and to mark what is going on. I ask them to observe the extent to which men constantly submit to present loss for the sake of future gain, — present sorrow for the sake of future joy, — present pain for the sake of future health. The seed is thrown into the ground, and rots: but we sow in the hope of a future harvest. The boy is sent to school amidst many tears : but we send hira in the hope of his getting future wisdom. The father of a family undergoes some fearful surgical operation : but 860 PRACTICAL RELIGION. he bears it, in the hope of future health. — I ask men to apply this great principle to God's government of the world, I ask them to believe that God allows pain, sickness, and disease, not because He loves to vex man, but because He desires to benefit man's heart, and mind, and conscience, and soul, to all eternity. Once more I repeat, that I speak of the " benefits " of sickness on purpose and advisedly. I know the suffering and pain which sickness entails. I admit the misery and wretchedness which it often brings in its train. But I cannot regard it as an unmixed evil. I see in it a wise permission of God. I see in it a useful provision to check the ravages of sin and the devil among men's souls. If man had never sinned I should have been at a loss to discern the benefit of sickness. But since sin is in the world, I can see that sickness is a good. It is a blessing quite as much as a curse. It is a rough schoolmaster, I grant. But it is a real friend to man's soul. (a) Sickness helps to remind men of death. The most live as if they were never going to die. They follow business, or pleasure, or politics, or science, as if earth was their eternal home. They plan and scheme for the future, like the rich fool in the parable, as if they had a long lease of life, and were not tenants at will. A heavy illness sometimes goes far to dispel these delusions. It awakens men from their day-dreams, and reminds them that they have to die as well as to live. Now this I say emphatically is a mighty good. (6) Sickness helps to make men think seriously of God, and their souls, and the world to come. The most in their days of health can find no time for such thoughts. They dislike them. They put them away. They count them troublesome and disagreeable. Now a severe disease has sometimes a wonderful power of mustering and rallying these thoughts, and bringing them up before the eyes of a man's soul. Even a wicked king like Benhadad, when SICKNESS. S61 sick, could think of Elisha. (2 Kings viii. 8.) Even heathen sailors, when death was in sight, were afraid, and " cried every man to his god." (Jonah i. 5.) Surely any- thing that helps to make men think is a good. (c) Sickness helps to soften men's hearts, and teach them wisdom. The natural heart is as hard as a stone. It can see no good in anything which is not of this life, and no happiness excepting in this world. A long illness some- times goes far to correct these ideas. It exposes the emptiness and hollowness of what the world calls "good" things, and teaches us to hold them with a loose hand. The man of business finds that money alone is not every- thing the heart requires. The woman of the world finds that costly apparel, and novel-reading, and the reports ot balls and operas, are miserable comforters in a sick room. .Surely anything that obliges us to alter our weights and measures of earthly things is a real good. (d) Sickness helps to level and humble us. We are all naturally proud and high-minded. Few, even of the poorest, are free from the infection. Few are to be found who do not look down on somebody else, and secretly flatter themselves that they are "not as other men." A sick bed is a mighty tamer of such thoughts as these. It forces on us the mighty truth that we are all poor worms, that we " dwell in houses of clay," and are " crushed before the moth" (Job iv. 19), and that kings and subjects, masters and servants, rich and poor, are all dying creatures, and will soon stand side by side at the bar of God. In the sight of the coffin and the grave it is not easy to be proud. Surely anything that teaches that lesson is good. (e) Finally, sickness helps to try men's religion, of what sort it is. There are not many on earth who have no religion at all. Yet few have a religion that will beai inspection. Most are content with traditions received from their fathers, and can render no reason of the hope that is in them. Now disease is sometimes most useful to 362 PRACTICAL RELIGION. a man in exposing the utter worthlessness of his soul's foundation. It often shows him that he has nothing solid under his feet, and nothing firm under his hand. It makes him find out that, although he may have had a form of religion, he has been all his life worshipping " an unknown God," Many a creed looks well on the smooth waters of health, which turns out utterly unsound and useless on the roush waves of the sick bed. The storms of winter often bring out the defects in a man's dwelling, and sickness often exposes the gracelessness of a man's soul. Surely anything that makes us find out the real character of our faith is a good. I do not say that sickness confers these benefits on all to whom it comes. Alas, I can say nothing of the kind ! Myriads are yearly laid low by illness, and restored to health, who evidently learn no lesson from their sick beds, and return again to the world. Myriads are yearly passing through sickness to the grave, and yet receiving no more spiritual impression from it than the beasts that perish. While they live they have no feeling, and when they die there are "no bands in their death." (Psalm Ixxiii. 4.) These are awful things to say. But they are true. The degree of deadness to which man's heart and conscience may attain, is a depth which I cannot pretend to fathom. But does sickness confer the benefits of which I have been speaking on only a few ? I will allow nothing of the kind. I believe that in very many cases sickness pro- duces impressions more or less akin to those of which I have just been speaking. I believe that in many minds sickness is God's " day of visitation," and that feelings are continually aroused on a sick bed which, if improved, might, by God's grace, result in salvation. I believe that in heathen lands sickness often paves the way for the missionary, and makes the poor idolater lend a willing ear to the glad tidings of the Gospel. I believe that in our own land sickness is one of the greatest aids to the minister SICKNESS. 863 of the Gospel, and that sermons and counsels are often brought home in the day of disease which we have neglected in the day of health. I believe that sickness is one of God's most important subordinate instruments in the saving of men, and that though the feelings it calls forth are often temporary, it is also often a means whereby the Spirit works effectually on the heart. In short, I believe firmly that the sickness of men's bodies has often led, in God's wonderful providence, to the salvation of men's souls. I leave this branch of my subject here. It needs no further remark. If sickness can do the things of which I have been speaking (and who will gainsay it ?), if sickness in a wicked world can help to make men think of God and their souls, then sickness confers benefits on mankind. We have no right to murmur at sickness, and repine at its presence in the world. We ought rather to thank God for it. It is God's witness. It is the soul's adviser. It is an awaken er to the conscience. It is a purifier to the heart. Surely I have a right to tell you that sickness is a blessing and not a curse, — a help and not an injury, — a gain and not a loss, — a friend and not a foe to mankind. So long as we have a world wherein there is sin, it is a mercy that it is a world wherein there is sickness. III. The third and last point which I propose to consider, is the special duties which the 'prevalence of sickness entails on each one of ourselves. I should be sorry to leave the subject of sickness without saying something on this point. I hold it to be of cardinal importance not to be content with generalities in delivering God's message to souls. I am anxious to impress on each one into whose hands this paper may fall, his own personal responsibility in connection with the subject. I would fain have no one lay down this paper unable to answer the questions, — "What practical lesson 364 PEACTICAL RELIGION. have I learned ? What, in a world of disease and death, what ought I to do ? " (a) One paramount duty which the prevalence of sickness entails on man, is that of living habitually prepai^ed to meet God. Sickness is a remembrancer of death. Death is the door through which we must all pass to judgment. Judgment is the time when we must at last see God face to face. Surely the first lesson which the inhabitant of a sick and dying world should learn should be to prepare tc meet his God. When are you prepared to meet God ? Never till your iniquities are forgiven, and your sin covered ! Never till your heart is renewed, and your will taught to delight in the will of God ! You have many sins. If you go to church your own mouth is taught to coniess this every Sunday. The blood oi Jesus Christ can alone cleanse those sins away. The righteousness of Christ can alone make you acceptable in the sight of God. Faith, simple childlike faith, can alone give you an interest in Christ and His benefits. Would you know whether you are prepared to meet God ? Then Avhere is your faith ? — Your heart is naturally unmeet for God's company. You have no real pleasure in doing His will. The Holy Ghost must trans- form you after the image of Christ. Old things must pass away. All things must become new. Would you know whether you are prepared to meet God ? Then, where is your grace ? Where are the evidences of your conversion and sanctifi cation ? I believe that this, and nothing less than this, is preparedness to meet God. Pardon of sin and meetness for God's presence, — justification by faith and sanctification of the heart, — the blood of Christ sprinkled on us, and the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us, — these are the grand essentials of the Christian religion. These are no mere words and names to furnish bones of contention for wrang- ling theologians. These are sober, solid, substantia] SICKNESS. 365 realities. To live in the actual possession of these things, in a world full of sickness and death, is the first duty which I press home upon your soul. (6) Another paramount duty which the prevalence of sickness entails on you, is that of living hahitually ready to bear it patiently. Sickness is no doubt a trying thing to flesh and blood. To feel our nerves unstruncf, and our natural force abated, — to be obliged to sit still and be cut off from all our usual avocations, — to see our plans broken off and our purposes disappointed, — to endure long hours, and days, and nights of weariness and pain, — all this is a severe strain on poor sinful human nature. "What wonder if peevishness and impatience are brought out by disease ! Surely in such a dying world as this we should study patience. How shall we learn to bear sickness patiently, when sickness comes to our turn ? We must lay up stores of grace in the time of health. We must seek for the sanctifying influence of the Holy Ghost over our unruly tempers and dispositions. We must make a real business of our prayers, and regularly ask for strength to endure God's will as well as to do it. Such strength is to be had for the asking : " If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it for you." (John xiv. 14.) I cannot think it needless to dwell on this point. I believe the passive graces of Christianity receive far less notice than they deserve. Meekness, gentleness, long- suffering, faith, patience, are all mentioned in the Word of God as fruits of the Spirit. They are passive graces which specially glorify God. They often make men think, who despise the active side of the Christian character. Never do these gi'aces shine so brightly as they do in the sick room. They enable many a sick person to preach a silent sermon, which those around him never forget. Would you adorn the doctrine you profess ? Would you make your Christianity beautiful in the eyes of others ? Then take 36 & PRACTICAL RELIGION. the Lint I give you this day. Lay up a store of patience against the time of illness. Then, though your sickness be not to death, it shall be for the " glory of God." (John xi. 4.) (c) One more paramount duty which the prevalence of sickness entails on you, is that of habitual readiness to feel with and help your fellow-men. Sickness is never very far from us. Few are the families who have not some sick relative. Few are the parishes where you will not find some one ill. But wherever there is sickness, there is a call to duty. A little timely assistance in some cases, — a kindly visit in others, — a friendly inquiry, — a mere expression of sympathy, may do a vast good. These are the sort of things which soften asperities, and bring men together, and promote good feeling. These are ways by which you may ultimately lead men to Christ and save their souls. These are good works to which every professing Christian should be ready. In a world full of sickness and disease we ought to "bear one another's burdens," and be " kind one to another." (Gal. vi. 2 ; Ephes. iv. 82.) These things, I dare say, may appear to some little and trifling. They must needs be doing something great, and grand, and striking, and heroic ! I take leave to say that conscientious attention to these little acts of brotherly- kindness is one of the clearest evidences of having " the mind of Christ." They are acts in which our blessed Master Himself was abundant. He was ever "going about doing good " to the sick and sorrowful. (Acts x. 38.) They are acts to which He attaches great importance in that most solemn passage of Scripture, the description of the last judgment. He says there : " I was sick, and ye visited Me." (Matt. xxv. 36.) Have you any desire to prove the reality of your charity, — that blessed grace which so many talk of, and so few practise ? If you have, beware of unfeeling selfishness and neglect of your sick brethren. Search them out. SICKNESS. 367 Assist them if they need aid. Show your sympathy with them. Try to lighten their burdens. Above all, strive to do good to their souls. It will do you good if it does no good to them. It will keep your heart from murmuring. It may prove a blessing to your own soul. I firmly believe that God is testing and proving us by every case of sickness within our reach. By permitting suffering, He tries whether Christians have any feeling. Beware, lest you be weighed in the balances and found wanting. If you can live in a sick and dying world and not feel foi others, you have yet much to learn. I leave this branch of my subject here. I throw out the points I have named as suggestions, and I pray God that they may work in many minds. I repeat, that habitual preparedness to meet God, — habitual readiness to suffer patiently, — habitual willingness to sympathize heartily, — are plain duties which sickness entails on all. They are duties within the reach of every one. In naming them I ask notiiing extravagant or unreasonable. I bid no man retire into a monastery and ignore the duties of his station. I only want men to realize that they live in a sick and dying world, and to live accordingly. And I say boldly, that the man who lives the life of faith, and holiness, and patience, and charity, is not only the most true Christian, but the most wise and reasonable man. And now I conclude all with four words of practical application. I want the subject of this paper to be turned to some spiritual use. My heart's desire and prayer to God in placing it in this volume is to do good to souls. (1) In the first place, I offer a question to all who read this paper, to which, as God's ambassador, I entreat their serious attention. It is a question which grows naturally out of the subject on which I have been writing. It is a question which concerns all, of every rank, and class, and condition. I ask you, What will you do when you are ill ? 368 PRACTICAL EELIGION. The time must come when you, as well as others, must go down the dark valley of the shadow of death. The hour must come when you, like all your forefathers, must sicken and die. The time may be near or far off. God only knows. But whenever the time may be, I ask again, What are you going to do ? Where do you mean to turn for comfort ? On what do you mean to rest your soul ? On what do you mean to build your hope ? From whence will you fetch your consolations ? I do entreat you not to put these questions away, Suffer them to work on your conscience, and rest not till you can give them a satisfactory answer. Trifle not with that precious gift, an immortal soul. Defer not the consideration of the matter to a more convenient season. Presume not on a death-bed repentance. The greatest business ought surely not to be left to the last. One dying thief was saved that men might not despair, but only one that none might presume. I repeat the question. I am sure it deserves an answer. " What will you do when you are ill ? " If you were going to live for ever in this world I would not address you as I do. But it cannot be. There is no escaping the common lot of all mankind. Nobody can die in our stead. The day must come when we must each go to our long home. Against that day I want you to be prepared. The body which now takes up so much of your attention — the body which you now clothe, and feed, and warm with so much care, — that body must return again to the dust. Oh, think what an awful thing it would prove at last to have provided for everything except the one thing needful, — to have provided for the body, but to have neglected the soul, — to die, in fact, like Cardinal Beaufort, and " give no sign " of being saved ! Once more I press my question on your conscience : " What will you do when you are ill ? " (2) In the next place, I offer counsel to all who feel SICKNESS. 869 they need it and are willing to take it, — to all who feel they are not yet prepared to meet God. That counsel is short and simple. Acquaint yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ without delay. Repent, be converted, flee to Christ, and be saved. Either you have a soul or you have not. You will surely never deny that you have. Then if you have a soul, seek that soul's salvation. Of all gambling in the world, there is none so reckless as that of the man who lives unprepared to meet God, and yet puts off repentance. — Either you have sins or you have none. If you have (and who will dare to deny it ?), break off from those sins, cast away your transgressions, and turn away from them without delay. — Either you need a Saviour or you do not. If you do, flee to the only Saviour this very day, and cry mightily to Him to save your soul. Apply to Christ at once. Seek Him by faith. Commit your soul into His keeping. Cry mightily to Him for pardon and peace with God. Ask Him to pour down the Holy Spirit upon you, and make you a thorough Christian. He will hear you. No matter what you have been. He will not refuse your prayer. He has said, " Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast oat." (John vi. 37.) Beware, I beseech you, of a vague and indefinite Christianity. Be not content with a general hope that all is right because you belong to the old Church of England, and that all will be well at last because God is merciful. Rest not, rest not without personal union with Christ Himself. Rest not, rest not till you have the witness of the Spirit in your heart, that you are washed, and sanctified, and justified, and one with Christ, and Christ in you. Rest not till you can say with the apostle, " I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him against that day." (2 Tim. i. 12.) Vague, and indefinite, and indistinct religion may do b2 370 PRACTICAL RELIGION. very well in time of health. It will never do in the day of sickness. A mere formal, perfunctory Churchmember- ship may carry a man through the sunshine of youth and prosperity. It will break down entirely when death is in sight. Nothing will do then but real heart-union with Christ. Christ interceding for us at God's right hand, — Christ known and believed as our Priest, our Physician, our Friend, — Christ alone can rob death of its stin2 and enable us to face sickness without fear. He alone can deliver those who through fear of death are in bondage. I say to every one who wants advice. Be acquainted with Christ. As ever you would have hope and comfort on the bed of sickness, be acquainted with Christ. Seek Christ. Apply to Christ. Take every care and trouble to Him when you are acquainted with Him. He will keep you and carry you through all. Pour out your heart before Him, when your conscience is burdened. He is the true Confessor, He alone can absolve you and take the burden away. Turn to Him first in the day of sickness, like Martha and Mary. Keep on looking to Him to the last breath of your life. Christ is worth knowing. The more you know Him the better you will love Him. Then be acquainted with Jesus Christ. (3) In the third place, I exhort all true Christians who read this paper to remember how much they may glorify God in the time of sickness, and to lie quiet in God's hand ivhen they are ill. I feel it very important to touch on this point. I know how ready the heart of a believer is to faint, and how busy Satan is in suggesting doubts and questionings, when the body of a Christian is weak. I have seen something of the depression and melancholy which sometimes comes upon the children of God when they are suddenly laid aside by disease, and obliged to sit still. I have marked how prone some good people are to torment themselves SICKNESS. 871 with morbid thoughts at such seasons, and to say in their hearts, " God has forsaken me : I am cast out of His sight." I earnestly entreat all sick believers to remember that they may honour God as much by patient suffering as they can by active work. It often shows more grace to sit still than it does to go to and fro, and perform great exploits. I entreat them to remember that Christ cares for them as much when they are sick as He does when they are well, and that the very chastisement they feel so acutely is sent in love, and not in anger. Above all, I entreat them to recollect the sympathy of Jesus for all His weak members. They are always tenderly cared for by Him, but never so much as in their time of need. Christ has had great experience of sickness. He knows the heart of a sick man. He used to see " all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease " when He was upon earth. He felt specially for the sick in the days of His flesh. He feels for them specially still. Sickness and suffering, I often think, make believers more like their Lord in experience, than health. " Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses." (Isaiah liiL 3 ; Matt, viii. 17.) The Lord Jesus was a "Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief" None have such an opportunity of learning the mind of a sufferinsj Saviour as suffering disciples. (4) I conclude with a word of exhortation to all believers, which I heartily pray God to impress upon their souls. I exhort you to keep up a habit of close communion with Christ, and never to be afraid of " going too far " in your religion. Remember this, if you wish to have " great peace " in your times of sickness. I observe with regret a tendency in some quarters to lower the standard of practical Christianity, and to denounce what are called "extreme views" about a Christian's daily walk in life. I remark with pain that 37 2 PEACTICAL EELIGION. even religious people will sometimes look coldly on those who withdraw from worldly society, and will censure them as "exclusive, narrow-minded, illiberal, uncharitable, sour- spirited," and the like. I warn every believer in Christ who reads this paper to beware of being influenced by such censures. I entreat him, if he wants light in the valley of death, to "keep himself unspotted from the world," to " follow the Lord very fully," and to walk very closely with God. (James i. 27 ; Num. xiv. 24.) I believe that the want of " thoroughness " about many people's Christianity is one secret of their little comfort, both in health and sickness. I believe that the " half-and- half," — " keep-in-with-everybody " religion, which satisfies many in the present day, is offensive to God, and sows thorns in dying pillows, which hundreds never discover till too late. I believe that the weakness and feebleness of such a religion never comes out so much as it does upon a sick bed. If you and I want " strong consolation " in our time of need, we must not be content with a bare union with Christ. (Heb. vi. 18.) We must seek to know some- thing of heart-felt, experimental coTiimunion with Him. Never, never let us forget, that " union " is one thing, and " communion " another. Thousands, I fear, who know what " union " with Christ is, know nothing of " communion." The day may come when after a long fight with disease, we shall feel that medicine can do no more, and that nothing remains but to die. Friends will be standing by, xmable to help us. Hearing, eyesight, even the power of praying, will be fast failing us. The world and its shadows will be melting beneath our feet. Eternity, with its realities, will be looming large before our minds. What shall support us in that trying hour ? What shall enable us to feel, " I fear no evil " ? (Psalm xxiii. 4.) Nothing, nothinof can do it but close communion with Christ. SICKNESS. 373 Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith, — Christ putting His right arm under our heads, — Christ felt to be sitting by our side, — Christ can alone give us the complete victory in the last struggle. Let us cleave to Christ more closely, love Him more heartily, live to Him more thoroughly, copy Him more exactly, confess Him more boldly, follow Him more fully. Religion like this will always bring its own reward. Worldly people may laugh at it. Weak brethren may think it extreme. But it will wear well. At even time it will bring us light. In sickness it will bring us peace. In the world to come it will give us a crown of glory that fadeth not away. The time is short. The fashion of this world passeth away. A few more sicknesses, and all will be over, A few more funerals, and our own funeral will take place. A few more storms and tossings, and we shall be safe in harbour. We travel towards a world where there is no more sickness, — where parting, and pain, and crying, and mourning, are done with for evermore. Heaven is becoming every year more full, and earth more empty. The friends ahead are becoming more numerous than the friends astern. " Yet a little time and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry." (Heb. x. 87.) In His presence shall be fulness of joy. Christ shall Avipe away all tears from. His people's eyes. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is Death. But he shall be destroyed. Death himself shall one day die. (Rev. xx. 14.) In the meantime let us live the life of faith in the Son of God. Let us lean all our weight on Christ, and rejoice in the thought that He lives for evermore. Yes : blessed be God ! Christ lives, though we may die. Christ lives, though friends and families are carried to the grave. He lives who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light by the Gospel. He lives who said, " 0 death, I will be thy plagues : 0 grave, I will be S74 PRACTICAL RELIGION. thy destruction." (Hos. xiii. 14.) He lives who will one day change our vile body, and make it like unto His glorious body. In sickness and in health, in life and in death, let us lean confidently on Him. Surely we ought to say daily with one of old, "Blessed be God for Jesus Christ!" XYI. THE FAMILY OF GOD. " The ivhole family in heaven and earth." — Epiies. iii. 15. The words which form the title of this paper ought to stir some feelings in our minds at any time. There lives not the man or woman on earth who is not member of some " family." The poorest as well as the richest has his kith and kin, and can tell you something of his " family." Family gatherings at certain times of the year, such as Christmas, we all know, are very common. Thousands of firesides are crowded then, if at no other time of the year. The young man in town snatches a few days from business, and takes a run down to the old folks at home. The young woman in service gets a short holiday, and comes to visit her father and mother. Brothers and sisters meet for a few hours. Parents and children look one another in the face. How much there is to talk about ! How many questions to be asked ! How many interesting things to be told ! Happy indeed is that fireside which sees gathered round it at Christmas " the whole family I " 1 Family gatherings are natural, and right, and good. I approve them with all my heart. It does me good to see them kept up. They are one of the very few pleasant things which have survived the fall of man. Next to the grace of God, T see no principle which unites people so 376 PRACTICAL RELIGION. much in this sinful world as family feeling. Community of blood is a most powerful tie. It was a fine saying of an American naval officer, when his men insisted on helping the English sailors in fighting the Taku forts in China, — " I cannot help it : blood is thicker than water." I have often observed that people will stand up for their relations, merely because they are their relations, — and refuse to hear a word against them, — even when they have no sympathy with their tastes and ways. Anything which helps to keep up family feeling ought to be commended. It is a wise thing, when it can be done, to gather together at Christmas " the whole family." Family gatherings, nevertheless, are often sorrowful things. It would be strange indeed, in such a world as this, if they were not. Few are the family circles which do not show gaps and vacant places as years pass away. Changes and deaths make sad havoc as time goes on. Thoughts will rise up within us, as we grow older, about faces and voices no longer with us, which no Christmas merriment can entirely keep down. When the young members of the family have once begun to launch forth into the world, the old heads may long survive the scattering of the nest ; but after a certain time, it seldom happens that you see together " the whole family." There is one great family to which I want all the readers of this paper to belong. It is a family despised by many, and not even known by some. But it is a family of far more importance than any family on earth. To belong to it entitles a man to far greater privileges than to be the son of a king. It is th" family of which St. Paul speaks to the Ephesians, when he tells them of the " whole family in heaven and earth." It is the family of God. I ask the attention of every reader of this paper while I try to describe this family, and recommend it to his notice. I want to tell you of the amazing benefits which membership of this family conveys. I want you to be THE FAMILY OF GOD. 377 found one of this family, when its gathering shall come at last, — a gathering without separation, or sorrow, or tears. Hear me while, as a minister of Christ, and friend to your soul, I speak to you for a few minutes about " the whole family in heaven and earth : " — L First of all, what is this family ? II. Secondly, luhat is its present position ? III. Thirdly, luhat are its future prospects. I wish to unfold these three things before you, and I invite your serious consideration of them. Our family gatherings on earth must have an end one day. Our last earthly Christmas must come. Happy indeed is that Christmas which finds us prepared to meet God ! I. What is that family which the Bible calls " the whole family in heaven and earth " ? Of whom does it consist ? The family before us consists of all real Christians, — of all who have the Spirit, — of all true believers in Christ, — of the saints of every age, and Church, and nation, and tongue. It includes the blessed company, of all faithful people. It is the same as the election of God, — the household of faith, — the mystical body of Christ, — the bride, — the living temple, — the sheep that never perish, — the Church of the first-born, — the holy Catholic Church. All these expressions are only " the family of God " under other names. Membership of the family before us does not depend on any earthly connection. It comes not by natural birth,N but by new birth. Ministers cannot impart it to their hearers. Parents cannot give it to their children. You may be born in the godliest family in the land, and enjoy the richest means of grace a Church can supply, and yet 378 PRACTICAL RELIGION. never belong to the family of God. To belong to it you must be born again. None but the Holy Ghost can make a living member of His family. It is His special office and prerogative to bring into the true Church such as shall be saved. They that are born again are born, "not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will oi man, but of God." (John i. 13.) Do you ask the reason of this name which the Bible gives to the company of all true Christians ? Would you like to know why they are called " a family " ? Listen and I will tell you. (a) True Christians are called " a family " because they have all one Father. They are all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. They are all born of one Spirit. They are all sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty. They have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby they cry, Abba Father. (Gal. iii. 26; John iii. 8; 2 Cor. vi. 18; Rom. viii. 15.) They do not regard God with slavish fear, as an austere Being, only ready to punish them. They look up to Him with tender confidence, as a reconciled and loving parent, — as one forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin, to all who believe on Jesus, — and full of pity even to the least and feeblest. The words, " Our Father which art in heaven," are no mere form in the mouth of true Chris- tians. No wonder they are called God's " family." (6) True Christians are called " a family," because they all rejoice in one name. That name is the name of their great Head and Elder Brother, even Jesus Christ the Lord. Just as a common family name is the uniting link to all the members of a Highland clan, so does the name of Jesus tie all believers together in one vast family. As members of outward visible Churches they have various names and distinguishing appellations. As living members of Christ, they all, with one heart and mind, rejoice in one Saviour. Not a heart among them but feels drawn to Jesus as the only object of hope. Not a tongue among them but would THE FAMILY OF GOD. 879 tell you that "Christ is all." Sweet to them all is the thought of Christ's death for them on the cross. Sweet is the thought of Christ's intercession for them at the right hand of God. Sweet is the thought of Christ's coming again to unite them to Himself in one glorified company for ever. In fact, you might as well take away the sun out of heaven, as take away the name of Christ from believers. To the world there may seem little in His name. To believers it is full of comfort, hope, joy, rest, and peace. No wonder they are called " a family." (c) True Christians, above all, are called "a family" because there is so strong a family likeness among them. They are all led by one Spirit, and are marked by the same general features of life, heart, taste, and character. Just as there is a general bodily resemblance among the brothers and sisters of a family, so there is a general spiritual resemblance among all the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty. They all hate sin and love God. They all rest their hope of salvation on Christ, and have no confi- dence in themselves. They all endeavour to "come out and be separate " from the ways of the world, and to set their affections on things above. They all turn naturally to the same Bible, as the only food of their souls and the only sure guide in their pilgrimage toward heaven : they find it a " lamp to their feet, and a light to their path." (Psa. cxix. 105.) They all go to the same throne of grace in prayer, and find it as needful to speak to God as to breathe. They all live by the same rule, the Word of God, and strive to conform their daily life to its precepts. They have all the same inward experience. Repentance, faith, hope, charity, humility, inward conflict, are things with which they are all more or less acquainted. No wonder they are called " a family." This family likeness among true believers is a thing that deserves special attention. To my own mind it is one oi the strongest indirect evidences of the truth of Christianity. / v 380 PRACTICAL RELIGION. It is one of the greatest proofs of the reality of the work of the Holy Ghost. Some true Christians live in civilized countries, and some in the midst of heathen lands. Some are highly educated, and some are unable to read a letter. Some are rich and some are poor. Some are Churchmen and some are Dissenters. Some are old and some are young. And yet, notwithstanding all this, there is a marvellous oneness of heart and character among them. Their joys and their sorrows, their love and their hatred, their likes and their dislikes, their tastes and their distastes, their hopes and their fears, are all most curiously alike. Let others think what they please, I see in all this the finger of God. His handiwork is always one and the same. No wonder that true Christians are compared to "a. family." Take a converted Englishman and a converted Hindoo, and let them suddenly meet for the first time. I will engage, if they can understand one another's language, they will soon find common ground between them, and feel at home. The one may have been brought up at Eton and Oxford, and enjoyed every privilege of English civilization. The other may have been trained in the midst of gross heathenism, and accustomed to habits, ways, and manners as unlike the Englishman's as darkness compared to light. And yet now in half an hour they feel that they are friends ! The Englishman finds that he has more in common with his Hindoo brother than he has with many an old college companion or school-fellow ! Who can account for this ? How can it be explained ? Nothing can account for it but the unity of the Spirit's teaching. It is " one touch " of grace (not nature) " that makes the whole world kin." God's people are in the ^highest sense "a family." This is the family to which I wish to direct the attention of my readers in this paper. This is the family to which I want you to belong. I ask you this day to consider it THE FAMILY OF GOD. 381 well, if you never considered it before. I have shown you the Father of the family, — the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. I have shown you the Head and Elder Brother of the family, — the Lord Jesus Himself. I have shown you the features and characteristics of the family. Its members have all great marks of resemblance. Once more I say, consider it well. Outside this family, remember, there is no salvation. ^ None but those who belongr to it, according^ to the Bible, are in the way that leads to heaven. The salvation of our souls does not depend on union with one Church or separation from another. They are miserably deceived who think that it does, and will find it out to their cost one day, except they awake. No ! the life of our souls depends on something far more important. This is life eternal, to be a member of "the whole family in heaven / and earth." II. I will now pass on to the second thing which I promised to consider. What is the present position of the whole family in heaven and earth ? The family to which I am directing the attention of my readers this day is divided into two great parts. Each part has its own residence or dwelling-place. Part of the family is in heaven, and part is on earth. For the present the two parts are entirely separated from one another. But they form one body in the sight of God, though resident in two places ; and their union is sure to take place one day. Two places, be it remembered, and two only, contain the family of God. The Bible tells us of no third habita- tion. There is no such thing as purgatory, whatever some Christians may think fit to say. There is no house of purifying, training, or probation for those who are not true Christians when they die. Oh no ! There are but two parts of the family, — the part that is seen and the part that is unseen, the part that is in " heaven " and the part that is 882 PRACTICAL RELIGION. on " earth." The members of the family that are not in heaven are on earth, and those that are not on earth are in heaven. Two parts, and two only ! Two places, and two only ! Let this never be forgotten. Some of God's family are safe in heaven. They are at rest in that place which the Lord Jesus expressly calls "Paradise." (Luke xxiii. 43.) They have finished their course. They have fought their battle. They have done their appointed work. They have learned their lessons. They have carried their cross. They have passed through the waves of this troublesome world and reached the harbour. Little as we know about them, we know that they are happy. They are no longer troubled by sin and temptation. They have said good-bye for ever to poverty and anxiety, to pain and sickness, to sorrow and tears. They are with Christ Himself, who loved them and gave Himself for them, and in His company they must needs be happy. (Phil. i. 23.) They have nothing to fear in looking back to the past. They have nothing to dread in looking forward to things to come. Three things only are lacking to make their happiness complete. These three are the second advent of Christ in glory, the resurrection of their own bodies, and the gathering together of all believers. And of these three things they are sure. Some of God's family are still upon earth. They are scattered to and fro in the midst of a wicked world, a few in one place and a few in another. All are more or less occupied in the same way, according to the measure of their grace. All are running a race, doing a work, warring a warfare, carrying a cross, striving against sin, resisting the devil, crucifying the flesh, struggling against the world, witnessing for Christ, mourning over their own hearts, hearing, reading, and praying, however feebly, for the life of their souls. Each is often disposed to think no cross so heavy as his own, no work so difficult, no heart so hard. But each and all hold on their way, — a wonder to the THE FAMILY OF GOD. 883 icrnorant world around them, and often a wonder to themselves. But, however divided God's family may be at present in dwelling-place and local habitation, it is still one family. Both parts of it are still one in character, one in possessions, and one in relation to God. The part in heaven has not so much superiority over the part on earth as at first sight may appear. The difference between the two is only one of degree. {a) Both parts of the family love the same Saviour, and delight in the same perfect will of God. But the part on earth loves with much imperfection and infirmity, and lives by faith, not by sight. — The part in heaven loves without weakness, or doubt, or distraction. It walks by sight and not by faith, and sees what it once believed. (6) Both parts of the family are saints. But the saints on earth are often poor weary pilgrims, who find the " flesh lusting against the spirit and the spirit lusting against the flesh, so that they cannot do the things they would." (Gal. V. 17.) They live in the midst of an evil world, and are often sick of themselves and of the sin they see around them. — The saints in heaven, on the contrary, are delivered from the world, the flesh, and the devil, and enjoy a glorious liberty. They are called " the spirits of just men made perfect." (Heb. xii. 23.) (c) Both parts of the family are alike God's children. But the children in heaven have learned all their lessons, have finished their appointed tasks, have begun an eternal holiday. — The children on earth are still at school. They are daily learning wisdom, though slowly and with much trouble, and often needing to be reminded of their past lessons by chastisement and the rod. Their holidays are yet to come. (c?) Both parts of the family are alike God's soldiers. But the soldiers on earth are yet militant. Their warfare is not accomjDlished. Their fight is not over. They need 384? PRACTICAL EELIGION. every day to put on the whole armour of God. — The soldiers in heaven are all triumphant. No enemy can hurt them now. No fiery dart can reach them. Helmet and shield may both be laid aside. They may at last say to the sword of the Spirit, " Rest and be still." They may at length sit down, and need not to watch and stand on their guard. (2) Last, but not least, both parts of the family are alike safe and secure. Wonderful as this may sound, it is true. Christ cares as much for His members on earth as His members in heaven. You might as well think to pluck the stars out of heaven, as to pluck one saint, however feeble, out of Christ's hand. Both parts of the family are alike secured by " an everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure." (2 Sam. xxiii. 5.) The members on earth, through the burden of the flesh and the dimness of their faith, may neither see, nor know, nor feel their own safety. But they are safe, though they may not see it. The whole family is " kept by the power of God, through faith unto salvation." (1 Peter i. 5.) The members yet on the road are as secure as the members who have got home. Not one shall be found missing at the last day. The words of the Christian poet shall be found strictly true : — •• More hcappy, but not more secure, The glorified spirits in heaven." Before I leave this part of my subject, I ask every reader of this paper to understand thoroughly the present position of God's family, and to form a just estimate of it. Learn not to measure its numbers or its privileges by what you see with your eyes. You see only a small body of believers in this present time. But you must not forget that a great company has got safe to heaven already, and that when all are assembled at the last day they will be "a multitude which no man can number." (Rev. vii. 9.^ THE FAMILY OF GOD. 385 You only see that part of the family which is struggling! on earth. You must never forget that the greater part of the family has got home and is resting in heaven. — You see the militant part, but not the triumphant. You see the part that is carrying the cross, but not the part which is safe in Paradise. The family of God is far more rich and glorious than you suppose. Believe me, it is no small thing to belong to the " whole family in heaven and earth." III. I will now pass on to the last thing which I promised to consider. — What are the future jprosjpects of the whole family in heaven and earth ? The future prospects of a family ! What a vast amount of uncertainty these words open up when we look at any family now in the world ! How little we can tell of the things coming on any of us ! What a mercy that we do not know the sorrows and trials and separations through which our beloved children may have to pass, when we have left the world ! It is a mercy that we do not know " what a day may bring forth," and a far greater mercy that we do not know what may happen in twenty years. (Prov. xxvii. 1.) Alas, foreknowledge of the future pros- pects of our belongings would spoil many a family gathering, and fill the whole party with gloom ! Think how many a fine boy, who is now the delight of his j^arents, will by and by walk in the prodigal's footsteps,, and never return home ! Think how many a fair daughter, the joy of a mother's heart, will follow the bent of her self-will after a few years, and insist on some miserabl}^ mistaken marriage ! Think how disease and pain will often lay low the loveliest of a family circle, and make her life a burden and weariness to herself, if not to others ! Think of the endless breaches and divisions arising out of money matters ! Alas, there is many a life-long quarrel about a few pounds, between those who once played C2 386 PRACTICAL RELIGION. together in the same nursery ! Think of these things. The " future prospects " of many a family which meets to- gether every Christmas are a solemn and serious subject. Hundreds, to say the least, are gathering together for the last time : when they part, they will never meet again. But, thank God, there is one great family whose " pros- pects " are very different. It is the family of which I am speaking in this paper, and commending to your attention. The future prospects of the family of God are not uncer- tain. They are good, and only good, — happy, and only happy. Listen to me, and I will try to set them in order before you. {a) The members of God's family shall all be brought safe home one day. Here upon earth they may be scattered, tried, tossed with tempests, and bowed down with afflic- tions. But not one of them shall perish. (John x. 28.) The weakest lamb shall not be left to perish in the wilderness : the feeblest child shall not be missing when the muster-roll is brought out at the last day. In spite of the world, the flesh, and the devil, the whole family shall get home. " If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being recon- ciled, we shall be saved by His life." (Rom. v. 10.) (6) The members of God's family shall all have glorious bodies one day. When the Lord Jesus Christ comes the second time, the dead saints shall all be raised and the living shall all be changed. They shall no longer have a vile mortal body, full of weaknesses and infirmities : they shall have a body like that of their risen Lord, without the slightest liability to sickness and pain. They shall no longer be clogged and hindered by an aching frame, when they want to serve God : they shall be able to serve Him night and day without v/eariness, and to attend upon Him without distraction. The former things will have passed away. That word will be fulfilled, "I make all things new." (Rev, xxi. 5.) THE FAMILY OF GOD. 3S7 (c) The members of God's family shall all be gathered into one company one day. It matters nothing where they have lived or where they have died. They may have been separated from one another both by time and space. One may have lived in tents, with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and another travelled by railway in our own day. One may have laid his bones in an Australian desert, and another may have been buried in an English churchyard. It makes no difference. All shall be gathered together from north and south, and east and west, and meet in one happy assembly, to part no more. The earthly partings of God's family are only for a few days. Their meeting i? for eternity. It matters little where we live. It is a time of scattering now, and not of gathering. It matters little where we die. All gi-aves are equally near to Paradise. But it does matter much whether we belong to God's family. If we do we are sure to meet again at last. (d) The members of God's family shall all be united in mind and judgment one day. They are not so now about many little things. About the things needful to salvation there is a marvellous unity among them. About many speculative points in religion, about forms of worship and Church government, they often sadly disagree. But there shall be no disagreement among them one day. Ephraim shall no longer vex Judah, nor Judah Ephraim. Churchmen shall no more quarrel with Dissenters, nor Dissenters with Churchmen. Partial knowledge and dim vision shall be at an end for ever. Divisions and separa- tions, misunderstandings and misconstructions, shall be buried and forgotten. As there shall only be one language, so there shall only be one opinion. At last, after six thousand years of strife and jangling, perfect unity and harmony shall be found. A family shall at length be shown to angels and men in which all are of one mind. (e) The members of God's family shall all be 'perfected 388 PRACTICAL RELIGION. in holiness one day. They are not literally perfects now, although "complete in Christ." (Col. ii. 10.) Though) born again, and renewed after the image of Christ, they offend and fall short in many things. (James iii. 2.) None know it better than they do themselves. It is their grief and sorrow that they do not love God more heartily and serve Hira more faithfully. But they shall be completely freed from all corruption one day. They shall rise again at Christ's second appearing without any of the infirmities which cleave to them in their lives. Not a single evil temper or corrupt inclination shall be found in them. They shall be presented by their Head to the Father, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, — perfectly holy and without blemish, — fair as the moon, and clear as the sun. (Eph. v. 27 ; Cant, v, 10.) Grace, even now, is a beautiful thing, when it lives, and shines, and flourishes in the midst of imperfection. But how much more beautiful will grace appear when it is seen pure, unmixed, unmingled, and alone ! And it shall be seen so when Christ comes to be glorified in His saints at the last day. (/) Last, but not least, the members of God's family shall all be eternally provided for one day. When the affairs of this sinful world are finally wound up and settled, there shall be an everlasting portion for all the sons and daughters of the Lord almighty. Not even the weakest of them shall be overlooked and forgotten. There shall be something for everyone, according to bis measure. The smallest vessel of grace, as well as the greatest, shall be filled to the brim with glory. The precise nature of that glory and reward it would be folly to pretend to describe. It is a thing which eye has not seen, nor mind of man conceived. Enough for us to know that each member of God's family, when he awakes up after His Master's likeness, shall be " satisfied." (Psalm xvii. 15.) Enough, above all, to know that their joy, and glory, and reward THE FAMILY OF GOD. 389 'shall be for ever. What they receive in the day of the Lord they will never lose. The inheritance reserved for them, when they come of age, is " incorruptible, undefiled, and fadeth not away." (1 Peter i. 4.) These prospects of God's family are great realities. They are not vague shadowy talk of man's invention. They are real true things, and will be seen as such before long. They deserve your serious consideration. Examine them well. Look round the families of earth with which you are acquainted, the richest, the greatest, the noblest, the happiest. Where will you find one among them all which 'can show prospects to compare with those of which you Ihave just heard. The earthly riches, in many a case, will be gone in a hundred years hence. The noble blood, in many a case, will not prevent some disgraceful deed staining the family name. The happiness, in many a case, will be found hollow and seeming. Few, indeed, are the homes which have not a secret sorrow, or " a skeleton in the closet.^' Whether for present possessions or future prospects, there is no family so well off as " the whole family in heaven and earth." Whether you look at what they have now, or will have hereafter, there is no family like the family of God. My task is done. My paper is di-awing to a close. It only remains to close it with a few words of practical application. Give me your attention for the last time. May God bless what I am going to say to the good of your soul! (1) I ask you a plain question. Take it with you to every family gathering which you join at any season of the year. Take it with you, and amidst all your happiness make time for thinking about it. It is a simple question, but a solemn one, — Do you yet belong to the family oj God? 390 PRACTICAL RELIGION. To the family of God, remember ! This is the point of my question. It is no answer to say that you are a Protestant, or a Churchman, or a Dissenter. I want to hear of something more and better than that. I want you to have some soul-satisfying and soul-saving religion, — a religion that will give you peace while you live, and hope when you die. To have such peace and hope you must be something more than a Protestant, or a Church- man, or a Dissenter. You must belong to " the family of God." Thousands around you do not belong to it, I can well believe. But that is no reason why you should, not. If you do not yet belong to God's family, I invite you this day to join it without delay. Open your eyes to see the value of your soul, the sinfulness of sin, the holiness of God, the danger of your present condition, the absolute necessity of a mighty change. Open your eyes to see these things, and repent this very day. — Open your eyes to see the great Head of God's family, even Christ Jesus, waiting to save your soul. See how He has loved you, lived for you, died for you, risen again for you, and obtained complete redemption for you. See how He offers you free, full, immediate pardon, if you will believe in Him. Open your eyes to see these things. Seek Christ at once. Come and believe on Him, and commit your soul to His keeping this very day. I know nothing of your family or past history. I know not where you go to spend your leisure weeks, or what company you are going to be in. But I am bold to say, that if you join the family of God you will find it the best and happiest family in the world. (2) If you really belong to the whole family in heaven and earth, count up your privileges, and learn to he Tnore thankful. Think what a mercy it is to have something which the world can neither give nor take away, — some- thing which makes you independent of sickness or poverty, — something which is your own for evermore. The old THE FAMILY OF GOD. S91 family fireside will soon be cold and tenantless. The old family gatherings will soon be past and gone for ever. The loving faces we now delight to gaze on are rapidly leaving us. The cheerful voices which now welcome us will soon be silent in the grave. But, thank God, if we belong to Christ's family there is a better gathering yet to come. Let us often think of it, and be thankful ! The family gathering of all God's people will make amends for all that their religion now costs them. A meeting where none are missing, — a meeting where there are no gaps and empty places, — a meeting where there are no tears, — a meeting where there is no parting, — such a meeting as this is worth a fight and a struggle. And such a meeting is yet to come to " the whole family in heaven and earth." In the meantime let us strive to live worthy of the family to which we belong. Let us labour to do nothing that may cause our Father's house to be spoken against. Let us endeavour to make our Master's name beautiful by our temper, conduct, and conversation. Let us love as brethren, and abhor all quarrels. Let us behave as if the honour of " the family " depended on our behaviour. So living, by the grace of God, we shall make our calling and election sure, both to ourselves and others. So living, we may hope to have an abundant entrance, and to enter harbour in full sail, whenever we change earth for heaven. (2 Peter i. 11.) So living, we shall recommend our Father's family to others, and perhaps by God's blessing incline them to say, " We will go with you." XVII. 0 U E HOME! "Lord, Thou least heen our dwelling-place in all generations." Psalm xc. 1. There are two reasons why the text which heads this paper should ring in our hearts with special power. It is the first verse of a deeply solemn Psalm, — the first bar of a wondrous piece of spiritual music. How others feel when they read the ninetieth Psalm I cannot tell. It always makes me lean back in my chair and think. For one thing, this ninetieth Psalm is the only Psalm composed by " Moses, the man of God." * It expresses that holy man's feelings, as he saw the whole generation whom he had led forth from Egypt, dying in the wilderness. Year after year he saw that fearful judgment fulfilling, which Israel brought on itself by unbelief : — " Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured * I am quite aware that I have no direct authority for this statement, except the prefatory heading at the beginning of the Psahn. However ancient those headings may be, it is agreed among learned men that they were not given by inspiration, and must not be regarded as a part of God's Word. There is, nevertheless, a curious amount of agreement among critics, that in the case of this ninetieth Psalm the tradition about its authorship is not without foundation. OUR HOME. 393 against Me, doubtless ye shall not come into the land." (Num. xiv. 29.) One after another he saw the heads of the families whom he had led forth from Egypt, laying their bones in the desert. For forty long years he saw the strong, the swift, the wise, the tender, the beautiful, who had crossed the Red Sea with him in triumph, cut down and withering like grass. For forty years he saw his companions continually changing, consuming, and passing away. Who can wonder that he should say, "Lord, Thou art our dwelling-place." We are all pilgrims and strangers upon earth, and there is none abiding. " Lord, Thou art our home." For another thing, the ninetieth Psalm forms part of the Burial Service of the Church of England. Whatever fault men may find with the Prayer-book, I think no one can deny the singular beauty of the Burial Service. Beautiful are the texts which it puts into the minister's mouth as he meets the coffin at the churchyard gate, and leads the mourners into God's house. Beautiful is the chapter from the first Epistle to the Corinthians about the resurrection of the body. Beautiful are the sentences and prayers appointed to be read as the body is laid in its long home. But specially beautiful, to my mind, are the Psalms which are selected for reading when the mourners have just taken their places in church. I know nothing which sounds so soothing, solemnizing, heart-touching, and moving to man's spirit, at that trying moment, as the wondrous utterance of the old inspired law-giver : " Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling-place." " Lord, Thou art our home." I want to draw from these words two thoughts that may do the readers of this paper some good. An English home is famous all over the world for its happiness and comfort. It is a little bit of heaven left upon earth. But even an English home is not for ever. The family nest is sure to be taken down, and its inmates are sure to be scattered. 394 PRACTICAL RELIGION. Bear with me for a few short minutes, while I try to set before you the best, truest, and happiest home. I. The first thought that I will offer you is this : — I will show you what the world is. It is a beautiful world in many respects, I freely admit. Its seas and rivers, its sunrises and sunsets, its mountains and valleys, its harvests and its forests, its fruits and its flowers, its days and its nights, all, all are beautiful in their way. Cold and unfeeling must that heart be which never finds a day in the year when it can admire anything in nature ! But beautiful as the world is, there are many things in it to remind us that it is not home. It is an inn, a tent, a tabernacle, a lodging, a training school. But it is not home. (a) It is a changing world. All around us is continually moving, altering, and passing away. Families, properties, landlords, tenants, farmers, labourers, tradesmen, all are continually on the move. To find the same name in the same dwelling for three generations running is so uncom- mon, that it is the exception and not the rule. A world so full of change cannot be called home. (6) It is a trying and disappointing world. Who ever lives to be fifty years old and does not find to his cost that it is so ? Trials in married life and trials in single life, — trials in children and trials in brothers and sisters, — trials in money matters and trials in health, — how many they are ! Their name is legion. And not the tenth part of them perhaps ever comes to light. Few indeed are the families which have not "a skeleton in the closet." A world so full of trial and disappointment cannot be called home. (c) It is a dying world. Death is continually about us and near us, and meets us at every turn. Few are the family gatherings, when Christmas comes round, in which there are noi some empty chairs and vacant places. Few OUR HOME. 395 are the men and women, past thirty, who could not number a long list of names, deeply cut for ever in their hearts, but names of beloved ones now dead and gone. Where are our fathers and mothers ? Where are our ministers and teachers ? Where are our brothers and sisters "i Where are our husbands and wives ? Where are our neighbours and friends ? Where are the old grey-headed worshippers, whose reverent faces we remember so well, when we first went to God's house ? Where are the boys and girls we played with when we went to school ? How many must reply, " Dead, dead, dead ! The daisies are growing over their graves, and we are left alone." Surely a world so full of death can never be called a home. (d) It is a scattering and dividing world. Families are continually breaking up, and going in different directions. How rarely do the members of a family ever meet toge- ther again, after the surviving parent is laid in the grave ! The band of union seems snaj)ped, and nothing welds it again. The cement seems withdrawn from the parts of the building, and the whole principle of cohesion is lost. How often some miserable squabble about trinkets, or some wretched wrangle about money, makes a breach that is never healed, and, like a crack in china, though riveted, can never be quite cured ! Rarely indeed do those who played in the same nursery lie down at length in the same churchyard, or keep peace with one another till they die. A world so full of division can never be home. These are ancient things. It is useless to be surprised at them. They are the bitter fruit of sin, and the sorrowful consequence of the fall. Change, trial, death, and division, all entered into the world when Adam and Eve trans- gressed. We must not murmur. We must not fret. We must not complain. We must accept the situation in which we find ourselves. We must each do our best to lighten the sorrows, and increase the comforts of our posi- tion. We must steadily resolve to make the best of o96 PE ACTIO AL RELIGION. everybody and everything around us. But we must never, never, never, forget that the world is not home. Are you young ? Does all around and before you seem bright, and cheerful, and happy ? Do you secretly think in your own mind that I take too gloomy a view of the world ? Take care. You will not say so by and by. Be wise betimes. Learn to moderate your expectations. Depend on it, the less you expect from people and things here below the happier you will be. Are you prosperous in the world ? Have death, and sickness, and disappointment, and poverty, and family troubles, passed over your door up to this time, and not come in ? Are you secretly saying to yourself, " Nothing can hurt me much. I shall die quietly in my bed, and see no sorrow." Take care. You are not yet in harbour. A sudden storm of unexpected trouble may make you change your note. Set not your affection on things below. Hold them with a very loose hand, and be ready to surrender them at a moment's notice. Use your prosperity well while you have it ; but lean not all your weight on it, lest it break suddenly and pierce your hand. Have you a happy home ? Are you going to spend Christmas round a family hearth, where sickness, and death, and poverty, and partings, and quarrellings, have never yet been seen ? Be thankful for it : oh, be thankful for it ! A really happy Christian home is the nearest approach to heaven on earth. But take care. This state of things will not last for ever. It must have an end; and if you are wise, you will never forget that — " the time is short : it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none ; and they that weep, as though they wept not ; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not ; and they that use this world, as not abusing it ; for the fashion of this world passeth away." (1 Cor. vii. 29—31.) OUR HOME. 397 II. The second thought that I will offer you is this : I will show you what Christ is, even in this life, to true Christians. Heaven, beyond doubt, is the final home in which a true Christian will dwell at last. Towards that he is daily travelling : nearer to that he is daily coming. " We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." (2 Cor. v. 1.) Body and soul united once more, renewed, beautified, and perfected, will live for ever in the Father's great house in heaven. To that home we have not yet come. We are not yet in heaven. But is there meanwhile no home for our souls ? Is there no spiritual dwelling-place to which we may con- tinually repair in this desolate world, and, repairing to it, find rest and peace ? Thank God, there is no difficulty in finding an answer to that question. There is a home provided for all labouring and heavy-laden souls, and that home is Christ. To know Christ by faith, to live the life of faith in Him, to abide in Him daily by faith, to flee to Him in every storm of conscience, to use Him as our refuge in every day of trouble, to employ Him as our Priest, Confessor, Absolver, and spiritual Director, every morning and evening in our lives, — this is to be at home spiritually, even before we die. To all sinners of mankind who by faith use Christ in this fashion, Christ is in the highest sense a dwelling-place. They can say with truth, " We are pilgrims and strangers on earth, and yet we have a home." Of all the emblems and figures under which Christ is set before man, I know few more cheering and comforting than the one before us. Home is one of the sweetest, tenderest words in the English language. Home is the place with which our pleasantest thoughts are closely bound up. All that the best and happiest home is to its o98 PRACTICAL RELIGION. inmates, that Christ is to the soul that believes on Him. ,In the midst of a dying, changing, disappointing world, a true Christian has always something which no power on earth can take away. Morning, noon, and night, he has near him a living Refuge, — a living home for his soul. You may rob him of life, and liberty, and money ; you may take from him health, and lands, and house, and friends ; but, do what you will, you cannot rob him of his home. Like those humblest of God's creatures which carry their shells on their backs, wherever they are, so the Christian, wherever he goes, carries his home. No wonder that holy Baxter sings, — "What if in prison I must dwell, May I not then converse with Thee ? Save me from sin, Thy wrath, and. hell, — Call me Thy child, and I am free ! " (a) No home like Christ ! In Him there is room for all, and room for all sorts. None are unwelcome guests and visitors, and none are refused admission. The door is always on the latch, and never bolted. The best robe, the fatted calf, the ring, the shoes are always ready for all comers. What though in time past you have been the vilest of the vile, a servant of sin, an enemy of all right- eousness, a Pharisee of Pharisees, a Sadducee of Sadducees, a publican of publicans ? It matters nothing : there is yet hope. All may be pardoned, forgiven, and forgotten. There is a home and refuge where your soul may be admitted this very day. That home is Christ. "Come unto Me," He cries : " Knock, and it shall be opened unto you." (Matt. xi. 28 ; vii. 7.) (6) No home like Christ ! In Him there is boundless and unwearied Tnercy for all, even after admission. None are rejected and cast forth again after probation, because they are too weak and bad to stay. Oh, no ! Whom He receives, them He always keeps. Where He begins, there He OUR HOME. 399 makes a good end. Whom He admits, them He at once fully justifies. Whom He justifies, them He also sanctifies. Whom He sanctifies, them He also glorifies. No hopeless characters are ever sent away from His house. No men or women are ever found too bad to heal and renew. Nothing is too hard for Him to do who made the world out of nothing. He who is Himself the Home, hath said it, and will stand to it : " Him that cometh unto Me, I will in no wise cast out." (John vi. 37.) (c) No home like Christ ! In Him there is unvarying kindness, patience, and gentle dealing for all. He is not " an austere man," but " meek and lowly in heart," (Matt. xi. 29.) None who apply to Him are ever treated roughly, or made to feel that their company is not welcome. A feast of fat things is always provided for them. The holy Spirit is placed in their hearts, and dwells in them as in a temple. Leading, guiding, and instruction are daily pro- vided for them. If they err, they are brought back into the right way ; if they fall, they are raised again ; if they transgress wilfully, they are chastised to make them better. But the rule of the whole house is love. (d) No home like Christ ! In Him there is no change. From youth to age He loves all who come to Him, and is never tired of doing them good. Earthly homes, alas, are full of fickleness and uncertainty. Favour is deceitful. Courtesy and civility are often on men's lips, while in- wardly they are weary of your company and wish you were gone. You seldom know how long your presence is welcome, or to what extent your friends really care to see you. But it is not so with Christ. " He is the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." (Heb. xiii. 8.) (e) No home like Christ ! Communion once begun with Him shall never he broken off. Once joined to the Lord by faith, you are joined to Him for an endless eternity. Earthly homes always come to an end sooner or later: the dear old furniture is sold and dispersed ; the dear old 400 PRACTICAL RELIGION. heads of the family are gathered to their fathers ; the dear old nest is pulled to pieces. But it is not so with Christ. Faith will at length be swallowed up in sight : hope shall at last be changed into certainty. We shall see one day with our eyes, and no longer need to believe. We shall be moved from the lower chamber to the upper, and from the outer court to the Holy of Holies. But once in Christ, we shall never be out of Christ. Once let our name be placed in the Lamb's book of life, and we belong to a home which shall continue for evermore. (1) And now, before I conclude, let me ask every reader of this paper a plain question. Have you got a home for your soul ? Is it safe ? Is it pardoned ? Is it justified ? Is it prepared to meet God ? With all my heart I wish you a happy home. But remember my question. Amidst the greetings and salutations of home, amidst the meetings and partings, amidst the laughter and merriment, amidst the joys and sympathies and affections, think, think of my question, — Have you got a home for your soul ? Our earthly homes will soon be closed for ever. Time hastens on with giant strides. Old age and death will be upon us before many years have passed away. Oh, seek an abiding home for the better part of you, — the part that never dies ! Before it be too late seek a home for your soul. Seek Christ, that you may be safe. Woe to the man who is found outside the ark when the flood of God's wrath bursts at length on a sinful world ! — Seek Christ, that you may be happy. None have a real right to be cheerful, merry, light-hearted, and at ease, excepting those who have got a home for their souls. Once more I say, Seek Christ without delay. (2) If Christ is the home of your soul, accept a friendly caution. Beware of being ashamed of your home in any place or company. The man who is ashamed of the home where he was OUR HOME. 401 born, the parents that brought him up wheu a baby, the brothers and sisters that played with him, — that man, as a general rule, may be set down as a mean and despicable being. Bat what shall we say of the man who is ashamed of Him who died for him on the cross ? What shall we say of the man who is ashamed of his religion, ashamed of his Master, ashamed of his home ? Take care that you are not that man. Whatever others around you please to think, do you never be ashamed of being a Christian. Let them laugh, and mock, and jest, and scoff, if they will. They will not scoff in the hour of death and in the day of judgment. Hoist your flag; show your colours ; nail them to the mast. Of drinking, gambling, lying, swearing. Sabbath-breaking, idleness, pride, you may well be ashamed. Of Bible-reading, praying, and belonging to Christ, you have no cause to be ashamed at all. Let those laugh that win. A good soldier is never ashamed of his Queen's colours, and his uniform. Take care that you are never ashamed of your Master. Never be ashamed of your home. (3) If Christ is the home of your soul, accept a piece of friendly advice. Let nothing tempt you to stray away from home. The world and the devil will often try hard to make you drop your religion for a little season, and walk with them. Your own flesh will whisper that there is no danger in going a little with them, and that it can do you no mighty harm. Take care, I say : take care when you are tempted in this fashion. Take care of looking back, like Lot's wife. Forsake not your home. There are pleasures in sin no doubt, but they are not real and satisfactory. There is an excitement and short- lived enjoyment in the world's ways, beyond all question, but it is joy that leaves a bitter taste behind it. Oh, no ! wisdom's ways alone are ways of pleasantness, and wisdom's paths alone are paths of peace. Cleave to them strictly, d2 402 PRACTICAL RELIGION. aud turn not aside. Follow the Lamb whithersoever He goes. Stick to Christ and His rule, through evil report and good report. The longer you live the happier you will find His service : the more ready will you be to sing, in the highest sense, " There is no place like home." (4) If Christ is the home of your soul, accept a hint about your duty. Mind that you take every opportunity of telling others about your happiness. Tell them THAT, wherever you are. Tell them that you have a happy home. Tell them, if they will hear you, that you find Christ a good Master, and Christ's service a happy service. Tell them that His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. Tell them that, whatever the devil may say, the rules of your home are not grievous, and that your Master pays far better wages than the world does ! Try to do a little good wherever you are. Try to enlist more inmates for your happy home. Say to your friends and relatives, if they will listen, as one did of old, " Come with us, and we will do you good ; for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel." (Numbers x. 29.) XYIII. HEIES OF GOD. " As many as are led hy the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. " For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear ; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. " The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that ive are the children of God : " And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together." — (Romans viii. 14 — 17.) The people of whom St. Paul speaks in the verses before our eyes are the richest people upon earth. It must needs be so. They are called " heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ." The inheritance of these people is the only inheritance really worth having. All others are unsatisfying and disappointing. They bring with them many cares. They cannot cure an aching heart, or lighten a heavy con- science. They cannot keep off family troubles. They cannot prevent sicknesses, bereavements, separations, and deaths. But there is no disappointment among the "heirs of God." The inheritance I speak of is the only inheritance which can he kept for ever. All others must be left in the hour of death, if they have not been taken away before. The 404 PRACTICAL RELIGION. owners of millions of pounds can carry nothing with them beyond the grave. But it is not so with the " heirs of God." Their inheritance is eternal. The inheritance I speak of is the only inheritance which is ivithin every body's reach. Most men can never obtain riches and greatness, though they labour hard for them all their lives. But glory, honour, and eternal life, are offered to every man freely, who is willing to accept them on God's terms. " Whosoever will," may be an " heir of God, and joint heir with Christ." If any reader of this paper wishes to have a portion of this inheritance, let him know that he must be a member of that one family on earth to which it belongs, and that is the family of all true Christians. You must become one of God's children on earth, if you desire to have glory in heaven. I write this paper in order to persuade you to become a child of God this day, if you are not one already. I write it to persuade you to make sure work that you are one, if at present you have only a vague hope, and nothing more. None but true Christians are the children of God ! None but the children of God are heirs of God ! Give me your attention, while I try to unfold to you these things, and to show the lessons con- tained in the verses which head this page. I. Let nie show the relation of all true Christians to God. They are " sons of God." II. Let me show the special evidences of this relation. True Christians are "led by the Spirit." They have "the Spirit of adoption." They have the " witness of the Spirit." They " suffer with Christ." III. Let me show the privileges of this relation. True Christians are " heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ" HEIRS OF GOD. 405 I. First let me show the relation of all true Christians to God. They are God's " Sons," I know no higher and more comfortable word that could have been chosen. To be servants of God, — to be subjects, soldiers, disciples, friends, — all these are excellent titles ; but to be the " sons " of God is a step higher still. What says the Scripture ? " The servant abideth not in the house for ever, but the Son abideth ever." (John viii. 85.) To be son of the rich and noble in this world, — to be son of the princes and kings of the earth, — this is com- monly reckoned a great temporal advantage and privilege. But to be a son of the King of kings, and Lord of lords. — to be a son of the High and Holy One, who inhabiteth eternity, — this is something far higher. And yet this is the portion of every true Christian. The son of an earthly parent looks naturally to his father for affection, maintenance, provision, and education. There is a home always open to him. There is a love which, generally speaking, no bad conduct can completely extinguish. All these are things belonging even to the sonship of this world. Think then how great is the privilege of that poor sinner of mankind who can say of God, " He is my Father." But HOW can sinful men like ourselves become sons of God ? When do we enter into this glorious relation- ship ? We are not the sons of God by nature. We were not born so when we came into the world. No man has a natural right to look to God as his Father. It is a vile he.0' sy to say that he has. Men are said to be born poets and painters, — but men are never born sons of God. The Epistle to the Ephesians tells us, "Ye were by nature children of wrath, even as others." (Ephes. ii. 3.) The Epistle of St. John says, " The children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil : whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God." (1 John iii. 10.) The Catechism of the Church of England wisely follows the '406 PEACTICAL EELIGION. doctrine of the Bible, and teaches us to say, " By nature we are born in sin, and children of wrath." Yes : we are all rather children of the devil, than children of God ! Sin is indeed hereditary, and runs in the family of Adam. Grace is anything but hereditary, and holy men have not, as a matter of course, holy sons. How then and when does this mighty change and translation come upon men ? When and in what manner do sinners become the " sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty?" (2 Cor vi. 18.) Men become sons of God in the day that the Spirit leads them to believe on Jesus Christ for salvation, and not before.* What says the Epistle to the Galatians? "Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." (Gal. iii. 26.) What says the first Epistle to the Corinthians ? " Of Hinvare ye in Christ Jesus." (1 Cor. i. 30.) What says the Gospel of John ? " As many as received Christ, to them gave He power (or privilege) to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name." (John i. 12.) Faith unites the sinner to the Son of God, and makes him one of His members. Faith makes him one of those in whom the Father sees no spot, and is well-pleased. Faith marries him to the beloved Son of God, and entitles him to be reckoned among the sons. Faith gives him "fellowship with the Father and the Sou." (1 John i. 8.) Faith grafts him into the Father's family, and opens up to him a room in the Father's house. Faith gives him life instead of death, and makes him, instead of being a servant, a son. Show me a man tha^ has this faith, and, whatever be his church or denomi^*^- tion, I say that he is a son of God. This is one of those points we should never forget. You and I know nothing of a man's sonship until he helievei: No doubt the sons of God are foreknown and chosen from * The reader will of course nnder.stand that I am not speaking now of children who die in infancy, or of persons who live and die idiots. HEIRS OF GOD. 407 all eternity, and predestinated to adoption. But, remember, it is not till they are called in due time, and believe, — it is not till then that you and I can be certain they are sons.! It is not till they repent and believe, that the angels of God rejoice over them. The angels cannot read the book of God's election : they know not who are " His hidden ones " in the earth. (Ps. Ixxxiii. 3.) They rejoice over no man till he believes. But when they see some poor sinner repenting and believing, then there is joy among them, — joy that one more brand is plucked from the burning, and one more son and heir born again to the Father in heaven. (Luke XV. 10.) But once more I say, you and I know nothing certain about a man's sonship to God until he believes on Christ. I warn you to beware of the delusive notion that all men and women are alike children of God, whether they have faith in Christ or not. It is a wild theory which' many are clinging to in these days, but one which cannot be proved out of the Word of God. It is a perilous dream, with which many are trying to soothe themselves, but one from which there will be a fearful waking up at the last day. That God in a certain sense is the universal Father of all mankind, I do not pretend to deny. He is the Great First Cause of all things. He is the Creator of all mankind, and in Him alone, all men, whether Christians or heathens, " live and move and have their being." All this is unques- tionably true. In this sense Paul told the Athenians, a poet of their own had truly said, " we are His offspring." (Acts xvii. 28.) But this sonship gives no man a title to heaven. The sonship which we have by creation is one which belongs to stones, trees, beasts, or even to the devils, as much as to us. (Job i, 6.) That God loves all mankind with a love of pity and compassion, I do not deny. "His tender mercies are over all His works." — " He is not willing that any should perish. 408 • PRACTICAL RELIGION. but that all should come to repentance." — "He has no pleasure in the death of him that dieth." All this I admit to the full. In this, sense our Lord Jesus tells us, " God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believe th in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." (Ps. cxlv. 9 ; 2 Peter iii. 9 ; Ezek. xviii. 32; John iii. 16.) But that God is a reconciled and pardoning Father to any but the members of His Son Jesus Christ, and that any are members of Jesus Christ who do not believe on Him for salvation, — this is a doctrine which I utterly deny. The holiness and justice of God are both against the doctrine. They make it impossible for sinful men to approach God, excepting through the Mediator. They tell us that God out of Christ is " a consuming fire." (Heb. xii. 29.) The whole system of the new Testament is against the doctrine. That system teaches that no man can claim interest in Christ unless he will receive Him as his Mediator, and believe on Him as his Saviour. Where there is no faith in Christ it is a dangerous error to say that a man may take comfort in God as his Father. God is a reconciled Father to none but the members of Christ. It is unreasonable to talk of the view I am now upholding as narrow-minded and harsh. The Gos]3el sets an open door before every man. Its promises are wide and full. Its invitations are earnest and tender. Its requirements are simple and clear. " Only believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and, whosoever thou art, thou shalt be saved." But to say that proud men, who will not bow their necks to the easy yoke of Christ, and worldly men who are determined to have their own way and their sins, — to say that such men have a right to claim an interest in Christ, and a right to call themselves sons of God, is to say what never can be proved from Scripture. God offers to be their Father ; but He does it on certain distinct terms : — they must draw near to Him through Christ. Christ offers to HEIES OF GOD. 409 be their Saviour ; but in doing it He makes one simple requirement : — they must commit their souls to Him, and give Him their hearts. They refuse the terms, and yet dare to call God their Father ! They scorn the requirement, and yet dare to hope that Christ will save them ! God is to be their Father, — but on their own terms ! Christ is to be their Saviour, — but on their own conditions ! What can be more unreasonable ? What can be more proud ? What can be more unholy than such a doctrine as this ? Let us beware of it, for it is a common doctrine in these latter days. Let us beware of it, for it is often speciously put forward, and sounds beautiful and charitable in the mouth of poets, novelists, sentimentalists, and tender-hearted women. Let us beware of it, unless we mean to throw aside our Bible altogether, and set up ourselves to be wiser than God. Let us stand fast on the old Scriptural ground: I^o sonsldp to God luitliout Christ! No interest in Christ ivithout faith ! I would to God there was not so much cause for giving warnings of this kind. I have reason to think they need to be given clearly and unmistakably. There is a school of theology rising up in this day, whicli appears to me most eminently calculated to promote infidelity, to help the devil, and to ruin souls. It comes to us like Joab to Amasa, with the highest professions of charity, liberality, and love. God is all mercy and love, according to this theology : — His holiness and justice are completely left out of sight ! Hell is never spoken of in this theology : — its talk is all of heaven ! Damnation is never mentioned : — it is treated as an impossible thing : — all men and women are to be saved ! Faith, and the work of the Spirit, are refined away into nothing at all ! " Everybody who believes anything has faith ! Everybody who thinks anything has the Spirit! Everybody is right! Nobody is wrong! Nobody is to blame for any action he may commit ! It is the result of his position It is the eflfect of circumstances ! 410 PRACTICAL RELIGION. He is not accountable for his opinions, any more than for the colour of his skin ! He must be what he is ! The Bible is a very imperfect book ! It is old-fashioned ! It is obsolete ! We may believe just as much of it as we please, and no more ! " — Of all this theology I warn men solemnly to beware. In spite of big swelling words about " liberality," and " charity," and " broad views," and " new lights," and " freedom from bigotry," and so forth, I do believe it to be a theology that leads to hell. (a) Facts are directly against the teachers of this theology. Let them visit Mesopotamia, and see what desolation reigns where Nineveh and Babylon once stood. Let them go to the shores of the Dead Sea, and look down into its mysterious bitter waters. Let them travel in Palestine, and ask what has turned that fertile country into a wilderness. Let them observe the wandering Jews, scat- tered over the face of the world, without a land of their own, and yet never absorbed among other nations. And then let them tell us, if they dare, that God is so entirely a God of mercy and love that He never does and never will punish sin. (6) The conscience of 'man is directly against these teachers. Let them go to the bedside of some dying child of the world, and try to comfort him with their doctrines. Let them see if their vaunted theories will calm his gnawing, restless anxiety about the future, and enable him to depart in peace. Let them show us, if they can, a few well- authenticated cases of joy and happiness in death without Bible promises, — without conversion, — and without that faith in the blood of Christ, which old-fashioned theology enjoins. Alas ! when men are leaving the world, conscience makes sad work of the new systems of these latter days. Conscience is not easily satisfied, in a dying hour, that there is no such thing as hell. (c) Every reasonable conception that we can form of a future state is directly against these teachers. Fancy a HEIRS OF GOD. 411 heaven which should contain all mankind! Fancy a lieaven in which holy and unholy, pure and impure, good and bad, would be all gathered together in one confused mass ! What point of union would there be in such a company ? What common bond of harmony and brother- hood ? What common delight in a common service ? What concord, what harmony, what peace, what oneness of spirit could exist ? Surely the mind revolts from the idea of a heaven in which there would be no distinction between the righteous and the wicked, — between Pharaoh and Moses, between Abraham and the Sodomites, between Paul and Nero, between Peter and Judas Iscariot, between the man who dies in the act of murder or drunkenness, and men like Baxter, George Herbert, Wilberforce, and M'Cheyne ! Surely an eternity in such a miserably confused crowd would be worse than annihilation itself! Surely such a heaven would be no better than hell ! (d) The interests of all holiness and morality a.Te directly against these teachers. If all men and women alike are God's children, whatever is the difference between them in their lives, — and all alike going to heaven, however different they may be from one another here in the world, — where is the use of labouring after holiness at all ? What motive remains for living soberly, righteously, and godly ? What does it matter how men conduct themselves, if all go to heaven, and nobody goes to hell ? Surely the heathen poets and philosophers of Greece and Rome could tell us something better and wiser than this ! Surely a doctrine which is subversive of holiness and morality, and takes away all motives to exertion, carries on the face of it the stamp of its origin. It is of earth, and not of heaven. It is of the devil, and not of God. (e) The Bible is against these teachers from first to last. Hundreds of texts might be quoted which are diametrically opposed to their theories. These texts must be rejected summarily, if the Bible is to square with their 412 PRACTICAL RELIGION. views. There may be no reason why they should be re- jected,— but to suit the theology I speak of they must be thrown away ! At this rate the authority of the whole Bible is soon at an end. And what do men give us in its place? Nothing, — nothing at all! They rob us of the bread of life, and do not give us in its stead so much as a stone. Once more I warn all into whose hands this volume may fall to beware of this theology. I charge you to hold fast the doctrine which I have been endeavouring to up- hold in this paper. Remember what I have said, and never let it go. No inheritance of glory without sonship to God ! No sonship to God without an interest in Christ ! No interest in Christ without your own personal faith ! This is God's truth. Never forsake it. Who now among the readers of this paper desires to know whether he is a son of God ? Ask yourself this question, and ask it this day, — and ask it as in God's sight, whether you have repented and believed. Ask yourself whether you are experimentally acquainted with Christ, and united to Him in heart. If not you may be very sure you are no son of God. You are not yet born again. You are yet in your sins. Your Father in crea- tion God may be, but your reconciled and pardoning Father God is not. Yes ! though Church and world may agree to tell you to the contrary, — though clergy and laity unite in flattering you, — ^your sonship is worth little or nothing in the sight of God. Let God be true and every man a liar. Without faith in Christ you are no son of God : you are not born again. Who is there among the readers of this paper who desires to become a son of God ? Let that person see and feel his sins, and flee to Christ for salvation, and this day he shall be placed among the children. — Only acknowledge thine iniquity, and lay hold on the hand that Jesus holds out to thee this day, and sonship, with all it privileges, is HEIRS OF GOD. 413 tliine own. Ouly confess thy sins, and bring them unto Christ, and God is " faithful and just to forgive thee thy sins, and cleanse thee from all unrighteousness." (1 John i. 9.) This very day old things shall pass away, and all things become new. This very day thou shalt be forgiven, par- doned, " accepted in the Beloved." (Ephes. i. t.) This very day thou shalt have a new name given to thee in heaven. Thou didst take up this book a child of wrath. Thou shalt lie down to night a child of God. Mark this, if thy professed desire after sonship is sincere, — if thou art truly weary of thy sins, and hast really something more than a lazy wish to be free, — there is real comfort for thee. It is all true. It is all written in Scripture, even as I have put it down. I dare not raise barriers between thee and God. This day I say. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be " a son," and be saved. Who is there among the readers of this paper that is a son of God indeed ? Rejoice, I say, and be exceeding glad of your privileges. Rejoice, for you have good cause to be thankful. Remember the words of the beloved apostle : " Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God." (1 John iii. 1.) How wonderful that heaven should look down on earth, — that the holy God should set His affections on sinful man, and admit him into His family ! What though the world does not understand you ! What though the men of this world laugh at you, and cast out your name as evil ! Let them laugh if they will. God is your Father. You have no need to be ashamed. The Queen can create a nobleman. The Bis- hops can ordain clergymen. But Queen, Lords, and Commons, — bishops, priests, and deacons, — all together cannot, of their own power, make one son of God, or one of greater dignity than a son of God. The man that can call God his Father, and Christ his elder brother, — that man may be poor and lowly, yet he never need be ashamed. 414 PRACTICAL RELIGION. II. Let me show, in the second place, the special evidences of the true Christians relation to God. How shall a man make sure work of his own sonship ? How shall he find out whether he is one that has come to Christ by faith and been born again ? What are the marks and signs, and tokens, by which the " sons of God " may be known ? This is a question which all who love eternal life ought to ask. This is a question to which the verses of Scripture I am asking you to consider, like many others, supply an answer. (1) The sons of God, for one thing, are all led by His Spirit. What says the Scripture which heads this paper ? " As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." (Rom, viii. 14.) They are all under the leading and teaching of a power which is Almighty, though unseen, — even the power of the Holy Ghost. They no longer turn every man to his own way, and walk every man in the light of His 0"\vn eyes, and follow every man his own natural heart's desire. The Spirit leads them. The Spirit guides them. There is a movement in their hearts, lives, and affections, which they feel, though they may not be able to explain, and a move- ment which is always more or less in the same direction. They are le,d aw.ay .from sin,=^away from self-righteous- ness,— away from the world. This is the road by which the Spirit leads God's children. Those whom God adopts He teaches and trains. He shows them their own hearts. He makes them weary of their own ways. He makes them long for inward peace. They are led to Christ. They are led to the Bible. They are led to prayer. They are led to holiness. This is the beaten path along which the Spirit makes them to travel. Those whom God adopts He always sanctifies. He makes sin veiy bitter to them. He makes holiness very sweet. It is the Spirit who leads them to Sinai, and first shows HEIRS OF GOO. 415 them the law, that their hearts may be broken. It is He who leads them to Calvary, and shows them the cross, that their hearts may be bound up and healed. It is He who leads them to Pisgah, and gives them distinct views of the promised land, that their hearts may be cheered. When they are taken into the wilderness, and taught to see their own emptiness, it is the leading of the Spirit. When they are carried up to Tabor or Hermon, and lifted up with glimpses of the glory to come, it is the leading of the Spirit. Each and all of God's sons is the subject of these leadings. Each and every one is " willing in the day of the Spirit's power," and yields himself to it. And each and all is led by the right way, to bring him to a city of habitation. (Ps. ex. 8 ; cvii. 7.) Settle this down in your heart, and do not let it go. The sons of God are a people " led by the Spirit of God," and always led more or less in the same way. Their expe- rience will tally wonderfully when they compare notes in heaven. This is one mark of sonship. (2) Furthermore, aU the sons of God have the feelings of adopted children toivards their Father in heaven. What says the Scripture which heads this paper ? " Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba Father." (Rom. viii. 15.) The sons of God are delivered from that slavish fear of God which sin begets in the natural heart. They are redeemed from that feeling of guilt which made Adam " hide himself in the trees of the garden," and Cain " go out from the presence of the Lord." (Gen. iii. 8; iv. 16.) They are no longer afraid of God's holiness, and justice, and majesty. They no longer feel as if there was a great gulf and barrier between themselves and God, and as if God was angry with them, and must be angry with them, because of their sins. From these chains and fetters of the soul the sons of God are delivered. 41(5 PEACTICAL RELIGION, Their feelings towards God are now those of peace and confidence. They see Him as a Father reconciled in Christ Jesus. They look on Him as a God whose attributes are all satisfied by their great Mediator and Peacemaker, the Lord Jesus, — as a God who is "just, and yet the Justifier of every one that belie veth on Jesus." (Rom. iii. 26.) As a Father, they draw near to Him with boldness: as a Father, they can speak to Him with freedom. They have exchanged the spirit of bondage for that of liberty, and the spirit of fear for that of love. They know that God is holy, but they are not afraid : they know that they are sinners, but they are not afraid. Though holy, they believe that God is completely reconciled : though sinners, they believe they are clothed all over with Jesus Christ. Such is tlie feeling of the sons of God. I allow that some of them have this feeling more vividly than others. Some of them carry about scraps and rem- nants of the old spirit of bondage to their dying day. Many of them have fits and paroxysms of the old man's complaint of fear returning upon them at intervals. But very few of the sons of God could be found who would not say, if cross-examined, that since they knew Christ they have had very different feelings towards God from what they ever had before. They feel as if something like the old Roman form of adoption had taken place between themselves and their Father in heaven. They feel as if He had said to each one of them, " Wilt thou be my son ? " and as if their hearts had replied, " I will." Let us try to grasp this also, and hold it fast. The sons of God are a people who feel towards God in a way that the children of the world do not. They feel no more slavish fear towards Him : they feel towards Him as a reconciled parent. This, then, is another mark of sonship, (3) But, again, the sons of God have the witness of the Spirit in their consciences. What says the Scripture which heads this paper ? " The Spirit itself beareth wit- HEIRS OF GOD. 417 ness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." (Rom. viii. 16.) The sons of God have got something within their hearts which tells them there is a relationship between themselves and God. They feel something which tells them that old things are passed away, and all things become new : that guilt is gone, that peace is restored, that heaven's door is open, and hell's door is shut. They have, in short, what the children of the world have not, — a felt, positive, reasonable hope. They have what Paul calls the " seal * and " earnest " of the Spirit. (2 Cor. i. 22 ; Eph. i. 13.) I do not for a moment deny that this witness of the Spirit is exceedingly various in the extent to which the sons of God possess it. With some it is a loud, clear, ringing, distinct testimony of conscience : " I am Christ's, and Christ is mine." With others it is a little, feeble, stammering whisper, which the devil and the flesh often prevent being heard. Some of the children of God speed on their course towards heaven under the full sails of assurance. Others are tossed to and fro all their voyage, and will scarce believe they have got faith. But take the least and lowest of the sons of God. Ask him if he will give up the little bit of religious hope which he has attained ? Ask him if he will exchange his heart, with all its doubts and conflicts, its fightings and fears, — ask him if he will exchange that heart for the heart of the downright worldly and careless man? Ask him if he would be content to turn round and throw down the things he has got hold of, and go back to the world? Who can doubt what the answer would be ? "I cannot do that," he would reply. "I do not know whether I have faith, I do not feel sure I have got grace ; but I have got something within me I would not like to part with." And what is that "something"'} I will tell you. — It is the witness of the Spirit. Let us try to understand this also. The sons of God e2 418 PRACTICAL RELIGION. have the witness of the Spirit in their consciences. This is another mark of sonship. (4) One thing more let me add. All the sons of God take part in suffering with Christ. What says the Scrip- ture which heads this paper ? " If children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with Him." (Rom. viii. 17.) All the children of God have a cross to carry. _ They lave trials, troubles, and afflictions to go through for the Grospel's sake. They have trials from the world, — trials from the flesh, — and trials from the devil. They have [trials of feeling from relations and friends, — hard words, [hard treatment, and hard judgment. They have trials in 'the matter of character; — slander, misrepresentation, mockery, insinuation of false motives, — all these often rain thick upon them. They have trials in the matter of worldly interests. They have often to choose whether they will please man and lose glory, or gain glory and offend man. They have trials from their own hearts. They have each generally their own thorn in the flesh, — their own home-devil, who is their worst foe. This is the experience of the sons of God. Some of them suffer more, and some less. Some of them suffer in one way, and some in another. God measures out their portions like a wise physician, and cannot err. But never, I believe, was there one child of God who reached paradise without a cross. Suffering is the diet of the Lord's family. " Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth." — " If ye be without chastise- ment, then are ye bastards, and not sons." — "Through much tribulation we must enter the kingdom of God." — "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." (Heb. xii. 6, 8; Acts xiv. 22; 2 Tim. iii. 12.) When Bishop Latimer was told by his landlord that he had never had a trouble, " Then," said he, " God cannot be here." Suffering is a part of the process by which the sons of HEIRS OF GOD. 419 God are sanctified. They are chastened to wean them from the world, and make them partakers of God's holiness. The Captain of their salvation was " made perfect through suffering," and so are they. (Heb. ii. 10; xii, 10.) There never yet was a great saint who had not either great affliction? or great corruptions. Well said Philip Melancthon : " Where there are no cares there will generally be no prayers." Let us try to settle this down into our hearts also. The sons of God have all to bear a cross. A sufferinff Saviour generally has suffering disciples. The Bridegroom was a man of .sorrows. The Bride must not be a woman of pleasures and unacquainted with grief. Blessed are they that mourn ! Let us not murmur at the cross. This also is a sign of sonship. I warn men never to suppose that they are sons of God except they have the scriptural marks of sonship. Beware of a sonship without evidences. Again I say, Beware. When a man has no leading of the Spirit to show me, no spirit of adoption to tell of, no witness of the Spirit in his conscience, no cross in his experience, — is this man a son of God ? Whatever others may think I dare not say so ! His spot is " not the spot of God's children." (Deut. xxxii. 5.) He is no heir of glory. Tell me not that you have been baptized and taught the catechism of the Church of England, and therefore must be a child of God. I tell you that the parish register is not the book of life. I tell you that to be styled a child of God, and called regenerate in infancy by the faith and charity of the Prayer-book, is one thing ; but to be a child of God in deed, another thing altogether. Go and read that catechism again. It is the " death unto sin and the new birth unto righteousness," which makes men children of grace. Except you know these by ex- perience, you are no son of God. Tell me not that you are a member of Christ's Church, and so must be a son. I answer that the sons of the 420 PEACTICAL KELIGION. Church are not necessarily the sons of God. Such sonship is not the sonship of the eighth of Romans. That is the sonship you must have if you are to be saved. And now, I doubt not some reader of this paper will want to know if he may not be saved without the witness of the Spirit. I answer, If you mean by the witness of the Spirit, the full assurance of hope, — You may be so saved, without question. But if you want to know whether a man can be saved without