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^r0pljttir Stiifes. 
 
 LECTUEES ON THE BOOK OF DANIEL. 
 
CUMMING'S WOEKS, 
 
 UNIFORM EDITION. 
 
 LINDSAY & BLAKISTON 
 
 CUMMIKG'S APOCALYPTIC SKETCHES; 
 
 Or, Lectures on the Book of Revelation. One vol. 12mo. Cloth. 
 
 CUMMIITG'S APOCALYPTIC SKETCHES. 
 
 Second Series. One vol. 12mo. Clotli. 
 
 CUMMING'S LECTURES ON OUR LORD'S MIRACLES. 
 
 One vol. 12mo. Clotli. 
 
 CUMMING'S LECTURES ON THE PARABLES. 
 
 One vol. 12mo. Cloth. 
 
 CUMMING'S PROPHETIC STUDIES; 
 
 Or, Lectures on the Book of Daniel. One vol. 12mo. Cloth. 
 
 Price 75 cts. per volume, and sent by mail, free of postage, upon receipt of 
 this amount by the publishers. 
 
 The Rev. John Gumming, D.D., is now the great pulpit orator of London, 
 as Edward Irving was some twenty years since. But very different is the 
 Doctor to that strange, wonderfully eloquent, but erratic man. There could 
 not by possibility be a greater contrast. The one all fire, enthusiasm, and 
 semi-madness ; the other a man of chastened energy aind convincing calmness. 
 The one like a meteor, flashing across a troubled sky, and then vanishing 
 suddenly in the darkness; the other like a silver star, shining serenely, and 
 illuminating our pathway with its steady ray. He is looked upon as the great 
 champion of Protestantism in its purest form. His church is densely crowded 
 by the most intellectual and thinking part of that crowded city, while his 
 writings have reached a sale unequalled by those of any theological writer of 
 the present day. His great work on the " Apocalypse," upon which his great 
 reputation as a writer rests, having already reached its 15th edition in England, 
 while his "Lectures on the Miracles," and those on "Daniel," have passed 
 through six editions of 1000 copies each, and his "Lectures on the Parables" 
 through four editions, all within a comparatively short time. 
 
^rjjjj|etic StiiWes. 
 
 LECTUEES 
 
 THE BOOK OF DANIEL 
 
 BY 
 
 THE KEY. JOIIN CIBIMESTG, D.D. 
 
 MINISXER OF THE SCOTCH NATIONAL CHUKCH, AUTHOR OP APOCALYPTIC SKETCHES, 
 LECTURES ON THE MIRACLES, PARABLBS, ETC. ETC. 
 
 " "We have also a more sure word of prophecy ; ■whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, 
 as unto a lii;ht that shineth in a dark place, \intil the day dawn, and the day-star ari.-:e 
 in your hearts." — 2 Pet. i. 19. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 LINDSAY A]^D BLAKISTOK 
 
 1854. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In these Lectures on Daniel tlie Prophet, there will be 
 found scarcely a single discovery or application of pro- 
 phetic symbol which is not already familiar to all students 
 of prophecy. They were not prepared for the learned: 
 they are addressed to the multitude. I have paid some 
 attention to the critical investigation of this ancient and 
 instructive prophecy ; I have studied more or less closely 
 the varied and interesting exegeses of many learned and 
 laborious critics, and from these I have derived much 
 information ; but in these pages I do not attempt to pre- 
 sent an analysis of such labours, or to enunciate the com- 
 ponent elements of the conclusions I have formed, and 
 herein expressed. I find it takes all my strength, as well as 
 all I have learned and read, to enable me to make my mean- 
 ing plain. I am satisfied in these Studies to appeal to, and 
 interest and instruct the masses. One may appreciate the 
 honour of speaking to scholars, but feel still more the duty 
 of addressing mankind. I rejoice at witnessing the loftiest 
 forms so splendidly occupied as they now are. I pray 
 they may be covered with yet greater and more illustrious 
 
6 PREFACE. 
 
 scholarsliip. I am content to stand below and, learning 
 daily as I do from the master spirits above me, to spread 
 far and wide what I Lave gathered, in the most intelligible 
 and acceptable words, among the "thousands of Israel."* 
 I have invariably tried to bring out not only thd doctrinal, 
 but the practical and comforting truths which are more or 
 less latent in the sublime and mysterious predictions and 
 symbols of the future. I have not, I trust, forgotten indi- 
 vidual responsibility and requirement in my endeavours to 
 trace out the course of the Church, the fall of dynasties, 
 and the revolutions of empires, as they are delineated on 
 the prophetic chart, and by no means obscurely predicted 
 by the spirit of prophecy. 
 
 In this, as in every portion of the word of God, there 
 are proclaimed grand saving truths. Amid the foliage of 
 prophecy — amid the flowers of poetry — in the details of 
 biography, and in the long annals of national or universal 
 history, truths profitable or refreshing or sanctifying to the 
 soul flash forth continually. God in Providence never 
 omits to feed the minutest insect in his provision for the 
 greatest and the most important of created intelligences. In 
 his Word there is living bread for the soul of the humblest, 
 as well as warning and instruction and reproof for kings 
 and nations. In the pages of the Prophets, as truly, if 
 not as fully as in the pages of the Evangelists, such truths 
 
 "•■■•" Tho critical disquisitions of Hengstenberg, the eloquent and philosophical 
 investigations of Birks — not to speak of Medc, Wintle, and the two Newtons — 
 are truly valuable. Stuart, as usual on prophetic subjects, is not to be trusted. 
 
PREFACE. 7 
 
 as the following are written : " Sin has entered, and death 
 by sin." The world was not made as we find it; it has 
 undergone some dread and terrible disaster. Ask the phi- 
 losopher to explain this, and he is dumb ! xisk nature her- 
 self, through any of her oracles, and she, too, is dumb ! 
 Her groans, that have not ceased since the creation, are 
 the only replies to your question. But consult the Scrip- 
 tures ; inquire at them. What is at fault ? Their reply is, 
 Sin has entered, and death by sin. The earth was created 
 holy and beautiful. God pronounced it good. Man's sin 
 has unhinged it. Every flower was once fragrance ; every 
 sound was once harmony ; every sight was beauty ; but sin 
 has fallen upon the earth, like a drop of ink on the sensi- 
 tive blotting-paper, encircling with its poisonous influence 
 the widest sphere, until the whole earth is tainted — 
 stricken, as it were, with paralysis, groaning in travail, 
 waiting for redemption. The intellect is darkened by the 
 exhalations arising from the swamps of sin. The truth is 
 not seen in its beauty ; not because it is dimly enunciated, 
 but because the eye of him who looks upon it has become 
 dim. The conscience also has become depraved, diseased, 
 polluted. What a change has passed upon that faculty 
 which was once the echo of the voice of God — the bright 
 daguerreotype reflection of his own holy image! It too 
 labours, as if anxious to be emancipated — to regain its 
 lost sovereignty, and govern once more the heart and the 
 afi*ections of the soul. 
 
 Not only is the conscience and heart of man diseased, 
 
8 PREFACE. 
 
 but out of that heart in which God once dwelt — once the 
 holy chancel, as it were, of created being — proceed adul- 
 tery, murders, thefts, and all uncleanness. The gold has 
 become dim, the fine gold has changed, man is altogether 
 degenerate ; and this change, this dread affliction, is not 
 individual, peculiar, limited, but universal; there is no 
 spot upon the earth it has not reached — no climate where 
 it is not felt. It has entered the hut of the Indian, the 
 cave of the Greenlander, the cabin of the semi-savage 
 Irishman, the cottage of the peasant, and the palace of 
 the king; its voice mingles with the debates of parlia- 
 ment, congress, and divan. It colours all circumstances ; 
 it is seen in the flames of hamlets, and heard in the roar 
 of revolution ; it rides on the storm. 1848 was an inci- 
 dental testimony of what sin is ; all history shows it has 
 made Golgotha and Aceldama but too plainly the types 
 of earth and humanity. 
 
 Man has sinned, and therefore he suffers. The Bible 
 also testifies of the curse brought upon us in consequence 
 of sin. The instant man sinned, Jesus stood between the 
 living and the dead — modified and stayed the full rush of 
 the terrible curse which sin had brought on ; but the time 
 does come, and the place will be, when that curse created 
 by sin shall descend in all its pressure on some, and wither 
 down to the very roots all happiness and peace, close every 
 spring of joy, and open up, at every point of the circum- 
 ference of their existence, streams of misery immense, 
 ceaseless. 
 
PREFACE. 9 
 
 We have not only sinned and suffered, but we cannot 
 help ourselves out of it. We are not only without holi- 
 ness, but without strength; no man can recover himself. 
 All the popes, bishops, prelates, or councils in Christen- 
 dom can no more change the heart of man, than they can 
 create a fixed star, or soar to the sun. I will believe they 
 can do it, when they will stand upon the grave of another 
 Lazarus, and say, Come forth; and when Lazarus, the 
 dead, in obedience to such command, shall come forth, 
 and take his place among the living. What is the history 
 of the world without God but a history of successive efforts 
 and successive failures to regenerate itself? What is Pan- 
 theism, but man's vain effort to regenerate man ? What 
 are Popery and Puseyism, but priestly and abortive efforts 
 to regenerate man ? What is Christianity, but God's his- 
 torical and never-failing success in the regeneration of 
 man? 
 
 It is wrong for infidels to quote Aristides, Socrates, 
 Plato, Alfred, and subsequent names, and say these are 
 types of humanity ; they are not so. They are the excep- 
 tions to the general condition of man; they are as tall 
 trees seen from the distance, which appear a beautiful 
 forest in the horizon ; but when we approach nearer, we 
 find here and there, beneath and around them, the pesti- 
 lential swamp, the deadly upas-tree, all manner of vile 
 and worthless things. This is one of those sights in which 
 "distance" may be said to "lend enchantment to the 
 view," covering, with an apparently beautiful exterior, as 
 
10 PREFACE. 
 
 seen from afar, the terrible corruption which lies and 
 festers below. 
 
 If we desire to see vfhat man is, let us shut our ears to 
 the harp of the poet, and visit the Mohammedan wife, the 
 Indian maid, the Hindoo widow ; let us leave the romantic 
 picture of mankind, and explore the lanes and alleys of 
 London ; let us inspect our prisons and penal settlements. 
 Bridewell and Botany Bay. After w^e have gone the 
 round of these places, let us go home and read the first 
 chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, and see if there is 
 one exaggerating touch ! That chapter is a terrible but 
 true picture of the lower strata of humanity. What were 
 the deities in heathen times? Jupiter was a monster, 
 Mercury a, thief. Mars a sort of cannibal, who drank the 
 blood of his victims. Such were the gods of the heathen ; 
 and like gods, like people. But of man's corruption we 
 have awful instances in modern times. Men baptized in 
 the name of Christ, professing his religion, and under his 
 pretended sanction, have set up Inquisitions for the mur- 
 der of saints, for the plunder of widows, and then they 
 have built cathedrals with the produce. This gospel, 
 itself pure, precious, and indicative of its divine origin, 
 has been perverted, and made the patron of the build- 
 ings, under whose splendid towers are dungeons deep and 
 dismal. So intense is man's depravity, that not only will 
 he worship Jupiter, Mercury, and Mars, but he will take 
 the very stones God had selected and shaped for a tem- 
 ple to himself, and with these construct a temple vocal 
 
PREFACE. 11 
 
 with men's praise, and in which wickedness shall be con- 
 secrated. 
 
 The gospel tells us that Jesus, who knew no sin, was 
 made sin for us : in these words is the very substance of 
 our sermons ; without these they w^ould be but as sounding 
 brass and tinkling cymbals. '' God so loved the world, that 
 he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on 
 him might not perish, but have everlasting life." Her/ave, 
 not permitted^ and the great Redeemer left the admiration 
 of angels for the execration of the mob ; he exchanged a 
 diadem of glory for a wreath of thorns ; he left the robes 
 of majesty and beauty for that vile rag that Pilate cast 
 upon his shoulders. Why ? It was for us ! that souls 
 ruined by the curse might be redeemed by his blood, and 
 restored to that great home he is gone to prepare for us. 
 
 The Bible is not a mere directory, nor the pulpit a mere 
 teacher's desk. Christianity is not a rule, but a prescrip- 
 tion; not merely a direction to the living and healthy, but 
 a cure for the diseased, life for the dead ; and Calvary is 
 not a composite of Sinai, but that spot on which God in 
 human nature died; looking to whom, and leaning upon 
 whom, I am the possessor of justifying righteousness. He 
 who knew no sin, was made sin for me, that I might be 
 made the righteousness of God in him. 
 
 On him were laid the iniquities of us all ; we bear his 
 righteousness, and therefore by him alone do we recover 
 every lost blessing. He did nothing worthy of death, 
 although he died ; and we shall have done nothing wor- 
 
12 PREFACE. 
 
 thy of life when we hear the glad words, "Well done, 
 good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy 
 Lord." When Jesus died, he had done nothing to deserve 
 it ; when we are admitted to glory, it will be wholly with- 
 out merit on our part. He was the spotless Lamb — we are 
 the poor stray sheep, clothed in his spotless righteousness. 
 
 There is another great truth to which the Bible bears 
 testimony — the regeneration of the heart by the Holy 
 Spirit. Regeneration is no more by baptism than justifi- 
 cation is by works : justification is our title, sanctification 
 is our qualification ; justification is our franchise, sancti- 
 fication is our fitness. This justification is by Christ's 
 work alone. This regeneration is the Holy Spirit's work 
 alone. The precious catechism of that church to which I 
 belong, and in which I have been schooled from my in- 
 fancy, says justification is an act of God's grace, and 
 sanctification is a work of God's Spirit; one is an act 
 done once for all, completely, perfectly, and for ever — the 
 other a work begun, carried on, until at length we are 
 made fit for heaven, and are removed to glory. 
 
 The Bible insists on all who have themselves felt the 
 truth — not ministers alone, but all who have received the 
 gospel — doing their utmost to make it known to those who 
 yet remain in ignorance. Psalm Ixvii. : ''God be merciful 
 unto us, and bless us." Why? "That thy way may 
 be known upon earth, and thy saving health among all 
 nations." A man who can pray thus, and then pass the 
 plate at a missionary collection, contented, it may be, with 
 
PREFACE. 13 
 
 giving nothing, or, what is worse, a trifle, does not know 
 what the gospel is, or what Christianity really means. 
 True, God can promote the gospel without our instru- 
 mentality ; but it concerns us to ascertain not what God 
 can do, but what he does — God's omnipotence is not our 
 rule of faith. We know of, and he tells us of no other 
 means. The sunbeams do not write salvation on the sky ; 
 angel voices do not chant it ; the temple of nature tells us 
 there is a God, but it tells not our relation to him. "How 
 shall they believe if they have not heard, and how shall 
 they hear without a preacher?" Take the microscopic 
 view of the city missionary, and inspect the lanes and 
 alleys of wretchedness, sin, and demoralization at home ; 
 and then with the telescope sweep the broad horizon of the 
 world from mountain top to mountain top. Behold so 
 many of the people of Europe lying in darkness ; look on 
 Asia, once the cradle of Christianity, now the battle-field 
 of the Moslem and the Jew; see Africa, steeped in bar- 
 barism, bleeding, mangled, and imploring your interposi- 
 tion. And when you have gazed on these heart-rending 
 spectacles — spectacles that look to us so shadowy, because 
 our inner vision is so dark — hear the Son of God : first 
 from the cross, and next from the throne, saying, " Go 
 teach all nations." 
 
 When the gospel has been preached as a witness to all, 
 then shall Messiah come in the clouds of heaven with power 
 and great glory, and the end shall come — the end of our dis- 
 putes, quarrels, pride, sectarianism, selfishness, vain-glory ; 
 
 2 
 
14 PREFACE. 
 
 ^ hAf^M^f^ 
 
 the end of despotism on the part of the rulers, and of insub- 
 ordination in the subjects; the end of the toils of slavery, 
 and the sufferings of martyrdom ; the end of Popery, Pa- 
 seyism. Paganism, and Mohammedanism, — the Missal, the 
 Breviary, the Shaster, and the Koran. That great rain- 
 bow of the covenant, that starts from the cross, vaults 
 into the sky, and sweeps over the throne, shall complete 
 its orbit, and rest again upon the ground, and Christ and 
 Christianity shall be all and in all. Then shall the desert 
 rejoice and blossom as the rose. Then the tree of life 
 shall be where the cypress is. Then shall nations sing 
 God's praise, and Sion recount God's marvels. Then 
 shall history retrace with new joy God's footprints. Then 
 shall the glory of Jesus sparkle in the dewdrop, and in the 
 boundless sea; in the minutest atom, and in the greatest 
 star; and this earth, restrung, retuned, shall be one grand 
 ^olian harp, swept by the breath of the Holy Spirit, 
 pouring forth those melodies which began on Calvary, and 
 shall sound through all generations. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Daniel the Prophet Dan. i 19 
 
 LECTURE IL 
 Christian Steadfastness Dan.i. 8, 9 29 
 
 LECTURE in. 
 Living to God in Little Things Dan. i.1-13 38 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 True Principle is true Expediency Dan.i.17-21 48 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 Babylon, the Golden Head Dan. ii. 37, 38 55 
 
 LECTURE VL 
 The Medo-Persian and Gr.eco-Macedonian 
 
 Empires. 
 
 .X^aji. ii.39 72 
 
 LECTURE VIL 
 The Mystic Stone smiting the Image Dan. ii. 34,35,41-45 86 
 
 LECTURE VIIL 
 
 The Kingdom op God Z)a«, ii. 31-44 100 
 
 15 
 
16 CONTENTS. 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Early Martyrs X>an. iii. 16 117 
 
 LECTURE X 
 Pride Abased Z>au. iv. 37 134 
 
 LECTURE XL 
 The Sceptre of God Z)an.iv.26 151 
 
 LECTURE XIL 
 Belshazzar's Feast Dan. v 166 
 
 LECTURE XIIL 
 Weighed and Found Wanting Z)a«. v. 24, 25 179 
 
 LECTURE XIV. 
 The Prime Minister Dan. \i.l-10 193 
 
 LECTURE XV. 
 Daniel in the Den of Lions Dan.yi.16 206 
 
 LECTURE XVL 
 The Papacy i?a)(. vii. 16-28 220 
 
 LECTURE XVII. 
 The Coming Kingdom i)a». vii. 9, 14, 22, 26, 27 238 
 
 LECTURE XVIIL 
 The Moslem Dan. viii 252 
 
 LECTURE XIX. 
 Fasting Dan.ix. 3 269 
 
CONTENTS. 17 
 
 LECTURE XX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Prayer Dan.ix.Z 283 
 
 LECTURE XXL 
 Sis, Confession, and Absolution Dan.ix. 4 298 
 
 LECTURE XXIL 
 Daniel's Litany Dan. ix. It) 312 
 
 LECTURE XXIIL 
 Messiah's Death Ban.ix. 26 327' 
 
 LECTURE XXIV. 
 The Great Sacrifice Ban. ix.26 34:5 
 
 LECTURE XXV. 
 The Mission of the Messiah JJan.ix.2i 362 
 
 LECTURE XXVL 
 Sacred Arithmetic Dan. ix.2i 376 
 
 LECTURE XXVIL 
 The Messiah the Prince Dan. ix.2a 395 
 
 LECTURE XXVIIL 
 Jerusalem and the Jews Dan.ix. 26,27 408 
 
 APPENDIX 423 
 
 INDEX 459 
 
 2* 
 
PROPHETIC STUDIES; 
 
 LECTURES ON DANIEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 LECTURE L 
 
 DANIEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 I READ the first chapter of Daniel in the course of our morning- 
 reading of the Scripture this day, and I then stated that I would 
 turn your attention in the evening to some of those studies in 
 this interesting and instructive book, which it is impossible to set 
 forth in the course of a few cursory remarks upon the lessons 
 which we usually read. 
 
 I may premise that Sir Isaac Newton, Bishop Newton, the 
 Duke of Manchester, Faber, Birks, and others — men of distin- 
 guished erudition and thorough piety — have devoted some of the 
 best of their time to the elucidation of this book, and all without 
 exception have testified to its excellence, its instructiveness, its 
 value as a clue to the knowledge of the things that are passing in 
 the history of this dispensation, and of the principles on which 
 God governs the world. Sir Isaac Newton, who explored the 
 firmanent with unwearied wing, and made an apocalypse of the 
 stars, felt that he was sounding a greater depth, and rising to a 
 loftier height, when he sat down a patient student of this book to 
 ascertain the mind, and make plain to less gifted souls the mean- 
 ing of the Spirit of God. Bishop Newton, a divine of consum- 
 mate piety, laborious research, and great talent, makes the following 
 
 19 
 
20 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 remark on this book : — " Wliat an amazing propliecy is that of 
 Daniel ! comprehending so many events, and extending through 
 so many successive ages, from the establishment of the Persian 
 empire, upward of five hundred years before Christ, to the second 
 general resurrection at the last day. What a proof of Divine 
 Providence and of Divine Ptevelation ! — for who could thus declare 
 the things that shall be, with their times and their seasons, but 
 He only who hath them in his power — whose dominion is an ever- 
 lasting dominion, and whose kingdom endureth from generation 
 to generation 1" It is a remarkable feature in the prophecies of 
 Daniel, that they deal much with figures. There is in them, if I 
 may use the expression, less of poetry, more of chronology. 
 There is no prophecy so definite ; no prophecy that so much lays 
 itself open to disproof, if it be false, or to proof if it be, as we 
 believe it to be, true. There is no prophecy which the Jew has 
 felt greater difficulty in dealing with. For the modern Jcv/ sees 
 so plainly, that if Daniel be inspired, and his chronology be of 
 God, the Messiah must have come, and that it is in vain to look 
 for another, that the more earnest Jew meets the difficulty boldly 
 by denying that the book is divine altogether, on grounds and 
 upon premises on which he may deny that there is any divinity in 
 the Old Testament at all, from the Book of Genesis to the last 
 verse of the prophet Malachi. 
 
 There is scarcely a doubt that Daniel is the g-uthor of the 
 book. It does not begin with an express assertion of the^ fact, 
 but throughout the work the most casual reader can hardly fail to 
 perceive many marks by which it is plain that Daniel himself was 
 the writer. For instance, in chap. vii. 28, he says, "I, Daniel;" 
 viii. 2, '^A vision appeared to me, Daniel.''' Ail which, and I 
 might quote other similar expressions, clearly prove that Daniel 
 is the writer of the book. 
 
 But the next question that arises is this : Is there evidence 
 that Daniel not only existed, but was the singularly favoured, ex- 
 cellent, and beautiful character that he is here represented — not 
 proclaimed to be by words, but shown to be by implication ? We 
 think there is : for instance, in Ezek. xiv. 14, " Though these 
 three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver 
 but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God." 
 
DANIEL THE PROPHET. 21 
 
 We have another allusion, almost the same, contained in Ezek, 
 xxviii. 3 : " Thou art wiser than Daniel ; there is no secret that 
 they can hide from thee." And I may state that Ezekiel was 
 contemporary with Daniel. Ezekiel was the old and experienced 
 saint, when Daniel was the young and growing, but highly fa- 
 voured Christian ; and the beautiful allusion made by the elder to 
 the wisdom and the excellence of the younger, were it not inspired, 
 would lead us at least to say. How free from envy and jealousy 
 was the aged Ezekiel as he waned from the stage, in reference to 
 Daniel, who was about to fill his jDlace, and was throwing him 
 into the shade by his greater lustre and glory ! 
 
 This book was received as authentic by the Jews prior to the 
 time of our Saviour, and was never disputed by them. It is plain 
 evidence that it existed in the Hebrew Bible — that it was trans- 
 lated by the Alexandrian Jews, three hundred years before the 
 birth of Christ, into Greek, and accordingly it exists in the Sep- 
 tuagint translation at this day. 
 
 I may also observe that the Book of Daniel, as also the Book 
 of Ezra, is written partly in the Chaldee, a language differing 
 from the Hebrew in its form and structure, but not much more 
 than Italian or Spanish differs from Latin. Any one who under- 
 stands Latin may easily master either of the two former languages ; 
 and any one who understands Hebrew has the key that unlocks 
 all the cognate Oriental languages. This language begins at 
 chap. ii. 4, where the Chaldeans, who spoke Aramcian, or Chal- 
 dee, say to the king in ''• Syriac,^' which is the same dialect, and 
 which was spoken by our Lord and by the Jews of his day, '■'■ 
 king, live for ever !" Josephus, the distinguished Jewish histo- 
 rian, bears testimony to the authenticity of this book in the fol- 
 lowing terms : "All these things did this man leave behind him, 
 writing as God had showed them to him; so that those who read 
 his prophecies, and see how they have been fulfilled, must be 
 astonished at the honour conferred by God on Daniel." Antiq. x. 
 11. This is the testimony of a Jew who was bitterly hostile to 
 Christianity; and Josephus, in his Antiquities, shows how each 
 prediction of Daniel had been fulfilled with reference to all the 
 four great monarchies except the last, which was existing in his 
 own time. But why this exception ? Because Josephus was a 
 
22 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 servant of the Eoman emperor, and lie liad not the courage to 
 proclaim that Daniel's prophecies regarding Rome had been as 
 truly fulfilled as his prophecies relating to Babylon, or to the 
 Persian or Median empire. 
 
 In the next place, our Lord and his apostles expressly refer to 
 Daniel. You are all acquainted with one allusion to him in Matt, 
 xxiv. 15 : " When ye shall see the abomination of desolation, 
 spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso 
 readeth let him understand.^') But it is perhaps no less interest- 
 ing to observe the allusions scattered through the New Testament, 
 which clearly point to expressions and prophecies contained in 
 Daniel, though the prophet himself is not expressly named. Thus, 
 for instance, in 1 Pet. i. 10, we read, " Of which salvation the 
 prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of 
 the grace that should come unto you.'' Now, on looking to Dan. 
 ix. 3, and xii. 8, we find the passages to which St. Peter refers, in 
 the former of which we read, '^ And I prayed unto the Lord my 
 God, and made my confession, and said, Lord, the great and 
 dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love 
 him," &c. ; and in the latter we read, "^ I heard, but I understood 
 not; then said I, my Lord, what shall be the end of these 
 things V &c. Hecollect these passages ; and while you recollect 
 them, let the light struck from the language of Peter fall upon 
 them, '^ Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and 
 searched diligently, what, or what manner of time the Spirit of 
 Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand 
 the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow." An- 
 other very plain allusion to Daniel is contained in 2 Thess. ii. 3, 
 where we have the delineation of the features of the Man of sin, 
 which may well be compared with what Daniel tells us of the 
 " little horn" that is to arise ^' doing great things ;" and you will 
 see that Paul in this is but the echo of Daniel ; that Paul in short 
 fills up the outline which Daniel had previously sketched. An- 
 other passage to which I may refer, is 1 Cor. vi. 2, where the 
 apostle Paul says, " Know ye not that the saints shall judge the 
 world ?" Why did the apostle thus appeal to them ? because the 
 prophet Daniel expressly declares that they will do so, when he 
 tells us in chap. vii. 22, '' Until the Ancient of days came, and 
 
DANIEL THE PROPHET. 23 
 
 judgment was given to the saints of the Most High." "What a 
 wonderful harmony is there running through the whole word of 
 God ! You cannot touch, as it were, a note in Daniel, but all 
 the apostles of the New Testament respond to it. You may have 
 noticed sometimes in a building, in a church, or a hall, that if a 
 certain note or tone be given by the speaker, the whole building 
 will instantly vibrate in harmony or in unison. In the same way, 
 you cannot touch a truth in Daniel, but tones of harmony will 
 burst from the lips of Paul and from the writings of Peter ; the 
 whole Bible, in grand harmony, revealing the mind, the will, and 
 the glory of God. 
 
 We find another allusion — the last I shall here refer to — in 
 Heb. xi. 33, ''By faith .... they stopped the mouths of lions." 
 This evidently refers to the wonderful deliverance of Daniel, 
 , recorded in this book, when cast into the den of lions by order 
 of King Darius; upon which we shall comment on a future 
 Sabbath evening. " Quenched the violence of fire." To what 
 can this relate but to the escape of the three youths, Shadrach, 
 Meshach, and Abednego, who were thrown into the fiery furnace 
 by Nebuchadnezzar, and had not even their garments singed by 
 the flames ? 
 
 These allusions, scattered through the whole New Testament, 
 show us that our Lord himself, Peter, Paul, and, I might say, all 
 the apostles, assumed the Book of Daniel to be an inspired reve- 
 lation of the mind and will of the Holy Spirit of God. 
 
 I have thus, then, I think, shown you enough from the re- 
 mainder of the Bible to prove that this book is of the Bible. 
 Some Christians among you, who long perhaps for better things, 
 and sweeter things, and higher things, will be ready to say, 
 " Why prove to us this of which we are already convinced ?" 
 So you are ; but there are many young men in every congregation 
 who are placed among nests of infidels, and who will be taunted, 
 and jeered, and scofi'ed at, for assuming or asserting the truth, 
 that the visions and the predictions of Daniel are inspired : I ask, 
 then. Is it not useful, — is it not demanded by the exigencies of 
 the age, — is it not scriptural, to endeavour to enable every man 
 to give a reason for the faith that is in him ? I know you may 
 be convinced in your hearts — and nothing is so convincing that 
 
24 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 the Bible is true as the constant waiting upon a minister who 
 makes known the precious gospel : but you need, not only what 
 will convince your own hearts that the Bible is from God, but 
 you need that which will enable you to convince others also. It 
 is most important to have money in your bank; but you will lose 
 many an advantage by the want of a little change in your 
 pocket. It is most important to have deep convictions in your 
 soul ; but it is not less valuable, in this strange world, and amid 
 its strange mixture of society, to have a little ready argument 
 which you can employ, and therewith answer a fool according to 
 his folly. 
 
 Let me notice also another line of thought, which tends to 
 convince us that Daniel wrote at the time that is here assumed, 
 and was a living participator in the events which he records. For 
 instance, it is stated in this very chapter, that the youths were 
 fed from the royal table. This is received by the ordinary reader 
 as a naked fact, but it is singularly corroborative of what we have 
 been saying ; for it was a custom peculiar to the Chaldeans and 
 the Persians, and common to no people besides ; and the quiet 
 way in which it is here alluded to as a common and a well-known 
 fact, is presumptive evidence that the record was made by an 
 individual who himself lived at the period and among the nation 
 with whom such a custom prevailed. 
 
 The change of the names of his companions from Hebrew into 
 Chaldee, is not merely a fact that accidentally occurred in this 
 particular case, but was in accordance with a custom universally 
 prevalent among the Chaldees. We have an allusion to some- 
 thing of the same kind in 2 Kings xxiv. 17, where it is said that 
 the king of Babylon changed the name of Eliakim into Jehoia- 
 kim. This, again, shows that what is recorded in this book is in 
 harmony with the age and the country in which it purports to 
 have been penned. 
 
 The method of reckoning years is evidently Babylonish. Thus, 
 in chap. ii. he says, ^^ In the second year of King Nebuchad- 
 nezzar;" whence it is plain that the writer of it wrote then, and 
 in that kingdom. You will find at once, from the way in which 
 any person writes or speaks of longitude, in what country he has 
 lived; because each country reckons longitude from its own 
 
DANIEL THE PROPHET. 25 
 
 meridian. Our meridian is a line supposed to pass through 
 Greenwich, and therefore an English writer would reckon longi- 
 tude from this point ; while a Frenchman vrould speak of longi- 
 tude as calculated from the meridian of Paris ; and a foreigner 
 of some other country would reckon it from another and a dif- 
 ferent first meridian. Thus, as the mode of reckoning longitude 
 would show the country to which the writer belonged, so the 
 allusion here contained to the mode of reckoning time, shows 
 that the narrative comes from the pen of one who was well 
 acquainted with the habits and customs of the people concerning 
 whom he wrote. 
 
 Another proof of this fact may be found in chap, ii. 5, where 
 the king commands the houses of the wise men to be " made a 
 dunghill." It would be difficult to understand this of houses 
 built of stone or of our brick ; but we must remember that the 
 houses of the Chaldeans were made of bricks of clay hardened 
 in the sun, which might easily be dissolved by violent rains, and 
 which would speedily, by the continued action of the rain and 
 moisture, be reduced to a pulp, or soft mass. 
 
 We have further evidence of Daniel's veracity and authenticity, 
 in the modes in which capital punishment is recorded to have 
 been inflicted. Casting into a heated furnace was a cruelty 
 practised only by the Chaldeans ; while casting into a den of v/ild 
 beasts was a pLinishment peculiar to the Modes and Persians. 
 You will therefore observe, that when Daniel is speaking of the 
 infliction of capital punishment under the Chaldean dynasty, he 
 mentions the former method, namely, casting into a furnace ; and 
 when speaking of its infliction under the Medo-Persian dynasty, 
 he, without saying a word about the change, relates that it was 
 to have been performed after their national manner, by casting 
 into a den of lions : thus showing how perfectly he was acquainted 
 with the manners and the customs of the age. 
 
 Again, we read, that at the great festival of Belshazzar, females 
 were present at the feast. We have the authority of Xenophon, 
 the historian of Cyrus, for saying that it was a custom peculiar 
 to Babylon, and unknown among any subsequent nations : here 
 also we see how accurately and minutely all the prophet states 
 
 3 
 
26 PllOrilETIC t^TUDlES. 
 
 accords witli the actual peculiarities of the age and country in 
 which he professes to write. 
 
 The historian Xenophon, to whom I have already referred, 
 further corroborates the prophet in his statement concerning 
 Belshazzar, for he tells us that ^Hhe last king of Babylon was 
 cruel, cowardly, and voluptuous, who despised the Deity, and 
 spent his time in riot and debauchery /' which is precisely the 
 character given by Daniel to Belshazzar. 
 
 It is Xenophon's description of Cyaxares, who may plainly be 
 proved to have been the same with Darius, that he was weak, 
 cruel, and pliable, yet furious in his anger and tyrannical in his 
 exercise of power. Compare with this the character of Darius as 
 delineated by the author of this book — a king who allowed his 
 nobles to make laws for him which were unalterable, and after- 
 ward repented and endeavoured to retract them ; who casts Daniel 
 into the den of lions for non-compliance with his orders, and then 
 spends the whole night in lamentation and remorse at the conse- 
 quence of his cruel severity — and you have here another sketch 
 from the very same original. It is thus that you catch, sounding 
 along the lapse of centuries, echoes of the grand original. It is 
 thus that the more you become acquainted with all that man's 
 learning can teach us, the more you will be convinced that what 
 prophets and apostles wrote they wrote truly, and by the inspira- 
 tion of the Holy Spirit of Grod. 
 
 I have thus alluded to these little points, but points not 
 insignificant, especially in these days when men are so anxious to 
 find matter of reproach and accusation against the Word of God. 
 But, in speaking to a Christian audience of the presumptive evi- 
 dence that Daniel wrote this book, let me beg you to notice some 
 of its grand distinctive features. Throughout the whole of this 
 book the great object of it seems to be to depress all that is 
 human, to let loose and unfold the glory of all that is divine. I 
 always regard it as the evidence of a good sermon, that it tends 
 to place the creature in the dust, and to exalt God upon his 
 throne ; and I lay it down as evidence that a book is in keeping 
 with the grand and j)ervading tone of the whole gospel, that it 
 humbles man, and exalts the Creator and the Redeemer of man. 
 liead the whole of Daniel with this idea before you, and you will 
 
DANIEL THE PROPHET. 27 
 
 see at once that it represents kingdoms and their monarchs, their 
 statesmen, their councils, their armies, their great men, their 
 magnificence and their glory, as the dust only in the balance 3 it 
 represents God as alone great — as casting down one and setting 
 up another — as the monarch of an everlasting kingdom — as 
 ^'the Ancient of Days" — as 'Uhe Living God" — the Giver of 
 wisdom — the Ruler of the present, the Eevealer of the future. 
 Throughout the hook you have these two grand ideas developed : 
 — man, how poor ! how frail ! how short-lived ! how guilty ! 
 God, how wise I how omnipotent I how sovereign ! how good ! 
 how glorious ! 
 
 Again, not the least triumphant evidence of the inspiration of 
 the Book of Daniel, is its plain and obvious fulfilment. Part of 
 it is fulfilled prophecy; part of it, by its own statements, and 
 from its own internal allusions, is plainly unfulfilled prophecy. 
 The portion of it which Daniel stated would be fulfilled within a 
 given period, has been completely fulfilled, to the very letter; and 
 that which remains to be fulfilled, we have the clearest evidence, 
 from the past and the present, will be fulfilled with equal certainty 
 and equal precision. The vision which Daniel saw by the banks 
 of the Ulai and the Hiddekel, the two great rivers of the land of 
 Shinar, has been partly fulfilled ) partly enlarged in the Apoca- 
 lypse, is now in course of fulfilment, and by-and-by will be 
 completely and perfectly accomplished. 
 
 Porphyry, the earliest and the highly celebrated skeptic, from 
 whom "and Julian the succession of skeptics traces itself,- saw so 
 plainly the fuliilment of part of the prophecies of Daniel, that 
 he declared the book to have been composed by one who lived in 
 the days of Autiochus Epiphanes. He saw so plainly that what 
 Daniel predicted had been fulfilled to the very letter, that he 
 denied it was written nearly 600 years before Christ, and main- 
 tained that it was written within 200 years of that event. But 
 the answer to this is to be found in the fact, that the Greek 
 translation from the Hebrew, called the Septuagint, was made and 
 scattered throughout the world 100 years before Autiochus 
 Epiphanes was born, and therefore that the objection of Porphyry 
 is alike untenable, unhistorical, and absurd. 
 
 It has also been objected to this book, that there are in it so 
 
28 PROrilETIC STUDIES. 
 
 many miracles and special manifestations of God that they seem 
 unnecessary, and, as it were, supererogatory, and that it is not 
 consistent with what we otherwise know of God, that he should 
 thus so frecjuently and upon so many occasions miraculously 
 manifest himself. But we must consider that at this period the 
 Jews were in captivity — their temple was destroyed — their sacred 
 rites, their sacrifices, and their ceremonies had ceased — their priests 
 and their Levites were gone. Now, would it not seem perfectly 
 natural, when all the outward signs of their religion were thus 
 removed, that God should manifest more of himself to them, in 
 order to keep up the light of religion in the absence of its out- 
 ward and visible ordinances ? Does it not seem but natural that 
 when the outer glory was shaded, the inner glory should be made 
 to shine the more brilliantly ? Does it not seem but reasonable 
 that when, in the land of their captivity, they lacked those sacred 
 symbols by which they were wont to approach God, He who is 
 not confined to temples made with hands should visit them in the 
 time of their distress, and cheer them by special and glorious 
 manifestations of himself? This has been the way of God in 
 every age; and therefore the absence, not the presence, of such 
 divine manifestations, would be a presumption against the claims 
 of this book. There is no doubt of its inspiration. Let us 
 therefore study it ; and in these studies we shall gather, not only 
 glimpses of the blessed future, but directions for our guidance 
 along the troubled present. 
 
29 
 
 LECTURE 11. 
 
 CHRISTIAN STEADFASTNESS. 
 
 ''But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defilo himself ^yith the 
 portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank : therefore he 
 requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Now 
 God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the 
 eunuchs." — Daniel i. 8, 9. 
 
 Having said so mucli by way of preface to my exposition of 
 this book, let me endeavour briefly to look at the particular verse 
 I have selected for remark, which is really a very important one. 
 " Then Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile 
 himself with the portion of the king's meat.'' Daniel, as far as 
 we can gather, was very young when he was carried away a 
 captive into Babylon. He is called " a child/' and we speak of 
 the three children; but, as I told you on a former occasion, the 
 word rendered '^ child," means ^^ a stripling," '^ a young man ;" 
 the presumption therefore is that Daniel at this time was about 
 fifteen or sixteen years of age ; and at the end of three years, 
 when after living on pulse and water he appeared much faii-er and 
 fatter in flesh than those of his countrymen who consented to 
 become partakers of the royal bounty, he was probably about 
 twenty years of age. But it may be asked, what was it that 
 made Daniel so firmly refuse to eat of the king's meat or drink 
 of the king's wine, when there was so great a temptation to do 
 so ? It could not be that he thought it sinful to drink wine, or 
 improper to dine with the king of the country. I have no doubt 
 he knew just as well as others that wine was more agreeable to 
 his taste than water, and that to dine at the royal table would bo 
 a great honour ; but the reason of his refusal was evidently this : 
 the king of Babylon, like all heathens, was in the habit of what 
 we would call " asking a blessing" before his meals, or, as it is 
 
30 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 more popularly termed, " saying grace ;" in doing wliicli lie took 
 a portion of his food and dedicated it to the god whom he 
 Y/orshipped, and also a portion of the wine he was about to drink, 
 and poured out a libation to his idol before tasting it himself; 
 and thus, as it were, consecrated, according to his idea, the whole 
 to the heathen god. Daniel now felt that he could not conscien- 
 tiously partake of it, because it would have been, as I shall 
 hereafter show, implicating himself with heathenism, and acting 
 unfaithfully to his country, his religion, and his God ; and he was 
 prepared to run all hazards rather than even appear to do so. 
 What was it, then, that made Daniel thus resolute and firm ? It 
 was this : Daniel had received an early religious education ; he 
 was not brought up at a school where he learned the world and 
 nothing more, or mere secular education to the exclusion of re- 
 ligion, just as if that were possible. He was not educated at a 
 school where he was taught what the French schoolmasters are 
 now teaching — pantheism and socialism ; but he was brought up 
 at the home of his father, where he acquired the knowledge of 
 the God of Abraham, and that savingly and with profit. Early 
 education was to Daniel, under God, the means of his preservation. 
 The deep engraving of truth upon the heart of the young is never 
 altogether effaced. Those impressions of divine truth that are 
 made on our hearts in youth often emerge in after years with all 
 the freshness and the beauty of j^esterday. Silenced they may be ; 
 extinguished they rarely are : overshadowed they may be ; but 
 obliterated they cannot be. I know, when I learned that 
 scriptural but extremely abstruse work — perhaps more so than 
 need be — "The Shorter Catechism,'' I did not understand it; in 
 those days education was not so well comprehended, and it v/as 
 not thought so necessary to explain to the understanding what 
 was to be stored in the memory, as it is now ; but my memory 
 was stored with the truths of that precious document ; and when 
 I grew up I found those truths which had been laid aside in its 
 cells as propositions which I could neither understand nor make 
 use of, become illuminated by the sunshine of after years, and, 
 like some hidden and mysterious writing, reveal in all their beauty 
 and their fulness those precious truths which I had neither seen 
 nor comprehended before, and which have been so long and are 
 
CHRISTIAN STEADFASTNESS. 31 
 
 now preached in the cliurch of my fathers, and no less so, I trust, 
 in every section of the evangelical church of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. The words spoken by parents to their children in the 
 privacy of home, or by teachers to their pupils in the more busy 
 scene of the schoolroom, are like words spoken in a whispering- 
 gallery, and will be clearly heard at the distance of years, and 
 along the corridors of ages that are yet to come. Teach your 
 children early truths, even if they cannot comprehend them, and 
 those truths, impressed upon their minds when young, will prove 
 like the lode-star to the mariner upon a dark and stormy sea, 
 associated with a mother's love, with a father's example, with the 
 roof-tree beneath which they lived and loved, and will prove 
 mighty in after life to mould the man and enable him to adorn 
 and improve the age in which he is placed. The heart of a child 
 is ductile ; it is a soft soil, into which we may cast seed which 
 shall either produce poisonous weeds, or spring up and expand 
 into fruit-bearing trees, lleverence the child — that little white 
 pinafore in the infant-school ought to be looked upon at least as 
 reverently as the black apron of the most learned bishop or arch- 
 bishop that ever lived. It has an importance that you cannot 
 over-estimate ; that child may play a part that shall be terrible as 
 that of a Napoleon — the scourge of nations 3 or beautiful as that 
 of Daniel — the faithful amid the faithless many, " Train up a 
 child in the way he sliould go," — mark the words, not '' in the 
 way he would go," that is -the French system of education; but 
 " in the way he should go — and when he is old he will not depart 
 from it. 
 
 Let me notice another feature in the prophet. Daniel was of 
 noble, if not of royal birth. He was of the royal tribe of Judah ; 
 and this shows us that while '^not many mighty, not many noble 
 are called," there are some even of the highest rank who have 
 adorned by their practice the faith which they professed. Isaiah 
 and Daniel were of the royal tribe ; David was a shepherd-boy ; 
 Amos was a herdsman ; Zechariah, a captive from Babylon ; 
 Elisha, a ploughman ; so that we have among the Old Testament 
 prophets, the prince and the peasant, the noble and the commoner, 
 all equally inspired by the Spirit of God, and proclaiming with 
 equal distinctness the truths of the everlasting gospel. I know 
 
32 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 that the minister of the gospel should look upon the conversion 
 of a single soul as transcending and eclipsing every thing ; but 
 under the present constitution of society — whether that constitu- 
 tion be good or bad, it is not for me here to discuss — rank and 
 wealth and power have a mighty influence, and we ought specially 
 to thank God when families occupying the highest place in the 
 land are found, as they are found, more and more every day, 
 allying themselves to that which gives splendour to the most 
 ancient coronet, and grandeur to the mightiest and most illustrious 
 crown. Daniel then was of the royal tribe, and probably of the 
 royal family, a man of rank and dignity, and he enlisted all his 
 power and all his influence in the service of his country, his 
 religion, and his God. 
 
 In the third place, Daniel and his throe friends were evidently 
 scholars; they were men of learning and talent. Daniel was 
 skilled in all the secular as well as the religious knowledge of his 
 country ; and when we contend for sacred education, you must 
 not suppose that we mean to imply that secular and scientific 
 knowledge is useless to you, or in any way to disparage the pur- 
 suit of it. Only read the subsequent part of this chapter, and 
 you will find that Daniel was skilled in all the learning of the 
 times, and it proved of eminent advantage to him and his coun- 
 trymen. For aught we know, those Babylonians, gazing upon 
 the starry firmament in that splendid atmosphere, and in that 
 glorious climate upon the plains of Shinar, may have had a know- 
 ledge of astronomy which might make even Newton look less 
 if we only knew all that the Chaldeans knew. Daniel, however, 
 was a Hebrew, and was taught in the Hebrew school — science 
 associated with religion. And such knowledge proved of use 
 to him, for it was a great means of his exaltation to power. At 
 the present day the possession of sound secular knowledge, in 
 India, for instance, is of very great importance. I need not tell 
 you that among the Hindoos in India we have 100,000,000 of 
 fellow-subjects ; with them science is always most intimately con- 
 nected with religion, so much so that it is one of the principles 
 of their creed that all knowledge is equally inspired. They be- 
 lieve their chemistry, their astronomy, their geology, to be as 
 much inspired as any principle in their religion. If, then, you 
 
CrilUSTlAN STEADFASTNESS. S3 
 
 can prove to a Hindoo that any part of liis science is wrong, you 
 have not only made him a better philosopher, hut you have taken 
 out a stone from the very arch of which his whole system of be- 
 lief is composed. When the Church of Scotland sent out her 
 missionaries, she made the experiment ; but when they tried to 
 teach the Hindoos science as well as religion, some people said, 
 " What, are missionaries going out from a Christian church to 
 teach astronomy T' and certainly the objection seemed plausible 
 enough : but the result has proved how complete was the popular 
 misapprehension. To give an instance of the advantages arising 
 from the course we adopted, I may state, that the Hindoos believe 
 that the earth is not a round globe, but an extended plain ; and 
 that when an eclipse takes place, it is some great animal whose 
 shadow produces this effect upon the moon, and that it betokens 
 some disaster : but when one of our missionaries proved to a 
 Brahmin what is the true figure of our globe, and demons^trated 
 to him that an eclipse would take place on a certain day, and at 
 a certain hour, and would be visible at a certain place, he had 
 proved to the Brahmin that what he believed to be an inspired 
 dogma was a gross scientific blunder; and by so doing he not 
 only made the Brahmin a better philosopher, which was not worth 
 doing, but he succeeded in shaking his faith in his whole system 
 of religious belief, and thus led him to infer that if one article in 
 his creed were false, might not all its articles be false together ? 
 This shows us the great importance of teaching scientific know- 
 ledge. Now, Daniel was acquainted with all branches of know- 
 ledge, and it was of great use to him, as it ever will be in the 
 hand and under the control of religion. So connected it becomes 
 a Levite in the temple of God, a handmaid of the bride. It acts 
 as a pioneer of the gospel till the spoils that are taken from 
 Egypt shall beautify the temple of Salem, and all nature bring 
 its trophies to adorn the Redeemer's triumph. 
 
 It is evident, in the next place, that though the king of Baby- 
 lon liked Daniel the scholar, he did not much like Daniel the 
 Christian. He wished Daniel and his friends to be taught all the 
 learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans ; and he wished him at 
 the same time to be taught to serve the gods and sympathize with 
 the religion of the Chaldeans. The king liked Daniel's scholar- 
 
84 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 ship, but not his religion. lie would gladly avail liiinfcelf of 
 Daniel's science ; but he would have liked it separate and dis- 
 tinct from Daniel's religion. So it is with the world still ; men 
 admire an eloquent sermon^ if there be not much gospel in it — 
 they are pleased with an argumentative discourse, if it does not 
 touch some tender part of their consciences. There are many 
 who would be delighted with Christianity if they could only get 
 rid of that continual appeal to their conscience which runs through 
 the Bible. They have the greatest respect for the decencies of 
 Christianity, and would even tolerate real Christianity, provided 
 it does not become too earnest — too urgent for supremacy and 
 mastery in the human heart. 
 
 But the king of Babylon not only wished to unteach Daniel 
 his Christianity; but, in order to detach him still more completely 
 from his Hebrew associations, he changed his name. He had 
 the more reason for doing so in this case, because the names 
 of each of the three children had ^^ God'' in it, and thus served 
 to remind them of the religion they professed. But every name 
 which the Chaldee monarch gave them was either merely civil and 
 social, or contained an allusion actually idolatrous. " Daniel,'^ 
 for instance, signifies ^^ God my Judge ;" '^ Hananiah,'' the oii- 
 ginal of the Latin "John,'' means "Grace of Jehovah;" "Mi- 
 shael," "Asked of God;" "Azariah," "The Lord is my Keeper." 
 These names were to the exiled youths, witnesses for God, and 
 mementos of the faith of their fathers. The king of Babjdon, 
 therefore, called Daniel " Belteshazzar," which means, "The 
 treasurer of the god Bel;" Hananiah he called " Shadrach," 
 "The messenger of the king;" and Mishael he called "Meshach," 
 a name denoting, "The devotee of the goddess Shesach;" and 
 Azariah had his name changed into- " Abed-nego," which signifies 
 "The servant of Nego," one of the gods of Babylon. Thus 
 Nebuchadnezzar heathenized their names, in hopes that he might 
 thereby be the better able to heathenize their hearts. There is 
 much in a name. A great poet has said — 
 
 " What's in a name ? tliat ■\vliich we call a rose 
 By any other name Tfould smell as sweet." 
 
 Abstractedly and logically, he is correct ; but practically we find 
 
CHRISTIAN STEADFASTNESS. 35 
 
 that there is a great deal in a name. So thought the king of 
 Babylon; and when he changed the names of the young Hebrew 
 captives, he imagined that he had made a grand step toward 
 changing their creed and their character. But in this he was 
 mistaken : the alteration of names did not alter the conduct of 
 those that bore them. The Hebrew youths made no resistance, 
 but quietly took the names assigned them, just as Christians have 
 ever taken patiently the reproaches of the world, and borne them 
 joyfully; but, even in this new nomenclature, they heard the un- 
 dertone or echo of those dear and holy names which their fathers 
 had given them ; and they felt that though a tyrant might change 
 their names, no tyrant can change a Christian's conviction or a 
 Christian's heart. Neither the sheepskins nor the goatskins of 
 the martyrs made them less lovely before God ; the beauty of the 
 king's daughter is not a beauty that man can make or mar; her 
 beauty is within, it is a moral — a hidden, and so a lasting beauty. 
 The king of Babylon, we read, yet further to identify these 
 four Hebrew youths with himself and his religion, sent them food 
 from the royal table. Yv'e know that this was a mark of great 
 generosity. It was, as it were, saying to these Hebrew youths, 
 If you will become priests of our temple, we will give you an 
 endowment from the state. I do not say here whether endow- 
 ment is right or wrong. Truth can do without it, and may law- 
 fully take it; but truth is not to be promoted by the sword, 
 neither is error to be maintained by the treasury. This sending 
 them meat from the royal table was a mark of esteem — a degree 
 of preferment ; and as such it should be received with gratitude ; 
 but it was refused in this case because it involved the sacrifice 
 of principle. Every Jew was forbidden by the law to eat any 
 but animals of certain classes which v/ere called clean. Herein 
 lay one objection to the Hebrew youths accepting the proiFered 
 honour of eating from the royal table. But whether our meat 
 be from the table of the monarch or elsewhere, it must not lead 
 us to abandon one jot of what we believe to be true, or to adopt 
 the least item of what we believe to be unscriptural and untrue. 
 The object of the king, as I have explained to you, was partly to 
 engage their sympathies with heathenism, and partly to identify 
 
36 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 them more with the idol gods whom he worshipped. But another 
 ODJection on the part of Daniel and his friends arose from the 
 fact, to which I have before alluded, that it was customary with 
 the Chaldeans, as with other heathen nations, always to com- 
 mence their meals by the dedication of their food to tlie idols 
 whom they adored. Speaking of this subject, the apostle tells 
 us, 1 Cor. X. 27, 28, '^If any of them that believe not bid you 
 to a feast, and ye be disposed to go ; whatsoever is set before you, 
 eat, asking no question for conscience' sake : but if any man say 
 unto you, This is oifered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his 
 sake that showed it, and for conscience' sake." This was just 
 the case of the Hebrew youths; and in settling this question 
 they argued thus: '^ Shall I," said Daniel, "ask my conscience, 
 or shall I ask my appetite ? shall I cease to live as an Israelite, 
 or shall I cease to live as the protege of my royal master ? shall 
 I give up the dignity reflected from the throne, or shall I give 
 up the honour that cometh from Grod only ?" Had Daniel been 
 one of those modern easy, accommodating Christians, who when 
 they go to Rome say, "• We must do as Eome does," and when 
 they go to Constantinople, "We must do as Constantinople does," 
 he would have acted very differently. But he felt that truth has 
 no latitude ; the living religion of the living God knows no lon- 
 gitude. It is to be the same in London as in Paris; it is to 
 have supremacy in all countries and in all climes; whether in 
 Constantinople, or in Rome, or in England, we must be the wor- 
 shippers of the living God, by Christ the living way, and through 
 the teaching of the Holy Spirit, the comforter of all that believe. 
 My dear friends, make the world bow to your religion ; never let 
 your religion bow to the world. Let the world fail, and let give 
 way who will, the earnest Christian and the honest man never ■ 
 will give way. Do not try to be rude ; that is not necessary. 
 Do not offensively obtrude what you believe upon others; but 
 when it is demanded — when you are called upon to sacrifice your 
 principles and to deny your Lord, remember that there can be 
 little hesitation when the question is whether you are to obej^ 
 God, or to obey man. Daniel so acted, and Daniel was blessed 
 in doing so. 
 
 Be ye followers of Daniel, and of all " those who through faith 
 
CHRISTIAN STEADFASTNESS. 37 
 
 and patience inherited the promises." Study Daniel, and copy 
 him, as far as he copied Christ. We admire this star, because it 
 shines in the light of Christ the original. 
 
 " Faithful found 
 Among tho faithless; faithful only ho, 
 Among innumerable false ; unmoved, 
 Unshaken, unseduced, unterrified. 
 His loyalty he kept, his love and zeal. 
 Nor number nor example with him wrought 
 To swerve from truth, or change his constant mind. 
 Though single." 
 
LECTURE III. 
 
 LIVING TO GOD IN LITTLE THINGS. 
 
 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judali came Nebuchad- 
 nezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. And the Lord gave 
 Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house 
 of God : which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god ; 
 and he brought the vessels into the treasure-house of his god. And the king 
 spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain 
 of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes ; chil- 
 dren in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, 
 and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had abi- 
 lity in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the 
 learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed them a 
 daily provision of the king's meat, and of the wine which he drank : so 
 nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before 
 the king. Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Haua- 
 niah, Mishael, and Azariah : unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave 
 names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar ; and to Hanna- 
 niah, of Shadrach ; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abed- 
 nego. But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself 
 with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank : 
 therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile 
 himself. Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the 
 prince of the eunuchs. And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I 
 fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for 
 why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of 
 your sort? then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king. Then 
 said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, 
 Ilananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten 
 days ; and let them give u^ pulse to eat, and water to drink. Then let our 
 countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children 
 that cat of the portion of the king's meat : and as thou seest, deal with thy 
 servants." — Daniel i. 1-13. 
 
 In my introductory discourse upon this truly interesting book, 
 I have endeavoured first of all to show you that the assumption 
 that the book was written at the epoch at which it is said to have 
 been written, viz. about six hundred years before the birth of 
 
LIVING TO GOD IN LITTLE TIHNGS. 39 
 
 Christj can be proved to be fact by internal as well as collateral 
 evidence. I quoted various passages from the book itself in proof 
 of this fact, for most of which I am indebted to Hengstenberg, 
 the celebrated German vindicator of the Book of Daniel and of 
 the Pentateuch; and I showed from several circumstances that 
 the book must have been penned at the time, in the country, and 
 under the circumstances in which it professes to have been 
 written. 
 
 I then referred to the circumstances in which the four captive 
 Hebrew youths were placed. They had been brought up in the 
 knowledge of the true God, and in the eujoyment of all the reli- 
 gious privileges of Jerusalem ; and now, in the land of their cap- 
 tivity, and among their heathen conquerors, the principles they 
 had imbibed in their youth were put to the severest test. 
 
 I endeavoured from these facts to draw the inference, that a 
 Christian education is one of the greatest blessings you can bestow 
 on those that are around you. The infant generation of to-day 
 are the adult generation of to-morrow; and very much what we 
 now make them, that they will be. As Christian men we must 
 feel it hard and painful to see the child — the all but child — 
 brought up at the police court, and sent to the treadmill, or 
 banished to Botany Bay, when we recollect that it is those who 
 read the intelligence who are to be blamed for leaving that child 
 without the means of Christian and scriptural instruction ; and 
 it may be that much of the blood of those that thus perish in 
 their sins may lie at our door. At all events, no Christian con- 
 gregation is warranted in being without a Christian school ; and 
 the larger and the more influential the congregation, the larger 
 and the better supported ought the school to be. Depend upon 
 it, that the first lesson a son receives from a mother is the last 
 lesson that a son recollects upon earth ; and though the earliest 
 truths that we are taught at school may be silenced for a season, 
 or overborne by the din and the roar of the wheels and the ma- 
 chinery of mammon, yet the hour will come when that earl}' 
 lesson, as if touched by some living influence, will instantly revive 
 in all its beauty and its freshness ; and, as in the case of John 
 Newton, when tossed upon the tempestuous deep, conscience will 
 reason of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come. So 
 
40 rROniETlC STUDIES. 
 
 it was in the case of Daniel ; the lessons he had learned in his 
 childhood were the lessons that guided him, comforted him, 
 strengthened him, when a captive in the midst of Babylon. 
 
 I noticed another feature; namely, that Nebuchadnezzar the 
 king, seeing these youths well instructed, evidently well educated, 
 and one of them, there is reason to believe, of royal lineage, was 
 j anxious to make them adopt his religion. He did not try on this 
 occasion the great blunder that is sometimes perpetrated, of driving 
 them into his religion, or persecuting and punishing them — as if 
 the punishment of the body could, in any case, promote the con- 
 viction of the soul. He tried a far more artful plan. First of 
 all, he changed their names ; for he knew that so long as they 
 were called by their Hebrew names, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, 
 and Azariah, so long there would be in their names mementos of 
 early lessons and early associations. He therefore determined 
 upon the expedient — and it was a most clever though in this 
 case, by the grace of Grod, an unsuccessful one — of changing the 
 names of the Hebrew youths ; hoping that, as they forgot their 
 names, they would forget the creed with which they were asso- 
 ciated. As I told you, every one of these three names denotes 
 something in connection with God, and thereby served to remind 
 them of the religion of their fathers. He therefore called Daniel, 
 Belteshazzar; Hananiah, Shadrach; Mishael, Meshach; and Aza- 
 riah, Abed-nego : which were all names containing some allusion 
 to his heathen idols. A Christian name is a very beautiful thing; 
 and we should always prefer to give our children names that in 
 themselves are eloquent with whatever things are pure and beau- 
 tiful and just, or which are by their associations connected with 
 the good and great who have preceded us to glory. And we can- 
 not but sometimes lament, when we are called upon to baptize a 
 child by some name that reminds us of the gods of Greece or 
 Rome, or the idols of the heathen, and not of those sainted names 
 that have passed before us into immortalit}^ 
 
 After this plan had been adopted by Nebuchadnezzar he fol- 
 lowed it up by another. He thought that these Hebrew youths, 
 having had their names thus changed, might, by Chaldean food, 
 be made much more easily the subjects of Chaldean instruction. 
 He, therefore, did not allow them to be fed on the ordinary food 
 
LIVING TO GOD IN LITTLE THINGS. 41 
 
 of captives, but lie ordered that they should receive their meat 
 from the king's table. Daniel immediately refused it — some 
 would say, on very paltry grounds. Those very liberal Chris- 
 tians, but whom I venture to call very latitudinarian Christians ; 
 for it is very possible to be liberal and yet not to be latitudina- 
 rian ; liberal all Christianity bids us be — latitudinarian not one 
 verse of it authorizes us to be ; we cannot be too liberal in con- 
 ceding to a brother the largest husk of prejudice ; we cannot be 
 too strict in refusing to compromise the least living seed of vital 
 and essential truth; — now, some of these 'liberal," or rather, as 
 I said, latitudinarian Christians, would have said that when Daniel 
 refused the king's meat, and preferred pulse and water, he was a 
 very scrupulous Jew ; others would have said, perhaps he thought 
 that drinking wine was in itself sinful, and that water alone was 
 lawful ; others would say, he need not have been so very strict in 
 Babylon as he was in Jerusalem ; that in Rome men should do as 
 Rome does ; in Constantinople men should do as Constantinople 
 does ; and in London men should do as London does. How can 
 any one seriously say so ? Is duty a thing of latitude and longi- 
 tude ? Does that which is a duty here become the reverse there ? 
 If I read my Bible right — if I interpret the first lessons of con- 
 science right, duty is like its God, the same everywhere; and 
 what is a duty, and loyalty, and allegiance to Him, is the same 
 whether amid polar snows or in the torrid zone ; in Rome, where 
 the superstitious hierarch reigns ; or in Constantinople, where the 
 fallen star and the crescent are. Daniel felt it so, and he there- 
 fore refused the royal bounty. But you ask, was there a valid 
 ground for refusing it ? I answer there was ; and I thus explain 
 the reason of it. Among the heathens, before commencing a 
 meal, the meat was first offered or dedicated to the Lares or house- 
 hold gods, and a portion of the wine was poured out as a libation 
 to the idols whom they adored. What we call '' saying grace,'' 
 or, to use a much more Christian phrase, " asking a blessing," 
 was among them performed by offering a portion of the meat and a 
 portion of the wine to the presiding divinities of their houses. The 
 apostle Paul, in his Epistle to the Corinthians, reasons thus upon 
 the subject: "It is nothing to you, of course, that he has done so; 
 but if he means to entrap you into an expression of sympathy with 
 
42 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 his idolatry, by eating of his food thus dedicated to an idol, then 
 ' you must abstain from it." Daniel acted on this principle ; and he 
 preferred the pulse and water, the least nutritious of the elements of 
 nature, to the daintier cheer of the royal table ; because he would 
 rather have had, what I trust you would rather have, the smiles 
 of your God from heaven, than the patronage of the mightiest 
 king that ever swayed a sceptre upon the earth. 
 
 Time would not permit me, in my last lecture, to draw all the 
 practical lessons from this fact which I had intended to do. I 
 will, therefore, turn your attention to them now. Daniel's refusal 
 seemed, at first sight, somewhat uncalled for. Refusing the meat 
 from the royal table, and the wine from the royal cellar, seemed, 
 I say, frivolous to the worldling, but it involved a great principle. 
 His refusal seemed small to the eye, but it was the turning point 
 ..,of his Christianity. To have acted otherwise would have been no 
 concession of a prejudice — it would have been no mere giving way 
 in matters of detail ) it would have been surrender of principle — 
 compromise of truth — apostasy from his religion j and Daniel felt 
 that it was a light thing to be judged of man, for He that judged 
 him was Grod. And have not we something to learn from Daniel's 
 conduct ? He was placed under a darker dispensation, when the 
 belief of Christ spoke good things, but spoke them faintly ; while 
 we are placed in a brighter dispensation, where, as I showed you 
 in a morning discourse, the belief of Christ speaks better things, 
 and speaks them eloquently and distinctly. Are there not some 
 among us, against whom these Hebrew captives will rise up in 
 judgment in this matter? Are there any here who would sacri- 
 Ifice their conscience, with its awful rec|uirements, to their tempo- 
 I rary and worldly convenience ? who would stifle the convictions 
 ; that are deepest in order to gain some temporary and evanescent 
 advantage — who would give iip an article in their creed rather 
 
 (than miss a good place, or lose a valuable living ? Are there any 
 here who would risk the condemnation of their God rather than 
 incur the sneer of man, or lose the king's meat when that meat is 
 the most rich, or the king's wine when it is red in the cup ? If 
 such there be, Daniel even now ris^s from his grave, and will rise 
 at the resurrection morn and bear witness against them, for seek- 
 ing their temporal advantage — though in so doing I shall show 
 
LIVING TO GOD IN LITTLE THLXGS. 43 
 
 that they kave missed it — and forgetting and neglecting their eter- 
 nal and inexhaustible obligations to God. If this be so, listen to \ 
 this the first great lesson that I draw from the passage before us. 
 The Lord said, " He that is faithful in a little is faithful also : 
 in much ; and he that is unjust in a little is unjust also in 
 much."^ There is more force, more point, more application to our- 
 selves in this sentence, than we are sometimes disposed to admit. 
 Many Christians are like Naaman the Syrian, ever trying to do 
 some great thing, and thinking that if a great crisis were to come, 
 they would have their nerves prepared to meet it, and in God's ; 
 strength they would be able to triumph. Many Christians tell 
 us that they cannot find a place large enough for the discharge of l 
 their duties ; to them religion becomes a sort of romance ; and in- \ 
 stead of quietly laying one brick upon the earth, they are con- 
 stantly building a thousand castles in the air — instead of discharg- 
 ing the plain every-day duty, and showing their faithfulness and 
 love in it, they pass life in looking for some grand occasion for the 
 display of their Christian virtues — thinking that though they can- 
 not live as Christians should live, if the crisis were to come they 
 would die as martyrs have died. You are mistaken. If you can- 
 not be faithful in the least, you cannot be faithful in much. I 
 believe it to be a very important thought, that there are no little 
 things in morals, though there may be little things in matter. 
 Have not you yourselves found that many a great crisis which has 
 absorbed your whole soul for years, has left yet upon it no deep 
 impression that survives at the present moment ? And I appeal 
 to some other man's experience; has not sometimes a random con- 
 versation in a railway carriage — an accidental interview with a 
 friend in the place of business — the turning of your foot into a 
 place of worship that was near, because it rained, instead of going 
 to your usual place of worship at a greater distance — have not lit- 
 tle things such as these, and such as we call so, become the turn- 
 ing points in your character ; so that, humanly speaking, if some 
 such apparently small event had not taken place, the whole after 
 conduct of your life would have been changed ? Thus we learn that 
 events which seem to us frivolous and unimportant, may become 
 the Thermopylae of a Christian's conflict, the Marathon of a nation's 
 being J the turning point of everlasting life or everlasting death. 
 
 ^- 
 
44 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 Let me notice in the next place, in order to vindicate and en- 
 force faithfulness in what are called little things — for it was Da- 
 niel's faithfulness in things such as these, which gave tone and 
 complexion to his whole after life — that in the providence and the 
 creation of God, you will find that God as Creator, or God as 
 Provider, expends as much care, wisdom, time, if I may use the 
 expression, certainly attention, on the very least things as he does 
 on the very greatest. If you examine the petal of a rose you 
 T/ill find it as exquisitely and as delicately tinted and touched by 
 the pencil of God as the largest star that shines and stands like a 
 sentinel before the throne of God. If you take the mightiest orb 
 that the telescope brings within your horizon, you will find that 
 it is not finished with greater care than the smallest molecule of 
 matter that the microscope reveals to your view. In all God's 
 works you will see infinite detail, exquisite elaboration of the 
 minutest and the most microscopic things, patient labour, process, 
 attention; and if we would be like God, let us take care to be 
 faithful in the very least duty as well as in the largest sacrifice 
 that he requires of us. 
 
 In the next place, if you will notice that sublime life — which 
 is sublimer than providence, more stupendous than creation — 
 the life of the Son of God upon earth, you will notice v/hat has 
 often* been overlooked, that, according to the same great analogy, 
 Jesus paid attention to little things in his life, as great, as marked, 
 as striking, as to the greatest acts that he did. And I have felt it 
 in my own mind, as well as noticed it in others, that when we 
 quote the character of Jesus, and are trying to show how grand 
 it was, we point to him stretching out his hand, laying it upon the 
 crested waves of the unruly ocean, and making it lie down and be 
 still; we quote him turning water into wine, opening the closed 
 eye, and unstopping the deaf ear. And we say how great was He ! 
 But I doubt whether these are the highest proofs of the greatness 
 of the Son of God. You find, at all events, that while he could thus 
 display his mighty power in these great things, he yet descended 
 to what you would call very minute things. I watch him, and I 
 find him one moment speaking in beautiful but truth-breathing 
 tones to Martha, exhorting her not to be over anxious about the 
 affiiirs of her household. I find him again sitting down weary 
 
LIVING TO GOD IN LITTLE THINGS. 45 
 
 and wayworn at tlie well of Samaria^ and expending upon one 
 poor woman more of eloquent, and earnest, and impressive reason- 
 ing than lie ever expended npon kings, and counsellors, and 
 high-priests. 
 
 And just after he had wrought the great miracle of turning the 
 few loaves and fishes into food for five thousand, you find him 
 closing that stupendous evidence of stupendous power, by bidding 
 his disciples gather up the crumbs that remained in order that 
 nothing might be lost. Or, to notice a yet more striking instance, 
 when he hung upon the cross in that dire and bitter agony which 
 is so graphically recorded by the Evangelists, and which Chris- 
 tians, Sabbath after Sabbatli, commemorate, with the whole 
 burden of a world's transgressions resting upon him, do you 
 recollect that touching and affecting fact, that while one moment 
 he could cry, in anguish which no language can depict, '^ Eli, Eli, 
 lama sabachthani?'' ^^ My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken 
 me ?" the next moment he descends to say to John, '' Behold thy 
 mother !" committing, even in this hour of overwhelming sorrow, 
 a weeping mother to the care of a faithful friend. And when, 
 having completed the stupendous work in which he was engaged, 
 he rose triumphant from the grave — when the great stone was 
 rolled away at his bidding, and all the obstructions of the tomb 
 were rent asunder at his word, do you remember, what we might 
 consider a very petty and trivial incident, but really not so, that 
 we are told by the Evangelist that the napkin that had been 
 wrapped around the Saviour's head was found, not left behind in 
 a state of confusion, but rolled up and laid aside by itself? and 
 how he said to the women whose affection led them first to the 
 sepulchre, "Go and tell my disciples and Peter?" What 
 attention to little things ! What care over minute things ! What 
 faithfulness in that which is least as well as in that which is 
 great ! — a precedent and an example that we should follow in his 
 steps. 
 
 There is often as much real religion to be shown in little things 
 as in great things. You have in Daniel all the feeling and the 
 religious principle that a martyr would require for a martyr's 
 triumphs, but it is exhibited in a circumstance the most minute 
 and apparently unimportant. As great love may be displayed to 
 
46 PROriiETlC STUDIES. 
 
 our relatives in attention to little things, as in great and laborious 
 sacrifices. Peter could unsheatli his sword, and cut off the ear 
 of Malchus to defend his Master; but Peter could not help 
 denying his Lord when accused by the servants of being a friend 
 of Jesus. We have learned little Christianity if we have not 
 learned this, that it needs as much grace to live divinely as it 
 does to die divinely. It is possible to give our bodies to be 
 burned, and to distribute all our goods to feed the poor, and yet 
 not to have that love which endureth all things, beareth all things, 
 hopeth all things, and is the highest evidence of our connection 
 ■with and our belonging to God. Then, my dear friends, feeling 
 this — seeing that there is weight in what I have now said, be- 
 cause there is truth in it, let us seek to be thus faithful in that 
 which is least. Let us ever remember that to be singular for the 
 mere sake of singularity is absurd ; but to be singular when the 
 call of duty and faithfulness to God demands it, is the evidence 
 of a true Christian. Let us purpose, like Daniel, not to defile 
 ourselves with any meat, even though it be the king's. It may 
 be unfashionable, but it is Christian. It may look occasionally 
 singular, but it is the singularity of principle, not the singularity 
 of caprice. It may cost us much self-denial, but it is a part of 
 our welfare. It may be construed as scrupulosity or fastidious- 
 ness, but it is really an element of Christian character. And if 
 we desire to be steadfast and to conquer in the minute as well as 
 in the mighty, in the least as well as in the greatest, let us re- 
 collect that we have the same source of strength -and of victory 
 that Daniel had, " Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, 
 saith the Lord of hosts ;" only we must not, as some persons do, 
 confound two things that differ completely. They think they 
 cannot be faithful without being very rude; they fancy they, 
 cannot be true to God without being very discourteous, and per- 
 haps very vulgar in their expressions toward man. Now, whether 
 vulgarity and rudeness be sins or virtues, it is needless to discuss; 
 at all events they arc not certainly evidence that there is faith- 
 fulness along with them. Notice Daniel's example. He combines 
 all the courtesy of the most finished courtier, with all the stead- 
 fastness of the most devoted Christian. When he was told that 
 his name should be changed he bore it with all meekness ; the 
 
LIVING TO GOD IN LITTLE THINGS. 47 
 
 ancient followers of the cross were clothed with sheepskins and 
 goatskins ; thcj wandered in deserts and caves of the earthy being 
 destitute, afflicted, tormented ; thej were branded with every 
 ignominy, and regarded by all men as the very off-scouring of the 
 earth. Yet they took it all patient!}^ — so did Daniel bear Ids 
 cross ; but when it came to a point of principle, when he was 
 ordered to eat the king's meat, and thereby deny his religion, wc 
 do not find him fly into a furious state of excitement, or use the 
 language of bravado ; there was no outbreak of temper, no 
 boasting, no insolence or defiance. He did not say, ^' Tell the 
 king I will not do so." That would have been violence, rude- 
 ness, insolence — the least effective and the least expedient. He 
 had confidence in his religious principles ; he trusted in the good-^ 
 ness of his cause ; he relied upon the God whom he served ; and 
 the reply which he made to Melzar, whom the prince of the 
 eunuchs had set over him and his fellows, was this, '' Prove thy 
 servants, I beseech thee,'' — the language of perfect respect, — 
 '' ten days ; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink. 
 Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the 
 countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king's 
 meat : and as thou seest, deal with thy servants." What gentle- 
 ness and courtesy ! as well as what a sanctified heart ! the highest 
 Christianity is always associated with the highest courtesy. My 
 conviction is that none but a finished Christian can be a finished 
 gentleman ; for if there be genuine Christianity in the heart, 
 the manners will be but the outward evidences of the inward 
 feelings of the heart — gentle, beautiful, courteous, bearing all 
 things, hoping all things, enduring all things. We find that 
 Melzar was so charmed and delighted to see so much self-denial 
 united to so great courtesy and gentleness that he immediately 
 permitted the experiment to be made, and the result is stated in 
 verse 15, that at the end of ten days their countenances were 
 found fairer and fatter in flesh than those of the children that did 
 eat of the king's meat. 
 
48 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 TRUE PRINCIPLE IS TRUE EXPEDIENCY. 
 
 "As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all 
 learning and wisdom : and Daniel had understanding in all visions and 
 dreams. Now at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring 
 them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchad- 
 nezzar. And the king communed with them : and among them all was 
 found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they 
 before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding that the king 
 inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and as- 
 trologers that were in all his realm. And Daniel continued even unto the first 
 year of king Cyrus." — Daniel i. 17-21. 
 
 The next lesson that we have to draw from the closing verses 
 of the chapter is a very important one — it is the result of Daniel's 
 experiment. Was Daniel a loser by his firm adherence to principle ? 
 Not at all; it was all the very reverse. We find that Daniel's 
 faithfulness to conscience^ his allegiance to his God, his courteous 
 but firm refusal to do that which was sinful, was even in this world 
 blessed to him, and even in temporal aifairs turned to his advan- 
 tage. Now I wish young men especially to look at this; because 
 the lesson that I am drawing from it is a much needed one. The 
 four children were found at the end of ten days to have been so 
 blessed of God, that not only were they, as we have seen, fairer and 
 fatter in flesh than any of the children — i. e. the children of Israel 
 — who gave up their consciences and ate of the king's meat ; but the 
 result was, in the end, that in all matters of knowledge and skill, 
 they were many times wiser than all the magicians and astrologers 
 that were in all the realm. God honoured his servants. The 
 result of this faithfulness to God was promotion in the palace and 
 the favour of the king. 
 
 The lesson, therefore, that I draw from the whole subject is in 
 these words : '' Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteous- 
 
TRUE PRINCIPLE IS TRUE EXPEDIENCY. 40 
 
 ness, and all other things will be added unto you.'' In other 
 words, make religion the great thing, and all the rest that you 
 want will fall into its place. You have heard of, and many of 
 you have probably read Josephus, the Jewish historian. He 
 was the servant of the Roman emperors, Titus and Vespasian, 
 and of course he was anxious, as you might expect in a man 
 not troubled with very much conscience or very much religion, to 
 please and propitiate his masters as much as possible. He thus 
 comments upon the conduct of Daniel and his fellows in prefer- 
 ring pulse and water to wine and meat from the royal table. Of 
 course, he could not say that it was Daniel's refusal to patronize 
 or to connive at the idolatry of the heathen that made him 
 so accepted and beloved, for this would have been to offend his 
 Roman masters, who were worshippers of similar idols; but he 
 gives this explanation : — ^'By the diet they took they had their 
 minds in some measure more pure and less burdened, and so fit 
 for learning, and had their bodies in better condition for hard 
 labour; for they neither had the former oppressed with variety of 
 meats, nor the latter effeminate on the same account ; so they rea- 
 dily amassed all the learning of the Hebrews and the Chaldeans." 
 Such is the account of the matter given by this Jewish historian. 
 Josephus was very much like some of our modern philosophers, 
 who are always glad when they can explain a phenomenon with- 
 out G-od. If you ask them any thing about the firmanent above 
 or the earth below; if you ask them for a solution of the plague, 
 the pestilence, or the recent epidemic ; if you ask them for an ex- 
 planation of any one fact or phenomenon in science, in history, in 
 creation, in Providence ; they have some hundreds of what they 
 call laws, and they say, '^ Such is the law of nature :" and no doubt 
 there are laws; and as long as the word is used to denote harmony 
 and consistency of movement, regularity and order, so long it is 
 good; but the moment you are satisfied with a reference to the 
 law as an explanation of the phenomenon, that moment you are 
 working with Josephus and with the heathen, and attributing to 
 lords many and gods many that which is the clear evidence of the 
 presence of the living and the true Grod. The reason why Daniel 
 prospered upon pulse and water, is not that a vegetarian diet, as 
 Bome say, is the most wholesome, or that water is far more con- 
 
 6 
 
60 rROPIIETIG STUDIES. 
 
 ducive to healtli tlian wine — though I believe that the less wine 
 you drink the better, if you have no physical need for it ; and I 
 am sure that in perfect health there is very little need for it. But 
 this was not the reason why Daniel prospered upon pulse and 
 water. It was the blessing of the Lord added to the pulse and 
 water, which made them far more nutritive than the king's meat 
 and the king's wine, with that blessing withdrawn from them. In 
 other words, he sought first God's kingdom and God's righteous- 
 ness, and all other things were added to him. He found this to 
 be true : ^' Godliness hath promise of the life that now is, as well 
 as of that which is to come." 
 
 And now I say again to you, my dear friends, as the inference 
 from all this, ^'Seek first to do God's will, and all other things 
 shall be added unto you.'^ Do not take anxious thought about 
 to-morrow, but take prayerful thought about to-day. Depend upon 
 it that the vigorous discharge of to-day's duties will be the best 
 preparation for to-morrow's trials. Let alone to-morrow's cares 
 till the sun of to-morrow looks upon them and awakens them. 
 " Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof.'^ And I know no- 
 thing more absurd in itself, and yet nothing more common, 
 than for men to scrape all to-morrow's trials that may be or that 
 may not be, and add them to the duties and the trials of to- 
 day, forgetting that God gives us strength for each day, and 
 not strength for that day and the next likewise ; that God 
 gives us bread for to-day, and yet not bread for to-day and 
 to-morrow. You do God's will and stand by your post, and 
 discharge your duties this day, and to-morrow will take care 
 of itself. " Seek first God's glory and God's will, and all 
 other things will be added unto you.'' 
 
 And therefore I would say, enlarging and expanding this 
 sentiment, seek first to know God before other things. By all " 
 means study science ; but not science, not philosophy, not li- 
 terature, not music, not painting //r.s^; but study Christianity 
 Jirsf. Take the knowledge of God into the school. Into the 
 university, into the encyclopaedia, as first and last. Hear, in- 
 deed, the wisdom of Solomon, but hear first the wisdom of 
 one greater than Solomon. Do not go through Solomon to Christ, 
 but go through Christ to Solomon. Seek first to know Him 
 
TRUE PRI^X1PLE IS TRUE EXPEDIENCY. 51 
 
 ■whom to know is eternal life ; then study science, and literature, 
 and painting, and music, and all that this world's learning can 
 teach. TVe do not want to discourage secular knowledge, but to 
 plant in its bosom that which will adorn, exalt, and sanctify both 
 the study and the student, and make the one an ornament and the 
 other an heir of the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 In the next place let me say, study fii'st of all the safety of the 
 soul. The first thought you have to think of, the first duty you 
 have to discharge, is the duty that you owe to the soul. Who 
 can calculate this problem, ''What shall it profit a man if he gain 
 the whole world and lose his own soul ?'' Our first efi"ort should 
 be to obtain an answer to this question. What shall I do to be 
 saved ? My dear friends, no man ever yet set out to gain the 
 world by the sacrifice of his soul, and succeeded in his object. 
 The words are, "{/* you gain the world ;'^ it does not imply that 
 if you set out to gain the world at such a cost, you are sure even- 
 tually to gain it. Twenty men set out, all determined to be rich, 
 and nineteen are strewed like wrecks on the highway. And have 
 you not found, on the other hand, that the man who set out de- 
 termined to provide for the safety of his soul in the first instance, 
 has had other things added to him unexpectedly, and in far greater 
 abundance than he could have anticipated? 
 
 And if this be true, carry out the principle in 3'Our families. 
 I speak to fathers and mothers : seek first to make 3'our children 
 Christians, next, and only next, to he gentlemen. Send your chil- 
 dren rather, I beseech you, to a school where they will be taught 
 to pray fervently, than to a school where they will be taught 
 to dance after the most approved mode and according to the 
 most elegant movements. Be anxious rather to make your chil- 
 dren Christians than to make them Churchmen, or Dissenters, or 
 Episcopalians, or Presbyterians. Depend upon it that the old 
 Adam will learn soon enough to fight about free church and in- 
 dependency, and episcopacy, and presbytery, and about all the 
 ''isms" to be found in the catalogue of man; but the last thing 
 and the most diflicult thing that they will learn is to care about 
 their souls, or to think about God. Teach your children that pulse 
 and plain water, with the blessing of God, is sweeter and better 
 
52 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 and more nntritive than the king's meat and the king's wine 
 without it. 
 
 In the next place I would say, in fixing to attend on a ministry, 
 carry out the same principle; seek first the kingdom of God and 
 his righteousness, and all other things will be added unto you. 
 Do not attach the greatest importance to the section of the 
 church ; but you who are an Independent, prefer Christian and 
 scriptural doctrine with episcopac}^, rather than unscriptural doc- 
 trine with independency; and you who are an Episcopalian, prefer 
 to hear the gospel from the minister of an Independent denomina- 
 tion rather than to hear Puseyism and Popery from a bishop of 
 your own church. And so with respect to the Scotch Church — I pre- 
 fer it, and think it the best in existence ; and why should I not ? 
 I was baptized in it, I have studied it, I know it, I love it; 
 but if there were deadly error preached in the parish church 
 I was born by, and if the gospel was preached by a poor 
 Methodist local preacher in a neighbouring barn, I would go 
 and hear the poor Methodist preacher, and leave the parish 
 minister with empty pews. When the question is, shall it be 
 bread or poison? by all means give me good bread in a silver 
 basket; but rather give me good bread on a wooden trencher 
 than poison in a golden basket. Take other things in their 
 place, other things think about, other things prefer, but this you 
 must have; and common sense, which is nearest to the highest 
 Christianity, will insist upon mking this the first and the para- 
 mount consideration. 
 
 In the next place, carry out this principle in fixing upon a house 
 to dwell in. In this world we are constantly changing. Let me 
 tell those who have mansions and those who have cottages — those 
 who have palaces and those who have cellars, that they are all 
 equally precarious in their tenure, for there are two ways to get 
 rid of them : either the inhabitant will be removed from the house, 
 or the house will be removed from the inhabitant. There are two 
 ways of separating the one from the other ; we are but dwellers in 
 tents ; strangers and pilgrims, as all our fathers were; and therefore, 
 if you are changing your house, do not, like Lot, prefer the well- 
 watered plain, just within range of the din and the noise of Sodom, 
 baskino- in its sunshine, listening to its noise, as to the sweetest 
 
TRUE PRINCIPLE IS TRUE EXPEDIENCY. 53 
 
 and best music ; but rather prefer a much smaller house, with a 
 less beautiful lawn, and less spacious grounds, and. far fewer con- 
 veniences, that basks in the sunshine of the countenance of God, 
 and that gives jou the opportunity of hearing the gospel of the 
 blessed Jesus. Prefer a house near to a pious and evangelical 
 minister, rather than a house near to the hall of a noble or the 
 palace of a king. Be content with bread — living bread — where 
 you can know Grod, rather than the king's meat and royal wine 
 without that knowledge. 
 
 And so, my dear friends, I would urge you to carry out the 
 same principle in entering upon any business. Do not select a bu- 
 siness inconsistent with the exercise of your Christian duties, or in 
 which you must sacrifice your Christian principles in order to prac- 
 tise what it requires. Only let me add, do not be rash in saying, 
 I cannot live as a Christian here, and therefore I will abandon it. 
 That is very often an excuse for self-indulgence. It is very 
 often an excuse for not determining to be firm and ftiithful. It is 
 supposing that you can do your duty best on the soft lawn, and not 
 on the hard and tented battle-field. "Wherever Providence has 
 placed you, make the experiment if you can faithfully serve God 
 there. And if you find that you cannot serve God, then you have 
 no alternative. If you are about to choose a business, let it be one 
 in which you can secure your Sabbaths. Give not up your Sab- 
 baths; do not sacrifice them. It is not rich men who will feel 
 the loss of such an institution, but the poor. Depend upon it, 
 that the working man will get no more wages for his seven days' 
 work than he now gets for six. It is a maxim of political economy, 
 which is worth repeating from the pulpit, that the amount of 
 wages is always dependent upon the amount of labour. Where 
 there are few labourers and much to be done, there wages will be 
 high J where there are many labourers and less to be done, there 
 wages will be low. Now if you add a seventh day over all the 
 kingdom to the six working days of the week, you bring a seventh 
 part more of all the labourers in the land into the labour market, 
 and wages will proportionately decrease. Ilely upon it, that by 
 sacrificing your Sabbaths you will be dead losers even in a tem- 
 poral point of view. 
 
 Thcrefjrc, my dear friends, stand fast for your privileges; 
 
 5« 
 
54 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 ^^ Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy/' It is the poor 
 man's privilege; the Sabbath is emphatically the poor man's day; 
 and nothing is to me more beautiful than this thought, that there 
 is a day that comes round among the days of the week, in which 
 the poorest man and the richest man may meet in the sanctuary, 
 and say, " We are peers ; though equally sinners by nature, we 
 are equally saints by grace ;" and in this world, where men have 
 divided so much and monopolized so much, there is still a place 
 where the rich and the poor, the mightiest noble and the meanest 
 peasant, can meet together and feel that " the Lord is the maker 
 of them all." I advocate the maintenance of the Sabbath on 
 these low grounds ; but I advocate it also on higher grounds than 
 these, but which I need not now repeat, I say again, therefore, 
 my dear friends, never give up your Sabbaths. Labour, as many 
 young men do labour, to gain more time on your week-day even- 
 ings for the cultivation of your minds, and for the study of all 
 that can adorn, and beautify, and perfect them, as Christians and 
 heirs of immortality; but never, never surrender this greatest of 
 privileges — the Sabbath. 
 
 And lastly, I would say, in your homes '^ seek first the king- 
 dom of God and his righteousness, and all other things shall be 
 added unto you," Wherever there is a fireside, let there be an 
 altar ; seek the blessing of Grod in your homes, and depend upon 
 it that blessing will not be withheld from you. One reason why 
 there are so many sad homes is just this, that there are so many 
 homes in which there are no altars. One reason why there are 
 so many undutiful children is, that no blessing has been asked by 
 the parents on behalf of the children. Seek, therefore, in your 
 homes, " first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all 
 other things will be added unto you," 
 
 In short, Daniel found, what every true Christian has found; 
 that Christian principle is the highest expediency. 
 
55 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 BABYLON, THE GOLDEN HEAD. 
 
 "Thou, king, art a king of kings : for the God of heaven hath given thee 
 a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of 
 men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given 
 into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them aU. Thou art this head 
 of gold."— Daniel ii. 37, 3S. 
 
 This chapter records a prophecy revealed to Nebuchadnezzar, 
 and through him, as the mere organ of utterance, to us, of what 
 shall be the succession of the kingdoms of the world till the day 
 when the great stone, the rock that is laid in Zion, shall grind 
 them to powder, and there shall rise and flourish on their ruins 
 the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign 
 for ever and ever. This great image is meant to be a standing 
 symbol, representative, as Daniel explains it, of four successions 
 of supreme and sovereign kingdoms, beginning in the days of 
 Nebuchadnezzar. History shows that there have been just four 
 universal kingdoms in the world, and only four ; those verj^ four 
 which were clearly foreshadowed to the king, and explained by 
 Daniel as the interpretation of the dream. The first supreme 
 kingdom without a rival, was the kingdom of Babylon, or sym- 
 bolically the Head of Grold ; the second kingdom was the Medo- 
 Persian, which I shall hereafter more fully explain. The third 
 kingdom was the Macedonian, which every one knows to have 
 been for a season universal. The fourth kingdom was divided 
 into ten kingdoms, as the two feet of the image were divided into 
 ten toes. These ten kingdoms, which I shall also show to have 
 actually existed, and the prediction thus to have been fulfilled, 
 have tried to mingle, one or other having set up to absorb the rest 
 and be supreme, and all, in every instance, have failed. Since the 
 Roman empire was divided into ten kingdoms, Charlemagne has 
 swept the world, and retired unsuccessful from the eff'ort to make 
 
56 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 a universal sovereignty. After liim, and others who might be 
 named, Napoleon visited every land, and subjected almost every 
 country in Europe : but just as it seemed to be within his reach 
 to lord it over all the world, and to construct out of the ten king- 
 doms a new and universal sovereignty, the snow fell softly and 
 beautifully from heaven, as the light upon an infant's eye ; but 
 those same insignificant snow-flakes formed themselves into ram- 
 parts that checked his troops, and ultimately made shrouds and 
 graves for all his chivalry. So that we have already, in the his- 
 tory of the past, clear evidence that what Daniel here describes as 
 a dream, and gives the interpretation of, was a prophecy of that 
 which has actually occurred, so that history in its chapters sounds 
 the echo of truth in the prophecies of Clod. 
 
 In looking at the introduction to this vision, and the failure of 
 the magi to explain it, you will notice the unreasonable require- 
 ment of the king. He substantially said, ''I shall not be satisfied 
 by you astrologers giving me an interpretation of my dream ; you 
 must state what the dream itself was, and I shall thereby have 
 proof — for it seemed as if he were a skeptic even in his own reli- 
 gion — I shall have proof by your thus telling me the nature of 
 my dream, that you have a divine authority adequate to expound 
 and unfold the substance of that dream. '^ The magicians and 
 astrologers made every excuse and apology : first, that the thing 
 was uncommon ; and secondly, that no king or dreamer had ever 
 made such a requirement before, and that no wise man, or magi- 
 cian, or astrologer, had even explained such a thing before. At 
 this, the king became furious, and, like all men who have great 
 power as well as ungovernable passions, he orders them to be 
 slain. That king is but a specimen of what unsanctified man 
 becomes when he has too great power. It is well that man in 
 this world should not have absolute power. It is too awful a 
 prerogative for him to possess in this dispensation ; it never has 
 been wielded rightly, and it never will be until man is made a 
 new creature, and all things are become new. At present we 
 need restraint, modifications, and limitations — constitutional laws 
 that counterbalance the excessive weight of democracy on the one 
 hand, and check the effects of despotism in its fury on the other, 
 so that the machinery of government may best answer its ends. 
 
BABYLON, TFIE GOLDEN HEAD. 57 
 
 Daniel, hearing of the king's decree, went into the royal presence 
 and begged for a little timp. And why did Daniel ask time ? the 
 answer is given in the subsequent verse : he asked time in order 
 that he might go and speak to God, and implore on bended knee 
 his help, instruction, and guidance. And accordingly, we find 
 him, after making his request to Arioch, '^ making the thing 
 known to his companions, that they would desire mercies of the 
 God of heaven concerning this secret ; that Daniel and his fellows 
 should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.'' If 
 we are in difficulty, the right resource is prayer. There is no 
 question that God does answer prayer. He may not answer it in 
 the precise way which we in our ignorance prescribe, but he will 
 answer it in the way that is most for his glory and our good. 
 Whatever be the nature of our trial, we are warranted in ap- 
 proaching God, and beseeching him to remove it; whatever be 
 the thorn that is most poignant, we are warranted in asking God 
 to extract it. It is no just objection to this, to say, we may be 
 asking what is not good for us ; it is not our province to deter- 
 mine this, but God's. It is our part to unbosom the wants of 
 our hearts, and offer up the honest petitions of our souls, and to 
 rest confident in this, that God will not give what would prove 
 our present or our eternal ruin. 
 
 When Daniel had prayed to God and had received an answer to 
 his prayers, what did he next do ? He instantly returned to thank 
 God. The man who prays sincerely in the morning will praise as 
 sincerely at night. " Is any man afflicted ? let him pray. Is any 
 merry? let him sing psalms." v It is wrong to be Christians when 
 we are in want of any thing, and to be atheists when we have ob- 
 tained itj Let us ask as Christians, and praise as Christians. Let 
 us appeal to God for what we want ; and then let us give the 
 glory to God when we have obtained what we asked. 
 
 Daniel then goes to the king, and announces to him this groat 
 ftict, that " there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets." And 
 with beautiful humility he adds, " It is not because of the wisdom 
 that is in me, that I am able to make known this secret, but it is 
 for the glory of Him who has taught me, and who is willing to do 
 good to thee." 
 
 He next proceeds to explain to the king what he had seen in 
 
58 PROniETIC STUDIES. 
 
 his vision — an image whicli is here described. He then explains 
 what that image represented. In this Icclnre I shall only be able 
 to call your attention to '^ the head of gold.'^ The text, therefore, 
 on which I shall specially speak in this Lecture is, (verses 37, 
 38,) " Thou, king, art a king of kings : for the God of heaven 
 hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And 
 wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and 
 the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath 
 made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold/' 
 plainly meaning, ^' thy kingdom or thy state is so.'' 
 
 The church of God was now captive in Babylon. How deeply 
 distressed was the whole of Israel at this era ! The glory had 
 departed from between the cherubim ; the sons and the daughters 
 of Judah Avere captives beside the Euphrates; the sacred vessels 
 of the sanctuary were now the property of the spoiler. Their 
 grand temple was in ruins; and '^ Ichabod, Ichabod," "The glory 
 is departed," was the sad inscription too legible to the heart of 
 every captive in Babylon. But in this state of outward depres- 
 sion you will notice how God compensated for all external disad- 
 vantages by special manifestations of his wisdom and his power. 
 He showed them that he was not dependent upon outward things; 
 that when all ordinances have passed away, the Lord of the ordi- 
 nance can take their jDlace, and more than compensate for their 
 absence. Is it not still often felt in the experience of the people 
 of God, that when the outward fabric is dissolved, the inward 
 glory, that seemed restricted to its walls, only breaks forth with 
 greater splendour, and spreads throughout the world with greater 
 speed ? Was it not to the church in the wilderness ; to the two 
 witnesses prophesying in sackcloth ; to the woman who was ob- 
 liged to flee from the persecuting power of the Roman apostasy, 
 that God revealed most clearly the riches of his grace, and made 
 known with the greatest power the manifestations of his mind and 
 will? Often, when the visible church is in ruins, does God con- 
 struct upon its wreck a yet more glorious fane — a house not made 
 with hands — more beautiful than the temples of Balbec, than the 
 cathedrals of Europe, more splendid than the theatres of Ionia, 
 more magnificent than the temple of Solomon in all its glory. It 
 is often when the church has no mitre on her head, no Urim and 
 
BABYLON, THE GOLDEN HEAD. 59 
 
 Thummim upon her breast, that you may read most legibly the 
 bright inscription on her brow, ^' Blessed are the pure in heart, 
 for they shall see Grod." The breaking of the outward crutch 
 makes her lean more simply upon God. The departure of the 
 beautiful sign makes her think more of the inner and the precious 
 substance. You will see, too, in conformity with this idea, how 
 God has ever given the greatest manifestations of his mind to suf- 
 ferers. To a captive beside the banks of the Ulai and the Hid- 
 dekel, i. e. to Daniel, God made known the greatest portions of his 
 mind and will, as these were to be unfolded in future ages. To 
 an exile and a prisoner, amid the dreary solitudes of Patmos, i. e. 
 to John, God revealed that grand procession of saints, and mar- 
 tyrs, and kings, and dynasties, and heroes, and conquerors, the 
 history of which is recorded in the Apocalypse, and the fulfilment 
 of which is contained in every chapter of human history. To the 
 men who felt they had nothing upon earth, did God make knoAvn 
 most plainly how much they had in heaven. To the eye that was 
 shut upon all the splendours of time, did God disclose in the 
 greatest fulness the glories of eternity. And just as God made 
 known most of his mind to those who were most separate from 
 the world, he will also discover most of the meaning of his word 
 to those who are least bound up with the cares, the anxieties, the 
 pomps, and the vanities of this present life. 
 
 The first thing that occurred, when God was about to reveal to 
 Daniel his purpose, was the silencing of the wisdom of man. 
 These magicians owned their ignorance before God revealed his 
 wisdom. It is thus that God shows the wisdom of man to be 
 folly, in order that the wise man may not glory in wisdom ; and 
 the strength of man to be but weakness, in order that the strong 
 man may not glorify in his strength. In the case of the Egyp- 
 tian magicians he showed the weakness of human power ; in the 
 case of the Chaldean magicians he taught the ignorance of human 
 wisdom; and in both cases he led prince and people from the 
 broken cisterns to the divine and original fount. 
 
 The four empires, as I have already explained, are the Baby- 
 lonian, the Persian, the Grasco-Macedonian, and the Roman em- 
 pires ; and the last, the empire of the stone cut out without hands, 
 represents the empire of the gospel. 
 
60 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 The first kingdom, then, here represented by the head of gold, 
 was that of Babylon. Let me just briefly notice what is said 
 about it in the word of God, and in what respects that which was 
 prophesied of it has been fulfilled. You will always perceive that 
 one kingdom passes from the stage the moment that the other 
 comes on. In other words, the Persian kingdom was constructed 
 from the ruins of the Babylonian ; the Grseco-Macedonian was 
 constructed from the ruins of the Persian ; and the Roman king- 
 dom rose upon the ruins of all that preceded it. 
 
 About 612 years B. C, Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Nineveh; or, 
 in the language of Scripture, as shown to be true by the disclo- 
 sures of Layard, '^made its grave 3" burying in the deep and silent 
 earth all its grandeur, its pomp, and its splendour. And when 
 Nineveh, till that time the greatest kingdom upon earth, was thus 
 entombed in its grave, Babylon ascended the throne, and swayed 
 the sceptre over all the nations of the world. The walls of the 
 city of Babylon, as we read not only in Scripture but in Xeno- 
 phon, the beautiful and classic Greek historian, were of gigantic 
 size, measuring sixty miles in circumference ; and the breadth of 
 these walls, which were very solid, being built of brick cemented 
 with bitumen, a substance produced upon the soil, were capable of 
 allowing six chariots, each with two horses, to drive abreast upon 
 them. The city had one hundred gates of solid brass. The 
 temple of Bel, or of Belus, as it is called by classic writers, had 
 a circumference of half a mile, and was upward of one thousand 
 feet in height, or nearly three times the height of St. Paul's cathe- 
 dral. The fertility of the whole region of Chaldea, watered by 
 the Tigris and the Euphrates, was so great that classical histo- 
 rians, Herodotus and Strabo, tell us that it produced two hundred- 
 fold ; i. e. that one seed of corn, if I may use this mode of illus- 
 tration, produced in the ear two hundred seeds; a degree of 
 fertility unrivalled in any modern country. This I state to justify 
 the description of the prophet, when he calls Babylon '^ the ex- 
 cellency of Chaldea," and literally, " the glory of kingdoms.'' 
 Again, what is the sign of it in Nebuchadnezzar's dream? " The 
 head of gold;" in its natural and physical properties the most 
 valuable of the four metals. 
 
 In order to show you the descriptions given of it by other pro- 
 
BABYLON, THE GOLDEN HEAD. 61 
 
 pliets of Grod, I refer to tlie prophet JercmiaL, who thus speaks 
 of it in chap, xxvii. 5-8 : " I have made the earth, the man, and 
 the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by 
 my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed 
 meet unto me. And now have I given all these lands into the 
 hands of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant ; and 
 the beast of the field have I given him also to serve him. And 
 all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until 
 the very time of his land come : and then many nations and great 
 kings shall serve themselves of him. And it shall come to pass, 
 that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebu- 
 chadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck 
 under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, 
 saith the Lord, with the sword, and with the famine, and with 
 the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.'^ You 
 have in these words the investiture of the king of Babylon with 
 universal sovereignty : in other words, ^' the empire of the head 
 of gold," in all its magnificence; characterized by unrivalled 
 fertility, wielding a dominion superior to that of the nations 
 around, with no limits but the will and the power of the monarch. 
 We then find that the head of gold passes away, to give place to 
 an empire rising from its ruins, only less magnificent than the 
 former. And in order to show how truly history is the echo of 
 prophecy, I will quote the predictions of the downfall of Babylon, 
 and then add the facts of its ruin, as those facts are recorded by 
 Xenophon, Strabo, and Herodotus, the heathen historians. 
 
 I will give, I say, first of all the predictions of God, as these 
 were uttered many years before its fall, and then I will read the 
 facts recorded in history by impartial writers, who did not even 
 know of the prophecy, and who could not have the least design 
 or intention of showing its fulfilment. The first passage to which 
 I refer is Jer. xxv. 11, 12, and this is a summary of all that 
 follows, where God says, " This whole land shall be a desolation, 
 and an astonishment ; and these nations shall serve the king of 
 Babylon seventy years." You recollect I showed you the pro- 
 phecy that all nations should serve him, and here you read what 
 is to follow, "And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are 
 accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that 
 
62 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 natioDj saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the 
 Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations." The captivity 
 of the Jews in Babylon was to last seventy years : and just while 
 their punishment lasted, the prosperity of Babylon was to last, 
 and no longer. I will now direct your attention to Isaiah xiii., 
 ^^ The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amos did see;" 
 and I will read such verses only as apply immediately to the 
 subject before us. At verse 4 — and I will thank you to notice 
 the very words used by the prophet, because the evidence of the 
 inspiration of these prophets will be rendered the more plain by 
 your observing how minutely each prediction has been fulfilled, — 
 " The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great 
 people ; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered 
 together : the Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. 
 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the 
 Lord, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole 
 land. Howl ye ; for the day of the Lord is at hand ; it shall 
 come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all 
 hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt. And they 
 shall be afraid : pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them ; they 
 shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth : they shall be amazed 
 one at another ; their faces shall be as flames. Behold, the day 
 of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to 
 lay the land desolate : and he shall destroy the sinners thereof 
 out of it." Then, verse 17, ^^ Behold, I will stir up the Medes," 
 — the very name of the nation which was to destroy them is 
 specified — " which shall not regard silver ; and as for gold, they 
 shall not delight in it. Their bows also shall dash the young 
 men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the 
 womb; their eye shall not spare children. And Babylon, the' 
 glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall 
 be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never 
 be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to 
 generation ;" and the prophecy grows more specific : " Neither 
 shall the Arabian pitch tent there ; neither shall the shepherds 
 make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie 
 there ; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures ; and 
 owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. And the 
 
BABYLON, THE GOLDEN HEAD. 63 
 
 wild beasts of the island shall cry in their desolate houses, and 
 dragons in their pleasant palaces : and her time is near to come, 
 and her days shall not be prolonged/^ Then at chap. xiv. 4, 
 ^' Thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, 
 and say, How hath the oj^pressor ceased ! the golden city ceased I" 
 Then, (verse 11,) ''thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and 
 the noise of thy viols ', the worm is spread under thee, and the 
 worms cover thee.'' Verse 15, " Yet thou shalt be brought down 
 to hell, to the sides of the pit.'' Verse 19, "Thou art cast out of 
 thy grave like an abominable branch." Verse 22, " I will rise 
 up against them, saith the Lord of hosts, and cut off from 
 Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the 
 Lord." Then chap. xlvi. 27 — recollect that Grod is predicting 
 here the destruction of Babylon, and the mode in which that 
 destruction should be effected, though seventy years and upward 
 before any thing of the kind had taken place — " That saith to the 
 deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy river : that saith of Cyrus," 
 — before Cyrus was born — '^ He is my shepherd, and shall perform 
 all my pleasure : even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; 
 and to the temple. Thy foundation shall be laid ;" giving a pro- 
 phecy of the rise of Jerusalem, emerging from the ruins of 
 Babylon. 
 
 I then call your attention to Jer. 1. : ''The word that the Lord 
 spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by 
 Jeremiah the prophet. Declare ye among the nations, and 
 publish, and set up a standard ; publish and conceal not : say, 
 Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in 
 pieces ; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces. 
 For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which 
 shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein ; they 
 shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast." Again, 
 verse 9, " For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against 
 Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country : 
 and they shall set themselves in array against her ; from thence 
 she shall be taken : their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert 
 man j none shall return in vain. And Chaldea shall be a spoil : 
 all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the Lord." Again, at 
 verses 12, 13, " Your mother shall be sore confounded ; she that 
 
Q^ rROPIIETIC STUDIES. 
 
 bare you sliall be asliamed : behold, tlie liindermost of tlie nations 
 shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. Because of the 
 wrath of the Lord it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly 
 desolate : every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, 
 and hiss at all her plagues/' Again, at verses 15, 16, " Shout 
 against her round about : she hath given her hand : her founda- 
 tions are fallen, her walls are thrown down : for it is the ven- 
 geance of the Lord : take vengeance upon her ; as she hath done, 
 do unto her. Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that 
 handleth the sickle in the time of harvest : for fear of the 
 oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they 
 shall flee every one to his own land." Again, at verses 24-26, 
 '^ I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, Babylon, 
 and thou wast not aware : thou art found, and also caught, be- 
 cause thou hast striven against the Lord. The Lord hath opened 
 his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indigna- 
 tion : for this is the work of the Lord God of hosts in the land 
 of the Chaldeans. Come against her from the utmost border, 
 open her storehouses : cast her up as heaps, and destroy her 
 utterly : let nothing of her be left.'' Again, in chap. li. verse 35, 
 ^' The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall 
 the inhabitant of Zion say ; and my blood upon the inhabitants 
 of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say." And lastly, verse 47, " There- 
 fore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the 
 graven images of Babylon : and her whole land shall be con- 
 founded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her." 
 
 Then, once more, turn to chap. li. ver. 36 : " Therefore thus 
 saith the Lord ; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take ven- 
 geance for thee ; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs 
 dry." And again, ver. 37, *'And Babylon shall become heaps," 
 a dwelling-place for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, 
 without an inhabitant." And again, ver. 39, " Li their heat I 
 will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they 
 may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not awake, saith the 
 Lord." And again, ver. 41, "How is Sheshach taken! and how 
 is the praise of the whole earth surprised ! How is Babylon be- 
 come an astonishment among the nations!" Ver. 44, "And I 
 will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his 
 
BABYLON, THE GOLDEN HEAD. 65 
 
 mouth, that which he hath SY/allowed up : and the nations shall 
 not flow together any more unto him : yea, the wall of Babylon 
 shall fall/' And again, ver. 46, 47; *' And lest your heart faint, 
 and ye fear for the rumour that shall he heard in the land ; a 
 rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year 
 shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler. 
 Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon 
 the graven images of Babylon : and her whole land shall be con- 
 founded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her/' 
 
 I have thus read the leading parts of that great burden of pro- 
 phecy against Babylon. I now quote in evidence of the fulfil- 
 ment of these, the prophecies of God, the dispassionate testimony 
 of the heathen historians : and I shall then give you an account 
 not only of the rise, as I have already briefly done, but also of 
 the fall of the head of gold, previous to the silver empire taking 
 its place, and its order in succession onward to the end. 
 
 First, then, in these prophecies, Cyrus is specified as the gene- 
 ral who was to march his forces against Babylon. Xenophon 
 directly states that such was the fact. Babylon, trusting in its 
 gigantic walls, and in its provisions for twenty years, adequate to 
 maintain it in case of its being besieged, instead of preparing to 
 repel the invading army, gave itself, its whole population, from 
 the prince upon the throne down to the meanest of his subjects, 
 to debauchery, riot, profligacy, and drunkenness. In the next 
 place, Cyrus, after he had come in array against Babylon, besieged 
 it for years without success, and at last fell upon the expedient 
 of digging trenches round the walls of Babylon, ostensibly for 
 blockade, but really to divert the waters of the Euphrates from 
 their accustomed course, and leave in the empty channel a path- 
 way for his soldiers to march into the city. It was, as I have de- 
 scribed, surrounded by vast walls; but the river Euphrates rolled 
 through the midst of it. There was therefore an opening thus 
 formed through the centre of the city; only there were walls upon 
 each side, or on each bank of the river, with gates to each street 
 leading down to it; and the plan of Cyrus was therefore to divert 
 the waters of the Euphrates into the trenches he had dug, and to 
 make the dry central channel a road for his troops to march down 
 in order to gain possession of the city. Herodotus, the fiithcr 
 
 6^;j 
 
66 PROrilETIC STUDIES. 
 
 of historians, relates that, even after having marched along the 
 bed of the river, the obstacles to his entrance were just as great 
 as elsewhere ; for there were gates to each street leading to the 
 banks of the river; and if these had been secured, the obstruc- 
 tion to the entrance of Cyrus would have been complete. But 
 there was a prophecy — part of which I read to you — that these 
 gates should not be shut; and the Babylonians, not suspecting 
 the stratagem of Cyrus in diverting the waters of the river, left 
 their gates open, as if in conscious possession of impregnable 
 security ; when part of the army, therefore, entered at one side 
 of the city, marching up the bed of the river, and another part 
 of his troops at the other side of the city, marching down the 
 bed of the river, they found each of these gates open, which 
 would not have been the case had not the people been indulging 
 in feasting and drunkenness; the troops therefore entered by 
 every gate; and before the Babylonians were aware that the 
 enemy was so near at hand, their great and impregnable capital 
 was in the hands of the next empire, the empire of the Persians. 
 
 We notice another minute point that was singularly fulfilled. 
 It was predicted that the enemy should come upon them unawares, 
 and that " one post should run to meet another in the midst of 
 the siege." Now, that such was literally the fact is recorded by 
 Herodotus, for he says that those at one end of the city were in 
 the hands of Cyrus before those at the other end of the city were 
 aware of his attack, and before they had time to give the alarm ; 
 thus fulfilling the prediction of the prophet, that post should run 
 to post, and watchman to watchman, to give the awful and start- 
 ling alarm that the forces of Cyrus were upon them. 
 
 Then it is predicted by the prophet, that "they that were 
 drunken should sleep a perpetual sleep;'' and that "the two- 
 leaved gates should be thrown open.'' It is stated by the histo-" 
 rian that the monarch was indulging in a feast, and was intoxi- 
 cated with wine, surrounded by all his princes, nobles, and cour- 
 tiers, at the very moment when the city had fallen into the hands 
 of the Persian army; and hearing a noise outside the palace, he 
 insisted on knowing what it was; and when some of the chief 
 princes rushed to the gates of the palace in order to ascertain the 
 cause, and threw them open for that purpose, they thus fulfilled 
 
BABYLON, THE GOLDEN HEAD. 67 
 
 the propliecj — the troops of Cyrus instantly rushed in, and Bel- 
 shazzar and his princes were slaughtered in the midst of their 
 festival : " the drunken slept a perpetual sleep/^ Thus you have 
 every prediction that God gave by the mouth of Isaiah and Jere- 
 miah fulfilled to the very letter : and that fulfilment is recorded 
 by the dispassionate pens of the historians of ancient Greece. 
 
 I shall now quote a few short extracts from the works of mo- 
 dern travellers, in order to show how complete the ruin of Babylon 
 has been, and how minutely each prophecy has been fulfilled. 
 For these last I am mainly indebted to Dr. Keith's useful work 
 on the fulfilment of prophecy. Porter, in his travels, states that 
 ^^ mounds of temples and palaces were everywhere visible ;" " a 
 vast succession of mounds of ruins is all that now remains of Ba- 
 bylon.'' What Porter saw when he visited the spot had been 
 foretold of God, when he prophesied that nothing should be left. 
 Richards, when he visited it, found that " vast heaps constitute 
 all that now remains of ancient Babylon ; there are no inhabit- 
 ants." God had declared, " It shall never be inhabited." Kep- 
 pel, another traveller, who visited the same spot, says, " Babylon 
 is spurned by the heel of the Ottoman, the Israelite, and the sons 
 of Ishmael." God had said beforehand, ^'The Arab shall not pitch 
 his tent there." This is the more remarkable, because the Arabs 
 are a nomadic race, wanderers that are found in almost every 
 place where they can find temporary shelter or provender for 
 their cattle : and Captain Mignon relates, that when he reached 
 the spot, accompanied by six Arabs, he could not induce them to 
 remain all night among the ruins, because, they alleged, the place 
 was haunted. Buckingham, another traveller, says, ''All the 
 people of the country assert that it is dangerous to approach the 
 mounds of Babylon on account of the multitude of evil spirits 
 that dwell among them." Man's excuse may arise from super- 
 stition ; but the result is, the accomplishment of the ancient pro- 
 phecy — '' The Arab shall not pitch his tent there." 
 
 We have thus seen, then, the rise, the magnificence, and the 
 fall of Babylon ; and in it we have seen God's word completely 
 fulfilled. God's word is more- powerful than princes; more en- 
 during than dynasties : it moves softly and silently, yet surely, 
 to victory; turning obstacles into impulses, and obstructions into , 
 
68 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 facilities; until it sliall appear enthroned upon the ruins of the 
 kingdoms of this world, and become the glory and the praise of 
 the ransomed people of God. 
 
 AYe may here observe how transient is human greatness ! The 
 great walls of Babylon, on which, as we read, six chariots could 
 ride abreast, are no more. Its magnificent temple, which caught 
 the first rays of the rising sun, and reflected the last beams of the 
 setting sun — the palace in which the choicest wines were drunk, 
 and the sacred vessels of the sanctuary were profaned — are gone ; 
 the golden head is buried in the dust; the hum of its mighty 
 population is silenced. The Arab ventures not to pitch his tent 
 there ; and the owl, hooting amid the broken ruins, seems to attest 
 how perishable is all that man calls great ! — how lasting is all that 
 God pronounces true ! 
 
 The duration of Babylon's power, you notice, in the next place, 
 was specified to be seventy years. It was destined to last only 
 till it had accomplished God's purposes. The kingdom is ours ; 
 and its duration we fancy that we are able to control. It is not 
 so. We are in the hands of God, and the times and the seasons 
 are all specified by him. The king of Babylon thought he had 
 raised a great empire for his glory: in reality, he had built a 
 school-house in which God was the teacher; a prison-house in 
 which He was to punish his people for a season on account of 
 their iniquities. And as soon as the work appointed of God had 
 been accomplished, the '^ glory of the Chaldees' excellency" de- 
 parts, " the golden head" falls, and the great empire is at an end. 
 
 As its end drew near, Daniel, in clearer terms, as I shall show 
 from the sequel of the prophecy, came to predict its ruin. From 
 this a most able and talented writer on the prophecies of Daniel, 
 Mr. Birks, the son-in-law of the venerable Mr. Bickersteth,* 
 
 * It is difficult to overstate the loss -wliicli the church of Christ on earth has 
 sustained by the removal of this eminent, excellent, Christian, and Protestant 
 minister. 
 
 He was ever ready to aid, by his advocacy, the cause of truth ; liberal, yet 
 not latitudinarian ; a zealous contender for the faith, and yet never betrayed 
 into bitterness of feeling or violence of speech. He loved his church, but he 
 loved Christianity still more. No man was so tenacious of essential truth, yet 
 none i-ejoiced more than he did in the company of the good and faithful of 
 every name. He possessed great clearness of mind, and yet greater warmth of 
 
BABYLON, THE GOLDEN HEAD. 69 
 
 argues^ that we may expect that, as God revealed by liis prophets 
 more clearly — for Daniel states that he " knew If/ hooks'' the 
 number and the date of the seventy years — the time when the 
 captivity should be ended, so, as we draw near to the end of this 
 dispensation, he will make more clear, intelligible, and distinct, 
 the years that number the times of the Gentiles. 
 
 We must not suppose there was any thing strange in God's 
 revealing this to a heathen prince, and through the medium of 
 what appears to us so common and trivial a thing as a dream. 
 To Abraham, Moses, and Job, God spoke face to face; but in 
 general he revealed future events by means of dreams. And he 
 himself declares, '' If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord 
 will make myself known to him in a vision, and will speak unto 
 him in dreams. ^^ Jacob was promised his patrimony in a dream. 
 In a dream the Lord appeared to Solomon, and bade him ask 
 what he wished. In a dream Pharaoh was warned of the famine 
 that was about to visit Egypt ; and from some traditional recollec- 
 tions of these facts arises the popular belief, that that which is 
 about to come to pass is sometimes revealed to men in dreams. 
 It may be so. There is no reason to conclude that God does not 
 come into closer contact with the human mind than many are dis- 
 posed to believe ; only you are not to read Providence and Scrip- 
 ture in the light of your dream ; you are to read your dream in 
 the light of Scripture. If in a dream any thing seems revealed 
 to you contrary to Scripture, it is not from God. If it be con- 
 
 heart; earnest and unwearied advocacy of truth ; a walk unimpeachable before 
 the severest censor, and beautiful, because truly apprehended by the people 
 of God. 
 
 Every Christian that knew him loved him. Even his enemies — the enemies 
 of truth — hesitated to select Mr. Bickersteth as the object of vituperation, or 
 satire, or assault, well aware, that in their selection of one so widely revered, 
 their attack would recoil upon themselves far sooner than in the case of other 
 and more easily vulnerable champions of truth. 
 
 His removal at a crisis when his life and counsel were so singularly needed 
 is to us inexplicable. Perhaps it is judgment beginning at the house of God, 
 and thus his gain may be not only our loss but our punishment. Very soon he 
 will come with his coming Lard, and such of us as may be alive will meet the 
 sublime procession in the air, and our separation, so widely and bitterly be- 
 wailed, will render our meeting again, where separations are unknown, more 
 glorious. Even so, come, Lord Jesus ! 
 
70 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 sistent witli the Scripture, it is from Gocl. But recollect, you 
 live not by what you dream, but by what you read in God's 
 Holy Word. Any one that adds to that Word, to him shall be 
 added its curses ; any one that subtracts from it, from him shall 
 be subtracted the promises revealed in it. 
 
 In the next place, is there not in the destruction of Babylon a 
 foreshadow of what shall be the end of this dispensation ? Cyrus 
 burst upon Babylon while its princes and its people were feasting 
 and revelling ; and so in the period that immediately precedes 
 our Lord's advent it will be asked, " Where is the promise of his 
 coming ? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as 
 they were from the beginning of the creation.^ ^ I believe that 
 only God's people will be taught to anticipate that blessed day, 
 that glorious epoch. They alone will be found resting, by retro- 
 spective faith, upon that perfect sacrifice, which speaks better 
 things than the blood of Abel ; their eyes stretching through the 
 vista of the future, to catch the rays of the approaching sun, 
 which shall rise and shine from his meridian throne to set no more. 
 
 To those that look for him, " he will appear the second time 
 without sin unto salvation.^' May we not believe, that we have 
 in the destruction of the literal Babylon a type and foreshadow- 
 ing of what will be the destruction of that Babylon of which it 
 was the prototype, and with whose destruction the Apocalypse is 
 so fully and unmistakably charged ? It is there stated that 
 ^^her plagues shall come" upon Babylon "in one day, death, and 
 mourning, and famine." You recollect my endeavouring to show 
 you what the future prospects of Rome are. My belief always 
 was, that the pontiff would be replaced on his throne ; but, along 
 with that, the clear indications of the prophetic word seem to be, 
 that by his attempts to assert a supremacy that is God's, and to 
 wield a sceptre from which the prestige and the glory seem to be 
 gone for ever, he should precipitate on himself only a more terri- 
 ble and consuming catastrophe. 
 
 But Babylon has passed away; and modern Babylon will pass 
 away too. Where, however, are we ? and what shall we do when 
 the crash and desolation of the last hour comes ? Is our citizen- 
 ship in heaven? Are our hearts and pleasures beyond the skies? 
 Are we travelling upon our road in practical obedience to the text 
 
BABYLON, THE GOLDEN HEAD. 71 
 
 — "'Be ye not conformed to this world?" Are we walking amid 
 these dark shadows that are creeping over the surface of the whole 
 earth, as pilgrims and strangers, '' looking for a city that hath 
 foundations, whose builder and maker is Grod ?" Does the disso- 
 lution of the kingdoms of the world, the breaking up of ancient 
 establishments and hoary dynasties, the heaving of all things, 
 church and state both together, as if some terrible subterranean 
 forces were pressing upward and ready every moment to explode 
 and leave all in ruins, affect us ? Are we leaning and trusting 
 upon these things ? Are we thinking of our wealth, our rank, 
 our property, our sect, our church, our party, more than we are 
 thinking of Christ ? Are we looking for the Lord ? Does the 
 night of approaching doom only warn us to prepare for the glo- 
 rious jubilee that shall foUaw ? '' Take heed to yourselves, lest 
 at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and 
 drunkenness, and with the cares of this life, and so that day 
 come upon you unawares V May He add his blessing, and to his 
 name be the praise. Amen. 
 
72 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 THE MEDO-PERSIAN AND GR^CO-MACEDONIAN EMPIRES. 
 
 "And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another 
 third kingdom of brass, -which shall bear rule over all the earth." — Daniel h. 39. 
 
 This is part of the explanation of the vision seen by Nebuchad- 
 nezzar. He saw a great image, of which we read at vers© 31, 
 that this great image " stood beforo him, whose brightness was 
 excellent, and the form thereof was terrible.'' The head of this 
 image was of fine gold, " his breast and his arms of silver, his belly 
 and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and 
 part of clay.'' And the king saw until " a stone cut out without 
 hands smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, 
 and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, 
 the silver, and the gold broken to pieces together, and became 
 like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind 
 carried them away, that no place was found for them : and the 
 stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled 
 the whole earth." This was the dream ; and then follows the 
 interpretation : — " Thou, king, art a king of kings : for the 
 God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, strength, and 
 glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts 
 of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine 
 hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this' 
 head of gold." This was the first kingdom. Then the second 
 kingdom, which is likened to the breast and the arms of silver, is 
 described in verse 39 : '^And after thee shall arise another king- 
 dom inferior to thee." And then the third universal kingdom is 
 represented by the image having " the belly and the thighs of 
 brass," and is described as ^^ another third kingdom of brass, 
 which shall bear rule over all the earth." And of the fourth 
 kingdom, " the legs of iron," it is predicted, '' The fourth king- 
 
THE SILVER AND BRASS EMPIRES. 73 
 
 dom shall be strong as iron : forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces 
 and subduetli all things : and as iron that breaketh all these, 
 shall it break in pieces and bruise." 
 
 Now, I explained before, that in all the records of history there 
 have been but four supreme, universal, absolute monarchies from 
 the beginning; the first being that of Babylon, the sceptre of 
 which extended over all the nations that were then known, and 
 the sovereignty of which was undisputed, as it was impossible to 
 oppose it. Such was the first, or the head of gold. In my last, 
 I showed its rise, its national grandeur, its decay, and its utter 
 destruction before the armies of Cyrus : we now find that another 
 kingdom was to arise inferior to Babylon, just as the silver is 
 inferior to the gold ; of greater territorial dimensions, but of less 
 national sjDlendour and magnificence. The twofold character that 
 is here indicated — for every symbol in the Bible has its counter- 
 part in history and in fact — viz. its having the breast and the two 
 arms stretching out from it of silver, instantly suggests the 
 historic fact that Cyrus was the monarch, that Media was one 
 arm, and Persia the other ; these being two component parts of 
 the kingdom of Cyrus, he being the tie thcit knit the two realms 
 into one. Persia was the one realm, and Media the other ; the 
 latter absorbed by the former, and both, like two arms, joined 
 together in Cyrus, who inspired them with their vigour, wielded 
 their energies with success, and established their empire from the 
 rising of the sun to the going down thereof. You have then, in 
 Media and Persia, or, as it is called in history, the Medo-Persian 
 universal sovereignty, the fulfilment, years after Daniel wrote, of 
 the symbol shown to Nebuchadnezzar, and of the prediction un- 
 folded by Daniel ; and thus the coincidence between the prophecy 
 and the fact is entire. 
 
 But that you may see how truly what I state is confirmed by 
 history, I shall quote two sentences — I might quote many, but I 
 will confine myself to two of the most striking — the one from 
 Herodotus, " the father of history," who says, in describing the 
 empire of Cyrus, "Wherever Cyrus marched throughout the 
 earth, it was impossible for the nations to escape him ;" and the 
 other from Xenophon, who, in his Cyropsedla, which, literally 
 translated, means the "'instruction," or " bringing-up," of Cyrus, 
 
74 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 and witli whicli every schoolboy is more or less familiar — (here, I 
 may mention, by the way, is one object in teaching yoimg men the 
 classics, or the learning of the Greeks and Romans; such know- 
 • ledge confirms and demonstrates to mankind the veracity and 
 authenticity of the writers of the word of God) — Xenophon, then, 
 in his Cij7^oiosedia, thus describes the universality of the sove- 
 reignty of Cyrus : " He ruled the Medes, subverted the Syrians, 
 the Assyrians, the Arabians, the Cappadocians, the Phrygians, 
 the Lydians, the Carians, the Babylonians, the Indians, the 
 Phoenicians, the Greeks in Asia, the Cyprians, the Egyptians, and 
 struck all with such dread and terror, that none ventured to assail 
 him. He subdued from his throne east, west, north, and south/' 
 You have thus the heathen historian leaving behind him those 
 recorded facts, which form the brightest comment upon the breast 
 and the two arms of silver, or the second universal monarchy, 
 which during its existence subdued and reigned over the whole 
 earth. After its disappearance, we have a third empire, which 
 is symbolized by '' the belly and the thighs of brass." This was 
 the symbol that Nebuchadnezzar saw, and the interpretation of it 
 by Daniel is, " a third universal sovereignty." 
 
 Now show me, from the days of Cyrus downward to the com- 
 mencement of Rome, any other empire, either from history or 
 from any source whatever, that can be called universal — I mean, 
 extendino- over the whole known world — except the Grasco-Mace- 
 donian empire of Alexander the Great. He and his father Philip, 
 king of Macedon, against whom Demosthenes so eloquently 
 harangued, subdued the Medo-Persians, and finally and ultimately 
 all the provinces of the habitable globe. This third monarchy 
 was of brass ; making up in strength what it lost in value ', in 
 glare and apparent splendour what it lost in real and substantial 
 merit. But it also was divided, you find, into two great provinces, 
 which, from their position, formed the lower or supporting parts 
 of the empire. Accordingly, we ascertain from history, that 
 Syria and Egypt, the lower parts of the empire, were divided j 
 and on these the colossal image, or empire of Alexander, rested. 
 It was about 334 years before Christ that Alexander began his 
 expedition against Persia, the second universal empire. He over- 
 threw ihoi silver monarchy, just as it had overthrown the golden 
 
THE SILVER AND CRASS EMPIRES. 75 
 
 monarchy of Nebuchadnezzar ; and by the great battle of Arbela, 
 which was fought about 331 years before Christ, he established 
 his own undisputed supremacy. It arose upon the ruins of 
 Babylon and Persia, fed its strength from their wreck, and 
 stretched out a sceptre more powerful than either, till Alexander 
 the G-reat, when he had overthrown the wide world, leaving like 
 a wilderness behind what he had found to be the garden of the 
 Lord before him, sat down and wept like a child, because, the 
 whole world being subdued, there was no other place to conquer 
 and attach to his empire. 
 
 You have, then, in the G-rEeco-Macedonian empire the fulfilment 
 of that portion of the image which represented the third universal 
 sovereignty that occupied the whole world. In looking at this 
 part of my subject, there is just one thing more I should like to 
 notice. The period that comprehended the Medo-Persian and the 
 Grseco-3Iacedonian empires, or the second and third universal 
 monarchies, was, perhaps, the most brilliant in the world. The 
 galaxy of heroes, poets, painters, orators, statesmen, historians, 
 that shine in the firmament of that celebrated era, has perhaps 
 never been equalled in brilliancy and beauty. But what I wish 
 you to notice is, that while this period occupied all the attention 
 of the historians, the poets, and the orators of Grreece and Rome, 
 and is referred to by them as the brightest and most illustrious 
 in the history of the world, how little space it occupies in the 
 word of Grod ! 
 
 During the course of these empires, we have the conquests of 
 Cyrus, the expedition of Xerxes — Marathon, the name of which 
 is almost an oration — Thermopylae, which is the burden of so 
 many poets' songs — and Salamis. \Ye have Miltiades, Themisto- 
 cles, Aristides, Pericles, and Demosthenes; in short, all that man 
 can appreciate of earthly glory reached at this period its culmi- 
 nating grandeur, and has commanded in every land the admiration 
 of poets, and the reminiscences of historians ; but these events, so 
 prominent in the records of man, are but feebly touched by the 
 pencil of the Spirit of God. Great warriors — able orators — 
 mighty poets — illustrious statesmen — are treated in the Bible as 
 the grass that groweth up and the flower of the grass that fadeth ; 
 and great truths, interwoven with man's everlasting well-being, 
 
76 rUOPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 are alone prominent in the word of God that liveth and cndurcth 
 for ever and ever. But while these fade like the grass, and their 
 greatest ones as the flower of the grass, the same book teaches us 
 that " they that be wise shall shine as the firmament, and they 
 that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." 
 Man's history relates to his own heroes and victories, and these 
 occupy all his pages; God's history relates to and describes man 
 in the light of eternity, and views all things as they bear upon 
 that momentous issue. 
 
 These, then, were the second and third empires ; and in verse 
 40 we have the fourth empire in its undivided state. ^'The 
 fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron," etc. This empire can 
 be proved from history to be none other than the great Eoman 
 empire itself. From the period when Alexander swept the world 
 and made it the measure of his kingdom, to the period when 
 Rome gained the ascendency and became the universal empire, 
 we read of no other universal, supremo, and absorbing sovereignty. 
 We find from history that the Macedonian empire, which I have 
 described, was overthrown about 142 years before Christ. Syria 
 was conquered 64 years before Christ; Egypt 30 years before; 
 and this vast empire then began its course about 30 years, or, at the 
 very remotest, 142 years before Christ, and continued until 
 nearly 400 years after that period, the alone supreme and uni- 
 versal empire. One may also see that this the judgment formed 
 by modern commentators was the universal judgment of the 
 earliest writers upon the word of God. Theodoret, a Greek 
 father, states that the first empire, of gold, was the Babjdonian ; 
 the second, of silver, was the Medo-Persian ; the third, of brass, 
 the Graeco-Macedonian ; and the fourth, or iron empire, he says, 
 was none else than the Roman empire itself. 
 
 You must notice, in looking at this prophecy of Daniel, that 
 more space is devoted to the history of the Roman empire than 
 to that of any of the other three. A large space is devoted to 
 Babylon ; but a much larger space in the Bible relates to the 
 Roman empire. Why so ? The Roman soldiers were present at 
 the crucifixion ; a Roman oflBicer was the first among the Gentiles 
 to receive the gospel ; the Roman capitol was the pulpit of Paul ; 
 the Roman people became the first converts to the gospel ; through 
 
THE SILVER AND BRASS EMPIRES. 77 
 
 the Roman language and by Roman roads the gospel was carried 
 from the Capitol to the remotest regions of the habitable globe ; 
 and on the ruins of the Roman empire was constructed that 
 dread sacerdotal despotism which has corrupted the oracles of 
 God, ruined the souls of mankind, and is now drunk, as I shall 
 show you in a subsequent lecture, with the blood of the saints of 
 God — I mean the Romish Church. 
 
 Now, in showing the rise of the Roman universal empire, we 
 notice, first, Macedon was conquered, and disappeared from occu- 
 pying its place among the nations of the earth; Carthage was 
 razed to the ground ; Corinth, the capital of all that was luxurious 
 and refined, was reduced to ashes. Spain next fell before the 
 victorious arms of Rome ; Egypt was reduced to a Roman pro- 
 vince; Judea became part of the Roman empire, as the New 
 Testament will show you; and Jerusalem itself, the capital of 
 Judea, was torn up by the Roman ploughshare, under Titus and 
 Vespasian, the Roman emperors. When Rome had thus, like 
 iron, bruised and broken down all the nations of the earth, and 
 reduced them under its iron sceptre, this island, a small spot in 
 the midst of the deep — a country full of roving savages and wild 
 barbarians — a race that knew not what civilization was, and had 
 still less idea of what Christianity proclaimed — this distant isle 
 of the sea provoked the cupidity and stirred the ambition of 
 Rome; at length it was invaded, and likewise subjected to the 
 rule of the Roman empire. It was when the Romans had reached 
 Scotland, and were subduing a portion of it, that Galgacus, the 
 celebrated chieftain, addressed the Caledonians in the following 
 words, which show how truly Rome was at this moment become 
 the universal sovereign: — "These ravagers of the world/^ said 
 the Scottish chieftain, " after all the earth has been too narrow 
 for their ambition, have ransacked the sea also. If their enemy 
 be rich, they are covetous; if poor, they are ambitious. The 
 East cannot satiate theua, no more can the West. To plunder, to 
 murder, to rob, is all their delight. Violence they call dominion; 
 and wherever they make a dreary solitude, they call it peace." 
 But the most decisive testimony to the universal iron supremacy 
 of Rome, the fourth empire of Dciniel, is given by Gibbon, who, 
 as usual, is here the undesigning, the unconscious, but the faithful 
 
 7* 
 
78 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 witness to the truth of the prophecies of God. Gibbon thus 
 speaks of the extent of the Roman dominions : — ^' The empire 
 was about two thousand miles in breadth, from the wall of Anto- 
 ninus and northern limits of Dacia to the Atlas and the tropic of 
 Cancer. It extended in length more than three thousand miles, 
 from the "Western ocean to the Euphrates. The arms of the re- 
 public, sometimes vanquished in battle, alwiijs yictorious in war, 
 advanced with rapid strides to the Euphrates, and the Danube, 
 and the Rhine, and the ocean; and the image of gold, or silver, 
 or brass, that might serve to represent the nations or kings, were 
 successively broken by the iron monarchy of Rome.^' 
 
 Thus, strange enough, Gibbon states, as if he could find no 
 language so truly descriptive of historic fact as the language of 
 Daniel, '^ The image of gold, or silver, or brass, that might serve 
 to represent the nations of kings, was successively broken up by 
 the iron monarchy of Rome ;" so completely does God's prophecy 
 find its echo in man's unconscious history. In other words, the 
 infidel historian could find no language so descriptive of fact as 
 the very words of prophecy in the book of Daniel ; and thus he 
 proved, not only the fulfilment of prophecy, but the fulness, 
 the beauty, and the force of the words in which that prophecy 
 was couched. 
 
 This iron despotism or empire is further proved to be the fourth 
 universal empire, by another extract which I will give from Gib- 
 bon. "There was," says the historian, "not an inch of ground 
 then known exempt from its sceptre. The modern tyrant who 
 should find no resistance in his own breast, or in his people, would 
 soon experience a gentle restraint from the example of his equals, 
 the dread of censure, the apprehension of enemies. The object 
 of his displeasure escaping the narrow limits of his dominion, 
 would easily obtain, in a happier climate, a secure refuge, freedom 
 of complaint, and perhaps means of revenge. But the empire 
 of the Romans filled the world, and when that empire fell into 
 the hands of a single person, the world became a safe and dreary 
 prison for his enemies. To resist was fatal, and it was impossible 
 to fly. On every side he was encompassed with a vast extent of 
 sea and land, which he could never hope to traverse, without 
 being discovered, seized, and restored to his irritated master. 
 
THE SILVER AND BRASS EMPIRES. 79 
 
 Beyond the frontiers^ he could discover nothing except the ocean, 
 inhospitable deserts, and hostile tribes of fierce barbarians/' 
 
 Gibbon is my witness that the fourth kingdom should be 
 " strong as iron ; forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and sub- 
 dueth all things, so shall it break in pieces and bruise/' Thus 
 truly is history the echo of prophecy ! God sketches the outline 
 in his word, and kings, and heroes, and poets, and painters, and 
 historians, as if smitten witli some mysterious instinct, instantly 
 rise to their places, and fill up with their details what God has so 
 fully sketched. 
 
 Now then, having looked at the evidence of the existence of 
 four great empires, I ask, can any one doubt, in reading their 
 history, that the prophecy which predicted that existence hun- 
 dreds of years before, is inspired by the Holy Spirit of God ? 
 Can we doubt, from the comparison of the prophecy, so plain, with 
 the historic facts, so indisputable and so clearly established, that 
 there is a God who revealed them, and does reveal secrets still ? 
 Can we suppose that that man was uninspired by Him to whom 
 the present and the future are equally clear, who could stand up 
 in the midst of the Babylonian empire, when its grandeur and 
 power seemed the prophecy of its immortality, and the sceptre of 
 its monarchy a sceptre too strong for any rival to destroy, or for 
 any foe to shatter ; — can we suppose that Dcinicl, standing under 
 such circumstances, in the midst of such imperial magnificence, 
 and predicting that this empire should pass away, and a second 
 should speedily occupy its throne ; and that that second empire 
 should also fade, and a third should take its place ; and that a 
 fourth empire should arise, fiercer and more powerful than the 
 three that preceded it, and, like iron, irresistibly tread down and 
 subdue to its supremacy all the nations of the habitable globe; — 
 could he, I say, have done all this, if he had not been inspired by 
 a power far greater than any human foresight could bestow ? If 
 God be in history, which we know to be the fact, is there not 
 God in prophecy? and history, therefore, is but the echo resound- 
 ing in the ears of the present generation of that voice which 
 sounded along the corridors of time in centuries and generations 
 long past. 
 
 We notice, then, the sublime and yet humbling light in which 
 
80 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 all the heroes and statesmen of ancient days were thus uncon- 
 sciously placed. We see Hannibal, who had never heard of God's 
 prophecies, begin his wars with Rome, and train her soldiers for 
 being the conquerors of the world. "We see Scipio, Marius, Pom- 
 pey, and Caesar, each take up the position assigned to him, and 
 fight, or fall, or conquer, till they have made Rome nothing less 
 and nothing more than what Daniel predicted that Rome should 
 become. Thus we see the eloquence of Cicero, the poetry of 
 Virgil, the odes of Horace, the annals of Tacitus, the pungent 
 satires of Juvenal, the history of Gibbon, rush forward and be- 
 come the witnesses to mysterious truths, which they could not 
 themselves comprehend, but which are the most conclusive proofs 
 that Daniel spoke by the inspiration of God, and the demonstra- 
 tions to a skeptic world that God changcth the times and the sea- 
 sons, he removeth kings and setteth up kings, he knoweth what 
 is in the darkness and in the light, he revealeth the deep and 
 secret things, and the light dwelleth with him. All these fell 
 into their places just at the appointed times, and while they 
 thought they were doing each his own work, all were co-operating 
 to accomplish God's predictions; while they thought they were 
 the statuaries cutting out the image after their own design, 
 they were but the chisels in the hand of the great Statuary, un- 
 consciously and unintentionally fulfilling his own grand and sub- 
 lime purposes. 
 
 In the next place, we learn the lesson that there are no 
 accidents on earth — all history is thus constantly fulfilling all pro- 
 phecy. If you read attentively the history of Rome, you would 
 see that at times it seemed almost to struggle for existence. At 
 one time it depended, you would say, upon the turning of a straw, 
 whether Remus and Romulus, the alleged founders of Rome, 
 should be left to perish in the wilderness ; it rested, you would 
 say, at another time, upon the single sword of Camillus, which 
 scale should preponderate; and once the Capitol of the city was 
 saved by the geese which were accidentally fed there. All these 
 seem to man accidents ; and human history, read by human light, 
 seems a collection of lucky and fortuitous occurrences. But when 
 a Christian looks at history, it becomes all luminous in the light 
 of the gospel. The sword of Camillus was chosen and calculated 
 
THE SILVER AND BRASS EMPIRES. 81 
 
 by God as plainly as any fact in history ; the birds that saved the 
 Capitol had their mission by the appointment of God ; and soldier 
 and senator, poet and orator, had each his work to do, that God's 
 great plans might be completed, and God's great work might be 
 done. 
 
 In the next place, we may learn that what was true of Rome, 
 who fulfilled her portion of prophecy, is no less true of Great 
 Britain, which is fulfilling hers. We see around us conflict, and 
 trouble, and exaction, and dismay ; and we are sometimes prone 
 to tremble, as if the glorious issue were placed in jeopardy. Save 
 yourselves that feeling : you need not tremble. Man's word does 
 ftiil, and he that builds on it may tremble; but God's word 
 endureth for ever, and heaven and earth shall pass away, but one 
 jot or one tittle of this book shall not fail till all be fulfilled. 
 And therefore, when I look around me in this great land of ours, 
 and see all things, consciously or unconsciously, criminally or 
 innocently, doing God's work — the illustrious Wellington in the 
 field — the great Pitt in the senate — the invincible Nelson on the 
 deck — the martja-dom or the murder, call it which you please, of 
 Charles — the ascendency of Cromwell — the reign even of George 
 the Fourth, and the pure and beautiful sway of her who now 
 wields the sceptre of this mighty land — I discover that all are 
 ecjually helping the purpose, and accomplishing the predictions of 
 God : I rest in the Lord, and am still. In the narratives of Scott 
 — the poetry of Byron — the socialism of Owen — the piety of 
 Wilberforce — the atheism of Yoltaire — the vulgar infidelity of 
 Paine — the pantheism of Emerson — the " pamphlets for the last 
 days of Carlyle," — all of them, whatever be their virtues or their 
 crimes, whatever be their falsehood or their truth, whatever be 
 their folly or their wisdom, are rising on the stage, each trampling 
 down the other in its turn, to fulfil the purposes and manifest the 
 glorious predictions of God. Their freedom and their responsi- 
 bility are untouched ; the direction and the efi'ect of all they say 
 and do is clear as the stars in the firmament. Thus centuries 
 have their mission and their duty to perform — moments have 
 their work — all men their places ; and the most wicked, like a 
 leech applied to the human body, seek to serve themselves, but 
 
82 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 are only doing the work of the great Physician who prescribes, 
 controls, and governs them. 
 
 The next lesson we learn from this survey is, that God is also 
 in the world. The world is not an orb abandoned by the Deity, 
 and left to traverse its own course, or to follow its own impulses. 
 Society is not like rain-drops sprinkled in the field or on the 
 pavement, without design, without cohesion or purpose ; but they 
 are all under God's providential government; and God is as much 
 in the midst of this great city as he was between the cherubim 
 when his glory dazzled all eyes by its splendour, or when he 
 revealed himself in the burning bush, or when he thundered 
 upon the heights of Sinai. Our creed is not ^^ God was," but 
 '^ God is.'' The leaf that falls from the tree, and the king that 
 is struck from his throne — the storm that sweeps the broad earth, 
 and the tide of war, revolution, and convulsion that desolates 
 great kingdoms, are all responses to the touch of God — mission- 
 aries, consciously or unconsciously, criminally or innocently, 
 executing and fulfilling the everlasting purposes of Him whose 
 kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and whose dominion endureth 
 for ever and ever. 
 
 In the next place, let us learn from the survey of these four 
 kingdoms, the downward and deteriorating tendency of all society, 
 and nations, and corporations of all sorts, if they are without 
 religion. They begin with gold ; they go on to silver ; they 
 deteriorate into brass ; and lastly, they end in iron. And when 
 the strongest has developed itself, a stone, physically weak, as I 
 shall show in future lectures, but morally omnipotent, touches 
 the iron that has subdued all, and it is scattered like chafi" upon 
 the threshing-floor. Let us learn this great lesson, that true re- 
 ligion is the sweetener and the strengthener of society. Exhaust 
 religion from a country, from its schools, and its churches, and 
 you exhaust the vital oxygen from the nation's air. It is only 
 when the altars of a country burn with holy fire that the intellect 
 of a country shall glow with pure and increasing light. It is 
 just in proportion as religion leavens a nation that that nation 
 stands firm on its feet, and may smile at the wear and tear of 
 ages, knowing that it has immortality in proportion as it has 
 Christianity. Babylon perished, because it had no religion. The 
 
THE SILVER AND BRASS EMPIRES. 83 
 
 Medo-Persian empire peri.shed because it Lad no religion. The 
 Gr£eco-MacedonJan empire perished, because it had no religion ; 
 and the Roman empire perished, because it had no religion. 
 And if you look around at the present day, you find Egypt, be- 
 cause without religion, is a mere mummy ; Greece, because with- 
 out religion, is dead; India, because without religion, is a moral 
 desert; China, because without religion, is a stagnant morass; 
 and all society, domestic, national, provincial, universal, if stripped 
 and deprived of its religion, becomes like a rope of sand, held 
 together by political compression, but the instant that the politics 
 tremble, that instant all its institutions go to decay. And this 
 explains what has taken place on the continent of Europe. Why 
 is France dying every day, so that one of its most illustrious 
 writers has written an essay on the deterioration of France ; in 
 which he shows that it is becoming daily so depopulated that they 
 are obliged even to lower every succeeding year the standard of 
 its army, till at length they will become pigmies instead of giants, 
 as the Gauls once were ? Its moral state too is of the most awful 
 description. And why is it thus sinking and deteriorating? 
 Because, as a nation, it has cast off God. And why is Prussia, 
 as a nation, weak and disturbed ? Because Prussian Protestantism 
 has ceased to be what Luther left it. And why is it that Spain 
 has a population above the soil not one whit grander or more 
 capable of noble deeds than those that sleep quietly beneath it ? 
 Because it has no real religion. And why is Rome the by-word 
 of the nations — its infallibility a scoff, and its sacerdotal dynasty 
 the horror of all that are acquainted with its terrible secrets ? 
 Because it has no religion. You can raise a country's intellect 
 only by raising its people's conscience. The bulwarks and the 
 battlements of a land are not soldiers, nor sailors, nor creed, nor 
 politics; it is righteousness that exalteth a nation, and sin that is 
 the ruin of any people. 
 
 But we have another lesson to learn from this : if all the move- 
 ments of society are thus the executors of the purposes of God, 
 it becomes the Christian to study what is going on around him, 
 as well as what is written in the Bible. Christians are apt to 
 exclude themselves from society, and to be ignorant of it ; to be 
 acquainted with the Bible, which is their greatest glory, but to be 
 
84 rRoriiETic studies. 
 
 criminally and injuriously ignorant of all that is around them 
 fulfilling the Bible, which is the neglect of their plainest duty. 
 It seems to me that at the present moment, when, as I believe, 
 the stone cut out without hands is breiiking the kingdoms of the 
 world into atoms — at this moment, it seems to me, that the first 
 study should be the book of grace — the chiefest, deepest, most 
 solemn, most prayerful; but the next to that, the study of God's 
 providential dealings at the present hour. So that, in my humble 
 judgment, the very newspaper at this time is to me of no mean 
 importance ; and if you want to see the Bible, which is prophecy, 
 reflected in the form of history, just read the foreign correspond- 
 ence of the newspapers of every day. We see there the world 
 commenting upon what God has written ; and God, in his pro- 
 vidential history, showing us the truth of his ancient and inspired 
 prophecy. But do not read the newspaper to the neglect of the 
 Bible ; read the Bible first and last, and chiefest ; and use the 
 newspapers only as you would use any one fact in the past or 
 present, as the evidence that God speaks in the Bible, and that 
 God now acts in the world. The Bible is the key that unlocks 
 all : it is the torch carried into the otherwise dark chambers of 
 history, showing us order in apparent confusion ; revealing har- 
 mony in seemed discord; unity, design, in what is otherwise 
 inexplicable. Thus it becomes the bright chart that helps us to 
 tread with certainty the windings of the labyrinth; and to rise 
 from the chaos in which men plunge and speculate, to the light 
 in which God is, and lives for ever. 
 
 All around, I add, is changing; but the word of God lives and 
 abides for ever. Thrones and dynasties and kings are passing 
 away, but God's word remains; and in the midst of all the vicis- 
 situdes and changes that are constantly occurring around us, how 
 delightful to know that there are added day by day to the church 
 of the living God such as shall be saved. I believe that, day by 
 day, religion is becoming more felt and appreciated. I believe 
 too, what you know, that empires may be shattered — sceptres 
 broken — thrones convulsed — but that little thing, in the world's 
 eye so weak, according to the world's calculation so perishing, 
 the company of God's faithful people, may seem buried in the 
 waves like the ark of old, but it is only to rise with the next bil* 
 
TPIE SILVER AND BRASS EMPIRES. 85 
 
 low nearer to the skies. ^^I give unto them," says our Lord, 
 '^eternal life, and none shall be able to pluck them out of my 
 hand." Nothing shall separate a living Christian from the liv- 
 ing God; neither life, nor death, nor angels, nor principalities, 
 nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature. Bre- 
 thren, are we such Christians? are we transformed by the Spirit in 
 the renewing of our hearts? No discussion on the fulfilment of 
 prophecy must ever divert, but on the contrary, should draw our 
 minds to the consideration of our personal safety in the sight of 
 God. Are we reposing on the only fixture, the Rock of ages ? 
 Are we hiding ourselves within the everlasting arms, — and when 
 the last storm shall come, and the last thunder shall roar, and the 
 last fires shall blaze, are we conscious that we shall be found rest- 
 ing on the rock that shall never fail ? Are we born again ? Are 
 we in the world and of the world ? or are we in the true church, 
 and of the true church, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ? 
 If we are, then we can stand and gaze upon the bright panorama 
 that spreads before us, disclosing God in history, fulfilling God in 
 prophecy; knowing that all things only work together for good 
 to them that love God, and hasten that bright and blessed epoch, 
 when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of 
 our God, and all the people shall praise him ; and the earth shall 
 yield her increase, and God, even our God shall bless us. Amen. 
 
86 
 
 LECTUEE VII. 
 
 THE MYSTIC STONE SMITING THE IMAGE. 
 
 ''Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the 
 image upon his feet that were of iron and cla}'-, and brake them to i^ieces. 
 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to 
 pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and 
 the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them : and the stone 
 that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. 
 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potter's cloy, and part of 
 iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of 
 the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the 
 toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be 
 partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with 
 miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men : but they shall 
 not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the 
 days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall 
 never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it 
 shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for 
 ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain 
 without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the sil- 
 ver, and the gold ; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come 
 to pass hereafter : and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof 
 sure." — Daniel ii. 34, 35, 41-45. 
 
 I HAVE explained the origin of the remarkable symbols, the 
 last of which in this chapter I have this evening read. A great 
 and supernatural image was made to pass before the eyes of Ne-. 
 buchadnezzar the king, intended to presignify great events des- 
 tined in the purposes of God to evolve in the latter days. That 
 symbol none of the soothsayers of Babylon could interpret. What 
 God reveals, God's people alone will clearly comprehend; and 
 what God makes known by mysterious signs, God's own commis- 
 sioned interpreter is able clearly to explain. 
 
 The head, we are told, was made of gold, and was declared ex- 
 pressly by Daniel to be the Babylonian monarchy. That head of 
 
THE MYSTIC STONE SMITING THE IMAGE. 87 
 
 gold, or Babylonian kingdom, passes away, as I have showed you 
 by facts drawn from history, and another kingdom forthwith oc- 
 cupies its place : the silver breast, with the silver arms, denoting 
 the conjunct or combined kingdom of the Medo-Persians, which 
 instantly succeeded the kingdom of Babylon on its overthrow and 
 subjugation by Gyi'us, after whose victory its golden glory left 
 scarce a rack behind. We then read of a third kingdom — not 
 guessed by man to be so; but expressly explained by Daniel to 
 succeed the second on its ruin and decay. ^'His belly and his 
 thighs of brass." This kingdom, I showed you, denotes — the 
 only possible kingdom it can be applied to — the Grseco-Macedo- 
 nian, called frequently, as those acquainted with classic literature 
 are aware, ^Hhe brazen-coated Greeks'^ — the Greeks who wore 
 coats and helmets of mail and brass. This kingdom may be said 
 to have been founded by Philip, who warred so successfully with 
 the Greeks, and against whom the thunders and lightnings of 
 Demosthenes were so vividly and so frequently pointed. He 
 was succeeded by his son Alexander — Alexander the Great — 
 who, I need not tell any one acquainted with the elements of 
 schoolboy literature, swept the whole known world — subjugated 
 every kingdom, almost the instant he touched it, by his victo- 
 rious phalanxes; and at last, when he had subdued the whole 
 world, he sat down and wept, because there was no more world 
 to conquer. His kingdom passed away after it had fulfilled its 
 mission, and was succeeded by the mightier, more powerful, iron 
 kingdom of the Romans; whose history, rise, and progress, are 
 described by heathen writers, and even by Gibbon, in a manner 
 eminently confirmatory of the predictions of Daniel, as I have 
 already endeavoured to delineate in the former lecture. This 
 fourth empire has been called again and again ^^the iron em- 
 pire." The crown or diadem of its monarchs was iron; the 
 *'iron sway" was the name that poets gave to it; and when Gib- 
 bon, the skeptic historian, wished to describe its rise, its splen- 
 dour, and its might, he could find no symbol so expressive of its 
 actual and historical nature as the very imagery used by.Daniel, 
 which he consciously or unconsciously quoted, in order thereby 
 to denote and delineate its unrivalled greatness, strength, and 
 progress. 
 
88 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 I stated that the Koman empire* occupies a space larger than 
 the rest, because the destiny of the people of God is very much 
 interwoven and mixed up with it. I have showed you (and this 
 is one great point I ask all to recollect) that there can be found 
 no four successive empires in the world, or in the history of man- 
 kind, possessed of universal sovereignty, except the four I have 
 mentioned. Now, I ask you, is it possible, if Daniel were a mere 
 guesser — a mere sagacious guesser of future possibilities — is it 
 probable that he could have guessed so exactly what has taken 
 place, and what all history attests ? Many are found who ask for 
 miracles. Here is a miracle fresh and patent to all. Here is a 
 delineation minutely given six hundred years before the advent 
 of Christ ; and kings mount their thrones to fulfil it ; and the 
 Roman legion and the Macedonian phalanx march to victory, in 
 order to make its most microscopic lines appear true. Empire 
 succeeds to empire, army destroys army, nation follows in the rear 
 of nation, as if each saw the chart plainly delineated, and felt 
 that each had a divine commission to go forth, verhafim et litera- 
 tim, to fulfil it. Is not this prophecy written by the finger of 
 God ? Is not all history the evidence of its inspiration ? Is not 
 this a miracle that supersedes the necessity of mere manifestations 
 of power, however impressive, and proclaims with a voice irresisti- 
 ble and full of argument, " Thy word, God, is truth V 
 
 In this lecture I proceed to show the division of the last king- 
 dom, into what are called ^^ the toes of the feet'' of this image. 
 The legs, from the knee, were represented as made of solid iron; 
 the feet were composed of iron and clay ; and there were the five 
 toes upon the one foot and the five upon the other, constituting 
 thereby ten. But we should not conjecture it was ten, were it 
 not that subsequent visions in the Book of Daniel, to which I • 
 hope to be able to direct your attention, plainly state it ; and no 
 less clear statements in the Book of Revelation indicate the same 
 number of kingdoms. We read of the ^^ beast that was, and is 
 
 * In searching Chrysostom for another quotation, I found, in his fourth 
 Homily, on 2 Thess. ii. 5, the following words : — "^nsp yap al irpo rovrov KareXv'ir]- 
 cav ^aaiXdai, oiov // MrjJwv vno toJj/ Ba,5uXa)i/icji', ?'; 'Ba/SvXoivioiv ino Ilipaoyv, rj lltpatjiv vno 
 MuKciovov, fi 'MaKi:^6voiv vnd 'Pu/uiaiojv ovro) KaX av-ni vno roii 'Ai/rtxpiVroy, KaKeivo; wd 
 Tov XptuTov Kal ovKETi *fa(9i?£(. — Vol. xi. 613. Paris. 1838. 
 
THE MYSTIC STONE SMITING THE IMAGE. 89 
 
 not." " And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, 
 which have received no kingdom as yet.'^ The words " king" 
 and ''kingdom" are used convertibly in Daniel. Mr. Birks, who 
 has written most ably and eloquently upon this book, says the ex- 
 pression "kingdom" is used when it is the subject of change or 
 division, and that it is called a king when it goes forth conquering 
 and deciding the destinies of a nation. Accordingly we read in the 
 44th verse, '^In the days of these kings;" but in the previous 
 passage it is said, " these kingdoms." Again, of the king of 
 Babylon it is said, " Thou art that head of gold ;" meaning, 
 '^ thy kingdom is represented by it." The two words, therefore, 
 are used convertibly. 
 
 Now it is said that this last kingdom, which we have shown, I 
 think irresistibly, to be the Roman empire, Avas to be split into 
 ten divisions ', or, if the wild beast from the abyss, seen by John 
 in Patmos, be taken, it was to have ten horns ; or, if Daniel's 
 subsequent visions be had recourse to, (which we shall come to 
 by-and-by,) it was to be tenfold. We have the fact clearly pre- 
 dicted, that it was to be split or divided into ten kingdoms. Here 
 is a broad prediction, of which palpable facts can alone be re- 
 garded as the fulfilment. Is it then matter of historic fact, as it 
 is matter of prophetic declaration, that this Roman empire has 
 been divided into ten kingdoms at its fall or decline ? That this 
 has been so, every historian will tell you. Gibbon speaks of the 
 ten kingdoms : Miiller, the German historian, alludes to the ten 
 kingdoms of the Roman empire ; and I might quote from histo- 
 rians innumerable, all speaking of this tenfold division, not as a 
 prophetic announcement, but as an historical and actual fact. 
 
 That this was so, I will show by giving these ten kingdoms as 
 they have appeared in successive centuries. I need not enter into 
 historical details, for they would be inappropriate here — all that 
 devolves upon me is to show you the fulfilment of the prophecies 
 of God ; and the discourse that proves to you that what God in- 
 spired in prophecy has been fulfilled in history, is a discourse that 
 contributes at least a drop to that mighty, deepening, widening 
 current which carries, day by day, accumulating evidence of the 
 inspiration and heaven-descended origin of God's blessed book. 
 
 In the year 582 after the birth of Christ — that is, rather more 
 
 8« 
 
90 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 than a thousand years after the prophecy was uttered — we find 
 the Roman empire, if I may use the expression, on its last legs ; 
 and these last legs divided into the following ten toes, or king- 
 doms : — the Bavarians, the Anglo-Saxons, the Alleman-Franks, 
 the Burgundian-Franks, the Yisi-Goths, the Suevi-Franks, the 
 Vandals, Ostro-Goths, and Lombards. The next or last three, as 
 if to fulfil the significance of another vision of Daniel, were de- 
 voured by the " little horn," (which we shall afterward speak of,) 
 or were absorbed by the Roman pope, and constitute at this mo- 
 ment what are called " the three estates of the Church." Then, 
 in the year 900, there was the following division : Bavaria, G-er- 
 many. Burgundy, France, Aragon, Castile, Lower Italy, and Rome, 
 comprehending the three estates of the Church — the Vandals, 
 Ostro-Goths, and Lombards. In the year 1214, the division was : 
 Bavaria, Germany, Upper Italy, France, Portugal, Spain, Naples, 
 and Rome with its three estates, rejDresented by the pope's triple 
 crown, subject to the jurisdiction of the Church, and constituting 
 its property. Then we come to 1700, when we find Bavaria, 
 Austria, Savoy, France, Spain, Portugal, Naples, and Rome with 
 its three estates, making altogether ten kingdoms, into which the 
 Roman empire was at last divided. 
 
 As you are aware, there is sometimes, in reading history, a dif- 
 ficulty in distinguishing the one kingdom from the other; but, 
 mark you, that very difficulty only makes the fulfilment of pro- 
 phecy more clear, because the assertion of the seer is, that they shall 
 attempt to intermingle with the seed of men, but that they should 
 not succeed in being consolidated into one universal empire, as 
 they were under Nebuchadnezzar, under Cyrus, under Alexander, 
 or under the Roman Caesars; that with all their intermingling, 
 as the sea interlocks with the land, the one losing and the other 
 gaining a bit, the ten kingdoms should cast up at the end of every 
 century, more or less separate, and should last till the end — when 
 they should be smitten into fragments by a "stone cut out with- 
 out hands." I ask you to notice this startling fact. If you will 
 read any history of Europe, or if you will study the maps show- 
 ing this division — maps which I hope one day to exhibit in my 
 school-room, as I have exhibited others, if I can only get them 
 prepared on a large enough scale — you will find that in each ceu- 
 
THE MYSTIC STONE SMITING THE IMAGE. 91 
 
 tury these ten kingdoms have always cast up, have always turned 
 out of each revolution ; and every attempt to make them fewer, 
 or to make them one, has signally and historically failed. 
 
 The expression, " They shall mingle themselves with the seed 
 of men/' simply means, that they should try by human alliances 
 to intermingle. Napoleon, for instance, connected himself by 
 marriage with Austria. One would have supposed that this would 
 surely have brought about the consolidation of the two empires ; 
 but it did not do so. Charlemagne subdued Germany, Saxony, 
 Spain, and Italy ; but his conquests were temporary : he had no 
 sooner turned his back upon the country he conquered, than it 
 rose and reasserted its independence. Louis XIV., whose bril- 
 liant, but sensual and profligate reign may be known to many of 
 you, made the same experiment. Napoleon, with his iron crown, 
 his formidable sword, and his devastating battalions, swept 
 through Europe, reached Africa, visited even Palestine itself, or 
 at least Syria ; till at last, in his desperate effort to consolidate 
 all the nations of Europe, Asia, and Africa under his sway, he 
 was all but paralyzed in his infatuated ambition, amid the snows 
 of Kussia ; and finally, in that great victory in which our country 
 signalized itself with glory, because it was a contribution to the 
 peace of Europe and the well-being of mankind, he was finally 
 smitten down. His attempt showed, as did the attempts of all 
 that preceded him, that the inner powers of repulsion in the ten 
 kingdoms were stronger than the outer compression of Napoleon's, 
 or Charlemagne's, or Louis's sword. We have thus, then, the ten 
 kingdoms always coming up, notwithstanding the efforts of suc- 
 cessive despots, conquerors, and heroes to consolidate them. We 
 have the failure of each hero written in blood, and stereotyped 
 upon the page of Europe ; in spite of man's great forces, God's 
 true word stands still, fulfilled to the very letter. Did Daniel 
 guess all this ? Who is the more credulous — the man who says 
 a Jewish captive guessed the history of Europe, or he that says a 
 Jewish prophet predicted it by the inspiration of God ? 
 
 We read, after this division of the empire, that ^'' a stone cut 
 out without hands" was to smite '' the image upon its feet, that 
 were of iron and clay." Then it is stated that " in the days of 
 these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall 
 
92 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 never be destroyed/^ '^ Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone 
 was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in 
 pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold ;'" so 
 will it be with the setting up of this great kingdom which shall 
 never be destroyed. 
 
 What the stone cut out without hands is, there can be scarcely a 
 doubt in the mind of any Christian. The apostle Peter tells us, 
 '^ To whom coming, as unto a living stone^ disallowed indeed of 
 men, but chosen of God, and precious, ye also, as lively stones, 
 are built up a spiritual house.'' In his birth there was not the 
 least of human agency ; in his resurrection there was none. In 
 Christ, peculiarly and alone — and only of him can it be said so — 
 there is realized and verified the symbol of a living stone, ^^ cut 
 out without hands." 
 
 But while this may be true, that Christ here personally is to be 
 the Great Destroyer of the nations, it may be no less true that his 
 people instrumen tally are to play a part in it. I cannot believe 
 that the action of the ^^ stone cut out without hands'' upon the ten 
 kingdoms was the birth of Christ, and the gradual spread of his 
 empire, because it does not say that a power was to be introduced 
 into the Roman empire that should spread like leaven, though that 
 was true ; but it is here asserted that a stone was to strike the toes 
 of the image in its last stage, and shatter it to pieces. Now the 
 progress of the gospel, as a converting power, is gradual, slow, 
 and invisible ; but the action of the stone, as here described, is 
 not that of a converting power, but of a destroying and annihi- 
 lating power. Therefore it is represented as smiting i\ie ten king- 
 doms, or the toes of the image, and breaking them in pieces, so 
 that they are scattered like chaff upon the threshing-floor of 
 summer. 
 
 It is believed by many, and I am one of those who incline to 
 that belief, that the mystic stone at this moment has begun to 
 smite the ten kingdoms of the Roman empire. And I am sure 
 that no one who looks around him upon Europe, and reads its 
 mysterious and its melancholy history — no one who is at this 
 moment conversant with what is doing in France, where the vol- 
 cano is smothered, but any thing but extinguished ; or with what 
 is now passing in Italy, where the whole soil rocks, and is con- 
 
THE MYSTIC STONE SMITING THE IMAGE. 93 
 
 vulsed, as if by the heaving of some mighty, dread, subterranean 
 elements, can doubt that if the stone be not smiting at this mo- 
 ment, preparatory to the final destruction of the kingdoms of 
 Europe, there is that going on which is the likest possible to it. 
 Bavaria, Austria, Savoy, France, Spain, Portugal, Naples, the 
 three kingdoms of the pope, or, as they are called, " the three 
 estates of the Church'' — the Vandals, Ostro-Goths, and Lombards 
 — are all at this moment convulsed, each to its very centre j 
 flying from each other, as if by an irresistible centrifugal force; 
 breaking to pieces, as if under the blows of some mysterious 
 stone : Hungary flying off from Austria, as if a hammer smote 
 it and chipped it off; Sicily dashed off from Naples; the pope's 
 "three estates" rent, torn, agitated, convulsed; Ireland feeling 
 also the blows, as if it belonged to the ten kingdoms, whose 
 popish characteristics were to remain to the end, and struggling 
 — we trust, in vain — to be severed from the nation that is its 
 best, and its greatest, though it has been in past times its guilty 
 and its offending friend. Does not all this look as if the stone 
 had begun to smite the ten toes of the kingdoms of the earth ? 
 And if it be so, how solemn is the moment we occupy ! standing 
 on the eve of startling events; hearing thundering through the 
 sky the reverberation of falling thrones, and exploding dynasties 
 — sharing, indeed, a momentary lull, but, like the lull at sea 
 which the sailor knows between the hurricanes, only preparatory 
 to the rending elements that are instantly and terribly to succeed. 
 Need I tell you that almost all men who have looked abroad 
 upon the subject are full of these thoughts ? You cannot read 
 the foreign communications of any of our newspapers without 
 seeing it ; you cannot converse with any man acquainted with the 
 state of Europe who does not tremble, if he has any stake in it, 
 for fear of the things that are coming upon the earth. There is 
 an ancient German prophecy, of which you may have heard, that 
 can be traced half a century back ; I do not say it is inspired — 
 far from it — because I have no evidence that it is so — but it was 
 certainly a strange guess for the Germans to make so long ago : 
 " I would not be a king in 1848 ; I would not be a soldier in 
 1849 ; I would not be a grave-digger in 1850 ; I will be any 
 thing you please in 1851.'' This may be but a rough conjecture ; 
 
94 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 but how significant is, ^^ I would not be a king in 1848 !" How 
 striking is, ^' I would not be a soldier in 1849 V And whether 
 ^'I would not be a grave-digger in 1850'' is to be the foretoken 
 of a yet more desolating scourge than any of those through which, 
 by Grod's mercy, we have passed, Grod only knows. This, how- 
 ever, we know — we are guilty. This we know — we ought now, 
 in the moment of respite, both as affects the physical, and still 
 more, the spiritual condition of our fellow-men, to lend a help- 
 ing hand, and that right speedily. A pious person, writing from 
 the continent, makes this statement : '' Much that has come be- 
 fore us of late shows how rapidly things are classified — how all 
 men are ranging themselves under their respective banners — all 
 watching for the morning, the one for the Lord, and the other for 
 Lucifer.^' While some are looking for Christ, the pantheists of 
 Germany are looking for what they call " the coming man,'' the 
 incarnation or personation of intellect, a human Grod. The beauty 
 of the gospel is, that Grod was made man -, the error of panthe- 
 ism is, that man is believed to be made God. The former was 
 real ; the latter is a mockery. 
 
 I have shown you, then, kingdom rushing from kingdom ; one 
 detached from another, and all left unsettled. If you were to 
 look into churches, you would see the same thing; fragments 
 flying off from one church ; larger fragments from another church ] 
 and the parties standing by, and seeming to enjoy the rending, 
 themselves being rent in turn. This is the very age of breaking 
 up — the age of crushing, of destroying, of rending — the age, in 
 short, of the " stone" smiting the ten toes, and grinding to pow- 
 der the kingdoms of this world. 
 
 What would also confirm that which I have now been stating 
 is, that it seems, from the language employed, to synchronize 
 with the description of the seventh vial given by John. '' The 
 seventh angel poured his vial into the air." That I have already 
 explained to you. You have the air physically and morally 
 tainted. I told you in Exeter Hall in 1847, before the vial was 
 poured out, that the effects would be, whenever it came, if the 
 principle of interpretation I thought to be true was correct, a 
 taint of the air with a physical or pestilential taint, and the de- 
 terioration of public opinion, sentiment, and belief, by deadly 
 
THE MYSTIC STONE SMITING THE IMAGE. 95 
 
 and destructive principles. '^And there came a great voice out 
 of the temple of heaven from the throne, saying, It is done.'' 
 Then, what takes place ? " There were voices'^ — who has not 
 heard the voices that have been sounding over Europe for the last 
 three years, in all shapes and forms? — "and thunders and light- 
 nings ; and there was a great earthquake." As I told you, every 
 newspaper said, that 1848 was the year of earthquakes. An 
 earthquake shook all the ten kingdoms till they reeled and totter- 
 ed, as if about to issue in their final destruction. "And the 
 great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the na- 
 tions fell ; and great Babylon came in remembrance before God'' 
 — the popedom is now being visited and scourged, as the begin- 
 ning of its utter and thorough destruction. If this, then, syn- 
 chronizes with the seventh vial, you have still more confirmatory 
 evidence — or rather, other language illustrative, still more forci- 
 bly, by its symbols, of the period at which we are now arrived. 
 
 If it synchronizes with the seventh vial, it would also syn- 
 chronize with what our blessed Lord has told us in Matthew, 
 (this is before the coming of Christ:) "Immediately after the 
 tribulation of those days shall the sun" (used to denote imperial 
 power) "be darkened, and the moon" (either a lesser civil power, 
 or the ecclesiastical) "shall not give her light, and the stars" (or 
 rulers in the church) " shall fall from heaven, and the powers of 
 the heaven shall be shaken : and then shall appear the sign of 
 the Son of man in heaven : and then shall all the tribes of the 
 earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the 
 clouds of heaven with power and great glory." 
 
 And if it synchronizes with this, it will also synchronize with 
 other predictions in the 37th and 38th chapters of Ezekiel: 
 " Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a 
 cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many peo- 
 ple with thee." There is a series of predictions in these chap- 
 ters of Ezekiel revealing judgments that were to take place in 
 the latter days — the restoration of the Jews, and glory of the 
 Gentiles — which you can read at your leisure. 
 
 It appears, then, that just before the advent of the Lord, 
 there is to be the vial poured into the air, the thunder, the 
 lightning, the great earthc|uake, and Babylon, the Romish apos- 
 
96 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 tasy, coming into remembrance before God; — secondly, to use 
 the words of our Lord, the sun and moon and stars darkening, 
 the heavens covered as with a sackcloth, and men's hearts fail- 
 ing them for fear of the things that are coming upon the earth; 
 and thirdly — to quote the imagery of Daniel — that the great 
 stone (beyond all dispute, the Saviour) cut out without hands, is 
 to smite the image, and break it in pieces, till it becomes like 
 the chaff of the summer threshing-floor, swept to and fro by the 
 wind, and carried away, so that no place should be ultimately 
 found for it; and this stone, despised and rejected of men, whom 
 men would not have as their foundation, becomes a great moun- 
 tain, and fills the whole earth. Every one who looks abroad, as 
 I have told you, sees what I may call the presumptive evidence 
 of these things. You have only to look at the nations of Eu- 
 rope to see that they want the great cohesive element of living, 
 scriptural religion. No society can stand unless it be pervaded 
 and knit together by the cement of a living Christianity. The 
 strength of Britain is in the ratio of the depth of Britain's 
 Christianity. The stability of our throne rests upon the Chris- 
 tianity of our population. Never let it be forgotten, that the 
 despised Scripture reader, and humble city missionary, in the 
 dens and alleys, and subterranean cellars of this great metropolis, 
 are contributing (the great men of the world may not see it, but 
 Christian men feel it) to the stability of our most gracious 
 queen's throne, to the splendour of her crown, and to the glory 
 and greatness of this great empire. It is by religion that a na- 
 tion stands; and in the absence of it a hundred thousand bayo- 
 nets are not stronger than a hundred thousand straws — as Louis 
 Philippe, in his own experience, can tell you; and with that reli- 
 gion in a nation's heart, it needs few battalions round the throne, 
 or soldiers to maintain and to defend it. There is a defence in 
 the midst of us mightier than all — the glory of the Lord, our 
 refuge and our strength, and our present help in time of trouble. 
 But with the nations of the earth, every one sees that there is 
 no chance of their keeping together. All their constitutions are 
 carnal. They are merely being patched up; the evil day is, as 
 it were, staved off. Who does not see, who has the least know- 
 ledge of what is going on, that the kingdoms of Europe — the 
 
THE MYSTIC STONE SMITING THE IMAGE. 97 
 
 ten kingdoms — are kept down and quieted purely by manage- 
 ment? Like an old rain, they are propped up; like a diseased 
 body, they are kept in life by medicine; but the props will fall; 
 the medicine will lose its power; and then will come, as Metter- 
 nich prophesied, '^ the deluge, desolation, destruction, ruin/' 
 
 Seeing, then, that the gold and the silver, and the brass, and 
 the iron and clay — all these things must be dissolved — Babylon, 
 Medo-Persia, Macedonia, G^reece, the Koman Empire, and the 
 ten kingdoms — let me ask this question of you — a question that 
 has been asked for 1800 years — ^'What manner of persons 
 ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for, 
 and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the 
 heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall 
 melt with fervent heat?'' Reading the handwriting of doom 
 upon the walls of palaces, and upon the face of thrones; hear- 
 ing the successive crashes of nations booming over sea and land, 
 as if they were the trumps of judgment, spared as we are, in a 
 momentary lull when all seems quiet, only that the forces may 
 muster for the more terrific havoc that is to come; standing on a 
 part of the earth toward which earthquakes seem to roll, and yet, 
 by a divine protection, seem successively to be repelled; — how 
 earnestly should we examine ourselves, — how should we think 
 of our state before God, — how should we try to anticipate, from 
 the knowledge of our hearts, as reflected from God's Holy "Word, 
 where we shall stand when the last crash shall come, and the 
 Son of man, coming in the clouds of heaven, shall cover the sky 
 with an unearthly splendour, and all men shall, for one brief 
 period, enjoy a dreadful, suspensive, trembling pause, anxious to 
 know, " shall we stand at the right hand or at the left hand of 
 the Judge?" ^'Seeing all these things shall be dissolved, what 
 manner of persons ought ye to be?" 
 
 But does not a retrospect of this image, which represented to 
 Daniel all the kingdoms of the world, tell us how to estimate 
 these kingdoms? Riches — what are they? Fragments of the 
 golden head; mere filings of the silver breast and of the silver 
 arms; possessed, indeed, of currency below, but destitute of any 
 currency where Christ and our inheritance are. And what, after 
 all, is earthly rank? It is merely a foothold upon the iron legs; 
 
 9 
 
98 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 or, if a higher rank^ upon the thighs of brass; or, if a higher 
 still, upon the silver arm; and the highest rank in the land is 
 merely seated on the golden head. And when we know that the 
 golden head, and silver arm, and belly of brass, and legs of iron, 
 and toes of clay, shall be all smashed to pieces by that Stone, scat- 
 tered like chaff upon the summer threshing-floor, oh! how pale 
 does all earthly rank become — how poor does all worldly gran- 
 deur appear — how little worthy of a people's love — how little en- 
 titled to a nation's anxiety! What a call to us to think of the 
 *^ unsearchable riches'^ that moth cannot corrupt — to think of the 
 ^'honour that cometh from God" — to think, and secure while 
 we think of a foothold, not upon the leg of iron, nor belly of 
 brass, nor arm of silver, nor head of gold, but a foothold on the 
 Rock of ages, which shall become one day ^^a great mountain,'^ 
 and shall "fill the whole earth. '^ Blessed hope! brilliant pros- 
 pect! As it was told by David, in the 72d Psalm, "His name 
 shall endure for ever :" it shall last like the sun. The names ol 
 Calvin, of Luther, of Knox, of Wesley, and Whitefield, and 
 other names that may be musical to our ears, shall all be hushed, 
 and the name of Christ alone shall endure audible for ever. All 
 nations shall bless him, and all nations shall be blessed in him; 
 and when that Stone has been turned into this great mountain, 
 and when the whole earth shall be covered by that mountain, 
 then shall be the era of the triumph of the catholic, or the uni- 
 versal, and the true church; that mountain-brow basking in per- 
 petual sunshine; and around that mighty mountain that fills the 
 whole earth shall bo successive belts, like bright zones, of ador- 
 ing and worshipping companies, that say and sing, "Unto him 
 that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and 
 hath made us kings and priests unto our Grod; to him be glory for 
 ever and ever." Glorious structure, beautiful and holy home, 
 sublime cathedral, happy rest, for the holy and happy people of 
 God! No hospitals will be there, for there shall be no sick; no 
 graves shall be dug in it, for death shall be destroyed; no sor- 
 row, nor sighing nor tears; but the church catholic, apostolic, 
 holy, blessed, for ever and ever, — Christ their King, and none 
 known by any other name than Christians, the anointed subjects 
 of the great King. 
 
THE MYSTIC STONE SMITING THE IMAGE. 99 
 
 My dear friends, some men quarrel with the study of prophe- 
 cy. I have learned more since I began to study it thoroughly 
 than ever I learned before. I do not say that these simple 
 truths are denied by ministers of the gospel, but certainly they 
 are not studied. They say, ^' We do not like to study these sub- 
 jects." They even boast of their good sense in skipping the 
 Book of Daniel and the Apocalypse. Alas ! for such unprotestant 
 preachers. Whatever God has written, it is surely worth our 
 trouble to study; and if we commit an error here and there, 
 charity will forgive it, and God will forgive it for the sake of the 
 great tmths that are beside it. This I have learned ever since I 
 studied these truths : I have learned less and less to value those 
 distinctions of church and dissent, of episcopacy and independ- 
 ency and presbytery; and to feel more and more their utter 
 insignificance in comparison with that glory that streams from 
 the better land, and shows me that, in the sight of God, in the 
 cycle of eternity, there are but two classes — the lost, in hell, who 
 have clung to Antichrist, and the saved, in heaven, with whom 
 Christ has been all and in all. ■ 
 
 The future ! cruel were the power 
 Whose doom would tear thee from my heart; 
 
 Thou sweetener of the present hour, 
 We cannot — no — we will not part ! 
 
 Then haste thee, Time — 'tis kindness all, 
 
 That speeds thy winged feet so fast 
 Thy pleasures stay not till they pall; 
 
 And all thy pains are quickly past. 
 
 Thou fliest and bcar'st away our woes; 
 
 And as the shadowy trains depart, 
 The memory of sorrow grows 
 
 A lighter burden on the heart. 
 
100 
 
 LECTURE yill. 
 
 THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 
 
 " Thou, king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose 
 brightness was excellent, stood before theej and the form thereof was terrible. 
 This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly 
 and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. 
 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the 
 image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then 
 was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces to- 
 gether, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the 
 wind carried them away, that no place was found for them : and the stone that 
 smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. This is 
 the dream ,• and we v/ill tell the interpretation thereof before the king. Thou, 
 king, art a king of kings : for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, 
 power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, 
 the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine 
 hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. 
 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third 
 kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth 
 kingdom shall be strong as iron : forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and 
 subdueth all things : and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in 
 pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potter's 
 clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of 
 the strength of the -iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry 
 clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the 
 kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest 
 iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: 
 but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. 
 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, 
 which shall never be destroyed : and the kingdom shall not be left to other peo- 
 ple, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall 
 stand for ever." — Daniel ii. 31-4:-i. 
 
 Time would foil me were I to attempt to recapitulate what I 
 have preached on the portion of Scripture which I have now read. 
 It will be sufficient to observe, that I showed that the head of 
 gold was the Babylonian kingdom — the first supreme and univer- 
 sal sovereignty that then existed upon earth; that the breast and 
 
THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 101 
 
 arms of silver we could have no difficulty in defining to be the 
 Medo-Persian kingdom — the breast denoting its monarch, and 
 the two arms, Media and Persia, united in him, and constituting 
 one kingdom; that the belly and thighs of brass represented the 
 next succeeding universal kingdom, the Grrajco-Macedonians, or 
 the Macedonian Greeks, known in classic story as the ''brass- 
 covered Greeks,^^ who, first under Philip, and next, and com- 
 pletely, under his son Alexander, swept the earth, and subdued 
 every kingdom under their powerful sceptre. I also showed, by 
 irresistible proofs drawn from Gibbon, and from historians whose 
 testimony in this matter must be regarded as dispassionate, that 
 the fourth kingdom, the fourth in succession, and the only suc- 
 ceeding kingdom that had absolute and universal sovereignty, 
 was the iron kingdom of Rome, or the Roman empire. Now, 
 this is not mere conjecture. I ask you to point out to me, in 
 past history, any other four successive kingdoms each of which 
 was in its day mistress of the globe, as far as the globe was then 
 known. There have been but four universal empires — the four 
 I have stated — each sovereign and supreme in its sway, and each 
 displaced by its successor. The last of these, the Roman em- 
 pire, which was of iron, subdued and ground to pieces all the 
 kingdoms that preceded it. I showed you also, by comparisons 
 with the Book of Revelation, and subsequent passages in the 
 prophecy of Daniel, to which I will refer you, that, as the two 
 feet of the image were divided into ten toes, the Roman empire 
 might be expected, if the prophecy were true, to be divided into 
 ten kingdoms. If you will open any history of any school or 
 creed, you will find it stated that the Roman empire was thus 
 divided into ten kingdoms in the fourth or fifth century; this is 
 matter of universal admission. Strange enough, ever since that 
 division took place — now some fourteen hundred years ago — the 
 ten kingdoms which I specified by name, are seen, in every cen- 
 tury, more or less clearly to cast up. Were they to cast up the 
 same in limits and geographical extent in every century, prophe- 
 cy would not be fulfilled; because the prediction is that they 
 would try to ''mingle with the seed of men;^' that is, there 
 should be efforts made to compress, to consolidate, to jumble 
 them; in other words, destroy — though not intentionally — God's 
 
 9* 
 
102 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 prediction, and make tliem cease to be wliat God has declared 
 they long shall be — numerically and clearly ten. Now, it is a 
 fact, that ever since the division into ten, successive rulers have 
 tried to amalgamate them into one great universal empire; and 
 in each instance they have found that the word of the Almighty 
 was stronger than the sword of Co3sar, of Charlemagne, or of Na- 
 poleon, or of any other ambitious prince or soldier that made the 
 experiment. Again and again marriages have been made among 
 the ten kings. The most powerful effort, and the nearest to suc- 
 cessful, was made by Napoleon, when he allied himself to the 
 house of Austria. He controlled the most gallant, the bravest, 
 the most active nation on i\\h continent of Europe. Europe 
 seemed to lie prostrate at his feet, ready to accept his sovereign- 
 ty; the cup of universal empire was almost at his lips; but God 
 had destined it otherwise, and expressly said it should be other- 
 wise, 600 years before the birth of Christ, and more than 2000 
 years before Napoleon was born. The waters of the Borodino 
 engulphed his invincible battalions, and the snows of Russia be- 
 came winding-sheets to half his army, and the bones of the rest, 
 bleaching or buried on the plains of Waterloo, tell how feeble is 
 the might of man, and how lasting is the truth of God. 
 
 But we are told that in the time of these ten kingdoms, into 
 which the Roman empire was to be divided, the God of heaven 
 shoukl set up a kingdom which should never be destroyed. Now, 
 this cannot be the commencement of Christianity eighteen hun- 
 dred years ago, because it is said that God wouki set up this king- 
 dom subsequent to the division of the empire into ten kingdoms; 
 assuredly he will yet set up this kingdom in all its grandeur, 
 completeness, and sovereignty; and between the ruin of the ten 
 kingdoms of the Roman empire and the culminating glory of the 
 Christian kingdom there shall be nothing intervening. This last 
 and universal sovereignty of the Christian kingdom was to be the 
 result of another fact: that a "stone cut out without hands" 
 (which I showed by comparison to be the Lord Jesus) was, not 
 gradually to leaven, but suddenly to smite the ten kingdoms. You 
 will notice that the stone, which was Christ, (" to whom coming, 
 as unto a I icing .stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen and 
 precious,") was to smite the image in its tenfold division state. 
 
THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 103 
 
 It was not to smite it in the time of its golden head^ nor in the 
 time of its silver breast, nor in the time of its brass thighs, nor 
 in the time of its iron limbs ; but when the iron limbs should be 
 divided into ten toes, partly clay and partly iron. This stone was 
 suddenly to fall upon the ten kingdoms, and to split them into 
 atoms, and scatter them as chaff is driven and scattered upon the 
 summer threshing-floor. I showed you, by two or three simple 
 facts, that it seems as if the blows of that stone were at this mo- 
 ment reverberating throughout the continent of Europe. Who 
 can fail to see kingdom after kingdom — without any explanation 
 of the why — without any preconcerted scheme, or plan, or con- 
 spiracy, that will account for the result — suddenly broken to 
 atoms ? And if great statesmen are to be believed, whose saga- 
 city is generally the nearest thing to prophecy, never was the 
 continent of Europe at this moment in a more unsettled state. 
 The stone seemed first to have smitten France ; and left that mo- 
 narch, who fell asleep with a hundred thousand bayonets bristling 
 around him, a refugee and an exile on the rise of to-morrow's sun. 
 The stone then struck Austria; and its monarch was an exile 
 among the Swiss. It next struck Germany; and even that giant 
 empire reeled and staggered under the blow. The stone then 
 struck Italy; the pope was driven from his throne; and the 
 '^ three horns'^ that belonged to him — "the three states of the 
 Church" — part of the ten — are at this moment substantially 
 severed from him. I was told by a Eoman refugee, soon after 
 this, that the prospect of his ever wielding the temporal sove- 
 reignty over that people is remoter at this moment than ever. 
 And, as if the very elements were sustaining men in their efforts 
 to destroy him — not the man Pius IX., but the personation, the 
 head, the representative of Babylon — we find, that no sooner was 
 he settled in his recent place of retirement, than the earthquake 
 rocked the soil, and Vesuvius burst out with preternatural fury; 
 and the pope himself, who fled from his people a year ago, was 
 flying from the burning element;''' as if the foretokens of the pre- 
 
 "•••■ " Tbat which nothing else has been able to effect, the eruption of Vesuvius 
 has effected, the flight, or rather the removal of the pope. It is only, however, 
 to the palace on Capo di Monte, -where he can enjoy the magnificent scenes no^v 
 being exhibited on Vesuvius Avithout trembling at the dreadful roaring of the 
 
104 PROPHETIC STUDIi:S. 
 
 dieted downfall of Babylon were accumulating and thickening 
 every day. When I read this fact in the papers, it reminded 
 me of what Mr. Elliot has shown will be the nature and agent 
 of the destruction of Babylon. His belief is — and Scripture 
 leads him to this conclusion — that that gigantic despotismj which 
 has made slaves of the free and martyrs of the holy, and out of 
 which there is only escape for such men as Achilli, when the 
 power of our country and that of France are made to tell upon 
 the fears of the guardians of its despotism — is to be literally 
 
 mountain, and witliout fear of being overwhelmed. I hear nothing, however, 
 of a more distant flight. Cardinal Dupont is still here, and the steamer, the 
 Vaiiban, which brought him, waits in port. Arrests still continue here, and I 
 hear that, last night, a terribly large batch was seized and sent off to prison — 
 some say twenty-seven men of birth and respectability. Mr. Brown, an Ame- 
 rican, formerly consul at Rome, has been ordered to quit Naples within forty- 
 eight hours, whereupon an indignant and angry correspondence has taken place 
 between the American charge d'affaires and the Neapolitan government. As 
 yet I know not if, or how, it has terminated. 
 
 " I must not forget to inform you of the state of Vesuvius. For a week, we 
 have now enjoyed the most splendid eruption which has taken place for many 
 years. The ashes have been carried as far, we know, as twenty miles, and, no 
 doubt, much farther. The lava descends in two streams upon Ottajano, where 
 it has destroyed a palace and much land belonging to a nobleman of that name, 
 and another toward Torri deli Annunziata, while the flames and the immense 
 masses of rock which arc ejected, form, at night, a splendid and terrific spec- 
 tacle. The roaring of the mountain on Saturday night last was such as to 
 disturb the whole country for miles round, and here in Naples our windows 
 shook with every repetition of it, which was unceasing night and day. Im- 
 mense crowds, of course, walk over to the other side of the bay to get a nearer 
 view; religious processions are moving about, for the intercession of the Ma- 
 donna and the saints ; and it is said that the pope is to perform some ceremo- 
 nial to cause the mountain to stay its ruinous proceedings. I am sorry to add 
 that the accidents to those who went over have been very sad. On Saturday 
 night a young Pole was struck in the leg by a burning stone, which cut through 
 the limb, and he died on the mountain from loss of blood. A young American 
 ofiicer was struck in the arm, which hung suspended by a bit of flesh. On his 
 arrival in Naples he had lost so much blood that an amputation could not take 
 place, and as no reaction has up to this time taken place, it is not expected 
 that he can live. A gendarme is also reported killed, and two men who had 
 fallen a sacrifice to the eruption were said to have been buried yesterday at 
 Portici. Some anxiety has been felt for an Englishman and his wife who had 
 not returned from a visit to the mountain; and yet crowds roll on night and 
 day to see this wonderful phenomenon. From the neighbourhood of the 
 mountain all the inhabitants have fled, and the powder from the magazine at 
 Torre has neon removed." — C(>rrc'i2^ond(^iif of tlic Daili/ Kcics. (April, 1S50.) 
 
THE KlNGDO:\I OF GOD. 105 
 
 burned with fire, and that there are volcanic elements enough iu 
 Italy, not only to account for, but to lead us to expect, so terrible 
 and so consuming a catastrophe. We wait : the only concern we 
 have in the prospect of her catastrophe is : ^' Come out of her, my 
 people, that ye partake not of her sins, and receive not of her 
 plagues.'' I believe those who hold what are called Tractarian 
 views are partaking of the sins of Babylon, and that they will 
 perish in her ruin unless they repent. I believe it is the duty of 
 every man more and more to protest against the system, and 
 whatever be his love to its victims — and that love cannot be too 
 intense, and he cannot speak the word of truth in too much love 
 — to speak of it as Grod speaks to it, and himself to take care 
 that he share in none of her sins ; and so shall he not suffer any 
 of her plagues. 
 
 Having, then, reviewed the whole of my statement on the great 
 image, I now proceed to notice the kingdom that is here stated 
 to succeed the other kingdoms, to cover the whole earth, and never 
 to be moved. This kingdom is composed, first, of principles ; 
 next, of persons : both now imperfect, but by-and-by to be made 
 perfect in glory. 
 
 First of all, it is composed of principles. The Spirit of God 
 says — " The kingdom of Grod is not meat nor drink, but righte- 
 ousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.'' Here you have this 
 kingdom in its essential and constituent principles. Before un- 
 folding these, let me first notice its negative aspect. 
 
 ^' The kingdom of God is not meat nor drink." In other words, 
 nothing merely ceremonial constitutes the kingdom of God. The 
 ceremonies may be too many, or they may be too few — they may 
 be very brilliant, or they may be very bald — they may please the 
 senses, or gratify only the intellect : it is of no consequence. 
 These things do not form a vital part of the kingdom of God. 
 Nothing, in the next place, that is merely ritual constitutes this 
 kingdom. ^' It is not," says the apostle, " meat nor drink." 
 There may be rubrics, or there may be none — you may fost, or 
 ■ you may feast — j^ou may kneel at prayer, or you may stand — you 
 may kneel at the communion-table, or you may sit — the minister 
 may wear a silk gown, or a surplice, or neither ; he may preach 
 without notes, or he may preach with them ; these are matters of 
 
106 rRoriiETiG studies. 
 
 ceremony evanescent as the clouds; the great truths beyond and 
 beneath them are, like the stars, fixed and beautiful for ever. 
 This kingdom is not described by any fixed and clearly specified 
 ecclesiastical regime. The church may be governed by bishops, 
 or it may be governed by presbyters, or it may be governed by 
 the people ; it may be episcopal, presbyterial, or congregational ; 
 it may be favoured by the state, or it may be free from it; it may 
 be endowed by the state, or supported by the people ; it may be a 
 very imperfect church, or the most perfect church of all ; — these 
 are matters that may be of less or greater advantage to the king- 
 dom, but they are not, of necessity, essentials to the very exist- 
 ence of the kingdom ) and if men only felt this more, they would 
 labour less to reform the mere externals, and labour more to plant 
 in the heart and impress on the people the vital and essential doc- 
 trines of the gospel. The true way to get a church perfect is to 
 try to have perfect men to compose it. The purity of the govern- 
 ment of a church will always be in the direct ratio of the piety 
 of the people that constitute that church. If we prayed more 
 and quarrelled less, and each in his sphere did the work that 
 devolved upon him more heartily, there would be far greater suc- 
 cess in promoting the gospel — in vindicating the honour of God 
 — in winning souls. Far preferable would this be to any eiforts 
 to improve the outworks, or to alter its constitution, or to change 
 its robes, its ceremonies, and its rites. Never forget that the 
 citadel of a church's strength is not outward, but inward Chris- 
 tianity. Vital forces are in each individual heart ; not in bishop, 
 presbytery, or people. Thus, then, no one outward government 
 is specified as an essential part of the kingdom of Christ. It is 
 not ^' Lord, Lord,^' but being Christian ; it is not creeds, or fasts, 
 or incense, or genuflexion ] it is not the voluntary system, nor the • 
 establishment; it is not beads, nor holy water; it is not dipping, 
 nor sprinkling ; it is not kneeling, nor standing ; it is not Geri- 
 zim, nor Sinai ; '^ neither on this mountain," nor on that; ''the 
 kingdom of God is neither meat nor drink," nor ceremony, nor 
 form, ''but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." 
 
 Let us now look at the positive side of this kingdom, or the 
 constituent and normal elements of that kingdom which is to 
 supersede all, and rise in beauty and glory when other kingdoms 
 
THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 107 
 
 have passed away. It is composed, first, of " rigliteousness." 
 What is this righteousness ? It is twofold : there is a righteous- 
 ness without us, by which we are justified; and there is a 
 righteousness within us, by which we are sanctified. The first is 
 the act of God's free grace; the second is the icorh of God's 
 Holy SjDirit. The righteousness by which we are justified is as 
 perfect at the moment we believe as it will be when we arc 
 admitted into heaven ; the righteousness by which we are sancti- 
 fied is day by day growing in strength, in influence, in power, 
 until grace is lost in glory. The first, or the righteousness by 
 which we are justified, is imjnifed to us; the second, or the 
 righteousness by which we are sanctified, is imparted to us. The 
 first is our title to heaven ; the second is our fitness for heaven. 
 This righteousness, both as imputed and imparted — the act of 
 Christ, and the work of the Spirit — is an essential element of that 
 kingdom which " is not meat nor drink, but righteousness, peace, 
 and joy in the Holy Ghost.''' 
 
 Another element, we are told, is " peace.'' " Justified by faith, 
 we have peace with God." There is no peace real or lasting, 
 except the peace that passeth understanding. Old Mr. Howells 
 used to say, "If you see two dogs at peace with each other, it is 
 the indirect evidence of the power of the gospel." There would 
 be nothing but war, interminable and exterminating, throughout 
 all society, but for the direct or indirect influence of the gospel 
 of Jesus. When we are justified by faith in the righteousness 
 of Jesus, we have then peace : peace with God, for he is our 
 father — peace with our conscience, for on it is the reflection of 
 that Father's countenance — peace with every man who is a Chris- 
 tian, for he is a brother — peace with every man who is not a 
 Christian, for he may, by grace, be made a brother : peace, not 
 indolence ; not ease, in any respect, but strife — not self-indulg- 
 ence, but self-sacrifice — not acquiescence in what is evil, for the 
 sake of quiet, but war with what is evil, for the sake of God — 
 not a prudential avoiding of quarrels, but the sustained endeavour 
 to make all things what grace has made us ; and to feel our peace 
 increasing and flowing as a river, in proportion as the gospel of 
 grace pervades, and permeates, and leavens all arouud us. Such 
 
108 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 is the peace liere indicated — peace with God, peace with conscience, 
 and peace with one another. 
 
 The third element, we are tokl, is "joy.'' It began in right- 
 eousness, it proceeds in peace, it culminates in joy. In other 
 words, the kingdom of God — that is, Christianity — is one-third 
 character and two-thirds privilege. I have often declared, what 
 I now repeat, that the gospel was inspired, that Jesus died, that 
 the Holy Spirit came down at Pentecost, as much to make you 
 and me happy and joyful, as to make you and me righteous and 
 holy. Nay, the very first sound in that glorious message is 
 '' good news." For what is the meaning of the work gospel ? 
 '^ Good news." Instead of shrinking from that gospel, instead 
 of looking upon it as something sepulchral and awful, that will 
 dissipate all your joys, and dry up all the currents of your 
 pleasure, you ought to know that the main elements of the king- 
 dom of God are peace and joy. I am sure, if we confess at the 
 throne of grace that the gospel has not made us righteous as it 
 ought to have done, we ought to confess with equal sorrow that it 
 has not made us happy, peaceful, joyful, as it was meant to do. 
 If there be any man in this assembly who is not a happy man, 
 it is not because the gospel has made him miserable ; if there be 
 any man in this assembly who is not a joyful man, it is not be- 
 cause the gospel is not fitted to make him so ; but because he is 
 cherishing some sin which acts like a blind upon the gospel light, 
 and prevents its cheering, its enlivening, and illuminating beams 
 from entering into the chamber of his soul, and there lighting up 
 perpetual sunshine. The gospel, then, is one-third character, and 
 two-thirds privilege : not meat nor drink, nor form nor ceremony, 
 about which men fight; but "righteousness, peace, and joy." 
 
 How striking it is that all the quarrels among Christians are 
 mostly about the negative part — about meat or drink. Now, if 
 they would lay aside looking at the negative — form, ceremony, 
 fasting, feasting, silk robe and surplice, meat and drink, about 
 which disputes are endless, and would look more at " righteous- 
 ness, peace, and joy," about which we feel unanimous, they 
 would find they had left the region of passion and the arena of 
 conflict, the gray twilight of misapprehension ; and that they were 
 in the province of unity, amid th© air of peace, and the lights of 
 
THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 109 
 
 joy where the wilderness rejoices, and the solitary place blos- 
 soms as the rose. 
 
 Having ascertained what this kingdom is, as God himself 
 has defined it, we see what it is that can truly renovate man- 
 kind. Man has various prescriptions: God has but one. One 
 man has a temperance society, and that is, I dare say, good; 
 another has a peace society, and that is good enough, I sup- 
 pose in its place; another man has some other society for some 
 other object, and it may be equally good. But all these must 
 fail, however good in design, however pretty in their little spheres 
 of little working — they are toys, not quickening truths. Men 
 will never be truly temperate, until the grace of God that teachcth 
 to live soberly is implanted in their hearts ; and nations will never 
 get peace by burning the navy and reducing the army. One of 
 the greatest means, perhaps, in this sinful world of keeping 
 peace may be the maintenance of the army and the navy; and 
 one of the greatest blunders, I fear, may be found to be the de- 
 stroying or weakening of either. But neither army nor navy are 
 the means of creating peace. The only thing that can make 
 peace is the kingdom of peace in every man's conscience, and the 
 reign of the Prince of peace in every king's kingdom. When 
 the whole world has become Christian, then will be the time to beat 
 the spear into the ploughshare, but not until then. Our Lord 
 has told us, "I am not come to send peace on earth, but a 
 sword;" not intentionally, but necessarily. The result of holi- 
 ness coming into contact with sin, peace coming into contact with 
 war, love coming into contact with enmity, will be war, discord, 
 division, dispute. x\ll man's plans for ameliorating society fail, 
 because they touch merely the robes of society; they d9 not reach 
 its heart. Man would be for manufacturing peace and happiness 
 by machinery : God, for making happiness and peace by implant- 
 ing within the principles of the gospel of peace. Man hits upon 
 a scheme ; God implants a principle. Man wants to make duty 
 a soft lawn, not a battle ; his life sitting in an easy chair, not a 
 race that he has to run. Thus he proposes to reform society by 
 reforming its circumstances, an empirical scheme which must 
 always inevitably fail. Christianity proposes a revolution with- 
 in, and then there will be a reformation without. It acts by 
 
 10 
 
110 rROniETlC STUDIES. 
 
 mind ; all other schemes act by mechanism. Man's plan is to 
 begin at the circumference, and try to get inward; God's j^lan is 
 to begin at the heart, and then carry power, principle, and re- 
 formation outward. Man's way is to give man something that he 
 has not; Grod's way is to make man something that he is not. 
 Man's plan is to give the patient a softer bed ; God's plan is to 
 cure the patient. The one is weakness, the other is power. The 
 one is the quackery of man ; the other is the kingdom of God, 
 and ^'righteousness, peace, and joy" in the individual heart; and 
 thus "righteousness, peace, and joy" in universal society. 
 
 If this be the kingdom of God, is it implanted in your hearts ? 
 However sure the prospect of its universal sovereignty may be — 
 however possible that it may burst upon the world like a thunder- 
 clap ; yet it is true that, day by day, it is gaining power and pro- 
 gress in individual hearts — it is advanced by means — it is ours 
 to use them. Day by day, I solemnly believe, all society is 
 splitting into two grand sections. You will find that all such 
 names as Churchmen and Dissenters, Independents, and Baptists, 
 and Wesleyans, et cetera, et cetera, and unfortunately et cetera 
 still, will be lost in one great phalanx — they that are the Lord's. 
 On the other hand, there will be another section antagonistic to 
 that — Tractarians, Puseyites, Papists, the Greek Church, and all 
 that hold the traditions of men — all passed over to their side, 
 and under their banner, and forming the phalanx of antichrist : 
 God's people finding the centre of their unity in Christ ; they 
 that are not God's people finding the centre of their unity in 
 antichrist. During the heat of the collision, the Lord will ap- 
 pear, and shine before his ancients gloriously; and after smiting 
 all the opposing kingdoms of the world, as the great mystic stone, 
 he will, in the language of the text, '^ set up a kingdom that shall 
 never be destroyed ; but it shall break in pieces and consume all 
 these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever." I ask, my dear 
 friends, have you the elemental principle of this kingdom in your 
 hearts? In other words, are you Christians? Remember, if 
 there be any valid excuse why you should not be Christians, you 
 will never be condemned for the want of Christianity. Wherever 
 there is a valid excuse, there is no duty ; but there is no excuse 
 in the height or in the depth, why every man is this assembly 
 
THE KINGDOM OF GOD. m 
 
 Bliould notj this very night, resolve that for him and his, he will 
 serve the Lord. Ail the excuses that men make are paltry and 
 untenable. One says, "How liberal I would be, if I had not 
 this encumbrance." Another says, " How religious I would be, 
 if I were not so busy.'^ Another, again, says, " How good I 
 should be, if I could only dispose of those circumstances which 
 trammel me at present, but which by-and-by will be removed.'' 
 My dear friends, circumstances are to be the servants of man ; 
 not man the servant of circumstances. We have nothing in the 
 universe to do with circumstances, but to concjuer them. The 
 solemnity of duty, the obligation of convictions, responsibility to 
 Grod, cannot wait till the circumstances around us are adjusted, 
 but must pass, like ploughshares, through all circumstances; 
 leaving scope for duty, none for excuse. I ask again, is the king- 
 dom of God erected in your heart ? Do you know what it is to 
 have a righteousness to lean upon, so complete that you would 
 not fear at this moment to look the Sovereign Judge in the face, 
 and feel that there is no condemnation for you ? Have you, at 
 this moment, that peace which would enable you to feel perfectly 
 composed if the earth were to vibrate beneath your feet by suc- 
 cessive earthquakes, the sun to become as blood, the stars to foil 
 from their sockets, and the last conflagration to kindle on the 
 globe that you tread upon — would you feel peace ? Nay more, 
 in the absence of all, in the loss of the fruit of the fig-tree — of 
 all the property you have accumulated — in the midst of all losses, 
 can you say, "Yea, I will rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the 
 God of my salvation ?" Christianity is not a mere creed that a 
 man subscribes to ', it is a kindling principle that runs through 
 the whole of man's nature. Christianity is not a dogma for 
 schoolmen to wrangle about ; it is a great, vital, personal expe- 
 rience for each man to feel, and for the absence of which each 
 man is responsible. We can all dispute about orthodoxy, and 
 quarrel about ceremonies ; and the devil avails himself of such 
 quarrels to conceal and darken the solemn obligations to believe 
 in Jesus, to go to God, and to have peace with him through the 
 blood of the covenant, and righteousness and joy in the Holy 
 Ghost. Let us cease to quarrel. Let us begin to live. 
 
 I have thus looked at this kingdom as composed of principles ; 
 
112 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 lot me notice it now as composed of subjects. Who are tlie sub- 
 jects of this kingdom ? In one short sentence, they are those in 
 whose hearts are '^righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy 
 Clhost/' But, if I may expand it, I would say, the subjects of 
 this kingdom are not, as I have already endeavoured to indicate, 
 men of any one denomination, or any one ceremony. You may 
 be churchmen, or you may be dissenters, and not subjects of this 
 kingdom. You may pray with a liturgy, or pray without one, 
 and yet not be subjects of this kingdom. You may worship in 
 chapel, in church, or in cathedral, and yet not be subjects of this 
 kingdom. The subjects of this kingdom are not distinguished by 
 the conventionalisms of man, but by inward regeneration of heart 
 by the Holy Spirit of God. I do believe that if the attempt suc- 
 ceed that is now made to identify, by a decision of any sort, bap- 
 tism — a precious sacrament — with regeneration ; leading men to 
 suppose that, baptized canonically, they are regenerated surely, 
 the most awful apostasy will be commenced by the church of many 
 of our fellow-subjects. If it were only understood what is man's 
 state by nature, they would never dream that baptizing him by 
 water could essentially alter that state. It may alter it ecclesias- 
 tically : morally and truly, it cannot. What is man's state ? If 
 man, by sin and by the fall, had merely suffered a slight shock — 
 if all that Adam's ruin and Adam's sin had done were to throw 
 man into a faint or swoon, then I do not see why water sprinkled 
 on him might not revive him, and set him on his feet again. But 
 if this be not the expression of the true state — if man be really 
 dead in trespasses and in sins, let me ask you, who can raise the 
 spiritually dead ? Only he who will sound the trumpet, and the 
 dead shall come forth from their graves, can speak to the heart, 
 and the heart of stone shall become a heart of living, of sensible, 
 and of sympathizing flesh. The members of this kingdom are 
 not the baptized, nor the circumcised as such ; but they are mem- 
 bers of the body of Christ, the sons of God, the elect of God, a 
 chosen generation, a peculiar people, a holy nation : " the lights 
 of the world," 'Hhe salt of the earth," '' living stones," a " ro3'al 
 priesthood," "kings and priests," and ''servants of God," tlie 
 ^' sheep of his pasture," "disciples," and "heirs of God," 
 " Christians" — the first name, as it will also be the last. 
 
THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 113 
 
 Let me notice, briefly, the external cliaracteristics of this king- 
 dom. It is a catholic kingdom. We are the true catholic church • 
 and this is a branch of the catholic church. The Romish Church 
 is a section split off from it; and our objection to it is, that it is 
 sectarian and not catholic. Catholic is the attribute of some of 
 the epistles in the New Testament; it is the attribute of the 
 church of Christ. But whom does it comprehend ? First, all 
 those who have fallen asleep in Christ. Secondly, those who arc 
 now alive, and born again. Thirdly, those who are not yet born, 
 but will be born, and shall be born again, in the Providence of 
 Grod. These are they who compose the catholic kingdom ; and 
 when the last day shall come, all its subjects, from the first hour 
 of the world's existence to its last, shall meet together, and con- 
 stitute the one visible catholic church of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 This kingdom is a united kingdom. Its members may differ 
 in forms, in ceremony, in detail, as men ever differ in these re- 
 spects ; but they have one common characteristic — they are born 
 again, they are children of one Father, they are walking in Christ 
 the one way, they are regenerated by one Spirit, they cleave to 
 one Bible, they are looking for one home : '' Let there be no strife 
 between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen, for we be brethren.'' 
 The Romish Church is a united kingdom, but it has a false centre 
 — man ; we are a united kingdom, but it is around the true cen- 
 tre, and that centre — Christ. And as I told you before, it is not 
 enough to claim uniformity; there must be unity. Man can 
 make a company uniform by dressing them alike, and making 
 them march or move to the same tune ; but God alone can make 
 hearts one by uniting them to himself, and inspiring them by his 
 almighty grace. 
 
 In the next place, this kingdom is a holy kingdom : it is com- 
 posed of saints. Who are saints ? If you ask a member of the 
 Church of Rome, he will say. Saints are those who wrought mi- 
 racles, and, fifty years after the miracles were wrought, were 
 canonized by the pope, according to a certain ceremony appointed 
 for that purpose, and who are to be prayed to. If you ask the 
 Bible, it tells you: '^ The saints at Philippi," "The saints at 
 Damascus," "The saints that are at Corinth," "The saints that 
 
 arc at Rome." In other words, all true Christians are saints. 
 
 10* 
 
114 PIIOPIIETIC STUDIES. 
 
 The word is a translation of ayot, the holy ones, the people of 
 God. We are either saints by grace, or we are sinners by nature, 
 and in no respect saints at all. If we belong to this kingdom, as 
 its subjects, we shall be characterized by holiness, not perfect, but 
 progressive; holiness in aim, holiness in aspiration, holiness in 
 sympathy, and perfect holiness when time shall be no more. At 
 present, I do not believe there is any one perfectly holy; I do not 
 believe that perfect holiness is attainable in this world ; for there 
 is no stage of a man's life in which he will not find these words 
 applicable to him : " If we say/' says John — not separating him- 
 self from his flock — " that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, 
 and the truth is not in us.'' " But/' he adds, ''if we confess our 
 sins, Grod is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse 
 us from all unrighteousness." And the seventh chapter of the 
 Epistle to the Romans need only be read to show you that there 
 is a battle-field in every man's heart; a law of the flesh that 
 wars against the law of the spirit : so that when you would do 
 good, evil is present with you. The man who is born again, and 
 seeks to be holy, as God is holy, is like the poor captive bird in 
 the cage : the cage cannot kill the bird, the bird cannot free itself 
 from the cage; it can only still wait, and persevere, and sing, 
 and seek, and look, till the hour of its freedom, its perfect eman- 
 cipation into brighter realms and better days draws near. 
 
 Finally, then, this kingdom, thus characterized and composed 
 of these subjects, is the kingdom that shall destroy all other 
 kingdoms, and cover the whole earth. Babylon, the great apos- 
 tasy of the earth, shall be utterly consumed; the smoke of her 
 fire shall rise up for ever and ever. The Jews shall be gathered 
 to their own land; yea, Jesus shall shine in the midst of them, 
 and before his ancients gloriously. Then the body shall be 
 raised, for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead in Christ shall 
 rise first; then we who are alive shall be caught up with them, 
 and so meet the Lord in the air. Then Christ shall be revealed; 
 we shall be like him — that is, perfectly holy; we shall be like 
 him, for we shall see him as he is. Then sacraments shall cease, 
 for they are only to last "till I come again;" then faith will de- 
 part, for it will be merged in fruition ; then hope will disappear 
 like a bright vision, for it shall be merged in having; and then 
 
THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 115 
 
 grace shall be swallowed up in glory; there shall be no more 
 tears, nor sighing, nor sorrow; all graves shall be filled up; the 
 orphan's weeping face no more scarred with tear-channels; all 
 creation's discord subdued; all nature at one with itself, and at 
 one with Grod; and earth a vestibule of heaven; heaven and 
 earth eternally one ! What a blessed day ! humanity pines for 
 it; creation groans and travails till this kingdom consume all 
 other kingdoms, and flourish for ever. The slave in the mines 
 of Siberia longs for it; the slave in the Southern States of Ame- 
 rica cries for it; the poor needle-woman, the greatest slave of all, 
 earning a halfpenny or a penny per hour, as I have myself wit- 
 nessed, sighs, and cries for it. Let them have patience and 
 priiy on; it will- come. God hears the cry of the oppressed, the 
 groans of nature, the petitions of his saints; and the kingdom 
 shall come, and ^'it shall not be destroyed, nor left to other peo- 
 ple, but break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms." Its 
 light shall never be quenched, for God is its illumination; its 
 life shall never be extinguished, for God is its everlasting life. 
 Sublime thought ! that from the lonely and sequestered villages 
 of Bethlehem and Nazareth there has come forth a kingdom 
 whose triumphs multiply every day, whose glories shall fill the 
 whole earth, whose expanding and progressive spring is God the 
 Omnipotent; a kingdom that will shine when marble statues are 
 defaced, and when palaces, and noble lialls, and thrones, and 
 dynasties are ground to powder, and scattered as the chaff upon 
 the summer threshing-floor. That kingdom is at our doors; that 
 bright epoch comes speedily. Are you interested in it? Have 
 you a share in it? Are you subjects of it? Are you born 
 again ? 
 
 My dear friends, what an awful thing if that kingdom should 
 come in all its glory, and we should find ourselves excluded. 
 What a terrible thing, if, when the trumpet shall sound, (and we 
 know not when it may sound,) and the dead in every church- 
 yard shall rise, — if from a grave where there are twain, one shall 
 be taken and one left. And then, we that are alive, it is said, 
 shall be caught up in the air. Oh, what a terrible separation 
 will it be for one of a family, on hearing the royal sound, to as- 
 sume mysterious wings, and soar, and come to Jesus, and the 
 
116 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 other to be left! And yet I am not describing a picture of 
 fancy; I am stating what God himself has said. How dreadful 
 the separation ! We now mourn over the loss of those that fall 
 asleep in Jesus; what a terrible shock will it be v/hen we find 
 those that we loved upon earth severed from us for ever and for 
 ever I Why is it, my dear friends, that we are not Christians ? 
 Why are we not the people of God? Why are we not trying to 
 make others so? There is no reason outside you. There is only 
 one — you will not. Your inability is moral. There is not the 
 least reason why every man in this assembly may not go home 
 this night, and bow his heart before God, and be at peace with 
 him through Jesus Christ. Recollect the serpent of brass. The 
 dying Israelite had but to look: the instant he looked he had 
 physical life. As Moses lifted up the serpent, so must the Son 
 of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth on him, looketh to 
 him, leans upon him as a Saviour, may have instant life. May 
 we have this kingdom within us; may we be its subjects, and so 
 be the subjects of the kingdom of the Lord, for Christ's sake. 
 Amen. 
 
117 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 EARLY MARTYRS. 
 
 " SbadracL, Mesliach, and Abed-nego, answered and said to the King, Ne- 
 buchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter." — Dan. iii. 16. 
 
 You will recollect that I explained in a series of successive 
 discourses that remarkable image which appeared to Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, of gold, silver, brass, and iron, and then the ten toes, 
 representing ten kingdoms, mixed with iron and with clay, and 
 incapable, by any pressure applied to them, of coalescing and 
 mingling. I showed you that all that is so minutely described 
 in prophecy has been exactly fulfilled in history; that man's his- 
 tory, written by man's pen, is the echo of God's prophecy in- 
 spired by God's Spirit; and that the strongest, because accumu- 
 lating evidence that holy men of old spake as they were moved 
 by the Holy Ghost, is not in the record of the miracles that 
 were done, or in the sublimity and purity of the truths that were 
 uttered, but in the continuous fulfilment of those ancient pro- 
 phecies in the years as they roll past before us. 
 
 We now come to another stage in the incidents connected 
 with Daniel himself — not connected with prophecy, but with 
 personal character. I may, however, notice that Daniel's expo- 
 position of the image made the king raise him to the highest 
 dignity, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego also to the 
 highest honour. But one grieves to see how short-lived is the 
 patronage of man ; for we find by the preceding chapter that the 
 men who were the objects of royal adoration yesterday are the 
 objects of his fury and his vengeance to-day. Truly we are not 
 to trust in princes nor in man's son. 
 
 I may here notice the meaning of what I omitted to explain in 
 my last lecture, that Daniel sat in the gate of the king. (Chap. ii. 
 
118 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 49.) You must have observed that in the Bible, p:ates are fre- 
 quently referred to : '^ He sat in the gate/' " Judgment in the 
 gate.'' " Honoured among the elders in the gate." So Daniel 
 was seated in the gate. The gate of a city in ancient times was 
 the place from which justice was dispensed; it was a strong place, 
 and was specially guarded ', and to put Shadrach, Meshach, and 
 Abed-nego in the gate, was to make them counsellors, and judges, 
 and rulers in the midst of the land. The only country that re- 
 tains any thing like a memorial of this usage is Turkey. You 
 know the phrase used in the newspapers, when they refer to Turk- 
 ish decisions — the ^'sublime Porte' — a word derived frompfr/«, 
 which means a gate. It is simply the remains of an ancient East- 
 ern custom, or oriental usage, retained in a modern tongue, and 
 connecting the world that now is with the rites and customs of a 
 world that is passed away. 
 
 In the chapter I have read we find that Nebuchadnezzar raised 
 a golden image of prodigious height. He tried to captivate all 
 to worship it by the sounds of music, the dulcimer, and flute, and 
 various instruments ; and he warned them that if his music would 
 not prevail, his furnace would be sure to punish all recusants ; so 
 that if they were not captivated, he would try to force them ; and 
 if he did not force them, he would take care to burn them. How 
 like Popery I 
 
 It appears that certain Chaldeans and counsellors applied to 
 the king — men who envied the dignity of Shadrach, Meshach, 
 and Abed-nego — and informed him that there were Jewish parties 
 who had dared to disobey his commands. He sends for them, 
 speaks to them in very reasonable terms, warns them of what 
 they had done, and the consequences that would follow, but unex- 
 pectedly receives from them the magnanimous and noble reply : 
 " We are not careful, king, it is not a matter of anxiety to us, 
 to answer thee ; our miuds are fully made up ; we know what is 
 duty ; and in the face of kings, and amid the prospect of a fiery 
 furnace, we have grace to stand by it." 
 
 This image set up by Nebuchadnezzar, some think, was meant 
 to be an imitation of the splendid image which he saw in a dream. 
 An image passed before him to give him a foresight of the fate 
 of the kingdoms of the world ; but instead of learning prophetic 
 
EARLY MARTYRS. 119 
 
 wisdom from it, which was its legitimate use, he makes a copy of 
 it — a copy that seems, to his taste, to excel the original — and sets 
 it lip as an idol, or an object of worship. It is a singular fact^ 
 that all false religion is not original ; it is only the corruption of 
 the true : and we may calculate the height, the depth, and sub- 
 stance of the true religion by the false religion which follows it ; 
 just as men estimate the height of the pyramids by the length 
 of the shadows they cast around them. This king used the image 
 which he saw, and which God meant for a sublime and good pur- 
 pose, to be a model for an idol, which was to take the place that 
 belonged to God alone ; just as the Israelites took the brass ser- 
 pent, which had a most beneficent mission according to God's ap- 
 pointment, and made it an object of worship. Never, never is 
 corruption so great as when it is the corruption of that which is 
 pure. Popery is thus more corrupt than heathenism ; an angel 
 falling becomes a fiend ; a woman falling from her dignity and 
 purity becomes the most degraded of all -, and pure rites and or- 
 dinances perverted by the wickedness of man become the most 
 deadly vehicles of dishonour to God and injury to mankind. Take 
 the sacrament of baptism, and make it occupy the place of the 
 Holy Spirit; and you do what the Israelites did with the brass 
 serpent, what Nebuchadnezzar did with the golden image : you 
 lift it from its true and its beautiful position — a sign, a seal, and 
 an introduction to the visible church — and you put it in the room 
 of God, and make it sit in the temple of God, in antichristian 
 state, showing itself that it is God. 
 
 Most likely, the cause of the king's acting thus was not so much 
 his love of idolatry as the cunning advice of his counsellors around 
 him. They saw that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were 
 raised to honour — they were envious of the dignity to which 
 these great and good men were exalted. They therefore hit 
 upon the scheme of ensnaring them by getting the king to erect 
 a god for universal worship, which they knew too well, because 
 they knew the substance and depth of these men's religion, they 
 would never consent to adore. Party spirit is the bitterest of all : 
 it has done what nothing else in the history of man can do ; but 
 it is a lesson to those who indulge in it, that wherever in the Bible 
 it has been made to act against the people of God, it has recoiled 
 
120 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 in its action, and injured or destroyed those who used it. These 
 men tried to destroy Shadrach, Mcshach, and Abed-nego, and 
 they were destroyed themselves. It seems to be a great law 
 or ordinance in Grod's dispensations with mankind, that they that 
 shed blood, their blood shall be shed ; that they that wield the 
 sword shall fall by the sword ; that no man can smite another 
 without being smitten himself; nor any man curse another with- 
 out receiving the echo and rebound of that curse immediately into 
 his own bosom. Let us pray for kings, that they may have grace 
 not to set up idols; let us pray for their ministers and counsellors, 
 that they may have grace to give them good advice. A king has 
 power; and when that power is allied to goodness, it is all but di- 
 vine ; when that power is allied to wickedness, it is as disastrous 
 as it is sinful. 
 
 The image is here described to be of a certain measurement — 
 threescore cubits in height, and in breadth six cubits. Anybody 
 can see that this is a disproportionate measurement, and that an 
 image which was sixty cubits (about ninety feet) in height, and 
 only six cubits (or nine feet) in breadth, would be utterly dispro- 
 portionate. It is plain, therefore, that this is — if I may reve- 
 rently use the expression — a loose way of describing the image 
 and pedestal together, the united height of both being ninety 
 feet. Herodotus, the father of history, alludes to a golden image 
 that was set up at Babylon, which he himself had heard of, and 
 which every one was obliged to kiss before he entered the city. 
 And we know, from classic story, that at Rhodes there was an 
 image of gold seventy cubits in height — ten cubits higher than 
 this one — and that it took thirteen years to construct it, or put 
 together its different molten parts ; and on its being thrown down 
 by an earthquake, such was its weight that it ploughed up the- 
 solid earth, and buried itself to a considerable extent beneath the 
 ground. I quote these facts to show that the incidents here re- 
 corded are attested by heathen historians; that in heathen history 
 itself we have a parallel case ; and that such images were not un- 
 usual, nor impossible to be constructed by ancient art. 
 
 This image, you read, in the next place, was made completely 
 of gold. One can well conceive what a splendid object it must 
 have been. It was incapable of being oxidized by the rains and 
 
EARLY MARTYRS. 121 
 
 the atmospliere^ and therefore it perpetually retained its splendour 
 in that eastern and purer climate. No doubt, the king depended 
 for popular adoration upon the splendour of the image, thinking 
 its brilliancy and grandeur would be an attraction irresistible to 
 all men. It seems to be the law of false religion that, having no 
 inner moral beauty, it must depend upon outward trappings, pomp, 
 and splendour, for its weightiest claims ; so much so that when- 
 ever we see a church begin to heap up splendid pomps and cere- 
 monies, gorgeous robes, magnificent rites, it should always lead 
 us to suspect that that church is aware that the inner beauty is 
 evaporated, and that the outer beauty must be increased and aug- 
 mented, in order to conceal its loss and make it attractive. So 
 it is with that great apostasy in the Yv^est. The Church of Rome 
 depends for her power, not upon the purity of her creed, not upon 
 the greatness and holiness of her morality, but upon the splen- 
 dour of her rites, her crucifixes, her genuflexions, her golden 
 shrines, her embroidered altars, her august and impressive tem- 
 ples : like the ancient temples of Egypt, all magnificent as archi- 
 tecture could make them without, but inside are the reptiles of the 
 Nile, the gods the people bow down to. 
 
 In order to make the image as impressive as possible, the king 
 collected around it a great band of musicians, with all sorts of in- 
 struments of music. He knew the charm, the power, and popular 
 effect of good music ; and he was resolved that not only should 
 the image have unwonted splendour by being golden, and thus 
 reflecting the rays of rising and setting suns, but that it should 
 also have near it all that is impressive and attractive in the shape 
 of beautiful music. Painting and statuary are for the eye ; music 
 for the ear. Thus he thought he would be sure to make his way 
 to the heart. Some one has sarcastically remarked that if you 
 can secure the five senses of men, you may calculate upon all the 
 rest. What was said in sarcasm, has too often been fulfilled in 
 fact. Men are too often led by their senses, not by their judg- 
 ment; they worship show, not in spirit and truth. The Church 
 of Rome is aware of this fact, and has made provision for man's 
 senses in a most wonderful manner; calculating, with masterly 
 sagacity, that, having secured the homage of all the senses by her 
 
 11 
 
122 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 adaptations to them, slie will, in nine cases out of ten, secure the 
 conversion of the mind and the homage of the heart. 
 
 These three Jews, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, as I 
 have already said, were accused as guilty. They felt they had no 
 alternative : they refused to how down and worship the image 
 the king had set up. It was not on account of veneration 
 for their own idolatry that the Chaldeans accused them; it was 
 envy, jealousy, hatred, and all uncharitableness. When the king 
 hears of their disobedience, he sends for them, speaks to them with 
 condescending courtesy and kindness, and asks them the reason 
 why they had refused to worship the image that he had set up. 
 He had no idea that a man had a conscience — not the least idea 
 that there was a word mightier and more impressive than a king's 
 word; and he thought it the most monstrous, and perhaps the 
 most extraordinary phenomenon he had met with in all his reign, 
 that any man should refuse to obey the king's command, and re- 
 fuse in circumstances where obedience was entitled to so much 
 favour, and where disobedience would be visited with so severe 
 and terrible a penalty. The three Hebrew youths calmly, cour- 
 teously, but firmly, refused. They were not insolent to the king; 
 they did not insult his creed ; they were prepared to argue with 
 him, do doubt, if he condescended to permit them ; they used no 
 oiFensive epithets, but they calmly and firmly said : ^' We cannot 
 do it; it is with us a matter of conscience." Conscience is that 
 sacred realm, even in the bosom of the lowliest, into which a 
 king's hand may not dare to enter ; it is that sequestered, solemn, 
 awful nook in the constitution of the human soul, into which God 
 alone can claim admission. Kings may control the body; they 
 cannot make or alter the convictions of the soul. Force may 
 make bad men hypocrites ; but no force or fraud can make good 
 men disobey the behests of conscience and the commandments of 
 their God. There is nothing beneath God and the Bible so sacred 
 as the conscience ; and there is no one fiiculty Vv^thin us to which 
 we should listen with more reverential and attentive awe. It may 
 be blinded, it may be warped, it may be hardened, it may be 
 seared, but it is never utterly dead ; and a day always comes when, 
 if long neglected, long scared, long disregarded, it reasserts its 
 ancient and inherent rights, ascends to its own sacred pulpit, and 
 
EARLY MARTYRS. 123 
 
 reasons, in tones of tbunder, of righteousness^ and judgmentj and 
 temperance ; and man must hear it. 
 
 The king, finding these three youths determined, seeing that 
 they could not be captivated by his music, nor persuaded by his 
 reasons, to worship the image, threatens them with the burning- 
 fiery furnace seven times heated. Such is invariably the last re- 
 source of a false religion. It will try, first, to captivate by its 
 charms, and if it fail, it will then endeavour to coerce by its 
 threats. But the same conscience that smiled at the seductions 
 of the music will triumph over the threatenings of wrath. The 
 seven times heated furnace has no terrors for that man who 
 knows that the ever-living God is his friend, and eternity his 
 happy and blessed home. Tertullian, in speaking of the treat- 
 ment of Christians by the Roman emperors of his day — that is, 
 in the days of heathenism, says, '' We are thrown to the wild 
 beasts to make us recant ; we are burned in the flame ; we are 
 condemned to the mines ; we are banished to the islands, such as 
 Patmos ; — ' and all have failed.' '' So was it here : the sove- 
 reign's frown created no terror in these young men's breasts. 
 They felt the force of duty ; their eye was single ; their path was 
 plain ; their course was marked out before them. How absurd is 
 persecution, in whatever way you look at it ! No punishment in- 
 flicted on the- body can possibly alter the convictions of the soul. 
 One wonders man can think so. If a man were all body, perse- 
 cution might make him what the persecutor pleased ; but man is 
 soul and body, and no maltreatment of the one ought, or is able, 
 to warp the judgment of the other. The soul is to be dealt with 
 by argument, by evidence, by love ; the body, being either pleased 
 or punished, can exercise no real influence over it. 
 
 In the conduct of these Hebrew youths we have a great pre- 
 cedent for ourselves to follow in less painful circumstances. We 
 should rather suffer, and if needs be, die, than renounce the gos- 
 pel. It is a strong statement, but it is a scriptural one. St. 
 Paul says, ^'I am ready not to be bound only, but to die at Jeru- 
 salem for the name of the Lord Jesus.'' Perhaps it is not i-ight 
 to say to men in these times of so great civil freedom, <^You 
 should be prepared to die for the gospel." Perhaps to ask you to 
 test your present Christianity by your readiness at a future time 
 
124 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 to die for it^ is not fair, scriptural, or necessary. I believe, when 
 martyrs are required, G-od gives a martyr's spirit to meet the re- 
 quirement. God's grace is also sufficient for the crisis 3 it is not 
 given in excess before the crisis comes. The great question we 
 have to ask is, " Arc we truly the children of God ? Are we, in 
 heart and conviction, the followers of the Lamb ? Are we wash- 
 ed in his most precious blood ? Are we leaning upon his most 
 perfect righteousness ? Are we looking to God as our Father ? 
 Are we anticipating the glory to be revealed as our home V If 
 we can make sure of this, we need not now consider whether ^e 
 could die for Christ. When the exigency arrives that will require 
 us to do so, the God that j^ermits the crisis in his providence 
 will supply the strength in his grace ; and you will find it amply 
 sufficient for you. 
 
 How composed and beautiful was the remark of these Hebrew 
 youths : '' The God whom we serve is able to deliver us ; if he 
 does not, well ; we commit ourselves to a faithful God.^' As if 
 they had said : " If he miraculously deliver us, it is well ; if he 
 do not, we know it is equally well. It will be but the torture 
 of a moment ; an exceeding weight of an eternal glory is beyond 
 it. We do not like the fire ; we have nerves as well as Nebu- 
 chadnezzar ; we have sensibilities as keen ; we shrink from tor- 
 ture, as all humanity must shrink; but we are willing to brave 
 the flame for the glory that lies beyond it; we are willing to cross 
 the deep, dark flood of death for the sake of the bright land of 
 Goshen, that stretches in perpetual sunshine on the other side. 
 We do not love death, nor do we wish death ; but we are willing 
 to bear it for what death leads to.'^ AVhen you hear persons say, 
 " We wish to die," their language is not correct. No man wishes 
 to die. I have said before, that of all things death is the most 
 horrible, the most unnatural, the thing from which we naturally 
 and properly shrink and recoil; because man was never made to 
 die. Sin has brought in ^' death and all our wo." But the 
 Christian says, " I am willing to meet death either as a foe to 
 hurl defiance at, or as a friend — to welcome the message and the 
 messenger too ; not because I love that friend, or because I court 
 that foe, but because in either case he is a pioneer that paves and 
 opens tlic way for me to an inheritance which is incorruptible, 
 
EARLY MARTYPvS. 125 
 
 and undefiled, and that ftidetli not away/' These youths said, 
 *^ The God whom we serve is ahh to deliver us ; and we know 
 that if it be for his glory he will deliver us.'' They placed the 
 whole stress upon God's ability. Satan would say of miracles, 
 "Let God never interfere to deliver;" Man would say, "Let 
 God always interfere to deliver;" God has determined in his 
 wisdom to interfere when it is most for his glory, and best for 
 you. "Were God always to deliver his servants by a perpetual 
 miracle, it would not be a miracle ; it would be called — to use 
 the phraseology of the day — "a law of nature." Were God 
 never to deliver his servants, then the world would say, and 
 Christians would begin almost to think, " There is no God." He 
 interposes miraculously often enough to convince that God is, and 
 God acts ; and he interposes seldom enough to make more vivid 
 the interposition as an evidence of a divine and providential 
 power. I need not say that a ceaseless miracle is, by its very 
 necessity, no miracle at all. The present law is, that water should 
 run down-hill; but if the law were that it should run up-hill, and 
 if it had been so for eighteen centuries, men would say, " For 
 water to run up-hill is a law of nature ;" and if any thing oc- 
 curred to make it run down-hill, they would say, "This is a mi- 
 racle." The present law is, that the vine should be planted, that 
 the rain should saturate the soil in which it grows, that the juice 
 should rise through the stem and go into the branches and the 
 leaves, that it shall effloresce into blossom, and ripen into fruit; 
 that the fruit shall be pressed, the juice fermented, and be con- 
 verted into wine. But Christ, by one word, shortened the pro- 
 cess; and instead of taking a year to allow the water to turn into 
 wine, which is the ordinary law, he did it in a minute, saying, 
 " Let the water be wine." But if water always became wine by 
 the looking of a man, that would be a law, and the other process 
 would be the miracle. What is continuous is called the law ; the 
 suspension of the continuity indicates the interposition of the 
 Lawgiver. A ceaseless miracle, then, is an absurdity. There- 
 fore the idea of that body of Christians, who have followed the 
 late Edward Irving, or improved or misimproved upon what he 
 said — that there should be ceaseless miracles in the church, is to 
 
 11* 
 
126 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 me absurd ; it "will not bear examiuation ; it cannot be, bj the 
 very nature and necessity of the thing. 
 
 We read, that when the king had failed to convince, or to awe, 
 or seduce these youths, he ordered the furnace, in his fur}^, to be 
 heated seven-fold. The means of doing so were very easy in that 
 country. The whole soil of Babylon to this day is full of naphtha 
 and bitumen. They had only to collect the brushwood of the 
 forests, and to cast in plenty of this naphtha and bitumen, (as an 
 ancient historian says was done,) and the heat of the furnace, as 
 any one must be aware, would become highly intense — or, as it is 
 here said, be seven-fold. 
 
 The three youths were then cast into the fire, with their hoseu 
 and their clothes on, as the last and most desperate punishment 
 the furious monarch could inflict. But God forgets not his own. 
 At this crisis Grod was true to his promise, beheld in love his 
 servants, and interposed for their deliverance. The flame recog- 
 nised the presence of Him that made it, and bowed reverently 
 before the Son of God, just as on other occasions the waters of 
 the sea owned him; the winds heard him; and all nature re- 
 sponded to him, and obeyed him. The flame lost its power to 
 consume, because it was commanded not to do so by Him that 
 kindled it at the first. Nature is all pliant in the hand of Jesus. 
 He is the Lord of creation; he has but to speak, and all things 
 will respond in ten thousand echoes, ^^ Speak, Lord, thy servants 
 hear.'' These Hebrew youths, we are told by the apostle Paul, 
 in his Epistle to the Hebrews, ^'quenched the violence of fire" 
 by their faith. They said nothing calculated to irritate the king, 
 as I have told you; they submitted meekly to the judgment he 
 decreed, and cast the whole stress of their deliverance upon the 
 Lord. Let me gather, then, from all this, these lessons. 
 
 The mightiest on earth learn here, and have learned often 
 since, how insignificant are the greatest efi'orts to injure the cause 
 of Christ. 
 
 ■ If you will read the history of the church of Christ, you will 
 find that the most furious opposition has only served to spread its 
 principles, and to add new attractions to those that professed 
 them. All the power of earth and hell cannot burn out one sin- 
 gle truth ; all the patronage of earth and hell cannot build up 
 
EARLY MARTYRS. 127 
 
 one permanent lie. It is God's great law that all things, directly 
 or indirectly, shall build up truth; and that nothing upoft earth 
 shall serve permanently to build up a lie. The Hebrew youths 
 walked in the burning fire as amid groves of orange and of myr- 
 tle, while one walked with them, like unto the Son of God — no 
 doubt the Angel of the Covenant. The fury of the king was 
 disappointed; the party-spirit of his ministers was checked; and 
 they that kindled the fire were themselves the first victims of it. 
 In looking at the conduct of these three youths, I may notice 
 that they might have urged that it was their duty to obey the 
 king, and worship the image he had set up; for it was the es- 
 tablished religion of the country. So it unquestionably and, in 
 this case, unhappily was. The king patronized the idol, and no 
 doubt its worshippers; and these youths might have argued, as 
 some men argue still, ''It is the established religion; it enjoys 
 the sunshine of the countenance of the monarch; and as loyal 
 subjects, it becomes us to embrace it.'' Whatever be the excel- 
 lence, the merit, or the demerit of established religion, we should 
 learn this: that the mere establishment of a creed — whether 
 doing so be right or the reverse, it is needless now to discuss — is 
 not necessarily the making of truth a lie, or the making of a lie 
 truth. Mohammedanism is established in Turkey; but it is not, 
 therefore, my duty to become a Mohammedan there. Popery is 
 established in Austria; but it is not, therefore, my duty to be- 
 come a Papist there. Pantheism, or the endowment of every 
 thing upon earth that assumes the name of religion, is established 
 in France; but it is not my duty to become a Pantheist, or to 
 worship in the temple of the province in which I may be placed 
 in France. Let religion be established by the powers that be, 
 which they think true; but let me be regarded as having a con- 
 science. If I cannot conform to the religion that is established 
 by law, either from conscientious conviction, or from God's word, 
 or from scrupulosity, as is the case with some, let me have the 
 freedom — the full, unfettered freedom of worshipping beneath 
 my own vine and my own fig-tree, according to the prescriptions 
 of that conscience which kings can neither bind nor free, which 
 laughs at sword and fire, and glories only in subjection to God 
 its Sovereign. Because, then, it was the established religion, it 
 
128 PIIOPIIETIC STUDIES. 
 
 was not therefore their duty to conform to it. Nor did they 
 cease to be loyal subjects, because they would not be the church- 
 men of that day. It is possible to be churchmen, and to be most 
 disloyal; it is possible to be a dissenter, and to be most loyal. 
 Our conformity to the established church, however excellent, is 
 not necessary to our loyalty; our non-conformity to the establish- 
 ed church, however bad, is not necessarily disloyalty. In reli- 
 gious matters the laws should leave us fi'ee; in civil matters, the 
 law of Caesar ought to be, not for wrath, but for conscience' sake, 
 reverently obeyed. I am not here speaking against a religious 
 establishment, but against the abuse of it. 
 
 These Hebrew youths might have urged also the highest pos- 
 sible expediency for bowing down and worshipping the image. 
 Mark how they were situated. They were captives in the midst 
 of Babylon; they were promoted to places of power; they had 
 great means of doing good to their captive countrymen in the 
 midst of the city of their habitation; and if they had belonged to 
 the expediency-mongers of every age and country, they might 
 have argued in this way: ^^True, it is very bad to bow down and 
 worship this image; but we hold places of power; we have ex- 
 cellent salaries; we have great influence; we may be the means 
 of doing good to our poor captive fellow-countrymen. Had we 
 not better, therefore, bow the body, though we dcT not bow the 
 soul, to this golden image?'' If it had been a matter of form, or 
 ceremony, a matter of discipline or ritual, then I would have 
 said, "Remain in the communion in which you can do the 
 greatest good;" but as it was a matter that touched the con- 
 iScience; and as that conscience responded to what God said, 
 "Thou shalt not bow down to them nor worship them,'' these 
 three Hebrew youths had no choice. They did what was right, 
 and feared not that the right would be always the most expedient. 
 Do what is right, and you will always find it expedient. That 
 cannot be politically expedient which is morally wrong. It is 
 God's law plainly unfolded in his word. Do not look behind you, 
 nor before you, nor above you, nor around you; but be satisfied 
 that all things will work for good to you, while you continue to 
 act aright. Duty alone is ours ; all the region beyond it — the 
 region of events and consequences — is exclusively God's. We 
 
EARLY MARTYRS. 129 
 
 are to mind the duty that devolves upon us; we are to leave with 
 God to settle the issues that may flow from our obedience to that 
 duty. 
 
 There was another reason they might have urged for their con- 
 forming to the king's requirements — that was, their personal ob- 
 ligations. They might have argued: ^'He has been to us a most 
 gracious monarch; he has raised us, in his sovereignty, to places 
 of high power and high honour; he has made us sit in the gate, 
 the place of judgment, of greatness, and of justice, and we owe 
 homage to the king and gratitude to the man."^ But duty to 
 God was even stronger than gratitude and loyalty to an earthly 
 king. My dear friends, there is nothing more painful than to 
 be obliged to refuse a dear friend what our consciences tell us we 
 cannot give. But "he that loveth father or mother,'^ much less 
 a friend, "more than me, cannot be my disciple.'^ We must 
 take up the cross, and follow Jesus. Do all that you can to 
 gratify your friends; but do nothing to irritate and disturb your 
 peace of conscience, and the allegiance that you owe to God. 
 
 These youths might have also argued: "If we refuse to wor- 
 ship the golden image, we shall present a very singular aspect : 
 it is the universal worship; the whole mass upon the plain of 
 Dura fall down and worship the image; and we three shall ap- 
 pear the most singular and grotesque of non-conformists amid the 
 inhabitants of mighty Babylon. ^^ Singularity, when it is as- 
 sumed, is contemptible, and indicates a very weak mind indeed. 
 To be singular for singularity's sake is positively detestable — be- 
 low the dignity of man, and unworthy of the gravity of a Chris- 
 tian ; but to be singular because it is the necessary result of not 
 sinning, is worthy of the Christian, and it dignifies the man. We 
 must not be afraid of being singular when duty makes that sin- 
 gularity inevitable. If it be in an excellent thing, our singularity 
 should not make us ashamed. Did you ever hear of any man 
 ashamed of being singularly rich? of a woman ashamed of being 
 singularly beautiful? of a man ashamed of being singularly wise? 
 Is it not very odd that men should be ashamed of being singu- 
 larly religious? Is not religion more beautiful than beauty? 
 wiser than wisdom ? and far more valuable than riches ? Do not 
 court singularity, but cleave to duty; do not fear singularity, if 
 
130 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 avoidino: sin necessitates it. Do not mind that the multitude are 
 against you, if God be with you. Plant your foot upon one sin- 
 gle text of the Bible, and defy all mankind: ''Thou shalt not 
 follow a multitude to do evil."' ''x\s for me and my house/^ be 
 it in Constantinople, be it in Vienna, — Petersburg or Rome, or 
 Babylon or London; ''as for me and my house,' ^ whatever other 
 men may choose to do, "we will serve the Lord." 
 
 These men, too, might have pleaded the terrible penalty to 
 which they were exposed by disobeying the commandments of 
 the king. It was a terrible penalty; and a severe penalty for 
 disobedience to a command so easily obeyed by a genuflexion of 
 the knee, yet so impossible to be done by the bowing of a Chris- 
 tian's heart. They might have said, "It is a terrible thing to be 
 cast into a burning fiery furnace;" but they looked at the furnace, 
 even when it was hottest, and they looked at the duty, when it 
 had not one advocate or follower besides them, and they chose 
 duty — naked, simple duty; and they were not careful to answer 
 the king how they should meet or endure the burning, fiery fur- 
 nace. What gratitude do we owe to God that we can be true to 
 duty, and yet not incur such a dreadful penalty. But what re- 
 buke does the conduct of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego 
 administer to many of us ! You think if you become Christian — 
 it is the thought of many a young man here to-night — if you be- 
 come Christian you will be — what ? Thrown to the wild beasts ? 
 One might not be surprised if you hesitated. — Be cast into the 
 fiery furnace. If so, one might not be surprised that you should 
 pause. But you think only, "If I become a Christian I shall 
 have to give up this profit," — that is all; "I shall have to re- 
 nounce this pleasure; I shall have to shut up my shop on Sun- 
 day," — that is all. And can you hesitate to comply with a clear 
 command from God, because you will lose a little pleasure, part 
 with a little profit, die not so rich, live not so splendidly : when 
 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego refused to bow the knee for 
 once upon the plain of Dura, though doing so would have gained 
 them a loftier place, apparently, in the favour of their king, and 
 shielded them from the terrible penalties attached to disobedience ? 
 What you do now, indicates what you would have done if you 
 had been added to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, and been 
 
EARLY MARTYRS. 181 
 
 a fourth tliere. Yoii would have bowed the knee^ and worship- 
 ped the image, and escaped the penalty. But how will you meet 
 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego at the judgment-seat? They, 
 with less light and fewer privileges — not having heard of Calvary, 
 its cross, its agony, its bloody sweat — not having the gospel, in 
 all its grace, and glory, and riches, unfolded to them — with 
 weaker motives, less acquaintance with God, manfully refused 
 the bribe, despised the penalty, and clave to duty; and you, 
 amid privileges such as the world never tasted or enjoyed before, 
 are overcome by the bribe, repelled by the penalty; open your 
 shops on Sunday, cheat on the Monday, and grow rich by work- 
 ing to death, in thousands, the young men that serve you. How 
 would Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego have done if they had 
 been of your religion and your spirit? And how will you meet 
 them at that day when all the pageantry of kings and palaces 
 will have passed away like a pale, airy phantasm; and duty, con- 
 science, responsibility, God, the Saviour, the soul, will alone 
 stand great and blessed, or terrible realities? 
 
 These Hebrew youths had faith in God's power: they said, 
 '^He is able to deliver us." They had faith in God's promises; 
 they felt that he would deliver them. Perhaps they had heard 
 sounding on the plain of Dura that very promise which God pro- 
 nounced to Isaiah about a hundred years before: '^When thou 
 passest through the waters, I will be with thee ; and through the 
 rivers, they shall not overflow thee : when thou walkest through 
 the fire, thou shall not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle 
 upon thee." 
 
 Then, these three youths had the hope of the ^^glory that re- 
 mains to be revealed." Some persons have tried to show that 
 the ancient Christians, before Christ — the Christians in his twi- 
 light, as we are Christians in his dawn — had no idea of a future 
 state, and that it is not clearly revealed in the Bible. It appears 
 to me that the Old Testament does better than in express terms 
 announce it; for in every sentence and verse it unequivocally 
 implies it. If the burning fiery furnace was to be the termina- 
 tion of the being of these Hebrew youths, how could they have 
 braved it? What reward or inducement was there to do so? 
 But we are told by the apostle, who knew what his countrymen 
 
132 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 believed — for lie himself was a Hebrew, (Heb. xi. 14,) ^^For 
 they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a coun- 
 try/^ ^^They desire a better country, that is, an heavenly." 
 And again, speaking of Moses: ^^ Choosing rather to suffer afflic- 
 tion with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin 
 for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than 
 the treasures in Egypt : for he had respect unto the recompense 
 of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath 
 of the king; for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible." 
 
 And now, let us learn this great lesson from all I have said — 
 that the path of principle is always the highest possible expe- 
 diency. Never do a thing because it seems expedient if it be 
 not clearly right. Never hesitate to feel that the thing that is 
 right in the sight of God, will be the most expedient in the ex- 
 perience of man. God himself has said, ^'He that walketh up- 
 rightly walketh surely." Enter the furnace, if needs be, in 
 obedience to God, and God will deliver you. Enter Paradise it- 
 self in disobedience to God, and God will not keep you, but it 
 will be to you more terrible in the end than the furnace seven 
 times heated. Remember always that God is able, and is willing 
 to deliver you, and he will deliver you — when, how, and vv'here 
 it is most for his glory, and best for you. 
 
 Learn also this last lesson : Christ has been with his church 
 from the beginning of the world. Where has the church not 
 been ? But you ask, perhaps, what is the church ? The church 
 is not a great cathedral, or a national establishment, or local de- 
 nomination — Independent, Wesleyan, Episcopal, or Presbyterian. 
 The normal idea of the church of Christ is, ^' Where two or 
 three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst 
 of them." The church was once the family of Adam, and Jesus 
 was present when Adam and Eve and Abel kneeled down before 
 the altar of their God. The church was tossed upon the deep in 
 the ark with Noah. The church was in Abraham's family when 
 he remonstrated with Lot. The church was on the plain of Dura 
 when the three Hebrew youths stood firm. And the church was, 
 lastly, in the burning fiery furnace when the three youths were 
 there, and the Son of God was present in the midst of them, true 
 to his promise : " Where two or three arc gathered together in my 
 
EARLY MARTYRS. 133 
 
 name, there am I in the midst of them/^ An architect can build 
 a cathedral j a queen by her presence can create a palace ; but 
 the presence of the Lord of glory alone can constitute a church ', 
 and where two or three are present, there he will be. Let it be 
 in the flood or the fire in the wilderness, or in the city, he will 
 preserve it unto the last. The bush may blaze, but God is in the 
 bush, and it cannot be consumed. His saints may suffer; but 
 their sufferings shall only spread their faith, and glorify their 
 Lord. And all things, the blunders of its friends, the bitterness 
 of its enemies, the silence of its advocates, the opposition of its 
 foes — all things, in height and depth, shall aid the cause of 
 Christ, and prosper that church of which he is the foundation and 
 blessed hope. Amen. 
 
 12 
 
134 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 PRIDE ABASED. 
 
 " Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, 
 all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment : and those that walk in 
 pride he is able to abase." — Daniel iv. 37. 
 
 Perhaps, as I quoted all the previous chapter in my former 
 lecture, it will be necessary now to read the greater portion of the 
 chapter from which the text is taken — and on which, rather than 
 on a mere historical statement, I desire in this lecture to dwell. 
 
 We are told that Nebuchadnezzar, the king, wrote an epistle 
 ^^ unto all people and nations and languages that dwell on the earth ;'^ 
 and the substance of that epistle we are told was, '^ Peace be mul- 
 tiplied to you.^' He explains the ground on which he bases his 
 statement — " I thought it good to show the signs and the won- 
 ders that the high God" — not his idol Bel, whose praises he had 
 sung before, but " that the high God hath wrought toward me.'^ 
 And then, carried away by the magnificent ideas that were before 
 him, and by the goodness of that God who had so mercifully 
 dealt with him, he exclaims in ecstasy, "How great are his signs ! 
 and how mighty are his wonders ! his kingdom is" — not like my 
 kingdom, a frail and fleeting one, but — "an everlasting king- 
 dom, and his dominion is from generation to generation." He 
 then rehearses the main fiicts from which he draws the precious 
 truths contained in this chapter, one of which I am about to un- 
 fold : he tells them, " I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in my house, 
 and flourishing in my palace." All his enemies were subdued 
 without; all his fears were quieted within. And while he was 
 thus " at rest in his house and flourishing in his palace," another 
 dream, difiFerent from the one which had before glanced before his 
 eyes in the night, visions passed before him, and his thoughts 
 
PRIDE ABASED. 135 
 
 troubled him. He called all the magicians of his kingdom to 
 whom he had been wont to look in his prosperity, and asked them 
 to explain the marvellous vision which he had beheld. They 
 were unable to make it understood. God always taught Ne- 
 buchadnezzar what he has so often taught us^ that all human 
 glory must be stained, that God's alone may shine forth; that the 
 wisdom of man — even of the magicians of the earth, must be seen 
 and felt to be folly, in order that we may be led to drink from that 
 fountain of wisdom which alone is pure and undefiled, and worthy 
 of the name. Daniel, the minister of God, was again brought 
 before Nebuchadnezzar, and was informed by him what his dream 
 was, and required to give the solution of it. The dream was as 
 follows : " I saw a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height 
 thereof was great. The tree grew, and was strong, and the height 
 thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of 
 all the earth : the leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof 
 much, and in it was meat for all : the beasts of the field had 
 shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs 
 thereof, and all flesh was fed of it. I saw in the visions of my 
 head upon my bed, and lo, a watcher and an holy one came down 
 from heaven ; he cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree 
 and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his 
 fruit : let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from 
 his branches : nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the 
 earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of 
 the field ; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his 
 portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth : let his heart 
 be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him, 
 and let seven times pass over him." Then Daniel, whose name 
 was Belteshazzar, explains to Nebuchadnezzar what was the mean- 
 ing and intent of the dream in these words : " My lord, the dream 
 be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine 
 enemies." You will notice in this verse, (19,) that the word 
 "be" is printed in italics; which shows that it was employed by 
 the translators as being supposed by them to express more freely 
 the meaning of the original. If it be so, the sentence would seem 
 like a sort of anathema pronounced by Daniel on the enemies of 
 the king; but if we look at the original, we shall find that v/o 
 
136 PIIOPIIETIC STUDIES. 
 
 ought to leave out ^^be/' and tlien tlie verse would run thus : — 
 ^^ the dream (is) to them that hate thee/' &c. — i. e., " it is a 
 dream which will make glad the hearts of your enemies ; because 
 it makes sorrowful your own/^ It is not an imprecation of what 
 Daniel wished on the foes of the king, but a declaration of what 
 the foes of the king would feel when they heard of the calamities 
 he was about to suffer. Daniel then proceeds, " The tree that 
 thou sowestj which grew, and was strong, whose height reached 
 unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth ; whose 
 leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat 
 for all ', under which the beast of the field dwelt, and upon whose 
 branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation : it is thou, 
 O king, that art grown and become strong ; for thy greatness is 
 grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end 
 of the earth. And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy 
 one coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew the tree down, 
 and destroy it; yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the 
 earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of 
 the field ; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his 
 portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over 
 him ; this is the interpretation, king, and this is the decree of 
 the Most High, which is come upon my lord the king : that they 
 shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the 
 beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as T55i:en, 
 and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times 
 shall pass over thee, till thou know that the Most High ruleth in 
 the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. And 
 whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots ; 
 thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have 
 known that the heavens do rule. Wherefore, king, let my 
 counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by right- 
 eousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor; if it 
 may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.'^ 
 
 After he had heard the interpretation, and undergone the sen- 
 tence of degradation, king Nebuchadnezzar thus concludes his 
 history: "And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted 
 up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned 
 unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and ho- 
 
PRIDE ABASED. 137 
 
 noured liiin that livetli for eYer, whose dominion is an everlasting 
 dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: 
 and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing : and 
 he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven^ and 
 among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his 
 hand, or say nnto him, What doest thou ? At the same time 
 my reason returned unto me ; and for the glory of my kingdom, 
 mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsel- 
 lors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my 
 kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. Now I 
 Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of hea- 
 ven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and 
 those that walk in pride he is able to abase.'' 
 
 This closing epistle, addressed by the king Nebuchadnezzar to 
 his subjects, breathes a quiet and a beautiful spirit, that indi- 
 cates to my mind a change in his heart, a transformation of his 
 character — a true and an actual conversion to God. We cannot 
 but notice in this epistle, first the great humility by which it is 
 characterized. The pride that provoked punishment is super- 
 seded by humility, that owns its justice and gives glory to tha 
 God who punished him for his sins; and thus he shows that he 
 felt his sin to be grievous, and his sentence to be just. You 
 will notice, too, in the blessing which the king pronounces 
 upo* all mankind, such a wish as can be expected to proceed 
 only from a Christian's heart. The fierce monarch is changed 
 altogether. Instead of war, he prays for peace; the hand that 
 wielded the sword is stretched forth in benediction; the lion, 
 fierce and ravenous, is changed now into the lamb. He that 
 blasphemed and defied the attributes of heaven, now submits 
 like a weaned child, and owns the justice of his punishment; 
 and prays that blessings, such as God alone can give, and 
 monarchs cannot take away, may be bestowed upon all his sub- 
 jects, and that all mankind may rejoice in the enjoyment of 
 them. 
 
 You will notice, too, another feature in the epistle of the king 
 — namely, the missionary feeling and missionary sympathy that 
 pervades it. He says, ^' I thought it good to show the signs and 
 the wonders, and the might he had wrought," which is only 
 
 12* 
 
138 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 another form of expressing wliat David said, when he cried, 
 ^^ Come, all ye that fear God, and I will maJ^e known to you 
 what he hath done for my soul." The king says, ^^ I have seen 
 the greatness, I have tasted the goodness of God. It is now 
 my wish that all the people of my realm should see that I have 
 done so; and learn that the God that they are to worship is no 
 golden image, but the God who made the heaven and the earth, 
 and whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom;" and thus the 
 Babylonian throne became the Christian pulpit. The mighty 
 monarch became the humble and the faithful missionaiy; and 
 his epistle a sermon eloquent of wonders, of mercy, of righte- 
 ousness, and of peace. Here, then, we have an evidence what 
 grace can do; what transformations it can work; what results 
 sanctified affliction can achieve; how blasphemies are turned into 
 blessings, and the fierce despot into the meek and humble and 
 submissive saint. And the same grace that changed the heart 
 of the Babylonian monarch can and will change the heart of the 
 most depraved of mankind. That grace, like the air of heaven, 
 can enter by the smallest cranny, and can achieve by the small- 
 -est means the greatest possible results. It has found, and it will 
 find, access into congress, divan, and cabinet, and fiimily. It 
 will find its way into the temple of Bramah, — into the mosque of 
 Islam, — into the cathedral of the Bomanist. Wherever there is 
 a heart that beats, there grace can find a throne for its blessed 
 supremacy. 
 
 The dream of the king, which we have read, and which 
 Daniel interpreted, was a beautiful one. A lofty tree was seen 
 planted in the centre of the earth; herds and cattle from a thou- 
 sand hills enjoyed shelter beneath its branches, and the birds of 
 the air built their nests amid its boughs. Such is the symbol" 
 of* a prosperous and happy king. Nations dwelt beneath his 
 sovereignty; families found peace beneath his sceptre; his king- 
 dom was rooted in the hearts of his loyal subjects; a spectacle 
 too magnificent for man long to enjoy elated the monarch's 
 heart; drew out the corruption of his nature, and prompted the 
 exclamation which brought down the vengeance of heaven: '^ Is 
 not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the 
 kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honour of my 
 
PRIDE ABASED. 139 
 
 majesty?'^ Tlie instant that he utters these thoughts, the sen- 
 tence is issued that fells the tree, deposes and degrades the 
 monarch of whom that tree was the symbol. So true is it in 
 eveiy age, " I have seen the wicked great in power, and spread- 
 ing himself as a green bay-tree; I passed by, and lo! he was 
 not; I sought him, but he could not be found. ^' And again, 
 God says, '^All the trees of the field shall know that I, the 
 Lord, have brought down the high heart." The catastrophe of 
 the monarch is the result that is here foreshadowed in the hew- 
 ing down of the tree. The sceptre is shattered in his hand. 
 The mighty ruler is driven to herd with the lowest cattle — the 
 monarch of that mighty kingdom goes out a wretched and an 
 unreasoning monomaniac; the inmate of a palace becomes an 
 inhabitant of the desert; he that ate king's meat feeds with the 
 beasts of the field; and he whose brow wore a diadem that re- 
 flected splendour upon a thousand kings, is naked and wetted with 
 the dews of heaven. ^' Hew it down; cut away its branches; 
 shake off its fiiiit.'' Thus there are two ways in which God can 
 punish kings, just as there two ways in which he can punish 
 their subjects. He can drive the monarch from his realm, as ill 
 the case of Nebuchadnezzar; or he can drive the kingdom from 
 the monarch, as in the case of Belshazzar. So with the sub- 
 jects, he can snatch the landlord from his estate, and place him 
 at the judgment-seat; or he can snatch the estate from the land- 
 lord, and leave him poor and friendless in the world. The one 
 or the other of these results will follow whenever pride is in- 
 dulged. It is a law as sure as that the sun shines by day, that 
 pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. 
 Let a church be proud and boast of itself, and that church will 
 soon be laid low. Let a man become elated and exalted by a 
 sense of his talents, and he will soon be brought down. Let a 
 people glory in their wealth, or glory in their wisdom, or in any 
 thing but Christ, and they will soon learn, that he who tries to 
 steal a ray from the glory of God takes a withering curse in- 
 wardly into his own bosom. 
 
 Such, however, we find, is the goodness of God, that before 
 he strikes he warns. And therefore Daniel says, " Moreover, O 
 king, let my counsel be acceptable before thee, and break olF thy 
 
140 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 sins by rigliteousness^ and tliy transgressions by showing mercy 
 to the poor/' In the Roman Catholic Bible this verse is trans- 
 lated, ^^0 king, redeem thy sins by righteousness:" and hence, 
 it is favourite text, quoted veiy frequently by them in order to 
 show that good works have a propitiatory or atoning virtue. 
 But the translation that they have adopted is obviously wrong. 
 The word is, properly translated, " break off;'' and what Daniel 
 says to the king is equivalent to saying, "Cease to do evil; 
 learn to do well; reverse the couree you have taken; show j^our 
 repentance in the sight of God by your reformation in the sight 
 of man. Be what you have failed to be; bring forth the fruits 
 that you have not brought forth; pity the poor you have trodden 
 under foot; abstain from the violence which peradventure has 
 stained you." But it would be impossible for man, by any 
 works of his own, to make atonement for himself; for " by 
 deeds of law," we are told, "can no flesh be justified." If man 
 could make atonement for man's sins, why was it necessary that 
 God should become man, and should suffer and die, that his sins 
 might be atoned for? But the idea is too absurd to require me 
 to spend time in refuting it. 
 
 Among the lessons we learn from this chapter, before we enter 
 immediately on the elucidation of the text, the first is, that the 
 end of all royal government is beautifully set forth by the symbol 
 of a tree, giving shelter to some, a home to others, and protection 
 to all. What should a nation's government be ? A government 
 that protects the weak and provides for the poor; that gives a 
 shelter to the oppressed and diffuses the greatest possible amount 
 of freedom and happiness among all. We learn in the next 
 place, from God's hearing Nebuchadnezzar, that God hears the 
 whisper in the royal cabinet as well as the groan of the oppressed 
 in a miserable cellar. It is here stated that the king was walk- 
 ing in his palace, and he said within himself, "Is not this great 
 Babylon that I have built?" God hears the thought of the 
 heart — "Thou, God, seest me," may be said by every individual 
 here this evening. God's eye is just as closely riveted upon the 
 heart of that young man or that young woman, as if that young 
 man or young woman were the only individual in the whole uni- 
 verse of God. There is not a thought that flutters in our hearts 
 
— tliere is not a purpose in tliem formed for to-morrow — ^there is 
 not a secret spring of wickedness arising in any bosom — ^tliere is 
 not a design that is cherished in the secrecy of any heart, that 
 you can hide from God — from that eye that pierces the darkness 
 — from that car that hears in silence — from that God who will 
 bring every secret thing to light, and judge according to the 
 thoughts of the heart, the words of the mouth, and the deeds 
 done in the body, whether they be good, or whether they be 
 evil. What a solemn consideration it is that those thoughts 
 which you would wish to conceal from that person who sits be- 
 side you in the pew, are known to God: and your schemes, 
 plans, and imaginations that you would not disclose to a mother, 
 to a husband, to a wife, to a child, to a friend, for the whole 
 world, are known to him ! You wrap your mantle round you, 
 and you say, ^^How close and how secret can I keep my coun- 
 sel!'^ God's burning eye is fixed upon it all — that eye which 
 sees and searches and penetrates all space, and reads clearly and 
 legibly our inmost thoughts. What an idea is this, that, in the 
 judgment-day, man's secret thoughts will be set in the light of 
 God's countenance ! What a fearful spectacle for those that rise 
 from the dead as lost souls, when they behold that terrible light 
 which has no shadow, no relief, nothing to soften its intense bril- 
 liancy, shining upon every thought in the past, every prospect in 
 the future, every feeling in the present — a spectacle so fearful 
 that the lost souls shall cry to the everlasting hills to hide them, 
 and the great sea to shelter them from the wrath of the Lamb- 
 And blessed, blessed indeed is that man's soul that can say, then 
 and there, ''I am guilty, but Jesus is my Saviour; I am a sinner, 
 but that precious blood is my plea; I am lost in Adam, but retrieved 
 in Christ : and I know that he to whom I have committed all will 
 behold not me, for in me there is nothing worthy of love, but 
 behold my substitute, and me in him, that died for me and 
 became sin for me, that I might be made the righteousness of God 
 in him." 
 
 The king, we are told in this passage, was driven from his 
 throne to wander with the beasts of the field, degraded and de- 
 posed, as the appropriate penalty of his special sin. What was 
 the king's special sin? Pride. What- was God's providential 
 
142 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 pimisliment ? Degradation. Generally speaking, you may read 
 your sin in the light of your punishment. Not always, but gene- 
 rally speaking, the punishment is just the rebound of the sin. 
 And if you will examine it very carefully in the light of God's 
 truth, in the punishment or chastisement which you are now un- 
 dergoing, you will probably be able to trace the reason why God 
 has inflicted it. God sends the punishment, not simply to wean 
 you from the way that is evil, but to reveal by the light of the 
 furnace in which he places you, the sin that has seduced you, and 
 drawm down' upon you, like the conductor, the lightning of God's 
 judgment. Was not this the case with the recent pestilence 
 that visited us? In the punishment we saw one sin, at least, 
 that brought it down — the neglect of the poor — the absence of 
 all sanatory reform — one of the greatest social evils of the present 
 day. "VVe savf thus in our punishment the sin which, as a peo- 
 ple, we had indulged. There were other sins, I dare say, many 
 others; but this was one which the judgment directly pointed 
 out to us. And I trust we shall show that the punishment has 
 been sanctified to us, by every man in his place discharging man- 
 fully the special duty to the poor that clearly devolves upon him. 
 
 It is stated also, that the king acknowledged, after his punish- 
 ment, that "God doeth according to his will in the army of 
 heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth." God has not 
 simply "prescience," but he has "purpose." It is not true 
 simply that God foreknows what will come to pass; but, if the 
 Bible speaks truth, as we know it does, he also purposes the 
 event that is to take place. Prophecy is holy men becoming the 
 amanuenses of God's truth; history is holy and unholy men be- 
 coming the amanuenses of God's providence. God writes the 
 prophecy in Scripture, and God fulfils the prophecy in history; 
 and yet, when he does so, God is not the author of sin. God, 
 though the author of all that is good, is not the author of any 
 thing that is sinful: nor is man a mere automaton impelled 
 irresistibly in its course; but he is a rational, reflecting, respon- 
 sible being, deliberately choosing what he thinks to be best or 
 most expedient for him. 
 
 We learn another lesson from this histoiy : that prosperity is a 
 very dangerous position. It is not the man who has lost his 
 
PRIDE ABASED. 143 
 
 property wlio is most likely to forget God; but tlie man who has 
 obtained a fortune, or made a most successful speculation, or had 
 left to him a large property. It is not the empty cup that we 
 have any difficulty in holding; it requires the utmost nicety to 
 balance the cup that is full to the brim. Adversity may depress; 
 but prosperity elevates us to presumption. And if, as I have 
 often told you, you ought to intimate that the prayers of the con- 
 gregation are requested for a member of this church in deep 
 affliction, you ought much oftener to say that the prayers of the 
 congregation are requested for a member who has been visited 
 with great prosperity. Depend upon it that the latter needs 
 prayer just as much as the former. In the valleys, where all is 
 shadow, we can walk securely. On the lofty pinnacle, where all 
 is sunshine, we need a special power to keep us, a special arm to 
 sustain us. If we take the experience of the church of Christ, 
 we shall find that the man that draws closest to God has gene- 
 rally had the least of the blessings of his providence. The Scotch 
 fir-tree is, to my mind, the best symbol of the Christian. The 
 least of earth is required for its roots; it finds nourishment in a 
 dry soil and amid barren rocks, and yet, green in winter as in 
 summer, it towers the highest of all the trees of the wood to- 
 ward the sky, and with least of earth makes the greatest approach 
 to heaven. So it is with the tree of God's planting: with the 
 least of earth about its roots it towers the nearest to heaven; de- 
 riving nourishment, not from the earth below, but from the sun- 
 beams that fall upon it, and the rain-drops that sprinkle it, 
 supported by that hidden nourishment that comes from God. 
 
 We learn from Daniel's address to the king, that a minister of 
 the gospel ought to be faithful. Daniel told the king honestly 
 the whole truth, and was not afraid. Truth needs not to be pre- 
 faced with apology. If what the minister says be not true, no 
 apology can palliate it; if it be true, an apology is not required. 
 When the minister speaks God's blessed word, he ought to know 
 but two classes — those that are sinners by nature, and those that 
 are saved by grace. Whatever be their rank, their age, their 
 wisdom, their renown, we have nothing to do with these — we 
 have only to do with this, that they belong to that great categoiy 
 which has had so continuous a succession — the category of sin- 
 
144 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 nors; or to tliat blessed one that shall never fail — the company 
 of God's faithful, redeemed, and regenerated people. 
 
 We learn also from the experience of the monarch, the bless- 
 ings of affliction. Nebuchadnezzar said, after his affliction, what 
 he had never dreamed of submitting to think of before; and I 
 have no doubt, he could say as sincerely as David said, ^^It is 
 good for me that I have been afflicted." When God hides the 
 sun by day, he reveals to us a thousand suns by night. It is in 
 the dark that we see a vision which the day refuses to present to 
 us. It is in afflictions that we learn lessons which we never 
 could have learned in prosperity. And you know that on a sick- 
 bed, in the moment of an expected wreck, in the hour of bitter 
 and sorrowful bereavement, feelings were created, emotions felt, 
 vows were uttered, (and if they were uttered, do you hold to them 
 still ?) resolutions cherished, that made you say. If it be bitter in 
 experience to be afflicted, it is blessed in the result. The storms 
 of winter, the frosts and winds of autumn, strip the tree of its 
 foliage and clothe it with icicles; but it is while the tree is thus 
 shaken and laid bare by the tempest that it strikes its roots deeper 
 into the earth, seeking warmth and shelter below, as it loses 
 warmth and shelter above. And then, next spring, it comes 
 forth with greater energy, casts out its foliage with greater beau- 
 ty, and is prepared to meet and master succeeding storms with 
 far easier victory. So it is with the Christian : it is during the 
 winter of affliction that he strengthens himself. 
 
 But the great lesson we are to learn from this chapter, and 
 which is the lesson inculcated in my text, is the last; it is a les- 
 son which is precious indeed, and one which God has been incul- 
 cating ever since the world bcgan^—'^ Those which walk in pride, 
 God is able to abase." The whole history of God's dealings with 
 mankind is a commentary on this text. Man once started on the 
 wings of pride : he tried in Paradise to soar to heaven : his frail 
 wings were dissolved by the blaze of that sun as he rose ; he fell : 
 the terrible retribution came : and he learned, in the cold projected 
 shadow of the curse, that 'Hhem that exalt themselves, God is 
 able to abase." And after man thus fell, we have to see whe- 
 ther he learned in his ruin the lesson he would not learn in the 
 time of his happiness, and in his state of innocence. Ciim rose 
 
PRIDE ABASED. 145 
 
 before God, and raised a fratricidal hand against liis brother in 
 the exercise of that very pride which had brought the curse into 
 the world, and death, ^^and all our wo:'^ and Cain went forth 
 with this inscription, legible to heaven, upon his scathed brow, 
 ^^ Them that walk in pride, Grod is able to abase /^ 
 
 After Cain, we read that the daughters of the sons of God 
 united themselves with the sons of men; society was dissolved; 
 profligacy overflowed; they set their faces against heaven, and 
 and cried, '^Who is Lord over us?'' And God saw that the 
 pride and wickedness of men were great; the windows of the 
 heaven and the fountains of the earth were opened; the sky 
 poured down rain, and earth poured out floods; and the ark, 
 careering with its favoured exceptions on the crests of the 
 waves, revealed the great truth which was here disclosed to 
 Nebuchadnezzar, " Them that walk in pride, God is able to 
 abase/' 
 
 And even after this, while man had the remains of wrecks, 
 and the evidences of restoration before him, instead of being- 
 humbled by the recollection of the past, and trustful in the God 
 who saves the meek, they began to build a tower whose top 
 should reach to the heaven, standing upon which they might 
 laugh at such judgments, and defy the Almighty to his face. 
 He breathed upon them, and each tongue spake confusion; no 
 man understood what his fellow-labourer said; the work was ar- 
 rested, the attempt failed, and man was again taught the tmtli 
 he is so slow to learn, "Them that walk in pride, God is able to 
 abase.'' 
 
 A new period came in the history of the world, and God re- 
 solved to quell the pride that still oozed out, not instantly crush- 
 ing man by the direct expression of stupendous power, but by 
 the operation of the very sin of pride preparing and promoting 
 the destruction of him who is its victim. We find in the his- 
 tory of the world great kingdoms beginning to emerge, splendid 
 palaces built, temples raised to Ashtaroth and Baal, and shrines 
 to Isis and Osiris, throughout all the empires of the world; on 
 which God makes the text actual, no longer by the sudden 
 stroke of almighty power, but by the sure, though slow opera- 
 tion of those very principles that have influenced the men them- 
 
 13 
 
146 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 selves. For Nebuchadnezzar, and Belshazzar, and Cyms, and 
 Alexander, and Caesar, all found, though, they were not smitten 
 down by the thunderbolt because of their pride, yet that the 
 higher they soared, only the deeper and the more disastrously 
 did they fall : and never did nation succeed in writing on the 
 productions of its wisdom or on the expressions of its power, '' I 
 sit as a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no soitow," and, 
 " I am the eternal city, and of my kingdom there shall be no 
 end,'^ before another hand shot through the cloud and inscribed 
 below man's inscription and prophesy of eternity for himself, 
 God's record of the doom he should suffer, ''Mene, mene, tekel, 
 upharsin," '' Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found 
 wanting/^ And ever as man said, ^'I will ascend to heaven, 
 and fix my throne raiiid the stars of God," — wherever that was 
 said and the attempt made, we see no longer the glorious proces- 
 sion of splendour, of power, and of victory, but the funeral pro- 
 cession that moves slowly and sadly to the tomb. And, in the 
 history of the world, as often as great systems have arisen, 
 which have thrust out God and put in man, the same great 
 result has invariably followed. What is Mohammedanism ? A 
 compound of Christianity, Judaism, and heathenism, all tending to 
 glorify an ambitious impostor, and to dishonour G-od. The dried 
 Euphrates, the waning crescent, all are teaching, and will teach 
 soon with tremendous power, ^'Them that walk in pride, God is 
 able to abase.'' And what is Popery? The magnifying of the 
 priest till he takes the place of God, and sits in the temple of 
 God, showing himself as if he were God, and professing him- 
 self to be the Vicar of Christ. And what is said of him? 
 "Whom the Lord will consume with the spirit of his mouth, and. 
 destroy with the brightness of his coming,'' that it may be seen 
 that that church which boasts itself eternal is most temporary, 
 and that he who sits as if he were the Lord in the temple is but 
 an usurper of a throne that belongs not to him, and the wearer 
 of assumptions which are only blasphemy in him that assumes 
 them. Let it be the autocrat on his throne, or the mob in the 
 dyopa-y let it be Nebuchadnezzar in his palace, or antichrist in 
 his temple, it is God's great law — sure as the heavens, lasting as 
 his word, — that'Hhem that walk in pride, God is able to abase." 
 
PRIDE ABASED. 147 
 
 The loftiest cedar of Lebanon shall be smitten down ; the high- 
 est oaks of Bashan God is able to uproot. He has brought 
 down the mighty from their seats^ and exalted the humble and 
 meek. 
 
 We read what are some of the elements of human pride in 
 that beautiful passage in Jeremiah: "Let not the wise man 
 glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his 
 might; let not the rich man glory in his riches." And wherever 
 there is glorying in these — be it a church — be it a nation — be it 
 a family — be it an individual, they will be sure to find them- 
 selves soon abased. Man is not to be proud of his wisdom : but 
 we generally find that the man who has least wisdom is the most 
 proud of the little he possesses; as if, conscious of its emptiness, 
 and feeling it would collapse, he hugs it the closer, and makes 
 the most of it. Is it not too true, that many a man would rather 
 be called a knave than be thought a fool? Power is another 
 source of pride. Has not philosophy its Nebuchadnezzar as well 
 as political power? Satan is very aptly described by Milton, as 
 saying, 
 
 *' Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven ;" 
 
 and have we not met with many a one who had rather be the 
 head of the village than a subject in the metropolis? Such is 
 man's lust of power; and wherever such love of power is, there 
 it will be brought down. Need I tell you that man is proud of 
 wealth? Money is the idol of the nineteeenth century. The 
 banker's pen is more powerful now than the warrior's sword or 
 the statesman's policy. It is not cabinets, but banks, that re- 
 solve the fixity and the downfall of kingdoms. It is the stroke 
 of the banker's pen, not the blow of the general's sword, that 
 determines who shall conquer. Camillus of old cast his sword 
 into the scale when the conflict was dubious : it is now the 
 money-lender, who casts his money-bags into the scale, and deter- 
 mines which nation shall be great. All the difference between 
 the mammon-worshipper of the present day and the golden 
 image-worshipper of Nebuchadnezzar consists in this, that Ne- 
 buchadnezzar dug his gold from earth, melted and moulded it 
 into a golden image, and caused the people, by the sound of mu- 
 
148 rnoPHETic studies. 
 
 sic, to fall down and Vv^orslilp it; and now man digs gold from the 
 mine, stamps it into coins, and, by appealing to the lusts and 
 affections of the human heart, making these the sweet music to 
 entice, he causes men to fall down and worship. But whenever 
 man thus puts wisdom, or wealth, or power, in the room of God, 
 or, believing in God, is proud of the one or the other, he will 
 learn — by the terrible penalty which, if he be an unconverted 
 man, is purely penal, but if he be a Christian, by a blessed chas- 
 tisement that is purely paternal — that ^Hhem that walk in pride, 
 God is able to abase." 
 
 I might allude to other forms of pride that God can, and will, 
 surely abase. The careless sinner, who thinks nothing of God, 
 and cares nothing about his soul, walks in perilous pride upon the 
 brink of an aAvful precipice. The self-righteous man, who thinks 
 his own righteousness good enough for God, and Christ's right- 
 eousness too worthless to be accepted by him, walks in pride. The 
 worldly-minded man, whose living is the lust of the eyes, the lust 
 of the flesh, and the pride of life — walks in pride ; and God will 
 abase him. Pride is not the monopoly of those that ride in cha- 
 riots and wear crowns and coronets. Pride grows in a cellar as 
 well as in a royal palace. It is an indigenous weed. It is not 
 the composition of the idol that makes the idolatry, but it is the 
 devotion that is given by the heart to that idol, whether it be 
 wood, or brass, or stone. There may be pride where there is but 
 a single sovereign, greater than where there are a thousand. There 
 may be pride in the possession of a single acre, greater and more 
 hateful to God, than in the possession of a thousand acres. And 
 where it exists, we learn from our text, and from all experience, 
 none can bring it down but one. All the miracles of Moses failed 
 to bring down the pride of Pharaoh : all the preaching down and 
 denouncing of pride by the most eloquent preacher that ever 
 spoke, will fail to abase the pride of a single individual in his au- 
 dience. The wind may beat upon the icicle ; the storm and the 
 tempest may smite it ; the earthquake may split it ; the avalanche 
 may descend, and send it thundering down into the valley below, 
 but only the sunbeam can thaw and melt it. Nothing can subdue 
 the pride of man's heart but God — God, in the rays of the gos- 
 pel. Experience will never do it. How true is it that, often as 
 
phiue abased. 149 
 
 we have found cistern upon cistern, that we have laboriously dug, 
 to be emi^ty, we look for other cisterns still ? How is it, that of- 
 ten as we find flower after flower to fade and wither the instant that 
 we touch it, yet we seek after other flowers still ? How is it, that 
 after joy on joy has been pursued, and has perished the instant 
 that we grasped it, we yet still seek after joys that bloom not 
 upon the tree of time, but only upon the tree that is in the midst 
 of the paradise of God ? It is because we do not like to be indebted 
 to another. Man would like to save himself, justify himself, regene- 
 rate himself, glorify himself, and sing songs of praise throughout 
 eternity '^tome that loved myself, and washed myself, tind redeemed 
 myself, and glorified myself; unto me be glory and honour, and 
 blessing and praise V What is all the gospel but just Grod hum- 
 bling the heart ? What is justification ? God laying your glory 
 in the ditst, and placing the greatest philanthropist and the great- 
 est criminal on the same dead level of sin and condemnation ; that 
 when they have learned where sin has laid them, they may be 
 clothed with and exalted by the righteousness of Christ, and glory 
 in his name all the day long, and realize this blessed experience, 
 that when we begin to exalt God, God will begin to exalt us. 
 What is regeneration, but God's Holy Spirit revealing to man 
 what is in his own real nature, and that his flowers are w^eds, his 
 gold is dim — nay, worse than dim, worthless ; that his sins are 
 his own, and they should humble him ; that his graces are not 
 his own, and they should humble him also ; and that he can no 
 more change his own heart than he can, by any concentration of 
 his physical powers, or combined action of his muscles, lift him- 
 self from the earth a single foot ? When God has thus humbled 
 man, and convinced him that he has no holiness and no grace -of 
 himself, then he will exalt him. The man whose heart has been 
 renewed only by baptism, will praise the priest ; but the man whose 
 heart has been renewed and regenerated by the Spirit of God, will 
 magnify and praise the Lord alone, and from the first bud to the 
 next blossom, and the last fruit of a holy life, he will give all the 
 glory unto God. 
 
 Do I speak to any here that are proud ? This passion is in us 
 all : it is human nature ; it is the secret of many of our miscar- 
 ryings : it is the cause of most of our fiiilures. You say you do 
 
 13^> 
 
150 PIlOniETIC STUDIES. 
 
 not like to be humble : nobody does like to be humble. Man 
 does not like to be humbled before a brother, but he likes much 
 less to be humbled before himself; the instinctive pride that is in 
 him rebelling against the humility that sweeps his foundation of 
 self-sufficiency from beneath him. But if this pride be not abased 
 in mercy, it will be abased in judgment. Think of the goodness, 
 the mercy, the forgiveness of God, that, so thinking, you may be 
 humble. Think of what human nature is ; that the greatest 
 criminal who commits the most enormous crime, and perishes on 
 the scaffold on account of it, is an alter ego, another self, actuated 
 by the same passions, only in their full burst, flow, and develop- 
 ment ', and that, except for the grace of Grod, that criminal might 
 have been myself. Think of this, that you may be humble be- 
 fore God. But if you wish to be humbled in the very dust, read 
 those thrilling words, '' God so loved me, that he gave his only- 
 begotten Son to die for me V See what my redemption cost ! 
 See what a penalty my sin demanded ! See what my ruin is, by 
 the height from which the Saviour came, and the depth to which 
 the Saviour sank ! and when you have looked at that cross, and 
 listened to that suffering cry, and beheld that completed sacrifice, 
 and that unbounded love, oh ! then such grace — such love — such 
 mercy, will expel pride from the stubborn heart of man ; and it 
 will do what judgment, what affliction, what preaching, what ex- 
 perience has failed to do — it will cause you to abase yourself in 
 the sight of the Lord, that he may lift you up, and so you may 
 be exalted in due time. 
 
 Pray for that Holy Spirit which alone can melt the proud heart ; 
 and when it has changed and regenerated that heart, then, in 
 lowliness upon earth, you will bless him, and on a throne of glory 
 in heaven, you will magnify him ] and thank God throughout all 
 eternity that you have learned in mercy, the truth which so many 
 have learned in judgment — '^ Them that walk in pride, God is 
 able to abase." 
 
151 
 
 LECTURE XL 
 
 THE SCEPTRE OF GOD. 
 
 " Thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that 
 the heavens do rule." — Daniel iv. 26. 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar " learned that the heavens do rule/^ as we 
 see in this acknowledgment, made after he was restored to his 
 mind. The prediction was that the tree, the symbol of his ma- 
 jesty, should be cut down ; and he who was symbolized by that 
 tree should be driven forth to herd with the beasts of the field, 
 and there to sufi"er degradation and shame till he learned the les- 
 son that he had forgotten, that " God reigns,^'' or, to use the lan- 
 guage of the text, " that the heavens do rulc.'^ And you will 
 perceive that after he was restored he says, in verse 3, ^' How 
 great are. his signs ! and how mighty are his wonders !" and then 
 here is what he had learned : '' His kingdom is an everlasting 
 kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation. '' 
 He learned the lesson, and he expressed it after he was restored 
 to his mind, that it was not his sceptre that controlled the worlds, 
 but the sceptre of Him whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, 
 and whose dominion endureth from generation to generation. 
 The proposition I should wish to illustrate is, that " Glod reigns,'' 
 "that the heavens do rule.j" and in endeavouring to do so, I will 
 look first at some of the difficulties that lie in the way of our ac- 
 knowledgment of this fact. There is nothing that man is more 
 prone to dispute than the living, ever-present, ever-active supre- 
 macy of God. There is an universal belief that God loas, there 
 is a very faint belief that God is : there is an impression among 
 some that God made the world, and then left the machinery ta 
 go on after he had wound it up ; and that since he made it he 
 has retired from the world, and left it to the dominion of what 
 philosophers call second causes — what infidels call accidents. 
 
152 rROPIIETlC STUDIES. 
 
 Now then, let us look at some of the difficulties that lie in our 
 way, and I will try as I am able very briefly to explain them. 
 
 First, how can we reconcile the entrance of sin with the ex- 
 istence, the supremacy, and the rule of Grod ? If you ask men, 
 Does God govern the world ? they answer, '^ Yes." But how is 
 it compatible with the government of a wise, a merciful, an om- 
 nipotent God, that sucli an intruder, such a foul disturber of the 
 harmony of the world as sin, should have been allowed to inter- 
 polate itself, and occasion apostasy, rebellion, and discord in his 
 suffering, wide dominions ? The entrance of sin is not the dis- 
 closure of revelation, but the disclosure of history, of experience, 
 and of fact. It is not the Christian alone who is called upon to 
 explain why sin is come into the world, but the skeptic himself. 
 He admits the existence and the reign of a God : he must admit 
 the fact of the presence, and the disturbing power of sin. If 
 there be a difficulty, it is a difficulty also at the door of the skeptic, 
 as broad and as palpable as that which lies at the door of the 
 Bible Christian. But we may look at it in a light in which it 
 may appear at least not to have been God's fault, if I may reve- 
 rently use the expression, that sin has entered the world. He 
 made man perfectly free and unfettered, with every bias to good, 
 and with no bias to evil ; with every inducement to retain his 
 allegiance, with every possible dissuasive against the violation of 
 that allegiance. He gave him genius to originate — a heart t-o 
 love — a conscience, the realm of right and of wrong ; and, of ne- 
 cessity, placed him under a law, because, if there be no law, there 
 can be no lawgiver, there can be no subject; and, if no subject, 
 of course no supreme governor. By the very nature of the crea- 
 ture's constitution, the creature must be placed under law. Now 
 when he placed Adam under law, God might by his omnipotence 
 have prevented him from stretching forth his hand to touch ^he 
 forbidden fruit. But it does not follow that because he might 
 have prevented him, therefore he o^igJu to have prevented him. 
 It may be — nay, we are sure it must be — that more grand and 
 magnificent results will yet be evolved from the wrecks of Para- 
 dise than ever could have been reflected from it, if it had retained 
 its glory undismantled and unshorn, even to the age in which we 
 now live. And to show how fallacious is the argument, tliat be- 
 
THE SCEPTRE OF GOD. 153 
 
 cause God could have prevented man, therefore he ought to have 
 done so, I may observe, man has it in his power to destroy him- 
 self; he may throw himself over a precipice, or cast himself into 
 the sea : God might, by the exercise of omnipotence, have ren- 
 dered this impossible : but then the very impossibility of it would 
 have reflected deeper discredit on the creature ; for the creature 
 would not have been a free and unshackled being, in which he 
 glories as his dignity, but an automaton — a piece of machinery, 
 moved by extraneous impulses, without a will to determine, a 
 conscience to feel, or a judgment to reflect. Or, to use another 
 illustration, if a man goes to put his hand into the fire, God tells 
 that man, by the experience of others, and by the exercise of his 
 reason, " If you put your hand into the fire you will burn it and 
 sufi"er pain.'' That is the plan he has adopted : he might have 
 taken the plan you propose, and by the fiat of omnipotence have 
 rendered it a physical impossibility for the man to burn his hand. 
 But he has not done so : he has shown man that if he puts his hand 
 in the fire it is sure to be burned 3 and man, knowing what the 
 efiect of the act will be, is thus deterred from the commission of 
 it. Such was the case with Adam in Paradise. God did not 
 draw back his arm by a physical restraint from touching the for- 
 bidden fruit; but he told man, ^^If you touch that fruit you bring 
 death into the world and all your wo ; it rests with you, as a free 
 and responsible being, to touch it and perish, or to abstain and 
 live for ever." Do we not then thus " vindicate the ways of God 
 to man," and show that by permitting sin, not sending it, he 
 treated man as a rational and responsible being, and that man 
 could not have been placed, as far as we can see, in circumstances 
 more favourable to obedience, compatibly with the dignity of his 
 own nature, or in circumstances more calculated to set forth the 
 wisdom, the beneficence, the love, the holiness, and the justice 
 of him who rules in the heavens, and constituted man once his 
 vicegerent upon earth ? 
 
 Another difficulty in recognising the truth contained in my 
 text, that God lives and reigns, consists in the fact that the pre- 
 sent generation is often found to sufier for the sins of the past, 
 and that the children of to-day inherit the consequences of the 
 sins of their fathers of yesterday, and of former generations. If 
 
154 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 this be very difficult to reconcile with the fact that God reigns, 
 let it be remembered it is not a text in the Bible only, but it 
 is a fact in the history of mankind; it is not asserted in the 
 Bible only that it shall be so, but it is proved to our senses, and 
 is legible in the chronicles of every land, that it actually is so. 
 And therefore, if it be difficult to reconcile it with the truth that 
 God reigns, it is a difficulty that the skeptic must feel just as 
 strongly as the Christian; but the Christian alone will try to 
 show that possibly there are in this fact — that children suffer for 
 the father's sins — lessons of the greatest possible goodness and 
 practical value. May it not be to teach us that we have an inte- 
 rest in all that are around us, and that the well-being of our child 
 should be as precious to us as our own ? that man is a work not 
 for himself only, but for others ? that if a man sin, the rebound 
 of his sin will be felt, not only in himself, but in his children and 
 his children's children to the third and fourth generations ? This 
 great fact is fitted to make men feel, by reasons the most pressing 
 and the most powerful, that it is their interest, and the interest 
 of their offspring, that they should live soberly, righteously, and 
 godly. And what seems to be a hardship is really a mercy, fitted 
 to arouse all man's feelings against sin, and to lead him by the 
 deepest instincts of his nature to guard against that which will 
 not only ruin himself, but transmit suffering, and pain, and tribu- 
 lation to the third and fourth generation of his descendants. 
 
 Another fact that occurs in the government of God, very dif- 
 ficult at first sight to reconcile with the fact of that government, 
 is the strange procedure which sends one sinner to punish an- 
 other, and one wrong-doer to avenge the misconduct and the 
 crimes of another. For instance. Napoleon was employed or 
 commissioned to punish the sins of profligate Europe; and at an 
 earlier epoch, Cyrus, to execute judgment upon Babylon; and, at 
 a period later than the last, Titus and A'espasian and the Eoman 
 sword, to punish the disobedience and the gross transgressions of 
 his people Israel. It is asked, How can you reconcile this with 
 the fact that God reigns, when lie might himself punish by the 
 direct interposition of his hand ? Does it not seem incompatible 
 with our conceptions of his holiness, that he should employ men 
 so profligate to execute his purposes, which are in themselves so 
 
TFIK SCErTRE OF GOD. 155 
 
 pure T Tliat he does so is not a declaration of Scripture only, 
 but it is a cliapter in tlie history of every nation upon earth : God 
 says himself, "0 Assyrian, the rod of mine anger; I will send 
 him against an hypocritical nation, against the people of my 
 wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil and to take the 
 prey, and to tread them down as the mire in the streets.'^ May 
 it not be to teach men this yet more effectually than if God had 
 interposed by a direct manifestation of his own right hand, that 
 when sinners have ceased to rely upon God it is folly to rely 
 upon one another? ]May it not be to teach mankind that no 
 conspiracy of wicked men, however great, and however secretly 
 concocted, is without an element of internal destruction, disor- 
 ganization, and decay? If all men in the world could form a 
 conspiracy that would last, it would be a very formidable thing; 
 but history shows us that if bad men combine, there are elements 
 of disorganization and ruin in the combination, so real and so 
 active, that before many years have swept over the conspiracy, 
 one will rise up against the other, and that which was designed 
 to dethrone the Almighty, will end in the destruction of those 
 that concoetod it. 
 
 A very difficult thing to reconcile with the doctrine that God 
 reigns, is the fact that infants die. But this fact is not only de- 
 clared in the Bible, but it is proved in every page of the chroni- 
 cles of every family as well as of every land. Infants do die, 
 though free from actual transgression -, this is matter of fact ; and 
 there may be in that occurrence not what is inconsistent with the 
 reign of God, but what is eminently calculated to make that reign 
 more palpable to man's mind. The babes die to teach us that 
 original sin is an actual thing, and to show that some terrible 
 disaster has fallen upon all mankind, which blights the flower 
 that has just budded and bloomed to-day, as well as the gray- 
 haired sire, on whose head the snows of threescore years and ten 
 have fallen. And if it be true, that all babes who die in infancy 
 are without exception saved, as true I believe it to be, then it is 
 not cruelty to the babes, — it is making it a missionary to the 
 parents, and teaching a lesson which man would deny if only 
 actual sinners were cut off, and babes who have never sinned 
 were universally spared. 
 
156 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 We see every day the fact, that parents are taken from their 
 children in the midst of their lives, and their offsiDring cast de- 
 pendent on the wide world. This appears to us a cruel thing, 
 and we wonder how it is possible to reconcile it with the provi- 
 dential government of God. Yet there may be lessons latent in 
 it which we do not see ; it may be to teach the parents to work 
 while it is called to-day, and discharge to their offspring the duties 
 that they owe, not knowing how long the opportunity may be 
 given them; and thus to make parental instruction more earnest, 
 and parental duties more faithfully discharged, because there is 
 ever present a deep sense of the possibility of the severance of 
 ties so beautiful and divine, and the loss of the opportunity of 
 giving those instructions which shall be the happiness of the 
 child upon earth, and its yet greater and richer happiness in 
 glory. 
 
 Another difficulty in receiving the truth that God reigns, is 
 the fact that vice and dishonesty are sometimes prosperous and 
 triumphant, while piety and goodness are sometimes depressed. 
 It is so ; the Bible says that it will be so ; but it also explains 
 the reason why. This is not the dispensation of absolute justice. 
 In hell the wicked universally suffer; in heaven the holy are 
 universally happy. In this world the two parties are mingled, 
 and we see sometimes bad men prosper and sometimes good men 
 suffer. But if all good men prospered upon earth, then men 
 would profess religion for the sake of its temporal benefits ; if 
 good men, on the other hand, always suffered upon earth, men 
 might bo deterred from joining the ranks of Christianity, because 
 it would be joining the ranks of martyrs. But, under the provi- 
 dence of God, good men sometimes suffer and sometimes prosper, 
 and we are thus taught to cleave to the gospel because it is the 
 mind of God, and to accept duty because it is duty, and not on 
 account of the temporal rewards to which it may conduct us, or 
 the temporal penalties from which it may possibly save us. The 
 tares and the wheat grow in the same field ; it is right that they 
 should thus grow together till the harvest; and whenever the 
 effort is made to separate them now, it ends in the injury of the 
 wheat, and not the rooting up permanently of the tares. 
 
 Another great difficulty which occurs in receiving the great 
 
THE SCEPTRE OF GOD. 157 
 
 tnitli that the heavens do rule, is the lengthened lives of many- 
 bad men, and the short lives and premature deaths of really good 
 and devoted men. For instance, Voltaire lived to upward of 
 eighty; Paine to a considerable age; Napoleon passed the meri- 
 dian of life: if Voltaire, Paine, and Napoleon had perished in 
 their cradles, how much mischief would the world have escaped ! 
 how much injury and suffering would mankind have been spared ! 
 and, on the other hand, we argue, if such men as Cecil, and 
 Howell, and Newton, and Edward Bickersteth, and Chalmers had 
 been spared to eighty, ninety, or one hundred years of age, what 
 blessings would the world have reaped thereby! So we natu- 
 rally infer; but if we could lift the curtain and see the reasons 
 that are behind it, we should find that there were good reasons 
 why Voltaire should be spared to eighty, and Bickersteth should 
 be cut off at sixty; and reasons, perhaps, that are more connected 
 with the real well-being of man, and with the glory of God, than 
 we are at first disposed to believe. One lesson taught us by the 
 fact that good men perish early is, that we must be more active; 
 their mantles are bequeathed to us — the places they have vacated 
 are for us to fill ; and it becomes us, therefore, ever as the good 
 and the great fall like fruits that are ripe from the tree of life, to 
 take their place and enter upon their duties, and try, however 
 feebly, by the grace of that God who gives his strength to the 
 weak and his grace to all that ask it, to supply to mankind 
 the great loss, they have sustained by the departure of men so 
 good, so beneficent, and so useful. Besides, when we look at 
 these things, we are apt to think only of this world ; but when 
 God called Bickersteth to himself, and said to him, ^' Come up 
 hither,'^ it was because Bickersteth's work in this world was 
 finished, and God had work for him to do in a higher, a better, 
 and a nobler world, whence he shall no more be removed. We 
 look at matters selfishly when we think of this world only, and 
 forget that there are other worlds where there may be sublime 
 missions to be discharged still ; and that those men have not 
 ceased to labour, but have only laid aside the robe of the Levite 
 who ministers outside the vail, to put on the sacred vestments of 
 the priest, to minister before the altar, and in the Hoi}'" of Holies 
 for ever and ever. 
 
 . 14 
 
158 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 There is another thought too, that occurs to us as a difficulty in 
 recognising the government of God — the afflictions of the people 
 of God. Why do we see them suffer ? why do we see them be- 
 reaved, deprived of their property, afflicted with disease, laid 
 aside? Why is this? There are good reasons for it; and some 
 of these the Bible gives us. "It is good for me," says one, "that 
 I was afflicted;" another says, "Our light affliction, which is but 
 for a moment, worketh out for us a far more exceeding, and eter- 
 nal weight of glory." Human nature, like the sons of Zebedee, 
 would like to sit on the right hand and on the left hand of the 
 Saviour, but we do not want to drink of the Saviour's cup. Yet 
 he fixes the dispensation that suits us; and God, who superin- 
 tends the action of the dispensation, will take care that our afflic- 
 tions shall not be too great, nor too many, nor too heavy, nor too 
 long, as Satan would like them; nor too light, nor too few, nor 
 too short, as we should like them; but that they shall be just 
 what is most expedient for us, conducive to our good, and illus- 
 trative of his glory. 
 
 It is thus that I have pointed out some of the difficulties tha*" 
 lie in the way of our accepting the truth contained in the text, 
 that the " heavens do rule." And I have tried to show, or 
 rather to suggest, that there may be good reasons, though we 
 cannot see them all, why all that man supposes to be irreconcila- 
 ble with the sceptre and supremacy of God, may not only be re- 
 concilable with it, but may be also calculated to cast greater glory 
 upon his name, and to diffuse more extensive blessings among 
 all the children of God scattered throughout the world. Let us 
 then, in looking at the fact that "God rules," remember that he 
 has designs of ultimate good to us and. of ultimate glory to him- 
 self, which it may be most important for us to see worked out in 
 the world. For instance, God suffers sin to develop itself upon 
 earth into crimes and horrible calamities. He may be doing so, 
 not because he hates us, for that he does not, nor because he 
 would punish the guilty criminal — that will be a very minor rea- 
 son — but because this earth on which we live is the great Icssou- 
 book of the universe; and it may be that the inhabitants of 
 sister orbs and of sister stars may be grouped in gazing clusters 
 around this distant spot in the universe, and may be looking 
 
THE SCEPTRE OF GOD. 159 
 
 down and seeing, beyond the reach of its contagion, what terri- 
 ble issues are treasured up in that terrible thing sin, and what it 
 would do if all the restrictions were withdrawn, and it were left 
 to create on earth, and to work out that hell, which it has 
 wrought out in some sequestered place in the world, where the 
 worm never dies, and the fire is not quenched. 
 
 It may be we are apt to form conclusions that certain things 
 are irreconcilable with the government of God, from our only 
 seeing a portion of their action. If you see only the foundation 
 of a house, you ought not thence to judge what will be the 
 splendour of its superstructure: if you read the title-page of a 
 book, you ought not, as many do, to say, the book is a false book, 
 or a bad book, because you have only read the title-page : and if 
 you see but some of the outside and less significant machinery 
 of Providence, and cannot see the inner machinery which is with 
 himself, the spring, and the issue, it is not right to judge of 
 what things are, by the partial and defective view we are able to 
 obtain of them. Take, for instance, the history of Joseph; 
 when you saw Joseph cast into the pit, sold to the merchants, 
 accused of an oifence by the wife of Potiphar, thrown into a 
 dungeon; one would have said, if you had stopped there and 
 seen no further, "What an unfortunate lad is that! excel- 
 lent in his character, he seems to be the most unfortunate in 
 life." But if you could have lived to see him at the right hand 
 of Pharaoh — if you could have lived to see him save his nation 
 from destruction, and ultimately triumph over all his trials, — 
 you woukt have said, How wonderful in working is that God 
 who overrules the passions of man, restrains his wrath, and 
 makes the remainder of it to praise him ! And how rashly do we 
 often judge. 
 
 Again, when we reflect on such scenes as the French Pvcvolu- 
 tion of 1792, to take the most dreadful one, you cannot under- 
 stand how it could be that, if there be a God that ruleth in hea- 
 ven, men should have been so left to themselves by that God, 
 and within his dominions, as to perpetrate the crimes which can 
 barely be mentioned, and the murders and atrocities which the 
 historian is scarcely able to enumerate. But now that we have 
 seen what it w^as, and have learned what lessons were to be de 
 
160 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 diiced from it^ we can show that it was first to punish the profli- 
 gacy of an eminently profligate people; and, secondly, it was to 
 prove Yfhat a people can do and will do that has cast off God; 
 and it was next to teach us that the experiment has been tried, 
 and in every case turned out not merely a fiiilure, but absolute 
 destruction to them that made it, that the world cannot be car- 
 ried on without religion : and that society cannot cohere without 
 God; in the words of Robespierre, the sanguinary despot of that 
 terrible era, "If there be not a God, we must make one, in order 
 to make society hold together/^ The atheist in his blasphemy 
 proclaimed God almost as distinctly as the Christian who says, 
 ''God reigns, and the heavens do rule/' 
 
 In the next place, we have to learn too, in looking at all these 
 difficulties, that God, in dealing v/ith mankind, and in ruling 
 over them, does not contemplate in his dealings one generation, 
 but successive generations. We see one whole generation suffer, 
 and we think it incompatible with the goodness of God : but if 
 Ave look to the next generation we shall discover that the suffer- 
 ings of the first were preparing the soil for seeds to be cast into 
 it, which were designed to grow up and ripen into precious har- 
 vests of happiness and peace to future ones. In order, there- 
 fore, to judge of God's designs, and of the wisdom and goodness 
 of his government, you must look, not at one particular genera- 
 tion, but at all the generations of mankind, and be content to 
 discover that your sufferings in the present may grow up and 
 burst into blessings lasting as the stars, for generations that are 
 yet to follow you. 
 
 And in the next place, we must view all that God does in 
 this world in connection with another world. Recollect that 
 this world is but the pilgrimage through which we are passing, 
 and the next world is the home to which we are going; and 
 what seems irreconcilable with God's government, when beheld 
 in the light of this world, may be seen to be not only reconcila- 
 ble with it, but richly illustrating its beneficence and wisdom, 
 when viewed in the light of that future world for which God is 
 preparing his people, and toward which they are journeying as 
 strangers and pilgrims through this present world. This world 
 is but a nook — a little tiny nook — in the vast domains over 
 
THE SCEPTRE OF GOD. 161 
 
 which God's sceptre stretches. If it were possible to conceive 
 of a flj being endowed with the faculty of reason for a moment 
 — and if that fly were crawling about the cornice of one of the 
 pillars of St. Peter's cathedral, it might perhaps say, ^' What a 
 paltry, contemptible place this is ! these cornices seem to be do- 
 ing no good; what is the use of them? what a mean little place 
 it is, and how unworthy of the architect who planned it?" We 
 should say, if we heard its reasoning, it was the smallness of the 
 insect, and the limited nature of the horizon of its vision, which 
 made it think what it saw to be so small and insignificant, and 
 its not understanding that the cornice of the pillar could no 
 more be dispensed with than the dome or the roof of the cathe- 
 dral, being part and parcel of one great design, and in harmony 
 with all that was about it. Yv^e are just like that fly in this 
 respect, perched upon some little pinnacle in some little nook of 
 this little vforld, where we venture to pronounce upon the whole 
 from our very limited experience of a part, forgetting that our 
 ignorance should make us humble, and our knowledge that God 
 reigns should make us trust that all will be wisely, beneficently^ 
 and graciously arranged. 
 
 I have thus then looked at some of the objections to this 
 truth. Let me now notice some positive facts tending to prove 
 that the heavens do rule; and that while God does thus rule, 
 there is every reason to believe, both from Scripture and experi- 
 ence, that his rule is wise, and good, and merciful, and gracious. 
 
 In the first place, God is infinitely wise : we are quite certain, 
 therefore, that what he does must be the result of infinite wis- 
 dom. Admit the fact that God reigns in the atom as well as in 
 the fixed star — that God moves with the current of the tiny 
 stream as much as he rides upon the whirlwind, and sails upon 
 the waves of the desert sea : admit that God is in all the wind- 
 ings of individual private life, as well as the cataracts and floods 
 and storms of public and of social life — and then recollect, that 
 the God who thus controls all, is infinitely wise, and you may be 
 satisfied that there is no risk of a blunder, there is no possibility 
 of a mistake, there is nothing done by God that will need to be 
 undone, that, in short, there is no dispensation, from Adam to 
 
 14* 
 
162 rROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 the present hour, that is not associated with and" superintended 
 by a wisdom that cannot err. 
 
 Kecollect, in the next place, that God is infinitely good. That 
 goodness is dimly shadowed forth in nature; it is clearly expressed 
 in the gospel — " God so loved the world, that he gave his only- 
 hegotten Son.^^ The gift of Christ is the measure of God^s good- 
 ness. Let us pause at that text : it is not said, '^ God so loved 
 the world that he permitted his Son to come and die for the 
 world :" that would have been great love; but "God so loved the 
 world that he gave his Son.^^ Christ is the donative of God, the 
 expression and the measure of God's infinite love ; the truth is, 
 not that " God loves us because Christ died for us ;" but it is 
 '' that God so loved us tliat Christ died for us :" Christ is not the 
 cause of God's love to us, but he is the cxjyression of God's love 
 to us. And this is a beautiful thought, which seems to me so 
 precious, that the death of my Saviour is not only a channel 
 through which God's love can reach me consistently with his jus- 
 tice, but it is also evidence to me that God loved me from ever- 
 lasting, and will love me to the end ; and it is the proof to me 
 that when I am admitted into heaven, I shall not be admitted there 
 simply as the convict who has been pardoned, and to be treated 
 and tolerated in heaven as such, but it is the evidence to me that 
 I shall be welcomed into heaven as the reconciled and accepted son, 
 amid the hosannas and acclamations of angels and of archangels, 
 and that I shall be there as a son in the presence of a father, not 
 as a forgiven criminal in the presence of a judge who barely tole- 
 rates him there. " God so loved us that he gave his Son." If 
 this be so, then, not only is there infinite wisdom, but there is in- 
 finite love; and therefore the nature of God's government in the 
 world is not only so wise as to prevent all possibility of mistake 
 or error, but it is so good that it precludes the interposition of 
 ill-will, revenge, or enmity, of any sort or of any degree. 
 
 In the next place, God, who governs the world, is " omnipo- 
 tent." We may therefore be sure, that whatever his wisdom de- 
 vises, or his love ins|)ires, his power will execute. We are sure, 
 therefore, that what the Psalmist says, when he thus describes the 
 power of God, is borne out by history : " Lord of hosts, who is 
 
THE SCEPTRE OF GOD. 1G3 
 
 a strong Lord like unto thee, or to tby faithfulness round about 
 thee ? Thou rulest the raging of the sea ; when the waves thereof 
 arise, thou stillest them. Justice and judgment are the habitation 
 of thy throne : mercy and truth shall go before thy face.'' He 
 is, in the language of the apostle, " able to keep us from falling, 
 and to present us faultless before the presence of his glory with 
 exceeding joy." 
 
 And, in the last place, the God who rules the world in wisdom 
 and in love, and with omnipotent power, is described to be an un- 
 changeable Grod. If Grod were a changeable being, we could 
 have no confidence in his government at all; if God were a 
 changeable God, who would retract to-day what he said yesterday, 
 the Bible would be the most worthless of all the books upon earth, 
 because how could I know that he would adhere to the promises 
 he has made, or how could I know that the truth he had stated 
 he will not reverse ? And therefore the immutability of God is 
 the crowning point ; for his wisdom, his love, his power, his faith- 
 fulness, his truth, are fixed as the heavens, and immutable for 
 ever. And so it is in creation. The very facts that men quote 
 as the evidences that God does not reign, are just the very facts 
 that I would quote as the evidence that God does reign. For in- 
 stance, the fact is that water shall run down hill : men say, that 
 is the law of water, and therefore it can do so without God. It 
 is the fact, for instance, that fire burns ; and they say that is the 
 combination of the oxygen of the atmosphere with carbon, 
 whereby flame is produced; that is the law, and therefore we 
 need not admit a God to explain the phenomenon. The conti- 
 nuity of the fact may give it the name of a law, but it does not 
 the less prove it is the action of Deity. If these things were not 
 always so, we could have no confidence in creation. What man 
 would build a ship to carry his goods to the - ends of the world 
 across the desert sea, if that sea were accidentally sometimes liquid 
 and sometimes solid? What man could have any confidence 
 in the safety of his house, or in the security of his person, if the 
 fire sometimes burned and sometimes did not, or sometimes spread 
 its flames a hundred feet, and sometimes only a few inches ? Tlic 
 very fixity of the laws of nature is evidence not of God's retreat 
 from his world, but of the immutability of the God that made 
 
164 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 them, and one of the grounds of my confidence in his govern- 
 ment, and of my firm conviction that the heavens do rule — pre- 
 cious in this world, and infinitely comforting in the prospect of 
 that which is to come. 
 
 God reigns; and the evidence of it is this, that he is showing 
 year after year and age after age, that all the wiles of Satan, and 
 all the power of men, cannot permanently build up a falsehood, 
 and that all the combinations of them both together cannot uproot 
 the truth that he has given to us. Is there no evidence of the 
 present action and government of God in this fact, that every 
 false religion is proved by history to be a blunder, and that every 
 atom of divine truth is proved by experience to be immortal and 
 permanent. Is it not evidence that the heavens do rule, when we 
 see all men, of all pursuits, in all acts, and under all circum- 
 stances, consciously or unconsciously, designedly or undesignedly, 
 contributing to the spread and adding to the splendour of the 
 claims and glory of the Christian faith ? Is it no evidence that 
 the heavens do rule, when we see proofs of the truth of the Bible 
 dug from the lava of Herculaneum and Pompeii, excavated from 
 the grave of Nineveh by Layard, brought forth by Young and 
 Champollion from the mummies hidden thousands of years in the 
 pyramids ? Is there not evidence that there is a God watching 
 over that blessed book called the Bible, and guarding that divine 
 treasure called the gospel, in the fact that he is bringing forth 
 elucidations of its truth and proofs of its authority, from the 
 grave of Nineveh — the pyramids of the Pharaohs — the crash of 
 cities — the wreck of nations — till at last the most skeptic minds 
 are constrained to own that the religion of the despised Nazarene 
 is the religion of the great God, and to predict that it will last, 
 and flourish, and reign for ever and ever ? Is it no evidence 
 that God reigns, or that the heavens do rule, when we see all 
 things working together for good to the people of God; and their 
 light affliction, which is but for a moment, issuing in their eternal 
 glory ; and all the facts of history, and all the phenomena of 
 science, and all the phases of national experience, helping, and in 
 no respect retarding or obstructing the cause of Christ ? Is it not 
 an evidence that God reigns, when we see the church and the 
 university flourish together — religion and science, like sisters, 
 
THE SCEPTRE OF COD. 105 
 
 walk arm-in-arm, the one casting its glory upon the other, and 
 both arrayed in priestly robes, witnessing to Him who gave them 
 their commission, and ministering to the wants and necessities of 
 mankind ? And is not all this tending to accelerate the advent 
 of that blessed day when science shall come forth from her cells, 
 and students from their colleges, and philosophers from their stu- 
 dies, and historians from their labours, and all men from all places 
 in the world, and all things in their maturity and ripeness, to 
 combine with one heart, and with one mind, and with one mouth, 
 in saying, " The heavens do rule," and " Jesus is the Lamb of 
 Grod that taketh away the sins of the world V 
 
166 
 
 LECTURE XII. 
 
 belshazzar's feast. 
 
 Daniel v. 
 
 Being unable to select a verse on wliicli to construct an epi- 
 tome of this sublime and interesting chapter, I have taken as the 
 subject of comment the whole chapter. The main facts in it, as 
 far as these relate to Nebuchadnezzar the grandfather, and Bel- 
 shazzar the king his grandson, we have considered in the succes- 
 sive expositions of various passages in the preceeding chapters : 
 we have now the account of Belshazzar's reign, his sensual life, 
 the departure of his kingdom, his own slaughter in the midst of 
 his revels, the victorious army of the Medes in the midst of Ba- 
 bylon, and the first or the golden empire passed over to the second 
 or the silver one. 
 
 There was no sin in the feast over which Belshazzar presided. 
 I mean, it was not necessarily sinful. It was an annual festival, 
 commemorative of a great event. The sin was not in the eating, 
 or in the drinking, if both were in moderation, but in the spirit 
 which actuated the eaters and the drinkers, and the excess to 
 which they went in both, and the defiance they showed toward 
 God. 
 
 It was during this festival that Babylon was taken. The Mede 
 knew beforehand its date, its nature, and its accomplishments, 
 marched his troops into the midst of Babylon, took possession of 
 its palaces, its halls, and all its glory, and instituted that second 
 empire, the history of which we have briefly sketched in a pre- 
 vious discourse. It is well known that the siege of Babylon had 
 already lasted two years and a half; all the besieger's stratagems 
 had failed, and he was on the point of retiring from Babylon as 
 a city impregnable, and fitted by its great strength to defy all 
 human aggressive power ; but on this night, one day's bacehana- 
 
BELSIIAZZAR'S FEAST. 167 
 
 lian excess did for Babylon what all the siege and stratagems of 
 two years under the Mede had been utterly unable to accomplish. 
 And it seems from this, as from kindred instances in the history 
 of nations, that when God has pronounced the hour of a nation's 
 doom, the inhabitants of that nation seem to lose the caution, the 
 skill, the energy they had exhibited before, and precipitate the 
 very result they themselves are anxious to avert. Nations rarely 
 fall before a foreign aggressor ; their ruin or their glory is, under 
 God, within themselves. Nations die suicides ; they are seldom 
 or never destroyed by any force from without. Let a nation be 
 true to God, loyal to its laws — let purity and piety and true reli- 
 gion irradiate its palaces, and cast their softening influence over 
 all its lanes, its alleys, and its hovels, and that nation has within 
 it the grounds, as it has over it the promises, of immortality. 
 But let a nation be corrupt in its lower classes, profligate and sen- 
 sual in its higher classes — let there be education without religion 
 — let there be profession without principle — ^let there be a name 
 and a form without the substance, and it needs no prophet to 
 predict that nation's doom, and no long or deep calculation to 
 count the years that are sure to precede it. 
 
 The great sin which seemed to characterize the feast celebrated 
 on this occasion was, Belshazzar's impious mockery in taking the 
 sacred vessels which his father, as he is here called, or, strictly, 
 and as it might be rendered, his grandfather, had carried from 
 Jerusalem and brought into the midst of Babylon, and in making 
 use of those vessels for the loose and licentious purposes of an 
 impious festival, as if he could hurl defiance at the God of Abra- 
 ham, and despise and defy the power of him by whom kings reign 
 and princes decree justice. There was in this act needless insult 
 to the captive Jews, and impious blasphemy against the God 
 whom they worshipped. If the vessels were taken by superior 
 power, and in just judgment for the sins of the people, it became 
 him in the presence of that people to lay them aside and shut 
 them up from their reach, but not to insult them by profaning 
 them. We have no warrant to insult the humblest rite of an- 
 other's faith. Let it be Hindooism, let it be Mahommedanism, 
 which we come into contact with ; convince, convert, enlighten, 
 explain, but never think that you can put down a sentiment that 
 
168 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 is sacred, by mere ridicule ; or that you can exalt a dogma that is 
 divine, by a needless reproaching of the creed and rites of the 
 victims of a superstitious faith. No misfortune is so great as to 
 have become the worshipper of a false god ; no man is so deeply 
 to be pitied as he that has lost his way to heaven : to insult him 
 is inhuman ; to turn his rites into ridicule is unchristian ; to try 
 to enlighten, convince, and bring him into the more excellent way, 
 is at once worthy of our highest efforts and our greatest sacrifices, 
 most likely to succeed because owned, and blessed, and recognised 
 by Him without whose blessing nothing can prosper, nothing is wise, 
 nothing is holy, and whose blessing nothing sinful ever inherits. 
 
 The sin then, I have shown, was the desecration of that which 
 was holy, or the application to profane and licentious purposes 
 of the vessels that were outwardly dedicated to the God of Israel. 
 [s it possible that we, '^on whom the ends of the world are 
 come,^' can in any respect be guilty of a similar offence ? It is 
 possible, and in many ways. Where religion is dragged from its 
 lofty and controlling sphere, and made to gild the claims of a 
 party or to enforce the peculiar principles and power of a sect, it 
 is a holy thing desecrated to an unholy purpose. When the sacra- 
 ment is taken, not to commemorate the death of Christ, but to 
 obtain a passport to an office and a qualification for a political or 
 civil sphere, we see a sacred vessel desecrated to an unholy end. 
 When the facts and the expressions of the Bible, its sublime, its 
 pure, and its holy truths, are used, as they not unfrecjuently arc, 
 to point a pun, add edge to a jest, or keenness to a sarcasm, to 
 excite a laugh or to provoke a sneer, you have Grod's vessels de- 
 secrated to unhallowed and profane ends. Never try to construct 
 jests from the Bible. The jest that is based upon a text of 
 Scripture will come across you like a dark horrid spectre when the 
 most solemn appeals are made from the pulpit and the most holy 
 lessons are being read from the Bible. I know not a more reck- 
 less act, or a more offensive sin, than that of taking divine truths 
 and making puns on them, or using them as douhle-entendres, or 
 for other purposes of a like nature. Such deeds reflect little 
 credit on the piety, and still less, let me add, on the good taste 
 of those that so use them. 
 
 I think we desecrate holy things when the sublime descriptions 
 
BELSF.AZZAR'S FEAST. 100 
 
 of the judgment to come are turned into a mere musical festival. 
 No one more admires sacred music than I do. No one is more 
 deeply impressed and thrilled by its magnificent and glorious con- 
 ceptions. But, when the awful agonies of Calvary, the deep and 
 sorrowful experience of the suffering Son of Man, are used merely 
 to create the most delightful emotions, or the semi-sensuous, semi- 
 spiritual feelings of the crowd that listen, I do think it is the 
 nearest approach to Belshazzar's feast, when the sacred things of 
 God are made to subserve to the sensuous tastes of man. I do 
 not mean that there is to be no patronage of good music. I do 
 not say that an oratorio is in itself inherently and inseparably 
 sinful ; but I do say the music should be used to impress the sen- 
 timent, not the sentiment to make the music only the more grate- 
 ful. We are not to use God's truth to improve our music, but 
 we are to use our noblest music to unfold the attributes and make 
 more vivid and glorious the grandeur and the excellency of God's 
 truth. And when the opposite course is adopted, and man takes 
 holy and thrilling truths, the agonies of the cross, the triumphs 
 of Tabor, the prospects of glory, the apocalyptic visions, and 
 uses them for an unthinking crowd to shout ExcoRE ! and de- 
 mand a repetition, and to applaud as a splendid exhibition or a 
 glorious treat that they have listened to ; then I think it is all 
 but a repetition of Belshazzar's festival. I should like to hear 
 those noble productions of Handel as acts of solemn worship. 
 And when I do hear them I feel for myself that it is the unfold- 
 ing and developing of the deepest and holiest emotions of my 
 heart. But when men who have no sympathy with God or with 
 religion — no love to the Saviour or to his word, but merely a 
 strong and enthusiastic sympathy with the grand and touching in 
 musical cfeations, go to such festivals and use sacred words mere- 
 ly to help them to feel sublime emotions and praise the musician 
 while pleased themselves, I do think that there is in such circum- 
 stances a profanation of that which is holy, and a desecration of 
 that which is consecrated to God. 
 
 There seems to me to be a desecration of the holy vessels when 
 the Sabbath is used for purposes of trade — when transactions of a 
 political nature are carried on upon it — when the assembly, or 
 the cabinet, or the congress, or the parliament, or chambers, or 
 
 15 
 
■J 70 PKOPllETIC STUDIES. 
 
 whatever these legislative bodies may be called, venture to meet 
 on it. The Sabbath is the most sacred thing, next to the Bible, 
 if not equal to the Bible, that God has given us. The desecra- 
 tion of a holy thing to a profane and an unholy purpose occurs 
 when the place appointed for the worship of God — for whether it 
 be church or chapel, whether consecrated by a form or opened by 
 a prayer, is to my mind of no great moment, for it is, in the one 
 case or in the other, a place in which holy hearts are to beat, 
 humble spirits are to bow, reverential prayer and praise are to be 
 uttered — is employed for vestry meetings, for political disputes, 
 for noisy and tumultuous assemblages, for shouting applause with 
 the tongue, and beating applause with the feet. In this there 
 seems to me to be an approximation to the profanation exempli- 
 fied at the feast of Belshazzar, where sacred things were dese- 
 crated to unholy purposes. Let us then recollect, that it is pos- 
 sible to be guilty of Belshazzar' s sin in other than in Belshazzar' s 
 circumstances. Still more are we guilty of desecration when the 
 heart that was made for God is made the throne of Mammon — 
 when the affections that were destined to cluster around him are 
 made to cling to that which is earthly — when God is superseded 
 by the world, and things divine by things that are human ; then 
 that which was once the image of God, and is meant to be re- 
 stored and be so again, is desecrated to unhallowed purposes, God 
 is dishonoured, and we are thereby ruined. 
 
 But I pass from the feast itself to notice the circumstances by 
 which it was specially accompanied. It was a feast plainly of no 
 ordinary splendour. All the lustre that rank and beauty and 
 renown could shed upon it was there. There were toasts, I doubt 
 not, of enthusiastic patriotism — there were songs of boundless 
 loyalty — there was the loud defiance of every foe without, and 
 there was the expressed and reiterated security against all dis- 
 loyalty or treachery from within. But it was just when the feast 
 had reached its highest splendour, and when all hearts were 
 bounding, and all spirits were joyous, that a thrill of terror rush- 
 ed through every soul — that the cup fell from the king's hand — 
 and, in the language of the Spirit of God, ^^ his countenance was 
 changed, and his thoughts troubled him; the joints of his loins 
 were loosed, and his knees smote the on« against the other." A 
 
BELSIIAZZAR'S FEAST. 171 
 
 mysterious writing appeared upon the plaster : no eye seemed to 
 guide it, no visible hand seemed to inscribe it, and mysterious 
 lingers, belonging none knew to whom, recorded with the speed 
 and with the vivid impression of the lightning, the unintelligible, 
 but to this ungodly prince, because unintelligible, the awful in- 
 scription, '^Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin/^ One may ask, as the 
 king and his lords did not understand it, why they were thus 
 afraid ? To a man who lives in sin, the unknown is always the 
 terrible. Why? Because we always interpret the events that 
 we cannot understand in the light of our own consciences, which 
 we cannot but feel. The man that is at peace with God sees all 
 events approaching him as a joyous procession of friends and 
 benefactors, and helpers to immortality. The man who is not at 
 peace with God, but who lives in sin, reads all events in the light 
 of his conscience, and amid the fore-thrown terrors of a judgment 
 day to which that conscience points. Suspicion, fear, alarm, are 
 in such circumstances always the first feelings of the guilty. It 
 is when unknown, mysterious, and supernatural things occur, that 
 the conscience recollects a thousand crimes, accuses of many 
 wrongs, and reasons of righteousness, temperance, and judgment 
 to come. What an instance have we of this in the case of Adam 
 and Eve ! Before they sinned they loved to hear the footsteps 
 of their approaching Father, as sounds that were far more mu- 
 sical to their ears than songs in the groves of Paradise. But the 
 instant that they sinned, all was changed ! they ran from God. 
 Why ? God merely said, " Adam, where art thou V — the words 
 that he had uttered often before : but on this occasion, the instant 
 they heard them, Adam and Eve ran and hid themselves. Why 
 this charxge ? Because before the fall their innocent hearts had 
 construed the footsteps of God as footsteps significant of nearing 
 beneficence and love; but after they had sinned, their unholy 
 hearts construed God's footsteps in the light of their sins, and 
 they felt or feared, because they were guilty, that it was an aven- 
 ger coming to destroy them. In the case of Felix, we arc told 
 that when Paul reasoned before him he trembled. Take the case 
 of Herod: when he heard of the progress of Jesus he was alarmed. 
 What had Herod done ? He had beheaded John the Baptist, a 
 preacher whom Herod for a time ^^ heard gladly ;'' who was to 
 
172 TROPIIETIC STUDIES. 
 
 Herod and to Herod's court tlic most popular preacher that ever 
 ascended a pulpit, until he touched on a sin that Herod loved, and 
 pointed out the offence that necessitated either Herod's reforma- 
 tion or his fall. He took the alternative suggested to him by the 
 infamous courtiers that were about him, and murdered the preacher 
 in order that he might silence the preacher's testimony. Hence, 
 when news were brought to Herod that Jesus was come, and that 
 great miracles were wrought by him, Herod said, " This is John 
 the Baptist, that is risen from the dead.''^ See here the force of 
 Herod's conscience : he was a Sadducee, who did not believe in 
 the doctrine of the resurrection ; yet so strong was his conscience, 
 that it overpowered his convictions, and suggested to him that 
 John was indeed risen from the dead, from which he once thought 
 that no one could arise, and had come to punish him for the crimes of 
 which he had been guilty. Take the case of any of those men- 
 tioned in the word of Grod in similar circumstances, and you will 
 call to mind what the poet has expressed in different words : — 
 
 " Thus conscience does make cowards of us all." 
 
 But Belshazzar, who was so awed by this vision, was one who 
 had had great opportunities of knowing and of doing the will of 
 Grod. He had seen his grandfather banished from the society of 
 men, and made the companion of the herds of the field ; and the 
 fact which ought to have been a lesson to him, he disregarded as 
 if it had never occurred, and indulged in the sins and committed 
 the crimes which had brought down such signal judgments upon 
 Nebuchadnezzar. What he was condemned for by Daniel was 
 not that he himself was wrong, but that he had not availed him- 
 self of the opportunities he had of being right. Our condemna- 
 tion at the judgment-day will not be that conscientiously we have 
 believed a lie ; but it will be, that we neglected the opportunities 
 of acquiring and making ourselves acquainted with the truth. I 
 do not believe that the deist v/ill be condemned for his deism, 
 but for his neglect of the means of making himself a Christian. 
 I do not believe that the creed we have come to most conscien- 
 tiously, as many a skeptic does, will be the great damning fact at 
 the judgment-day, but that we devoted more time to the exami- 
 nation of a pebble, more attention to the study of a butterfly, 
 
BELllAZZAR-S FEAST. 173 
 
 more of genius to the euricliing of ourselves and the filling of our 
 coffers, than we ever spared for the solution of this great question, 
 What must I do to be saved ? or for solemn preparation for death 
 and judgment and eternity, which the Bible suggests and implies 
 in every page. It may be that the very Sabbath which you re- 
 solved to spend in dissipation at home, might have been that on 
 which you would have heard the truth which would have turned 
 you from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto 
 God. It may be, that the very sermon which you neglected or 
 excused yourself for neglecting by a headache which would never 
 have kept you from the Exchange, or from the appointed hour 
 and place of business, might have been the very sermon which, 
 under the blessing of the Spirit of God, would have proved to 
 you a savour of life unto life. Never lose an opportunity of hear- 
 ing the truth if you can possibly avoid it. There are proper ex- 
 cuses, beyond all dispute, but they ought to be grave, weighty, 
 and worthy of the subject, to justify you in once omitting to lis- 
 ten to that glorious gospel, in the preaching of which some single 
 word dropped in season may be to you the turning point of your 
 everlasting acceptance before God'. 
 
 When the king saw this mysterious hand-writing, he sent for the 
 astrologers, and asked them to explain the meaning of the inscrip- 
 tion on the wall. It has been a puzzling question to commenta- 
 tors why the wise men were unable to translate it. The words are 
 plain, translatable Chaldee; and a Chaldean scholar of the present 
 day, if called upon to read them when inscribed upon any thing, 
 would be able instantly to do so. There have been two or three 
 reasons assigned for this inability on the part of the wise men. 
 One is, that they were written in the ancient Hebrew characters, 
 the knowledge of which they had lost, and not in the modern 
 Hebrew character, which differs little or nothing from the Chal- 
 dean. The character in which the Old Testament is commonly 
 written is not the ancient Hebrew character, and the square 
 form of the letters now used is not the primitive form. It has 
 therefore been supposed that the inscription was in their ancient 
 characters, and that therefore the Chaldeans were unable to read 
 it. The difference between the two forms may be as great as 
 between our English letters and the German, or perhaps between 
 
174 rrvOriiETic studies. 
 
 the modern Englisli letters and the ancient Saxon or old English 
 character. Others think that the words were inscribed in some 
 dark, mysterious hieroglyphic, to the signification of which there 
 was no key in the possession of the astrologers. Others, that it 
 was the divine truth written by a divine hand, and that, like 
 the Bible itself, it was intelligible only in the light in which it 
 was written — that it was unmeaning and unintelligible to the 
 astrologers, and luminous only to him whom the Spirit of God 
 had taught. These are the reasons Which have been assigned, 
 and any and all of them are sufficient to explain why the Chal- 
 dean astrologers were unable to interpret the writing. Yv'hen 
 they failed to do so, all was blank terror and alarm in the minds 
 of the king and his courtiers; but in the crisis, when all seemed 
 to be agitated and to have lost their self-possession, one woman 
 aj^peared nobler than them all, and spoke with a calmness, a 
 self-possession, and a dignity which kindled hope where all 
 before was utter despair. This woman — here called the queen 
 — was not the wife of Belshazzar, but the wife of his grand- 
 fother, Nebuchadnezzar; and therefore I venture to call her the 
 queen-dowager. She instantly stepped in, and suggested the 
 person who could solve the difficulty; and, in so doing, she pre- 
 sented a striking contrast to the conduct, feelings, and condition 
 of those that were around her. It is almost invariably the fact, 
 that woman, who is easily agitated by trifles, when some great 
 crisis overtakes her v/hich calls forth all the latent energies of 
 her soul, is found to display a calmness, a magnanimity, a self- 
 possession that makes the magnanimity of the other sex sink 
 into insignificance beside it! A woman is made for a great 
 crisis; and it is in such that she shines like an angel, and in- 
 dicates power which man does not give her credit for; and in 
 this case, where those powers were illuminated, inspired, and 
 sanctified by piety, she presented a contrast the most complete to 
 all who were present at that dissipated festival, smitten as they 
 were with fear, shuddering with alarm, and looking for the hea- 
 vens to rend, and the thunderbolts of God to overwhelm them. 
 And is not the whole history of Christianity a comment on v/liat 
 I have said? Who was last at the cross? Woman. Who was 
 first at the tomb on the resurrection morn? Woman. Amid 
 
BELSHAZZAll'S FEA^T. 175 
 
 all tlie voices of scorn, insult, and reproach that were lifted up 
 against the blessed Jesus on the streets of Jerusalem, there is 
 not one record of the voice of a woman being heard offering 
 insult or using the language of scorn or reproach. If she was 
 first in the transgression, she was first in the scenes of the re- 
 covery and the resurrection also. It is time that man should 
 not mention the first, but rejoice in her altered aspect and bear- 
 ing in the last. And who does not know that the vigils of the 
 dead, the beds of the sick, and the chambers of the dying, have 
 never been without her presence? And who does not know tliat 
 just where woman is placed in her proper position, there society 
 culminates in its loYtiest grandeur? teaching us that the ordi- 
 nance of God is not that woman should be, as she is made in 
 some countries, the slave and the serf of man, but the orna- 
 ment, the companion, the friend, and in some respects the in- 
 structor of man. 
 
 The queen, thus exhibiting such magnanimity, appeared in 
 the midst of the scene, and suggested Daniel as the solver of 
 doubts, the explainer of perplexities, gifted by God with miracu- 
 lous and inspired understanding. There is just one fact which 
 I will now dwell upon, reserving for another lecture the inscrip- 
 tion on the wall, and that is, that it is stated by the queen that 
 Daniel was the head of the astrologers and the wise men and the 
 magicians of the kingdom, ^^whom thy father made master of 
 the astrologers, the wise men, the magicians, and the soothsay- 
 ers." This has been objected to, because it is expressly stated 
 in Deuteronomy that the children of Israel were to have no sym- 
 pathy or communion with diviners and soothsayers; for instance, 
 ''There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his 
 son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divina- 
 tion, or an observer of the times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or 
 a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a 
 necromancer." (Deut. xviii. 10.) 
 
 It has been asked, why did Daniel consent, according to the 
 statement of the queen, to be the chief or the head of the as- 
 trologers, soothsayers, and magicians of the king of Babylon? 
 The answer is, that our apprehension, /. r. the popular apprehen- 
 sion of the character of these astrologers is a very erroneous one. 
 
176 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 They were not enchanters who held communion with evil spi- 
 rits; they were not diviners. They were men who studied the 
 signs and phenomena of astronomy, and, having no written reve- 
 lations, they believed that God had written the present, the past, 
 and also some presentiments of the future, in the sky; that the 
 stars were the letters of that revelation; and that by studying 
 them they might interpret events — present, past, and to come. 
 If they had been soothsayers or diviners in the same sense as 
 those to whom Moses alludes, for Daniel to have allowed himself 
 to be placed at the head of them would have been the sacrifice 
 of his principles and the surrender of his faith. This he did 
 not, and would not do. They were magi, not magicians. They 
 were philosophers, not sorcerers. They held communion with 
 Grod's outward world, not with evil spirits, as the sorcerers and 
 diviners of old. When Daniel, therefore, consented to become 
 their head, he became the patron of science, the principal of a 
 university, the president of a royal society, and in no respect did 
 he sympathize, by thus consenting, with sorcerers, magicians, or 
 men that held communion with evil spirits. And no doubt 
 more science than we generally give them credit for was known 
 to these men. I doubt not that a perfect acquaintance with the 
 stars of the sky, the flowers of the earth, all bright things above, 
 and all beautiful things below, was more frequently the posses- 
 sion of these ancient philosophers, than modern ones, with their 
 loftier discernment, are disposed generally to admit. Thus we 
 may see that if we had no written book reflecting God's mind, 
 the next book, though far inferior to it, is God's book of Na- 
 ture : we can see his smiles in the sunbeams, his mercy in Provi- 
 dence, his glory in the expanse that it above us — his foot- 
 print in the depths that are beneath us; and blind, blind indeed 
 must that man be, who does not see that God is in the height, 
 and in the depth, having a centre that is everywhere, and a cir- 
 cumference that is nowhere. These astrologers were not to be 
 blamed if, without a Bible such as we have, they took the next 
 Bible, the book of the outer world, and there sought to under- 
 stand the mind, the purposes, and the will of God. 
 
 Daniel then, as the president of this royal society — a student 
 of science — the principal of this learned university — is introduced 
 
BELSIIAZZAR'S FEAST. 177 
 
 into tlie feast amid its fading splendour, its departing joys, its 
 miserable, degraded and degrading remains; and the king speaks 
 to him as recoo-nising him only by name, but not knowing him m 
 person Daniel was banished from that court : he was too honest 
 spoken a prophet to be very popular there. The king therefore 
 tells him, "I have heard that thou canst make interpretation, and 
 dissolve doubts-that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that 
 lioht and understanding and excellent wisdom is found m thee 
 Daniel, without being discomposed by the cold reception of the 
 monarch, and without being the least awed by the dangers he 
 would have incurred through faithlessness, or in the least seduced 
 by the honours and emoluments which would have fallen to his 
 lot had he prophesied smooth things, addresses the monarch, see- 
 ino- him disrobed of all the pomp and splendour of a throne, and 
 only trembling like a guilty criminal in the presence of a holy 
 and a heart-searching God. Daniel reminds him of his sins- 
 tells him of his crimes— shows him how lessons he might have 
 learned he had lost— how events that were significant he had neg- 
 lected—how the history of his grandfather he had read back- 
 ward—how he had incurred all the responsibilities of knowmg 
 the truth, and lost the benefit of all its precious and practical 
 lessons j and then informs him that, because of these things, 
 the kino-dom had passed from him, and, in the high purposes of 
 him who setteth up one and pulleth down others, had been given 
 
 to another. 
 
 Lessons that are neglected become awful judgments, ihe ser- 
 mons which you hear, which are fitted to instruct, but from which 
 you draw no practical instruction whatever, shall reverberate m 
 crashes of thunder at the judgment-day ; and you will learn, 
 when it is too late, that it would have been more tolerable if you 
 had never appeared within the walls of the sanctuary, or read the 
 sacred page, or listened to a preached gospel, than to have done 
 all and despised all, and perished amid the ofi-ers of love, the 
 sounds of reconciliation, and the hopes of glory. 
 
 Turn to practical account every lesson that you hear: when the 
 preacher has done, your duties only commence. What I speak is 
 to instruct you, and that instruction is meant to save you. Go 
 forth, and show on the Royal Exchange— in the cabinet, in the 
 
178 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 congress, in the parliament — show in all places that are high and 
 in all that are lowly — in the high-roads of public life, and in the 
 by-paths and isolated lanes of private life — show in every rela- 
 tionship and position in society, that Christianity has made you 
 holier, happier, nobler than the rest of mankind, and that it is 
 not in vain that you have heard that a God has suffered that 
 mankind might be redeemed. 
 
179 
 
 LECTURE XIIL 
 
 WEIGHED AND FOUND WANTING. 
 
 *• Then was the part of the hand sent from him ; and this writing was writ- 
 ten. And this is the writing that was written, Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin." — 
 Daniel \. 24,25. 
 
 I NOTICED, in my previous addresses, the circumstances that 
 preceded the interpretation of this mysterious inscription on the 
 plaster of the royal palace : I now beg your attention to the sig- 
 nificance of each word of that inscription, but especially to 
 one which seems most capable of affording improvement to us, 
 namely, " tekel.'' The word ^^ mene" is twice repeated, simply 
 to give emphasis to the word: '^mene, mene;" literally, "there 
 is number,^^ "thy kingdom is numbered," or, "God hath num- 
 bered thy kingdom and finished it.'' It is repeated merely to 
 give emphasis, just as the words are repeated, "thou shalt surely 
 die;'' literally, "dying, thou shalt die." "Tekel," again, means 
 simply, "he hath weighed;" it is applied to the act of a gold- 
 smith, who weighs the gold, and ascertains the amount of alloy, 
 that he may separate it from the pure metal. The word "uphar- 
 sin" is the plural number of the same word which is repeated 
 in the 28th verse, "peres;" and, though it reads so differently 
 to us, it is really one word, differing only in number, and the 
 meaning of it is, simply and literally, "is divided;" and Daniel 
 the prophet adds, in the prophetic spirit, the words or the com- 
 mentary, "and is given to the Medes and Persians." The word 
 "upharsin," or "peres," has nothing to do with the word "Per- 
 sians," or the word "Mede;" this last is the explanation given 
 by the prophet; and the inscription, literally translated, would 
 be "numbered, weighed, (and, probably, found wanting,) and 
 
180 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 divided;" and Daniel tlius explains tlie mysterious enigma^ by 
 saying, '^ thy kingdom is numbered/' or the years of its exist- 
 ence are now completed; ''thyself art weighed in the scales of 
 the sanctuary, and found wanting; and your kingdom now is 
 about to be divided among the Modes and Persians, your bit- 
 terest enemies." Such is the meaning of the words. 
 
 God is represented as weighing all men; all their motives, 
 their ends, their characters. It is a common scriptural expres- 
 sion, which indicates that it is meant by God that we should feel 
 and realize this fact. For instance, Hannah said, "The Lord is 
 a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed." Da- 
 vid says, "Men of low degree are vanity, and men of high 
 degree are a lie; to be laid in the balance they are altogether 
 wanting." Again, Isaiah says, "Thou most upright dost iceigh 
 the path of the just;" and Solomon writes, "All the ways of a 
 man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spi- 
 rit." From these passages we learn that the idea contained in 
 this inscription is one frequently found in Scripture, as appli- 
 cable to all. It suggests to us many precious and important 
 lessons. 
 
 Let us realize this one fact, that there is not a motive in one 
 single heart in this assembly that the eye of God does not now 
 see as clearly as if that motive were the only thing in the whole 
 universe, and that God does not weigh with an exactness as 
 complete as if the destinies of the universe depended upon this 
 one result. Let every man in this assembly only realize this. 
 It is important that I should ask you to do so : for I believe it is 
 not increase of light that you need from the pulpit, so much as 
 increase of power in the pew, that will make the light which you 
 feel to become life, and the lessons that you know to be im- 
 pressed with effect. Let us then try to realize this solemn 
 truth; and if there be a God in heaven it is true, that there is 
 not a motive in the depths of our hearts, there is not a design 
 the most intricate, the most secret within us, there is not a 
 crooked path you intend to pursue to-morrow, nor a crooked 
 practice in which you intend to indulge next week, that God 
 does not now completely comprehend and unravel, the estimate 
 of which God does not now form, and the doom of which is not 
 
WEIGHED AND FOUND WANTING. 181 
 
 denounced at a tribunal from wliieli there can be no appeal. 
 Psalm cxxxix. ought to be the expression of our feelings now : 
 "Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me; thou art ac- 
 quainted with all my ways : thou knowest my thoughts afar off.'' 
 I have often been struck with that single clause in Psalm 
 cxxxix., God '^ knows our thought afar off.'' While the thought 
 looms in the distant horizon, before we have clearly conceived it 
 ourselves in all the length and breadth of its dimensions, God 
 sees it, knows it, and thoroughly appreciates it. By him all 
 thoughts are estimated, all actions are weighed, and all desires 
 are known. This is not the case with one individual more than 
 another, or one degree or rank more than another. The Psalm- 
 ist, in the passage I have already quoted, says, " Men of low 
 degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie; to be laid 
 in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity." Let the 
 thought be in the heart of a monarch or a beggar, let it be the ap- 
 propriated dishonesty of a penny, or the seizing violently of a 
 kingdom — God sees it and notes it : and every deed that is done 
 upon the earth, unrepented of and unforgiven, shall be heard in 
 reverberating crashes throughout eternity; the crime containing 
 in its bosom its punishments, and all eternity attesting that it 
 is so. 
 
 But let me look at the words I have selected, and especially at 
 the word " tekel," " weighed in the balance and found wanting," 
 because it is to each individually and personally instructive. God 
 weighs every man, we are told, in the scales of the sanctuary. 
 He weighs them at the judgment-seat, and in reference to their 
 everlasting state of happiness or of sorrow. There is placed, if 
 you will allow me to prosecute the figure without exhausting it, 
 or extracting more from it than it is meant to convey, in one 
 scale, God's holy, everlasting, immutable law — that law which is, 
 " thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with 
 all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength, 
 and thy neighbour as thyself." He will not subtract one atom : it 
 is not "thou shalt love with much of thine heart;" but, "thou 
 shalt love with all thine heart." It is not, "thou shalt love with 
 a large share of thy mind," but " with all thy mind, and thy 
 neighbour as thyself." This is placed in one scale : every man's 
 
 16 
 
182 PEOPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 character is placed in the opposite scale, and by its preponderance 
 or its lightness every man's doom is fixed and decided accordingly. 
 What have we to place against it ? Years without thought, and 
 days and nights without a sense of responsibility to God. Years 
 of selfishness, and sin, and rebellion, and suspicion, and hatred, 
 is all that man, the best among us, can place in the scale that 
 is weighed against this. And needs it any logic of mine to de- 
 monstrate that when in the one scale there is a perfect unchang- 
 ing law, demanding perfect, continuous, unswerving obedience, 
 and in the other are sin and folly and shame, the inscription must 
 appear upon the very scales that belong to the balance, "By deeds 
 of law no man living can be justified?'' "Tekel, thou art weighed 
 in the balance, and art found wanting.^' 
 
 But suppose, in the next place, I keep still in the one scale, 
 this holy, perfect law, demanding perfect love for Grod, and per- 
 fect love for your neighbour; and suppose I select the most ac- 
 complished, the most honourable, the most just, the most generous 
 of mankind, (and all these traits are beautiful, because originally 
 divine,) and suppose I place this man, who has paid every debt, 
 who owes no man any thing, who is characterized by every social, 
 national, personal, and domestic excellence — and all these things 
 are most precious and most excellent; and I only wish that 
 Christians were more and more adorned with them than they 
 are — suppose I put such an one in the scale opposite to that 
 which contains the holy and the unchanging law of God. What 
 would be the result ? That this scale must inevitably kick the 
 beam. For, when the experiment is made, we must say to him, 
 " Most justly have you done to man, but how stand you with 
 reference to God ? most generously have you acted in society, but 
 how have you acted toward God ? you have kept the last six 
 commandments of the law, I will assume, perfectly; but what 
 have you done with the four first? you have loved your neigh-, 
 bour, I will admit, with all your heart ; but have you loved God 
 with all your heart, and mind, and strength ? It is utterly im- 
 possible that a half-obedience can meet the requirements of a law 
 which demands whole obedience to every commandment and every 
 section of it. You are not wanting if you are weighed against 
 the last six commandments of the law; but you are 'Uc/cel/' alto- 
 
WEIGHED AND FOUND WANTING. 183 
 
 getlier wanting, if weigbed against tlic whole ten commandments 
 of the law. It will be no justification in the sight of God that 
 you have been blameless toward man, if you have not been what 
 God requires you to be toward him that made- you, and gave his 
 Son to redeem you. 
 
 But I will adduce another character, and weigh him. I will 
 take the man who is not only just, and generous, and good in all 
 the relationships of social life — and such men there are, bearing 
 mark of man's original beauty and perfection which sin and Satan 
 have not altogether effiiced — but who, in addition, is most strict 
 in his attention to what are popularly called " all his religious 
 duties '/' who is never absent from the church ; who belongs to 
 the strictest and most rigid sect in that church ; who is a 
 punctilious observer of every ceremony ; who never made a genu- 
 flexion too few or too many ; who never was absent from matins 
 in the morning or from vespers at night • never ftiiled to bow at 
 the name of Jesus ; wore black on Good Friday, and dressed in 
 white upon Easter Sunday; one who fasted while others feasted — 
 is such a one, who has been thus exact, thus punctilious, thus 
 obedient to every ecclesiastical requirement, who has been thus 
 baptized, thus confirmed, thus consecrated, thus dedicated, thus 
 absolved — is he to be classed with the multitude of mankind ? — 
 is he, when weighed in the scales, to be pronounced " altogether 
 wanting ?" The answer is, God's law is not satisfied with cere- 
 monies. You cannot pay your debts to God in rubrics. The 
 sound will still thunder in your ears. Who has recjuired this at 
 your hands ? God's law is, " Thou shalt love ;" your response 
 has been, "I have performed.'' The decision must be, that with 
 all your ecclesiastical ceremonies, and with all your social excel- 
 lences, the first ecclesiastically perfect, the last morally exact, 
 when weighed against the holy, unchangeable, unswerving law 
 of God, you are " altogether wanting." 
 
 But I will add one feature more, and will assume this charac- 
 ter to be perfected by another; that he is in all not only perfectly 
 sincere, but an earnest inquirer after truth, anxious in all respects 
 to know and do his duty. Surely such a one, when weighed in 
 the balance, though he has erred and come short in some things, 
 will be forgiven, in that he was sincere in the pursuit of all 
 
s 
 
 184 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 things. I answer, sincerity added to a sin does not make it 
 virtue ; sincerity added to a lieresy does not make it orthodoxy. 
 "When one is sincere, we respect the man because he is so ) but 
 if he is in error, we do not the less condemn the error, because 
 he is sincere that holds it. The sincerity with which he holds it 
 makes us no less heartily denounce the error that ruins his soul. 
 I have not a doubt that there are sincere Jews, sincere and en- 
 thusiastic Romanists, sincere Socinians and skeptics — I have no 
 doubt of it. Their sincerity must make me treat them with 
 respect, their error remains to be judged by him in whose word 
 it is clearly and unequivocally denounced. Saul of Tarsus said, 
 ^' I verily thought that I ought to do many things contrary to the 
 name of Jesus. ^' He was perfectly sincere ; but he adds, in the 
 retrospect of his sincerity, ''Those things which were gain to me, 
 those I counted loss for Christ ; and I count all things but loss 
 for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. ^^ The sin- 
 cerest ecclesiastic, and the sincerest moralist, if unjustified by a 
 righteousness without them, and unwashed in the Redeemer's 
 blood, when weighed in the scales of the sanctuary, must be 
 found " altogether wanting.^' There is not, in one word, a saint 
 upon earth, the most excellent that ever breathed, who is not 
 compelled at every moment to say, '' If we say that we have no 
 sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us ;" and there 
 is not an enlightened and a Christian heart that docs not breathe, 
 in the prospect of a judgment-seat, "Enter not into judgment 
 with thy servant, Lord, for in thy sight can no man living be 
 justified.^' There is not a Christian in this assembly who knows 
 what sin is, and what his own heart is, and how pure, how per- 
 fect, how infinite in its exactions is the holy law of Grdd, who 
 does not feel, '' If thou. Lord, shouldst mark iniquity, Lord, 
 who could stand ?" Therefore there is not a Christian who, as 
 he thinks of this dread balance, and of that most perfect law, and 
 of his own deep and conscious defects, does not cry, and cry with 
 unfeigned lips, "God be merciful to me a sinner.'' 
 
 How then can we meet this law? how can we escape the 
 inscription " tekel," weighed and found wanting? Against tlie 
 law is weighed for us the magnifier of that law. Against the law 
 with its infinite demands, is wejo-hed the infinite rio-hteouf-ness 
 
WEIGHED AND FOUND WANTING. 185 
 
 of him that made it honourable. Against the breach of that 
 law is placed that precious blood which cleaiLseth from all sin. 
 When we look at that law, the inscription impressed upon every 
 soul is, " weighed and found wanting.'^ But when we look at 
 Christ, who is our representative in the prospect of the decisions 
 of that law, then the inscription ^'tekel,'^ weighed and found 
 wanting, is washed away in his precious blood, and the glorious 
 and illuminated characters are inscribed in their stead, " com- 
 plete in Christ, without spot or blemish, or any such thing." 
 
 I have looked then at man as weighed against God's holy 
 law; and we have seen that by deeds of law no flesh can be jus- 
 tified" — that "weighed and found wanting" is our inscription by 
 nature; and that justified, and complete, and accepted is only 
 our inheritance by grace. I now take the expression "weighed 
 and found wanting" in reference to Christian character. I put 
 in the one scale not Grod's holy law, but I put in it true, though 
 it may not be perfect, Christian character; and I wish you to 
 look at various characters, as weighed against it, and see if we 
 are among those who, thus weighed, are "found wanting." 
 
 In the first place, they are weighed and found wanting who 
 are not converted, or born again, or changed in heart and spirit. 
 We are told in Scripture that the carnal mind is "enmity 
 against God," and the unconverted man, however outwardly 
 decorous, is the child of the wicked one. Now understand what 
 I mean by regeneration. I do not mean baptism; I do not 
 mean a decent outward change; but total transformation of cha- 
 racter — a transition from a state of darkness, of distance, and of 
 sin, to a state of light, of nearness to God, of holiness, and of 
 happiness. I mean by it, not a mere ecclesiastical change, but 
 life from the dead, or as it called by the apostle, "a new crea- 
 ture." It is not, as some persons call it, thoughtfulness. That 
 is not conversion. It is not seriousness, but regeneration : it is 
 not becoming thoughtful, but it is being converted. It is not 
 outward conformity to any requirement, but a thorough, inner, 
 radical revolution of mind, of preference, of wishes, of hopes. 
 It is not religious excitement; it is not ecclesiastical zeal; it is 
 not an inappreciable and minute change, but it is as complete in 
 the soul as the symbol that indicates it, "being born again." 
 
 16«- 
 
18'6 mOPIIETIC STUDIES. 
 
 Do not deceive yourselves in tliis matter: depend upon it, it is 
 far easier to know if we are so than many persons are disposed 
 to admit. Many get rid of tlie responsibility of ascertaining if 
 tliey are so, by pronouncing it very difficult and very delicate. 
 Certainly, to pronounce upon others is a very doubtful and deli- 
 cate point; but to pronounce upon ourselves is not so difficult a 
 thing as our own passions and prejudices lead us to suppose. I 
 ask you, can the sun rise to his meridian at noon and shine upon 
 the earth, and we be unconscious of it ? Can the dead step forth 
 from their tombs, and themselves not be aware of the change? 
 Can the spring burst upon the earth, and make it break forth 
 into blossom, verdure, and beauty, and we not know it? Can 
 the slave be made free — the maniac be made rational, and nei- 
 ther of them be conscious that a great change has overtaken 
 them? And yet all these changes are not greater, but very 
 much less than that change which must pass upon every man 
 before he can see the kingdom of heaven; for it is written, 
 ''Except,^' and until ^^ye be born again, ye cannot see the king- 
 dom of God." And therefore, my dear friends, whatever excel- 
 lencies you may have outwardly — and I do not wish to depre- 
 ciate them — whatever external accomplishments you may have — 
 and I do not wish to deny them — if they were weighed, the 
 brightest of them all, against the definition of Christian charac- 
 ter, as given by the Spirit of God, will be found utterly "•want- 
 ing." Then, if this be so, is there a question we can ask which 
 more vitally concerns us than this — Are we born again? are we 
 shams or realities? are we Christians or worldlings? are we 
 transformed by the Spirit of God, or are we still ^' dead in tres- 
 passes and sins?" If I have overstated the doctrine, then you 
 may despise it; but if I have understated it, which is what 1 
 have done, then, my dear friends, carry home with you this 
 night this deep, personal, individual impression, that whatever 
 you may have be, whatever you may have given, whatever you 
 may have suffered, whatever you have sacrificed, however jon 
 may have been baptized, at whatever church or chapel you may 
 worship, "except ye be born again, you cannot see the kingdom 
 of God." 
 
 Let me, in the next place, state this — men are "weighed and 
 
WEIGHED AND FUCND WANTING. 187 
 
 found wanting" when they are living, constantly living, at this 
 moment in the practice of any known, deliberate, and voluntary 
 sin. It is true of every man at every moment, "if we say we 
 have no sin we deceive ourselves;'^ but it is as true of the 
 Christian at eveiy moment, that he wars against all transgres- 
 sions, and becomes every day, like the shining light, more and 
 more victorious. Do not in this matter deceive yourselves. If 
 you harbour deliberately pride, vain-glory, avarice, ambition, 
 murmuring, discontent, bitterness, evil-speaking, lying, and slan- 
 dering — if these sins you knowingly indulge in, then, my dear 
 friends, you give evidence in so far, that you are not born again 
 — that you have not the Christian character that will stand — 
 that you are in the category and condition of those who, when 
 weighed in the scales in order to ascertain if they are fit for the 
 kingdom of heaven, have in them that amount of alloy which 
 destroys all the value of the gold : they have not reached the 
 standard — they cannot be stamped with the impress of divine 
 approval — they must be rejected as reprobate and worthless 
 gold. 
 
 They, too, in the next place, are " weighed and found want- 
 ing," who do not exhibit in their character the distinctive juid 
 peculiar features of the gospel of Christ. Many men are consti- 
 tutionally moral, and the man who is addicted to one sin from 
 his constitutional temperament, is generally found the most elo- 
 quent denouncer of him who lives in the sin to which he is not 
 naturally prone. There may be very moral men who neverthe- 
 less are not Christians. If I understand the object of the gos- 
 pel, it is not simply to make us moral, but to make us more than 
 moral — "a holy nation, a peculiar people — a chosen generation, 
 zealous of good works. '^ Surely Christ did not die — surely Pen- 
 tecost did not dawn, in order that we might be just like the rest 
 of mankind, in order that it might be very difficult to distin- 
 guish whether we are Christians or not. The little space be- 
 tween us and the world is proof. I fear the world has not made 
 a nearer approach to us, but that we have made a nearer descent 
 toward the world. If I read the Scriptures aright — and it is so 
 clear in these cases that he that reads it may nm while he reads 
 it — Christians are a people distinguished and separate from the 
 
188 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 rest of the world; they belong to an empire of glory and of 
 beauty, so impressive, that the world's enmity is provoked by 
 the contrast. I ask you if you are the subjects of this empire? 
 if you, not separating myself from you, are characterized by the 
 features of them who are heirs of God — who are followers of the 
 Lamb — who are witnesses for Christ — who let their light so 
 shine before men that others, seeing their good works, might glo- 
 rify their Father in heaven. 
 
 All these, I would notice, are ^^ weighed and found wanting" — 
 wanting in their fitness for heaven, which is just as necessary 
 as their title to heaven, of which I have already spoken. Never 
 forget this great truth, that we need two things in order to 
 reach heaven; we need as much the work of the Spirit of God 
 within us to fit us for heaven, as we need the work and the 
 righteousness of Christ without us to entitle us to heaven; and 
 the man whose heart has not been changed by the Spirit's 
 power, may depend upon it, that he is destitute of any thing 
 like a title that will admit him to the presence of God and of 
 the Lamb. 
 
 I have looked at man then as " weighed and defective'^ in his 
 title; I am looking at him now as *' weighed and defective" in 
 his fitness for the kingdom of heaven : and I observe, that they 
 are '' weighed and found wanting," who take deeper interest in 
 the affairs of the world than they take in those of Christ. One 
 of the characteristics of earthly minds given by the apostle is, 
 '^ who mind earthly things." One of the characteristics of the 
 people of God is, ^' whose conversation, ^. e. their conduct, their 
 sympathies, their feelings, are all in heaven. I ask you, what is 
 the predominating tone in your mind, what is the great direction 
 in which you are impelled ? where runs, and to what rulis the 
 main current of all your sympathies, your affections, youv hopes, 
 and your desires ? We are not, my dear friends, borne to heaven 
 accidentally : no man goes to heaven but he that sets his heart 
 thitherward. Ask yourselves then. Do you mind eaj'thly things, 
 or heavenly things ? what is the aim, the object, the predomi- 
 nating desire of your mind ? where is your heart ? what is your 
 treasure ? for whom do you chiefly live ? These are weighty 
 questions : they are scriptural ones ; your response to them will 
 
WEIGHED AND FOUND WANTING. 189 
 
 determine whether yon are or are not wanting in fitness for hea- 
 ven, and in real Christian character. 
 
 In the next place, they are wanting when weighed in the scales 
 of the sanctuary, who do not aid the cause of Christ and its ex- 
 tension through the world by their prayers, their efforts, their 
 means, and their exertions. If you be a Christian, you must be 
 a missionary. I doubt if it be possible to be a Christian oneself 
 and not to be consumed by an absorbing desire to make all the 
 world Christians too. I ask, then, if, when you hear that there 
 are minds unenlightened by the glorious gospel — that there are 
 children uninstructed in the things that belong to their present and 
 their everlasting peace — that there are Bibles needed, that there 
 are missionaries to be sent, in order that the blessings of Chris- 
 tianity may be advanced, however poor your means may be, how- 
 ever inadequate to the demands and exigencies of the case, can it 
 then be said of you, as was said of the woman in the gospel, 
 ^' She bath done what she could V If you were poor, or hungry, 
 or thirsty, or naked, would you call him a friend who refused to 
 give you food, and water, and raiment ? But Christ identifies 
 himself with all the needy upon earth, when he says, " Inasmuch 
 as ye did it unto them ye did it unto me.^' There cannot be the 
 supreme love of Christ within you unless there is corresponding 
 sympathy with God's people without you. It is thus, then, that 
 I have asked you to weigh your own condition against what seems 
 to be the characteristics of a Christian, and to ascertain if, in the 
 sight of Grod, you are of those who are " made meet for the inherit- 
 ance of the saints in light," or among those who give obvious 
 evidence that they have no lot or part in this matter. I may ap- 
 ply the same great truth to official personages. Let me apply it 
 to a minister of the gospel. Such an one may be gifted, eloquent, 
 versed in theology, outwardly moral, laborious in all pastoral 
 duties ; and yet, weighed in the scales of the sanctuary, he may 
 be " altogether wanting." Gifts need not be graces of the Spirit 
 of God. There may be the eloquence of the gifted tongue without 
 the unction of the consecrated heart. There may be the ordina- 
 tion of the bishop or the presbytery, but not the consecration wliicli 
 God's Holy Spirit alone can give. He may have all gifts, all 
 eloquence, all theological knowledge, all polite learning — yet, if 
 
190 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 wanting in singleness of eye, unity of purpose, earnest devoted- 
 ness to the true end of his office, the conversion of souls, and the 
 glory of God, however he may be applauded by the tongues of 
 men, weighed in the scales of the sanctuary, he too is " altogether 
 wanting/^ 
 
 So I may apply these words to a church. It may have all that 
 Caesar can give — able ministers, a splendid literature, the rich and 
 the great in its audience, and yet it may be wanting in all that 
 constitutes the church of Christ. The architect can build a 
 glorious cathedral ; Christ's presence alone can make it a church. 
 The builder may raise a magnificent edifice, the queen's presence 
 alone can make it a palace. The orator may preach so that the 
 crowd may be thrilled with his oratory, impressed with his reason- 
 ing, riveted by his appeals } but he may not be a minister, and 
 that crowd may not be a church : — " Where two or three are 
 gathered together in my nctme^' — that is the essential — '^ there 
 am I in the midst of them.^' No presence can compensate for 
 the absence of this. No patronage can be a substitute for this. 
 Laodicea said, '^I am rich and increased with goods, and have 
 need of nothing ;'' and at the very moment when she was saying 
 so, Christ was weighing her in the scales of the sanctuary, and 
 h\3 pronounced of her, ^' tekel;" thou art weighed in the balances; 
 ^' thou knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and 
 poor, and blind, and naked. ^' 
 
 In the same manner I inay apply these words to a nation. It 
 was applied in the passage on which I am now commenting to a 
 nation — namely, to that great kingdom over which Belsliazzar 
 reigned. A nation may have brave soldiers, hardy sailors, gifted 
 legislators, eloquent senators, prosperous trade, thriving agricul- 
 ture, all the splendour and power, all the material strength of 
 Imperial Rome, all the glory and the literary fame of Athens, 
 and yet that nation, when weighed in the scales, may be altogether 
 ^' wanting." Its aim may be territorial aggrandizement — its sole 
 passion may be ambition — its eloquence, its efi"orts, its arms may 
 all be exerted in favour of conquest and aggression — it may not 
 be seeking the glory of its Clod, but the supremacy and the 
 immortality of itself. Never forget that a nation's sinews are its 
 Christians J its battlements arc its principles; its guide is, or 
 
AYEIGIIED AND FOUND V/ANTING. ]91 
 
 ouglit to be, tlie word of God. Real principle running through 
 a land, pervading every institution, giving its tone to all its varied 
 national crystallization — not expediency — is power, and strength, 
 and immortality. A nation has not done its duty when it builds 
 jails; it has not done all it ought to do, when it pays a police. There 
 is something higher, nobler, more precious than all this ; and if 
 it fail here, when weighed in the scales it will be found to be 
 "tekel;" and its doom is written, " Mene, mene, tekel, uphar- 
 sin;" its years are numbered ; it is weighed in the balances, and 
 found wanting. 
 
 Such then, are some of the practical thoughts arising out of the 
 words I have now read. Let me ask you now, in closing my re- 
 marks, to examine yourselves. Is there any thing wanting in 
 your title — any thing deficient in your fitness for heaven ? For- 
 get not, my dear friends, that it is possible to be " almost a 
 Christian,'' and not to be saved. It is possible to reach nine 
 points of Christian character, and to perish because you have not 
 the tenth. To be almost saved, is only to be condemned with a 
 more terrible judgment. The very height from which you fall 
 renders that fall the more disastrous. 
 
 And, in the next place, let there be, after the examination of 
 our hearts, deep humility. All that is in us is fitted to humble 
 us ; and the man that knows himself best will feel most humbled 
 in the sight of God. All present will have some share in the 
 common inscription upon the greatest and the lowest : " Tekel ; 
 Thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting." 
 
 And let us recollect, in the next place, that if, under a deep 
 sense of the pressure of that perilous condition, we cry with our 
 whole heart unto God, that he will save us — if conscious that we 
 have not a farthing to pay we ask him frankly to forgive us all — 
 if conscious that, when weighed against this law, we must kick 
 the beam, and be found altogether wanting — let us fly to that 
 righteousness which alone can justify us, let us seek shelter in 
 that City of Refuge in which alone we can be saved — let us ap- 
 peal to that cleansing blood which alone can wash away the in- 
 scription ^^ tekel," and that righteousness which alone can con- 
 stitute our title as ^'accepted and beloved." Each minute as it 
 passes carries us nearer to the burial-place of the dead, and to the 
 
192 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 judgment-scat of the living. A few more years, and those faces 
 that are now looking, I trustj with anxious thoughts, will be 
 numbered with the dead, and our souls, those live sparks that 
 never can be quenched — thos6 great and sacred ^' bundles of re- 
 sponsibilities'^ which can never die, will have to stand at the 
 judgment-seat of God, either shivering and looking into that un- 
 known, unfathomed abyss of wo, or rejoicing, clothed in the 
 righteousness of Christ, and anticipating that joy, that inhe- 
 ritance, that blessedness which is incorruptible and fadeth not 
 away. My dear friends, deal honestly with yourselves; have 
 done with church, with ceremony, with sign, with sacrament, till 
 you have settled this question. Am I a child of God, or am I not ? 
 I believe that nine-tenths of the controversies of the day are the 
 devil's delusions to prevent men from settling God's great con- 
 troversy, " Are we the children of God, or the children of the 
 wicked one ?" 
 
193 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 V THE PRIME MINISTER. 
 
 ''It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundi-ed and twenty princes, 
 Tvhich should he over the whole kingdom,- and over these three presidents, of 
 whom Daniel was first : that the princes might give accounts unto them, and 
 the king should have no damage. Then this Daniel was preferred above the 
 presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him ; and the king 
 thought to set him over the whole realm. Then the presidents and princes 
 sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could 
 find none occasion or fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there 
 any error or fault found in him. Then said these men. We shall not find any 
 occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law 
 of his God. Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, 
 and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever. All the presidents of the 
 kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, 
 have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, 
 that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, save of 
 thee, king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, king, establish the 
 decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of 
 the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. Wherefore king Darius signed 
 the writing and the decree. Now when Daniel knew that the writing was 
 signed, he went into his house : and his windows being open in his chamber 
 toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, 
 and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime." — Daniel vi. 1-10. 
 
 We read in the previous chapters that great Babylon, the ex- 
 cellency of the Chaldees, had passed away, and that on the very 
 night when the mysterious fingers wrote the long inexplicable 
 inscription on the plaster, Belshazzar, the king of the Chaldeans, 
 was slain, and Darius, the king of the Medo-Persian empire, 
 mounted its forsaken throne and received the reins of govern- 
 ment. It was after this, and on the crumbling ruins of Babylon, 
 that the Medo-Persian empire rose to splendour, and occupied 
 its brief space in the history of the world. Darius, who was ap- 
 pointed to be king, was, of course, a heathen; but, heathen as 
 
 17 
 
194 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 lie was, lie saw sometliing in tlic character and general conduct 
 of Daniel, wliicli led him to believe that there was no one more 
 worthy of a dignified place, a place of power and responsibility, 
 than Daniel ; the Christian, as we may tnily call him, — the Jew, 
 as he nationally was. He had witnessed his skill in solving a 
 mysterious inscription; a skill which indicated communion with 
 the fountain of wisdom: he saw strongly developed prudence, 
 integrity, talent, steadfastness, and even success in all he under- 
 took; and, amid his own gross superstition, his eyes could not 
 fail to distinguish so remarkable a subject, nor his own sense of 
 propriety and advantage fail to see in that captive Jew a meet- 
 ness for service as rare as valuable. C They who do not understand 
 a Christian's creed, will and do appreciate a Christian's walk.J 
 Heathens understand a pure and noble life, even if they do not 
 comprehend an orthodox creed. Yv^e learn from the impression 
 produced upon Darius by the conduct of Daniel — a conduct 
 which there is abundant evidence to show was unobtnisive and 
 retiring, that real Christianity cannot be hid. If you are not a 
 Christian it is of no use for you to call yourself one, or to pre- 
 tend to be one, for the eye even of the most casual observer will 
 be able to penetrate the vail of h^^DOcrisy, and detect the sham 
 and pretension that are beneath; and if you are a Christian, you 
 need not proclaim the fact in the market-place. Depend upon 
 it, wherever real Christianity reigns in the heart, it will press out- 
 ward and outward, and unite its name and impress its influence 
 upon the place you occupy — the duties of the office intrusted to 
 you — upon the family — the nation — upon all over whom, in the 
 providence of God, you are placed. If there be health in the 
 heart it will bloom on the cheek; if there be vigour in the muscles 
 it will show itself in your walk. If there be salt in the earth it 
 will spread; if there be light, it will shine; if the city be set 
 upon a hill, it cannot be hid; if the epistle be written by the. 
 Holy Spirit, the apostle tells us it will be ^een and read of all 
 men. Or, in the words of another sacred penman, all that see 
 them ^^ shall take knowledge of them that they have been with 
 Jesus." The man who walks with God, we are told by the 
 Psalmist — the man who shrinks from the scorner's chair, whose 
 delight is in the law of the Lord, will not be hid, but he will be 
 
THE PRIME MINISTER. 195 
 
 "like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth 
 his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither, and what- 
 soever he doeth it shall prosper." 
 
 Trials and afflictions do not hide, but rather bring out only the | 
 more the Christian's character; instead of darkening, they brighten I 
 it; and many a one whom you have suspected to be a stranger to I 
 the gospel, when placed in the furnace, displays the most beauti-j 
 ftd and impressive sense of a long-tried and deep union and com- 
 munion with Grod. It is in affliction that the Christian shines;' 
 it is in the furnace that the dross is consumed, and the pure vir- 
 gin gold glows in all its lustre and beauty: it is under circum- 
 stances of affliction and distress that divine graces are implanted 
 in the heart by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, which 
 will rise to the surface and prove to all men, what they cannot 
 fail to notice in the character and conduct of real believers, ''that 
 they have been with Jesus. •'^ And this irrepressible nature of 
 real Christianity is matter of the deepest gratitude and joy. Are 
 you not thankful that it is so ? would it not be a pity that one 
 truth in the gospel should be capable of being concealed? what 
 article in your creed would a Christian wish to hide ? What fruit 
 in that cluster of ''fruits of the Spirit," of which we read in the 
 fifth chapter of the epistle addressed to the Gralatians, would you 
 wish to conceal ? Let the miser hide his gold — let the admired \ 
 of all conceal her beauty — let rank be ashamed of its honours — \ 
 let the infidel conceal his skepticism, but let not the Christian be 
 ashamed of that which is the ornament of the earth, the beauty 
 of heaven, which gives weight to the lightest, and dignity at i 
 once to the greatest and the meanest of mankind. Thank God, ' 
 then, that Christianity cannot be hid; and that where it is, there 
 it will be felt and seen, and men will own that it is so. 
 
 1 may state, too, that it is this silent but continuous and 
 irrepressible power of Christian principle, which really tells upon 
 the world around us. It is not a mere syllogism that will con- 
 vert a skeptic. It is not a powerfully constructed argument that 
 will alone convert a Roman Catholic : it is not such specimens 
 of Christianity as church and chapel often furnish, which will 
 make men feel that Christianity is the ambassadress of God 
 and the benefactress of mankind. It is when the world sees 
 
196 PllOPHETIC STUDIES 
 
 Christianity softening all, sweetening, subduing, sanctifying, in- 
 spiring, directing all — giving its tone, shape, and colour, and 
 freshness to all ; it is when the world sees Christianity in self- 
 sacrifice — in submitting our own temper and our own inclina- 
 tions to those of others — in giving way and suffering, rather 
 than appearing to dictate and presume — it is in the quiet by- 
 paths of human life, that Christianity acts with the greatest 
 force, and in which, if detected by the skeptic, he owns there 
 is there the finger of God, the evidence of a power greater and 
 holier than human. So Darius saw Daniel's Christianity: he 
 understood not his sublime creed, but he appreciated his honesty, 
 his integrity, his truth, his fiiithfulness. The world itself, if it do 
 not practise, yet appreciates faithfulness and integrity. The mer- 
 chant on the Exchange understands character, when he neither stu- 
 dies nor subscribes a creed. Hence the pulpit is not the only place 
 for preaching. 
 
 Darius saw that integrity of conduct was an admirable qua- 
 lification for a prime minister's ofiice — that the man who prayed 
 to his God was not the least likely to be useful to his king. 
 Even the heathen Darius saw that the most admirable elements 
 of political efl&ciency were, not party zeal and partisan enthu- 
 siasm, but faithfulness, integrity, honour — all that constitute 
 these moral characteristics, which are the creations of Chris- 
 tianit}'- in their greatest brightness; and have been often, but 
 less distinctly, illustrated even by the heathens in their deepest 
 degradation. Darius unquestionably was right : the true Christian 
 is ever the greatest patriot. The men who are restless, dis- 
 contented, fond of change for change's sake, are not generally 
 those who have family worship and well-read Bibles, and who 
 are seen oftenest in the sanctuary; and on the other hand, the 
 men who are most loyal to their sovereign — most attached to 
 their country — most devoted to it's best interests — most courage- 
 ous on the field, most steadfast on the deck — most dutiful in 
 all things, generally are actuated by motives inspired by the 
 truth of God, and distinguished by actions influenced by the con- 
 tinual recollection of this great truth — "Thou God seest me." 
 
 It is no argument against all this, that there are hypocrites 
 who make their pretensions to religion a passport to distin- 
 
THE PRIME MINISTER. 197 
 
 gnished notice, or to political power. Whatever is excellent has 
 been imitated ever since the world was. Never yet was there 
 a coin current in a realm that was not forged: never yet was 
 there a good bank-note that was not imitated. You do not say 
 the thing itself is bad, because there is a mockery of it. You 
 do not reject the good bank-note because there are bad ones in 
 the market. It is one thing to be a Christian, it is another 
 and a very different thing only to pretend to be so. And be- 
 cause there are some men who pretend to be Christians and are 
 not, you are not therefore to suspect that every man who seems 
 to be a Christian is not so. In your own conduct, rather be 
 suspected not to be a Christian than sound a trumpet to pro- 
 claim that you are so. Let your Christianity be an inference 
 that the world might draw in the exercise of its reason, rather 
 than a proclamation in the market-place. 
 
 Daniel did not proclaim his religion. He did not thrust him- 
 self into the palace of Belshazzar; and because he was faithful 
 to his God, he did not therefore act discourteously toward his 
 king. But the instant he was sent for he appeared, and he 
 acted as a Christian ever will. He did not use his religion in 
 order to obtain political power : he did not make his commu- 
 nion to be a passport to political office ; but he lived as a 
 Christian, and left the world to notice him or not, as the world 
 pleased. 
 
 Daniel was promoted to be prime minister in one of the ' 
 greatest empires on which the sun shone. But, like many prime \ 
 ministers of every country and of every age, the elevation to 
 which his virtues raised him created envy, calumny, and suspicion. 
 I doubt whether elevation in this world is so desirable a 
 thing as man's ignorant ambition makes him think. He that 
 is placed upon the loftiest pinnacle, '•'■ the observed of all ob- 
 servers," is sure to create, or at least see projected around him, 
 a dark, long-drawn shadow of envy, jealousy, suspicion, and all 
 uncharitableness; not because he acts inconsistently, but be- 
 cause self-seeking and dishonest spirits, ever at enmity to truth 
 and integrity, the highest beauty, hate the man in proportion 
 as he is the personation of them all. They di.slikcd Daniel, and 
 they could not say why : they could not veto him, because ho 
 
198 PROrHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 was a royal appointment; they could not dismiss him, for they 
 had not the power ; and Daniel occupied, therefore, the most 
 painful and perplexing of all positions — an honest prime minister 
 presiding over a dishonest, an antichristian, and an unmanageahle 
 cabinet. They could find, however, no fault or cause of com- 
 plaint against him, so they determined, in their envy and ma- 
 lignity, to create one. They endeavoured to find out that his 
 policy was had — that he had been open to bribery — that he was 
 unfaithful, but they did not, and could not, succeed ', they could 
 find none occasion of fault, inasmuch as he was faithful in all 
 things. He was a perfect phenomenon in an Eastern court, 
 where bribery ever has been, and is, to this day, universal; and 
 where a bribe can blind the eye of justice, or shut the mouth 
 of truth, or promote or put down, just as the man in power 
 thinks expedient, or most conducive to his own interests. They 
 found that Daniel, however, was faithful, neither was there any 
 error or fault found in him. Why, then, did they so dislike 
 him? why hate this good man? Plato asserted, that if Truth 
 were to come down from heaven, and display itself in all its 
 glory upon earth, all men would instantly fall down and wor- 
 ship it. What Plato stated as an hypothesis, inspired history 
 records to have been a lamentable miscalculation on his part. 
 Truth came down from the skies — appeared upon the world 
 in untainted glory, beauty, and perfection; neither hell nor earth 
 was able to detect a flaw in it; but so false proved the prophecy 
 of the learned and accomplished philosopher, that the world rose 
 np against it, and shouted in a voice of thunder — '' Away 
 with him, away with him ! crucify him, crucify him ! Not this 
 man, but Barabbas.'' If Plato had known what the child in 
 our Sunday school or ragged school is now being taught, that 
 " the heart of man is enmity against God,^^ he would not have 
 uttered any such prediction. 
 
 What was the fault his cabinet urged against the detested 
 
 ' Daniel ? First, he was a comparatively young man, while many 
 
 < of these princes and counsellors were probtibly aged men : he 
 
 was a junior promoted over the heads of his seniors; this was 
 
 an old offence, and an oifence that is felt in every profession. 
 
 But when the junior displays intellect, genius, talent, discre- 
 
THE PPtDIE MINISTER. 199 
 
 tion, prudence, heroism, devotedness, such as his seniors do not 
 disphiy, all will soon learn to forget that he is young, and to 
 feel that it is not years, but excellence, that constitutes the re- 
 quisite to command the veneration of mankind. Probably they 
 also hated and envied him because he was a Jew. Religious 
 prejudices are not extinct even amid the light of the nineteenth 
 century. We do not like to see one promoted who is not of 
 our sect; we are offended if one of a rival party is advanced 
 to power. And these men were worshippers of Bel: they as- 
 sembled in the temple of Bel for worship, and they were indig- 
 nant that a worshipper of Jehovah, the God of the captive and 
 detested Jew, should be advanced to the highest post of honour 
 and authority in that great empire. And partly, perhaps, they 
 hated and envied him, because he was a stranger and a captive. 
 Daniel was one of the spoils of war — a slave ; and though of 
 royal family, he was held as a captive in the midst of Babylon ; 
 and the haughty princes of that mighty monarch could not endure 
 the insult of a Hebrew slave being made chief ruler over all 
 of them. But the grand reason, in which they all concurred, 
 no doubt was, that Daniel's integrity stood in the way of their 
 enrichment. He would not take the bribes which they were 
 accustomed to receive ; he did not approve of cheating, which 
 they thought was canonical, and had made almost legal; they 
 loved the wages of unrighteousness, while he hated them; and, 
 like bold, bad men, they detested him, and determined on his 
 destruction. The great difl&culty was, where to obtain a pre-/ 
 text for getting rid of him. They could find none whatever in 
 his management of the kingdom : he dispensed his patronage 
 with perfect justice; he redressed the wrongs that were submitted 
 to him with the greatest impartiality; he gave such good counsel 
 to his gracious sovereign, that all that that sovereign did prospered. 
 They could fi.nd nothing against the character of Daniel as 
 touching the kingdom over which he presided with such dignity 
 and justice, and with so remarkable success. But they saw ! 
 that be had a different religion; and if they could not impeach 
 him as a prime minister, they might assail him through the 
 dogmas of his creed as a Jew. They proceeded with great skill 
 and artifice, and formed the scheme recorded in verses G-9 : 
 
200 Pr.OPIIETIC STUDIES. 
 
 ^^ The presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the 
 counsellors, and the captains, have consulted to establish a royal 
 statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a 
 petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, king, 
 he shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, king, establish the 
 decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according 
 to the law of the Modes and Persians, which altereth not. 
 Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree." 
 
 The quiet self-possession of Daniel on this occasion was com- 
 plete. "Now, when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, 
 he went into his house ; and his windows being open in his 
 chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three 
 times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as 
 he did aforetime." We are not to be the slaves of circumstance, 
 but circumstances are to be slaves to us. I am not to do wrong 
 because circumstances urge me to do so; but I am to do right 
 in the face of all danger, and in spite of all threats. We have 
 continually, in the army and in the navy, instances of military self- 
 possession the most remarkable, showing how even the natural man 
 may be drilled into a state of discipline, subordination, and obedience 
 to a human leader, that will make him fearless amid all the ele- 
 ments of terror and of death. I recollect reading, that when Mar- 
 shal Massena was marching at the head of a body of Napoleon's 
 victorious troops, through the gorge of the Cardihell, in the iVlps, 
 a vast avalanche descended from the heights above, and swept into 
 the valley below some hundreds of his soldiers; and on the very 
 ridge of the snow that was swept into the ravine beneath, was a 
 drummer-boy, who, undisturbed amid the peril, continued beating 
 the march he had commenced before the avalanche fell, until every 
 soldier had passed through the gorge ; this was his own funeral 
 march : he then sank down to die — an instance of the efiective 
 discipline which then prevailed in the French army. One of Na- 
 poleon's greatest marshals never felt himself perfectly calm and 
 self-possessed till the dead fell in thousands round him, and the 
 tide of battle seemed rolling against him ; — showing how human 
 nature, in circumstances of great trial, may feel great calmness, 
 and do its duty with unshaken and unflinching nerve. But if 
 discipline can do this, Christianity can do more. It could make 
 
T[IE PllBlE MINISTER. 201 
 
 Daniel calm in tlie prospect of certain death; it could make Poly- 
 carp regard the flames only as a chariot tbat wafted him to glory ; 
 it could make the apostles feel bonds, imprisonment, and death, 
 to be not calamities, but blessings, because they took them from 
 scenes of suffering and conveyed them to the realms of glory. A 
 Christian has ever felt — and in proportion to the depth and force 
 of his Christianity he ever will feel — that " the work of righteous- 
 ness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness quietness, and 
 assurance for ever." " Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose 
 mind is stayed on thee." And I believe that if our Christian prin- 
 ciple were what it should be, and what we are responsible for its being, 
 though the mountains were cast into the midst of the sea, and 
 though the earth should shake and vibrate with the swelling thereof, 
 — though all things should seem to prognosticate the return of chaos, 
 ruin, and destruction, — a Christian would hear and accept, sounding 
 from his Father's lips, those beautiful and soothing accents, '^ Be 
 still, and know that I am God." So Daniel learned and felt. 
 
 Would that our confidence in God were deeper than it is ! We 
 should not then be in the depths to-day and in the heights to- 
 morrow; we should not be so often surprised, alarmed at this, and 
 afraid of that. Do not think, my dear friends, that you and I are 
 indispensable to the government of God. God governs ; he controls ' 
 the universe and all its movements; and he is working out his own f 
 bright and beneficent designs, sometimes with us, as often without ■ 
 us, and occasionally in spite of us. Have confidence in God, confi- 
 dence in our Father's love, confidence in his wisdom — a deep and 
 indestructible persuasion that ^^ all things work together for good 
 to them that love God, and are the called according to his purpose." 
 
 But in lookins; at the manner in which Daniel discharo;ed his 
 duty, there seems at first sight to be in it something like ostenta- 
 tion, or something, at least, rather inexplicable as to its absolute 
 necessity, in the attitude which he assumed. It is stated, that 
 Ms windoics being open, he kneeled upon his knees, in his cham- 
 ber, toward Jerusalem, and prayed in that direction. What was 
 meant by his ihu'S, '^^iY^ymg toicard Jcniwleni f' We have it 
 explained in the prayer of Solomon, at the dedication of the temple, 
 in which he says, "If they," thy people, "sin against thee, (for 
 there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, 
 
202 PROrilETIC STUDIES. 
 
 and deliver tliem to the enemy, so that they carry them away cap- 
 tives unto the land of the enemy far or near : yet if they shall 
 bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, 
 and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them 
 that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done 
 perversely, we have committed wickedness ; and so return unto 
 thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of 
 their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee 
 toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city 
 which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy 
 name : then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in 
 heaven thy dwelling-place, and maintain their cause." 
 
 Hence every pious Jew, when he prayed, "kneeled upon his 
 knees," or stood, the other attitude of prayer, according to the cus- 
 tom of the Jews; and, wherever he was, directed his face invariably 
 toward Jerusalem. The reason why the Jew did so, was that 
 the temple and the furniture within it constituted the only type 
 that he had of Jesus, the great Mediator between heaven and 
 earth. He rested his eye upon the significant sign of the only 
 Mediator every time he prayed, and did in that dispensation, by a 
 figure, what we in this dispensation do in fact — prayed in the 
 name, leaning on the intercession, trusting to the mediation of 
 Jesus. But if you were to argue, as certain very superstitious 
 persons do argue, that because the Jews did so in the days of Levi 
 or Solomon, therefore we, too, when we pray, ought to turn our 
 faces toward the east ; or, if you were to contend that when we 
 build churches we should build them with their chancels, or what 
 some ignorantly term their altars, toward the east, you would be 
 just doing precisely what the Gralatians did 3 letting go the liberty 
 wherewith Christ hath made you free : there would be in that fact 
 a reflux to Judaism. You are thereby displacing Christ, the only 
 IMediator, and substituting an exhausted type, a shrivelled symbol, 
 in the room of him who is its substance, its reality, and its end. 
 The law of the worship of the Jew was, " Pray with the face 
 toward Jerusalem f the great law of the worship of the Christian 
 is, "Pray in the name of Jesus." What constituted the church 
 with the Jew was, his having that very temple, those very stones, 
 that grand altar, those overshadowing cherubim, those bright 
 
THE PRIIME MINSTER. 203 
 
 beams of the ineffable glory ; but wliat constitutes our church is, 
 not dead stones, but living ones ] not the glory that is visible and 
 palpable, but that bright glory which consists of the minghng 
 beams of mercy and truth that have met together — righteousness 
 and peace that have kissed each other. And hence there is a 
 Christian church, and a true and acceptable worship, wherever, on 
 the sea-shore or on the mountain-side; on the tessellated pavement 
 or in the public highway ; within the communion rail, in the 
 pulpit, or in the pew ; on the deck, in the city, in the field ; in the 
 deepest mine to which the miner can descend, and on the loftiest 
 pinnacle to which the Alpine herdsman can climb ; wherever 
 there are two or three met in the name of Jesus, there is a temple 
 more glorious than that of Jerusalem; there is a temple of the 
 Holy Grhost, in which Grod dwells, and where all his glory is 
 manifested in another way than that in which he manifests it to 
 the world. 
 
 We see then the reason why Daniel prayed, looking toward 
 the east. But it certainly does, at first sight, appear somewhat 
 difficult to reconcile his conduct, in having his window open, with 
 the idea that there was nothing in what Daniel did resembling 
 pride, ostentation, or the needless thrusting forward of his custom 
 in the face of the heathen nation among whom he dwelt. It is best 
 explained by the fact, that the Jews' houses were built with flat 
 roofs, and on the top of each flat-roofed house there was what is 
 called in the Acts of the Apostles '^an upper room," not corre- 
 sponding to our garret, but a sort of chamber built upon the flat 
 roof, in which the pious Jew sequestered himself from the world, 
 read the law, prayed, and held communion with God. And in the 
 Septuagint translation of this very book — i. e. the translation from 
 the Hebrew into G-reek, executed by the Alexandrian Jews three 
 hundred years prior to the birth of Christ — the word that is used 
 for "his chamber" means, literally, "he retired h-zolq v~tp6oiq^'' 
 the very word that is used in the Acts of the Apostles to denote 
 the place in which the Christians met at Pentecost, and where 
 they where accustomed to worship God. And from the Acts of 
 the Apostles it is evident that the upper room was the ordinary 
 place, the most sacred and the most sequestered of all the rooms in 
 the house, whither the Jew betook himself for prayer. And 
 
204 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 when Daniel therefore retired to his upper room, with the windows 
 open toward Jerusalem it was not for the purpose of displaying his 
 religious firmness, or for the purpose of defying those whom he 
 knew to have conspired against his life, but he did that which, he 
 had always been accustomed to do, — prayed with his face toward 
 Jerusalem, and seeking the blessing and the presence of his Grod. 
 It is thus in this simple fact thcD, and in this beautiful habit, that 
 you have a chapter of the inner life of Daniel, the prime minister 
 of Darius the king of Persia. His inner life was fed by prayer ; 
 his outer life was characterized by integrity, faithfulness, and 
 justice. It was his home habits that made his court habits so beau- 
 tiful, and just, and true ; it was his private nearness to God that 
 sustained and elevated his public consistency before men. I hope 
 there are such statesmen still who preface their policy by their com- 
 munion with God. Would it not be the loftiest dignity, were the 
 highest in the land to prostrate themselves before the King of 
 kings, the Prince of the kings of the earth, and not seek to devise, to 
 meditate, to plan,till fii'st there had been implored an abundant bless- 
 ing from Him, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is wise, 
 nothing is holy, and nothing can prosper. An hour in " the upper 
 room,'' in communion with God, before spending many hours in 
 the House of Lords or in the House of Commons in transacting 
 the business of the empire, is a recommendation worth all the 
 political qualifications that a man can have. Depend upon it 
 that God will not bless in politicians what he does not bless in 
 private men, — the habit of trying to work the world without 
 God. Depend upon it, he will not prosper measures in the high 
 places of the earth which he will not prosper in the humble places 
 of the earth, when those measures are concerted and attempted 
 without recognising him. It should be written on the heads of 
 princes, on palaces, and cabinets, "By me kings reign and princes 
 decree justice.'' 
 
 And is it not a privilege as well as a duty, to have prayer? I 
 need not dwell upon the nature of prayer ; for I trust there is not 
 a Christian in this assembly who knows not what it is. It is not 
 a thing to be taught : it is the deepest instinct of humanity. It 
 is, in my judgment, just as natural to pray as it is to breathe. 
 And what the Spirit teaches — without whose teaching prayer will 
 
THE PRIME MINISTER. 205 
 
 not be the incense that rises to heaven — is to pray for things that 
 are truly good, in the name of him through whom those things 
 are given; and in every Christian's heart such prayer is an irre- 
 pressible instinct. He cannot live without it, he cannot move 
 without it. He feels that a prayerless man is a graceless man ; 
 and that the enterprise he commences without asking God to bless 
 it, is one in which he can expect no great success. God asks the 
 tribute of your acknowledgment of him, and he will give you all 
 the blessings of success ; " for whatsoever such an one doeth shall 
 prosper.'^ Pray in your closets; pray in the house of business; 
 pray when you are walking upon the highway. Shut your doors ; 
 sound not the trumpet ; make no display ; but lift the heart 
 daily — three times a day if you like — at stated hours and in 
 stated places, if you like, for these remind you of the habit ; but 
 " pray.'' Pray that God would give you grace for each day, (for 
 there is only promise for the day,) that he will give you bread 
 for each day : that he will give you '' forgiveness of your sins, 
 and an inheritance among all them that arc sanctified." Great 
 soldiers of our country, the great Washington of America prayed 
 upon the field of battle ; prayed under that stern and terrible ne- 
 cessity of nations where men made in the image of God take part 
 in the dire shock of battle — prayed at such a crisis, that the God 
 of justice would decide the conflict. Let us pray in approaching 
 a communion-table, in approaching the judgment-seat at which 
 we must appear ; knowing that whatsoever we shall ask in the 
 name of Jesus believing, he will give it us. Pray, and you will 
 prosper upon earth ; pray, and you will find your prayers on earth 
 lost in the praises of eternity, through Jesus Christ. 
 
 18 
 
20G 
 
 LECTURE XV. 
 
 DANIEL IN THE DEN OF LIONS. 
 
 " Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the 
 den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou 
 servest continually, he will deliver thee." — Daniel vi. 16. 
 
 Looking at tlie whole treatment and experience of Daniel, one 
 cannot but feel liow truly our Lord spoke, when he said, " In the 
 world ye shall have tribulation.'^ It needs but a very limited ac- 
 quaintance with the history of the people of God, to see that the 
 most illustrious and the most distinguished of them have been the 
 victims of the most continuous and unmerited suffering. They 
 have been stoned, they have been sawn asunder, they have been 
 tempted, they have been slain with the sword : they have wan- 
 dered in sheepskins and goatskins, in dens and caves of the earth, 
 being destitute, afflicted, tormented — although the world was not 
 worthy of them. And yet through that faith which overcame 
 the world, " they stopped the mouths of lions," says the apostle, 
 alluding to the case of Daniel, ''and c(uenched the violence of 
 fire,'' alluding to the case of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. 
 When the world sees Christians, like Daniel, thus condemned, 
 set apart for punishment and inevitable death, it exclaims, " God 
 hath forgotten him : he trusted in God that he would deliver 
 him; let Him deliver him, seeing he hath pleasure in Him.'^ 
 But amid all the taunts of the world, and the revilings of the 
 worldly wise, the child of God can hear, notwithstanding the 
 clamour of a thousand tongues, the still small voice, the voice of 
 his Father in the skies, sounding in his heart, unspent by the 
 / distance through which it passes in its transit, and saying, ''I will 
 '^ never leave thee, I will never forsake thee. A mother may for- 
 get her infant, that she should not have compassion on the son 
 of her womb, yet will not I forget thee." And thus, in spite of 
 the world's clamour, and because he hears his Father's voice, the 
 
DANIEL IN THE DEN OF LIONS. 207 
 
 Christian enjoys in tlic world peace, quietness, and assurance for 
 ever ; and when he is phiced in the lion's den with Daniel, or 
 walks amid the flames of the burning fiery furnace with Shadrach, 
 Meshach, and Abed-nego ; whether he is crucified with Peter, or 
 cast to the wild beasts with Paul, he can begin, in the agonies of 
 death, the pa3an of a noble victory — " I am persuaded that neither 
 life, nor death, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor 
 things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor 
 any other creature, shall be able to separate me from the love of 
 God that is in Christ Jesus my Lord/' 
 
 I need not say that when Daniel was thus condemned by the 
 king — and condemned by the king who was ensnared by the sub- 
 tlet}^ and wiles of these wicked men — he expected death, and that 
 death a very terrible one. Death is not a natural thing : it is 
 the most horrible and unnatural of all things. Man was never 
 made to die : it was never God's design that he should die ; he 
 was made instinct with all the yearnings, and arrayed with all 
 the powers of endless life. And when man shrinks from death, 
 there is nothing unchristian in it. Paul did not desire death for 
 its own sake, when he said, '' I desire to be unclothed," or, '^ I 
 desire to depart," but he was willing to meet the foe for the 
 sake of the victory ; he was willing to pass through the swelling 
 of a dark and stormy sea because of the land of beauty and of 
 blessedness that stretched beyond it. Nature shrinks from death ; 
 but Christian nature, even in its agonies, can exclaim, ^^0 death, 
 where is thy sting ? grave, where is thy victory ? Thanks be 
 unto God that giveth us the victory through Jesus Christ." But 
 when the Christian dies, it is not the Christian himself, but 
 death that dies. When the Christian dies, he does not cease 
 to be. "When the loved, the near, and the dear have ceased 
 to communicate with us — when the eye that looked upon us, and 
 the lips that breathed her name, are closed, he has not ceased to 
 be. He has only begun to be as he never was before. Death to 
 the Christian is not even a momentary suspension of the conti- 
 nuity of life : it is only the removal of the restrictions and the 
 trammels of this life : it is the Levite laying aside the coarse gar- 
 ment in which he ministered as a Levite in the outer temple, and 
 putting on the sacerdotal and coronation robes in which he shall 
 
208 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 minister as a priest and a king in tlie inner temple of God liis 
 Father. And in such a case — in the case of Daniel — if he had 
 died when placed amid the ravenous wild beasts, death would have 
 been but the precursor of truly living ; the lions' den would have 
 become, in this case, only the vestibule of glory ; the flame that 
 consumes the martyr's flesh is the chariot that wafts his soul to 
 immortality and joy ', and the evening twilight of this world does 
 not close upon the eye of that happy spirit till the morning twi- 
 light of yon world bursts upon it with a briglitness of eternal day. 
 Thus we like not to leave the old house, every nook and cranny 
 of which is dear to us ; but if we could only fix our hearts more 
 upon the house not made with hands — if we could think less of 
 all that is seen, and feel more of the magnificence and glory of 
 the unseen that awaits us, we should rather long to depart, than 
 desire to remain, that we might be with Christ, which is far better. 
 The language here addressed by Darius to Daniel, is language 
 which proves, I think, when taken in connection with other ex- 
 pressions of the same monarch, that King Darius was an altered 
 man — that something transpired in the life, and was heard in 
 the language of Daniel, which led the sovereign to think, and, 
 by the blessing of God, to think savingly. He sought to save 
 Daniel, and he could not. We must not imagine that kings, be- 
 cause they may be called absolute, are really practically so. Nay, 
 it is the monarcli of all who is often the greatest servant of ail ; 
 and he who occupies the loftiest position, and seems to us to have 
 only to speak and it shall be done, is often the man who is least 
 able to do what he pleases to those that are beneath him. Darius 
 was unable to reverse his sentence ; but he said to Daniel, and 
 said it plainly not in scorn, not in bitterness, but as a prophecy — 
 partly a prophecy, partly a prayer — "The God whom thou servest 
 continually, he will deliver thee.'^ It is plain, from this, that 
 the king had been brought to the ' knowledge of the true God. 
 And, connected with the last verse of this chapter, whicli con- 
 tains so remarkable a decree, it is a j)lain proof that he had 
 learned and felt the truth which he here speaks not in scorn, but 
 in solemn and painful earnestness. And what must have been 
 the cause, next to the grace of God, of the conversion of the 
 monarcli ? I have no doubt it was the meekness, the magnani- 
 
DANIEL IN THE DEN OF LIONS. 209 
 
 mity, the gentleness, the patience, the submission of Daniel, a 
 prisoner chained and sentenced to a terrible death, connected and 
 associated with the lessons that Daniel spoke, and the prayers 
 that Daniel oflered, and the religion of which Daniel was the con- 
 sistent exponent and the living illustration. And what does this 
 teach us, my dear friends ? — That the means of conversion to 
 others are not only the truths that Christians speak, but the lives 
 that Christians lead, and the death that Christians die. Sick- 
 beds have exceeded pulpits in persuasive eloquence, and dying 
 martyrs have made conversions that living ministers have never 
 been honoured with. No Christian lives to himself, no Christian 
 dies to himself; and wherever a Christian is, there is an element 
 of power wielded for God. In the silent prison, and in the In- 
 quisitor's dungeon, and in the Papal fires, the sufferers have all 
 emitted testimony for Grod, and proved to history and to mankind 
 that God does not cease to reign when his children are persecuted, 
 and that the truth does not die with her martyrs ', rather that 
 Christianity has received a greater impulse, and has made greater 
 progress by the opposition of her foes, than by the eloquence and 
 advocacy of her friends. 
 
 But the words are not only expressive of the pity of the man, 
 but they are, if I may use the expression, an unconscious pro- 
 phecy. God has often made use of men who were not Christiaos, 
 as well as of those who were, to predict truths of which they 
 themselves knew not the glory. Thus we read in the Gospel of 
 John, that Caiaphas, being high-priest that year, " gave counsel 
 to the Jews, that it was expedient that some one should die for 
 the people." Thus God made Caiaphas the trumpet of a glorious 
 prophecy, just as before he made Cyrus the battle-axe by which 
 he chastised the enemies of his people. God thus teaches man, 
 (for man needs to know what a very little creature he is in His 
 sight,) and he teaches Christians, what Christians more and more 
 feel, that all things are under the power and control of Him who 
 holds the reins and sways the sceptre of the universe. 
 
 We read that Daniel was dropped into the lions' den, as a pebi 
 ble is dropped into the silent sea, apparently to be forgotten for 
 ever, and the world seemed to have its way, and the persecutors 
 of the prophet to have had their will. But man's thoughts arc 
 
210 rROPIIETIC STUDIES. 
 
 not God's thoughts, nor God's ways man's ways. The persecu- 
 tors of Daniel, when they placed him in that den, and put that 
 heavy stone over him, and sealed it down, believed that no voice 
 could rise from its depths to excite sympathy, and that no cry 
 could come from the martyred prophet to arouse the popular in- 
 dignation ; and still more, that no trace of the foul murder they had 
 endeavoured to perpetrate, could remain to witness against them. 
 
 They returned to their homes ; and never did they drink so 
 freely, or sing so merrily, as when they recollected how successful 
 they had been in putting out of their way a man who would not 
 connive at dishonesty : that feared God, and rather than compro- 
 mise his allegiance to his God, was willing to live poor, and to 
 die a martyr. They rejoiced, and congratulated each other that 
 the witness who prophesied against them was at last disposed of. 
 
 As for the poor king, he went home, still giving evidence that 
 his heart had undergone a change, filled with remorse for having 
 signed the fatal decree, and not knowing how to retrieve or to re- 
 trace his steps. When conscience echoes in the depths of the 
 heart, it will cause the loins of the lord of Christendom to trem- 
 ble. It is not nerve that is bravest, it is a conscience full of the 
 peace of God which passeth understanding. But when conscience 
 is vexed with a sense of sin, there can be no heroism, there can 
 be no presence of mind, there can be no peace. All the opiates 
 that physicians can prescribe will not give sleep unless God is 
 pleased by a conscience cleansed in the blood of Jesus to give his 
 belove'd sleep. And when there is sin in the conscience, what 
 awful, what mysterious power it has ! It will pierce the armed 
 battalion, it will enter within the thickest walls of the palace, it 
 will invade the secret chambers of royalty, it will defy all opiates, 
 it will hush all music; and though all sounds should be suppress- 
 ed outside, and all books be shut, and all testimonies be silenced, 
 that conscience grieved, wronged, offended, acting as the echo and 
 the oracle of God, will reason, even in the royal bosom, of '^right- 
 eousness and temperance and judgment to come," and make the 
 possessor of it tremble, and his knees smite against each other, 
 and be ill at ease. 
 
 Early next morning the sleepless monarch rushes with the first 
 rays of the rising sun to the den, and, as he then thought, the 
 
DANIEL IN THE DEN OF LIONS. 211 
 
 grave of tbe murdered prophet ; and half hoping, half despairing, 
 rather as the expression of his deep commiseration than as the 
 expression of any hope, he looked into the den and asked if the 
 prophet was alive ; and Daniel, with that calmness which a con- 
 science at peace can alone impart, with that supreme self-posses- 
 sion which Christian principle can alone create, with that loyalty 
 to his king which Christians ever have expressed, called out, 
 '^Grod save the king/' And his second accents are giving glory 
 to Him who had sent his angel to shut the lions' mouths and save 
 him from so terrible and cruel a death. God is everywhere. You\ 
 cannot banish a saint from God. You may banish him from his 
 home, or from his country; you may bury him in the cave, you 
 may seal him in the lions' den; you may cast him into the 
 depths of the sullen and unsounded sea ; but you cannot banish 
 him from his God. On the top of ancient Ararat, when it was 
 surrounded by its first rainbow coronal, God saw, pitied, and 
 blessed his people. In the depths of the lions' den, and among 
 the beasts ravenous with hunger, God was present, and heard his 
 praying prophet. In the silent catacombs of Rome ; amid the 
 sands of the untrodden desert, or on the waves of the great and 
 silent sea; on the heights, wherever man has soared; in the 
 depths, wherever man has descended ; there, if there be a Chris- 
 tian heart, will be found a present help, a Christian's God. How 
 blessed is this thought I the poor Roman Catholic cannot have 
 his God unless he has his consecrated altar ; he cannot obtain 
 absolution unless he has access to his priest ; he cannot have his 
 sacrifice for forgiveness unless he has his priest, altar, and wafer. 
 But the Christian— let him be the miner in the depths of the 
 dark mines of Northumberland, has there his priest, his altar, 
 and his sacrifice, even Jesus ; or let him be placed on the loftiest 
 pinnacle to which Alpine herdsman can climb, there he finds a 
 temple, a sacrifice, and an altar, even Jesus. If he ascend into 
 heaven, he is there ; if he descend into the grave, he is there ; 
 if he take the wings of the morning and go down into the depths 
 of the sea, even there is his Lord and Saviour too. God's eye 
 can pierce all darkness; God's heart can pity his captive any- 
 where, and God's hand can help him in spite of all obstacles. So 
 Daniel felt, and so thousands of God's saints have felt it too. 
 
212 rROPIIETlC STUDIES. 
 
 When tlie king found tlie captive alive^ lie commanded the 
 den to be opened, and Daniel to be taken out; and, as Eastern 
 monarchs often did in the exercise of a rash and passionate 
 revenge, sinful, improper, and unworthy of him as a Christian, 
 and injurious to him as a monarch, ordered men who certainly 
 deserved it, but to whom showing mercy would have been a 
 brighter jewel in the regal crown, — he commanded those men, 
 their wives, and their children, to be cast into the lion's den as a 
 punishment for their cruelty and perfidy. Do not say, "This 
 book is not from God,^^ because it states this. It does not de- 
 i scribe the cruel conduct of Darius as right; it simply narrates 
 I the fact. It does not say the king did what was merciful and 
 good; it simply states his deeds. These men were most guilty: 
 whether their punishment exceeded their crime, it is not for me 
 to pronounce — but this certainly they found, that he which made 
 a pit and digged it, is fallen into the snare which he laid. Jose- 
 phus, the Jewish historian, recording this fact, mentions the fol- 
 lowing circumstance : — he says, that when Daniel thus wonderfully 
 escaped the lions' den, the princes said that the lions had been 
 previously surfeited with food, and on that account it was that 
 they refused to touch Daniel. The king, out of abhorrence to 
 their wickedness, ordered that a great deal of flesh should be 
 thrown to the lions, and when the beasts had filled themselves 
 with the flesh, he gave further orders that Daniel's enemies 
 should be cast into the den, when they were all destroyed. 
 
 This is the statement of an uninspired historian, and of course 
 must be taken for what it is worth; but these Persian princes 
 were plainly very much like some of our modern philosophers, 
 who account for every phenomenon without admitting the element 
 of God. If pestilence comes, it was the want of ozone, or vol- 
 canic action that occasioned it. If pestilence is removed, it was 
 the cold weather that removed it. The thermometer becomes 
 their God, and weather-phenomena the other idols they worship. 
 So these princes said. It was not God that saved Daniel : no 
 doubt the lions had been well fed, and therefore they spared 
 Daniel. The experiment, according to Josephus, was tried; and the 
 result proved that God delivered Daniel, while the lions devoured 
 his enemies; not because their flesh was sweeter to their taste. 
 
DANIEL IN THE DEN OF LIONS. 213 
 
 We see, in his preservinp; Daniel from tlie lions, the eyiclence 
 of a great fact, — namely, God's power over the beasts of the 
 earth: he is able to stay their fierce propensities, when, and 
 where, and under what circumstances he pleases. AVhen Adam 
 was created, there is no doubt that the beasts were at peace with 
 him, and at peace with one another. There is no evidence that 
 what are now called carnivorous animals ate flesh before Adam 
 fell. I know well the difficulties of the case. I know there are 
 traces of death among the great saurian tribes long before Adam 
 was created; as geologists have clearly shown. I am perfectly 
 satisfied that this orb is probably hundreds of thousands of years 
 old ; Genesis records merely the present collocation of its surface, 
 the creation of man, and all that relates to man : and there is no 
 doubt that fossil remains have been excavated from the bowels of 
 the earth, among which, one animal has been discovered petrified 
 in the jaws of another; showing that, prior to the creation of 
 man, this earth has existed in a chaotic or inferior state, in which 
 there was death and mutual destruction among the lower animals; 
 and some of the best and ablest of our scientific men have doubted 
 whether animals were originally made to live for ever, arguing, 
 that if animals had never died, the earth, according to our pre- 
 sent notions, would have been over-filled and over-stocked with 
 them : and that death among the lower animals is no part of the 
 curse pronounced upon man, — ^'In the day that thou eatest there- 
 of, thou shalt surely die.''^ I know there are great difficulties in 
 the subject: at some future time I hope to look more minutely at 
 them ; but of this I am quite persuaded, that when man was created, 
 and the animals were brought to him to receive their names, they 
 were at peace with him, and at peace with one another. And I am 
 as persuaded of this, that what are now called the carnivorous ani- 
 mals did not then feed on flesh. I know the medical men and phy- 
 siologists in this congregation will smile at what they will consider 
 my ignorance, because we know that the structure and physical 
 economy of the animal that feeds on grass is quite different from 
 that of the animal that feeds on flesh. Their respective viscera 
 difl"er greatly. No doubt of it. I do not say that there is no 
 difficulty in the point; but I am stating this fact, on the authority 
 of God, that when G-od created man, he said, "Behold, I have 
 
21-1 PROrilETIC STUDIES. 
 
 given thee every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all 
 the earthy and every tree in which is the fiiiit of a tree yielding- 
 seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the 
 earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that 
 creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given 
 every herb for meat: and it was so.'^ Man, in innocence, did 
 not eat animal flesh. We have no evidence that the permission 
 was given him till after the flood; and what do we, therefore, 
 gather from this fact? That animals were not slain in order to 
 supply man's wants till the deluge. It is plain, too, from the 
 passage I have read, that the stronger carnivorous animals did 
 not originally feed upon the flesh of the weaker animals; and the 
 presumptive inference, therefore, is, that all animals, the lion and 
 the lamb, the wolf and the sheep, were at perfect peace with 
 each other; and that when they were so, they presented only a 
 dim foreshadow of that better Paradise, when, as I believe, it will 
 literally come to pass, that "the lion shall eat straw like the ox, 
 and a little child shall lead tliem.^^ I know some will ask. How 
 can you understand that prediction literally ? You may recollect 
 what I told you in a previous lecture, — the prophecy of Zechariah 
 was, that Christ shall come, "riding upon an ass, and on a colt, 
 the foal of an ass.'^ Our spiritual and figurative interpreters 
 would say this does not mean that the Messiah wijl come literally 
 seated upon an ass, but that he will come in very great humility. 
 But when you turn to history, you find the minutest particular 
 fulfilled, — that Jesus so came, so riding upon an ass, and on a 
 colt, the foal of an ass. And in the same manner I understand 
 those glowing descriptions of the millennial day, when all things 
 shall be renewed, when the High-Priest who is now in the holy 
 place shall come forth, and pronounce, as creation's High-Priest, 
 creation's grand benediction, — a benediction which shall ascend 
 to the heights, and descend to the depths, of all created things; 
 — I believe, upon the testimony and authority of God, that all 
 creatures shall again recognise man as their lord; and that lion 
 and tiger, and fish of the sea and bird of the air, shall all do him 
 homage as creation's king, God's vicar upon earth. God gave 
 token of this, when he showed, as I explained to you in discours- 
 ing on the miracles of our Lord, that though man has lost the 
 
DANIEL IN THE DEN OF LIONS. 215 
 
 reins, God still holds tliem. And hence there are scattered 
 throughout the Bible instances of a similar kind, — where the 
 ravens bring food to the prophet; where the dumb ass, at God's 
 bidding, preached a sermon to the disobedient prophet; and 
 where the fierce lions, as in the example before us, revered the 
 flesh of the sainted man, and dared not touch him. God has but 
 to speak, and the curse shall be withdrawn; sin shall be obliterated, 
 and all things become beautiful, harmonious, and happy, and the 
 world blossom into paradise. 
 
 Looking at Daniel's miraculous escape, let us never cease to 
 have confidence, under all circumstances, in God. Do not look 
 at things, but look at the Lord of things. Do not calculate what 
 shall Be by what you see, but calculate ''how safe is that mother's 
 child, ^' to use the language of Hooker, ''whose trust is in the 
 Ilock of ages, the Lord Jesus Christ.'^ If God be youi- foe, or 
 rather, if you be his, all creation shall bristle with enmity, and 
 hostility to you; but if you be God's friend, and God your friend, 
 the winds shall make music to you, the waves shall joyfully bear 
 you, as their ornament, not their load, and all things shall work 
 together for good to them that love God, and are the called ac- 
 cording to his purpose. 
 
 The monarch, thus impressed with the truth of Daniel's faith, 
 and struck with the interposition of Daniel's God, issues a decree, 
 — a decree which certainly shows his profound and solemn con- 
 viction, — enacting that the God of Daniel should be worshipped 
 and adored, and accepted throughout the whole earth. There 
 was much in this decree that did credit to the monarch; there 
 was much in it that displayed his thorough ignorance. The king 
 issued a decree, commanding men to lay aside the creeds that 
 they loved, however wrong they were, and to adopt a creed that 
 was new and strange to them, however good. The king forgot 
 that the despotic monarch of the East might lay his hand upon 
 the property, or his sword upon the life of his subjects; but that 
 there is a holy place of humanity, the conscience, into which 
 even a royal hand is not permitted to enter. And when kings 
 suppose that they can dictate creeds to their subjects, they assume 
 a power that does not belong to them, and a power it becomes 
 lawful instantly to resist. Litellectual convictions and conscirii- 
 
216 ^ PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 tious impressions are created by truth, and they never can be 
 coerced by force. I will tell you what I think the king should 
 have done: instead of trying to persecute his subjects into the 
 true religion, it would have been better if he had called every 
 Christian throughout the land of Chaldea, all the friends and fel- 
 low-sufferers of Daniel, and sent them out, two and two, through- 
 out all Chaldea, telling them to go and proclaim to all people, to 
 all his subjects, of all tongues, and of all tribes, that Jehovah is 
 the li\^ng' God; that his dominion, to use his own words, is an 
 everlasting dominion, and that Daniel's creed is the creed of 
 truth. But his decree that men should become Christians, might 
 create uniformity in subscription to a creed, but it could not 
 produce unity of conviction, or heartfelt adoption of the truth 
 "that he thus forced upon his unwilling subjects. Never, my 
 dear friends, let us believe that truth can be aided by force, or 
 that a lie can be burned out by the fire. If the sword is to be 
 unsheathed, let it be unsheathed not by the friends, but by the 
 foes of the gospel of Jesus. The weapons of our warfare are 
 mighty; and mighty just because they are not carnal. But 
 while the king's decree was wrong, inasmuch as he tried to force 
 conviction where truth alone could create it, yet the traths which 
 he embodied in his decree were grand and beautiful. He said, God 
 is the living God. Jupiter is a dead god. Bel is a dead god. Mars 
 is a dead god. But Jehovah is ^^tlie living God.^^ And he spoke 
 truly when he said, "and his kingdom shall not be destroj'cd.''' 
 Why, what is the history of the world? Dynasties have changed, 
 and thrones have tottered, and crowns have been tossed as baubles, 
 and sceptres have been snapped as infants' toys; vicissitude, and 
 change, and decay have seized upon and made sport of the brightest 
 and the noblest of created things; but there is one kingdom that 
 emerges more beautiful from wrecks — the kingdom of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. Christianity still holds on her upward and her on- 
 ward career. Persecution has tried to destroy her power, or crush 
 her influence ; but all history attests what the Bible confirms, that no 
 power of man can permanently build up a lie, and that no hatred of 
 man can permanently injure the truth of God. "He," saj^s the 
 monarch in his decree, "maketh signs and wonders;" and he does 
 so still. The flower that germinates, — the bud that bursts from 
 
DANIEL IN THE DEN OF LIONS. 217 
 
 the stem, — tlie spring of the year, which if it came only once in 
 a hundred years, would be the wonder and the admiration of the 
 world, — these are all evidences just as decisive of the signs and 
 wonders of his presence and his power, as the miracles he wrought 
 in Palestine. There is just as much of God's signs and wonders, 
 and mighty power, in making my living heart continue to beat, 
 as there was in making; Lazarus's dead heart be^in to beat agrain. 
 What philosophers call phenomena, the Bible calls the signs, and 
 wonders, and the tokens of the living God. He g-uides still by 
 his hand the orbs that Newton discovered: he mingled those 
 beauteous colours that Newton was the first to untwine. He 
 buried the saurian tribes before man was created. He knows all 
 the discoveries that science will make, all the creeds that theorists 
 will form, and all the projects that diplomatists will propose. He 
 makes, by his almighty power, the wrath of man to praise him. 
 He causes obstructions to aid the progress of the gospel, and all 
 things to work together for good to them that love him, and are 
 the called according to his purpose. 
 
 Thus, then, we have seen Daniel in the den, Daniel delivered, 
 and the monarch praising, and acknowledging, and thanking God. 
 
 In concluding my remarks, and especially in pleading the 
 claims of my schools, which I do in this lecture, let me remind 
 you that all the excellence and the Christian heroism that Daniel 
 exhibited, was, as we are told at the beginning of the book, 
 mainly the result of early religious education. Daniel as a 
 youth was educated in the gospel, and therefore Daniel as a man 
 lived according to the gospel. And how did he show his Chris- 
 tian principle ? Just as I wish, and as you would wish, your 
 babes to show it. When he was told that if he prayed he would 
 be put to death, that if he confessed his religion he would bring 
 down upon himself the shame and the disapprobation of others, 
 he cared not what man might say; he only thought of what God 
 would think. And therefore, my dear friends, we are to teach 
 our children, when they are entering upon any duties in the 
 world, not to submit to public opinion, but only to defer it ; not 
 to fear the censure of the sinful, or the thoughtless, but to do 
 rioht because it is right, and to cleave to duty just because it is 
 duty. Let our children be taught to bow circumstances to duty, 
 
 19 
 
218 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 never to bow duty to circumstances. We have nothing to do 
 with circumstances but to conquer them : ours is duty, God's the 
 issue. 
 
 A second feature in Daniel was self-sacrifice, another result of 
 his early education. He was ready to give up his honours, his 
 profits, his life, but never, never to give up his confidence in God, 
 his belief in the gospel of Jesus. Accustom your children to 
 self-sacrifice. Accustom them to be ready to give up their 
 money, their plans, their play, when the requirement of a higher 
 duty demands that they should do so. Accustom them to give 
 to the claims of humanity, to the cause of God. A boy parting 
 his only apple with his school-fellow, looks to many as a mere 
 childish act; it is a sublime and significant fact. Daniel had 
 parted his apple with his school-fellow before he grew up to part 
 with his life, if needs were, at the bidding of his Father and his 
 God. 
 
 Teach your children, like Daniel, to shrink from every thing 
 like recrimination. When Daniel was accused, how meekly he 
 bore it ! when unjustly sentenced, how gently he took the sen- 
 tence ! not one word of acrimony or retaliation fell from his lips. 
 But what do many of you sometimes teach your children ? You 
 tell your boy, when he is struck by another boy, '' Show a little 
 spirit ; retaliate. '^ Nay, I have seen the nurse in the nursery 
 doing a most mischievous thing, by teaching the little child that 
 had accidentally struck its head against a table or a chair, to beat 
 and scold the table or the chair by which the accident happened, 
 thus instilling into its mind the principle of revenge even with 
 its mother's milk. It is a lesson too soon and too readily learned. 
 How much better to teach your child the lesson we read in our 
 Saviour's sermon on the mount : " Love your enemies, bless them 
 that curse you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and 
 persecute you V Daniel had better teachers and better schooling, 
 and therefore retaliation — ^^an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth'^ 
 — was no dogma in Daniel's creed. 
 
 Daniel was plainly a child trained to prayer. Teach your 
 children not only the words, the sentiment of prayer, but teach 
 the Jiahit of prayer. Teach them by a form, but tell them also 
 to lift that little beating heart when the tongue must be dumb 
 
DANIEL IN THE DEN OF LIONS. 219 
 
 and give no expression to its feelings, and to think of our Fa- 
 ther, who so loved us and gave Christ to die for us. Teach them 
 to pray, and to seek a new heart from the Spirit of God, who 
 alone can give that new heart. Pray that you may see them 
 made Christians first; they will be Churchmen or Dissenters soon 
 enough. See that they be Christians; leave all the rest. Teach 
 them, as D^miel had been taught. Christian courtesy. But draw 
 courtesy for your children not from Chesterfield, but from the 
 apostle Paul. There is a great deal in refinement. I like to see 
 children good, but I like to see them self-sacrificing. What is 
 the highest Christianity ? Giving way to your neighbour iu all 
 that can please him, without any saoi'ifice of principle or duty on 
 your part. What is the highest mark of courtesy, the great evi- 
 dence of a true gentleman ? It is yielding to the convenience, 
 the comfort, and happiness of another. Teach your children so 
 toact.^^ Teach them at your own table: don't say, "It is only 
 home,'' it is only your own dining or drawing-room, and there- 
 fore the child may do as it likes. Teach them to do at home as 
 you wish them to do abroad, and then they will do abroad with- 
 out restraint that to which they are accustomed, on the principle 
 on which that issue is sustained. 
 
 Thus Daniel showed in his grown-up life the graces which he 
 learned in his earlier years. Those great reforms which are to 
 revolutionize the world must begin in the nursery. From the 
 first moment that the child leaves its cradle, to the last moment 
 that lie spends at the university, there must be Christian instruc- 
 tion bestowed upon him. Education of the head without educa- 
 tion of the heart is worse than no education at all— it is not 
 worthy of the name of education. 
 
220 
 
 LECTURE XYL 
 
 THE PAPACY. 
 
 "I camo near unto one of them that stood b}', and asked him the truth of all 
 this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things. These 
 great beasts, which are four, arc four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. 
 But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and i^ossess the king- 
 dom for ever, even for ever and ever. Then I would know the truth of the 
 fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose 
 teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass ; which devoured, brake in pieces, 
 and stamped the residue with his feet; and of the ten horns that were in his 
 head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that 
 horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was 
 more stout than his fellows. I beheld, and the same horn made war with 
 the saints, and prevailed against them ; until the Ancient of days came, and 
 judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that 
 the saints possessed the kingdom. Thus he said. The fourth beast shall be the 
 fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall 
 devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And 
 the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another 
 shall arise after them ; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall sub- 
 due three kings. And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and 
 shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and 
 laws : and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the di- 
 viding of time. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his do- 
 minion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and 
 dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be 
 given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an ever- 
 lasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. Hitherto is the 
 end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and 
 my countenance changed in mo : but I kept the matter in my heart," — Daniel 
 vii. 16-28. 
 
 The four chapters on wliich I have discoursed on successive 
 Sunday evenings^ have been evidences of the power of real religion, 
 when the upholder and advocate of that religion was persecuted 
 and oppressed. The sixth chapter^ on the last verse of which I 
 
THE PAPACY. 221 
 
 addressed you last Sunday evening, closed the personal biography, 
 if I ma}^ so call it, of the prophet Daniel, presenting to us a 
 specimen of Christianity in ancient times, as beautiful as it was 
 rare, and showing us that if Daniel, amid such circumstances — a 
 captive, persecuted, oppressed, misrepresented, cast to the wild 
 beasts, denounced to his king — exhibited under such circum- 
 stances, and amid the darkness of an age on which the sun of 
 righteousness had not fully risen, such constancy, such attachment 
 to his principles, such hatred of every thing like compromise or 
 concession of the truth, such devotedness to God, such a martyr's 
 spirit amid more than a martyr's sufferings, "How shall we es- 
 cape if,'^ amid intenser light and with greater privileges, *^'we 
 neglect so great a salvation ?" 
 
 Before proceeding to expound the passage I have selected, I 
 should like to read to you a sketch which has been drawn of the 
 prophet Daniel by an ancient writer, which I hold in my hand. 
 
 '' It was this love of Grod which made his greatly beloved Da- 
 niel prosperous in adversity, that gave him freedom in captivity, 
 friendship among enemies, safety among infidels, victory over his 
 conquerors, and all the privileges of a native in strange countries : 
 it was the love of God that gave his greatly beloved ' knowledge 
 and skill in all learning and dreams.^ It was this love of God 
 that delivered him in danger — from the conspiracy and malice of 
 the Median princes ; from the fury of the lions } that sent one 
 angel in the den to stop their mouths, and another angel at an- 
 other time to bring a prophet on purpose to feed him ; that sig- 
 nally avenged him of his enemies, and did by a miracle vindicate 
 his integrity. It was the love of God that sent the angel Gabriel 
 to visit him — to be his interpreter — to strengthen, to comfort, 
 to encourage him ; to reveal secrets to him, and to assure him 
 that his prayers were heard. It was the love of God which gave 
 him the spirit of prophecy — that excellent spirit, that spirit of 
 the holy gods, (as the Babylonians styled it,) by which he foretold 
 the rise and period of the four monarchies, the return of the cap- 
 tivity, and wrote long beforehand the history of future ages. But 
 beyond all this, it was the love of God that presented him with a 
 clearer landscape of the gospel than any other prophet ever ha 1 ; 
 he was the beloved prophet under the old dispensation, as John 
 
 19* 
 
222 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 was the beloved disciple under tlie new, and both being animated 
 by the same divine love, there was a wonderful harmony between 
 them ; both of them had miraculous preservations — one from the 
 lions, the other from the burning caldron ; both engaged young 
 in the service of God, and consecrated their lives by an early 
 piety ; and both lived to a great and equal age — to about an 
 hundred years : both had the like intimacy with God — the like 
 admittance into the most adorable mysteries — and tha^like abun- 
 dance of heavenly visions : both had the like lofty flights and ec- 
 static revelations.'^ 
 
 Such is the sketch of the prophet given by an ancient writer, 
 as comprehensive as it is beautiful and true. I sj^oke last Lord's- 
 day evening of the safety of Daniel when cast among the furious 
 wild beasts, because of his attachment to his God and his devoted- 
 ness to his religion. I cannot but read here also a beautiful pas- 
 sage from the justly-called judicious Hooker, which is founded 
 upon this incident — Daniel's preservation in the den of lions. 
 
 '^ It was not the meaning of our Lord and Saviour, in saying, 
 ' Father, keep them in thy name,' that we should be careless to 
 keep ourselves. To our own safety our own sedulity is required ; 
 and then, blessed for ever be that mother's child, whose faith 
 hath made him the child of God. The earth may shake, the pil- 
 lars of the world may tremble under us, the countenance of the 
 heaven may be appalled, the sun may lose his light, the moon her 
 beauty, the stars their glory; but concerning the man that trusteth 
 in God, if the fire once proclaimed itself unable to singe a hair 
 of his head — if lions, beasts ravenous by nature and keen with 
 hunger, being set to devour, have, as it were, religiously adored 
 the flesh of the faithful man — what is there in the vrorld that will 
 change his heart, overthrow his faith, alter his afFeetion toward 
 God, or the afi'ection of God to him ? If I be of this note, who 
 shall make a separation between me and my God ? ' Shall tribu- 
 lation, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or 
 peril, or sword ?' I am persuaded that neither tribulation, nor 
 anguish, nor persecution, nor famine, nor nakedness, nor peril, 
 nor sv/ord, nor death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor 
 powers, "nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor 
 depth, nor any other creature,' shall ever prevail so far over me. 
 
THE PAPACY. 2.23 
 
 I know in whom I have believed ; I am not ignorant who^e pre- 
 cious blood liatli been shed for me; I have a Shepherd full of 
 kindness^ full of care, and full of power; unto him I commit my- 
 self : his own finger hath engraven this sentence on the tables of 
 my heart : ' Satan hath desired to winnow thee as wheat, but I 
 have prayed that thy faith fail not/ therefore the assurance of 
 my hope I will labour to keep as a jewel unto the end ; and by 
 labour, through the gracious mediation of his prayer, I shall keep 
 it/' 
 
 Such is first a sketch of the life — such is a grand exhibition 
 of the safety enjoyed by Daniel, and not only by Daniel, but all 
 who have like faith, like love, and a like God to serve, to glorify, 
 and to honour. 
 
 I now enter upon that passage which is in some degree a repe- 
 tition of what has been sketched before. You recollect that a 
 great image appeared to Nebuchadnezzar, having a head of gold, 
 the breast and arms of silver, the belly and the thighs of brass, 
 and the feet of iron, and these feet divided into ten toes, partly 
 clay and partly iron, which, apparently cohering together by the 
 great law of attraction, were never made permanently to do so. 
 And I explained, in expounding that passage, that the vision re- 
 lated by the prophet was a description of the doom of Babylon ; 
 the second, the Medo-Persian empire; the third, the Macedonian, 
 under Alexander — the brass-coated Greeks ; the fourth, the Ro- 
 man, or the iron empire, divided ultimately, at the breaking up of 
 the empire, into ten kingdoms. These ten kingdoms preserved in 
 every century more or less distinctness, and although Charlemagne 
 made the efi'ort in one century, and Napoleon in a subsequent cen- 
 tury, to extinguish the ten kingdoms, and to erect the fifth emj)ire 
 composed of all the empires of the world, God's word was found 
 to be stronger than the sword of Charlemagne, or the iron crown 
 of Napoleon, and the ten kingdoms still remain, and God's pre- 
 diction still stands true. You have now the very same historical 
 facts — and this will prevent the necessity of again dwelling upon 
 them — sketched in this chapter, under the symbol of beasts. The 
 first was revealed to a heathen king ; the second is disclosed to a 
 holy prophet ; and while it is perfectly true that God sometimes 
 uses his enemies to be the exponents of his truth, it is generally 
 
224 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 true that ^^ holy men of old spake us they Avere moved by the 
 Holy Ghost." 
 
 But the very repetition of this passage shows that there must 
 be importance in it. Surely God does not reiterate trifles. I ask 
 you, Do those men treat the Scripture with that reverence which 
 is its due, or God with truly responsive gratitude, who tell us 
 that we ought to pass over such passages as these, as if our duty 
 were not to pray, and labour to be able to explain, and, if possible, 
 to understand whatever God has written for our learning ? And 
 yet 1 have heard ministers of the gospel speak as if it were to 
 their credit, that they were so dazzled by the glories of Palestine, 
 that they could not spare one glance at what they think the 
 humbler and the misty beauties of Patmos. It does seem to me 
 that '' all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is pro- 
 jQtable for doctrine, for correction, and for instruction in right- 
 eousness :'^ and if God saw it to be for his glory to write it, surely 
 the least response that we can give is, to make it our study to 
 understand it. Of course it becomes us never so to dwell upon 
 one part as to give a disproportionate attention to the rest. These 
 historic and prophetic pictures are the few and the far between ; 
 and we are only to discourse upon them on Sabbaths that are few 
 and far between. The great, saving, vital truths of the gospel 
 are to be the woof and the warp of every sermon ; the sum, the 
 substance, the core, the life, of every appeal. But when such 
 passages as these — historical, it is true ; prophetic, it is also true 
 — come before us, in the ordinary course of our ordinary reading, 
 it becomes us to look at them, and pray for light to understand 
 them, and to gather from the tree that God has planted leaves 
 that shall bfe for healing, and fruit that shall be for food to the 
 people. 
 
 These four kingdoms, then, are now depicted under a new 
 symbol. The first symbol was the image composed of different 
 metals ; the second class of symbols are four wild beasts ; the 
 first, a lion with wings ; a hieroglyph in one respect : because this 
 composite animal alone could express what was the mind of God, 
 and denote the strength and courage that combined with them the 
 speed and progress of the Babylonian empire. The second sym- 
 bol, or type, was the bear — the symbol of Persia, and expressive 
 
THE TAPACY. 225 
 
 of its cruel and savage nature. The third was the leopard, — the 
 Macedonian leopard, with four wings, to give a greater idea of 
 the rapidity of its conquests; and with four heads^into which 
 -the empire of Alexander was divided after his death, and the do- 
 minion that was given to them. And then the last, an animal, 
 not named, but described, — "dreadful and terrible, and strong 
 exceedingly, stamping the residue with the feet of it, and diverse 
 from all the other beasts,'^ — plainly the Eoman empire, repre- 
 sented by the iron feet and toes of the great image. It had also 
 ten horns. The horn is always used in Scripture to represent 
 power : it denotes, in prophetic language, a dynasty, a political 
 empire. This last wild beast, of terrific power and strength, and 
 irresistible victories, vras to have upon his head, as the hieroglyph 
 expresses it, " ten horns.'' These were the ten kingdoms, sym- 
 bolized in the former image by the ten toes, into which the llo- 
 man empire was to be divided ; these ten kingdoms I have 
 enumerated in their order, in the course of my remarks upon the 
 great image ; and I therefore forbear to repeat them now. These 
 ten horns, or kingdoms, have existed in every age since the em- 
 pire came into being, and are in existence at the present moment. 
 Then there was to spring up in the midst of the ten horns, a 
 ^' little horn,'' politically and physically small, but from its pre- 
 tensions and its assumptions, terrible and influential. This little 
 horn was to pull down three of the ten horns. Now, is there any 
 one fact in history by which this is borne out, and which shows 
 how truly this prediction has been fulfilled ? This I will look at 
 by-and-by -, but, in the mean time, let me call upon you to notice 
 that these four wild beasts arose from the ocean, or the great sea, 
 convulsed and agitated by the four winds that swept it ; teaching 
 us that these governments were to arise from social chaos, or, if I 
 may so express myself, that society, torn and convulsed to its 
 centre by the antagonistic passions of those that compose it, should 
 be driven to have recourse to rule, government, and authority, in 
 order to preserve it from utter extinction ; to consolidate its 
 powers, and maintain harmony within ; to defend itself from the 
 aggressions of enemies without. But these governments that 
 were to arise are here called " wild beasts ;" denoting what, after 
 all, has been the character of those great empires, and of every 
 
00(3 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 empire that Las not the gospel of peace to perfect, to sanctify, 
 and to cement it. What has been the history of nations in the 
 past ? — they have raised themselves to ascendency by force or by 
 fraud; and they have maintained that ascendency generally by 
 force or by fraud also. War has been the pride and the glory 
 of nations in the past. Coercion has been the language of the 
 most illustrious emperors ; and the sword cast into the scale, as 
 in the case of Camillus of old, has been the justice which nations 
 have meted out, and kings and great kingdoms have called in. 
 A wild beast is the true symbol of a nation, a dynasty, or a king- 
 dom that knows not, and coheres not by, the cementing influence 
 of the gospel of Jesus. And when we know that this is the 
 character of nations, how fervently should we pray for the advent 
 of that blessed period, when the spear shall be turned into the 
 jrruning-hook, and the sword shall be beaten into the plough- 
 share ; — when the kingdoms of this world shall become the king- 
 doms of our Grod and of his Christ, and the only sceptre that shall 
 sway the nations from sea to sea, shall be the sceptre of the 
 Prince of peace, the righteousness, the love^ the mercy, of the 
 Son of God. 
 
 I have noticed that this last wild beast, the fiercest, or the most 
 powerful of all, had ten horns; or, as I explained to you, was 
 divided into ten separate and independent dynasties. Of these I 
 have already given you a list, as they exist at the present moment, 
 with the slightest shade of differences, in the modern European 
 nations. In the midst of all these, there was to arise a little horn ; 
 plainly a political dynasty, like the rest, but with very great 
 moral, personal, and distinctive peculiarities. This little horn 
 was not Mohammed, or Bramah, or Confucius, because it was to 
 appear in the midst of the other ten horns. It spread from the 
 head of the wild beast, amid the ten horns, or kingdoms, which 
 first arose ; and it was, like the other horns, a political dynasty ; 
 but it differed from the rest in this respect, that it had eyes for 
 seeing, and a mouth for speaking. We are, therefore, taught 
 that this power should be a combination of the power of the seer 
 and the speaker, the Ui<jy.o-nq, and the priest, and the politi- 
 cal speaker. It should be "a horn,'^ having political power; 
 but should have eyes; the origin of the Greek word l-irry.o-o:;, 
 
THE PxVrACY. 227 
 
 from wliich is derived the English word episcopacy, signifying 
 *^ one that oversees /' ^' one that sees and looks over other per- 
 sons 3''^ and the name given to the prophets of old is " a seer -/' 
 " one that sees/' The ecclesiastical character of this little horn 
 is, therefore, plainly indicated by the peculiar feature that it was 
 to have eyes for seeing, or superintending those that were beneath 
 it. And not only was it to have eyes, but it was also to have a 
 mouth, speaking great things ; a preacher of proud pretensions, 
 or a doctor of despotic laws ; an enactor of canons, or rules for 
 government and for regulation. 
 
 Then you will notice another feature in it, that it was to uproot 
 three out of the ten kingdoms. Now if I apply this little horn 
 where I think it is indisputably applicable, to the Papal power 
 that now reigns at Rome, I think you will find every feature of 
 the prophecy met and embodied in the history of that power. 
 The three kingdoms that were rooted up by this little horn were 
 the three kingdoms of the Vandals, Ostrogoths, and the Lom- 
 bards, who were, after a succession of troubles, rooted up by the 
 Papacy and constituted into the States of the Church. Now here 
 is a very remarkable coincidence. Can this accident, that there 
 is here a description of a little horn, an ecclesiastico-political 
 power, which was to root out three horns or kingdoms that pre- 
 ceded it? And you find in the history of Europe, that the 
 Papacy has destroyed, partly by force and partly by fraud, long 
 ago, three of the estates of the ten into which Europe was divided; 
 and the pope wears upon his head at this very moment, the tiara 
 or three-crowned cap, to denote the three kingdoms or horns 
 which he rooted up, and over which he now reigns. 
 
 Then you will notice that this power was to have a mouth 
 speaking great things — a mouth by which it claims to bo the 
 vicar of God, and to have the keys of heaven and hell. It 
 assumes the language, and arrogates to itself the attributes of 
 deity. A mouth which assumes what bishop never assumed be- 
 fore, and claims an intimacy with the world of spirits such as 
 God never vouchsafed to any creature upon earth. The pope 
 professes to see into the realms of spirits; to read and to make 
 known God's hidden, unsearchable, and inscrutable record; and 
 pronounces, by declaring that he sees, what is the doom of the 
 
228 rrtOriiETic studies. 
 
 lost that are in wo^ and the destiny of the saved that are in 
 glory; and can, for payment^ facilitate the escape of the sufferers 
 in purgatory, and can canonize and constitute into saints, to be 
 worshipped, those who are the inmates of the latter. 
 
 But the better way to show how this prophecy is fulfilled, is to 
 refer to some of the great things that this horn speaks. Do not 
 say that it is of no importance to explain this. Whatever God 
 has written, it is the duty of the minister to endeavour to ex- 
 pound. Here is a prophecy that this episcopal ecclesiastico- 
 political power was to have, in the first place, a mouth that should 
 speak great things. Let me read to you very briefly what I my- 
 self have collected, at considerable labour and pains, from among 
 the ^^ great things" which this mouth speaks. I might give you, 
 not my description of the things, but the very things themselves, 
 as I have taken them from the writings in which they are con- 
 tained. The bull of Pope Sextus Y. against the two sons of 
 wrath, as he calls them, Henry of Navarre and the Prince de 
 Conde, is one specimen amid many of the pretensions put forth 
 by the Papal power. You say, perhaps, ''these are obsolete.^' 
 What was infallibly right in the sixteenth century, cannot be 
 wrong in the nineteenth. These pretensions never have been 
 diluted, still less repudiated. The pope claims jurisdiction over 
 all the kings and governments of the earth; though, thanks be 
 to God, I think his political sovereignty is gone substantially, 
 never to be wielded again with any thing like success over the 
 nations of the earth; though his spiritual power, in our own 
 land especially, seems to be making progress to a degree unpre- 
 cedented since the Reformation. 
 
 In making these arrogant assumptions, ''the mouth," as it is 
 here called, proceeds upon the assumption that Peter was the 
 chief of the apostles, and that the popes of Rome are the succes- 
 sors of Peter. There is not the least evidence in the Bible or in- 
 history that such was the case. In the first place, when the 
 apostles contended which should be the greatest in the kingdom 
 of heaven, our Lord, instead of setting Peter before them and 
 saying, "Here is your superior,^' took a little child, and set him 
 in the midst of them, and said, "He that is greatest of all shall 
 be servant of all.'^ Was Peter constituted an ambassador? So 
 
THE PAPACY. 229 
 
 was Paul. Did Peter receive the keys? So did Paul. And 
 Peter, in his epistles, styles himself only an ^^ elder:" *'I who am 
 also an elder .... unto you who are elders.'' Did Peter re- 
 ceive the power of binding and of loosing? So did Paul. Do 
 not we read that the apostles "sent Peter and John/' &c., and 
 that St. Paul rebuked Peter to his face? And if we ask the 
 present pontiff to trace his succession to Peter, we shall see that 
 Honorius the Monothelite, and Liberius the Arian, had not the 
 succession in doctrine; Alexander VI. and Gregory VII. had not 
 the succession in holiness. The popes do not preach, as Peter 
 did. The pope's shadow does not heal diseases, as Peter's did. 
 And in all these respects, and in many others which might be 
 mentioned, the succession seems to have failed, and the popes of 
 Rome to have become the successors of Judas, not the successors 
 of Peter, the fisherman of Galilee. There is left then only "a 
 mouth speaking," not proving, ^^ great things." 
 
 But these '^ great words" are said to be spoken specially 
 against the Most High. What are the assumptions of the popes ? 
 I will quote what I have copied literally from Baronius, the cele- 
 brated Roman Catholic historian, in his annals; such epithets as 
 these bestowed by such high authority on the Roman pontiff: 
 ^Hhe sovereign of the Church;" the "head of the Church;" 
 "our Lord;" the "high-priest and pastor;" the "chief doctor;'^ 
 the "master;" the "father;" the "judge of all." (Baron. An. 
 34.) "It is idolatry to disobey the pope's commands." (Greg. 
 VII. ch. 4.) And that he speaks great words against the Most 
 High, I show you from Bellarmine, the great cardinal and up- 
 holder of the Church of Rome, who says: "Si autem papa erra- 
 ret prsecipiendo vitia vel prohibendo virtutes, teneretur ecclesia 
 credere vitia esse bona et virtutes malas, nisi vellet contra con- 
 scientiam peccare." (Bel. de Rom. Pont. vol. i. p. 546. Prag. 
 1721.) "If the Pope should err by commanding vices or pro- 
 hibiting virtues, the church would be bound to believe that vices 
 were good and virtues bad, unless she wished to sin against con- 
 science." I have quoted these words, not at second-hand, but 
 from the works of the author, which I have been at the pains to 
 consult. These indeed are "great words" against the jMost High. 
 But there is other and equally strong evidence: Jesus said, 
 
 20 
 
230 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 "Drink ye all of tliis cup;" the pope says, "The laity shall not 
 drink of it/^ God says, "Thou shalt not make to thyself any 
 graven image, or the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, 
 or in the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth : thou 
 shalt not bow down to them nor worship them/^ In most 
 of the Roman Catholic catechisms that I have seen, that com- 
 mandment is either left out altogether, or "bow" is changed into 
 "adore,'' though the meaning of the original is strictly "bow," 
 because the attitude of the body was forbidden, lest there should 
 be the feelings of the soul immediately following or accompany- 
 ing it. And the pope permits images to be reared, crosses to be 
 adored, and the bread upon the altar to be worshipped. God 
 says, "Honour thy father and thy mother;" the pope substan- 
 tially says, "If the father be a heretic, the son is bound to re- 
 veal him." God says again, "Thou shalt not steal;" the Romish 
 doctors say, that "small thefts are only venial sins." God says, 
 "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy;" the Romish cate- 
 chism, as printed and published at Rome, says, "Remember the 
 festivals to keep them holy:" "Recordati di sanetificare le festi." 
 We have here then "the mouth speaking great things and words 
 against the Most High." 
 
 Sanctissimus Dominus noster, "our most holy Lord," is the 
 appellation given to the pope by the Council of Trent. (Decre- 
 tum super petitione concessionis calicis. Cone. Trid. sess. 22, cap. 
 ii. p. 223. Paris, 1837.) "All power is given to thee in heaven 
 and earth," are words addressed to Gregory VII. (Binius, vol. 
 vii. p. 484.) It would be tedious to quote all the evidence af- 
 forded by documents, monuments, official claims, and accepted 
 titles, of the idolatrous and blasphemous pretensions of the popes 
 of Rome. "The mouth speaking great things" is too character- 
 istic, too graphic, to escape the application I have given. 
 
 Another feature that identifies this little horn with the Papal- 
 power, is the prediction that "he will make war with the saints." 
 The whole history of Europe is painfully conclusive evidence of 
 this feature. It was a pope who raised the crusades against the 
 Albigenscs, and carried them on until the whole province was 
 depopulated. It was a pope that instigated Alberic III. to make 
 war against the Paulicians in the East, till, within a few years, 
 
THE PAPACY. 231 
 
 one hundred tlioiisand were put to death. Aquinas, the cele- 
 brated casuist, said that ''the goods of heretics were to be confis- 
 cated, and their lives to be taken away/' Bellarmine says, "It 
 is not enough to put heretics in prison for the extinction of their 
 tenets, which go forth from prison walls and taint the fold; there- 
 fore it is best to send them to their own place/' When we look 
 back to the persecutions to which the Albigenses, the Paulicians, 
 and the Waldenses were subjected, and when we become ac- 
 quainted with the sentiments and doctrines of Rome's most emi- 
 nent and accredited upholders, we can have little doubt that the 
 power which thus made war against the saints, is "the little 
 horn," which grew up amid the ten; for all history in all its 
 chapters, and the word of God in its most solemn sentences, de- 
 clares that that power has been "drunk with the blood of the 
 saints." It was the retrospect of such cruelties which made 
 Milton exclaim — ■ 
 
 ''Avenge, Lord, thy slaughter'd saints, wliose bones 
 Lie scatter'd on the Alpine mountains cold. 
 Even they who kept thy truth so pure of old, 
 When all our fathers worshipp'd stocks and stones, 
 Forget not. In thy book record their groans 
 Who were thy sheep, and in their ancient fold 
 Slain by the bloody Piedmontese, that roU'd 
 Mother with infant down the rocks. Their moans 
 The vales redoubled to the hills, and they 
 To heaven. Their martyr'd blood and ashes sow 
 O'er all the Italian fields, where still doth sway 
 The triple tyrant, that from these may grow 
 A hundred-fold, who, having learn'd the way, 
 Early may fly the Babylonian wo." 
 
 It is true the pope does not now persecute, unless we should 
 quote Dr. Achilli as an instance of an attempt to do so; but you 
 are not therefore to conclude that his principles have changed, 
 for they are precisely the same. It is not because his taste has 
 been improved, for the instance of Achilli shows that it has not; 
 but it is because the freedom of the press, the spread of popular 
 liberty, the mildness of the governments of Euroj)C, and the pro- 
 gress and triumph of enlightened education, have, by the bless- 
 ing of God, brought it to pass that the pope's power is limited 
 to his church provinces. And the system of Popery S'eems to 
 
232 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 me at tliis moment to totter, waiting for that tremendous crasli 
 which shall sink it like a millstone into the depths of the sea for 
 ever and ever. The oath of every Komish bishop is persecuting : 
 ^'Omnes hssreticos persequar et impugnabar." Force and fraud 
 are the two main pillars of the popedom. 
 
 Thus then I have looked at these two points : first, the heathen 
 kingdoms that were to emerge from the chaos in the convulsions 
 of the earth ; next, the ten kingdoms into which the first was to 
 be split under the symbol of horns; next, the little horn that 
 sprang up amid the ten, and therefore in Europe; next, the 
 three that were to be pulled down — the Vandals, the Ostrogoths, 
 and the Lombards — by this little horn; next, the evidence of its 
 fulfilment in the Papacy — a see, an episcopal power, with a 
 mouth speaking great things and words against the Most High, 
 and making war with the saints and the people of Grod. And 
 then we have explained, in another portion of the chapter, the 
 length of time during which this politico-ecclesiastical power was 
 to make war with the saints. It is in ver. 25: "They shall be 
 given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of 
 a time." Every writer upon prophecy is satisfied that a "time" 
 signifies, in prophetic language, a year; "times," two years; and 
 "the dividing of a time," or "half a time," half a prophetic 
 year. But as a prophetic day stands for a literal year, so a pro- 
 phetic year consists of 365 prophetic days, or 365 literal years. 
 A tim.e, times, and half a time, make then, when added together, 
 1260 days, called by St. John in the Apocalypse, 42 months. 
 AVe are to understand, then, that the saints of God were to be 
 given into the power of the ecclesiastico-political despotism for 
 1260 years. If we begin to count this period from the time 
 when Justinian issued his pandects, and constituted the pope not 
 only the ecclesiastical pontiff of Christendom, but armed him 
 also with power to punish heresy with death, then the 1260 3^cars. 
 ended at the epoch of the French Revolution, in 1792; and cer- 
 tainly, by the blow it then received, any thing like the power of 
 persecution on the part of the Papacy has been destroyed. Its 
 principles remain — its ability only is broken. If, however, you 
 begin to count the 1260 years from the time when the pope first 
 put forth his claim to be universal bishop, A. D. 256, this calcu- 
 
THE PAPACY. 233 
 
 lation would bring you down to the year 1517; when the Re- 
 formation began, and the Papal power was broken. Taking either 
 of these two epochs — and either of them may be the right one — 
 from either 1517 or 1792, the power of the Papacy to persecute 
 has practically and substantially ceased. And if this be the case, 
 the fears of some Protestants that the pope will again get the 
 upper hand in England, and that he will sway our sceptre, and 
 occupy our throne, and direct our parliaments, are in my humble 
 opinion, perfectly absurd. If there be truth in the propositions I 
 have stated, then there is not the possibility of such an event, 
 for God has said that the saints should be given into his hand 
 for 1260 years. Those years, I think, have expired, at the ear- 
 liest in 1517, at the latest in 1792; and therefore, whatever 
 temporary success the Papal power may attain in England — 
 whatever proselytes it may make from the Tractarian clergy — 
 whatever adherents it may gather from the tainted laity — I do 
 not believe that the papal power will ever attain political ascend- 
 ency in England. I do not think there is the remotest possi- 
 bility of it. 
 
 But I do not dwell longer upon this. I draw two or three 
 practical lessons, which will perhaps be more useful. First, then, 
 predictions of the increasing power of the Papacy are given, in 
 order to be to us increasing evidence of the truth of the word of 
 God. I have shown you that a perpetual miracle would destroy 
 itself The present miracle is that the grass grows in spring and 
 withers in autumn. If it were to be reversed, and grass were to 
 grow in autumn and wither in spring, whatever God ordained 
 would be found to be the natural thing. The present law is, that 
 the dead are buried and do not rise ; but if it had been the ex- 
 perience of eighteen centuries that the dead should rise twelve 
 months after their burial, we should pronounce it to be no miracle, 
 but the natural law or order of things. The miracles that we 
 see around us are the springing of the grass, the blooming of the 
 flowers — the productions of the earth. All these things are just 
 as much results of the touch of God as the turning of the water 
 into wine, the raising of the dead Lazarus, or the feeding of the 
 five thousand with a few loaves and fishes ; only we are so ac- 
 customed to these phenomena, that we call them, in our language, 
 
 20* 
 
234 rROPIIETlC STUDIES. 
 
 ^^ the laws of nature/' and frequently forget that they are the 
 evidences of the presence of God. But jDrophecy is not liable to 
 this objection : it is a miracle of accumulative power. The evi- 
 dence becomes stronger every day of the origin and inspiration 
 of the Bible : one brings a city like Nineveh, pale and ghastly 
 from its grave ; another discovers some great phenomenon in dis- 
 tant lands, or another brings from science some new and hidden 
 fact that men have never detected before, or discovers some new 
 medical power that hco.rs a relation to the curse, and seems to be 
 an instalment of the day when that curse shall be transformed 
 into a blessing — we have all these growing and accumulating 
 proofs of the authenticity and inspiration of the Bible, and that 
 holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. 
 And thus the longer the Bible continues to give, by the fulfilment 
 of its prophecies, accumulating evidence of the inspiration of God, 
 the clearer will be our convictions that the Bible is true. 
 
 Another reason, perhaps, why the prophecies were given, is to 
 show the perfect harmony between the Old Testament and the 
 New. Read the records of Daniel which he wrote in Babylon ; 
 read the Apocalypse of John recorded by him in Patmos, and you 
 find that the facts, the historic facts that they preintimated, are 
 substantially the same : and that Daniel and John were both 
 taught from the same wisdom, inspired by the same God, and 
 spake as they were moved by the same holy influence. 
 
 Another reason why God has so largely depicted in Daniel, so 
 minutely described in the Apocalypse, and so vividly sketched in 
 the Epistle to the Thessalonians, the great Papal power that was 
 to arise, was that ^^ forewarned, we might be forearmed. '^ And, 
 if ever there was a day when it was needful to disclose a system 
 Vv^hose spires sparkle in the rays of rising and of setting suns, 
 but underneath which are dungeons so dark and dens so cruel, it 
 is surely in a day when the rush, and current of the religious 
 movement of the age seems all to be rolling and hastening toward 
 Babylon. I heard Mr. Newman, the most distinguished convert 
 that Ptome has recently made, arguing, and in eloquent and im- 
 pressive terms, with those who are called Anglicans ; and he as- 
 sumed the ground which the Church of Rome has so repeatedly 
 marked out, maintaining the doctrine of a perpetually visible 
 
THE PAPACY. 285 
 
 church, which might fall into incidental errors, but by no possi- 
 bility into absolute apostasy; and I declare that if I believed that 
 dogma, I should, after having heard his argument, feel it my duty 
 to leave the Church of Scotland or the Church of Enii'land, and 
 to join the Church of Rome. His reasoning, as addressed to 
 Messrs. Maskell, and Bennet was irresistible. There is no ground 
 that you can stand on but this — Evangelical religion, the Chris- 
 tianity of the Bible, the religion and the cement of the saints of 
 God, or, the Church of Rome — not a corrupt church, but the Ba- 
 bylon of the Apocalypse, the great apostasy that is delineated 
 here and in the Epistle to the Thessalonians. If the Church of 
 Rome be only a corrupt, reformable church, the reformers ought 
 to have remained in it and tried to make it better : but they felt 
 it what Luther maintained it to be, that it was the Babylon of 
 prophecy, and heard sounding in their ears the commission of their 
 God, "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers 
 of her plagues.^' I do not wonder that the Church of Rome 
 practically prohibits the perusal, or at least the interpretation of 
 the Bible. It contains her own picture so plainly, so vividly, so 
 unmistakably sketched, that if she allowed the Bible to be read, 
 he that runs would read that picture, and fasten the brand where 
 the spirit of God has fastened it eighteen centuries ago — on her. 
 Take care then, in these days, of any approach to that system. 
 Your dogmas of apostolical personal succession — baptismal re- 
 generation — a perpetually visible church — these are the postulates 
 that Mr. Newman asks. Grant him these, and the pope will hold 
 Saint Paul's and Westminster Abbey in a few very years. I repeat 
 it again, my dear friends, the only ground on which we can stand, 
 is this, that the Bible alone is the rule of faith — that justifica- 
 tion by faith alone is the article of a standing church — tliat re- 
 generation by the Spirit of God alone is the article of a living 
 church. Without this justification by faith, there is a fallen 
 church. Without this regeneration by the Spirit, there is a dead 
 church. Concede these, and you may, without any great sacri- 
 fice, and consistently enough, concede all points besides. Never 
 forget, then, my dear friends, that the great safety of the people 
 of God is cleaving to the Bible; and that the great secret of the 
 apostasy of Rome is, the elevating of human authority into the 
 
236 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 place of God. Here is just tlie whole spring and source of the 
 mischief. Remember this^ that neither the General Assembly 
 of the Church of Scotland, nor the House of Commons of Great 
 Britain, nor the Convocation, is any authority with me as to what 
 I am to believe. Neither the Bishop of Exeter in the one, nor 
 our 0W41 beloved and gracious queen in the other, constitute the 
 rule of faith. It is not the Bible explained by the bishop, nor the 
 Bible explained by the presbytery, but the Bible alone, that is 
 the rule of faith of all true Christians. Once concede that you 
 are to look at the Bible through the lens of the presbytery, or 
 through the telescope of the bishop, and you give up your great 
 and strongest citadel, and you are sure to fall into the hands of 
 the enemy. Cleave, then, to that blessed book as your only rule 
 of faith — the arsenal of the soldiers of Christ — the armoury of 
 the saints of the Most High. The oracles of God are as fresh 
 and beautiful as when first taken, like a leaf from the tree of life, 
 and committed to the nations. The Bible is a lamp ever bright, 
 a light ever sure. And be not satisfied with holding the Bible in 
 your hand ; hold it also in your heart. We are strong, not by 
 possession of the Bible as a book, but by the embodiment of the 
 Bible as a living, plastic, regulating faith. It is God's truth 
 ivithin us, not God's truth without us, that is the strength of 
 Christians, the safety of the saints of God. Show, then, to the 
 Church of Rome — show to the world at large, that we have a 
 succession that never fails — the succession of the sons of God ; 
 that we have a religion which is ever beautiful, and mighty to 
 make us holy and to make us happy — a religion that is not meat, 
 nor drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy 
 Ghost. Seek to show your missionary spirit by difi"using this 
 faith ; and leave not the sisters of charity, so active in our streets, 
 or the long-robed priests of the Oratory, so busy in every place 
 into which they can gain admission, to eclipse or excel you in 
 ministering to the wants of your fellow-men, and in spreading 
 this blessed gospel among those who are ignorant of it. The 
 great defence against Puseyism and Popery is — living religion. 
 Be Christians, and Rome will feel it. Be orthodox in head, but 
 cold and unsanctified in heart and inactive in life, and Rome will 
 not only rejoice, but gain. Let us bless God that we know this 
 
THE PAPACY. ' 237 
 
 —that however that dark system may spread for a little its 
 mightiest triumphs are the precursors of its greatest downfall. 
 God's judgments on Kome have already begun— Babylon is now 
 drinking of the cup of the indignation of God; and all her 
 boasted triumphs are but the instalments, as it were, or fore- 
 tokens of her speedy downfall. She is only gathering together 
 all her forces, till the earth shall explode from" beneath, and the 
 heavens rain floods of fire from above, and great Babylon shall 
 perish like a ship foundering at sea. We rejoice not at the suf- 
 ferings of any: but yet we cannot but join with saints that are 
 in heaven and angels that are round the throne, in giving glory 
 to God that the great waster of the earth is about to be removed ; 
 and that the Jews, his ancient heritage, have heard his voice and 
 are soon to come back; and that the fulness of the Gentiles has 
 nearly arrived, and "the kingdoms of this world are soon to be- 
 come the kingdoms of our God and of his Christ, and he shall 
 reign for ever and ever.'^ Amen. 
 
238 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE COMING KINGDOM. 
 
 " I belield till the thrones were cast clown, and the Ancient of days did sit, 
 whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure 
 wool : his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire . . . 
 And there was given him dominion, and gloiy, and a kingdom, that all people, 
 nations, and languages should serve him : his dominion is an everlasting do- 
 minion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be 
 destroyed . . . Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to 
 the saints of the Most High ,• and the time came that the saints possessed the 
 kingdom . . . But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his do- 
 minion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and do- 
 minion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be 
 given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an ever- 
 lasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him." — Daniel vii. 9, 
 14, 22, 26, 27. 
 
 The first fact that is here worthy of notice is the consump- 
 tion, or the wasting away, of that power which is called the ^Hit- 
 tie horn.^^ I have identified this power with the Papacy, by, I 
 think, irresistible evidence. There is here a clear intimation, 
 that in the first instance it shall be gradually wasted or consumed 
 till it is all but exhausted by the wasting influence of a power 
 without it; and next, that after it has undergone a series of suc- 
 cessive wastings or consumptions, it shall then be utterly and 
 signally destroyed, and its body given to the devouring flame. 
 In this description of Daniel, one cannot but notice the basis of 
 the predictions of St. Paul respecting the man of sin, and so far 
 the evidence of his acquaintance with the book of Daniel. In 
 2 Thcss. ii. we have a description of a power that should '' sit in 
 the temple of God, showing himself as if he were God:" that 
 power which he calls '^the mystery of iniquity," which was so 
 soon to be developed, and of which he foretells the end. 
 
THE COMING KINGDOM. 239 
 
 '^Then shall that wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord 
 shall consume with the spirit of his mouth :" that is the first 
 stage; and then utterly "destroy with the brightness of his 
 coming.'^ You have thus the very events predicted by St. Paul, 
 clearly indicated by Daniel long before. Both prophets drew 
 from a common fountain. Daniel states that "the judgment 
 shall sit/^ that they shall take away the dominion of the little 
 horn, to consume it, and then to destroy it unto the end." St. 
 Paul on this subject utters predictions which are completely the 
 echo of the prophecy of Daniel ; not that the one transcribed the 
 predictions of the other, but that both were inspired by the same 
 Spirit, foresaw the rise of the same dread and destructive super- 
 stition, and predicted, as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, 
 first its gradual decay — a decay that is now obvious in every 
 land — and, lastly, its final and irretrievable de<struction by the 
 brightness of the Redeemer's coming. 
 
 We cannot but see, in the next place, that the utter destnic- 
 tion of " the false prophet'^ is not pi'ior but subsequent to the ap- 
 pearance of the "Ancient of days,'' or the coming of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. We see the thrones set; we see the Ancient of 
 days arrayed in his garments, white as snow — thousands of at- 
 tendant angels -ministering before him; and "after this," says 
 the prophet, " I beheld theii because of the voice of the great 
 words which the horn spake : I beheld even till the beast was 
 slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the devouring flame.''' 
 And so, in verse 26, where it is explained, "The judgment shall 
 sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to 
 destroy it unto the end." It therefore appears to me that, first, 
 the Lord shall come, and next, the Papacy shall be finally de- 
 stroyed. I do not believe that the Church of Rome will be 
 swept away utterly, except by Christ's immediate personal reve- 
 lation. All Scripture seems to me clearly to indicate this. Her 
 consumption, in fact, is now going on; and soon, as soon as the 
 Lord comes, the final destruction of the system, and of all that 
 cleave to it, by what the apostle calls, " brightness of the Re- 
 deemer's coming," shall be signally accomplished. So we read 
 of the stone that first smites the image upon its ten toes, or the 
 ten kingdoms; and then the God of heaven sets up a kingdom 
 
240 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 whicli sliall not be destroyed or be left to otlier people, but wblch 
 shall break in pieces and consume all other kingdoms, and it 
 shall stand for ever. There is, first, the revelation of the stone, 
 i. e. the second coming of Christ; then there is the destruction 
 of ail hostile dominions or empires, and, among others, that of 
 the Roman apostasy also. So here it is, after the advent, that 
 the beast " was slain, his body destroyed, and given to the de- 
 vouring flame.'' 
 
 Now notice how parallel this runs with the description of our 
 Lord's advent in 2 Thess. i. 7: "To j^ou who are troubled rest 
 with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven 
 with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on 
 them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ : who shall be punished with everlasting de- 
 struction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of 
 his power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and 
 to be admired in all them that believe." You see how perfectly 
 one passage responds to the other. First of all, there is to be 
 the revelation of Christ, as the apostle says; next, he is to 
 "take vengeance in flaming fire on them that know not God and 
 obey not the gospel :" or, according to Daniel, this beast, or 
 false prophet, or anti-christian horn, is to be committed to the 
 burning flame; or, as St. John tells us, in the Apocalypse, 
 "she," i. e. "the great whore," is to be burned, and "the smoke 
 of her torment shall ascend up for ever and ever." This iden- 
 tity of language, so specific in every case, cannot be accidental; 
 it is the coincidence of men who were inspired by the same 
 Spirit, and who proclaim the same grand events, — the destruc- 
 tion of the apostasy by the personal ajDpearance of the Lord, the 
 glorifying of all that believe and are found, when he comes, 
 " looking for him the second time without sin unto salvation," 
 and his being " admired in all them that believe," and " glori- 
 fied by his saints." 
 
 Such is the blessed hope that is set before us in the gospel. 
 Such is the prospect that we have, that all that is hostile to the 
 Lord of glory shall be utterly destroyed, and that the truth in 
 all its purity shall prevail, and overflow the human fiunily from 
 sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. It is 
 
THE COMING KINGDOM. 241 
 
 thus that those who look for the utter destruction of Rome be- 
 fore Christ comes look for a vain thing. It will last till he 
 comes. It spans the chasm between Christ's first and second 
 advent; it will be weakened by the force of the preintimatory 
 strokes of the stone cut out without hands; it will be consumed 
 by the preaching of the gospel ; it will be exhausted by the hos- 
 tility of a thousand kings who once were charmed with its gran- 
 deur, and made drunk with the cup of its intoxication; but it 
 will only be utterly and completely destroyed and broken up by 
 the brightness of the Redeemer's coming. 
 
 This leads me to notice those passages I have read, which 
 announce his coming. We have, in verse 9, a most sublime 
 description: ^' I beheld till the Ancient of days did sit, whose 
 garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the 
 pure wool; his throne was like the fieiy flame, and his wheels as 
 burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before 
 him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thou- 
 sand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was 
 set, and the books were opened." This is plainly not the last 
 judgment, for it precedes the destruction of antichrist; it is a 
 judgment previous to the last, described, as I shall show. you, in 
 other parts of Scripture. But the first question is, who is the 
 ^^Ancient of days?" Some think it is a description of God the 
 Father; but it is never to be forgotten that there is not from the 
 commencement of the Bible to its close any portrait, even in 
 words, of the appearance to human eye of God the Father. He 
 is spoken of as ''dwelling in light inaccessible and full of glory;" 
 as ''the God whom no man hath seen nor can see;" and there is 
 nothing like a picture for the eye given of God the Father. 
 Just in the same manner, there is nothing in Scripture like a 
 portrait of the Holy Ghost. Hence nothing is to my mind more 
 revolting than to see a dove set forth as if it were the scriptural 
 symbol of the Holy Spirit. I know the passage on which the 
 idea is founded, in which it is stated that the Holy Spirit de- 
 scended upon Jesus "like a dove:" but everyone who knows 
 the construction of the Greek language, and will be at the trou- 
 ble to consult the original, will see that it is not said that the 
 Holy Spirit descended '^ in the form of a dove;" there is con- 
 
 21 
 
242 PIlOPIIETiC STUDIES. 
 
 veyed no sucli meaning; but that '^he descended as a dove de- 
 scends/^ i.e. with a fluttering, rapid movement of a dove; and 
 for this purpose other birds might probably have been selected 
 with equally expressive justice, in order to denote the idea in- 
 tended. There is no picture of God the Father recorded in the 
 Bible to have been seen by man; nor is there any picture or 
 similitude of God the Holy Ghost : there is a portrait of Him 
 who is '^God manifest in the flesh,'' '^seen of angels," ^'justified 
 in the Spirit/' ^^ believed on in the world/' and finally, ^'re- 
 ceived up into glory." This is to be expected. If this then be 
 so, I think the inference is just, that the Ancient of days — 
 great as may be the difiiculty on this hypothesis of reconciling this 
 with the statement in ver. 13 — is none else than the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. That I am justified in making this assertion, seems to 
 me plain from the corresponding statement in the Book of Reve- 
 lation, where a description, analogous if not identical, is given of 
 our blessed Lord avowedly and by name. First, ''He cometli in 
 the clouds, and every eye shall see him." Then says John, 
 "I turned to see the voice which spake with me. And in the 
 midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, 
 clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps 
 with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like 
 wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; 
 and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; 
 and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his 
 right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp 
 two-edged sword : and his countenance was as the sun shineth in 
 his strength," Now see what Daniel says of the Ancient of days : 
 "His garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like 
 the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his 
 Avheels as burning fire." 
 
 Is not the sketch given by John as it were a reflection of the 
 sketch by Daniel ? are not these substantial features of identity ? 
 and is not the inference at least highly probable, that the being 
 described by the one is delineated by the other ; and that in the 
 picture of Daniel it was Jesus Christ in one of those frequently 
 occurring anthropomorphic manifestations of himself prior to his 
 incarnation ? If so, how clear the assertion of his deity as the 
 
THE COMING KINGDOM. 243 
 
 p 
 
 Ancient of days with a garment white as snow, and before whom 
 thousands and tens of thousands stood and ministered ! 
 
 Another reason why I conclude that this is not a representation 
 of God the Father, is the following : — The Father is never spoken 
 of as coming to judge the world : '^ He has committed all judg- 
 ment unto the Son.'' We must appear, not " before the judg- 
 ment-seat" of God the Father, but before " the judgment-seat of 
 Christ.'' And every prediction in the New Testament leads us 
 to suppose that the Lord Jesus Christ is the judge, and appointed 
 to be so, of the living and the dead. The only difficulty in the 
 way of this interpretation is the statement contained in ver. 13 : 
 " I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man 
 came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, 
 and the}^ brought him near before him." Herein is the difficulty, 
 because the portrait of this first-mentioned personage is unques- 
 tionably that of our blessed Lord. If so, how can he be said to 
 be " brought before the Ancient of days ?" I admit and feel the 
 difficulty. I cannot explain it : I have not yet discovered what 
 will be discovered — the solution of these words : but it is plain 
 enough that the Son of man is the portrait of the Saviour. It 
 appears to me scarcely less plain that the other passage is a por- 
 trait of the Saviour also. The two may be portraits of the Saviour 
 in his different aspects: one as the absolute God; the other as the 
 incarnate Man : one as the Son of God, the Ancient of days ; the 
 other as the Son of man, born of the Virgin, crucified for us, and 
 for our salvation. That ver. 13 gives the picture of the Saviour, 
 is plain ; for it is the foundation of all the imagery used by the 
 apostles to denote him when he shall come to be glorified in his 
 saints. Parallel passages, corroborative of this, are to be found in 
 Matt. xxiv. 30 : "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of 
 man in heaven." " Then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, 
 and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven 
 in power and great glory." We have the same picture in Matt, 
 xxvi. 64, where he himself says, " Hereafter shall ye sec the Sou 
 of man sitting on the right hand of power," (answering to the 
 Ancient of days,) "and coming in the clouds of heaven:" and 
 in Kev. i. 7, we have the same picture again placed before us : 
 "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him." 
 
244 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 And in Acts vii. 55, 56, we have tlie very same picture as seen 
 by Stephen, when, '^ being full of the Holy Ghost, he looked up 
 into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the 
 right hand of God, and said. Behold, I see the heavens opened, 
 and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God." 
 
 We thus then see, first, the picture of Christ as the Ancient of 
 days; next we see him coming in the clouds of heaven, with 
 power and great glory : — the first, his essential deity ; the second, 
 his mediatorial character ; and immediateli/ after, we perceive, 
 " there was given him his dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, 
 that all people, nations, and languages should serve him : his 
 dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, 
 and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.'^ I wish 
 you to notice this fact : our Lord first descends from heaven borne 
 upon the clouds, and appears upon the earth ; next, and imme- 
 diately after this manifestation of himself, the saints take posses- 
 sion of the kingdoms under the whole heaven. ^' All people, and 
 nations, and kingdoms," it is here said, '^ shall serve him." 
 Chronologically viewed, the order of proceeding is this : Christ 
 comes first, Christ's foes are depressed and destroyed next, and 
 the Millennium is immediately established upon earth. If this 
 event, the destruction of the antichristian apostasy, be the first 
 thing that takes place immediately after Christ's second advent, 
 then the inference seems to me plain, whatever may be the diffi- 
 culties that beset it, that the Millennium is not the dawn that 
 ushers in Christ, but that Christ is the sun emerging from be- 
 neath the horizon, whose noonday beams constitute that full 
 millennial light and unshaded glory which shall overflow the 
 whole habitable globe. It is impossible that all these descriptions 
 should be merely figurative. It is too plainly expressed — too 
 clearly taught in the language of the New Testament — too direct 
 and historical in its tone and bearing, to be considered as a mere, 
 figurative delineation of a great providential event, which leads 
 to the destruction of the man of sin and to the establishment of 
 the kingdom of Christ. And if there were any difficulty or mis- 
 take about it, surely it is cleared up by such a passage as that 
 contained in Acts i. 9 : '^ When Christ had spoken these things 
 unto the apostles, behold," it is added. '' he was taken up into 
 
THE COMING KINGDOM. 045 
 
 heaven, and a cloud received him out of their sight/' You re- 
 collect the apocalyptic picture is, " Behold, he cometh with 
 clouds;" ^^then shall ye see the sign of the Son of man coming 
 in the clouds of heaven/' Thus when Christ ascended into hea- 
 ven, after his resurrection from the dead, the phraseology em- 
 ployed to denote that ascension is, that ^' a cloud received him 
 out of their sight;" and then, at ver. 10, we are told, that "while 
 they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two 
 men stood by them in white apparel ; which also said. Ye men 
 of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven ? this same Jesus, 
 which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like 
 manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." He was taken up 
 to heaven in a cloud : the prediction uttered by the angel was, 
 that he should come exactly in the same manner ; and therefore 
 the event that Christians are to anticipate as the brightest, the 
 holiest, and the most precious that can occur, is, the second ap- 
 pearance of him who left us in the cloud to plead at the Father's 
 right hand, and who shall come again in all the pomp and 
 grandeur of the Ancient of days, seated upon the clouds as his 
 chariot, in form like unto the Son of man, consuming with ever- 
 lasting fire the false jjrophets, the beast, and the apostasy; takin<T 
 vengeance upon all that know not God, and that obey not the 
 gospel ; and to be admired in the saints that have been raised from 
 the dead, and gathered from the ranks of the living, and consti- 
 tuting that happy and blessed consummation when the bridegroom 
 shall have come and the bride shall have made herself ready. 
 
 We gather then from all this, after careful comparison and ana- 
 lysis, that Christ shall come with the speed and brilliancy of the 
 lightning upon the clouds of heaven, and at a moment when the 
 world shall be asking in scorn. Where is the promise of his 
 coming ? and that lightning flame which precedes the chariot on 
 which he comes shall penetrate every grave, until each saint that 
 has fallen asleep in Jesus shall feel the reflux of a new life, and 
 bone shall be joined to bone, and sinew to sinew, and the dead in 
 Christ shall rise first. The despised and rejected of men will 
 appear as the Ancient of days — the crucified between two thieves 
 shall be seen coming in the glory of his Father in the clouds of 
 heaven. What a piercing cry shall rise from the lost as they be- 
 
 21- 
 
246 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 hold him whom they have pierced ! — in what bitter language 
 shall they mourn ! What an exulting shout of victory and of 
 gratulation shall roll from ten thousand times ten thousand 
 tongues, '^ Lo, this is our God ! v/e have waited for him : blessed 
 is he that cometh in the name of the Lord/^ 
 
 Immediately after this revelation of the Ancient of days, the 
 kingdom of Christ shall be established upon earth. A kingdom 
 is given him — an everlasting dominion — a dominion that shall 
 not pass away. This is the same kingdom which is described in 
 the last two chapters of the Revelation, under the emblem of the 
 new Jerusalem that cometh down from heaven : that kingdom 
 whose constituent elements are righteousness, and peace, and joy; 
 whose subjects are kings, and priests, and saints : a kingdom in 
 which present political greatness shall have no place } in wbich 
 great wealth shall have no welcome ; into which nothing that de- 
 fileth shall enter, but only they who have washed their robes and 
 made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 
 
 The ninth verse indicates also that those saints who rise w^ith 
 Christ shall sit upon thrones. For the language of ver. 9 is, ''I 
 beheld until the thrones were cast down.^-* There is but one who 
 is to reign absolutely, the Ancient of days ; then how do we ex- 
 plain the appearance of many " thrones ?" This might be inex- 
 plicable, if we had not parallel passages to show its meaning. 
 One of these is found in Luke xxii. 30, where we find these 
 words : " That ye may eat and drink at my table in my king- 
 dom, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." So, Matt. xix. 28 : 
 ^' Verily I say unto you. That ye which have followed me, in the 
 regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his 
 glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve 
 tribes of Israel.'^ And this identifies the description with the 
 description of the Ancient of days in ver. 9 of this chapter. And 
 that this is not a deduction from a- solitary or an isolated passage, 
 is plain from another description in 1 Cor. vi. 2, 3 : '^ Do ye 
 not know that the saints shall judge the world? . . . know 
 ye not that we shall judge angels V I next turn to Rev. xx., at 
 the description of the very commencement of the Millenuium, — 
 not after it, recollect — (and this shows that the Ancient of days, 
 as described in ver. 9, comes before the Millennium.) At ver. 4 
 
THE COMING KINGDO^NI. 247 
 
 of that chapter we have the words, ''I saw thrones^' with which 
 compare the words of Daniel, "and the thrones were set," — "and 
 they sat upon them/' Who sat uj^on them ? Those that were 
 raised and reigned with Christ a thousand years : — " and judg- 
 ment was given unto them : and I saw the souls of them which 
 were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, 
 and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, 
 neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their 
 hands ; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 
 But the rest of the dead,'' i. c, the unconverted, the unregene- 
 rated dead, those that had the mark of the beast upon their fore- 
 heads and had worshipped the beast — " lived not again until the 
 thousand years were finished.'^ 
 
 Now, put all these passages together, study them at your lei- 
 sure, and they Avill prove, I think, irresistibly, that ver. 9 of this 
 chapter of Daniel, which describes the Ancient of days as com- 
 ing in the clouds of heaven to judge the world and to receive a 
 dominion and a kingdom, is a delineation of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ coming prior to the millennial reign; and the saints who 
 %re raised from the dead and gathered from the living who are 
 found alive at that day, shall, as a mark of the esteem and aifec- 
 tion of their Lord, be placed on thrones beside the Saviour him- 
 self, and concur with him in the judgment of all flesh. There 
 is nothing strange or unreasonable in supposing that Christians 
 will thus become the assessors of Christ; that they will express 
 an Amen to his judgment, and sympathize with him in all his 
 just and righteous decisions, then and there seen and felt to 
 be so. 
 
 In the next place, we read that the character of those who 
 shall occupy this kingdom will be "saints;" but that their 
 worldly aspect is to be "kingdoms, and languages, and people." 
 This shows us that after the Ancient of days has come — after 
 the thrones have been set — after the Son of man has been 
 revealed in the clouds of heaven, — all nations, people, and lan- 
 guages existing in all their diversity, and with all their distinc- 
 tions, but individually and morally saints, though circumstantially 
 nations, shall constitute that empire of peace and joy, over 
 which he shall reign in glory and in beauty. If this be so, na- 
 
248 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 tions will exist in the millennial reign. Perhaps all the dis- 
 tinctions that separate nation from nation shall be perpetuated 
 then; but, while they have different colours and complexions 
 then as now — while they speak different tongues as they do 
 now, — they shall have one grand characteristic in common, 
 they shall be the saints of Grod, the sons of the Most High — 
 Asia, Africa, America, and Europe, shall all be baptized by 
 one Spirit, and washed in one fountain, and have in their 
 hearts the image, the likeness, and the superscription of the 
 Lamb. Flower will still differ from flower, star from star, coun- 
 try from country; there will be all variety of modes, all diversity 
 of circumstance, but perfect unity of moral and spiritual charac- 
 ter, united and consolidated in Christ, and gathered round him 
 to worship and adore him as the brightness of the Father's 
 glory, and the express image of his person — the Saviour of sin- 
 ners, the Lamb slain. Then Christians whose complexion is 
 white shall be ashamed that they have ever looked with con- 
 tempt on Christians whose faces are not so. Then the Ameri- 
 can Christian who would refuse to approach the communion 
 table in the company of the Christian black, will find that he"* 
 with whom he would not partake of the symbol upon earth is a 
 fellow-partaker with him of the substance in glory; and he shall 
 wonder, if not grieve, that he was ever tempted to make so fool- 
 ish and sinful a distinction where were the common law, the 
 common faith, and the common Father, and one Spirit animat- 
 ing and sustaining the hearts of both. Then nations that war- 
 red with each other shall wonder that they did so. Then perhaps 
 the buried dead of Waterloo shall start to their feet; the last 
 sounds they recollected upon earth were the roar of artillery, 
 the roll of the victorious drum, the cries of the wounded and the 
 dying; and the first sounds they shall hear at that day shall be 
 the trumpet of judgment, and the songs of the saved, and the 
 curses of the lost, and the voice of Jesus saying, "Arise, ye 
 dead, and come to judgment!" And how shall the French 
 Christian marvel that he ever consented to destroy the British 
 Christian in battle, or that man ever wielded against man any 
 other than spiritual weapons ! 
 
 Languages also shall exist in that day: for there shall bo 
 
THE COMING KINGDOM. 249 
 
 "people, and nations, and languages." The division of tongues 
 was part of the curse; but the reversal of that curse will not be 
 the reduction of languages into one, but the perpetuation of all 
 languages, each nation understanding what the other speaks. 
 The miracle at Pentecost was not that all the apostles spoke one 
 language, and all that believed spoke the same language; but 
 that each man spoke in his own tongue, and each understood 
 what his neighbour spoke. So shall it be in the millennial jday. 
 There shall be many tongues, but one sentiment; many lan- 
 guages by many tongues, but each understanding perfectly the 
 other: the many languages, like the clefFs in music, shall only 
 constitute the more glorious harmony; there shall not be uni- 
 formity of speech, but unity of sentiment. There will not be 
 the monotony of a single language, but the component harmony 
 of many languages, praising one God and the Lamb for ever and 
 ever. 
 
 Then the unity of character of all people and languages, and 
 nations, and tongues is, that they shall all "serve and obey him.'' 
 Ail the nations of the globe shall perpetually behold and praise 
 the Lamb. Every language shall be burdened with this one 
 song; every heart shall overflow with this all-encompassing and 
 adoring love; every voice shall give utterance to an unceasing 
 anthem; all serve and obey him in that blessed abode where 
 they " rest not day nor night, saying. Unto him that loved us, 
 and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made 
 us, out of every language and people and tongue, kings and 
 priests unto our Grod, to him be glory and dominion for ever.'' 
 
 We now gather from the whole of this statement, then, that 
 truth shall eventually triumph ; there is no reason to doubt that 
 the right and the true and the holy shall have the victory. All 
 dominions that are hostile to Christ must give way. All king- 
 doms incompatible, with his must be dissolved. The kingdoms 
 of this world have their symbols in the lion, the bear, the leo- 
 pard, and the fourth dreadful and terrible beast; and by a law 
 universally proved, their passions and discord shall precipitate 
 their own destruction; but Christ's kingdom has nothing anar- 
 chical, because it has nothing sinful in it. It has not one ele- 
 ment of decay, because into it nothing that defiicth can enter. 
 
250 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 Suns shall grow pale, stars shall become dim; the crescent shall 
 wane, the crucifix shall fall from the hands of him that holds it : 
 Judaism shall be cast away an exhausted formula : the philoso- 
 phy of Socrates and Plato, the Academy and the Stoa, shall be 
 forgotten, and their discussions cease. All other names shall 
 be shaded or utterly disappear; and Christ's name shall be all, 
 and Christ's kingdom shall extend over all the earth, and all 
 shall bless him and be blessed in him. We see already tokens 
 of that day. I take a bright view of the coming days. I do 
 not believe that the man of sin shall reassert his ancient po- 
 litical supremacy in this land, or that he shall be able any more 
 to wield the destinies of the nations of the earth, or to persecute 
 the saints of Grod, at least on a gigantic scale. I believe, too, 
 that there shall be given before the time of the end auguries and 
 instalments of the coming glory, partly the fulfilment of Joel ii. 
 28. What progress do knowledge, science, education, Chris- 
 tianity, the Bible, make everywhere throughout the world at 
 this moment ! Do we not see the whole human family drawing 
 nearer to each other? Do we not see the two great nations, 
 America and England, speaking a tongue that promises more 
 and more every day to become the tongue of the whole world? 
 Do we not see all languages, however diversified, becoming re- 
 ducible to two, three, or four at the very most, — Christians be- 
 coming less earthly and Christianity less alloyed? What are 
 these but the tokens of the approaching glory — voices in the 
 wilderness preparing the way of the Lord — messengers sent 
 before to announce that the bridegroom cometh? I see flowers 
 of paradise begin to bloom in many a desert ; and afar, many a 
 temple spire emerging into the light of rising and setting suns 
 where pagodas were before. I can see the first rays of the Sun 
 of righteousness beginning to penetrate the Mosque and the Al- 
 hambra, and to surprise the superstitious devotee in the midst 
 of his devotions. The Indian begins to burn his Shaster, the 
 Arab his Koran, and the Chinaman' his gods. Fewer arc found 
 in Pekin to cast their infjmts in the streets to perish; fewer still 
 in India to light the flames that are to consume the widow; 
 fewer still to drag the wheels of the chariot of Juggernaut over 
 the bodies of his prostrate devotees. I see upon all sides the 
 
THE COMING KINGDOM. 251. 
 
 sea of barbarism and superstition begin to ebb, and many a dove 
 to take wing anS fly over the length and breadth of the world's 
 chaotic flood, giving tokens that the Prince of peace is on his 
 way, warning us that the sound of his approach already breaks 
 upon the car. Let us hail the twilight : let us urge on, as far as 
 we can, the coming day; and let us rest assured, whatever the 
 prospects be, because God has said it, that Christ will have a 
 kingdom and a dominion which shall not pass away — a king- 
 dom that shall not be destroyed; and that the power and do- 
 minion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole hea- 
 ven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most 
 High, whose kingdom is an everlasting dominion, and all nations 
 shall serve and obey him. Are you members of his church now, 
 that you may be members of his church then? Are you the 
 saints of God by grace, or the sinners of the world still by na- 
 ture ? Have you been translated from the kingdom of Satan into 
 the kingdom of God's dear Son? Is the prospect which Daniel 
 saw a bright one for you? When this trumpet shall sound, will 
 it startle you with terror, or cheer your soul with joy? What 
 the gospel is to you now, the sound of that trumpet will be to 
 you then. The interest that you have in the gospel now will de- 
 termine the event of which that sound will be the precursor then. 
 My dear friends, let me ask you, in the prospect of that day, to 
 resolve that you will be found in the number of the saints of 
 God — that you will be, if it be possible, the sons of the Most 
 High — that no persecutions that are possible, no scorn that may 
 assail, no bribes that may seduce you, no sins that may tempt 
 you, shall prevent you from arising, and going to your Father, 
 and saying, ^^ Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy 
 sight;'^ and he will rise and meet you; and he will say, ^' Bring 
 forth the fairest robe, and put it on him, and let there be joy; for 
 this my son was dead and is alive, was lost and is found." 
 
252 
 
 LECTURE XVIII. 
 
 THE MOSLEM. 
 
 Daniel viii. 
 
 You will easily perceive that it is necessary to read the whole 
 of this chapter as the basis of a consecutive exposition. It is an 
 historico-prophetical narrative, and must be studied as a whole. 
 Because it is not doctrinal theology, it is not on that account to 
 be passed over as uninstructive. God directed it to be written 
 for our learning ; at the same time it embosoms instructive les- 
 sons, which we shall not fail to gather as we proceed. 
 
 The signs by which great truths are set forth in this chapter are 
 in perfect accordance with what is contained and set forth in pre- 
 vious portions of this book. All ancient writers have set forth 
 truth hieroglyphically, with greater or less propriety. Symbols 
 remain when languages change, and thus become the most perma- 
 nent representatives of great truths. Especially does it seem ap- 
 propriate to set forth what shall take place in the latter days, still 
 future, under some of these hieroglyphic symbols. If the future 
 had been so plainly revealed that all could read future as they 
 see present things, men's responsibility would have been destroyed. 
 If, on the other hand, it had been so dimly disclosed that nobody 
 could understand it at all, there would have been little use in dis- 
 closing it at all. If some would say these prophecies are meant 
 to be understood after they have been revealed, we ask them, 
 why were they previously given ? ' Do you say that it is to con- 
 vince man that God's Word is truth? But the fulfilment of many 
 stretches into the millennial glory, and we shall need then no addi- 
 tional conviction that God's Word is true, for all skepticism will 
 have passed away ; and we shall sec and know God, whom there 
 
THE IMOSLEM. 253 
 
 will be none to deny. It is, rather, more dutiful in us reverently to 
 study, and humbly to explain as we discover truth, and where we 
 cannot see clearly, patiently to wait, aware that what we know not 
 now we shall know hereafter. 
 
 The bear in the former vision is plainly the ram in the pre- 
 sent, as I explained to you in the course of a previous lecture. 
 The two horns that start up on the head of the ram are, as I ex- 
 plained, the Modes and the Persians, constituting one great king- 
 dom. The ram's head of gold was, as every historian will tell 
 you, the diadem of the Persian king, this alone identifying that 
 symbol with the personage to whom it refers; and ^^ pushing west- 
 ward,^' denotes that empire subduing Lydia and Babylon by 
 Cyrus, and Egypt by Cambyses. The he-goat is plainly explained 
 in the chapter to be the Macedonian power; his ^'pushing" (as 
 it is stated in verse 4) " westward, northward, and southward, so 
 that no beast might stand before him,'' denotes his conquests, his 
 advancing and irresistible might. The notable horn that starts 
 up between the ears of the goat might shortly be shown to be, 
 what it may be indisputably proved, Alexander the Great, by 
 whom the Persian ram was destroyed, and by whose destruction 
 immense addition was made to his own empire. This victorious 
 progress of Alexander is matter of history ; it is not matter of 
 conjecture from prophecy, but matter of historical fact. The great 
 horn, which typified Alexander, as we read in this passage, was 
 broken, not gradually wasted away, not desolated inch by inch 
 until it disappeared, but sncqjj^ed asunder, to indicate that his 
 sovereignty, with his life, was suddenly cut short. Everybody 
 who knows his biography is aware that Alexander was seized with 
 fever in the very midst of his victories, and died. History teaches 
 us what the prophecy indicates by four notable horns toward the 
 four winds of heaven, as is stated in ver. 8 ; it tells us that when 
 Alexander fell, his empire was divided among his four generals : 
 Cassander had Greece; Thrace, with its provinces, was given to 
 Lysimachus ; Egypt to Ptolemy ; and the remainder of Asia was 
 given to Seleucus. \Ye have thus the biography of Alexander 
 sketched by Daniel long before Alexander was born. There is 
 no other monarch in the world to whom the description here given 
 would apply; there is no other people in the world's history with 
 
 22 
 
254 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 wliicli the events that are here delineated can be made to coin- 
 cide; the inference^ therefore, is irresistible, that history here 
 records with its pen what prophecy has sketched with its luminous 
 pencil. And so man in his writings, designedly, consciously, or 
 otherwise, witnesses to the fulfilment of the prophecies of God; 
 and it is in so doing that history evermore presents, if we need 
 such additional testimony, fresh evidence that God's word is truth. 
 God sketches the outline of the greatest general's life, and that 
 great general comes forward at the appointed time, and sets him- 
 self, ignorant of it all the while, to fill it up. Alexander thought 
 he was doing his own work, subserving his own ambition, adding 
 to the splendour of an illustrious name, and to the support and 
 extension of an almost unrivalled empire ; he thought that his 
 own hand was working out what his own great genius planned : 
 mistaken man! Great things are put into a little sj)ace; we see 
 them by the light of God's truth. Alexander was filling up the 
 outline that God had sketched; he was not the directing hand, 
 but the obedient pencil ; not the writer, but the mere pen ; he 
 was not the originator, but the humble copyist ; and thus his 
 glory becomes pale, his grandeur mean, while we see that God 
 had arranged all the space that he was to cover, and determined 
 the limits of his actions hundreds of years before Alexander 
 stepped upon the field. 
 
 Thus one result of the study of prophecy is, to make great men 
 feel humble, and little men, through the knowledge of God's word, 
 feel happy. 
 
 I have already dwelt, however, on the sketch of Alexander and 
 his empire, as it was depicted in a previous prophecy. I proceed 
 in this, to show — what has been thought the more difficult part 
 of it — what is meant by the '^ little horn,'' i. e. the power, sove- 
 reignty, rule, which is here described. It has been thought 
 difficult, because there is a description of the Komish power, under 
 the picture of a '^ little horn," in a previous chapter. But it may 
 easily be seen that little horn is' perfectly distinct from the one 
 sketched here. The former sprang out of the fourth kingdom, 
 and out of the fourth kingdom in its tenfold division. This horn 
 phiinly springs out of an eastern, or the Graeco-Macedonian empire, 
 and is characterized by other features, and gives birth to other and 
 
THE MOSLEM. 055 
 
 very different exploits. It must be a religious, or politico-ecclesias- 
 tical power, from its physical smallness and its moral triumphs. 
 Let us see, then, what it refers to; and search if we can find any 
 such body to which we can apply it. I may state, that some have 
 supposed this little horn to be Antiochus Epiphanes, who appeared 
 three hundred years before the birth of Christ, and signalized him- 
 self by his opposition to God, and by the dishonour which he 
 brought upon the religion of Judea. But this seems improbable, 
 from the following circumstances, which I submit to your consi- 
 deration. The little horn was to arise out of one of the four Macedo- 
 nian empires into which the empire, or dynasty, of Alexander was 
 split. In the second place, this kingdom was to arise at the latter 
 end of the four kingdoms of Alexander, or Greek dynasties, as ex- 
 plained in verse 3. The characteristic of this little horn was to be a 
 kingly power. The four horns are four kings; and the notable horn 
 between the eyes another king, who was to have a fierce counte- 
 nance, and was to teach dark oracular sayings. And in the next 
 place, he was to have great success toward the east, and toward 
 the "glory" — this last expression denoting plainly Jerusalem : 
 for the apostle says — " the Jews, to whom pertained the adoption, 
 the covenants, and the fjloryT In the next place, the success of 
 this little horn was to be so great, that it should cast truth, i. e. 
 we suppose, Christianity, to the ground, and spread and propagate 
 itself by craft. It was to take away the daily sacrifice, prayer, 
 praise, and thanksgiving ; and it was to stamp upon all secular 
 powers, "the mighty ones," and upon "the people of the holy 
 ones." And the reason why the holy ones upon whom it was thus 
 to stamp were thus depressed, is stated, in ver. 12, to have been 
 "by reason of their transgression." And the punishment thus 
 inflicted on them is stated in ver. 19 to be " at the latter end of the 
 indignation." And this power, in the next place, was to magnify 
 itself against "the prince of the host. " And it was to last in its 
 power exactly 2300 prophetic days, ?'. ^.2300 literal years. Now 
 the first question that we have to determine, is, who were the 
 people that were thus to be visited in consequence of their trans- 
 gression, at the latter end of the indignation, to be stamped upon 
 and destroyed, by reason of their sin, by the great power; and 
 this will help us more clearly to identify it. That it cannot be 
 
256 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 the Jews, I think is plain, for many reasons. From the days of 
 Daniel to the final overthrow of the Jews, there w^ere only two 
 powers that desolated or destroyed them; — the first, Antiochus 
 Epiphanes, 300 years before the birth of our Lord; and the 
 second, the Roman. And if I show, as I will do by-and-by, 
 that this little horn cannot be either of these, I then show that 
 the Jews are not the people who are here described as the holy 
 ones and the mighty ones, but some other people, whom we are 
 hereafter to specify. That this little horn does not denote Anti- 
 ochus Epiphanes, is clear from this one circumstance, that, like 
 all the other horns mentioned by Daniel, it must be the symbol 
 of a continuous sovereignty, not of one solitary individual who 
 starts into existence, and then disappears, but of a realm or sove- 
 reignty, governed, protected, and preserved by him. But Anti- 
 ochus Epiphanes was only a single individual, w^ho appeared 
 up'on the stage and passed away. The kingdom of Antiochus 
 never could be said, like that of this little horn^ to be a gigantic 
 empire, prospering toward the south and toward the east. In 
 the days of Antiochus, the Jews' transgression was not full; for 
 at that period the Jewish dynasty was almost in its meridian 
 glory: some of its most illustrious men were then living. And, 
 lastly, Antiochus died about 300 years after the commencement 
 of the 2300 years which describe the duration of the dynasty 
 represented by the little horn. From these facts it is plain that 
 the little horn does not describe Antiochus Epiphanes. And in 
 the next place, it cannot refer to the Romans, for the Roman 
 power did not increase eastioard, so much as this is described to 
 have done; but it increased specially westward and northward. 
 Neither did the Roman power increase by craft; for there was 
 very little craft in the aggressions, the victories, or the progress 
 of Rome, but rather honesty, manliness, and open battle. And 
 again, the Roman power was not a realm that rose out of Mace- 
 don, but from Latium. And lastly, the Roman powder had no 
 hold in Greece, until long after the destruction of Jerusalem.- 
 And if the little horn represents Rome pagan, it is utterly ab- 
 surd to suppose that it can represent Rome papal at the same 
 time. There are in prophecy two distinct symbols for Rome in 
 its pagan, and Rome in its papal state; the one is the "iron 
 
TFIE MOSLEM. 257 
 
 legs," or Rome pagan, and the other is the 'Hen toes/' iron 
 mixed with clay, describing Rome papal; and it cannot, there- 
 fore, refer to Rome. In the Apocalypse, the seven-headed dra- 
 gon is pagan Rome, and the seven-headed, ten-horned beast is 
 papal Rome. And since Antiochus Epiphanes and the Romans 
 were the only two powers who persecuted the Jews, and as these 
 are not the two powers here indicated, — for it is certain that 
 they are not, either of them, the power indicated by the little 
 horn, — so the Jews, over whom they triumphed, are not the peo- 
 ple indicated by those who are here described as '^ the holy 
 ones,'' and the '' transgressing people." I believe, therefore, 
 that it denotes professing Christendom, which was visited in the 
 last days of the Grasco-Macedonian empire, by reason of the 
 transgression of its people, as I showed you under the fifth 
 seal, in my Apocalyptic Sketches, when describing the irruption 
 of the Turks and Saracens into Asia and Europe, in order to 
 chastise " heathen Christendom" for its idolatry. Then the ejji- 
 thet ^' mighty" is totally inapplicable to the Jews. They never 
 were a mighty people, though they might have been represented 
 as a "holy people;" and verse 23 seems almost to identify the 
 Gentiles; for it declares, that "in the latter times of the four 
 kingdoms, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king 
 of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall 
 stand up." In my judgment, therefore, and in the judgment of 
 those who have studied and written at length upon the subject 
 of this prophecy, it is the Turkish or Mohammedan power that 
 is here represented by the little horn. I have showed you that 
 it cannot be Antiochus, as some theologians hold; because in so 
 many particulars the application fails in reference to him. It 
 cannot be the Roman power, because in every particular the ap- 
 plication fails. It must, therefore, be some other power; and 
 the features delineated by the prophet, and the facts thrown up 
 in the history of Mohammedanism, so completely tally, that the 
 inference is almost irresistible, that it is the Turkish or Moham- 
 medan power that is here intended. 
 
 The history of its rise and progress may be comprehended in 
 a few sentences. It originated in Chorassin, a part of Parthia 
 south of the Oxus, and in the very territory of the Syrian, or 
 
 22* 
 
258 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 Graeco-Macedonian empire. The birtli-place of Mohaminedanism 
 is, therefore, the very locality here indicated in prophecy. In 
 that eastern territory, so clearly indicated as the place of its rise, 
 the Turcomans, a shepherd tribe, revolted against their ruler; 
 became independent; elected Togrul Beg as their chief, who ap- 
 peared at this moment a ^^ little horn,'^ the petty chief of a petty 
 but increasing clan; so that his origin, rise, and beginning may 
 fairly be represented, as for as his physical prominence is refer- 
 red to, by the symbol of a little horn. This Togrul Beg, having 
 thus become the chief of this petty tribe, moved first southward, 
 at the call of the Caliph of Bagdad. He added to his victories 
 year after year, and was at length appointed, by reason of his 
 success, the caliph-general of Islam. He married the caliph's 
 daughter, and became, from a petty and contemptible chief, the 
 royal and all but irresistible propagandist of Mohammedan fanati- 
 cism. By-and-by he conquered Judea, ''the glory,'' or the "glo- 
 rious land" that is here alluded to. He next overran Asiatic 
 Christendom, and already he developed every feature of the cha- 
 racter described in verse 23, as the "king of a fierce counte- 
 nance/' causing to understand dark sentences; mighty in his own 
 power, but not by his own power, but by the influence of a fana- 
 tical system which he adopted, progressing and prospering won- 
 derfully, destroying the mightiest nations and the holy people; 
 through his policy causing craft to prosper in the land, and mag- 
 nifying himself even against the Prince of princes ; till, as we 
 shall afterward show, he was ultimately broken without hand. 
 And to show how completely this chief, rising from a little to be 
 a great and powerful sovereign, fulfilled, in his history, the pre- 
 dictions of this prophecy, I quote from the unwilling, but faith- 
 ful, narrator. Gibbon, who says — " Togrul Beg extended his 
 jurisdiction from the Chinese frontier, locst mid south/' — almost 
 the very language of the prophecy, — " as far the neighbourhood 
 of Constantinople, the holy city, Jerusalem," — again using the 
 very language of prophecy, — " and the spicy groves of Arabia 
 Felix; and extended a dominion which surpassed the Asiatic 
 reign of Cyrus and of the caliphs." Just read the prophecy at 
 your leisure; and recollect, as you read, the sketch I have given 
 from Gibbon, and you will find that the prophet describes 
 
THE MOSLEM. 259 
 
 what sliall be most minutely; and the historian, who had never 
 read the prophecy, records, with equal fidelity, what has been; and 
 Gibbon the skeptic becomes the commentator on Daniel the pro- 
 phet, and presents the unconscious and the unwilling proof, that 
 ^'holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 
 
 This prince, or horn, or power, is described as being '' of a 
 fierce countenance." It is interesting to notice, in reading the 
 history of Gibbon, that the expression he more than once uses 
 to denote Mohammedanism, is ^'fierceness," or "ferocity." For 
 instance, this very expression occurs in the pages of Gibbon : — 
 "The Turkish nations still breathed the fierceness of the desert;" 
 and one of the phrases that Gibbon uses is, "he was fierce as 
 a Turk;" the very language of the prophet being employed by 
 the infidel and unbelieving historian. 
 
 The prophet further adds : " He waxed great to the host of 
 heaven : cast down of the host and of the stars to the ground, 
 and stamped on them ;" " the daily sacrifice was taken away — 
 magnified himself against the prince of the host" — " cast down 
 truth to the ground — caused craft to prosper." These features 
 are recorded by the historicin. Thus Gibbon writes : " By the 
 choice of the sultan, Nice was preferred for his palace and his 
 fortress ; and the divinity of Christ was denied and derided in 
 the same temple in which it had been pronounced by a general 
 synod." The Council of Nice was held a. d. 315, and one of its 
 greatest conclusions was, that the deity of Christ was a plain and 
 obvious dogma of Holy Writ. 
 
 It is stated here of this fierce king, that " he magnified him- 
 self against the Prince of princes :" the historian states the fact, 
 that Nice, distinguished for its unequivocal testimony to the deity 
 of Christ, was selected by the sultan as his palace and fortress, in* 
 which they scorned and derided that great truth with the confes- 
 sion of which Nice is identified in ecclesiastical history. Gibbon 
 continues : " The unity of God and the mission of Mohammed 
 were preached in the mosques ; on the hard conditions of tribute 
 or servitude the Greek Christians might enjoy the exercise of 
 their religion : but the most holy churches were profaned ; the 
 priests and bishops were insulted, and were compelled to sufter 
 the triumph of the pagans, and to witness the apostasy of their 
 
260 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 brethren." Gibbon tbus testifies bow completely every feature I 
 have gathered from the portrait of the prophet is embodied in the 
 dark history and development of that fierce and powerful fana- 
 ticism which was let loose, as I showed you in my Lectures on 
 the Apocalypse under the figure of the irruption of Euphratean 
 horsemen, for the express purpose of punishing idolatrous Chris- 
 tendom for the transgressions into which they had fallen, that is, 
 the idolatry with which they had desecrated the worship and de- 
 filed the temple of God. 
 
 I think, then, from these points of coincidence, and from the 
 utter impossibility of applying this picture to any other power in 
 actual history, we are warranted in concluding that the " little 
 horn" that rose up in the eastern empire, of fierce countenance, 
 as described by the prophet, and recorded by the historian, 
 " causing to understand" — for the word in the original is in this 
 mood, ^' causing to understand" — dark, mysterious, and oracular 
 sayings, that is, the teaching of the Koran, stamping upon God's 
 people, or, as Gibbon says, ^'insulting the bishops and the 
 priests," and degrading every Christian with whom they came 
 into contact, and magnifying himself against the prince of the 
 host ; in all these coincidences we have the conclusive evidence, 
 or, at least, the strongest possible presumption, that Gibbon, in 
 describing the irruption of Mohammedan fanaticism, with all its 
 characteristic features, is the echo of the voice of Daniel describ- 
 ing the little horn springing up in the eastern empire, the fierce 
 king punishing professing Christendom for its great transgression. 
 The following extracts present a correct idea of Mohammed and 
 Mohammedanism : — 
 
 Gibbon describes the Koran, with its dark sentences, as an 
 '" endless incoherent rhapsody of fable and precept and declama- 
 tion, which seldom excites a sentiment or an idea, which some- 
 times crawls in the dust, and is sometimes lost in the clouds." 
 
 Gibbon states : '^ In the exercise of political government Mo- 
 hammed was compelled to abate the stern rigour of fanaticism, to 
 comply with the prejudices and passions of his followers, and to 
 employ even the vices of mankind as the instruments of their 
 salvation. The use of fraud and perfidy, of cruelty and injustice, 
 was often subservient to the propagation of the faith, and Mo- 
 
THE MOSLEM. 261 
 
 hammed commanded or approved the assassination of the Jews and 
 idolaters who had escaped from the field of battle. By the repe- 
 tition of such acts the character of Mohammed must have been 
 gradually stained, and the influence of such pernicious habits 
 would be poorly compensated by the practice of the personal and 
 social virtues wdiich are necessary to maintain the reputation of a 
 prophet among his sectaries and friends. Of his last years ambi- 
 tion was the ruling passion, and a politician well suspected that 
 he secretly smiled (the victorious impostor) at the enthusiasm of 
 his youth and the credulity of his proselytes. In the support of 
 truth the arts of fraud and fiction may be deemed less criminal, 
 and he would have started for the foulness of the means, had he 
 not been satisfied of the importance and justice of the end.^' 
 
 ^' Light and darkness/' says Dr. Hales, '' were not more oppo- 
 site than Christ and Mohammed. It is no wonder, therefore, that 
 a sensual and corrupt world loved darkness more than light, be- 
 cause their deeds were evil — more congenial to the Koran of Mo- 
 hammed than to the gospel of Christ. The pure and holy Jesus, 
 who did no sin, nor was guile found in his mouth — who went 
 about doing good to the bodies and souls of men by his beneficent 
 miracles, and still more salutary doctrines — nobly and boldly 
 challenged his enemies to impeach his moral character if they 
 could : ' Which of you convinceth me of sin ?' — and even his be- 
 trayer and persecutors bore testimony to the ' innocent blood' of 
 the Son of God, the righteous Son of man. On the contrary, 
 boundless ambition and unbridled lust, cloaked under the most 
 consummate and presumptuous hypocrisy, possessed like fiends the 
 heart of Mohammed. He was indeed a true son of Belial. ' None 
 but great souls can be completely wicked;' little souls want the 
 ability to contrive and to execute splendid mischief on a great 
 scale. Mohammed wore the mask of sanctity and mortification 
 while he was preparing his imposture and establishing his reputa- 
 tion as an apostle of God and a reformer of the world. But while 
 his mission was acknowledged, and his deluded followers became 
 disposed to swallow the greatest impieties and absurdities, impli- 
 citly surrendering to him all authority over their souls, their 
 senses, and their understandings, he quickly threw off the mask 
 and broke through all the restraints that prudence and policy had 
 
202 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 hitherto laid on his impetuous passions, and went about as a 
 raging and roaring lion, seeking wliom he might devour, and with 
 the most matchless effrontery, and most daring impiety, he de- 
 liberately brought down pretended revelations from heaven to 
 sanction his lies and pander to his vices." 
 
 '^ If ever there was a finished hypocrite, possessed of the most 
 audacious and shameless effrontery, it surely was Mohammed, 
 whose God was his belly, who gloried in his shame — who minded 
 earthly things, under the garb of sanctity and religion. ^^ 
 
 ^^Islamism, therefore, in its whole extent, is adverse to the 
 mild spirit and liberal genius of Christianity. It was hatched 
 and matured in hypocrisy and falsehood. It was addressed to the 
 appetites and passions of a sensual and corrupt people. It was 
 distinguished by a spirit of hatred and hostility to the rest of 
 mankind — Christians, Jews, pagans. It befriended arbitrary and 
 despotic power over the souls and bodies of men. It encouraged 
 ignorance, by representing all liberal arts and sciences as unne- 
 cessary or as prejudicial, cither if not warranted by, or if con- 
 trary to, the Koran ; and it produced a torpor and apathy which 
 chilled and deadened every tendency to speculative exertion and 
 moral improvement by the desolating doctrine of fixed fate or 
 predestination.'' 
 
 Now the next question — and it will be very shortly answered 
 — is. When did the 2300 years, at the end of which this '^ little 
 horn" was to fail, begin ? — and at what period therefore may it 
 be supposed that itg prosperity closed ? It is not the date of the 
 rise but of the decay of Mohammedanism that is here indicated. 
 The two dates, at one of which the 2300 years must commence, 
 are either the year 538 b. C, when the supremacy of the Persian 
 and Macedonian empire began, or the year 480 B. c, just prior 
 to the defeat of Xerxes on his invasion of Greece. The one period 
 is the commencement of the Persian dynasty, the second is the 
 era of its meridian, or its noontide power and glory. We may 
 prefer, for various reasons, the latter period. Take the meridian 
 glory of Persia as its commencement; and then we shall find that 
 the end of the 2300 years will bring us down to A. D. 1820. 
 Bicheno, who lived in the last century, stated in 1797 that the 
 2300 years, during the last part of which the Mohammedan de- 
 
THE MOSLEM. 26B 
 
 lusion was to prosper, prevail, and stamp under foot all that op- 
 posed it, began 480 b. c, and would terminate, as he then said, 
 about A. D. 1820. Thirty years ago then, if this prophecy be 
 correct, or, rather, if this application of the date here specified 
 be the true one, the Mohammedan empire began to give way. Is 
 this matter of fact, or is it not ? I might give you, at great 
 length, evidence that it is so. For instance, it is stated in the 
 Annual Register for the year 1820, '^ The Ottoman empire had 
 reached its meridian strength, free from all foreign invasion, and 
 in possession of perfect domestic peace." Every thing in the 
 history of Turkey, up to the spring of 1820, was powerful, peace- 
 ful, prosperous. Now just notice what begins to take place at 
 that period. In the summer of that year, Ali Pacha revolted 
 against the dominion of the sultan, and intestine war began. In 
 October, 1820, the Greek insurrection took place; and Turkey 
 was crippled in its strength and reduced in its territory. And 
 from 1820, if anybody will be at the trouble to read its history, 
 down to the present hour, plague, earthquake, fire, revolt, de- 
 struction, have not ceased continually to lay it waste, till, in the 
 language of Lamartine, "Turkey is dying rapidly for want of 
 Turks." Since 1820, Greece, Wallachia, Moldavia, Algiers, 
 have been separiited from the power of the Moslem dominion : 
 and a missionary, writing recently from Constantinople, says, 
 " Turkey is in the agony of dissolution ;" and a traveller, writing 
 on the same subject, says, '^ There is no law, no safety for pro- 
 perty, in this unhappy country." It requires no prophecy to 
 satisfy us that the Mohammedan power is rapidly falling to ruin. 
 Now, is this an accidental coincidence ? Four hundred and eighty 
 years before Christ, when the Persian laws were supreme, and 
 the' Persian empire was in its meridian power, a " little horn" is 
 predicted to spring up in after ages with features that identify it 
 with the Mohammedan superstition ; the very period of the end of 
 its duration is assigned, 2300 years, from B. c. 480 ; and so when 
 the end of this 2300 years comes — not a year before or a year 
 after — Turkey begins to hear the knell of its approaching doom, 
 and, piecemeal, year by year, it falls to ruin ; and every one who 
 reads the present history of that country knows that every day 
 some new revolutionary reform is taking place in its government. 
 
264 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 The paddlc-wlieel disturbs the silence of its waters ; the Euro- 
 pean engineer is invited to Constantinople j Protestant residents 
 are multiplying in every direction in the midst of it ; the sultan 
 is casting off the dress, the forms, the ceremonies, the habits of 
 the Turk ; it is ceasing to be a capital crime for a Turk to be- 
 come a Christian. The sultan has given leave to the Jews to 
 build a temple, if they please, in the midst of Jerusalem : and 
 only lately, her Majesty's representative at the court of the sultan 
 secured rights and privileges for all denominations of Christians, 
 and for those of the ancient Armenian churches, utterly incom* 
 patible with the essential principles of the Koran: — '4t dies 
 without hand." And what renders yet more striking all this 
 fulfilment of prophecy is the fact, that the ^^ little horn" was not, 
 like that which sprang up between the eyes of the goat, to be 
 snapped in sunder, but was to be broken without hands; or, to 
 use the apocalyptic symbol, the great river Euphrates was to 
 be gradually dried up. You have, in the first case, the little horn 
 suddenly broken ; but you have in this case the power or dynasty 
 symbolized by the little horn broken without hands — a gradual 
 desolation and decay corresponding to the prediction so plainly 
 annunciated by Daniel. 
 
 I have stated, then, the prophecy and the plain historic fact. 
 Let us now draw from it, for ourselves, one or two useful lessons. 
 And the first, is this, that all the otherwise inexplicable facts in 
 the history of the church and of the world are here plainly ex- 
 plained. Not one cloud has fallen upon the church that God did 
 not foresee ; not one opposing force has arisen to obstruct the 
 march of the everlasting gospel which prophecy has not pre- 
 dicted. There has occurred no unexpected dislocation — there has 
 taken place in the history of the people of Christ no unforeseen 
 corruption ; all has come as God foresaw, and as his prophets 
 predicted ; and therefore we know that God has not because of 
 these things forsaken his church ; but rather, because these have 
 occurred, he has shown his Providence acting in the world's his- 
 tory that wliich his Spirit inspired in the prophecy of ancient 
 writers. 
 
 It is thus, too, that we see in the rise and origin of this system 
 the ever active presence and power of Satan. Mohammedanism 
 
THE MOSLEM. 265 
 
 came ^' like a dark smoke/' as the Apocalypse tells us, " from 
 the bottomless pit/' Satan is its agent and its inherent might. 
 But his limits are fixed. How delightful to know that God has 
 fixed the bound-lines of his power, and told us in words which can 
 never be contradicted or reversed, when, where, and how his 
 power and his policy shall cease together. And in the ne^t place, 
 do we not see in the very existence of Christianity, amid all those 
 dark and overshadowing superstitions, an evidence of the presence 
 of God ? The gospel has been the creation and the care of the 
 living God, or it must have been extinguished long ago. All 
 elements have assailed it — all forms have tried to overshadow 
 it — but it has emerged not only existing, but triumphant, from 
 them all, and proved that it is linked with the throne, over- 
 shadowed by the presence, inspired by the truth, and protected 
 by the power of God himself. And every one of these triumphs 
 of the gospel is surel}^ a fore-augury and a fore-earnest that it 
 will eventually triumph. A religion that has survived so much 
 is surely not destined to perish ; a book that has emerged from 
 so many dread collisions is surely not a book that is to be ulti- 
 mately destroyed. What the gospel has done is a pledge and 
 presentiment of what the gospel will do. Its existence to-day is 
 the strongest proof that it will last while the sun and moon en- 
 dure. Every prophet says so; every history indicates that it 
 will be so, and every fact that is occurring around us — the folly 
 of its opponents and the wisdom of its friends, speech and silence — 
 is giving token of its rapid and approaching triumph. The cres- 
 cent wanes, and the cry of the jMuezzim becomes fainter — the 
 cimeter is less appealed to and craft is more exposed. The Hin- 
 doo is ceasing to light the fire for the consumption of the widow, 
 and the China-woman refuses to leave her babe to perish in the 
 streets of Pekin. The Indian objects to drag the sanguinary 
 chariot of Juggernaut over the bleeding remains of his fellow- 
 creatures, and the Hindoo mother no longer casts the infant that 
 she bore into the waters of the Ganges. The altars of paganism 
 crumble, the lights in the temple of superstition are being extin- 
 guished one by one, and the first dawn begins to overspread the 
 distant lands of the world, of that emerging ^' Sun," which shall 
 soon arise with "healing in his wings,'' assume his noontide 
 
 23 
 
266 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 throne, and cover the whole earth with that glory that never shall 
 be diminished. The Thames and the Tiber, the Danube and the 
 Rhone, among the waters of Europe, shall soon call on the Gan- 
 ges, the Euphrates, and Nile in the East, and both joined by the 
 Ohio, the Missouri, and Mississippi, the great rivers of America, 
 in the far West, shall meet and mingle ; and the praise of the 
 Lord shall arise as the voice of many waters, and the wide world 
 shall be covered with the knowledge of him, as the waters cover 
 the channels of the great deep. Ail that God has proclaimed to 
 be fulfilled has been fulfilled ; all that God has said is to be ful- 
 filled in the future will be fulfilled ; all shall bless him and shall 
 be blessed in him. We stand on the threshold of great and 
 solemn events : a great epoch, in which a thousand prophecies are 
 being fulfilled, is just at our doors; an era, as I have told you be- 
 fore, of short but terrible duration, in which old controversies 
 shall be revived and new controversies shall be added, and all 
 dangers meet and mingle in one dread turmoil, is just about to 
 overtake us. There is at the present moment a pause, but only 
 a lull ; it is not the settling down of all to quiet : it is a lull which 
 betokens to reflecting minds the outburst of a more terrific and 
 irresistible storm, before which all ecclesiastical and all civil bul- 
 warks and battlements, the consolidations of centuries, shall bow, 
 tremble, and break up. Some smiled at me when I told you, 
 three or four years ago, that our church establishments, if pro- 
 phecy speaks plainly, were soon to give what has already taken 
 place — signs of approaching dissolution. One of the representa- 
 tives of the episcopal bench tells the House of Lords that a great 
 secession is about to take place, and proposes ecclesiastical des- 
 potism as the only resistant. Men distinguished for their earnest- 
 ness and zeal, but blinded by a dread superstition, are rushing 
 from us into that great apostasy, which has been drunk with the 
 blood of saints, and is still bent upon their ruin. All things give 
 token that institutions venerable for their age, valued for useful- 
 ness, scriptural in their foundations, are about to give way, in 
 order that there may emerge from the chaos a church more beau- 
 tiful by far, whose foundations are the attributes of God, whose 
 altar is the living Lamb, whose towers shall sparkle in the rays 
 
TJii!: MOSLEM. 2G7 
 
 of rising and of setting suns throughout millennial days, and in 
 perfect peace for ever and ever. 
 
 My dear friends, if ever there was a crisis when a man should 
 ask himself, What am I ? and, Where am I to be ? it is the hour 
 in which our lot is cast. Tell me, then, not the sect to which 
 you belong, but the side to which you cleave. Let me beg of 
 you this day to answer, beseeching you to ask your own con- 
 sciences in the sight of God, Am I a Christian, or am I not ? not, 
 Am. I an Episcopalian, a Presbyterian, or an Independent ? Any 
 of these you may be, and not be a Christian at all. But, is my 
 heart renewed ? is my soul reformed ? are my sins forgiven and 
 blotted out ? am I a new creature ? do I hate what I once loved ? 
 do I now love what I once hated ? do I count all things but loss 
 for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus ? and. Do I 
 feel it my duty to consecrate every hour that remains to the ser- 
 vice of that Master, who died that I might live, and rose again 
 that I might be holy and happy for ever 1* 
 
 Fair-weather Christianity will not do in the time into which 
 we are rushing. That sentimental and tasteful religion, so ele- 
 gant because so indifferent, so beautiful to the natural man be- 
 cause so cold and statue-like, will not do. Intensity is taking 
 possession of and rushing into every thing upon earth. Infidels 
 are becoming intensely so; pagans are becoming intensely so. 
 Should Christians alone become more cold, more callous, more 
 indifferent? A new life is proceeding from beneath, and takino- 
 possession of :ill Satan's agencies. A new life is descending from 
 on high, and taking possession of all God's people ; and pious 
 men are beginning, more than ever, to feel now that there is 
 nothing, comparatively, worth contending for, but the glory of 
 Christ, the salvation of souls, the spread of evangelical religion, 
 the supremacy of Protestant and scriptural truth. If, then, the 
 only rock that will stand is the Rock of ages ; if the only vessel 
 that will float securely upon the waters is that ark which God 
 himself has prepared; make sure that your building is on that 
 rock; be sure that you are in that vessel. Do not, my dear 
 friends, risk eternity on a probability. And if you should not be 
 spared to enter that chaos which is coming, but should be re- 
 moved and called to the judgment-seat of God before, in either 
 
268 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 case it becomes you, and it becomes me, to ask oiirselves, "What 
 will eternity be to us? No man goes blindfolded to heaven. He 
 knows, if he will look into his own conscience, and read it, 
 whether he is going to heaven or not. It is not at all a difficult 
 question. A man whose heart is absorbed in his counting-house, 
 whose pleasure is the gaming-table, or the follies, the gayety, and 
 the amusements of this world ; whose highest excitement is the 
 opera or the playhouse ; who has little thought about eternity, 
 but many thoughts about what he shall eat or drink, and where- 
 withal he shall be clothed ; gives no proof of a procession heaven- 
 ward. My dear friends, I cannot disguise from you the fact, if 
 ■ such be the type of your character, that you are marching on the 
 broad road as plainly, as intelligibly, as if your name and your 
 doom were written upon the broad blue firmament, and every eye 
 could read it, and every ear could hear it. 
 
 But you, on the other hand, who ^^ count all things but loss for 
 the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus ;'' you who are 
 resting upon the living Saviour, as your only hope ; whose heart's 
 desire and prayer is, that you may know what true life is, that 
 you may feel what the power of religion is ; you who bring your 
 property, your time, your talents, and your influence, and pray 
 that God would consecrate them, and make them all subserve his 
 holy will, and the good of your fellow-creatures ; you whose only 
 Sanctifier is the Holy Spirit, whose bright hope is the kingdom 
 that never can be removed ; — there is no doubt about your destiny. 
 You are in the path which may be narrow, which may have many 
 obstructions and many difficulties, but it leads you to the presence 
 of him ^'in whose presence is fulness of joy, and at whose right 
 hand there are pleasures for evermore." — 
 
 My dear friends, do not leave the house of prayer this night 
 without choosing whom ye will serve. Be decided. Do not live 
 in doubt. Do not have any more suspensive feelings about the 
 future, or anxious thoughts about the present, but go now with 
 bended knee, and believing heart, and vow solemnly, in the sight 
 and hearing of the Searcher of hearts, that, as for you, for the 
 rest of your life, you will be the Lord's. 
 
269 
 
 LECTURE XIX. 
 
 FASTING. 
 
 "And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by ijrayer and supplications, 
 with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes/' — Daniel ix. 3. 
 
 The whole chapter from which I have selected my text is rich 
 with Christian petitions. I know not that there is in the Bible 
 a sublimer litany than that which is contained in this chapter, or 
 clauses more appropriate as channels of a Christian's prayers, 
 than such earnest, beautiful, and yet simple ones as these : — " 
 Lord, hear; Lord, forgive; Lord, hearken and do; defer 
 not, for thine own sake, my God : for thy city and thy people 
 are called by thy name.'' The whole chapter as we pass along 
 will suggest precious thoughts as well as seasonable prescriptions 
 for prayer. In this lecture I will introduce mj reflections in the 
 words which I have now read. " I set my face unto the Lord 
 God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sack- 
 cloth, and ashes.'' The whole chapter — as indeed is indicated 
 here — is a specimen of the inner life of the prophet Daniel. Pie 
 who was made illustrious for his prophetic wisdom, as is proved 
 in previous chapters, was not the less remarkable for his earnest, 
 his spiritual and devoted prayers : and perhaps he was so wise as 
 a prophet, because he was so devoted as a suppliant. If he had 
 prayed less fervently, he had perhaps been favoured with much 
 less remarkable and interesting prophecy. It was by prayer he 
 drew down the light which he needed for the present, and which 
 made the future so luminous to his eyes. It was by prayer that 
 he drew down the omnipresence of God to shelter him in the den 
 of lions, and to protect him in the hour of peril from the machi- 
 nations of his bitter and relentless enemies. And if we are not 
 called upon to prophesy as Daniel prophesied, because the age of 
 prophecy has passed away, we are certainly called upon, not only 
 
270 PEOPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 here, but througliout the whole Bible, to pray as Daniel prayed, 
 for the age of prayer still lasts. Our wants are deep, our neces- 
 sities as many as his, and, blessed be the name of Him with whom 
 we have to do, he is as ready to forgive the sins and hear the 
 prayers of the nineteenth century as those of the six hundredth 
 year Before the birth of our Lord ; for his mercy is now what it 
 was then, unchangeable by circumstance, inexhaustible by time : 
 " The Lord merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant 
 in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving 
 iniquity, transgression, and sin/^ As far as relates to prophecy, 
 the sacred canon is now closed, and therefore we may not expect 
 that we shall be gifted with the spirit of prophecy. There is a 
 time mentioned in the Bible for every thing — a time for prophecy, 
 which ceased with Malachi, under the Old Testament, and with 
 John in the New. There is a time to pray which shall only cease 
 when there shall be no more wants to be supplied, and there shall 
 only be praise for the full and perfect rest of every affection and 
 desire. The present age is not the age of uttering prophecy, but 
 the age of the fulfilment of prophecy. It is to me one of the 
 most interesting studies to trace the outlines of the future as 
 sketched in the Bible, and to watch the filling up line upon line 
 of that outline which is taking place in the present. What is 
 modern history? The translation of ancient prophecy; and the 
 longer modern history records its facts, and rolls along its stream, 
 the more clear and remarkable is the light that is cast upon an- 
 cient prophecy, reminding us that once holy men of God spake as 
 they were moved by the Holy Ghost ; and proving in the second 
 place, that God reigns in Providence as surely as he ruled in the 
 affairs of ancient Babylon. Every day strengthens the conviction 
 that God has taken care that the minutest jot and tittle of all that 
 he has predicted shall be adequately and certainly performed. But 
 while the age of prophecy, as far as it was inspired, has thus 
 passed away, the age and need of prayer still lasts. It is an in- 
 stinct of the human, an inspiration of the divine, a privilege 
 Christians enjoy, a duty all men should bow to. I will take an 
 opportunity in a subsequent discourse of enlarging upon the na- 
 ture and characteristics of prayer. This evening I am anxious to 
 call your attention to a subject on which various opinions" have 
 
FASTING. 271 
 
 been, and are now entertained, and on the obligation of which 
 ^ various controversies have been held ; namely, that which is here 
 stated to have accompanied Daniel's prayer, ^^ fasting, sackcloth, 
 and ashes/' There is a constant allusion throughout the whole 
 of the Old Testament to " fasting, sackcloth, and ashes,'' as ac- 
 companiments of prayer. There are also frequent allusions to 
 fasting scattered throughout the New Testament ; and some are 
 strongly convinced, that even as an evangelical duty, they are 
 bound to practise it, and believe that those who cannot see that 
 it is obligatory upon them in this dispensation, are guilty of vio- 
 lating a clear and unequivocal commandment of our blessed Lord. 
 I will glance very briefly at this interesting, and, in some degree, 
 very practical inquiry. 
 
 In all the works that Christ, that great example, performed, I 
 do not find that, except in one special instance, so clearly super- 
 natural as to be placed beyond the range of any approximate 
 imitation on our part, our blessed Lord ever fasted. The only 
 occasion on which he is said to have fosted, was, when he was in 
 the wilderness, during a period of forty days, led up by the Spirit 
 to be tempted, not for the purpose of fasting, for fastino- was an 
 incident, not an end. That he felt no hunger during that ftist, 
 is abundantly plain from the observations contained in Matt. iv. 
 2, which records, that when he had fasted forty days and forty 
 nights, he '^was afterward an huugred;" as if he were not hun- 
 gry during the forty days that he fasted, but only after the forty 
 days had expired ; words which imply, I think, without straining 
 the passage, that the fasting of our Lord was not the mere 
 abstinence from food, but a complete withdrawal from the more 
 public duties of his sublime ministry — a season of solitary, se- 
 questered, and isolated, or rather insulated, communion with God. 
 
 But it has been argued, from Matt. vi. 16, that our Lord ex- 
 pressly enjoins fasting. He says, for instance, in that passage — 
 'Qloreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad 
 countenance : for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear 
 unto men to fast.''' Eeading this passage, a person may naturally 
 infer that our Lord here prescribes fasting as a positive duty ; but 
 I do not think that such an inference can bo legitimately deduced 
 from it; because we find him alluding to various practices that 
 
272 PilOi'IIETlC STUDIES. 
 
 prevailed among the Jews in his day, which are not believed by 
 any to be obligatory on us. He merely regulated the existing prac- 
 tices which we know were then lawful, but have now passed away. 
 
 We have an instance of this in Matt. v. 23, where he says, 
 ^^ Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there remem- 
 bercst that thy brother hath aught against thee ; leave there thy 
 gift before the altar, and go thy way.''' There was an altar in 
 the temple; but this temple and that altar have ceased to exist. 
 We know that, by the very nature of the gospel, there is but one 
 altar, namely Jesus, who was at once the altar, the sacrifice, and 
 the priest. Hence those prescriptions of bringing the gift to the 
 altar, and leaving it there, and then going to be reconciled to a 
 brother, are not to be considered as a reason for the permanent 
 existence of an altar in every church, but the temporary correc- 
 tion of a fault committed under that economy which had not then 
 wholly passed away. 
 
 It seems to me clear, that when our Lord alluded to fasting, he 
 was not enjoining a duty permanently obligatory, but regulating 
 and correcting the abuse of an existing practice which he found 
 perverted among the people to whom he preached. We have 
 another instance of the same thing in Matt, xxiii. 18 : '^ Whoso- 
 ever sweareth by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth 
 by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. '^ And again — Wo unto 
 you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for 3^0 pay tithe of mint 
 and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of 
 the law.'' He alludes to practices that then prevailed. He does 
 not prescribe tithes as permanent obligations ; but he regulates 
 the conduct of the Jews in the then existing duties, and no more. 
 
 Our Lord's remarks on fasting are to be considered in the light 
 of the passages I have quoted, not as the inculcation of a perma- 
 nent precept obligatory upon us, but simply as a direction in- 
 tended to regulate a practice which he found grossly and grievously 
 abused. There is not any passage, throughout the whole Old 
 Testament Scriptures (and this will startle you if you have not 
 noticed it before) that positively and directly enforces fasting, 
 liowever venerated in the feelings or prevalent in the practice of 
 the Jews. The only passage that seems capable of this construc- 
 tion is Leviticus xvi. 29, where it is said, " This shall be a statute 
 
FASTING. 273 
 
 for ever unto you : that in the seventli month, on the tenth day 
 of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all." 
 But it is not the word ^^fiist" that is used, but the words ''afflict 
 your souls," which would seem to mean humbling the soul, draw- 
 ing near to God, in the exercise of penitence, supplication, and 
 prayer. But though it is not a divine prescription, it is yet 
 unquestionable, that in almost every instance of fervent piety, and 
 especially of public prayer, fasting was observed. In the case of 
 Ahab, he humbled himself, and fasted, and prayed, in sackcloth 
 and ashes. So in the case of Daniel before us : he fasted in 
 sackcloth, and in weeping and with ashes. So the people of 
 Nineveh fasted with weeping, and in sackcloth and ashes. So 
 Jonah speaks of fasting. But it is worthy of notice, that those 
 who quote the passages I have read, only take out of each text so 
 much as suits them. If those texts are to be literally observed, 
 and are obligatory at all,- then there must be, first, prayer; 
 secondly, fasting ; and thirdly, sackcloth and ashes. The advo- 
 cates of the permanent obligation of literal fasting as the ac- 
 companiment of prayer, understanding by fasting, abstinence from 
 food, take this one practice 3 but they leave out the other two, 
 viz. the wearing of sackcloth, putting ashes on the head, or the 
 lying on the ground. 
 
 If you insist that fasting is clearly and literally enjoined in 
 this passage, you must allow me to insist that the wearing of 
 sackcloth, and putting ashes on the head, are as clearly and as 
 literally enjoined. At the same time, I hold that fosting is 
 unquestionably referred to in Scripture, and in some respect, I 
 believe, in its spirit, and true import, and right use, it is obliga- 
 tory upon every true Christian. It does not always mean, as it 
 has been generally considered to mean, pure abstinence from 
 food, as I think such a passage, for instance, as Joel i. 14 clearly 
 shows: "Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembl}^, gather the 
 elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the 
 Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord." This cannot mean 
 abstinence from food — this is inadmissible, because the judgment 
 undor which the people was actually suffering was famine ; for it 
 is said, "The vine is dried up, and the fig-tree languishcth; the 
 pomegranate-tree, the palm-tree also, and the apple-tree, even all 
 
274 rilOPilETIC STUDIES. 
 
 tlie trees of the field; are withered,'^ And in verses 17, 18, "Tlie 
 seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the 
 barns are broken down; for the corn is withered. How do the 
 beasts groan ! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they 
 have no pasture/' In short, there was a literal famine predomi- 
 nant throughout the land. This was the actual judgment; and 
 if so, what would be the meaning of prescribing to a people 
 starving for hunger, fasting or abstinence from food ? This inter- 
 pretation is untenable — it is obviously absurd. So in Joel ii. 12 
 — " Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with 
 all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with 
 mourning." This he explains in verse 13 : " And rend your heart 
 and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God : for he 
 is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and 
 repcnteth him of the evil." 
 
 True fasting is not a piece of mere externalism — a mere me- 
 chanical act ; it is far higher, it is a fasting that the soul under- 
 goes, not an outward abstinence which the body alone can feel. 
 It consists not in abstaining from food, wearing of sackcloth, and 
 sitting in ashes, but in humbling the soul, in bowing the heart, in 
 wearing a meek, lowly, and humble spirit. This is fasting worthy 
 of the name, this tends to a good purpose. I refer to a passage 
 in Matt. ix. 14, which will, I think, confirm the position I have 
 already taken : " Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, 
 Why do we and the Pharisees /«.si! oft, but thy disciples /«.si^ not?" 
 To which our Lord replies, in the next verse, " Can the children 
 of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with 
 them ? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be 
 taken from them, and then shall the j-ff^M." Does he not here 
 imply that mourning and fasting are convertible terms, and that 
 he that mourns and is truly humbled in heart fasts, in fact, though 
 not in appearance, truly in the sight of God, though unseen by 
 men ? There is, I say again, no evidence that our blessed Lord 
 fasted according to the rites and practices of the Jews, except on 
 one special occasion already referred to, if indeed then, and his 
 conduct in it is wholly inimitable by us. But to suppose that by 
 observing forty days of abstinence from animal food, while we 
 indul<]!;e in all the other delicacies of the season, is to imitate our 
 
FASTING. 275 
 
 blessed Lord^ is a thorough and useless piece of Pharisaic formal- 
 ism. "To undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go 
 free/' this is the fast that God hath chosen, and nothing but this 
 is so near an imitation of him "who went about doing good.'' 
 In Matt. xvii. 14-21, we have another allusion to fasting, which 
 is worth lookin"" at, in order to enable us more clearly to judge 
 of its true meaning : " And when they were come to the multi- 
 tude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, 
 and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son : for he is a lunatic, and 
 sore vexed : for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the 
 water. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not 
 cure him. Then Jesus answered and said, faithless and per- 
 verse generation, how long shall I be with you ? how long shall I 
 suffer you? bring him hither to me. And Jesus rebuked the 
 devil ; and he departed out of him : and the child was cured 
 from that very hour. Then same the disciples to Jesus apart, 
 and said. Why could not we cast him out ? And Jesus said unto 
 them. Because of your unbelief : for verily I say unto you. If ye 
 have faith as a grain of mustard-seed, ye shall say unto this 
 mountain, Kemove hence to 3^onder place ; and it shall remove : 
 and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind 
 goeth not out bu.t by prayer and fasting." What is meant by 
 fasting here, to which so much importance seems to be attributed ? 
 One thing is perfectly obvious, that faith is the grace requisite in 
 order to work the miracle, and that unbelief was the reason why 
 they could not cast out the foul spirit. Our Lord does not say 
 that their not fasting was the reason why they could not cast him 
 out, or that fasting was a practice in the exercise of which they 
 could cast him out ; but that faith was wanted, and that unbelief 
 was the reason of the failure. Fasting — i. e. insulation from the 
 world, and prayer or earnest application to God, were and are, he 
 indicates, the means of obtaining this faith. 
 
 But we naturally ask, in considering the meaning of fasting 
 and its application. What is the end of fasting ? Not to mortify 
 the body, as men seem generally to consider, but to mortify, as 
 the Bible tells us, the lusts or the deeds of the body. And it 
 seems to me therefore, that whatever may be one's predominating 
 moral disease, fasting is the withdrawal of the evil that feeds and 
 
276 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 facilitates the progress of that disease. And so it appears to me 
 that the fasting which our Lord enjoins as the accompaniment of 
 prayer must be viewed in the light of the special malady for which 
 it is adopted. And what would be fasting most appropriate in 
 one case would just be the very reverse and most inappropriate in 
 another case. For instance, if you find one whose besetting sin 
 is excessive indulgence at the table — one of the most humiliating 
 and most discreditable of man's weaknesses — and by this I mean 
 not the man who eats to excess at one meal, which surely is a rare 
 thing, because an unnatural thing, but the man who dines twice, 
 once by anticipation and once actually and truly; whose anxiety 
 in the morning is what he shall eat and what he shall drink; who 
 thinks much about the enjoyments of the table — not, be it ob- 
 served, an uncommon thing in this age of luxury, civilization, 
 and social refinement, as it is called — it is that man's duty to fast 
 in the sense of eating less, thinking less on such a subject, and 
 being more anxious about more important and weightier things, 
 and less so about what he shall eat and drink. In this case fast- 
 ing is a duty; but it means not abstaining from food, but taking 
 the food provided for him, thinking about it less, and about better 
 things more. 
 
 But suppose the case of another person who is addicted to an 
 excessive use of alcohol in any of its shapes, who parts with his 
 senses, his reason, and responsibilit}^, under the excessive excite- 
 ment of alcoholic stimulants, what is the cure for such a person ? 
 I hope I address no individual here who is the victim of so de- 
 based and brutal a habit — a habit that is even rebuked by the 
 beasts of the field, and denounced in the most awful tones in the 
 word of God; for drunkards, we are told, shall not enter into 
 the kingdom of heaven. But what is the cure for such a person? 
 I believe that of human and mechanical means there is no other 
 remedy than total abstinence. And why? Because he at least 
 cannot control his use of alcoholic stimulants. But if A uses 
 wine as a refreshment or as necessary to him, and uses it without 
 in the least passing the bounds of moderation, it would not be 
 right to say to A, '^ You shall abstain totally from the use of it, 
 because B cannot touch it without being intoxicated.'' But you 
 should say to A, "Continue in the legitimate and proper use of 
 
FASTING. 277 
 
 what God has not forbidden, and. what science has proved to be 
 occasionally useful 5" and we should say to B, who cannot touch 
 it without indulging to excess, " It is your duty at once totally to 
 abstain from it." And whenever I have met with drunkards, and 
 spoken to them, I have always felt that total abstinence is the 
 only right prescription in their case. They have lost their self- 
 control, and their passion for intoxicating liquors has become, not 
 only a moral sin, wdiich makes them odious in the sight of God, 
 but a physical disease, the only cure for which is total abstinence 
 from the pernicious cause that feeds it at all hazards and on every 
 occasion. But because this is the fasting which becomes B, who 
 cannot touch wine without taking it to excess, it is not the fasting 
 which is required in the case of A, who takes it in its place and 
 for its proper use. 
 
 Let me take another instance, and you will see how truly fast- 
 ing is a usage to be observed in the spirit, and not in the letter. 
 Suppose the case of a miser, who spends his days in endeavouring 
 only to make and amass money, and his nights in counting the 
 gains he has accumulated in the day, or devising fresh schemes 
 for increasing his hoard — one, in short, who is the victim of that 
 frightful disease which is always gathering and never distributing. 
 Suppose some one were to go to him and say, ''Lent has arrived; 
 you ought during these forty days to fast and abstain from food/' 
 The miser will tell you, " I stint myself in every meal, and every 
 day, in order to save and to accumulate money; and therefore to 
 tell me to fast is only to ask me to do v/hat I have been doing 
 continually for the last ten or twenty years." Plainly, abstinence 
 from food is not the fasting that such a man requires ; but the 
 fasting that is proper for him is to take of his hoarded wealth 
 and give to that poor starving widow; to take of his abundance 
 and clothe those shivering orphans; to distribute garments to the 
 naked, and to deal bread to the hungry. To a man like this 
 we would say, '' Such is the fast that the Lord thy God requires 
 of thee." 
 
 Let me give another instance to show how we are to observe 
 this custom of the prophets in the spirit, and not in the letter. 
 Take the case of the victim of incessant and excessive excitement 
 — one who goes to the opera three times a week, and to the plaj' 
 
 24 
 
278 PEOPIIETIC STUDIES. 
 
 house twice; one who is a large subscriber to the circulating 
 library of stimulating romances, the most pernicious reading in 
 which the rational mind can indulge. That person lives in con- 
 stant excitement, and becomes gradually unfitted for the ordinary 
 and proper employments in which a Christian ought to engage. 
 What is the fasting proper for such an individual ? Not the eat- 
 ing less food, for she eats too little already; for the mind, being 
 in a state of excitement, acts upon the body just as if that body 
 were in a state of constant fever. The proper prescription for 
 such a person is, '^Give up your box at the opera — leave off going 
 to the playhouse — withdraw your subscription from the library. 
 Do not ask continually what is the last new novel ; go and be a 
 Sunday-school teacher ; become the secretary of a clothing or be- 
 nevolent society, or go out as a district visitor ; engage in works 
 of active beneficence, and your mind and body will then acquire 
 their proper health, and you will find, not in the literal abstinence 
 from food, which is not required, but in loosing the bands of wick- 
 edness, undoing the heavy burdens, and letting the oppressed go 
 free, the fasting which God requires/' 
 
 Such seems to me to be fasting in its spiritual and right sense, 
 viewed especially in the light of those cases in our experience 
 which it is intended to meet. 
 
 In watching the conduct of the apostles immediately after the 
 ascension of our Lord, we find that on some occasions they did 
 fast according to the ceremonial introduced by the Jews — namely, 
 by abstaining from food ; but it is as plain that they conformed 
 to many other Jewish practices that were not injurious to the 
 spirit and purity of Christianity, under the rule that Paul lays 
 down of becoming all things to all men, in order that he might 
 win some. We find St. Paul saying in one passage, *' that he was 
 in fastings often ;" from which some have argued that we also 
 should frequently fast. But the apostle, in the very same passage, 
 says that he was in perils often, both by land and by sea ; it can- 
 not, however, hence be argued that we too should go and seek our 
 perils by sea and land. And surely, it never can be argued that 
 we ought to imitate the apostle in fasting, unless we imitate him 
 in what he was compelled to undergo, the painful accompaniments 
 which he enumerates. It appears from the context that this fast- 
 
FASTING. 279 
 
 ing was not what lie voluntarily practised, but what he was com- 
 pelled by his persecutors involuntarily to endure ; it is not there- 
 fore a precedent he gives for us to follow, but a suffering which 
 he mentions as assigned to himself. 
 
 Subsequently to the apostle's days we find fasting or abstinence 
 from food almost the glory, if I may so call it, of the Nicene 
 Church ; and it was specially practised by the Gnostic heretics, 
 who believed that man's body was constitutionally the curse of 
 his soul; and that to persecute and scourge and lacerate the body, 
 was the only way to emancipate and elevate the loftier nature 
 within it. And if you will be at the trouble to read the Eoman 
 Breviary, or the history of the saints that have been canonized 
 by that church, you will find them all notorious for scourging, 
 lacerating, and tormenting the body with nettles, spikes, thorns, 
 hunger, nakedness, supposing that there was something essentially 
 and inherently sinful in the matter, and that only by its annihila- 
 tion or destruction, and not by its sanctification, was man to be 
 made holy and happy and like God. It is certainly not unworthy 
 of being noticed on the present occasion, that those countries in 
 which there are the most fast-days, are the very countries in which 
 the Sabbath is least of all observed. You will find, if you read 
 the Roman Catholic periodical press, the Tablet, and other pub- 
 lications of a similar description, the most furious invectives 
 against any thing like an approach on the part of our country to 
 hallowing the Sabbath day. And why? Because they have 
 raised to a level with the Sabbath the ordinances and the com- 
 mandments of men ; and in Roman Catholic countries Good Fri- 
 day is far more solemnly observed than the Sabbath-day, and 
 saints' days are much more decorously kept than the Lord's day. 
 This is just what we might expect. " No man can serve two 
 masters." If you try to serve man's tradition and God's command 
 equally, the result will be that man's tradition will become su- 
 preme and God's commandment will become depressed, because 
 God's word is uncongenial to the natural man, for his heart is 
 enmity to it, whereas man's tradition ministers to the natural 
 man, and is therefore welcome to him. Hence, wherever fast- 
 days, instituted by man, have been set up as of equal obligation 
 with the Sabbath, ordained of God, we shall find the Sabbath-day 
 
280 rFvOPilETlC STUDIES. 
 
 become ultimately notlilng, and the fast-day become all. So 
 much is this the case, that in the Roman Catholic Catechism used 
 at RomC; the third commandment in their arrangement is given 
 as " llemember to keep holy the festivals ;'' ^' llecordati sanctifi- 
 care le feste ;'^ not a syllable being mentioned about keeping holy 
 the Sabbath-day. It is not only practically expunged from the 
 observance of the people, it is theoretically banished from the 
 catechisms of the church ; the liollday invented by the priest to- 
 tally superseding the liolu day instituted by God. And it is very 
 remarkable that in ancient times the men who fasted most — i. e. 
 abstained from food and scourged the flesh — instead of being the 
 most humble, were almost without exception most notorious for 
 their violent and ungovernable tempers. To give you an instance : 
 In the fourth century of the Christian era, lived two divines, the 
 history of each of whom I have read and studied — Jerome, the 
 great advocate of fasting and of monkery, and Vigilantius, the 
 j^reat opponent of both. The remains of the writings of Vigilan- 
 tius are very few, and are only to be found in the volumes of his 
 adversary, with whom he carried on a very ardent and lengthened 
 controversy. Now, if you will read the productions of Vigilan- 
 tius, the opponent of carnal fasting, you will find them full of a 
 beautiful and quiet spirit, replete with gentleness and forbearance, 
 ever putting the best interpretation on the conduct of his adver- 
 sary, and yet firmly contending that fasting, or abstinence from 
 food, and total retreat from society were not of divine obligation. 
 Jerome, on the other hand, who fasted from food to a severe ex- 
 tent, calls his opponent endless nicknames, makes puns of liis 
 name, and displays always the most bitter and quarrelsome spirit. 
 So that the man who never observed a fast-day or a feast-day, but 
 ate what was convenient for him, was of a beautiful and Christian 
 temper ; while the man that fasted, and went into the desert, and 
 clothed himself with rags, and walked barefoot, was notorious for 
 the most violent, unsanctified, and ungovernable temper. We 
 learn from this, that it needs grace to sanctify the soul ; and that 
 Avhether you pamper or starve the body, or whether you feast or 
 fiist, you do not thereby necessarily purify the soul. Christianity 
 presents to us something nobler and grander than prescriptions 
 cither for feasting or for fiisting. '' One believeth," says the 
 
FASTING. 281 
 
 apostle, ^^ that he may eat all things : another, who is weak, 
 eateth herbs. '^ Then mark what is his command : — ^^Let not 
 him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him 
 which eateth not judge him that eateth : for God has received 
 him. Who art thou that judgest another man's servant ? to his 
 own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up : 
 for God is able to make him stand. One man esteemeth one day 
 above another : another esteemeth every day alike." Every Eng- 
 lish churchman believes that Good Friday is obligatory. If he 
 believes it, he ought to observe it. Every Scottish churchman, 
 on grounds, perhaps, equally strong, both being extra-scriptural, 
 believes it is not of divine origin. Let him not observe it. One 
 esteems one day above another. Another esteems every day alike. 
 Where God hath not spoken, " let every one be fully persuaded 
 in his own mind." 
 
 If men would only recollect this, members of teetotal so- 
 cieties would not call men who think it is lawful to taste wine, 
 drunkards ; and men who think it is proper to drink wine would 
 not call members of teetotal societies fanatics. But each would 
 be fully persuaded in his mind — he that eateth eating to the Lord, 
 and he that eateth not eating not to the Lord. For the sublime 
 and noble character of the gospel is this, " the kingdom of God 
 is not meat nor drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in 
 the Holy Ghost," ^^ Meat commendeth us not to God ; for 
 neither if we eat are we the better, neither if we eat not are we 
 the worse." "He is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is 
 that circumcision which is outward in the flesh ; but he is a Jew, 
 who is one inwardly ; and circumcision is that of the heart, in 
 the spirit, and not in the letter ; whose praise is not of men, but 
 of God." 
 
 What good sense, what loftiness of spirit breathes in the gos- 
 pel ! The more we examine it, the more we see how worthy it 
 is of God to give it, and how suitable and profitable it is for man 
 to accept it. And if we had only a profounder sense of the ne- 
 cessity of a new heart, we should have less dispute about meat 
 and drink, and holidays, and feast-days, and fast-days, feeling 
 that the kingdom of God is not an outward observance, or con- 
 ventionalism of any sort, but an inner state, " righteousness, and 
 
 24* 
 
282 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 pence, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Wc are justified, not by 
 fasting, but by the righteousness of Christ alone. We are sanctified, 
 not by the tormenting of the body, but by the renewal of the heart 
 by the Holy Spirit of God alone. Make sure that you are accepted 
 in God's sight, by resting on the righteousness that Christ accom- 
 plished for you ; and that you are sanctified in God's sight by 
 being made meet for heaven by the Holy Spirit that is promised 
 to you ; and all the discussions that have vexed the world about 
 meat and drink, and fast-days, and feast-days, will be crowded 
 into very little bulk indeed. And very remarkable it is, that just 
 in the ratio in which men lose sight of vital religion, do they be- 
 come attached to, and absorbed with days, and forms, and cere- 
 monies. There is no clearer sign of a church losing her glory, 
 than when the tendency of her ministers is to busy themselves 
 much about such matters. And when such a church forgets that 
 the inner beauty is the true beauty, the beauty of holiness, and 
 begins to increase in inferior beauty by robes borrowed from 
 Aaron's faded wardrobe, and the flamens' heathen vestry — trying 
 to make a grand impression in the sight of man by splendid robes 
 and pompous rites — she is all the while losing those inner and 
 hidden excellences in which God delights, and which the spiritual 
 man alone can appreciate. If you are satisfied that you are jus- 
 tified by the righteousness, and ransomed by the atonement of 
 Jesus alone, you will not believe that any rite is essential to your 
 acceptance before God. And if you are thoroughly convinced 
 that you are renewed in your heart by the Holy Spirit alone, you 
 will not care to discuss much whether you ought to be plunged iu 
 much water or sprinkled with a little. If you feel deeply the ne- 
 cessity of an inner change, by the Spirit and not by the baptism, 
 you will find you have something better to think about than a 
 fruitless discussion, or an idle controversy. Take a Baptist who 
 is a spiritual man, and take an Episcopalian or a Presbyterian 
 who is equally so, and they will agree to difi"er about the quantity 
 of water to be used in baptism^ because they arc practically 
 agreed about this one thing — " Except a man be born again of 
 water and of the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God." 
 
LECTURE XX. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 *' And I set my faco unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, 
 "with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes." — Daniel ix. 3. 
 
 Prayer was the expression of the spiritual life of Daniel. 
 It is not unworthy of our exposition. We cannot overrate the 
 importance of prayer, or attach to it too great excellence, short of 
 attaching or attributing to it any thing that belongs to God. 
 There is a very beautiful definition given of it in a hymn by the 
 I^Ioravian poet, James Montgomery. He tells us that — 
 
 " Prayer is the soul's sincere desire, 
 Utter'd, or unexpress'd, 
 The motion of a hidden fire 
 That trembles in the IJreast. 
 
 '' Prayer is the burden of a sigh, 
 The falling of a tear. 
 The upward glancing of an eye 
 AVhen none but God is near. 
 
 "Prayer is the simplest form of speech 
 That infant lips can try : 
 Prayer the sublimest strains that reach 
 The Majesty on high. 
 
 "Prayer is the Christian's vital breath, 
 The Christian's native air ; 
 His watchword at the gates of death : 
 He enters heaven with prayer. 
 
 " Prayer is the contrite sinner's voice. 
 Returning from his ways ; 
 While angels in their songs rejoice, 
 And say, ' Behold ! he prays.' 
 
284 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 '• The saints in prayer appear as one 
 In word, and deed, and mind, 
 When -with the Father and the Son 
 Their fellovrship they find. 
 
 " Nor prayer is made on earth alone : 
 The Holy Spirit pleads ; 
 And Jesus, on the eternal throne, 
 For sinners intercedes. 
 
 " Thou, by -vrhom Tve come to God, 
 The life, the truth, the way, 
 The path of prayer thyself hast trod 
 Lord, teach us how to pray." 
 
 Sucli is a beautiful definition of prayer, by one wlio seems to 
 iiave known what its spirit, its aim, and objects are. Life begins 
 with prayer, and life ends with prayer. The soul enters on the 
 c-urrents of this world with prayer for guidance ; it enters upon 
 the margin of the ocean of eternity with prayer also, as its part- 
 ing breath. But prayer is often misconceived in all churches, 
 and by all parties. I would, therefore, endeavour to detach from 
 it those misconceptions which occasionally adhere to it. 
 
 First — The end of prayer, offered in private, in the family, or 
 in public, is not to inform Grod. Many persons pray as if they 
 wished to tell God what Grod does not know. But, surely, no 
 greater absurdity than this can be possibly conceived. He knows 
 the thought that nestles in the most secret nook and cranny of 
 the human heart, as well as the thought that is embodied in the 
 newspapers, and trumpeted by a thousand tongues. The still 
 small voice, and the deep cry of ten thousand — the want of an 
 orphan, and the strong necessity of a kingdom — are equally 
 known to him. 
 
 Nor is prayer loud speaking, or much speaking, or any one 
 special form whatever. The silent aspiration that struggles for 
 egress is heard by God as clearly as the litany that is chanted in 
 the arand procession, and enunciated by innumerable tongues. 
 God hears the dumb desire, and sees the hidden thought; and if 
 we pray in secret, when no man can see, he that seeth in secret 
 will hear us, and reward us openly. 
 
 In the next place, prayer is not prescribed in the Scripture, or 
 offered by a true believer, in order to work any change in God. 
 
PRAYER. Og5 
 
 We are not to suppose that by petitioning we can arrest his 
 purposes, or divert his designs from the great end that he has 
 in view, or has previously fixed. 2so eloquence of petition, no 
 fervour of feeiiug, no perseverance at the throne of grace can 
 alter one purpose of the Unchangeable, or change, in the least 
 degree, the designs of him who has '' no variableness, nor shadow 
 of turning." Therefore, when we read in Scripture such language 
 as, "I will not let thee go till thou bless me;" when we read 
 that in consequence of prayer God " repented" of what he had 
 done; and when we hear of God being moved by prayer — we 
 cannot fail to feel that all this is plainly language that describes 
 divine things, accommodated to the imperfections and the weak- 
 nesses of human beings. I need not tell you that this idea solves 
 and harmonizes those apparently conflicting words that are in 
 various parts of Scripture, where God is said to repent, and to 
 change — where he is said to have taken a particular course, and 
 that something has occurred which has altered it. These are the 
 shadows on the dial of time of the incarnation, before that incar- 
 nation came ; it is God then speaking and acting within the 
 limits of humanity, God speaking in imperfect human speech in 
 order to be comprehended by dull and imperfect human beings : 
 and this very condescension of God is most wickedly made by the 
 infidel to be an argument against the inspiration of the very book 
 which God has made the record of his condescension . I have no 
 doubt that the language of the Bible (perfect as that book is) does 
 not fully answer to the great ideas of which it is the vehicle. 
 Infinite ideas cannot be embodied in finite vehicles ; and there- 
 fore, instead of the expressions of the Bible being exaggerated, 
 as some persons suppose, I believe that when the divine penmen 
 selected the most expressive language in order to convey the 
 truths of God, even that strong language breaks down and faila 
 beneath the magnificence and splendour of the thoughts of which 
 it is made the vehicle. Even the Bible then, with all its glory, 
 is but a dim and shadowy manifestation of that brightness which 
 the unpurged human eye cannot bear to look upon in its intensity. 
 We are not, therefore, to suppose that any thing we pray for can 
 work the least change in God ; prayer is needful for us, not for 
 God ; it was instituted, not for his advantage, but for our salva- 
 
286 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 tioD, comfort, and convenience ; it is the expression of our homage, 
 the declaration of our dependence, the cry of our necessities, a 
 mighty instrument which he has put into our hands, the use of 
 which he has promised to bless. 
 
 In the next place, you must not associate with prayer any idea 
 of atonement or expiation. By the Romish Church, and those 
 who have imbibed the spirit and imitate the ways of that church, 
 prayer is regarded as a penance. Hence, in the Roman Catholic 
 catechism, you will find that one of the penances that the priest 
 assigns to people who have confessed their sins is prayer ; the 
 priest tells them, after they have confessed, that they are to re- 
 peat so many Pater Nosters and so many Ave Marias, each and 
 all of which are regarded and defined in their catechisms to be 
 expiatory. And I must say that those Protestant parents have 
 not got rid of their ancient Popish affinities who say to a child, 
 ^^ You have conducted yourself very badly at church ; you must 
 go home and learn a collect;" or, ''You have done very v/rong; 
 you must go and learn a psalm." My dear friends, never pre- 
 scribe the sanctuary, the psalm, the Bible, prayer, as a punish- 
 ment ; always teach your children that each is a privilege ; and 
 if your child has acted wrongly, say, ''You shall not go to church 
 to-day;" or, "You shall not read the Bible to-day;" or, "You 
 shall not have that spiritual privilege to-day which you always 
 have had ;" and you will then act in the true spirit of Protestant 
 Christianity. But to teach the poor child to regard the bended 
 knee and the uplifted heart, and the utterance " Our Father," as 
 a punishment — to teach the poor child to regard the Psalms of 
 David, which are to be the bases of the songs of heaven, as a 
 penance and a punishment, is worse than Popery ; it is teaching 
 the child lessons in its earliest moments, which will become so 
 inveterate by habit, that they will not be eradicated even to the 
 last day of its existence. Prayer is not an expiation, it is not a 
 penance, it is not to be taught and impressed as such; it is, on 
 the contrary, in every sense, a privilege. To attach to prayer 
 any thing expiatory, is to rob Christ of his prerogative, and to at- 
 tribute to the ordinance the glory that belongs to the Lord of the 
 ordinance. Always carry with you this idea — that there is no 
 expiatory atonement anywhere in the universe but in the blood 
 
PRAYER. 287 
 
 of Jesus. In tears shed like rain, in torture endured as martyrs 
 only endure it, there is nothings and can be nothing expiatory ; 
 and the remark, therefore, which you will occasionally hear of 
 some one who has been long ill, " Poor man, he has suffered 
 enough for his sins, he has endured enough, and has made ample 
 atonement for his sins," is but heathen or Romish, unscriptural, 
 unprotcstant, unspiritual language. Not only is there nothing 
 atoning in any thing man can suffer, but there is no necessity for 
 any thing atoning being in it. Does not the blood of Christ 
 cleanse from all sin? Does not the righteousness of Christ en- 
 title to all glory ? We need no additional expiatory element on 
 the one hand, and we need no additional perfect righteousness on 
 the other; we are complete in Christ, our priest, our prophet, 
 and our king. 
 
 This leads me to another remark. I meet sometimes with ex- 
 cellent Christian persons who say they give up all hope, believing 
 that God does not hear them ; " because," they say, *' our prayers 
 are so mixed with wandering and sinful thoughts, and are so im- 
 perfect, that we cannot pray aright." My dear friends, that idea 
 seems to imply a lingering notion that your prayers are expiatory, 
 or that your prayers are a title to heaven. Why, if you could 
 pray aright, it would imply that you could live aright, and that 
 you needed no sacrifice, nor Saviour, nor atonement; that you 
 are, in short, innocent and unfallen beings. It is perfectly true 
 that you cannot think aright, nor speak aright, nor pray aright, 
 nor live aright ; and, instead of saying, " I pray so badly that I 
 will cease to pray," you ought to pray and pray still for the for- 
 giveness of your prayers through the blood of Christ Jesus which 
 cleanseth from all sins. 
 
 In the next place, when we pray, it is not only not to make 
 any expiation, but we must not pray, to use the definition of our 
 Lord, in order " to be seen of men." The Pharisees of old prayed 
 in the corners of the streets ; and the Romanists of recent times 
 pray upon the pavements of cathedrals, and, in their homes, in 
 what they call " oratories," — places, nooks consecrated and set 
 apart specially for this purpose. But you must never forget that 
 there is no one spot, or hill, or dale, or street, or cathedral pave- 
 ment, or chapel floor, anywhere, that has one particle of more 
 
288 rnopiiETic studies. 
 
 essential liallowedness or holiness in tlie sight of God than 
 another. It is quite right and decent to set apart places for pub- 
 lic worship, but to suppose that a i:)rayer will be heard on a 
 cathedral pavement which cannot be heard on a kitchen floor, is 
 to forget by whom and through what prayers are heard — the per- 
 fect intercession of the Son of God. Hence I regard the practice 
 introduced into the diocese of Exeter, of having ^'oratories'' in 
 private dwellings, because it is said the drawing-room floor, or 
 the dining-room floor is not fit to kneel on, and therefore it is not 
 right to have family worship there, but in a little nook cut off 
 from the rest and consecrated, and that there alone you must 
 pray, as the first inroad upon that noble and precious thing, 
 family worship. No one must submit to it; the thought, the 
 prayer that comes from an humble heart, rises to God swifter 
 than angels' wings can fly, and is heard by the ear of Jehovah 
 louder than the seven thunders themselves. The only priesthood 
 we need below is the priesthood of the affections ; the only chan- 
 cel that is holy is the chancel of an humble and broken heart ; 
 the only fald-stool is the bended heart, not necessarily the bowed 
 knee, and such prayer, offered in such circumstances, God will 
 hear. Many a man says prayers who never prays at all ; and 
 many a man rarely says prayers who prays continually. It is 
 not the Liturgy or Litany, however beautiful or eloquent; it is not 
 the loud utterance, however fervent; but it is the thought that 
 flies inaudible, like lightning, from the heart, penetrates the clouds, 
 and conveys the creature's wants to a Creator's fulness, and draws 
 down benedictions larger than tongue can tell or heart can conceive. 
 Prayer, in the next place, is not to be an excuse or apology for 
 the neglect of duties. We must not say, " I cannot attend to the 
 payment of my debts, because I am too much engaged in pray- 
 ing." You must not say, ^' I must give up certain duties that 
 are plain and obvious, because I must devote a certain time to 
 prayers that are dutiful and right.'' Prayer is not to be a sub- 
 stitute for duty, but the inspiration of duty, and the strongest in- . 
 centive to its effective discharge. Prayer is to lead to pains- 
 taking, and pains-taking is to lead to prayer. He that prays best 
 wil-1 labour most, and he that labours in the right spirit will pray 
 in the right spirit also. 
 
PRAYER. 289 
 
 Again, prayer is not an exercise suited to a great crisis, to be 
 laid aside and afterward to be used on the recurrence of another 
 crisis. When a shipwreck has been threatened, I have seen per- 
 sons begin to pray who never prayed before. In the season of 
 pestilence, or famine, or war, or battle, or disorganization, or re- 
 volution, many will begin to pray, and you would suppose that 
 they were rapt saints and seraphs in such circumstances ; but if 
 the famine passes away, if the war ceases, if the pestilence is re- 
 moved, and if you should say to such persons, '' We prayed for 
 the removal of these things, and they are gone; is not this an 
 answer to our prayers V they would laugh you to scorn for such 
 foolery, fanaticism, and enthusiasm, showing that their prayer was 
 the same to them as the ringing of bells is to Roman Catholics, 
 who suppose that when there is lightning the ringing of conse- 
 crated bells will avert it, and that the muttering of Pater Nostcrs 
 will keep away the judgment that God justly sends for their sins. 
 We are to pray, my dear friends, at all times, in minute things 
 and in mighty things — in all time of our tribulation, in all time 
 of our wealth, in the hour of death, and until our footsteps are 
 heard in our approach to the judgment throne. AVe are to pray 
 in the high-roads of public life and in the hidden and sequestered 
 by-paths of individual experience ; we are to pray when we go 
 out, and when we come in : little things are the hinges of great 
 results, and he who does not pray that God would guide him in 
 the little things has no right to expect that God will bless him in 
 great things. A Christian feels that his daily bread has no bless- 
 ing till he has asked it, that his home has no consecration till he 
 has sought it, and that his labours can have no increase till God's 
 blessing has rested upon them. And this reminds me to state, 
 that every head of a family should have family prayer. If you 
 look at this exercise in the lowest light, you must see that it 
 brings before a whole house the idea of God ; it presents before 
 each member thoughts of eternity ; and the very fact that you 
 kneel and pray, and give utterance to your wants, teaches every 
 one, from the menial domestic to the head of the house, to feel 
 that there is a God, a judgment-seat, an eternity, a soul to be 
 saved ; and when you recollect how in this world we are apt to 
 tread down and trample in the dust such solemn thoughts, you 
 
 25 
 
290 niOPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 will feel how important it is that we should try to recruit, to re- 
 vive, and resuscitate them as often as we can. But more than 
 all this, when we pray as a family, we seek family blessings, and 
 God has said that the families who do not call upon him he will 
 not bless. Many of your present aches and ills, and domestic 
 trials and troubles, may be to lead you to this ; and when you 
 have been brought to acknowledge God as a family, then see if 
 the sunshine of his countenance will not lighten upon you, and 
 the blessing that maketh rich abundantly descend on you. 
 
 I have thus shown you what prayer should not be; let me 
 endeavour briefly, in the space that remains, to show you what it 
 should be. 
 
 In the first place, prayer should be addressed unto God, as our 
 Father. AVhen we pray (and I wish all specially to notice this) 
 we do not come before God as criminals overwhelmed by the ter- 
 rors of the wrath of a judge, but as sons — sinful and erring sons, 
 it may be — asking the blessing of a Father. Recollect that the 
 great idea of the gospel — the idea that runs through it all, that 
 gives its tone, its colouring to it all — is the idea of God as our 
 Father ; and every time we pray to him, we pray not as to an 
 angry judge, but as to our Father. Do not forget this. Go to 
 God as sons into the presence of a Father, never as criminals to 
 deal with the wrath of a judge. The very first utterance is, 
 Abba, Father ; the very first inspiration of the Holy Spirit given 
 to us is, that God hath sent forth the spirit of his Son, crying in 
 our hearts, "Abba, Father." And our Lord appeals to us — "If 
 ye [earthly fathers, with all your faults and imperfections] know 
 how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more will 
 your Father which is in heaven give the Holy Spirit to them that 
 ask him ?" But while we are to pray to God as a Father, we are 
 to pray to no creature on this side of God. Such, as I have told 
 you, is my idea of the grandeur of man's soul, that there is no- 
 thing that I would bring that soul into close contact with in reli- 
 gion short of God himself No creature must come between me 
 and God, not the highest angel or archangel ; it is my privilege 
 to go to my Father, and to say to him, in the spirit of adoption, 
 "Our Father, which art in heaven.'' 
 
 But prayov is to be offered, not only to our Father, but it is to 
 
PRAYER. 291 
 
 be offered in the name and through the mediation of Christ. 
 Christ is the way to the Father, and the Father's way to us ; his 
 name is not a mere musical cadence to a prayer, or a customary 
 close to a collect, but it is to be the AljDha of our prayer, and its 
 Omega too ; he is to be the substance of every prayer, the com- 
 mencement and the end of every prayer ; and it is because of 
 what he has done, that we can see a channel by which our pray- 
 ers shall rise to Deity, and the blessing of Deity shall descend 
 into the heart of humanity. It is, then, in the name of Christ 
 we must pray. 
 
 But we are also told that we are to pray in the strength and by 
 the guidance of the Holy Spirit of God. No man persists long 
 in seeking for a blessing who does not give evidence, by that per- 
 sistency, that the Holy Spirit has taught him to pray for it. We 
 all know very well that water rises to the level from which it de- 
 scended ; it is so with prayer ; the prayer only that G od has 
 inspired will reach to God ; we are told, therefore, that the Spirit 
 of God pleads and intercedes within us with groanings that can- 
 not be uttered. What a thought is this, and what an evidence 
 of the helplessness of man ! We need God to pray to, God to 
 pray through, and God to pray in. Christ jDleading without us, 
 the Spirit pleading within us, sustained safely is the creature in 
 the everlasting arms. How safe is that man whose God is our 
 God ; how sure is that prayer of an answer which is placed in the 
 golden censer of a Saviour's merits, and kindled by the presence 
 of that Saviour's Spirit ! You may recollect, that in the ancient 
 economy, it was not only sin to offer upon a wrong altar, but it 
 was no less so to offer incense kindled from strange fire. Now 
 the right altar is Christ, the true fire is the Holy Spirit ; it is his 
 fire that kindles the cold heart — it is his inspiration that gives 
 eloquence to the stammering lips — it is his presence that gives 
 efficacy and expression to the inmost thoughts and desires of our 
 hearts. It is thus, then, we pray to God the Father, in the name 
 of Christ the Son, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And 
 so praying, we are to pray for every thing. We forfeited all by 
 sin ; and if we have any thing, we have it by grace. Is it not a 
 very important thought, and yet a thought that we rarely take 
 hold off — that there is not one blessing, not one happy pulse in 
 
292 PROrilETIC STUDIES. 
 
 the bounding hearty not one inspiration of cold air, not a glass of 
 cold water, not a sensation of health or joy in the human frame, 
 that are not as much the purchase of a Saviour's blood as the 
 crown of glory that will be bestowed upon his saints? We for- 
 feited all when we fell : and if we have aught that is good, holy, 
 happy, beneficent, it is by grace, and by grace alone. Therefore, 
 my dear friends, let u.s recognise the fountain of these things ; let 
 us feel, that if we have no spiritual mercies yet for which we can 
 thank God, we have so many temporal mercies, that the man 
 whose lips are dumb in prayer, has a heart that must be cold and 
 obdurate indeed. 
 
 And when we pray for additional blesssings — grace and glory — 
 we are to pray for them earnestly — that is, from the heart, sin- 
 cerely, truly, under a deep consciousness that we want them. Do 
 not express in prayer more than you feel, but pray that you may 
 feel deeply what you want, and so pray. If a person is under 
 deep wants, and wishes from any one that which will satisfy those 
 wants, how simple is the language he uses ! Nothing, therefore, 
 is to my mind so oifensive as very splendid language in prayer — 
 as very fine phrases, exquisitely turned sentences, beautiful idioms, 
 rich similes, and fine eloquence ; — all this in prayer is like pop- 
 pies in a cornfield, injurious, mischievous, bad. Whenever a 
 person, therefore, prays earnestly, and truly, his prayer will be 
 simple, it will be short, it will be to the purpose. Almost every 
 prayer in the Bible is a short prayer. Long prayers and repeti- 
 tions do not indicate earnestness ; it is the deep simple cry of a 
 humble, needy, destitute heart that God hears, when offered 
 through the name and the merits of Christ Jesus. I look upon 
 the General Confession of the Church of England as a perfect 
 model in this respect : it is exquisitely simple, and evidently bor- 
 rowed from and moulded upon the model of the Lord's Prayer. 
 There is scarcely a word in it that is not a monosyllable : '' We 
 have done those things which we ought not to have done, and we 
 have left undone those things which we ought to have done.'.' 
 How simple, how intelligible, how much to the purpose ! and 
 what a contrast to those splendid extemporaneous prayers we are 
 sometimes doomed to listen to ! Let us pray in spirit, and pray 
 in truth, and we shall pray simply, and to the purpose — simple 
 
PRAYER. 393 
 
 words, sublime petitions. So our Lord taught his disciples, and 
 so he will teach us to pray. 
 
 We are to pray intensely and earnestly. I have been looking 
 over the Bible for instances of prayer. I cannot quote them all 
 now ; but I have noticed how earnest and intense were the peti- 
 tions, not only of Daniel, but of all God's most distinguished 
 saints. ^'If thou wilt not forgive' their sins,^' said Moses, "blot 
 me, I pray thee, out of thy book/' What earnestness is that ! 
 Again, St. Paul said, " I could wish I were accursed from Christ 
 for my brethren and my kinsmen according to the flesh.'' What 
 earnestness is there ! I remember a- parallel case — that of John 
 Knox, the celebrated reformer, who has been blamed and carica- 
 tured, just as it now seems to be the fashion with respect to Cal- 
 vin, of whom all sorts of falsehoods and misrepresentations are 
 circulated. The prayer that John Knox constantly offered was, 
 "0 Lord, give me Scotland, or I shall die;" — meaning by that, 
 " Let me see the gospel spread in it, let Protestantism prevail in 
 it, let Popery be cast out from it, or I shall die." I quote the 
 prayer to indicate the intensity of the feeling that was condensed 
 into that great man's heart, when he prayed for such a blessing, 
 and for a laud at that time the most darkened and benighted amid 
 all the nations of the earth. I may refer to Knox's own prayers, 
 which are left to us, as specimens of great and beautiful sublimity 
 of thought. I do not think, however, (this is my own judgment, 
 whether you concur with me or not, for the Bible is silent upon 
 such subjects,) that the repetition of the same words every Sun- 
 day, is always expedient. Have you not noticed, that the most 
 exquisite song, if sung every day, begins to pall ? It does seem 
 to be the higher philosophy, and not the less Christianity, that the 
 same thoughts should be in varied language, in this dispensation 
 at least, lest men should be found repeating the words, like those 
 of a beautiful song, and losing meanwhile the undercurrent of 
 thought, which alone is precious and worthy. 
 
 We are to pray also for all good things; and among other good 
 things we are to pray for temporal blessings. These, however, 
 we are to pray for with a certain measure of reserve. The mea- 
 sure of our temporal blessings is, " Give us this day our daily 
 bread ;" the condition of our temporal blessings is, " Thy will be 
 
294 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 done, as in heaven, so on eartli/' We are tauglit not to ask 
 blessings for to-morrow, but for to-day only. If Christians lived 
 as Christians profess to pray, how happy should we be ! But 
 alas, alas ! man — poor inconsistent man — is constantly fearing 
 dangers that may happen to-morrow, and constantly praying for 
 blessings that he may never need to-morrow ; showing the incon- 
 sistency of his character, and thereby the grandeur and the truth 
 of that petition which he has been taught : " Give us this day 
 our daily bread.'^ ^' Seek first the kingdom of God and his 
 righteousness, and all other things shall be added unto you." 
 When you pray for temporal blessings, God may not give you 
 the very temporal blessing you ask, but he will give you that 
 which will remove the want that you feel. If you ask riches, he 
 may withhold them, because riches might be a curse to you; but 
 God will give you contentment, which is sweeter far. When 
 Paul felt keenly some thorn in the flesh, he prayed that it might 
 be removed. God said he would not remove the thorn, but he 
 would still answer the prayer by doing what was better — " My 
 grace shall be sufficient for you.^^ When you are on a sick-bed, 
 and pra}^ for health, God may not give you health ; such health 
 may lead you to sin ; but he will give you grace to bear your 
 sickness, and the inward man shall be renewed day by da}^ And 
 oh ! what a consolation is it to know that we can pillow our 
 aching heads upon the bosom of Him who has promised that he 
 will supply all our wants, and do exceeding abundantly above all 
 that we can either ask or think. 
 
 Eut, although we ask for temporal blessings, we are to ask 
 specially and primarily for spiritual blessings ; and let me tell 
 you how you are to ask for them. Every promise in the Bible 
 is meant to be, if you will allow the expression — although coarse, 
 it is expressive — the "raw materiaF^ of prayer. The promises 
 are given us to be turned into prayer; and you will need no 
 liturgy, and feel the want of no litany, if you will just open the 
 psalms, and wherever God gives a- promise, turn that promise into 
 a prayer, and beg that God will fulfil it in your experience. The 
 promises come from the skies; the believer accepts them, and 
 sends them back again in the shape of prayers ; promise comes 
 down again as performance, and prayer as a blessing; and the 
 
TRAYER. 295 
 
 hearts of tbcm that accepted the one and embodied the other re- 
 joice with joy unutterable and full of glory. Hence, there is 
 not one blessinij; that a sinner needs for eternity that you are not 
 warranted to ask, and to ask boldly, as a son from a fiither, in 
 the name of Christ Jesus. Do you need a new heart ? do you 
 need joy ? do you need peace ? Whatever you need, if God has 
 promised it — that you may ask. But you say, '^ Is there no risk 
 of presumption ?" I answer, presumption is asking any thing 
 that God has not promised; but your asking for grace, or any 
 thing that God has promised, is not presumption. Where the 
 queen to command you to ask the highest dignity in the realm, 
 it would be no humility to say, " It is too great for me to ask ;" 
 it would be the greatest humility, loyalty, and courtesy that you 
 could show were you instantly to ask it. When a celebrated 
 French king once showed the infidel philosopher Hume into his 
 carriage, the latter at once leaped in, on which his majesty re- 
 marked, " That's the most accomplished man living.'' Hume 
 showed his greatest reverence for the monarch, by doing what 
 royalty commanded. And if we so treat the kings of this world, 
 whose crowns are crumbling into dust, surely if the Prince of 
 the kings of the earth say, "Seek, and ye shall find; ask, and 
 ye shall obtain; knock, and it shall be opened unto you," it 
 must be the highest humility to ask the greatest blessings, and it 
 must be the highest pride to ask any thing less. 
 
 To the complaint often expressed by many Christians, ''We 
 have asked, but God has not answered,'^ I give this very short 
 reply : God says he will give, but he does not say how long 3-ou 
 must pray, or how often you must ask. When you are ill, and 
 apply to a physician, if that physician promises you a cure, and 
 gives you certain prescriptions, you do not run away from him 
 and say, " All his promise is deception," but you faithfully take 
 the prescription he gives you, and wait the result. It is so with 
 God : God says he will answer you, but he bids you pray ; and 
 if you go on using the prescription, God himself has pledged his 
 veracity that you shall have an answer exceeding abundantly 
 above all you can ask or think. God requires of you unlimited 
 confidence ; give him that confidence, cast your care on him, wait 
 patiently on him, and he will bring his promises to pass. But 
 
296 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 you say, your sorrow continues, and increases while you pray. 
 The sorrow you feel, or the calamity you are the subject of, may 
 be the medicine, not the disease. You do not want the medicine 
 to be withdrawn, you only want the disease to be cured. 
 
 Especially is all this true of intercessory prayer. If you have 
 a friend, a son, a daughter, a husband, a wife, a relative, who are 
 not what they should be, and whom you wish to be what Grod 
 would have them to be, continue to pray for them, and as sure as 
 you do pray, so sure that prayer will be, sooner or later, answered. 
 Many a prayer offered up by them that are gone is doing its work 
 in the hearts of those who tread reverently upon their ashes. 
 You may be gathered to the grave before the blessing you have 
 prayed for descends upon a near and a dear oiie, but fall it will; 
 God has pledged himself to it, and he will most assuredly fulfil 
 his pledge. 
 
 But you are to pray for blessings not only upon your friends 
 and your rehitivcs, but even upon your foes. The way to destroy 
 an enemy is to love him, and the way to destroy your enmity to 
 him is to pray for him. AVhenever there is any one toward 
 whom you feel most uncomfortably, go home and pray for him, 
 and all your uncomfortable feeling will depart. If this were so — 
 if one were praying for another, and each for all, the world would 
 have innumerable benefactors, men who prayed for others, the 
 results of whose prayers many might be reaping, while they 
 knew not the names even of those that uttered them. Let us 
 pray for all men, for kings and all that are in authority, for our 
 friends that they may be friends of God, for our enemies that 
 they may be forgiven, for all flesh that they may see and taste 
 the great salvation of our God. And as an encouragement to 
 such prayer, let me read to you — and with it I will close — that 
 beautiful specimen which occurs in the history of Abraham. God 
 had resolved, we are told, to destroy Sodom. ^^ And Abraham 
 drew near, and said. Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with 
 the wicked ? Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the 
 city : wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty 
 righteous that are therein ? And the Lord said, If I find in 
 Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then will I spare all the 
 place for their sakes. And Abraham answered and said, Behold 
 
TRAYER. 297 
 
 now, I liave taken upon mc to speak unto the Lord, wliicli am 
 but dust and ashes : [what humility, and yet what boldness !] 
 Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous : wilt 
 thou destroy all the city for lack of five ? And he said, If I find 
 there forty and five, I will not destroy it. And he spake unto 
 him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found 
 there. And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake. And he 
 said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak : 
 Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I 
 will not do it if I find thirty there. And he said. Behold now, I 
 have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord : Peradventure 
 there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not de- 
 stroy it for twenty's sake. And he said. Oh let not the Lord be 
 angry, and I will speak yet but this once : Peradventure ten 
 shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's 
 sake. And the Lord went his way, as soon as he had left com- 
 muning with Abraham : and Abraham returned unto his place.'' 
 Abraham left off praying before God left off giving. 
 
298 
 
 LECTURE XXL 
 
 SIN, CONFESSION, AND ABSOLUTION. 
 
 "And I prayed unto the Lord iny God, and made my confession, and said, 
 
 Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them 
 that love him, and to them that keep his commandments." — Daniel ix. 4. 
 
 In my first remarks on the chapter a portion of which I have 
 read, I endeavoured to show what was the nature of fasting, and 
 ashes, and sackcloth, and how far obligatory on us were these 
 accompaniments of prayer which Daniel here presented. It is 
 said that he '' prayed with fasting, with sackloth, and with ashes." 
 
 1 showed that these were temporary ceremonies in their material 
 form, while they expressed permanent feelings of the heart in 
 the dispensation in which it is our privilege to live; that the 
 fasting required now has rather a relation to the heart than to the 
 body; that the sackcloth and the ashes are lowliness and humility 
 of soul, and that, where these are accompanied by faith and trust 
 in the atonement of Jesus, there there is the spirit that presents 
 acceptable prayer to God, and on which the blessing pledged and 
 promised will descend. In my next discourse I endeavoured to 
 explain the nature of prayer; its divisions, its obligations, and 
 its general characteristics. In my remarks this evening I will 
 call your attention to three specific topics that are touched upon 
 in the course of the prayer which I have now read : first, sin, as 
 the root and cause of all the miseries we suffer; next, the con- 
 fession of sin, which Daniel here exhibited ; and, thirdly, the for- 
 giveness of sin by him to whom the prayer is addressed ; '^ the 
 Lord our God," to whom '' bclongmercies and forgiveness, though 
 we have rebelled against him." 
 
 We have, first of all, then, in this chapter, the acknowledg- 
 ment of sin ; Daniel owning, throughout the whole passage, that 
 whatever evils had fallen upon them, their princes, and their 
 
SIN, CONFESSION, AND ABSOLUTION. 299 
 
 fathers, their rulers, and all the people of the land, were to be 
 traced to one prolific and bitter root, and that root, sin. The 
 word is easily uttered; but eternity itself will not be able to 
 exhaust its terrible significance. Sin it was that 
 
 ''Brought death into the world, and all our wo I" 
 
 Sin was not made by God. Wherever it came from, it came not 
 from the creative hand of our God ; it was no original portion of 
 the creation of God; it was no part or parcel of the original 
 furniture which garnished and beautified the earth as it came from 
 the hand of God. It is a foul stain that has fallen upon the 
 earth. Whence it came originally, the Bible does not tell us ; 
 and as we are unable to explain its origin and the cause of its in- 
 troduction as a fact, philosoj^hers and skeptics, who either repudi- 
 ate it or explain it awa}^, are equally unable to solve the difficulty, 
 and say why, and wherefore, and how, sin crept into the world, 
 and originated all the disaster and wreck and misery which con- 
 fessedly flow from it. All that we know is, that God is not the 
 author of it ; and he cannot be charged in any shape or sense 
 with the responsibility of its existence. God made man holy; he 
 made creation happy; he pronounced them both to be "very 
 good;'' and, whatever be the source of sin, it is not of God, nor 
 from God, nor is he, in his government, in any manner what- 
 ever, chargeable with its existence or its consequences. 
 
 Sin, in looking at it as the source of evil, may be said, in the 
 first place, to be wrong done to one's own self. No man sins 
 without suffering in the act of his sin, and suffering afterward 
 terrible and enduring consequences that follow that act. Never 
 can sin, as a fact in the past, be utterly annihilated. Its dark 
 shadow will remain suspended over your recollections to the last; 
 your remembrance of it will not cease till grace is swallowed up 
 in glory. Forgiven it may be; forgotten by you, as a fact, your 
 memory will never sufi"er it to be. Sin, I have said, is wrong 
 done to one's own self. It creates terrible presentiments which 
 you yourselves are all conscious of There is no feeling in the 
 human heart more rending, more insufi"erable for its agony, than 
 the terrible feeliDg of remorse. We know not fully what it is in 
 this world, because it is benumbed, soothed, repressed by a thou- 
 
300 rROPIlETIC STULIE8. 
 
 sand circumstantial applications round us. But wlien these are 
 occasionally withdrawn, and the conscience is left to its gnawings, 
 I believe that we have in such remorse the first sensations of the 
 torment of the worm that never dies, and of the fire that shall 
 never he quenched. But I do not now refer to sin as the source 
 of future misery; I look at it as the source of misery now: a 
 sinner is an unhappy man — unhappy when he sins ; never is the 
 right hand lifted up to sin unless amid the lightnings of con- 
 viction and remonstrance. Never does a man do what his con- 
 science declares to be wrong without feeling conflict, misery, discord, 
 which are only the dawn of that future hell where sin is left to 
 its full sway, and its victim is consigned to all its terrible results. 
 
 Sin is wrong done, specially, I observe, to man's conscience. 
 Man's conscience may be seared, benumbed, stupefied, by the 
 influence of sin ; but it never sleeps the sleep of entire death in 
 this world. There are times when conscience will awake, and 
 when all the opiates of this world utterly fail to hush it. There 
 are moments of sequestration from the world, when some mys- 
 terious light will flash upon the conscience, resplendent and vivid 
 as the lightning, in which you read the sins you have done, and 
 see the retribution that of necessity cleaves to them ; and hard 
 as you may try to stupefy, to still, and to allay that conscience, 
 you will not succeed. It will rise from its temporary lull, and 
 reason audibly, till the wounded spirit can no longer bear it, '^ of 
 righteousness, and temperance, and judgment to come.'' It is 
 related in Scripture, that when Herod, who was a Sadducee, and 
 who therefore disbelieved the resurrection of the dead and the 
 immortality of the soul, heard that Jesus was performing great 
 miracles, instantly his conscience smote him with the recollection 
 he had murdered John, and that conscience, stronger than his 
 reason, said, ^'It is John,'' and, stronger than his creed, it added, 
 "who is risen from the dead;" and, with forebodings which he 
 could not quell, made him feel that he was come to avenge the 
 foul murder of which he, Herod, had been guilty. So true is it 
 that conscience is more eloquent than speech, more powerful than 
 armies ; monarchs have felt it on their thrones, and skeptics have 
 believed in spite of their atheistical convictions. 
 
 Sin is wrong done to the afl"ections. Every one knows, and it 
 
SIN, CONFESSION, AND ABSOLUTION. 301 
 
 is well that we should know, that the moment you introduce sin 
 into the affections of a man, in thought, in deed, or in word, 
 that moment there follows disorder, confiLsion, suffering. "Who 
 knows not the fury of resentment, the corroding pain of a spirit 
 of revenge ? Who is not aware what a hardening thing is ava- 
 rice, wherever it is cherished and entertained ? Few there are 
 who have not learned by painful personal experience, that the 
 introduction of sin into the circle of the affections of the heart 
 is the introduction of a foul demon who there lords it over you, 
 and torments you with a scorpion sceptre which you can neither 
 get rid of nor overcome, except by the forgiving blood of the 
 cross, and the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit of God. 
 
 Sin, too — this sin of which I am speaking — is an injury done 
 to reason. Not that the sinner does not reason : avance calcu- 
 lates its gains; ambition lays its plans; sensuality arranges its 
 prospective indulgences; dishonesty schemes and plunders most 
 cleverly; and very bad men may be very clever men; — yet sin is 
 wrong done to reason. That noble faculty, which was made to 
 trace and teach the footsteps of God, is degraded, debased, and 
 made a mere mercenary calculating machine for sensuality, ava- 
 rice, ambition, dishonesty, and crime. Sin is degradation and 
 wrong done to reason. 
 
 Sin is injury done to the soul I What sickness and pain are 
 to the body — what loss is to the estate — what dishonour is to the 
 name — these, and more than these — and felt more intensely than 
 these, sin is to the soul. 
 
 Sin is wrong done to all society : it is the ceaseless epidemic 
 that is never stayed; it is the desolating plague for which thero 
 is no earthly cure. What explains the convulsions of the earth, 
 the lawsuits, the quan-els, the disputes, the murders, the dis- 
 honesty, by which society in some of its sections is stained ? It 
 is the contention of pride, the corroding of envy, the coldness 
 of distrust, the exactions of selfishness, the outbreaks of pas- 
 sion. Sin is the fever, the disease that tears, and wears, and 
 wastes it. 
 
 And sin, lastly, is hateful to God. It is the only thing in the 
 whole universe that God hates. Not the sinner, but his sin does 
 he hate. God so lovod the sinner, that he gave his only begot- 
 
 26 
 
,302 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 ten Son that that sinner might be saved. God so hates sin, that 
 rather than sin should triumph, he gave the blood of the incar- 
 nate Deity, and so washed it away. 
 
 And this sin, my dear friends, in one word, is oztrsin: the sin 
 we were born in — nursed in; the sin that cleaves to all man- 
 kind; which taints our purest thoughts, which is the alloy in 
 our holiest feelings. The sin that offends God, and is the con- 
 ductor of his lightnings to the earth, is our sin. There is no 
 man who does not feel that it is so. There is no man that will 
 not say, ^'I have sinned.^' There is no memory that does not 
 recollect some dark shadow that has swept over it; no conscience 
 that has not some painful quivering in it; no biography that has 
 not in its pages something it has done which it feels it should 
 not have done, something it has left undone which it feels that 
 it ought to have done; and there are few that feel not in their 
 best moments that there is no good in them. 
 
 Such, then, in few words, is sin; and such is the relationship 
 of sin to the reason, the affections, the heart, the conscience, so- 
 ciety. It is the only thing that God hates; it is the only thing 
 that makes hell. I believe hell does not consist of literal flame 
 any more than of a literal worm. It consists of far more terrible 
 agony than that; the worm that never dies, is the conscience; 
 the fire that is never quenched, is sin. Let there be a company 
 of drunkards, thieves, ambitious men, envious, cruel, sanguinary 
 men — let them all be cast together, let all restraints and restric- 
 tions be withdrawn, and there will originate and burn there a 
 hell of the most terrific kind; there will be passions, and no 
 means to indulge them; thirst, and no supply for it; ambition, 
 and no thrones to gratify it. I do not believe we have anything 
 like an adequate appreciation of what sin is. It is lightly com- 
 mitted; it is lightly done; but years upon years do not exhaust 
 it. But blessed be God, terrible as it is, there is no sin, though 
 it be of scarlet dye and of crimson hue, that may not be washed 
 away in that precious blood '4hat cleanseth from all sin.'' 
 
 But, in the next place, Daniel not only admitted sin as the 
 cause of all; but in this eloquent, because simple and earnest 
 prayer, he freely and fully confessed it. The constant expres- 
 sion that he uses is, ^'I confessed;" ''I made my confession 
 
SIN, CONFESSION, AND ABSOLUTION. 303 
 
 unto tlie Lord;" ^^I said, I have sinned, and have done wick- 
 edly;'' ^'The sins that we have sinned have brought on this 
 great evil." 
 
 The next feature, therefore, in this prayer which I proceed to 
 consider is, confession. Confession, if truly felt, is freely ut- 
 tered. There are two sorts of confession: there is the confes- 
 sion of sin extracted by unexpected disaster, or by the foreboding 
 of a deserved judgment; and there is the confession of sin 
 freely and spontaneously given utterance to. When Pharaoh 
 was under the judgments of God, he confessed his sins, but 
 he did it as if it were an atonement; and the instant that the 
 judgment ceased, the monarch returned to his crimes. We 
 read also that Balaam, when the angel withstood him, with a 
 sword drawn in his hand, confessed his error : and Judas, in an 
 agony of remorse, and amid the sparks of that hell which his 
 own wickedness had kindled, confessed that he had betrayed 
 innocent blood. But such was not the confession that Daniel 
 made; and such is not the confession to which the Christian 
 gives expression. The Christian's confession of sin is a very 
 different thing. Many men confess their sins just as merchants 
 in a storm at sea cast their goods overboard; not that they dis- 
 like their goods, but self-preservation compels them to fling them 
 away. Their confession is wrung and extorted from them, not 
 by a sense of the hatefulness of sin, but from a desire — a vain 
 one, I admit — of thereby obtaining security from the judgment 
 of God; but a Christian sees sin, and feels sin, to be hateful. 
 What pain is to the body, that a Christian feels sin to be to the 
 soul; he owns that he has been guilty of it; and he pours out his 
 confession of it, like Daniel, freely and spontaneously before God. 
 
 In the next place, where there is true confession of sin, and 
 such confession as Daniel here made, it is full and explicit. 
 Trace at your leisure every clause in this litany, and you will 
 see how full, how explicit, is the confession that Daniel makes 
 of every sin of which he had been guilty. The unconverted 
 who confess their sins, not because they hate them and feel their 
 burden, but because they would be rid of them in order to avoid 
 the consequences that they apprehend, and in order to escape 
 the judgments that they fear, make but a half confession. 
 
304 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 When tliey begin to confess, they say, so much was owing to 
 circumstances; so much to things over which we had no con- 
 trol; so much to constitutional temperament; so much to some- 
 body else: just as did our first parents, whose succession we 
 have tiTily inherited. When Adam was questioned by God, he 
 cast the blame on Eve : when Eve was threatened, she cast the 
 blame on the serpent : and only when Christ was preached in 
 Paradise, as the woman's seed who should bruise the serpent's 
 head, did Adam and Eve kneel at the family altar, and make 
 such confession as Daniel made, free and full, laying all the 
 blame upon themselves, none upon God. 
 
 And, in the next place, Daniel's confession was specific. 
 Wherever there is genuine confession, it will always be personal 
 and specific. In public prayer, whether it be the prayer that 
 the minister breathes as the mouth-piece of the people, or the 
 written prayer and printed which he reads, and prays as the 
 mouth-piece of the people, — in either case, the confession cannot 
 be personal and specific. It must be a general confession for all 
 who are there present. But when you are in your closet — when 
 you lift your hearts to God, — are there no personal, specific sins, 
 of which you are conscious, and for which your own heart con- 
 demns you? — and "God is greater than your hearts, and know- 
 eth all things'^ — those sins you ought, and, if you arg Christians, 
 you will, specially unfold and acknowledge before Him who 
 alone, for Christ's sake, has promised to forgive them. Thus wo 
 find the apostle Paul, when he acknowledged his sins before 
 others, instead of trying to explain them away, rather, if possi- 
 ble, exaggerated them. In Acts xxvi. 9, he says, '^I truly 
 thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to 
 the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Which thing I also did in Jeru- 
 salem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having 
 received authority from the chief priests; and when they were 
 put to death,^' he says substantially, "when I could not kill 
 them, I was wicked enough to give my voice against them; 
 and, more than this, I banished them; and, more than this, I 
 persecuted them even unto strange cities; and, more than 
 this, I punished them often in every synagogue; and, worse 
 than this, I compelled them to blaspheme." What a dark 
 
SIN, CONFESSION, AND ABSOLUTION. 305 
 
 catalogue of grievous crimes! and what an honest acknowledg- 
 ment of them — specific, minute, not diluted, the responsibility 
 not shifted, not confessing them to glory in them, or as if he did 
 not feel their weight and their heinousness, but humbling him- 
 self, and yet, in the intimation that they were forgiven, desiring 
 to show us that God had mercy upon him, the chiefest of all sin- 
 ners, in order that he might be a patterij of all long-suffering 
 and mercy to those that should hereafter believe in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 Not only will the believer be specific in his confession of sin, 
 but he will also confess with deep sorrow and humility. He will 
 regret that he has sinned, not because of sin's fruits, but because 
 of sin itself; and one of the greatest evidences of your soul being 
 in a state of grace, is when you can confess to God, and ask for- 
 giveness from God, for sins that the world knows not, but for 
 secret sins — sins that nobody suspected you of — of thought, of 
 affection, of feeling, of heart — when, in short, before God you 
 confess secret sin, and seek forgiveness through the blood of 
 Jesus, I know not a more distinct or conclusive evidence that the 
 Holy Spirit has changed your heart, and that you are a child of 
 God, and an heir of the kingdom of heaven. And yet all this 
 deep confession of sin before God, as in the case of Daniel, is 
 not, let it ever be recollected, the confession of a criminal in the 
 presence of a judge, deprecating his wrath, but the confession of 
 a son returning to a father, and prostrate at the feet of his father 
 asking his paternal blessing and forgiveness. We do not draw 
 near to God in Jesus Christ as criminals, deprecating his wrath 
 and beseeching his forgiveness; but as children — it may be, pro- 
 digal children — it may be, sinful, stray, and apostate — but yet 
 returning children. Never did the prodigal feel what true re- 
 pentance was till he was able to say, -' I will arise and go to my 
 father.'' That sentence was the evidence and the expression of 
 tl.iat filial feeling with which he confessed to him his sins : ^' Fa- 
 ther, I have sinned against heaven and before thee." The tear 
 in the eye must not dim your view of the countenance of your 
 Father. The sorrow in your heart, however bitter, must not drive 
 you from God, but draw you nearer to God. The most awful 
 aspect of sin is its centrifugal force, when it drives the sinner 
 
 26* 
 
306 rROrilETIC STUDIES. 
 
 from God. Sin is then about to Le forgiven^ wlicn you fire led to 
 lay it before God. Judas confessed his sin^ that he had betrayed 
 innocent blood — and he went out and hanged himself. Cain con- 
 fessed his sin — ^^Mine iniquity is greater than I can bear;'' and 
 he ran out from the presence of God. The prodigal confessed his 
 sin, but ran to his father's bosom, and to the threshold of his 
 fiither's house; and he^was accepted, while the two first perished 
 in their sins, unforgiven and without hope. 
 
 This confession of sins, my dear friends, must be to God him- 
 self. No priest upon earth has a right to exact it. No church 
 upon earth has power to command it to be made to any other 
 than God. Show me one text in the Bible that indicates, how- 
 ever remotely, that we ought to confess our sins to a priest. 
 '^Confess your sins one to another,'' is the only text I ever have 
 heard quoted in support of it. But this is mutual, or reciprocal 
 confession ; not the confession of the people to the priest, but of 
 the people one to another. But I object to all such priestly con- 
 fession, on this ground, — that sin is committed against God, and 
 against God only; and he against whom it is committed alone 
 can forgive it. For instance, if I were to steal, I should do two 
 things; I should commit injury on my neighbour, and sin against 
 God. What man does to man, man can forgive ; and therefore 
 I ask my neighbour to forgive the injury I have done him. But 
 sin, which is in the act and rises higher, and strikes against God, 
 that God alone can forgive; and therefore, when David said, 
 ^'Against thee — thee only have I sinned," he did not mean by 
 that, ^^ Against thee chiefly have I sinned," but truly and exactly. 
 The injury or wrong was done to Uriah : his sin was against God. 
 And thus, then, if sin be committed against God only, for a priest 
 to assume to forgive it is for that priest to play the apostate, and 
 place himself in the temple of God, showing himself as if he were 
 God. Besides, to look at it in a lower light, what man would de- 
 grade himself, fallen as man is, to kneel before a fellow-man, and 
 disclose to him the inmost thoughts and feelings of his heart ? 
 liut the secret of the upholding of that terrible tiibunal at which" 
 1 have only glanced, as I have passed along, is the frightful power 
 which is comprised in it. I have often heard persons say, that 
 they wonder that, when lloman Catholics hear the gospel, they do 
 
SIN, CONFESSION, AND ABSOLUTION. 307 
 
 not leave their church. So should I too, did I not rcmembcrj 
 that the moment you become a Roman Catholic you must go to 
 the priest — tell him every fact in your biography that you think 
 to be sin, every thought, every relationship, every connection; the 
 priest learns to know you, your history, your friends, your pros- 
 pects, and he transmits all to the great central source where all is 
 known. The man who knows me as well as I know myself, is my 
 master for life, and I am his slave. His look can awe me, his 
 word can silence me. So that the wonder to me is, not that so 
 few leave the Church of Rome, when once they are involved in 
 its meshes, but that they ever leave it at all. Nothing but the 
 grace of God can enable them so to count all but loss for the ex- 
 cellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus. To God, then, let us 
 confess our sins, not to man. For " to the Lord our God,^' not 
 to the priest or to the pope, '^ belong mercies and forgiveness, 
 though we have rebelled against him.^' 
 
 And this leads me, therefore, to the third thought which is 
 suggested in Daniel's prayer — namely, forgiveness of sin. Sio, 
 then, may be forgiven. '' To the Lord our God belong forgive- 
 nesses,^' multiplied acts of forgiveness for multiplied acts of sin, 
 or, as the Psalmist says, "■ There is forgiveness w^ith thee, that 
 thou mayest be feared;" for, as he proclaimed himself to Moses, 
 '^forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin." When God forgives 
 sin, sin is not annihilated : a fact cannot be annihilated : a fact 
 remains in our memories, sure as its occurrence in the world. 
 When, therefore, God forgives sin, he does not annihilate it. As 
 far as we can gather from the Scriptures, or from our experience, 
 this is impossible. lie forgives it, while perhaps we cannot forget 
 it : perhaps, in heaven, the sad recollection of what we were will 
 add to the enjoyment of what we are, and swell with richer har- 
 mony the divine thanksgiving ''unto him that loved us," so 
 guilty, ''washed us," even us, so polluted, "in his own blood, 
 and hath made us kings and priests unto God, even his Father : 
 to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever." The forgive- 
 ness of sin is the exclusive prerogative of God. I have said that 
 sin is against God alone ; and therefore God alone forgives it. 
 For any priest to assume to forgive the sins of men, is to try to 
 snatch a jewel which belongs to the diadem of Deity: it is the 
 
308 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 foolish attempt to clothe ourselves -with a portion of his lofty- 
 attributes^ and so to realize the awful fact, that he who attempts 
 to steal a ray from the glory of God, takes a consuming curse 
 into his bosom. The forgiveness of sin, I say, is the inalienable 
 prerogative of God. He only has the key that opens, and no man 
 can shut j and — blessed be his name that it is so — he only shuts, 
 and no man can open. Were all the voices of the dead we have 
 injured to rise from their graves, exclaiming, ^'I forgive, I forgive, 
 I forgive,^' all the voices of all the dead we have injured together, 
 never could extend forgiveness to us. That one still, small voice, 
 sounding from the cross, or echoed unspent from the throne, " My 
 son — my daughter — thy sins be forgiven thee,^^ is the word that 
 alone has power, the absolution that alone finds a responsive echo 
 in the glad and grateful heart of the forgiven sinner. But when 
 God forgives — I notice in the next place — he forgives only in one 
 way; that is, through a Mediator. God's concern for the funda- 
 mental principles of his government is the highest concern in his 
 divine nature. God cannot forgive sin at the expense of his jus- 
 tice, his holiness, or his truth. He tells you that there is no sin 
 that he will not forgive in one specific way; but if you ask for- 
 giveness from the absolute God, that is, in another way, or if you 
 ask it because you deserve it, or if you ask it in any other name, 
 or through any other mediator, or without a mediator at all — in 
 short, in any way save in the name of Jesus Christ, God cannot 
 give it. 
 
 There is but one channel, and that channel is ever accessible, 
 and through that channel a rich flood of forgiveness will pour 
 down, that \n\l cleanse the darkest sin, and forgive the greatest 
 criminal. The Jews were taught this great and interesting lesson 
 for four thousand years. What was the end of all the teaching 
 of the Jews ? Just to rivet and work into their hearts this great 
 truth : "Without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.'' 
 Men say they wonder why God desired so many sacrifices, and ap- 
 pointed so many bleeding victims among that people. It was just 
 to teach this one lesson, which was embodied in every sacrifice, 
 impressed in every ceremony, preached by their priests, inculcated 
 by God himself; which, notwithstanding, they forgot and re- 
 nounced again and again. This great truth, that through the 
 
SIN, CONFESSION, AND ABSOLUTION. 309 
 
 blood of Christ alone there is forgiveness, is still the truth 
 preached from so many pulpits, reiterated so often in your hear- 
 ing ; and yet, how little do you feel its force ! how little do you 
 act upon it as a reality ! how little in your consciences are you 
 conyinced that only through the blood of the Lamb there is for- 
 giveness for the least sin that clings to our humanity ! Blessed 
 be God that Christ suffered ! Justice asked for the sufferings of 
 a man — Christ rendered the sufferings of a God. He needed no 
 sufferings to atone for himself. All his suffering was for us, and 
 is accessible to us. His susceptibility of suffering was just in 
 the ratio of his spotless purity. His was a depth of agony pro- 
 portionate to the grandeur and dignity of his person ; and never 
 shall we be able to see how great were the sufferings of that suf- 
 fering one, till we feel perfectly how deep is the least sin of which 
 humanity is guilty. But now, in Christ Jesus, God is faithful in 
 his promise to forgive us, just to his own law to forgive us; his 
 mercy having provided to the utmost fulness the victim which his 
 justice needed and demanded. Thus God forgives us. What a 
 precious truth ! Do we rise to an apprehension of the magnifi- 
 cence of this truth, that God forgives us — forgives us the moment 
 that we ask it — delights in mercy ? Glorious truth ! God waits 
 to forgive us. Glorious truth ! There is forgiveness with thee 
 that thou mayest be feared. Well may the prophet exclaim, 
 ^' Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and pass- 
 eth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage ? He 
 retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in 
 mercy." 
 
 Did you ever notice, my dear friends, that the prophet seems 
 inspired by the Spirit of God to exhaust all the resources of hu- 
 man speech, in order to show us what free forgiveness is offered 
 in the gospel ? It would be an interesting investigation for you 
 to pursue at* your leisure, to count the expressions applied in 
 Scripture to the forgiveness of sins. It is called " the remission 
 of sins." God releases the prisoner kept in the prison of con- 
 demnation by his sins. God says, in Hebrews, " I Avill remember 
 their sins no more." Among the Jews there was remembrance 
 made of sin every year ; they felt that sin ever needed a fresh 
 sacrifice, but* sin forgiven in Christ is remembered no more. It 
 
310 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 is so complete that God finds this expression only adequate to 
 embody the extinction of it — "I will remember their sins no 
 more/' He calls it in another passage '' not imputing to them 
 their trespasses/^ He treats our sin as a nonenity, and accepts 
 us through Jesus Christ just as if we were innocent as to the un- 
 tainted and unfallen angels about the throne. Another expres- 
 sion that he employs is, '^covered;" just as the waters of the Red 
 Sea covered the drowned Egyptians — just as the mighty ocean 
 covers the pebble that is dropped into its silent bosom, so God's 
 mercy covers our sin. It is called again, " taking away ;" just as 
 the goat let into the wilderness bearing the sins of Israel was 
 represented as taking them away into a land not inhabited : so 
 Christ, as the Lamb of God, takes away the sin of the world. It 
 is called, again, "blotting out/' "I, even I, am he that blotteth 
 out thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins :" just as a writing 
 is expunged — ^just as a stain is extinguished by a chemical solu- 
 tion. No language is more fitted to express the fulness of his 
 forgiveness than, " The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all 
 sin." It is called, again, in another place, " casting them behind 
 his back.'' The most awful passage in Scripture is, " Thou hast 
 set my secret sins in the light of thy countenance." We our- 
 selves cannot see our secret sins, because our heart is so deadened 
 by the hardening influence of sin ; for the greater a sinner is, 
 the less he sees his sins ; hence, if you heard the holiest saint in 
 the act of confessing his sins, you would suppose he was the 
 greatest sinner on earth • and if you heard the greatest sinner 
 confessing his sins, you would probably imagine him the most 
 excellent of mankind. It is when our vision is purged by the 
 unction of the Spirit of God, that we are enabled plainly to see, 
 that sins which in the world's eye are microscopic, are in his eye 
 deep as crimson, or as purple in their colour. Our secret sins 
 are thus set in " the light of his countenance ;" but when God 
 forgives them, "he casts them behind his back." Another pas- 
 sage speaks of removing them from us : " As far as the east .is 
 from the west, so far hath he removed our sins from us." 
 
 He whom we have crucified, forgives us. He who is the of- 
 fended one, forgives the offenders. It is a royal and entire forgive- 
 ness, not one charge is left behind, not one sin i.^ unpardoned. 
 
SIN, CONFESSION, AND ABSOLUTION. 311 
 
 He will remember our sins and our transgressions no more. It is 
 an irrevocable forgiveness. When God forgives us, he forgives 
 us completely and irrevocably. God's thoughts are not as our 
 thoughts. He does not repeal his acts of forgiveness. He never 
 recalls, he never revokes them. He forgives us fully, freely, and 
 for ever. And it is instant forgiveness. The instant that an 
 humble heart asks for forgiveness in the name of Jesus, that in- 
 stant it is forgiven : the Saviour says, " Thy sins be forgiven 
 thee.'' It is a cordial forgiveness. It is not a legal forgiveness ; 
 so that we are not merely lawfully forgiven, as if by justice; but 
 it is a paternal forgiveness. If only legally forgiven by justice, 
 we should be admitted into heaven as forgiven culprits, and 
 shunned as criminals returned from a penal settlement. We 
 should be as men lawfully forgiven, and tolerated as deeply 
 guilty. But this is not the forgiveness of the Bible. It is for- 
 giveness in justice, and therefore it is legal ; but it is also for- 
 giveness from a Father's heart, and is therefore a cordial forgive- 
 ness. And therefore the sinner admitted into heaven is not only 
 admitted there as lawfully forgiven, but cordially welcomed : 
 " For this my son was dead, and is alive again ; was lost, and is 
 found." This forgiveness is an echo on earth to the absolution 
 that is pronounced from the throne. The echo is an evidence of 
 the original. If you are forgiven, do you recollect the day, the 
 hour, and the place when you bowed the knee and sought forgive- 
 ness truly, confessing your sins fully, and relying for an answer 
 to your prayer only on the blood of the everlasting covenant ? If 
 you can say that from the very heart you sought it, and that you 
 sought it by Jesus as the only way, you are indeed forgiven, and 
 it is sin, it is misery to doubt it. Go forth at once, putting away 
 all suspicion, and henceforth rejoice in the blessedness of him 
 whose sins are forgiven, being confident in God, relying on the 
 riches of his mercy in Christ; and him that thus honours him, 
 He will abundantly honour. 
 
312 
 
 LECTURE XXII. 
 
 Daniel's litany. 
 
 " Lord, hear ; Lord, forgive ; Lord, hearken and do ; defer not, for 
 thine own sake, my God :, for thy city and thy peoi^lo are called by thy 
 name." — Daniel ix. 19. 
 
 I CLOSE my remarks on tlie extremely precious prayer which 
 has been the subject of my exposition during the last three 
 lectures. I am sure we do not greatly need any liturgy formed 
 by man, if we have access to so beautiful a litany as this is, 
 inspired by Grod. At all events, however beautiful may be the 
 litanies of man, in true beauty they cannot excel, and in compre- 
 hensiveness they cannot exceed, the prayer which the Spirit of 
 God breathed into the heart of Daniel, and of which this chapter 
 is the eloquent and striking expression. How earnest — how 
 intensely earnest — are such petitions as these: ^^0 Lord, hear; 
 Lord, forgive ; Lord, hearken and do ; defer not, for thine 
 own sake ; for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.'' 
 And again, how striking these words : " Thou therefore, our 
 God, hear the prayer of thy servant, that the time, the set time, 
 to favour her, Lord, draw near." At this day this is the 
 prayer of the Jew. I can conceive no spectacle more touching 
 than the weary-footed wanderer of Salem coming back to that 
 city, in which was the ark of the covenant, and the cherubim of 
 glory, that shone upon the mercy-seat ; and beholding, with deep 
 anguish, the barefooted monk desecrating it in one place, by li 
 Christianity more superstitious than the Judaism of the modern 
 Jew, and the Moslem profaning it in another place by the per- 
 sonation of a cruel and sanguinary imposture ; and his beloved 
 city, which v/as once the joy of the v/holc earth, the focus of all 
 
DANIEL'S LITANY. 313 
 
 light, and the central object of enthusiastic love, despoiled, de- 
 graded, desecrated. Yet, in its deep desecration, its lo*Qg-con- 
 tinued degradation, God has left inextinguishable yearnings after 
 restoration in the hearts of that strikinfv race — these living 
 national phenomena, that exceed in grandeur all material phe- 
 nomena — these living witnesses of the truth of God's threats, and 
 I believe not less so witnesses of the truth of God's promises. 
 Nothing is more remarkable than to see the Jews crowding from 
 all lands, now that the restoration of Zion and the rebuilding of 
 Jerusalem draws nigh, kissing the very stones, wetting them with 
 their tears, and praying, it may be, a prayer truly heard — for it 
 is possible — shall we say it is not improbable — that the Jews v/ho 
 rejected Jesus of Nazareth as portrayed by John the evangelist, 
 may unconsciously accept Jesus of Nazareth as portrayed by 
 Isaiah the prophet, and in the name of the true Messiah, though 
 that name is to him no music, he may lift up Daniel's prayer to 
 Daniel's God — in groups of gray-haired pilgrims amid the debris 
 and wreck of Jerusalem, that God would arise and have mercy 
 upon Zion, and lift the light of his countenance upon her, and 
 hasten the advent of the set time to favour her. 
 
 In reading the whole of Daniel's prayer for Jerusalem, we 
 cannot fail to see that it is as appropriate in the present day as it 
 was before. I am anxious to notice certain features in it, which 
 must strike the Christian, whether he peruse it or pray it. I 
 have already shown in what respects fasting and sackcloth are 
 connected with prayer. I have shown, in my next exposition, 
 sin the thing confessed, forgiveness the blessing sought for, and 
 confession a practice in which Daniel persevered. I now proceed 
 to develop some of the features of this prayer ; next, the time at 
 which it was offered ; and, in the third place, the answer vouch- 
 safed to it. The first feature that strikes me, as kindling every 
 clause with brightness and the warmth of heavenly fire, is the 
 intensity of the feelings and the expressions of Daniel. Clearly 
 the prophet felt deeply, and therefore he asked so fervently. An 
 instant token, as all are aware, of an accepted sacrifice in the 
 elder times, was the descent of fire from heaven to consume the 
 sacrifice. Even so the first intimation to you that your prayer 
 will be answered, is the intensity with which you pray that 
 
 27 
 
314 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 prayer. When a man earnestly and intensely breathes a prayer to 
 God, in the name of Jesus, he has in that intensity and earnest- 
 ness a fore-pledge from Grod that he is about to answer it exceed- 
 ing abundantly above all that he can either ask or think. Those 
 eloquent prayers which are beautifully worded by some, never 
 rise above the lips by which they are uttered ; but those broken 
 sentences, those simple petitions, when the full heart feels so 
 deeply and prays so earnestly, when it cannot wait for unloading 
 itself, in order to seek for fine words or beautifully formed sen- 
 tences — these are the expressions of an inner celestial fire that 
 burns before the Lord, and brings responses from the skies, laden 
 with everlasting benedictions. The intensity of Daniel's prayer 
 is one of its most striking characteristics ; the incense which was 
 used of old was already kindled in the censer, before the smoke 
 of it rose to the dome of the temple; and in the same way, 
 prayers, to be accepted by God, must not only be presented in 
 the name of Jesus — which does not moan merely mentioning 
 that name, but feeling that only by one channel can prayer ascend 
 to God — that only through one name can they be heard, that is, 
 in the name of Jesus — but prior to, and in addition to this, the 
 prayer itself, as conceived and cherished in the heart, must be 
 kindled from above. In the old sacrifices, there must not only 
 be no strange altar, but also there must be no strange fire used 
 for consuming the victims on that altar. There must be the 
 right fire as well as the right altar. So we must not only pray in 
 the name of Jesus, but by the inspiration and kindling of the 
 Holy Spirit. This will explain what is meant when it is said 
 that the Holy Spirit within us "maketh intercession for us, with 
 groanings which cannot be uttered. ^^ Thus, if your petitions to 
 the throne of grace have no intensity spontaneously arising from 
 inward earnest feeling, created by a deep sense of your wants and 
 a keen perception of the excellence of what you require, and 
 these twain inspired and elevated by the Spirit of God, they will 
 die ere they reach the mercy-seat. Let a coal, not from the- 
 grate, but from the altar, kindle them. Let the affections not be 
 earthly, from and of the earth, but spiritual and heavenl}^; and 
 such prayer so kindled and so presented, it is as certain that God 
 will hear and answer, not only for ourselves but for others also, 
 
DANIEL'S LITANY. 315 
 
 as that the sun rises, and stars twinkle, and streams find a path- 
 way onward to the unsounded main. If we look at some of the 
 expressions scattered throughout the Bible, in order to describe 
 this peculiarity of real prayer, we shall find they all denote 
 intensity. In one place it is described as importunity; that is, 
 not soon going away without an answer — unweariedly persisting 
 in asking. God does not say, " Pray once, and I will answer 
 you;'^ but he says, ^'Pray, and I will answer you." Pray nine 
 times, and he may not answer; pray a hundred times, and he may 
 not answer; but pray the hundred and first time, and he may 
 answer. All that he has said is, that he will answer; but how 
 long, or how often you may pray, that is not for you to know : it 
 remains with Grod alone, who knows what is really best for jou^ 
 and most for his glory. I do not believe, my dear friends, that 
 we liave that confidence in the success and efiicacy of pra3'cr 
 which we ought to have. I do not mean by prayer, artificial 
 prayer; that is, artificially worded and constructed; I do not 
 mean reading or saying a prayer, however scriptural and beauti- 
 ful ; but I mean the uplifting of the heart, the breathing forth of 
 desire, the elevation of the soul when no eye can see, and no ear 
 can hear, but God's. " I will not let thee go, unless thou bless 
 me." I doubt not that some of the most successful prayers are 
 uttered on the stones of the Royal Exchange. Some of the most 
 fervent prayers may be uttered behind a counter : and the House 
 of Lords and the House of Commons are not without men that 
 pray, not only that they may devise right measures, but that 
 those measures may contribute to the stability of their country, 
 and to the glory of God, and the extension of true religion. It 
 is not the place that God examines ; nor is it the words that God 
 primarily regards; it is not the form in any sense that avails — 
 it is tliG intense and ardent desire breathed from the depths of the 
 heart into the ear of God, which God answers exceeding abun- 
 dantly above all that we can ask or think. 
 
 Shame, sorrow for sin, perfect abasement, are elements of 
 Christian prayer. Not one merit does Daniel plead ; not one 
 good deed does he commemorate : he lays his hand upon his 
 mouth, and his mouth in the dust, and cries, " Unclean, un- 
 clean." It is the bowed heart, not the bowed knee, that honours 
 
816 PROniETIC STUDIES. 
 
 Jesus. It is tlie prostration of the soul, not the prostration of 
 the body, that constitutes prayer. The outward man is merely 
 for communication with man ; it is the inward soul that com- 
 municates with Godj and God regards it and deals with it alone. 
 The body is not the man. What the body does is not always 
 what the soul thinks. Man's body is often guilty of hypocrisy, 
 but the soul never, at least in the sight of God. To man it 
 is the same whether you bow the knee, or fall flat on the face; 
 for all these are scriptural attitudes of prayer; the only un- 
 scriptural practice being that which prevails very much in Scot- 
 land, when the people sit while worshipping God and singing his 
 praises, for which there is no precedent whatever. The form is not 
 what God looks at; he looks how the heart beats, how the spirit feels, 
 what the soul desires, what is the intensity of the feeling, what 
 is the earnestness or apathy of the man ; and by what the man 
 thinks, desires, prays with his soul, God estimates what the 
 prayer is. It is not, therefore, sprinkling ashes on the head, 
 or clothing the body with sackcloth, which are appreciated on 
 high. But if we see ourselves as we ought, and as Daniel saw 
 himself, Vv^e shall soon feel that inward and deep abasement and 
 humility which Daniel felt, and which urged no plea save what 
 it drew from God. It is ignorance of ourselves, and distance 
 from God, which is the cause of that ignorance, that makes any 
 man proud or self-righteous. The moment that a man sees God 
 as he is, he sees in the reflected light himself, just as he him- 
 self is also : but as long as he does not know God, so long he 
 will think himself very great and very good. In God's light 
 we see our darkness; in God's fulness our wants; in God's 
 majesty our insignificance; our shame in his glory; our sin in 
 his holiness: and thus, when Job saw God, he exclaimed, ''Now 
 mine eye seeth him ; therefore I abhor myself, and repent in 
 dust and ashes." 
 
 And when Isaiah saw the glory of God, beholding him seated 
 upon a throne high and lifted up, his first emotion was to cry, 
 "Wo is me, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live in 
 the midst of a people of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen 
 the King, the Lord of Hosts." Elijah covered his face with 
 his mantle when the glory of the Lord swept by, and the apo- 
 
DANIEL'S LITANY. 317 
 
 caljptic elders fell down and covered their faces, while they 
 cried, "Holy, Holj^, Holy is the Lord God of Hosts." Prido 
 in man is invariably associated with ignorance of God. But 
 when we see what God is, as he is revealed in grace — portrayed 
 in the Bible — unvailcd all that he has done, we then see as 
 we never saw, what we ourselves are, and how deep is the depth 
 of our fall; and thus it comes to pass that we shall pray under 
 a sense of abasement, not the less intensely, but the more humbly, 
 because our eyes have seen the Lord of Hosts. 
 
 It is worthy of notice, too, in this bcaiftiful prayer, that all 
 the pleas urged by Daniel are pleas drawn from God ; not from 
 any thing in himself, or any excellence m his people. Thus he 
 says, in one verse, " All Israel have transgressed thy law, even 
 by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the 
 curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the 
 law of JMoses the servant of God, because we have sinned against 
 him, " 
 
 '^0 Lord, according to thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let 
 thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jeru- 
 salem, thy holy mountain : because for our sins, and for the 
 iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become 
 a reproach to all that are round about us. Now, therefore, 
 our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, 
 and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, 
 for the Lord's sake.'' Every plea he presents is drawn from 
 God; the foundation of his hopes is in Deity; our expectation, 
 also, and our merit, are there ; the good of man is inseparable 
 from the glory of God. God cannot — reverently be it spoken 
 — bless a man except that blessing shall reflect his own glory. 
 To unfold himself is the great end of all God's creation, pro- 
 vidence, and grace; and to promote his own glory by making 
 himself known to us, is the reason why he answers prayer and 
 makes his people happy ; and blessed be his name, his glory is 
 best promoted when his goodness and his mercy are most realized 
 by his people. Who does not recollect the petition of Moses, 
 "Show me thy glory?" and the Lord's answer, '^'I will make 
 all my goodness pass before thee V G od's goodness was pro- 
 nounced by God to be his glory. And what was God's glory ? Here 
 
 27- 
 
318 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 it is : ^^ The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long- 
 suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping cove- 
 nant and mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, 
 and sin/^ What a blessed fact is this, that God is arrayed in 
 richer glory when he stoops to forgive a sinner, that when he 
 stoops to create a world ! Jesus, when he said upon the cross, 
 to the thief who hung in agony at his side, ^' To-day shalt thou 
 be with me in paradise,^^ s|)oke more majestic words than when, 
 standing on the couiSnes of the universe. He said, ''Let there 
 be light, and there was light/' We ask God to forgive us our 
 sins, and express his love ; we ask him also to manifest his 
 justice, for he is " fliithful and just;'' but we may also say, 
 '^ God, glorify thy name in forgiving the sins of me a sinner." 
 We cannot but notice, in this prayer of Daniel, in the next 
 place, the complete unselfishness, if I may use that expression, 
 that runs through the whole of it. He did not ask mercies for 
 himself; he did not pray thus intensely, thus humbly, that he 
 alone might have all the good, though God might have all the 
 glory; but he implored mercies for "thy people Israel" — "thine 
 ancient city Jerusalem, because it was desolate." A man never 
 prays aright who prays only for himself. That prayer is not 
 inspired by the Spirit of God that ends with the salvation or 
 the sanctification of self. Hence our Lord, in giving us a model 
 of prayer, has made it impossible to pray for a blessing on 
 ourselves without praying for a blessing on others also, as if 
 in our very prayers our blessed Lord would make us pray as 
 he makes us love, embracing in both our neighbour as well as 
 ourselves. He says, '^ After this manner pray ye;" not, '^My 
 Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, &c., give 
 me this day 771?/ daily bread." Such is the cry of unsanctified 
 humanity ; but, " Our Father . . . give us this day our daily 
 bread," &c. And so Daniel here i)rays; and so will every true 
 Christian pray. He will pray for his children — his relations 
 — his congregation — his church-^his country; and more com- 
 prehensively still, he will pray for all mankind. There is a 
 petition which occurs in the Litany of the Church of England, 
 at the conclusion of prayers for many distinct classes of people, 
 "That it may please thee to have mercy upon all men!" which 
 
DANIEL'S LITANY. 819 
 
 is to my mind singularly beautiful. Let us not rest in our 
 petitions for class after class till our prayers spread in their 
 catholicity to the very circumference of the globe, and we pray 
 God, "that it may please him to have mercy upon all men. " 
 
 In the next place we may notice, in this prayer, what runs 
 through it no less evidently, the thorough patriotism of it. Be- 
 cause Daniel was a Christian, he did not cease to be a Jew ; be- 
 cause he loved the temple of his God, he did not the less love 
 the country of his fathers : Daniel sympathized with and was 
 ready to make every patriotic sacrifice, in order to benefit and 
 bless his country ; but he felt at the same time that it never 
 could be prosperous as a country until its Great Restorer should 
 have mercy upon it, and forgive the sins of his people, and, to 
 use the language of the prayer, cause "his face to shine upon 
 it. ^^ Not the greatest patriots are those that make the loudest 
 profession; not the least patriots are those who only pray be- 
 cause prayer is all they can present. Our armies ma}^ strike a 
 
 easure 
 
 successful blow, our legislature may pass an excellent m 
 but the blessing of God, for which Christians pray, is that which 
 will make the blow of the one permanent, and the measure of the 
 other practical and extensively useful. And hence it has been 
 well said — 
 
 "Our country owes 
 Her sunshine and her rains, her blooming springs, 
 And plenteous harvests, to the prayer he makes, 
 "Where Enoch, like the solitary saint, 
 Walks forth to meditate at eventide. 
 And think on her who thinks not on herself. " 
 
 Thus there may be patriots in cellars, whose name the newspaper 
 does not trumpet forth ; there may be men who contributed to the 
 victory of "Waterloo, or to the decisi\'e blow of Trafalgar, and 
 who still contribute to the loyalty of our people, the stability of 
 our commerce, and to the riches and increasing prosperity of our 
 agriculture, who never used a pen, or wielded a sword, or marched 
 to victory beneath our banners, but who pray that old England's 
 God would cause His face to shine upon England's throne, and 
 altars, and people, and magistrates, and rulers ; and they, it will 
 be found, when this world is all laid bare, and its history made 
 
320 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 patent, contributed more than all to our national stability and 
 social prosperity, and were the conductors of blessings from tlie 
 skies to her cities. Thus the prophet prayed for his country, and 
 thereby showed himself no less the patriot because he was the 
 Christian. 
 
 But Daniel strikingly combined with his prayer deep research 
 and personal labour. For you observe that he states in verse 2, 
 ^'In the first year of his reign, I Daniel understood by books the 
 number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jere- 
 miah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the 
 desolations of Jerusalem. '' He had therefore been a hard student, 
 as well as a spiritually minded and praying man. He combined, 
 what some of our Reformers said it was so vitally important to 
 combine — " prayer and pains-taking. " 
 
 We too are to engage in any great Christian work, the sup- 
 port of our schools, for instance, or of our missions, the Bible 
 Society, the extension of the gospel, in the exercise of all the 
 liberality, zeal, and fervour, which we possess, or can command, 
 just as if all depended on what we each do; and yet we are to 
 implore the blessing of God, with that deep sense of depend- 
 ence, that consciousness of insufficiency on our part, which 
 prompts the persuasion that God must do all, or nothing will be 
 well done. It seems a paradox to unenlightened minds, and a 
 cqntradiction to the wise of this world, but it is not so: the 
 farmer feels justly in his matters what the Christian should feel 
 here : he knows quite well that, unless God give sunbeams and 
 clewdrops, and fertility to the soil, it will be no use for him to 
 sow; and he knows just as well, that in vain God gives sun- 
 beams and dewdrops, fresh air and a fertile soil, unless he sows. 
 Therefore he does sow; and thus, what with some, in the exer- 
 cise of a perverse mind, at first seems a reason why he should 
 not sow, is with him the greatest inducement to do so, because 
 he knows that God will send " the former and the latter rain in 
 his season," and that He has promised, since the deluge, " that 
 seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and win- 
 ter, and day and night, shall not cease." 
 
 But Daniel's study was not only the study of the Bible and 
 books, as the grand depository of truth, but it was also special 
 
DANIEL'S LITxVNY. 321 
 
 study of the proplietic Scriptures. He thus presents a complete 
 reply to those Christians who say that we are not called upon, or 
 even authorized, to study unfulfilled prophecy. Daniel did not 
 think so; he studied predictions of the future, and found out by 
 books that God would accomplish seventy years in the desolation 
 of Jerusalem. He not only discovered that God would termi- 
 nate this desolation, but he found out the very period of time 
 that this desolation would last; and yet if a Christian minister 
 professes, not dogmatically, to pronounce, where confessedly there 
 are many difficulties, but to express his belief from this book 
 and the apocalyptic records, that the time draws near — that the 
 dispensation is in its eve — it will be told him, ''You have no 
 right to study this book, you have no right to read the Apoca- 
 lypse at all : you had better shut it up : let it alone, or you will 
 get into difficulties.^' Why did God give it? I ask those who 
 say so. Why did God write it? You say it was that infidels 
 may afterward be converted by witnessing in history the ful- 
 filment of prophecy: but half of that will not be fulfilled till 
 the Millennium, when there will be no infidels to be converted. 
 This is not its only use. It is for us to study, and to try to ex- 
 pound it. But God himself has said what terminates the dis- 
 pute, '' Blessed is he that rcadeth the words of the prophecy of 
 this book;'' and in my own case I may say that I have found as 
 rich a blessing from reading and studying the Apocalypse, as in 
 studying any other portion of the Bible. Ponder and pray over 
 all that God has written. The Protestant's rule of faith is not the 
 Bible without the Apocalj^se, but it is the Bible and the Apoca- 
 lypse, the whole word of God. Here you have the example of 
 Daniel studying numbers before those numbers had terminated 
 in actual accomplishment; and what Daniel did with acceptance 
 then, I do not see why we may not try to do, with humble 
 prayer for the teaching of the Spirit of God, and with his bless- 
 ing now. 
 
 Let us notice, in the next place, the time at which Daniel 
 prayed. It was the time of the evening oblation. The answer 
 came at that hour, and the presumption is that the prayer was 
 then being offered up. But why did Daniel select this season for 
 prayer? Because Daniel felt just what you well know — that, dis- 
 
322 PEOPIIETIC STUDIES. 
 
 sociated from the sacrifice of Jesus, and detached from liis name, 
 no prayer can be accepted of God. This great tnith is the very 
 substance of the gospel. Your prayers should be offered in the 
 name of Christ; in him they should begin, in Christ they should 
 continue and close. By him alone is the way to rise to God. 
 By him alone, as the way, can an answer come down from God. 
 It matters not where you pray, if you pray in the name of Jesus. 
 The Christian economy has abolished all the distinctions of time 
 and place. "What is decent, what is orderly, what is convenient, 
 these, and the consideration of all these, are most right; but if 
 you say that an oratory in your house is better for family wor- 
 ship than your drawing or your dining-room, because it has been 
 consecrated by a presbyter or a bishop; or if you say that God 
 will hear a prayer in Latin that he will not hear in Hindostanee 
 or in English, or that he will hear in a chapel what he will not 
 hear in a private house; if these be your sentiments, you are far 
 gone in Romanism ; or, rather, your creed is more ancient than 
 that of Romanism, it is that of Levi, a reflex to Judaism : pray- 
 ers under that dispensation must have been made in one place in 
 order to be accepted ; sacrifice must then have been offered on 
 one particular altar; but now, wheresoever, on mountain crag, in 
 valle}^, on the sea, on the shore, in the dungeon, or in the palace; 
 in cathedral, church, or chapel ; in chancel or in cellar; with 
 bowed knee, or standing, or prostrate, or with none of them — if 
 there be prayer inspired by the Sf)irit of God, intensely felt, and 
 addressed in the name of Jesus, and lifted up to our Father, 
 there God hears, and there God will answer. 
 
 But there may have been another reason for Daniel's praying 
 at evenings. The Psalmist says, " At morning, and at evening, 
 and at noon will I praise thee.^^ Evening seems the most solemn 
 hour of the day, and so far a suitable time for individual retro- 
 spection and communion with God. Then the noise of the world 
 grows fliinter ; the air becomes still ; the excitement of life has 
 passed over ; the fever of human strife is laid. Our heart can 
 rise in the stillness of evening, to intercourse and fellowship with 
 God. The dews that then fall to saturate the earth should re- 
 mind us that our hearts need the softening, fertilizing influence 
 
DANIEL'S LITANY. 303 
 
 of the Spirit of God. The stars that come forth to beautify the 
 sky, and send down their pale sheen upon us, ought to remind us 
 of that bright and morning star, the rising of that sun that shall 
 never set. And if there be an evening each day, forget not that 
 there is also an evening of life, when specially we should pray ; 
 when all the tints and the lights of youth are gone, v/hen the 
 noontide passions of manhood are quelled, and there comes the 
 solemnity, if I may so call it, of gray hairs, and tottering limbs, 
 and an enfeebled body; when the curfew-bell, that announces as 
 it were the extinction of all earthly fires, is heard in every heart ; 
 then should we pra}^, as Daniel prayed, that the twilight of the 
 evening which is now falling may, in our case, mingle in the twi- 
 light of that bright day which is fast approaching, when the sun 
 shall rise, ascend his meridian, and set no more. It was at this 
 season that Daniel prayed. He was an aged man at this period, 
 of about ninety years of age. 
 
 At other times too should we pray. When our communion 
 season comes round we should pray as we approach the table of 
 our Lord, that we may go there in a right spirit. I know not a 
 more beautiful festival than the communion ; I wish only it were 
 of more frequent recurrence. But I do not believe that there 
 should be at that time a special preparation, and, when it is passed 
 by, a more thorough participation in the cares, the anxieties, and 
 the follies of the world. Our hearts should always be ready for 
 it. I believe in the early church they received the Lord's sup- 
 per every time they met for public worship. I feel the infre- 
 quency of the celebration of the communion has generated a feel- 
 ing, especially in the North, that there is something awful in it. 
 I have noticed in some parts of Scotland, that on this occasion 
 men put on their gloomiest apparel, and feel as if they were about 
 to undergo some heavy calamity, or as if they were coming to 
 some dread sacrifice, some awful expiation that they are about to 
 make. I do not say that enlightened men thus feel, but I know 
 that many regard it with such feelings. And I know that in 
 speaking with my own countrymen about coming to the Lord's 
 table, many of them have received in the North in their early 
 years such impressions of the terrible and the awful, in connection 
 
32-1 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 with the Lord's supper, as they cannot cast off in maturer and 
 more enlightened age. 
 
 My dear friends, there is nothing awful in that communion : 
 Jesus took all the awful to himself, and has left to us all the 
 pleasant. He made the sacrifice ; we taste the feast that succeeds 
 the sacrifice. He took all the agony -, we receive all the blessing. 
 And if there he any festival to which we should come with glad 
 hearts, it is to the communion-table ; our jubilee, our congrega- 
 tional festival ; that Easter-day when we specially commemorate 
 the fact " the Lord is risen ;'' that bright and happy day when 
 we look forward to the other truth, that He that rose and reigns 
 will come again ; that glad festival in which we sit down at Ihe 
 table of our blessed Lord, and thus actualize the words of the 
 Creed, " the communion of saints.'' We think too of those that 
 were here before; who are now surrounding a better table, enjoy- 
 ing a brighter fellowship ; and we give God thanks for what he 
 has made us, and for what he made the-m ; and we look forward 
 to that happy day when we shall join their loftier communion, 
 and seat ourselves at a table that never shall be drawn. I have 
 noticed myself, during the sixteen years I have ministered in this 
 pulpit, that the communion-table every quarter presents a new 
 aspect ; I miss gray hairs, and venerable ones I have often be- 
 held. I miss too once young, and bounding, and hopeful hearts 
 that were once there also. I see new faces taking the place of 
 old ones ; and nothing so vividly reminds me within these walls 
 that this is not our home, and that we are pilgrims and strangers, 
 looking for a better city, than our recurring communion-table. 
 When I say our communion-table, it is not mine, it is the Lord's; 
 and if there is any one spot where I rejoice to see all true Chris- 
 tians, whatever be the party to which they belong, it is there. It 
 is not the monopoly of a sect ; on it is written, " Do this in re- 
 membrance of me : for as often as ye eat this bread and drink 
 this cup, ye do show forth the Lord's death till he come." 
 
 While I thus show my catholic feeling in this respect, yet at 
 the same time I must say that I prefer our own Scottish form : it 
 is so simple, so beautiful, that the longer I see it the more am 1 
 impressed with its simple grandeur, its severe, and, as some would 
 
DANIEL'S LITANY. 325 
 
 call it, its stern simplicity. But it matters little whether we 
 kneel, or sit, or stand, if it is at a table surrounded by glad and 
 thankful hearts, who eat this bread and drink this cup because 
 Jesus has suffered that we might suffer no more. 
 
 In the next place, I wish to observe, in closing my remarks 
 upon this prayer of Daniel, that the answer was immediate. 
 " While I was speaking,^' he says, " Gabriel came and touched 
 me." What a striking incident is this ! There is a text in the 
 Bible that seems to me expressive of a greater marvel than even 
 the electric telegraph. You know that a question asked at one 
 end may be answered almost instantly two hundred miles away. 
 But there is a text that anticipates the marvel : " It shall come 
 to pass, saith the Lord, that before they call, I will answer, and 
 while they are yet speaking I will hear." A quicker communion 
 with Grod have we than even that'suggested by the wondrous elec- 
 tric telegraph ', for God hears us while we speak, answers us be- 
 fore we ask, and in every case " exceeding abundantly above all 
 that we can ask or think." 
 
 My impression is, that this Gabriel who was sent to Daniel was 
 not an angel, but the Holy Spirit of God. This conclusion, to 
 which Bishop Heber came, is founded on the derivation of the 
 word, and also upon a passage that occurs in the Gospel of Luke. 
 The word Gabriel means simply ^'the power of God.'^ Compare 
 Luke i. 19 : '^I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God;" 
 and ver. 26 — " Gabriel was sent from God to a virgin espoused 
 to a man whose name was Joseph ;" and ver. 35 — " The an2:el 
 answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon 
 thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee;" which, 
 if literally translated into Hebrew, will be, '^ and Gabriel shall 
 overshadow thee." It may mean therefore in this place also, the 
 Holy Spirit of God, who takes of the things of Christ and shows 
 them to us. And it seems the more likely, because it was this 
 Gabriel who came and instructed Daniel on a subject on which 
 the Spirit teaches ; for what was the nature of his instruction ? 
 About Messiah, the Prince. And what is the great office of the 
 Holy Spirit ? ^^ He shall take of the things of Christ, and shall 
 show them unto you." It may, however, have been an angel, for 
 
 28 
 
326 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 as the apostle teaches us^ "angels are ministering spirits, sent 
 forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation/' And 
 if Gabriel was a mere angel, he was sent not to claim for himself 
 our adoration, but to execute God's message, and to minister to 
 Daniel. The message was made to Daniel as "Daniel greatly be- 
 loved/' The acceptance of the person takes place before the 
 answer to the prayer is given. We must first be accepted as 
 Christians before we can pray as Christians. God accepts us 
 first, and then our prayers, to which he sends down an answer. 
 
327 
 
 LECTURE XXIII. 
 
 MESSIAH S DEATH. 
 
 "And after threescore and two weeks sball Messiah be cut off, but not for 
 himself; and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and 
 the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of 
 the war desolations are determined." — Daniel ix. 26. 
 
 I DEFER in this lecture all clironological discussion respecting 
 tlie epocb. which the prophecy plainly intimates. I assume the 
 fact, which cannot be denied, because it has been irresistibly 
 proved, that this relates to the death — I add, the sacrificial death 
 — of the Lord Jesus Christ. Whether we take the grounds of 
 chronology, or the descriptive language of the passage, it is im- 
 possible to come to the conclusion that any other is pointed at 
 here than the Redeemer. I assume, therefore, that this is a 
 prophecy of Christ, as well as the statement of his death, and, 
 by implication, the nature and direction of that death. It was 
 his shame that he was " cut oif;'' it was his glory that it was 
 " not for himself.'^ It was the evidence that he was man that 
 he died; it was the demonstration that he was more than man, 
 and so his death, very different from ours, that he died not for 
 himself. The death of Christ is the subject of extended pro- 
 phecy. Isaiah liii. is an exposition of Daniel ix. 26. That won- 
 derful chapter of the evangelical prophet may be called the true 
 crucifix. It describes his death, the nature of his death, the re- 
 sults of his death. It is expressly applied by an inspired apostle 
 to the death of Christ; and therefore, about its application, in a 
 Christian's mind, there can be no doubt whatever. When Peter 
 says, '^Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 
 who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, 
 he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth 
 
328 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 righteously : who his own self hare our sins in his own body on 
 the tree^ that Yie, being dead to sins, should live unto righteous- 
 ness : by whose stripes ye were healed. For ye were as sheep 
 going astray; but are now returned unto the shepherd and 
 bishop of your souls/' — all this is just the echo of the language 
 of Isaiah, and therefore evidence that Peter clearly understood 
 the 53d of Isaiah to refer to our blessed Lord. 
 
 NoWj the important truth I am anxious to establish as the 
 testimony of the Spirit is — the sacrificial, or the atoning nature 
 of the death of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; and in order 
 to do so, I will bring forward less the argument of man, and 
 more the simple, but conclusive testimony of the Spirit of God. 
 
 Let me notice, however, preliminary to the introduction of the 
 passages that clearly indicate the expiatory, or atoning, or sacri- 
 ficial, or vicarious nature of the death of Christ, — for all these 
 words have one leading idea running through them, — that in the 
 New Testament, whether in the Gospels or in the Epistles, there 
 is a constant reference made to the death of the Lord Jesus, and 
 far more frequently than to his birth, his life, his example, or to 
 his aboriginal dignity. When he speaks of himself he says, 
 " The Son of man goeth, as it is written of him;" that is, he is 
 about to die, as it has been predicted of him in the prophets. 
 And he alludes again and again in the minutest particulars to 
 this event, as the fulfilment of ancient prophecy. '^A bone of 
 him shall not be broken.'' " They pierced my hands and my 
 feet." '^ They parted my raiment, and cast lots for my ves- 
 ture." All of these are references to his death, the peculiar ac- 
 companiments of that death, and to that death as the burden of 
 ancient prophecy, the great central point to which and about 
 which all ancient predictions converge. The death of Jesus, 
 so singularly painful, is represented, throughout Scripture, as 
 that of a perfectly innocent being. His own crucifiers could 
 prove nothing against him. A voice from heaven said, with un- 
 earthly majesty, " This is my beloved son, in whom I have been, 
 am, and shall be, well pleased." Judas himself said, " I have 
 betrayed innocent blood." Pilate said, '^I find no fault in him." 
 Siitan was equally unsuccessful. 
 
 If the objectors to the atonement say, ^^It is not reasonable 
 
MESSIAH'S DEATH. 329 
 
 that the just should die for the unjust/^ they might say, -with 
 still greater force, it is not reasonable, on the same grounds, that 
 the just should die at all. Here, then, is the phenomenon, the 
 strange phenomenon — that a being, pronounced by God to be in- 
 nocent, proved from the silence of his enemies, the contradic- 
 tions of his accusers, and the personal and protracted experience 
 of his friends and followers, to be an innocent being, is found to 
 have been the greatest sufferer of the greatest agony of any that 
 ever bore a cross, or perished from the earth. 
 
 It was a perfectly voluntary death; it was not forced upon 
 him contrary to his will; it did not overtake him by surprise. 
 He pointed it out as the ultimate stage of his journey; he pre- 
 dicted it as a fact that must of necessity be. He said of him- 
 self, — ^^I lay down my life; no man taketh it from me." He 
 chose to die, and chose to die not because he loved death, but 
 because he loved us. It was for the joy set before him — that 
 joy, the restoration of sinners — that he endured the cross, and 
 despised the shame. If Christ's death be not atoning, the fact 
 that he, the innocent, thus died voluntarily, and by choice and 
 preference, is an inscrutable mystery, an inexplicable fact. 
 
 Again : while his death was voluntary in this respect, it was, 
 in another respect, the result of divine predetermination and 
 decree. The Father is said to have '^ sent" him, and to have 
 ^' given" him. In the Acts of the Apostles, it is said that '' he 
 was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of 
 God." And again : '^ Against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou 
 hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, 
 and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do what- 
 soever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done." 
 It is worthy of notice, that what God predetermined is not said 
 to have been the teaching of Jesus, the mission of Jesus, or the 
 example of Jesus, — but the death of Jesus. Unless, therefore, 
 there be something emphatic, peculiar, distinctive in that death, 
 we cannot understand how it should be that of an innocent be- 
 ing, perfectly voluntary on his part, and yet predetermined by 
 God the Father. 
 
 Jesus was put to death, charged with the blasphemy of assum- 
 ing to be God, while his enemies protested he was not God. He 
 
 28* 
 
330 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 claimed equality with God — of this there is no doubt — and when 
 told that he had done so, he admitted and justified the claim. 
 Now, if those who deny the atoning nature of the death of Christ 
 believe that he was a divine teacher sent from God, ever speaking 
 truth, and incapable of assuming what was not his right, they 
 must feel that when he claimed to be God, he stated what was 
 true, and assumed what was perfectly due to him; and that, 
 therefore, he was God. Here, also, the mystery of his death 
 accumulates. We have not only the strange mystery of an 
 innocent being suiFering death, a voluntarily chosen death — a 
 death predetermined and decreed by God; but a Divine Being 
 in our nature suffering that death. Must there not have been 
 something peculiar, significant, emphatic, in the death of Jesus, 
 such as is not in the death of the most sainted martyr that ever 
 lived and died ? 
 
 "What accompanied the Saviour's death is also very peculiar ; so 
 much so as to have been the accompaniment of no other death. 
 That awful and mysterious agony in the garden of Gethsemane ; 
 that still more mysterious cry upon the cross, ''My God, my God, 
 why hast thou forsaken me V and in the midst of that terrible 
 forsakenness to which he gave so poignant an expression, the 
 putting forth of the sublime power of saying to the thief upon 
 the cross — ''To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise ;'' — surely, 
 surely this was not the death of an ordinary missionary, nor of 
 even the holiest martyr. All this stamps the death of Jesus as 
 something unique, totally different from the death of any other 
 recorded in the annals of the sufierers of mankind. 
 
 Then mark the other fact. Jesus suffered, as he indicated 
 himself, what no holy martyr ever suffered. He cried, " Why 
 hast thou forsaken me V No Christian was ever forsaken at his 
 death by God. Is it not God's own promise ? — " I will never 
 leave thee nor forsake thee." This is promised to every believer. 
 Never yet was a true Christian forsaken of God in the agony of 
 death. Yet Jesus was. " Why hast thou forsaken me ?" Does 
 not this indicate something in this death more than in the death 
 of a good man setting an example of patience ? Is it not a death 
 in its nature clearly distinguished from all other deaths, and in- 
 dicating an end which is not exhausted by what the Socinian, 
 
MESSIAH'S DEATH. 331 
 
 or the Unitarian, or the mere moralist^ pronounces concerning 
 Jesus ? 
 
 The death of Jesus was also accompanied with miracles — and 
 these very remarkable ones. We are told, that from the sixth 
 hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. 
 This never accompanied any other death. We are told, again, 
 that " the vail of the temple was rent in twain from the top to 
 the bottom : significative, as explained by the apostle in his Epistle 
 to the Hebrews, of access to the holiest of all. We are told that 
 ^' the earth did quake, and the rocks rent, and the graves were 
 opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and 
 came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the 
 holy city, and appeared unto many.'' We read, also, that '^when 
 the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw 
 the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared 
 greatly, saying, [from the overwhelming demonstration nature 
 was rendering to the significance of his death,] Truly this was the 
 Son of God. 
 
 Lastly, what is equally peculiar and distinctive, Jesus instituted 
 a memorial, celebrated in every sanctuary, every day of the year 
 somewhere, called the Supper of the' Lord, or the Eucharist; 
 having a retrospective reference to the fact that he died upon the 
 cross. 
 
 Now I ask. Why did not Jesus select his baptism to be com- 
 memorated ? Why not his birth, when angels broke the silence 
 of the night, and proclaimed peace on earth, glory to God, and 
 goodwill among mankind ? Why did he take that very fact in 
 his history which is still the most ofi'ensive to the Jew, the most 
 incredible to the Gentile, the greatest evidence of his humiliation, 
 his degradation, and his shame ? Why did he take that one fact 
 in preference to the more majestic facts of his biography, to be 
 the subject of a ceaseless memorial in every congregation through- 
 out the world, and to the end of time ? Do not, I ask, all these 
 things indicate, nay, demonstrate, that there was in the death of 
 Jesus that which was not in the death of Paul, Peter, or Poly- 
 carp, or Ignatius, or of sainted sufferers or devoted martyrs, from 
 the beginning to the present hour ? 
 
 Having indicated these facts, I now proceed to transfer from 
 
332 rPvOPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 the pages of the New Testament the leading descriptions of the 
 death of Christ, in order that you may have, not my reasoning, 
 or my inferential conclusion, hut God's own testimony respecting 
 the significance, the nature, the issues, and the effects of the 
 death of Jesus. For this purpose I have taken from the " Bibli- 
 cal Eepository'^ for April, 1850, a collection of texts which strike 
 me as extremely conclusive, in their combined bearing, on the 
 nature of the death of Christ. I present, first of all — 
 
 HISTORICAL APPELLATIVES OF THE DEATH OF CHRIST. 
 
 1. Qdvarog — Death. 
 
 Rom. V. 10 We were reconciled to God by the death of his Son. 
 
 1 Cor. xi. 26 Ye do show the Lord's death till he come. 
 
 Philip, ii. 8 And became obedient unto death, even the death of the 
 
 cross. 
 
 Col. i. 21, 22 Yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through 
 
 death. 
 
 Heb. ii. 9 Made a little lower than the angels for the suffex-ing of death. 
 
 ii. 9 Should taste death for every man. 
 
 ii. 14 That through death he might destroy him that had the power 
 
 of death. 
 
 ix. 15 He is the Mediator of the New Testament, that by means of 
 
 death for the redemption of the transgressions. 
 
 2. ' AmOvfiaKO} — Die. 
 
 Rom. V. 6 In due time Christ died for the ungodly. 
 
 V. 8 While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 
 
 vi. 10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once. 
 
 xiv. 15 Destroy not him . . . for whom Christ died. 
 
 1 Cor. viii. 11 The weak brother perish, for whom Christ died. 
 
 XV. 3 How that Christ died for our sins. 
 
 2 Cor. V. 14 That if one died for all, then were all dead. 
 
 V. 15 But unto him which died for them. 
 
 1 Thcss. V. 9, 10... To obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died 
 for us. 
 
 3. Y,Tavpds — Cross. 
 
 1 Cor. i. 17 Lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. 
 
 i. 18 Por the preaching of the cross is to them that perish. 
 
 Gal. V. 11 Then is the offence of the cross ceased. 
 
 vi. 12 Persecution for the cross of Christ. 
 
 vi. 14 Glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 Eph. ii. 16 Reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross. 
 
 Philip, ii. 8 Became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 
 
MESSIAH'S DEATH. 33^ 
 
 fi„l : 20 Made peace througla the blood of his cross. 
 
 Hel). xii. 2.'.* For the joy that .ras set before Mm endured the cross. 
 
 4. Srai'poco — CrucifjJ. 
 
 I Cor. i. 13 Was Paul crucified for you? 
 
 ' i. 23 But we preach Christ crucified. 
 
 {l 2.*." Save Jesus Christ and him crucified. 
 
 Gal. iii.'l..*.'.*.'.'.''... -Evidently set forth, crucifiied among you. 
 
 5. S'/jctrro) — Slay. 
 
 Kev V 6 Stood a lamb, as it ^acZ &cen sZcun. . ^ i i, .i,^ 
 
 ^'"^•^[g;:::::; ror thou wast «Z«i»,and hast redeemed us to God by thy 
 
 blood. 
 
 V 12 "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain. 
 
 xiii. 8.'.*'*.*.'.'*.The Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. 
 
 6. Ua(TX(^— -Suffer. 
 
 Mark Yiii. 31 The Son of Man must siffer many things, and be rejected. 
 
 Matt. xvi. 21 ; Luke ix. 22. , ^ t ^ 
 
 Luke xxii 15 1 have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer. 
 
 xxiv. 26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these thmgs ? 
 
 xxiv. 46 It behooved Christ to suffer. 
 
 Acts iU. 18 God before had showed . . . that Christ should suffer. 
 
 xvii. 3 Christ must needs have suffered. 
 
 Ileb. ix. *2o!! For then must he often have suffered. 
 
 1 Pet. ii. 21 Christ also suffered for us. 
 
 ' iii 18 Christ also hath once suffered for sins. 
 
 iv." 1.. '.'......Forasmuch, then, as Christ hath suffered for us. 
 
 7. UaOriixa— Suffering. 
 
 H,^, ii. 9 A little lower than the angels for the suffering of death. 
 
 ii 10 Perfect through suff'erings. 
 
 1 Pet.'i. ll'. Testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ. 
 
 ' y. 1. '.'.','. A witness of the sufferings of Christ. 
 
 8. Ai/^a — Blood. 
 
 Matt. .xvl. 28 This is my «.»<i of the J'- /esUmcnt .h^=h is shed for 
 
 many for the remission of sms. Maik xiv. /4, uu&q 
 xxii. 20. 
 
 Acts XX. 28 Which he hath purchased with his own hlood. 
 
 Rom. iii. 25 Through faith in his hlood. 
 
 V 9 ....Being now justifiedjay his Hood. 
 
 1 Cor ii 2'5'." This cup is the New Testament in mj hlood . 
 
 J, V *j 7 In whom we have redemption through his hlood. 
 
 ' i'i 13 ..Are made nigh by the hlood of Christ. 
 
 C^l i 20 .Having made peace through the hlood of his cross. 
 
 Ileb. ix 14'.'.'.'.'.'.'....How much more .hall the hlood of Christ . . . pxirge your 
 conscience. 
 
334 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 Heb. X. 19 Boldness to enter into the holiest of all by the Hood of Jesus. 
 
 X. 29 Hath counted the hlood of the covenant an unholy thing. 
 
 xiii. 12 Sanctify the people with his own hlood. 
 
 xiii. 20 Through the hlood of the everlasting covenant. 
 
 1 Pet. i. 2 Sprinkling of the i^oof^ of Jesus Christ. 
 
 i. 9 (redeemed) with the precious hlood of Christ. 
 
 1 John i. 7 The i^oori of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 
 
 Rev. i. 5 "Washedusfromour sins in his own 6Zooc^. 
 
 V. 9 Hath redeemed us to God by thy Z>?oofZ. 
 
 vii. 14 Made them white in the ^/^oo^^ of the Lamb. 
 
 9. 'ivxh — Life. 
 
 Matt. XX. 28 To give his life a ransom for many. 
 
 John X. 15.. Hay down my life for the sheep. 
 
 1 John iii. 16 Because he laid down his life for us. 
 
 10. Karapa — Curse. 
 Gal. iii. 13 Being made course for us. 
 
 Now take all the passages, bearing on and descriptive of tlie 
 deatli of Christ, and what must be the inference ? Is this the 
 death of an ordinary martyr ? Why is the death of Jesus thus 
 selected, thus dwelt upon — the whole stress of the gospel, as it 
 were, being laid upon it ? AVhy does the apostle pronounce 
 '^' Christ crucified,'' and not '^ Christ baptized," as the epitome of 
 the gospel? Why does he say, "God forbid that I should glory, 
 save in the cross of Christ,'' and not rather, " God forbid that I 
 should glory, save in the crown, or in the manger, or in the ex- 
 ample, or in the life of Christ ?" Why is it in the whole apoca- 
 lyptic song not, the Lamb that was baptized, that was born, that 
 lived so holy, that died so meekly, but " the Lamb that was 
 slain ?" Why is so much said about the blood of Christ — that 
 which cannot be said about any other shed blood upon earth ? 
 The answer must be, that there is something in the death of 
 Christ so peculiar, so singular, so unlike, in its meaning and its 
 application, to the deatli of any other, that we must conclude 
 that we do not exhaust its meaning v/hcn we say it was an atone- 
 ment made by the just for the unjust, that sin may be forgiven 
 and sinners may be saved. 
 
 The next class of phrases may be called — 
 
MESSIAH'S DEATH. 335 
 
 co:mmercial appellatives. 
 
 1. Avrpod) — Rede 
 
 em. 
 
 Tim. ii. 1-4 That lie might redeem us from all iniquity. 
 
 1 Pet. i. IS, 19 Ye wore not redeemed with corruptible things, . . . but with 
 
 the precious blood of Christ. 
 
 2. Av-pov — lia 
 
 nsom. 
 
 Mai. XX. 28 The Son of Man came ... to give his life a ransom for many, 
 
 Mark x. 45. 
 
 3. KvTiKvTpov — Ransom. 
 
 1 Tim. ii. G Who gave himself a ranso)?* for all. 
 
 4. Avrpwaii — Redemjition. 
 
 Heb. ix. 12 By his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, hav- 
 ing obtained eternal redemption for us. 
 
 5. 'A-oAC-pojo-is — RcdcmjJtion. 
 
 Rom. iii. 24 Justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in 
 
 Christ Jesus. 
 
 1 Cor. i. 30 "Who of God is made unto us . . . redemjytion. 
 
 Eph. i. 17 In whom we have redemiJtion through his blood. 
 
 Heb. ix. 15 That by means of death for the rcdenqjtion of the transgres- 
 sions. 
 
 6. Ayopa^cj — rtjio"; — Bui/ — Price. 
 
 1 Cor. vi. 20 For je are bon(/7it -with, a j^rice. 
 
 2 Pet. ii. 1 Denying the Lord that bought them. 
 
 Rev. V. 9 lias rec?ee«ierfus to Godby thy blood. 
 
 xiv. 3 Which were redeemed from the earth. 
 
 xiv. 4 These loere redeemed from among men. 
 
 7. 'EfayopdiCj — Redeemed from. 
 
 Gal. iii. 13 Christ JiatJi redeemed us from the curse of the law. 
 
 iv. 5 To redeem them that were under the law. 
 
 8. UepnTOicojjiai — Purchase, or acquire. 
 Acts XX. 28 Which he hathjiurchased with his own blood. 
 
 9. Tlspiiroiriais — Purchased piossession. 
 
 Eph. i. 14 Until the redemption of the 2)urcha8ed2}osscssiuu 
 
 1 Pet. ii. 9 A j:)ccHZi«r people, (literally, of acquirement to himself.) 
 
 Here is another class of expressions whicli again show that 
 the death of Christ must have something very peculiar and 
 significant in it. They tell us what we are purchased from — 
 
336 PROniETIC STUDIES. 
 
 from '■'■ all iniquity/' from '' the curse of the law," from " con- 
 demnation/' We are told, too, what we are purchased with — 
 with his life, his blood, himself; not by his example, not by his 
 teaching, not by his miracles, not by his walk : we are purchased, 
 redeemed, washed, justified, accepted, through his death. Again 
 I say, there must be something very peculiar about the death of 
 Christ to warrant the application of such phraseology to it. 
 The third class of expressions may be called — 
 
 SACRIFICIAL APPELLATIVES. 
 
 1. ' KpX'-^P^M — IIujTi-Pricst. 
 
 Heb. ii. 17 That he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest. 
 
 iii. 1 High-Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus. 
 
 iv. 14 We have a great iiT/^/i-Pr/esnhat is passed unto the heavens. 
 
 Jesus the son of God. 
 vi. 1 Fov Gverj High-Priest taken from among men, is ordained for 
 
 men in things pertaining to God, that ho may offer both gifts 
 
 and sacrifices for sins. 
 
 V. 10 Called of God an High-Priest after the order of Melchisedec. 
 
 vii. 26 For such an High-Priest hecamc us. 
 
 viii. 1 "We have such an High-Priest, who is set on the right hand of 
 
 the throne of the majesty in the heavens. 
 
 2. 'hpevg — Priest. 
 
 Hcb. V. G Thou art apn'es^for ever. 
 
 ii. 11 Another j^j)'ies« should rise after the order of Melchisedec. 
 
 X. 21 An high-priest over the house of God. 
 
 3. 'lepcMvuri — Priesthood. 
 
 Heb. vii. 4 Ilath an unchangeable ^jri'esf/iooc?. 
 
 4. ^IXaffKOiJiaL — Reconcile hy expiation. 
 
 Ileb. ii. 17 A merciful and faithful high-priest in things pertaining to God, 
 
 to mahe reconciliation for the sins of the people. 
 
 5 . 'lAoCTj^ivj — Prop it i at ion. 
 
 1 John ii. 2 He is the 2)ro23itiation for our sins. 
 
 iv. 10 Sent his son to he the jjropitiation for our sins. 
 
 6. 'IXaarfipiov — Prop)itiation. 
 
 Ptom. iii. 25 Whom God has sent forth to be a propitiation through faith in 
 
 his blood. 
 
 7. 'Aixvdg — Lamb. 
 
 John i. 29 P>eholdtheXom& of God which takcth away the sin of the world. 
 
 1 Pet, i. 19 Blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot. 
 
MESSIAH'S DEATH. 337 
 
 8. 'ApvLOv — Lamb, 
 
 Kev. V. 12 "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain. 
 
 vii. 14 White in the blood of the Lamb. 
 
 xiii. 18 The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 
 
 9. 6uco — TOffXa — To Sacrifice — Passover. 
 
 1 Cor. V. 1 For even Christ ovcc passover is sacrificed for us. 
 
 10. Qvaia — A Sacrifice. 
 
 Eph. V. 2 Hath given himself for us as an offering and a sacrifice to 
 
 God. 
 
 Heb. ix. 26 Hath appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 
 
 X. 12 After he had offered one sacrifice for sins. 
 
 11. npoa(bopa — An Offering. 
 
 Eph. V. 2 Hath given himself an offering and a sacrifice to God. 
 
 Heb. X. 10 Through the offering of the body of Jesus once. 
 
 X. 1-1 For by one offering he hath perfected. 
 
 12. Upoarpipu — Offer. 
 
 Heb. ix. 14 "Who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without s]oot 
 
 to God. 
 
 ix. 35 Nor yet that he should offer himself often. 
 
 ix. 28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. * 
 
 X. 12 After he had offered one sacrifice for sins. 
 
 13. 'Ava'pipo — Bear. 
 
 Heb. ix. 28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. 
 
 vii. 27 For this he did once when he offered up himself. 
 
 14. 'EvTVYXnff^ — To mahe intercession. 
 
 Heb. vii. 25 Seeing he ever liveth to 7nahe intercession for them. Isa. 
 
 liii. 12. 
 
 ix. 24 But into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God 
 
 for us. 
 
 15. T[apaK\r]TOi — An Advocate. 
 
 1 John ii. 1 We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the 
 
 righteous. 
 
 Now what do all tliese passages show ? That the idea of atone- 
 ment or sacrifice is inseparable from the death of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. These are phrases borrowed from the ancient Jewish 
 economy. Was that economy distinguished by sacrifices ? Was 
 the idea of an atonement at all impressed and inculcated upon 
 that people ? Let us look at their sacrifices. In every sacrifice 
 
 29 
 
338 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 of an expiatory kind offered by the Jew, there was first a trans- 
 gressor, somebody who was morally or ceremonially unclean. 
 There was, secondly, a victim — a goat, a lamb, or a bullock, the 
 blood of which was shed and sprinkled on the altar. There was 
 next a priest who slew the victim, shed its blood, and sprinkled 
 it on the altar. And there was, lastly, the imposition of hands 
 upon the head of the victim. The idea inculcated was that the 
 guilt of him who laid on his hands was transferred, directly or 
 indirectly, to the victim that was slain, or the goat that was dis- 
 missed and sent away into the wilderness. No one, therefore, 
 can deny that the whole Jewish ceremony was pervaded by the 
 idea of expiation — that the great lesson inculcated in every act 
 was, without shedding of blood there was no remission of sins. 
 Now every one of these expressions is applied to the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. He is our propitiation, our priest, our sacrifice, our altar, 
 our atonement. He substituted himself, the just in the room of 
 the unjust; and pardon, forgiveness, and acceptance are associated 
 with his so substituting himself, and so being a sacrifice for our 
 sin. The idea, then, accumulates in evidence that Jesus died, 
 not an example how the good should meekly suffer, but an atone- 
 ment by which the sins of the guilty might be forgiven. 
 The next class of expressions are — 
 
 TERMS OF OBJECTIVE, OCCASIONAL, AND PERSONAL RELATION. 
 
 1. 'AfjiapTia — Sin. 
 
 Matt. xxvi. 28... Which is shed for many for the remission of sin. 
 
 John i. 29 The Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. 
 
 Acts xiii. 38 Through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of 
 
 sins. 
 
 Ptom. vi. 10 In that he died, he died unto stii once. 
 
 viii. 3 In the liliencss of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in 
 
 the flesh. 
 
 1 Cor. XV. 3 That Christ died for our sins. 
 
 2 Cor. V. 21 Hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin. 
 
 Col. i. 14 Redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. 
 
 Ileb. i. 3 Had by himself purged our sins. 
 
 ii. 17 To make recbnciliation for the sins of the people. 
 
 ix. 26 To put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 
 
 ix. 28 Once offered to bear the sins of many. 
 
 X. 12 After he had offered one sacrifice for sins. 
 
MESSIAH'S DEATH. 839 
 
 1 Pet. ii. 24... Bare our sina in his own body on the tree. 
 
 iii. 18 Ilath once suffered for sins. 
 
 1 John i. 7 The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 
 
 ii. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins. 
 
 iii. 5 Manifested to take away our sins. 
 
 iv. X Sent his Son to be tlie propitiation for oxiv sins. 
 
 2. 'AuapT-r]jxa — Sin. 
 
 Kom. iii. 25 Set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to 
 
 declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are 
 passed. 
 
 3. HapdiTTwixa — Offence, Tres2jnss, Sin. 
 
 Rom. iv. 25 Who was delivered for our offences. 
 
 Eph. i. 7 Redemption through his blood, forgiveness of sins. 
 
 4. UapdPaats — Transgression. 
 
 Heb. ix. 15 That by means of death for the redemption of the transgres- 
 sions that were under the first testament. 
 
 5. 'Avojxia — Iniquifi/. 
 
 Tit. ii. 14 That he redeem us from all iniquifi/. 
 
 6. 'AjwaprcoXdj — Sinner. 
 
 Rom. V. 8 While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 
 
 1 Tim. i. 15 Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 
 
 7. "AaePns — Ungodly. 
 Rom. V. 6 In due time Christ died for the ungodly. 
 
 8. "a6iko£ — Unjust. 
 
 1 Pet. iii. 18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for tho 
 
 unjust. 
 
 9. 'Ex^poj — Enemy. 
 
 Rom. V. 10 When we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the 
 
 death of his Son. 
 
 10. ToOj vnd voixof — Those under the laio. 
 
 Gal. iv. 5 To redeem them that icere under the law. 
 
 11. UpoParoi/ — Sheep. 
 
 John X. 15 1 lay down my life for the sheep. 
 
 12. ''EKK'Xrjaia — Church. 
 
 Acts XX. 28 The church of God, which he hath purchased with his own 
 
 blood. 
 Eph. V. 25 Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it. 
 
840 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 13. Aadj — People. 
 
 Heb. ii. 17 To make reconciliation for the sins of the^eopZe. 
 
 xiii. 12 Wherefore Jesus also that he might sanctify ih.Q people •with. 
 
 his own blood, suflFered without the gate. 
 
 14 no\\oX~3Iany. 
 
 Matt. xxvi. 28.... "Which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 
 
 XX. 28 To give his life a ransom for many. 
 
 Ilcb. ix. 28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. 
 
 15. Ilaj — irdvTti — Every one — all. 
 
 2 Cor. V. 14 If one died for all. 
 
 V. 15 And that he died for all. 
 
 1 Tim. ii. 6 Gave himself a ransom for all. 
 
 Heb. ii. 9 That he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every 
 
 man. 
 
 16. Kd(7/i0f — World. 
 
 John i. 29 The Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. 
 
 vi. 51 And the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will givo 
 
 for the life of the world. 
 
 1 John ii. 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, 
 
 but also for the sins of the whole loorld. 
 
 Is not the tliouglit still more clearly impressed that the atone- 
 ment of Jesus was of an expiatory nature, when all the phraseology 
 and usages of the ancient Levitical economy are applied to that 
 death ; and when Christ is said to have died rjTzkp for avri instead 
 of, and T£p\ in behalf of, or concerning us ? Does it not prove 
 that sin is in some way removed by his death, and that sinners 
 are in some way benefited, as the blessed and glorious issue ? 
 
 TERMS or REMOTE RELATION, OR FINAL DECISION. 
 
 1. Sw^w — Save. 
 
 Matt, xviii. 11 For the Son of man came to save that which was lost. 
 
 John iii. 17 That the world through him might be saved. 
 
 xii. 47 1 came not to judge the Avorld, but to save the world. 
 
 1 Tim. i. 15 Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 
 
 2. 'Zio^l^p — Saviour. 
 
 1 John iv. 14 The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. 
 
 3. "A(l)saii — Bemission, Forgiveness. 
 
 Matt. xxvi. 28 Which is shed for many for the remissioti of sins. 
 
MESSIAH'S DEATH. 341 
 
 Acts V. 31 Him hath God exalted ... to give repentance to Israel, and 
 
 forgiveness of sins. 
 
 xiii. 38 Through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of 
 
 sins. ■ 
 Eph. i. 7 ....In whom we have redemption through his blood, the for- 
 giveness of sins. Col. i. 1-i. 
 
 4. Ilapstns — Pretermission. 
 
 Rom. iii. 25 For the remission of sins that are past. 
 
 5. AiKa'ioi — Justify. 
 
 Acts xiii. 39 By him all that believe ar-e justified. 
 
 Rom. iii. 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption 
 
 that is in Christ Jesus. 
 
 V. 9 Being now justified by his blood. 
 
 Gal. ii. 17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ. 
 
 6. AiKaioavvrj — Righteousness. 
 
 Rom. iii. 25 Set forth to be a propitiation ... to declare his righteous- 
 ness, that he might be just, and the justifier of him which 
 believeth in Jesus. 
 
 Rom. X. 4 Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one 
 
 that believeth. 
 
 2 Cor. V. 21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, 
 
 that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 
 
 7. KaraWayh — Reconciliation. 
 
 Rom. V. 11 By whom we have received the atonement. 
 
 8. KaT-aXXdffo-o) — Reconcile. 
 
 Rom. V. 10 "VYe loere reconciled to God by the death of his Son. 
 
 2 Cor. V. 18 Who hath reconciled us to himself by Christ Jesus. 
 
 V. 19 In Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing 
 
 their trespasses unto them. 
 
 9. 'Aro/caraXXarrcj — Reconcile. 
 
 Eph. ii. 16 That he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the 
 
 cross. 
 Col. i. 21 Yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through 
 
 death. 
 
 We have thus the end which Christ came to accomplish. He 
 came to put away sin, and to save sinners. The nature of that 
 result is described as salvation, forgiveness, remission of sins, 
 justification, righteousness, reconciliation. Does not this still 
 more strongly inculcate the idea I am now teaching, that Christ's 
 death was expiatory, vicarious, or atoning ? 
 
 29* 
 
342 PROniETIC STUDIES. 
 
 TERMS EXPRESSIVE OF DIVINE ACTION. 
 
 1. A(Jw/i£ — Give. 
 
 John iii. 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten 
 
 Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, 
 but have everlasting life. 
 
 2. n.apabi6u)jxi — Give v]p, deliver. 
 
 Rom. iv. 25 Who was delivered for our offences. 
 
 viii. 32 He that spared {tcpeiaaro) not his own Son, but delivered him 
 
 up for us all. 
 
 3. "EjcJoroj — Delivered iqi. 
 
 Acts ii. 23 Ilim, being delivered by the determinate counsel and fore- 
 knowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands 
 have crucified and slain. 
 
 4. T\poopii^(ji — Determine hefore. 
 
 Acts iv. 28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined 
 
 hefore to be done. 
 
 5. 'ATrocrTEXXo) — Send. 
 
 John iii. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to rojidemn the 
 
 world, but that the world through him might be saved. 
 
 1 John iv. 9 Sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live 
 
 through him. 
 
 iv. 10 Sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 
 
 iv. 14 The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. 
 
 6. UpoTidnni — Set forth, a2:)point. 
 
 Rom. iii. 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation. 
 
 7. TLoiuo afxapriap — 3Iade sin. 
 
 2 Cor. V. 21 For ho hath made him to be sin for us, who know no sin, that 
 
 we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 
 
 I have given you tliese specimens of all the expressions 
 associated with the death of Christ contained in the New Testa- 
 ment Scriptures. I first ask you to notice the enormous stress 
 that is laid upon his death; how justification, acceptance, for- 
 giveness, are all associated, not with his baptism, not with his 
 example, but with his death ; how the great end for which God 
 sent him into the world was not, as here declared, to set a beauti- 
 ful example, but to die. I ask you to notice how that death is 
 connected with all the institutions of Levi, which were intended 
 confessedly and professedly to inculcate the idea of the atonement ; 
 
MESSIAH'S DEATH. 343 
 
 and how, in the next place, it is associated with our sins and 
 their removal, and with sinners and their acceptance before God. 
 
 Now, with regard to these passages, the very eloquent but 
 deeply deceived Dr. Channing, whose dying creed it is said was 
 very different from his living creed, renouncing the Socinianism 
 which could not save, and accepting the Christianity which alone 
 proclaims the atonement and the forgiveness of sins, states, in 
 vol. iii. of his works, after referring to some of these extracts 
 from the New Testament Scriptures, and speaking of the body 
 of which he was so eloquent and gifted an exponent : " Many of 
 us are dissatisfied with this explanation of the death of Christ, 
 ('that it procures forgiveness by leading to that repentance and 
 virtue which is the great and only condition on which forgiveness 
 is bestowed/) and think that the Scriptures ascribe the remission 
 of sins to Christ's death luith an emphasis so peculiar, that we 
 ought to consider this event as having a special influence in re- 
 moving punishment." Here is a ray of light entering into that 
 great man's mind, and showing how dissatisfied he was with the 
 popular theology of* his body; and thus inducing us to believe 
 what was reported of him was true — that he died renouncing his 
 unitarianism, and accepting the precious blood of Jesus as that 
 which cleanseth from all sin. 
 
 Suppose you wished to convey the idea which Channing dimly 
 saw, but which we rejoice to have the privilege and joy of fully 
 accepting — the expiatory and atoning nature of the death of 
 Jesus — I defy you, or even the eloquent author whom I have 
 quoted, to select verbs, nouns, adjectives, epithets, and appella- 
 tives, that more emphatically, directly, and fully declare that the 
 death of Jesus was expiatory and atoning. If you will read those 
 extracts which I have given, and will try to find language more 
 definite, more decided, more clearly explanatory of your meaning, 
 that Christ died as an atonement, you will find it impossible to 
 do so. The apostles have exhausted language in order to convey 
 this idea. If they did not understand that Christ died as an 
 atonement, they have purposely, deliberately, and designedly 
 deceived mankind. It is impossible to suppose that men who 
 understand the use and the meaning of language — that weapon 
 of great power — could ever have used such phraseology so often, 
 
344 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 in such changes of ch'cumstances, in such variety of construction, 
 on so many occasions, out of so many incidents, except they had 
 intended to convey this great idea, that the death of Jesus was 
 an atonement made on behalf of sinners, and for the remission 
 of the sins of them that believe. Therefore we infer that the 
 system of unitarianism, which alleges it is not a sacrifice, is 
 simply the creed and misconception of man ; that the system of 
 superstition, which says it was not a complete sacrifice, but needs 
 to be added to, is simply the system of the priest ; and that that 
 creed is the true one, because the divine one, which declares that 
 he died, the just in our room, the holy one in the room of the 
 unholy ; that the spotless Lamb wore our tainted fleece, that we, 
 the fallen and stray sheep, might be clothed with his glorious 
 righteousness; that he paid all we owed to God, and secured 
 from God far more than God owed to us ; that his blood cleanseth 
 from all sin, and that in him, and by him, and through him — to 
 the exclusion of all repentance, all good deeds, all sufferings, all 
 prayers of saints and intercessions of angels, every thing in 
 heaven or earth, however excellent or however bad — that in him 
 and through him alone, we have forgiveness of sin and justifica- 
 tion in the sight of God. Blessed truths are these ! Blessed be 
 the God that has revealed them. We have not to climb to 
 heaven by the penitential stairs our imaginations may construct, 
 nor to purchase our entrance into heaven by a draft on the funded 
 merit or virtues of any church or corporation whatever. We 
 have not to do something in order to deserve heaven : God gives 
 us heaven as a birthright, and bids us, conscious of the gratitude 
 we owe him, go forth and show that we are his, and manifest our 
 devotion to his will, by living to his glory and his honour, in 
 doing his commandments. It is not for us to speculate whether 
 God could have saved us by any other process. No speculation, 
 I conceive, can be more foolish. It is matter of fact, that there 
 is none other name but One by which we can be saved — that 
 there is but one process of restoration revealed unto us; and 
 instead of speculating whether we could have been saved by any 
 other process, it is the safer, it is the truer way, it is the only 
 one, earnestly to study what God has said, and to seek to be 
 saved in the way of his own appointment. 
 
MESSIAH'S DEATH. 345 
 
 This atonement was not made to make God love tliose whom he 
 otherwise hated. This is not the accepted view of any enlight- 
 ened auditory, nor is it sanctioned in Scripture. The atonement 
 was offered not to create in God a love that was not, but to be the 
 exponent and evidence to us of a love that was and is : and it is 
 not true that God so hated us that Christ, to intercept his wrath, 
 interposed to save us; but he so loved us, that he gave, as an ex- 
 pression of that lovC; Christ to die for us. It is not the proposi- 
 tion of the Bible that God loves us because Christ died for us : 
 the converse is its declaration — that God so loved us that Christ 
 died for us. The death of Christ was provided by the mercy of 
 him against whose justice we had sinned, that that mercy might 
 reach us with all its pardoning fulness, in perfect harmony with 
 that justice which he had insulted ; so that God should appear 
 the most just when he exercises the richest mercy, and should be 
 arrayed in the brightest glory when he forgives the chiefest of 
 sinners through the blood of Jesus. If this be so, how little 
 reason have we to be ashamed of the gospel of Christ ! Well and 
 truly did an apostle say, " I am not ashamed of the gospel of 
 Christ.^' In the death of Jesus was a real and intrinsic gTan- 
 deur. He died — the evidence that he was man ; but he atoned 
 in that death — the demonstration that he was more than man. 
 He that died for us was the Lord of Glory. That dead Christ 
 was the Prince of Life. That babe in the manger was the 
 Mighty God. He that said, " The foxes of the earth have holes, 
 and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath 
 not where to lay his head,^^ was he that stretched out the jfirma- 
 ment and scattered over it its ever-burning stars. And that 
 cross, which to the world was the symbol of shame, is to us glo- 
 rious as the shekinah between the cherubim. Christ crucified is 
 emphatically the hope, the trust, the confidence of all believers. 
 
 Thus we see the nature of the death which Christ died for us. 
 Its vicarious nature is indisputable. It was not the patient ex- 
 ample of a saint's dying, but the atoning suffering of a divine 
 victim. Have you accepted it as such ? Have you closed with 
 God's offer of mercy in Christ Jesus ? If you have not, why 
 not ? I know not a guilt more heinous than that of the man who 
 hears of the occurrence of such a fact, and retires unconscious of 
 
346 rilOPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 its importance^ unimpressed by a sense of responsibility, unat- 
 tracted to God tlie Father manifesting his love in the death of 
 Christ the Redeemer. If yon are not justified and accepted 
 through him, let me ask you, as I have often done, why ? Is God 
 unwilling to receive you ? At this moment he waits for you; and 
 if you should wait a thousand years, you will not be more willing 
 to go to God, and he will not be more willing to accept you in the 
 name of Jesus, and the way will not be more easy. God waits to 
 be gracious; he has no pleasure in the death of a sinner, but 
 rather that he should turn from his wickedness, repent, and live. 
 Do you answer, ^^ the provision is insufficient ?" Is such an ob- 
 jection consistent with the passages I have quoted ? I announce 
 the good news, when I proclaim, as God's ambassador, there is 
 not one sin, be it the most heinous, the most offensive before man, 
 and the most terrible and criminal in the sight of God, for which 
 there is not forgiveness in the blood of Christ. The efficacy of 
 that blood is not diluted by years, or exhausted of its virtue by 
 the number to which it is applied. There is as much forgiveness, 
 and as free, and as full, and as complete and irreversible, in the 
 year 1850, as there was for them who had dyed their hands in 
 the crucifixion of Jesus, and shouted, with atheistic blasphemy, 
 ^' Crucify him, crucify him ;" but who were, in spite of their 
 sins, and through the sufficiency of the blood of Jesus, afterward 
 received by faith, the very first-fruits of his death, on the day of 
 Pentecost. If, therefore, you are not pardoned, it is plainly not 
 because God is unwilling, or the provision insufficient. Are there 
 not motives strong enough to influence you ? Is not the hope of 
 a glorious kingdom, that never can be moved, a hope stimulating 
 enough ? Is not the possibility of escape from condemnation and 
 everlasting ruin a reason urgent and eloquent enough ? Look 
 down into the depths of the ruin which you have not reached, 
 but to which our sins must drive us, if unforgiven ; and then look 
 to the heights of that glory which we have forfeited, and so often 
 turned our backs on, and which the sufferings, the agony, and the 
 blood of Jesus alone have retrieved for us ; and say, if there are 
 not motives enough, in the position in which you now stand, in 
 the danger you may avert, in the glory you may reach, why you 
 
MESSIAH'S DEATH. 347 
 
 should flee to the refuge set before yoU; and seek now^ once for 
 all, acceptance and forgiveness before God. 
 
 But do you think, as some most erroneously do, that all "will 
 be saved ? My belief is, that the dogma entertained by a few is 
 the feeling cherished in the hearts of nine out of every ten of the 
 unconverted — that somehow or other they will get an interest in 
 the mercy and forgiveness of God, and that they need not trouble 
 themselves about it now. They know not how, they cannot say 
 when ; but they are pretty sure that that mercy will be shown 
 them when they stand in need of it. This is not the theology of 
 the Bible. It tells you that God's mercy is to be obtained only 
 in one way — only by knocking at the one door — only by pleading 
 in one name — only by asking through one channel. If it be not 
 asked through that name, through that channel, and for the 
 sake of him who died that it might reach us, it will never be 
 obtained at all. 
 
 Mere forgiveness is not the sole result of the death of Jesus. 
 He died, not only that sin may be removed, but that human na- 
 ture might be restored, rebeautified, reconstructed from its ruins, 
 and. made fit for, as well as entitled to, the presence of God. It 
 is as necessary that you should be sanctified as justified. Justifi- 
 cation and acceptance are but the commencement, not the close : 
 they are not (to use the language of schoolmen) the terminus ad 
 quod, but the terminus a quo ; not the end toward which you 
 move, but the starting-place from which you run the race that 
 leads to honour, glory, and immortality. If j^ou were a heathen, 
 and had never heard the gospel, and if in the agonies of death 
 Christ upon the cross were pointed out to you clearly and dis- 
 tinctly, I would not despair, but believe that then and there, there 
 would be forgiveness for you. But you occupy a different posi- 
 tion. You have heard, this day, what lifts you out of that posi- 
 tion for ever. You have heard that God waits, that God is now 
 willing ) and that it is your privilege, your duty, and safety, to 
 come instantly to God. Therefore, if you adjourn your accept- 
 ance of the truth, it must be amid the consciousness of a duty 
 you wilfully neglect; it is adjourning to a day for which God has 
 given no promise ; — in other words, it is confessing your sins first, 
 and then going forth to do that sin ; it is admitting that you 
 
848 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 know your duty, but, for reasons best known to yourself, you pro- 
 crastinate that duty. 
 
 But I believe the great reason why so few think deeply, and so 
 few are interested in this precious sacrifice, is, that they do not 
 think at all about the subject. The mass of mankind have their 
 hearts so filled with thoughts about this world, that they have 
 not one hour for solemn thoughts about eternity. The morning 
 is for breakfast, the forenoon for business, the evening for dinner, 
 the night for sleep, — not one moment for the soul, for God, for 
 the Bible, the judgment-seat, eternity ! They hear the funeral 
 bell, but they never think it will one day toll for them. They 
 see the funeral procession, but they forget that they will be the 
 main object of another similar procession one day. They hear of 
 death here, and sickness there ; but they never think it possible 
 for them to die. Life is the most precarious thing, the most frail 
 thing. The strongest and healthiest have only a lease for the 
 time that is occupied by a single pulse of the heart ; and as soon 
 as that heart has beaten, the lease is over : God in his grace may 
 renew it, and does renew it 3 but each beat is the end of a lease. 
 Soon the trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise ; and if that 
 be not so soon, very soon we shall lie down upon a death-bed ; 
 and if you could only see what I have often witnessed, how pale 
 the splendour and grandeur of the world looks then, how poor, 
 worthless, and valueless its honours, its wealth, its dignity, weigh 
 then, — if you could only realize now what you then and there will 
 feel, you would rise and go to your Father, and instantly, in the 
 name and through the merits of Jesus, seek that forgiveness 
 which is waiting for every sinner in this assembly that will. 
 
349 
 
 LECTURE XXIV. 
 
 THE GREAT SACRIFICE. 
 
 " And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for 
 himself; and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city 
 and the sanctuary ; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the 
 end of the war desolations are determined." — Daniel ix. 26. 
 
 In my previous lecture I collected some — not some, but 
 many — of the remarkable texts of Scripture, which describe or 
 allude to the death of our Blessed Lord ; and I showed, that if 
 all these texts be collected together, and their scattered rays made 
 to converge, as it were, in one focus, it is impossible to fail to see 
 that the death of Jesus was more than that of a mere patient 
 martyr, and that it is neither unnatm-al nor illogical to conclude, 
 that his was the death of an atoning Victim, of one " cut oiT, but 
 not for himself.^' 
 
 I proceed in this lecture to show, not from the texts which I 
 formerly collected and collated, but rather from certain principles 
 indicated in Scripture, and fairly deducible by our own minds 
 from the language of Scripture, that the death of Christ, in order 
 to constitute the substance, or have a claim to the character, of 
 the <' good news,'' — to be of any personal, present, and everlast- 
 ing virtue to us, as sinners, must have been an atonement made, 
 an expiation and sacrifice presented, by the substitute for the sin- 
 ner. I showed you — what I am sure 3^ou must feel to be per- 
 fectly conclusive — that the texts I quoted are inexplicable (if 
 those who wrote them understood the use of language) except on 
 the supposition that Christ's death was expiatory, atoning, or a 
 sacrifice propitiatory for the sins of all that believe. 
 
 Let me now look at three great propositions which seem to me 
 to necessitate the description of death which I have attributed to 
 Jesus, namely — an atonement for our sins. 
 
 30 
 
350 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 Let us look, first, at the law of God. "What is the law ? It is 
 not holicess created, hut holiness simply made known. ^' Holi- 
 ness is perfect happiness, sin is perfect misery,^' would have been 
 true if the sentiment had never been revealed in human speech. 
 "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy 
 neighbour as thyself,'' was not made when the law was given ; it 
 was only proclawied. The proclamation of the law is mercy, the 
 expression of goodness itself, — for it lets the creature know what 
 the Creator ever does, ever must, and ever will, exact of that 
 creature. 
 
 This law, thus clearly revealed to man, has been broken by us ; 
 conscience unequivocally says so : I have failed in obedience to 
 it ; every thought in my mind, every affection in my heart, every 
 record in my memory, every pulse in my being, tells me I have 
 broken that law, in thought, or in word, or in deed. I have not 
 trodden the path that leads to happiness ; I have not paid the 
 price of which everlasting joy is the reward; I have not done the 
 work of which heaven is the wages. That law clearly and un- 
 equivocally tells me, " As far as I, the law, am concerned, I can 
 hold out no hope of a passport to glory to you, — no prospect of 
 everlasting joy, — for ^ cursed is every one that continueth not in 
 all things that are written in the law, to do them.' " These words 
 just describe the condition of every one. Under the curse is that 
 state in which we are born — the cold shadow under which we lie. 
 We do not need to perpetrate some terrible violation of God's law 
 in order to be condemned : we are born condemned ; we are born 
 in prison ; we are criminals by birth — we need no change in 
 order to be lost, the change must take place in order to our being 
 saved, that thus may be turned our terrible and downward pro- 
 cession, and given us an impulse that will lift us from ruin to a 
 state of restoration, from enmity to God, to a condition of recon- 
 ciliation and friendship. 
 
 Where, I ask, is there any disclosure by the law of the possi- 
 bility of life through our obedience to that law ? We are satisfied 
 that we have broken it ; we are satisfied, from its own lips, that 
 we are condemned by it. How shall we escape the consequences? 
 Is there any crevice in the whole of Sinai out of which there is 
 emitted one word of the hope of restoration to the guilty ? Is 
 
THE GREAT SACRIFICE. 351 
 
 there any reasoning mind that will show me that God can be 
 merciful to the extent of forgiving all my sins, and yet continue, 
 what he proclaims himself to be, the infinitely holy, the infinitely 
 just, the infinitely true ? In other words, as long as I am deal- 
 ing with the law, and directed by its light only, having no con- 
 nection with the gospel, and without a ray of its glory, I ask, 
 how long will the mercy of God descend in pardoning ? — how 
 high will the justice of God rise in punishing? Will he be mer- 
 ciful, and save all ? — or will he be just, and condemn all ? Where 
 will his justice stop in condemning? Where will his mercy stop 
 in acquitting and forgiving ? Must he not be, as far as human 
 light can teach us, inconsistently merciful in order to be just, and 
 inconsistently just in order to be merciful — a God who is a com- 
 posite of contradictions and impossibilities, if so be that sin is to 
 be forgiven without an atonement, or an expiatory sacrifice ? Is 
 there one intimation, however faint, of forgiveness from law ? Is 
 there any hint, however dim, in nature ? — is there any rock on 
 the earth, — any star in the sky, — any flower on the field, — any 
 tree, or cloud, or created thing, — is there any page in memory, 
 any pulse in conscience, — any intimation in the height or in the 
 depths, any exquisite analogy, any beautiful and fair revelation, 
 in the currents of Providence, that tells me that there is forgive- 
 ness with God ? There is none. I can read or hear none. AVind, 
 and wave, and flower, and star, earth and sea, memory and con- 
 science — all are dumb, hopelessly dumb; they do not give the 
 least hint of forgiving mercy in that holy God against whom we 
 have sinned. 
 
 Let me look at another division of human nature, and we shall 
 see from it the necessity for that atonement of which I have 
 already treated. In every man's bosom there is what is called a 
 conscience; and that conscience responds to the moral, just as 
 taste responds to the beautiful, and reason to the true. Any one 
 who will speak honestly, or express his feelings honestly, will 
 tell you that his conscience, however seared, however deadened, 
 however it may have been bribed and stupefied, still responds, 
 more or less distinctly, to the good, and remonstrates, in more or 
 less unequivocal terms, against the evil. Does it not often speak 
 to you in spite of you ? Docs it not often, indeed, excuse ? but 
 
352 PROrHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 does it not still oftener accuse ? Do not its accusations, on the 
 whole, outnumber its apologies ? Does it not talk to you in your 
 most silent and meditative moments of a righteousness that is 
 wanting, of a Judge that is waiting, and of a destiny far beyond, 
 that will be for ever blackened or brightened by what you are — 
 sad and sorrowful, or radiant with joy and glory ? 
 
 Does not conscience often ask, in its calmest moments, what 
 was asked by the prophet of old : "■ Wherewith shall I come be- 
 fore the Lord, and bow myself before the High God ? Shall I 
 come before him with burnt-offerings, with calves of a year old ? 
 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten 
 thousands of rivers of oil ? Shall I give my first-born for my 
 transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul V And 
 in order to answer this question, you have tried fastings, austeri- 
 ties, mortifications of the body; but none of these have satisfied 
 you. You have fled to the cell of the monk, to the solitude of 
 the anchorite, or, like Martin Luther, you have climbed on bare 
 knees the penitential stairs of St. Peter's; but conscience, un- 
 reached by these external penances, has smitten you and accused 
 you still. Or, perhaps, priests have absolved you — popes have 
 given you indulgences, councils have proclaimed long and lasting 
 jubilees; but you have found that neither in priest, nor pope, nor 
 in council, nor in absolution, nor in jubilee, nor in mortifications^ 
 nor in austerities, has there been any virtue that could penetrate 
 the soul, and touch and heal the inner and sore part of the con- 
 science ; it cries aloud — ^You are sinful ! — and it concludes, on 
 irresistible evidence, that there is no remedy in law, or in nature^ 
 for its malady. Thus, if we look at God's law — uncompromising 
 and undiluted law — we see the necessity of something being done 
 to right us in relation to that law. If we examine oar own con- 
 sciences, we feel the necessity of something being done to give 
 these consciences peace. 
 
 If we examine, in the next place, the very nature of sin, we 
 shall see the necessity of some such stupendous interposition as 
 that of God in our nature, our sacrifice, and our atonement. Sin 
 is, in the history of the universe, a new thing, a strange pheno- 
 menon, an awful interpolation — hateful, frightful, destructive. 
 We do not see or feel it as it is. Our insensibility is propor- 
 
THE GREAT SACRIFICE. 353 
 
 tionate to our spiritual deadness. The more sin contaminates, the 
 more it blinds us to its nature, its demerit, and its effects. Sin 
 is unlike every other thing. Not its least awful characteristic is 
 its endurance ; it stretches into eternity, and acts for ever as a 
 corrosive and consuming curse. There is no evidence that sin 
 originates its own cure. If there were evidence from analogy, or 
 from experience, or from history, that sin, like a fever, exhausts 
 itself, and not only leaves no injurious effect behind, but lets the 
 patient return to freedom and happiness, one might conceive it 
 possible to be eternally happy without an atonement. But there 
 is no evidence in this world that sin exhausts itself, or leaves its 
 victim, or loses its virus j and there is no evidence that in the 
 world to come the state of the lost shall be mitigated, or their 
 sufferings, the penal results of sin, mitigated, or the curse that 
 wraps them like a shroud ever put off. Let me illustrate my 
 meaning. Suppose a convict is banished to a penal colony for a 
 term of seven years. If he spends the seven years, he exhausts 
 his punishment, and he is let loose, and he returns again to his 
 native land. But suppose that convict, in the course of the seven 
 years, commits a new offence, that again he receives the sentence 
 of other seven years : and suppose that in the second term of 
 banishment he commits a fresh offence still ; you can see a career 
 of ceaseless sin, and, therefore, a course of ceaseless penalty. It 
 is so, my dear friends, with the lost. By the very nature of their 
 being, they are ever sinning, and ever suffering. Sin in the realms 
 of the lost is an eternal evil, never working out its own cure, but 
 ever working out its own perpetuity. By their very instinct, by 
 the very laws of their nature, they go on sinning ; and by the law 
 of God they must go on suffering. Who knows but that the 
 awful characteristic of the sufferings of the lost may be, that their 
 sins and their sufferings accumulate for ever, and that hell, in an 
 arithmetical, or a geometrical, or some dread ratio, goes on in- 
 creasing in its terrors, as the lost multiply their transgressions and 
 their blasphemies against God ? 
 
 It is thus that we see, whether we look at God's holy law, or 
 at man's own conscience, or at the nature of sin, that some grand 
 interposition man is incapable of devising is needed, before that 
 law can be magnified, conscience pacified, sin expiated, extirpated, 
 
 30* 
 
354 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 and put away for eTer. Only by these, and not in spite of these, 
 can man be saved. At this crisis we have tlie most glorious 
 tidiBgs that ever sounded in the ear of man : '•'' The Messiah was 
 cut oif/^ — there is the evidence he was man ; — '■^ but not for him- 
 self/^ — there is the proof that he was something more than man. 
 The 53d of Isaiah is the most brilliant commentary on Daniel ix. 
 26 ; a commentary that has multiplied its echoes in varied accents 
 over all the Bible. '^ God so loved the world that he gave bis 
 only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him might not 
 perish, but have eternal life :'^ '■'- might not perish,^' in spite of 
 that law which condemns him, in spite of that conscience which 
 accuses, in spite of that sin which ever works out its own perpe- 
 tuity. ^^In him we have redemption through his blood, even the 
 forgiveness of sin." '■'■ By him all are justified from all things 
 from which we could not be justified by the law of Moses/' 
 After you have read the ten commandments, and applied them in 
 all their length and breadth to your condition and conscience, 
 what a glorious fact that the chiefest of sinners can write down 
 after the tenth commandment, " The blood of Jesus Christ, his 
 Son, cleanseth from all sin." *' Blessed are the people that know 
 the joyful sound ;" " blessed are the people that are in such a 
 case." In the light of this divine revelation, through the provi- 
 sions of this atonement, I can clearly and rejoicingly see how 
 God can pardon me, while even I am sinning, and as he pardons 
 me, draw my heart off alike from the love, the power, and the 
 pursuit of sin. I can see through this glorious atonement how 
 God can retain all his justice, and present it to us with a greater 
 lustre ; all his holiness, and reveal it to us in more august glory, 
 and yet justify from all their sins the ungodly that believe. I can 
 see how this law, which God did not create on Sinai but only re- 
 vealed, is magnified in his eyes, and before the universe, while 
 the greatest sinner is forgiven his greatest sins. Jesus, I am told, 
 thus cut off as our representative, bare our curse and the conse- 
 quences of our sin : he obeyed in our stead the exactions of 'a 
 holy law. In Christ I am as if I had suffered and exhausted the 
 penalty I have incurred ; in Christ I am as if I had obeyed and 
 rendered perfect obedience to the law, which I cannot perfectly 
 obey. Our sins were on him, our infirmities and agonies were in 
 
THE GREAT SACRIFICE. 355 
 
 liira. He was the spotless Lamb arrayed in our tainted fleece ; 
 and we the stray sheep may now be clothed in his glorious 
 righteousness. God saw iniquity in Jesus where nobody else saw 
 itj and, blessed be his name, at the judgment-day he will see 
 righteousness upon you and me where nobody else can see it. God 
 hid his eyes from the innocence of Jesus, because our sins were 
 laid on him ; he will hide his eyes from the guilt of sinners, be- 
 cause of the righteousness of Jesus laid upon us. Jesus was 
 condemned for our sins, in which he had no share; we shall be 
 justified by his righteousness, in which we have had no personal 
 part whatever. Our sins laid upon him, brought upon him the 
 thunders and curses of the law; his righteousness laid upon us 
 will draw down upon us the blessings of life everlasting. Such, 
 then, is that atonement expressed in the words of Daniel: ''Cut 
 oif, but not for himself.^' He died, the just in the room of the 
 unjust, in order to bring us unto God. 
 
 But all that I have shown respecting the atonement as yet is, 
 that it opens up a possibility of forgiveness. It may perhaps be, 
 as far as I have yet shown, only a loophole by which the sinner 
 can escape from ruin and get access to heaven. It may be, as 
 far as we have yet advanced, a mode by which we can escape the 
 penalties of a violated law, and be introduced into heaven and to 
 the presence of God, but no evidence that I shall be welcome 
 there. I have, therefore, to intimate, that the atonement is not 
 only the provision of a way of escape, but more — it is the highest, 
 the intensest expression of the infinite and inexhaustible love 
 that God bare me ; it is not merely that I escape by the atone- 
 ment, that I am simply forgiven by it, but that I am accepted by 
 it. If the atonement were a mere escape-way from the curse, I 
 might just be admitted into heaven when I die, exactly as the 
 criminal to whom I have referred, when he had finished his seven 
 years of banishment, comes back to his native place, and is ad- 
 mitted to citizenship : he is not cordially welcomed; he is looked 
 on with susj)icion, and his brand never leaves him ; he remains 
 a marked character ; you tolerate him ; but you do not admit him 
 to your friendship, to your family, or to your bosom. It might be, 
 if the atonement is a mere provision for the escape of sinners 
 from hell, that I should be admitted into heaven and tolerated 
 
356 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 there, that I should be merely admitted there, that I should he 
 borne and forborne with there. If this were all, it would not 
 satisfy me. I want not merely that God should let me go, but 
 that he should take me back ; I want not only to be lifted from 
 the curse, but to be placed in the sunshine of God's countenance; 
 I want not simply to be admitted to heaven, but to be welcomed 
 to heaven — not to be tolerated as a pardoned criminal, but to be 
 welcomed as an accepted and beloved sou. Blessed be God ! this 
 atonement, this ^^cut off, but not for himself,^' this sacrifice of 
 Jesus, is not only precious for what it does, but for what it ex- 
 presses : it proves to me not only that God can save me because 
 a provision has been made, but that he saves me because he 
 loves me ; not only that he will forgive me, but that he will also 
 take me back; that not only is the Legislator satisfied to admit 
 me into heaven, but that the Father waits at the threshold to 
 welcome me to his bosom. '^ God so loved the world that he 
 gave his only begotten Son.^^ Therefore, the atonement is not 
 merely, as many people drily and coarsely regard it, a leglslstor 
 making provision for the possibility of criminals escaping a curse, 
 but it is a Father making a channel for the outflow of his infinite 
 love, that the prodigal may again be his restored son, that the 
 dead may live, that the lost may be found, and all heaven rejoice 
 that it is so. Never, then, my dear friends, forget or merge this 
 blessed and delightful view of the atonement — that it is precious 
 not only for what it does, but for what it expresses ; not only as 
 the provision of a way of forgiveness, but as the expression of the 
 infinite love that God bears to you and to me, his believing and 
 accepted family. 
 
 If, then, this atonement, thus precious and needed as I have 
 shown it to be, was made by our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ, I think it is impossible to escape the inference that he 
 that made it must have been more than man ; that he is, as all 
 evangelical Christians believe him to be, and rejoice that he is, 
 ^Hhe brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of 
 his person." If Jesus were simply man, no atonement has been 
 made for us. Judging by the revelation God has given us, I 
 hold that it would have been inconsistent with the eternal laws 
 of God's moral universe, so far as these are embodied in the 
 
THE GREAT SACRIFICE. 357 
 
 Scriptures, to condemn an innocent man to die for even a guilty 
 world. For what is the law of God's universe? That perfect 
 holiness is perfect happiness. But if an angel, or an archangel, 
 the most exalted and glorious of seraphim or cherubim, had been 
 doomed by God to suffer, such a doom would have been reversing 
 his own law — in short, as great a violation of that law as if he 
 had admitted a guilty creature to be happy. There would have 
 been as great an inversion of God's moral government in con-* 
 demning an innocent creature to suffer as in admitting a guilty 
 creature to be happy. Jesus, therefore, while he became man, 
 was, and is, God. He that suffered was he that slew : he alone 
 could say, (which is the very language of Godhead,-) ^' I lay down 
 my life.'' I need no express texts, though there are many, to 
 teach me that Christ is God, while I hear him saying, '■'• I lay 
 down my life." Man he is, for he has life which can be laid 
 down ) more than man he must be, for no creature could say as he 
 did. If a creature were to volunteer to lay down his life, he 
 would be a suicide. My life is not my own ; it is not at my own 
 disposal ; I have no more right to lay it down than I have power 
 to take it up. Therefore, he who could say, " I lay down my 
 life," who clio?>e to die, who voluntarily sacrificed himself, must 
 be man indeed, otherwise he could not suffer, but more than man, 
 the Lord of life, or he could not lay down his life. If Christ be 
 not God, I have said, there could be no atonement ; to renounce 
 his deity is to part with the atonement ) and if there be no atone- 
 ment, what is the New Testament ? — only a clearer law, a 
 brighter and more intensely glowing Sinai, an improved edition 
 of the Old. But how could it be worthy of the name of " good 
 news" to let me see duty more vividly, to let me hear the curse 
 upon disobedience more distinctly, and the promises of obedience 
 more fully ? Such a revelation would not be comfort. I cannot 
 obey the elder law, wrote in Sinai, or on my own conscience; I 
 want not direction only, but remedy. The wounded traveller 
 needs fii'st to be healed, then to have the road pointed out to him. 
 The dead need first to be quickened, then to be taught the 
 direction in which they are to move. But there is an atonment, 
 and he that made it is God over all. Jesus is our Sacrifice, our 
 Saviour, our God. In the tears that trickled down that couutC' 
 
358 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 nance, wliich was more marred than any man's, I can see spark- 
 ling the very beams of the glory that dwelt between the cherubim. 
 His pangs and his sorrows were not those of a patient martyr 
 only, but those, in addition, of an atoning victim. I can see 
 immensity in every act, infinity in every pang; atonement, re- 
 paration, restoration, in all. The law sought the suffering of a 
 man, and Jesus gave it the suffering of a God. He was David's 
 son, and because he was so, he suffered; he was David's Lord, 
 and because he was so, he satisfied while he suffered. Christ was 
 Grod, God in our nature, and his death was atoning : " He was 
 cut off, but not for himself.'^ 
 
 What joyful news are these ! One would think if people heard 
 these things for the first time, they would almost electrify every 
 heart with joy unutterable and full of glory. And yet these are 
 the very good news. If these facts be as I have stated — and I 
 have under-stated rather than over-stated the truth — what, then, 
 may I infer ? If Christ be my Sacrifice, my Saviour, my Atone- 
 ment, my all, then I shall never perish. It is as impossible that 
 a sinner believing upon Jesus for the forgiveness of his sins can 
 perish, as that a guilty being, without faith in Christ, can be 
 happy for ever. There is no more guarantee that the lost out of 
 Christ shall perish, than there is that the saved in Christ shall be 
 happy. Believing on him, I have life for ever. Toward the 
 procurement of the pardon of my sins I have nothing to suffer, 
 for Christ has suffered all ; toward the purchase of my heaven, I 
 have nothing to do, for Christ has done all. Whatever I suffer 
 cannot be penal, for Christ has exhausted the penalty ; whatever 
 I do cannot be meritorious, for Christ, the Lord, is all my 
 righteousness — I am complete in Christ, wanting nothing. Jus- 
 tice cannot punish twice : the law cannot exact twice : "he was 
 cut off," — there was justice meted out to the Son of God — 
 '^ but not for himself," — there is mercy to the sons of men. To 
 them that are in Christ Jesus there is no condemnation in the 
 height or the depth, in conscience, in law, anywhere, in the 
 past, the present, the future — there is a perfect and glorious 
 acquittal. 
 
 Do you believe in this blessed Saviour? I do not mean th:'t 
 sham belief which can repeat the creed ; nor that belief which 
 
THE GREAT SACRIFICE. 859 
 
 thinks all is right because we have been baptized; I mean that 
 earnest, living, leaning trust, which feels, as its very life, that 
 there is nothing in the whole universe on which and by which one 
 can be saved but in Christ Jesus ; that faith that flees from a law 
 that curses you, to a Saviour that blesses you : that faith that flees 
 from self, with all its excuses, its accusations, its apologies, and 
 sinfulness, and seeks peace through the blood of the everlasting 
 covenant. 
 
 Oh ! happy and safe is that mother's son who has this faith ; 
 for to him there is no condemnation, and nothing shall be able to 
 separate him from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus ! Act 
 upon this faith ; regard its objects as realities : go forth into the 
 world, acting upon it, and honouring God, accepting all he is 
 and says as substance : " Them that honour me, I will honour.^' 
 Confidence in Jesus is happiness to man and protection from God. 
 Suspicion of God is misery to the creature, and displeasing to his 
 Maker. 
 
 If the atonement be thus complete, we have in this a right and 
 scriptural view of the Lord's supper. What is the Lord's sup- 
 per? It is a feast that follows the sacrifice. Let us revert to the 
 Passover of old. There was first the slaughter of the lamb, which 
 was the painful and the sacrificial part ; there was the eating the 
 prepared flesh of the lamb, which was the joyful or the festival 
 part. In the ancient Passover both had of necessity to be com- 
 bined; the same parties who enjoyed the pleasure of the feast 
 had to go through the pain, year after year, of sacrificing the 
 victim; but in our case these two have been divided; our blessed 
 Lord has monopolized the painful, and bequeathed the pleasing 
 only to us. The sacrifice is finished, the festival is continued 
 daily; and we come this day to the Lord's table, not as to a pain- 
 ful tragedy, in which we are to sympathize with the weeping and 
 agonized sufierer, but to the glad festival that succeeds the sacri- 
 fice, in which we are to participate with joyful and grateful recol- 
 lections that Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. The 
 eucharist is not a fast, but a feast ; not a sad and sorrowful sacri- 
 fice, but a festival after the sacrifice, for which, and in which, glad 
 hearts and grateful and happy songs and bright hopes become 
 us; net sadness, not gloom, not painful sympathies. Humbled 
 
360 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 we may he, because of our sins ; but glad we must be that these 
 sins are all forgiven and blotted out through him that died for us 
 and rose again. By appearing at the feast after the sacrifice, we 
 profess our trust in the efficacy of that sacrifice — our not being 
 ashamed of him that offered it — our gratitude to God that such a 
 sacrifice was provided in his infinite mercy; and we say, every 
 time we communicate, that dumb, but eloquent and significant 
 act, " Whoever may be ashamed of the crucified, I am not; who- 
 ever may be ashamed of the cross, I glory in it : it is all my sal- 
 vation, and all my desire.'^ Those sins that rise in painful 
 reminiscences even after you have renounced them — that past life 
 over which you have mourned and grieved, and the errors and 
 sins which, by grace, you have repudiated and abjured for ever, 
 may indeed humble you, but should not make you feel unsafe. 
 Kecollect the Passover. When the Israelite father had sprinkled 
 the blood of the Lamb upon the threshold of his door, he retired 
 into the inner-room, and, in that memorable night, gathered his 
 family around him. No doubt, many an Israelite father, when he 
 heard the rush of the angel's wing, as he swept with the speed 
 of the lightning through every street, and alley, and court of 
 Bahab, felt his heart throb rapidly within him, and feared that 
 the next stroke of the angel might be upon his own fairest and 
 first-born one. But his trembling did not make the angel enter; 
 not all his doubts, his fears, his suspicions, made the angel pause. 
 The sprinkled blood was there : he minded not that there was a 
 fainting, failing heart within ; and on he swept till he found a 
 threshold where no blood was sprinkled. It is not the weakness 
 of your faith that weakens your interest in Jesus ; it is not doubts, 
 fears, suspicions, painful, sinful, unworthy as they are ; your only 
 safety in the whole universe is this — that the blood of sprinkling 
 is on your hearts ; if it be there — faith in the atonement of Jesus 
 — all is well, all is safe, safe as the very throne and being of God 
 himself. 
 
 You say, "^ How do I appropriate this blood ? I cannot take 
 literal blood and sprinkle it on a literal threshold." You are not 
 asked to do so. Moral things are not less true than material. 
 Many philosophers say that the material is unreal, and that the 
 moral alone is the real. What you are asked to do is this — to 
 
THE GREAT SACRIFICE. 361 
 
 have faitli in Jesus. But even tliat faith is not your Saviour. 
 There is, I fear, a prevalent and very erroneous notion in this 
 matter. The old formula was, " Do and live ;" the new formula 
 many imagine in some degree the converse, " Believe and live.^' 
 They think that as the old formula was doing God's will, and thus 
 obtaining life, so the new one is faith, or believing God's word, 
 and thus gaining eternal life. It is not so If it were, it would 
 be substituting rightness of creed for rightness of life; and in 
 both cases it would be something of the creature's own. The 
 fact is, God requires at this moment just what he required of 
 Adam in Paradise before he fell — a perfect obedience, or righte- 
 ousness without flaw, or blemish, or short-coming in his sight. I 
 say, the requirement that God makes in grace is just the require- 
 ment that God made in Paradise — perfect obedience to the law. 
 Do not think that the gospel is simply diluted law, and that the 
 New Testament is simply a lower Old Testament ; that God will 
 be satisfied with a sincere, though imperfect obedience, in the 
 room of a perfect obedience. He demands now, as he ever de- 
 manded, and as he will never cease to demand, a perfect righte- 
 ousness as the only title to heaven. You ask. Where then is the 
 difference between our state and Adam's ? In Adam's case it was 
 his work ; in our case it is our acceptance. Adam had to do it ; 
 we have to accept it as already done, already achieved, already 
 perfected. It is faith's province simply to accept. Adam had to 
 do, to be righteous, and be entitled to heaven ; we have to accept 
 the righteousness Christ has provided, and thus be saved. Hence 
 faith is not the ground of salvation : it is the eye that sees, the 
 ear that hears, the feet that run, the hand that grasps ; it is the 
 means, not the end. It believes .that Christ was cut off, " but 
 not for himself.^^ And if he died for sinners, why not for me ? 
 Not, " Why for me V but, " Why not for me V Thus resting 
 and believing, it has peace with God through Jesus Christ. 
 
 31 
 
362 
 
 LECTUEE XXV. 
 
 THE MISSION OF THE MESSIAH. 
 
 " Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to 
 finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconcilia- 
 tion for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the 
 vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy." — Daniel ix. 24. 
 
 I DO not discuss tlie chronology of tliis prophecy in my pre- 
 sent lecture; this I reserve for the next, in which I hope to de- 
 monstrate, with irresistible conclusion, that Jesus Christ is the 
 Messiah pointed out by the prophet, and that in him the predic- 
 tion I have read is gloriously fulfilled. 
 
 I have already shown that the prediction, ^' The Messiah shall 
 be cut oiF, but not for himself,^' was realized in Christ. I 
 have now to prove that the prophecy, that he shall " finish the 
 transgression, make an end of sin, make reconciliation for ini- 
 quity, bring in everlasting righteousness, seal up the vision and 
 the prophecy, and anoint the most Holy,'^ has been fulfilled in 
 the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ, and therein alone. And 
 when I have shown that the moral import of the prophecy is ful- 
 filled in him, and afterward that the chronology of the prophecy 
 finds its termination also in him, I shall have given you the 
 clearest possible demonstration, if any additional be required, 
 first, that Jesus is the Messiah promised to the fathers, and, 
 next, that Daniel spake as he was moved by the Holy Spirit of 
 God. 
 
 The first work which Christ is here predicted to accomplish is 
 to '' finish the transgression.'' By looking at the margins of 
 your Bibles, you will see that the stricter and more accurate 
 translation (for such the marginal translation always is) is, " to 
 r entrain transgression. '^ We are taught therefore, in this clause, 
 
THE MISSION OF THE MESSIAH. 3G3 
 
 that one great effect of the mission of the Messiah will be to 
 " restrain transgression/' Its next result will be to make an 
 end of sin; next, to make reconciliation for iniquity; next, to 
 bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up the vision and the 
 prophecy: and lastly, to anoint the most Holy. 
 
 Let us contemplate the first — to restrain transgression. I re- 
 strict myself here to the one view of his mission here specified 
 — viz. its sin-restraining influence. It is not here said it shall 
 be the result of his work to create holiness in the hearts of his 
 own; this, it is tnie, is otherwise, and clearly stated; but it is 
 declared that the effect of the mission of Jesus, of the word that 
 he should preach to the people, and the work he should do for 
 them, will be to restrain or curb transgression. Has not this 
 been the historical result of Christianity, wherever it has been 
 effectually proclaimed? On those who have not embraced its 
 truths with saving faith, it has yet exercised a restrictive moral 
 power that has made them, even in its twilight, different from 
 what they would have been if Christianity had never been 
 preached; — in other words, there is an indirect influence of the 
 gospel, where its direct power is not felt, which has restrained, 
 and still restrains the gross and palpable transgressions that de- 
 graded and defiled mankind previous to its announcement, and 
 still degrade those that are ignorant of it. It requires but the 
 most superficial acquaintance with the history of the world to 
 prove that it is so. Before the introduction of Christianity, 
 weak and deformed children were invariably cast out to perish in 
 the streets; and this not in barbarous, but in civilized and culti- 
 vated lands. What has arrested this ? Not civilization; for the 
 Koman code is so civilized that it has been more or less widely 
 adopted by numerous modern nations. It was the restraints, or 
 the indirect influence of Christianity alone. In heathen and in 
 ancient times, fathers had absolute power over their sons, and, if 
 possible, still more over their daughters ; they might sell them, 
 or dismiss them, as they might their slaves. In ancient and 
 heathen times, a husband's power over his wife was despotic; he 
 might dismiss her for the least offence; he might have put her 
 to death, and it would not have been murder. In ancient times 
 the marriage contract had not half its sacredncss, nor a tithe of 
 
864 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 the force it lias now. Woman was degraded; lier position in 
 society was lower than it is easy to conceive. What has raised 
 her to her proper and natural position? Christianity. What 
 has saved the son from the tyranny of a cruel parent^ the wife 
 from expulsion or cruelty by a barbarous husband; and woman 
 from degradation everywhere? The restraints^ the indirect re- 
 strictions and influence^ of the gospel of Jesus. Where, let me 
 ask, is the greatest mental, civil, and religious freedom? Where 
 do nations attain their greatest splendour, and communities their 
 highest social power? Where, also, let me ask, are their hospi- 
 tals for the sick — asylums for the wretched — charities for the 
 needy? These were not known in heathen lands, or in ancient 
 times. Where is life safest in our streets by day, and property 
 most secure by night? Where are revolutions least feared or 
 lea^st likely? Where can you leave your children with the great- 
 est confidence and hope, and with the least risk of contamina- 
 tion, behind you? Where are the laws least sangTunary, rulers 
 least unjust, magistrates least tyrannical, judges most impartial, 
 the people most obedient, the press most pure? Just where 
 there is the greatest number of Christians, and the indirect 
 lights and influences of Christianity are most widely diffused and 
 most thoroughly felt. 
 
 It has been one effect of the gospel to ^^ restrain transgres- 
 sion.'' The very twilight of Christianity is glorious; and if its 
 twilight be so, how glorious will be its noon ! how desirable its 
 approaching meridian splendour! Those men who refuse the 
 gospel are themselves monuments of its indirect influence. Fa- 
 milies in which the Bible is not read, in which Grod is not wor- 
 shipped, are enjoying that protection under the overshadowing 
 wings of that public peace which the spread of the gospel has 
 created in the minds, and left on the habits of mankind; and if 
 it be not saving in such cases, it is beyond all expression sweeten- 
 ing and cementing. Society at this moment, except where the 
 gospel is its cement, is a rope of sand, ready to fly asunder the 
 moment that the coercive, mechanical restraints of rulers and of" 
 laws are withdrawn. The secret of our countiys safety is in 
 our Bible; the spring of our countiy's peace, when all Europe 
 was an Aceldama, was in the Bible. The indirect influence of 
 
THE MISSION OF THE MESSIAH. 365 
 
 Christianity lias made our laws so mild — oiir people so attaclied 
 to peace — onr rulers just, and our exactors righteous. Its first 
 predicted effect^ then, is to '^ restrain transgression.'^ 
 
 The second predicted effect of the gospel is " to inahe an end 
 of sin." Literally translated, the clause reads, "to seal up sin/^ 
 and hence some commentators think it means to consummate the 
 iniquity of the Jews, and so to spare them them no longer; that 
 the crucifixion of the Messiah should be the last drop in their 
 cup, which was previously almost full, — the last weight in the 
 scale, which already was so heavy, — the climax, as it were, of 
 their crimes; and thus, after having murdered the prophets, they 
 were destined to complete their depravity by murdering the pro- 
 phets' Lord, Then God's long-suffering would be exhausted — 
 his forbearance spent, and to that people the menaced curse 
 should cleave, consuming to the time of the end, and only be 
 lifted away when they shall " look upon him whom they ha-\'e 
 pierced, and mourn every family apart." But this seems to me 
 not the natural interpretation. It appears much more natural to 
 understand it as the mission which should make an end of sin in 
 the case of all believers; that is, put it away, finish, or destroy 
 it. Is not this the direct effect of the gospel of Christ? 
 " There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." 
 Christ exhausted the curse in the case of every believer, and 
 shed down the blessing in its stead; the sting of the curse is ex- 
 tracted — its havoc is arrested; and from living beneath the 
 curse that oppresses and irritates, the believer lives beneath the 
 outspread wings of perfect peace and everlasting happiness. 
 This makes a vast difference between the saint and the sinner. 
 
 Let me suppose two men, placed in equal outward calamity, a 
 believer and an unbeliever, or to use plainer phraseology, a man 
 who is a Christian, and one who is not. Let the outward eye look 
 at them : they both weep ; both feel pain — they both declare that 
 they feel it ; they both desire to be delivered : yet between these 
 two God's eye sees, and there actually is, a very great difference. 
 In the case of the one, all the suffering is paternal chastisement ; 
 every drop of the bitter cup that he drinks is instinct with the 
 sweetness of the everlasting covenant; his outward suffering, 
 even when it is bitterest, is merely the chalice of an inward bc- 
 
 31* 
 
3G6 niOPIIETIC STUDIES. 
 
 nediction, and the heaviest blow that smites him only helps him 
 more rapidly to his everlasting and his blessed home ; all things 
 work for good to him, because in his case Christ has made an end 
 of sin, by bearing in his own body its curse, and bequeathing to 
 his people bis peace. But in the case of the other sufferer — in 
 the case of him who is not a Christian, all is penal : he suffers 
 just because he has sinned ; every billow that rolls over him has 
 received its impulse and its tone from Mount Sinai ; every pang 
 in his heart is the rebound of a broken law; every stroke that 
 falls upon him is the infliction of God the Legislator, jealous of 
 his glory and upholding the sanctions of his law. In the one 
 case, Christ has made an end of sin, and, therefore, all suffering 
 is paternal ; in the other case, there is no obstruction to the full 
 influence of the curse — nothing to neutralize its virus, or mitigate 
 its effects. To the outward eye, they weep and suffer alike ; but 
 in the sight of God the difference is between the commencement 
 of the enjoyment of everlasting heaven and the commencement 
 of the endurance of everlasting hell. 
 
 If Christ, then, has made an end of sin — that is, of its curse 
 — by being the sacrifice and atonement for it, does not this teach 
 us that .we need no other atonement, or expiation, or sacrifice, in 
 order to be delivered thereby from the curse of sin ? If Christ, 
 by his death, has made an end of sin by exhausting its curse, 
 we do not need any other expiation, or atonement, or sacrifice 
 whatever. No ecclesiastical liquidation of liabilities incurred is 
 possible any more : no mortification of the flesh can be an expia- 
 tion for the indulgence of its lusts ; no atonement can be made 
 for being late at the opera on Saturday night by being early at 
 the mass on Sunday morning : a Christian has no taste for the 
 one, and he has no confidence in the efficacy of the other. In 
 tears there is no expiation, in sufferings there is no atonement, in a 
 martyr's blood there is no expiatory virtue, Christ has made an 
 end of sin ; and we need no priests to offer, for what does not 
 exist, what is, when materially precious, morally worthless, nor 
 sacrifices to be made for what is' not. Christ has finished the 
 work, and made an end of sin for ever. '' It is finished,'^ was the 
 doath-knell of Levi — the joyous sound of salvation. 
 
 The believer, therefore, receives in the gospel the tidings of a 
 
THE MISSION OF THE MESSIAH. 3G7 
 
 work that is done fur him, not the withering demand of a work 
 that is to be done b^ him. The call to a Christian is not to make 
 his peace with God, as ignorant persons often foolishly say, but 
 to accept Christ as his peace with God ; and thus they twain that 
 were several are made one for ever. There is no more offering 
 for sin. But this expression of the prophet, thus descriptive of 
 the work of Christ, may not only imply that Christ made an end 
 of sin by being the atonement for it, and taking away its curse ; 
 but also that, in the case of every believer, he makes an end of 
 the domination and power of sin in his heart, his life, and his 
 conduct. This he does by giving the Holy Spirit to them that 
 ask him. I need not tell you that it is just as necessary that we 
 should be delivered from the domination and pollution of sin as that 
 we should be delivered from its curse and condemnation. We must 
 be fitted for heaven by the Spirit's work in us, as truly as entitled 
 to heaven by Christ's work without us, and his righteousness 
 upon us. If there be announced the performance of an oratorio, 
 and you receive a ticket of admission to it, in that ticket you have 
 your r/'()Jit to be admitted ; but if you have no chamber in your 
 ear susceptible of the influence of sweet sounds, that oratorio 
 would be a Babel to you, and thus in your case there would be 
 no fitness for it. You need not only the ticket that admits, but 
 the susceptihilifj/ that qualifies you for the enjoyment. It is so 
 with heaven : you need not only Christ's righteousness, or his 
 making an end of the curse, to be yova- title of admission, but 
 you need also the Spirit's influence in transforming your nature 
 and elevating your taste, to be your fitness. In other words, we 
 believe in a Trinity : in God the Father, who elects us ; in God 
 the Son, who redeems us ; in God the Spirit, who sanctifies and 
 fits us for heaven. 
 
 But apart from this, I see in Christ's work not only the 
 promised gift of the Spirit, but also, in the very nature of his 
 intervention, that which will create in my heart love for his holy 
 law. I see in Christ the embodiment of infinite and disinterest- 
 ed love; I see in him the spectacle of love suff'ering, »dyiug for 
 me; and this sight of pardoning love in Christ Jesus produces 
 thankful love in me for whom that pardon is procured. It comes 
 to pass that I love him, just because I feel that he loved me ; and 
 
368 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 ^' love/' we are told, '' is the fulfilling of the law." '' Thou .shalt 
 love/' is the guarantee that the whole law shall be fulfilled. I 
 love Christ's person, his precepts, his promises, his example; and 
 thus progressive holiness in my life, or love with its glorious 
 fruitage, grows and develops itself upon the basis of perfect par- 
 don secured through Christ. There is planted in my heart an 
 offshoot from the cross, a living and expansive principle that, 
 under the blessing of the Spirit of God, carries me on from grace 
 to grace, and from one degree of conformity to his image to 
 another, till I reach the fulness of the stature of a perfect man. 
 Thus Christ, by his atonement, makes an end of the curse of sin, 
 and sets me free from its action and its effects; and by the em- 
 bodiment of disinterested love, manifested in his mission, he 
 creates responsive love in my heart, and so makes an end in me 
 of the power of sin. What Jesus does in the case of the indi- 
 vidual, he shall one day accomplish over the whole world. The 
 earth shall emerge from its last baptismal fire, beautiful as at first. 
 Sin, the fever that racks and convulses the air, the sea, and all 
 that is around us, shall be laid for ever, and sorrowing nature 
 cease to weep, and begin to rejoice. She shall exchange her 
 ashen garments for her coronation robes, passing under another 
 and more glorious Genesis, and presenting a dwelling-place for 
 the glorified spirits and the resurrection bodies of them that have 
 washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the 
 Lamb. Even now, as the gospel spreads, sin loses its footing 
 and its dominant power upon the earth ; like a wounded snake, 
 its life is protracted but in torment. 
 
 But not only is he foretold to make an end of sin, but also to 
 make ^^ reconciliation for iniquity.'/ What is implied in this ? 
 The apostle tells us in the Ej^istle to the Hebrews, that '■^ in all 
 things it behooved Christ to be made like unto his brethren, that 
 he might be a merciful and faithful high-priest in things pertain- 
 ing to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.'' 
 So also, in his Epistle to the Romans — ^^ By whom we have re- 
 ceived the atonement (j.arolXayrf^—ihQ reconciliation)." But it 
 may be justly asked. In what sense did Christ make reconcilia- 
 tion ? There is no allusion here to the reconciliation of man to 
 God ; there is, therefore, some sense in which God may be said 
 
THE MISSION OF THE MESSIAH 3G9 
 
 to be reconciled to us. In what sense can this truly be said ? 
 for, at first, it seems unnatural. It does not imply that God's 
 hate is changed into love, or that his anger is changed into affec- 
 tion, in consequence of what Christ has done; much less is it 
 implied that his purpose to destroy is dislodged by a purpose to 
 save, through the atonement, in the case of those who are inte- 
 rested in Christ, and plead the sacrifice made on the cross. 
 This would be to pronounce the unchangeable God subject to 
 change. 
 
 In what sense, then, can it be said that God is reconciled to 
 us ? Plainl}^, it means that every obstruction is removed to the 
 egress of God's pardoning love to mankind ; that is, the law, 
 which is the written exponent of his holy and eternal will, is 
 magnified, and honoured, and glorified, in Christ, our head ; and, 
 by reason of what Christ has done, God can now as reasonably 
 acquit the sinner that believes in Christ, as he can condemn the 
 sinner that does not. God is, in Christ, just to pardon. He can 
 consistently save sinners. The justice, holiness, and truth of 
 Christ, stereotyped in law, not only do not obstruct the descent 
 of God's mercy to forgive me, but, on the contrary, form them- 
 selves into a glorious channel for its egress -, so much so, that 
 there is no more reason why God should condemn a sinner, in the 
 first Adam, than there is why he should justify and save a sinner, 
 in the second Adam. There is no more reason, no more justice, 
 in assigning everlasting misery to any of those that fell and sin- 
 ned in Adam, than there is in assigning everlasting heaven to 
 those who are justified and accepted in Christ. God justly con- 
 demns all that are out of Christ; and he no less justly pardons 
 and saves all that are found in Christ. Hence the w^ords, " He 
 is faithful and just to forgive us'^ (not simply merciful, but faith- 
 ful and Just to forgive us) " our sins, and to cleanse us from all 
 unrighteousness." Through that reconciliation made for sin, I 
 can feel toward God, and toward his holy law, and toward his jus- 
 tice and his truth, just as if I had never sinned ; I can think of 
 God, of the denunciation of sin, and of the glories of heaven, and 
 of the judgment-seat and its endless retributions, just as if I were 
 perfectly innocent, and had never sinned — with this additional 
 peculiarity, that I cherish a responsive love and gratitude sucli as 
 
370 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 I had never cherished if I had never ilillen. Christ thus died to 
 make reconciliation for sin. 
 
 In the next place, it is prophesied that he should hriiuj in ever- 
 lasting rirjliteousness. Making reconciliation bj his death, is 
 Christ's passive work ; bringing in everlasting righteousness by 
 his obedience, is Christ's active work. In the one — that is, in 
 his death, and sacrifices, and making reconciliation — he suffered 
 all that man had incurred as a sinner ; in his active righteous- 
 ness, or obedience to the law, he did all that man owed to God 
 as a creature. I feel that I am a sinner, and that sin is the 
 transgression of the law : I look to what he suffered, that that sin 
 may not be my ruin. I feel also I owe obedience to a perfect law, 
 which still says, " Thou shalt :'" I look to Christ, my head, iu 
 whom and by whom that law was obeyed for me, and I feel that 
 I can be justified. By his reconciliation for sin, he puts away 
 sin, so that its curse, the curse of a broken law, shall never light 
 upon me. By his righteousness, or active obedience, he clothes 
 me with a righteousness that answers all the demands of a law 
 that exacts perfect obedience of me. ' So that I can stand in God's 
 sight, and feel that I not only deserve no curse, but that, in 
 Christ, I deserve everlasting joy ; for the Messiah, the Prince, my 
 Head and Substitute, has obeyed the law in my room and stead. 
 We can never appreciate the gospel in all its fulness, or be saved 
 from the popular and predominant errors of the day, till we feel 
 this in its completeness, that by Christ's shed blood we are com- 
 pletely delivered from all the penal consequences of sin, and there- 
 fore need no other expiation, were it possible ; and by Christ's 
 active obedience, or righteousness, we are entitled to all the re- 
 wards that Adam would have inherited, and more, if he had per- 
 fectly obeyed, and therefore need no additional merits. What a 
 glorious Saviour is this ! What a complete salvation is here ! 
 He restrains transgression in the mass of mankind ! he puts an 
 end to sin, by putting an end to its curse ; he makes reconcilia- 
 tion for sin, by bearing our chastisement upon him ; and he brings 
 in everlasting righteousness, that makes us altogether spotless be-' 
 fore God : so that, looking by faith to this greater than paschal 
 Lamb ; beholding this sacrifice, so transcending the victims of 
 Levi ; washed in this blood, which has virtues the blood of bulls 
 
THE MISSION OF THE MESSIAH. 371 
 
 and goats and heifers made no claim to ; arrayed in this right- 
 eousness, in which Omniscience can see no stain, we can lay 
 aside all our sad recollections and sorrowful forebodings, and ask, 
 in triumphant tones, " ^Yho shall lay any thing to my charge ? 
 It is God that justifieth. Who shall condemn me? It is Christ 
 that died — yea, rather, who is risen again. For I am persuaded 
 that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor 
 powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor 
 depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate me from 
 the love of God which is in Christ Jesus my Lord." In Christ 
 I am complete. In his righteousness I am perfect before God. 
 I shall stand in heaven, for ever tasting all the blessedness, and 
 Christ for ever receiving all the glory of it. Not one thread in 
 that perfect robe is mine ; and yet not one blessing it entitles to 
 shall be withheld from me. My song shall be the expression of 
 my enjoyment of all the results, and the giving of all the glory 
 unto him to whom alone it is due. 
 
 The next end of Christ's mission is here foretold to be to seal 
 up the vision and the prophecy. This plainly means to illustrate 
 in his person the glories of ancient prophecies ; to be in himself a 
 perfect embodiment of all those predictions contained in the Bible, 
 from the first in Genesis to the last in Malachi, which relate to 
 the Messiah, so that in him shall meet and mingle Moses, Isaiah, 
 David, and all the prophets. We find him explaining the fulfill- 
 ment of this very clause, though he does not allude to it by name, 
 when he said to his disciples, (Luke xxiv. 26, 27,) " Ought not 
 Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory ? 
 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto 
 them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself." And 
 he again says to them, (ver. 44,) " These are the words which I 
 spnke unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be 
 fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the pro- 
 phets, and in the Psalms, concerning me." Plainly, therefore, 
 as I might demonstrate at length, all that was predicted respect- 
 ing the person, work, sufferings, trials, achievements, and glory, 
 of the Messiah, were, and are, and will yet fully be, realized in 
 him. When Christ cried upon the cross, "It is finished/' Moses 
 
372 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 and the propliets, and the Psalms, gathered round him, and added 
 their united and their solemn Amen. In whom was the jDrophecy 
 fulfilled, " The woman's seed shall bruise the serpent's head ?'^ 
 In Christ. In whom was the prophecy fulfilled, '^ The sceptre 
 shall not depart from Judah till Shiloh come ?" In Christ. In 
 whom was the prophecy fulfilled, " His name shall be called Won- 
 derful, the Counsellor, the mighty God, the Father of the age to 
 come, the Prince of peace ?'^ In Christ. Was not the biography 
 of Christ the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah made actual ? Was not 
 Christ the true crucifix of which it is the description ? Who is 
 the prophet whom Moses said Grod would raise up unto himself, 
 and whom the people should hear ? Christ Jesus, as stated by 
 the apostle in his address, given in the Acts of the Apostles. His 
 life, his death, his birthplace, the time of his birth, his suf- 
 ferings, his joys, the nature and peculiarities of his death, his 
 burial, his resurrection, his coming glory, were all predicted, 
 and all find their perfect embodiment in him. He alone seals 
 up the vision, and terminates in himself the prophecies that 
 relate to him. 
 
 To anoint the most Holy is the last clause of this prophecy. 
 Who is this most Holy ? The word is in the masculine gender, 
 and means, properly, ^^ the most Holy One.^' But who is the 
 most Holy One ? We are told in the Gospels over and over again : 
 *' I know thee,'^ said the unclean spirits, " thou art the Holy One 
 of God.'' . The apostle said to the Jews, '' Ye denied the Holy 
 One." Paul said to the Hebrews, '■'■ Such a high-priest became 
 us, who is holy.'' In the epistle to the church at Philadelphia 
 we read : '^ These things saith he that is holy." The ^'Holy 
 One," therefore, was Christ Jesus. What is meant by '■'■ anoint- 
 ing" him ? We have this explained by referring to the other 
 prophecies relating to him. In Isaiah Ixi. we read : " The Spirit 
 of the Lord God is upon me ; because the Lord hath anointed me 
 to preach good tidings unto the meek ; he hatb sent me to bind 
 up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives." We. 
 find our Lord showing that he is himself the Anointed Holy One, 
 when he takes the very prophecy of Isaiah (Luke iv. 11) and ap- 
 plies it to himself: ^^The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because 
 
THE MISSION OF THE MESSIAH. 373 
 
 he liath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor : he hath 
 sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the 
 captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty 
 them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 
 And he closed the book, and gave it to the minister, and sat down. 
 And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fast- 
 ened on him. And he began to say, This day is this scripture 
 fulfilled in your ears." 
 
 We have the very same prediction in its echo in Heb. i. 8 : 
 ^^ But unto the Son he saith. Thy throne, God, is for ever and 
 ever : a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. 
 Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, 
 even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above 
 thy fellows." When we go back to the Levitical economy, we 
 find all the priests were anointed and consecrated to their sacred 
 functions by a holy oil, which it was blasphemy to imitate. The 
 prediction, therefore, plainly refers to the Messiah, who, in the 
 Epistle to the Hebrews, is said to be a " great High-Priest, who 
 was touched with a feeling of our infirmities, and who ever liveth 
 to make intercession for us." I need not tell you that the word 
 Messiah means " the Anointed One." Hence Andrew said to 
 Peter, ^' We have found the Messias, which is, being inter- 
 preted, XptffToq," — the Anointed one. You have heard of the 
 chrism used in Roman Catholic churches; it means anointing, 
 and is derived from, the same root as the word Christ, which 
 means "anointed." When, then, Andrew says to Peter, "We 
 have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ," 
 he intimated that the prediction of Daniel is fulfilled; as 
 if he had said : " He who was to come to make an end of sin, 
 to bring in everlasting righteousness, and is the anointed high- 
 priest foretold by Daniel, is now come, and we have found 
 him." 
 
 I think, now, that this contrast between the facts as fulfilled 
 and narrated in the New Testament Scriptures, and these predic- 
 tions of the Old Testament, clearly and irrefragably prove that 
 all these find their embodiment and perfect realization in the 
 " Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world." Show 
 
 32 
 
374 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 me any one, in all the history of the past, since five hundred 
 years before Christ, when Daniel wrote this, downward to the 
 year in which we now live, in whom tliis prediction has been, or 
 can be demonstrated to be completely, or even partially, realized. 
 Has any one, in all that period of two thousand years and up- 
 ward, restrained transgressions througliout the world by his doc- 
 trine and his name ? Has any one " made an end of sin," in any 
 sense, or as I have explained to you? Has any one made a 
 ^' reconciliation for sin,'^ " brought in everlasting righteousness," 
 ^' sealed up" all the predictions relating to himself, and been 
 anointed the '' Holy One of God ?" None but Jesus of Nazareth. 
 All the prophets point to Jesus ; all the Psalms celebrate him ; he 
 is the Key that unlocks them all ; and in him all is found to be 
 harmony, order, consistency, and truth. I have no more doubt 
 that Christ is the Messiah, God manifest in the flesh, our only 
 Sacrifice, our only Priest, and Prophet, and Eternal King, than I 
 have that there is a sun in the firmament, or tides in the ocean. 
 It is the plainest of all facts, it is the clearest of all truths, it is 
 the deepest of all convictions. We know in whom we have be- 
 lieved, and that he is able to keep that we have committed to him 
 against that day. 
 
 I ask now, in conclusion, have you, my dear friends, any per- 
 sonal interest in this ? Is this a theory demonstrated before you, 
 or good news welcome to your hearts ? Is Christianity any thing 
 to you beyond a topic for the preacher's sermon, or a source for 
 the supply of names for your children, or a respectable profession 
 in society? Can you say from those seats, " Lord, I bless and 
 praise thee, that thou didst make reconciliation for sin, that thou 
 hast brought in everlasting righteousness, that thou art the 
 anointed High-Priest that ever liveth to make intercession for 
 me ; — I bless thee, I praise thee ; — my hopes of heaven, my pros- 
 pects of joy, all cluster about thy cross, centre in thy person, and 
 come from thy deep love ; — thanks be to God for his unspeakable 
 gift, the Lord Jesus Christ ?" Very awful is that man's respon- 
 sibility who hears these truths and despises them — who knows 
 these truths and neglects them. Your greatest condemnation will 
 not be a broken law, but a neglected gospel, a rejected Saviour. 
 
THE MISSION OF THE MESSIAH. 375 
 
 There is no reasou in tlio lieiglit or in tlie depth, in the law or in 
 the gospel, why a single soul in this assembly should perish for 
 ever. God waits to welcome you; Christ waits to receive you; 
 the Spirit waits to sanctify you : and it will be the corrodinrr re- 
 collection of the lost in misery, '^ did it all myself, and nobody 
 did It for me;'' as it will be the joyous impression and never- 
 ceasing song of the redeemed in glory, "^Yo did none of it; 
 Christ did it all from first to last." 
 
376 
 
 LECTURE XXVL 
 
 SACRED ARITHMETIC. 
 
 " Seventy weeks ax'C cleterminecl upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to 
 finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation 
 for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision 
 and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy." — Daniel is. 24. 
 
 I HAVE addressed you on the grand characteristic of the death 
 of Jesus. I showed you in two successive discourses, that the 
 death of Jesus — his being " cut off, but not for himself" — was 
 expiatory, or atoning. I showed that it was the evidence of a 
 creature that he died, and the evidence of a God that he died a 
 substitute for us ; that it was his shame that he suffered, but it 
 was his glory that he satisfied ; and that because the Messiah was 
 cut off, and cut off for us, we have redemjDtion through his blood, 
 even the forgiveness of sins. I then showed you, last Lord's-day 
 evening, the meaning of that most beautiful summary of the great 
 results of the death of Jesus embodied in Dan. ix. 24, (the epi- 
 tome of which was all that I was able to give you,) — namely, 
 that Christ should '^finish the transgression, make an end of sins, 
 make reconciliation for iniquity, bring in everlasting righteousness, 
 seal up the vision and the prophecy, and anoint the most Holy." 
 What remains is indicated in the passage I have read this even- 
 ing. It is not the most interesting, because it is the most arith- 
 metical; yet it is the most conclusive evidence that Jesus of 
 Nazareth, who was born in Bethlehem, died upon the cross, rose 
 again for our justification, lives and reigns our Prince and Inter- 
 cessor, is the Messiah promised to the fathers, and that Daniel 
 here clearly and demonstrably predicted him. 
 
 When a prophet gives us dates and numbers, if his prophecy 
 be false, it is the easiest possible of detection ; if, on the other 
 hand, his prophecy be true, it is easily capable of proof. Daniel 
 
SACRED ARITHMETIC. 377 
 
 has given us numbers ; lie has not only given us those grand 
 characteristic features of the life and death of Christ which 
 demonstrably prove that he is the Messiah, (for in none before 
 him, and in none since have these characteristic features been 
 actualized,) but he has also given us an exact calculation of the 
 time that should intervene between a given terminus a quo, or 
 commencing period, and a given terminus ad quod, or a closing 
 period. The prophet says that between these, seventy weeks 
 should intervene. His words are distinct and definite. Let us 
 then investigate the proofs of this exact prophecy, and see if it 
 has been fulfilled, as generally supposed, in the age, appearance, 
 life, and death of the Son of Grod. 
 
 I admit that there have been disputes whether the close of the 
 seventy weeks refers to the time of the birth of Christ, or the 
 manifestation of Christ, or the death of Christ, or the extinction 
 of the Jewish polity; for all these are more or less alluded to. 
 But one fact will strike you as incontestible — that if we take the 
 longest period to which the seventy weeks can be extended, or 
 the shortest period within which they can have expired, it must 
 be equally certain, that if the Messiah, the Prince who was to 
 make reconciliation for iniquity, and bring in everlasting righte- 
 ousness, has not come, the prophecy is null, and no Messiah, 
 according to its terms, can be expected. Either the Jews arc 
 unbelievers, or Christians are deceived. The shorter period with- 
 in which the time can expire, minus the last week, which occurs 
 after the appearance of Christ, may be — nay, I believe must be 
 — the manifestation of Christ as a preacher, as the anointed pro- 
 phet, as I shall show you by-and-by. The remotest moment at 
 which the seventy weeks can possibly be said to expire, must be 
 the overthrow and destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, which I 
 believe is not the time referred to. If the Messiah expected by 
 the Jew, predicted by Daniel, delineated so distinctly by the 
 sacred pen, has not come within these extreme periods, these 
 ultimate limits, then Daniel predicted what was false, and one of 
 tbe most striking pillars of the truth of the inspiration of Daniel, 
 and of the fact of the Messiahship of Jesus, is swept from be- 
 neath the fabric of Christianity. 
 
 That the Christ is actually come, and is Jesus of Nazareth, I 
 
 32* 
 
378 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 showed you miglit be proved from the identity of his character 
 with the features here given. I have often thought that wheD 
 Andrew said to Peter, "We have found the Messias, which is, 
 being interpreted, the Christ," he had this very passage of Daniel 
 before him. ^^Here is the Messiah,'^ (as if he had said,) "the 
 Prince, the Anointed One. Here'' (said Andrew) " is the fulfil- 
 ment of Daniel's prophecy; we have found the Messiah^ which is^ 
 being interpreted in our Greek tongue, the Christ," — in English, 
 the Anointed One. Therefore it was that Andrew's speech was 
 the echo of Daniel's prophecy ; and God was showing in his bio- 
 graphy what he had inspired in Daniel's prophecy. I may add, 
 too, as an interesting collateral fact, that almost all the Jews 
 were in expectation that the Messiah would appear about 1850 
 year ago ; and even some heathen writers allude to the prevalence 
 of such a rumour and belief among the Jews; and add, that 
 they calculated that periods of prophecy expired about that time. 
 AYe have the remains of Jewish testimonies, that just about the 
 time that Christ came, they were expecting that the Messiah 
 would come ; and you will find that, though they rejected Christ, 
 they were so full of the expectancy of the Messiah, that pre- 
 tended Messiahs were constantly appearing, professing to be such, 
 and were often followed by crowds of temporary adherents. I 
 mention this to show the all but universal belief that great 
 chronological epochs had then expired, and that in consequence 
 of this and from the knowledge of it, the great heart of Judaism 
 was big with exj^ectancy of a glorious and speedy deliverer. 
 Many pretenders to the Messiahship were no disproof of the 
 claims of Jesus ; just as many pseudo-gospels are no disproof of 
 the truth and authenticity of the Gospels of Matthew and John 
 The arithmetical calculations on which I must now enter may in 
 one sense be thought dry and uninteresting as elements of a 
 popular address, yet they are possessed of great importance. If 
 the Spirit of God thought it was useful to direct Daniel thus to 
 write, it is unworthy of us to say it is too dry for the minister to 
 preach, and too dull for the hearer to investigate. It is not sun- 
 shine, but truth that we are to seek after. My dear friends, what- 
 ever God has written^ man should read; whatever God has thought 
 proper to communicate, man is not only warranted, but commanded 
 
SACPvED ARITrniETIC. 379 
 
 to investigate, and authorized to expect to understand. But 
 it is very interesting to know, and truly exemplary for us, that 
 while Daniel is giving these dry technical numbers — the seven 
 weeks, and sixty-two weeks, and one week, or the seventy weeks 
 so constantly referred to — he does not do so without embodying in 
 the very heart of arithmetic what is so precious, and to ministers 
 so valuable a precedent, one of the clearest portraits of the 
 atonement of our Lord and its glorious effects, probably, contained 
 in the whole Scriptures of truth; so clear, that if you did not 
 know that it was written in Daniel, and were to hear me read it for 
 the first time, that Christ as your reconciliation for sin, made an 
 end of sin, and brought in everlasting righteousness, you would say, 
 ^^ These must be the words of Paul, Peter, or John;" not a pro- 
 phecy, but a record, or inspired description of Jesus of Nazareth. 
 The words of the prophet are, " Seventy weeks are determined." 
 Now, do these weeks mean literal weeks, or are they s3^mbolical 
 weeks ? Are they strictly literal, or what has been called pro- 
 phetic weeks? If the decision rested on mere conjecture, the 
 prophecy would be so far comparatively inexplicable ; but you 
 will find that it was a frequent, almost universal habit of the 
 ancient penmen in the Old Testament Scriptures, in certain 
 descriptions, to speak of years under the symbol of days. For 
 instance, so early as in G-enesis we find Moses thus describing 
 the ages of the patriarchs : "All the dai/s that Adam lived were 
 nine hundred and thirty 7/ears.^' In Leviticus xxv. 8, we read : 
 "And thou shalt number seven Sabbaths of years unto thee, 
 seven times seven years." The Jubilee occurred at the end of 
 forty-nine years. Seven times seven makes forty-nine. There- 
 fore seven weeks in prophetic language, in Jewish reckoning, 
 mean, not seven literal, but seven prophetic weeks, or seven times 
 seven prophetic days, that is, forty-nine literal years, at the end 
 of which, as we know, the jubilee always occurred. So again, 
 in Genesis, (chap. xxix. 27,) as if to confirm the justness of this 
 interpretation, we read these words : " Fulfil her week, and we 
 will give thee this also, for the service which thou shalt serve 
 with me yet seven other years" — the week here being the symbol, 
 or the equivalent of seven years. Another very remarkable 
 passage confirmatory of this interpretation is contained in Ezekiel 
 
380 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 iv. 6, where we liave these words : "And when thou hast accom- 
 plished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the 
 iniquity of the house of Judah forty days :" — now that is the 
 simple statement; then there is added, "I have appointed thee 
 each day for a year,'' — that is, forty years was the actual period 
 symbolized under the prophetic language of forty days. It is 
 plain, therefore, that it is not by rash conjecture that I interpret 
 the seventy weeks as meaning seventy weeks of years, but it is 
 upon the basis of God's authority. He gives us the precedent of 
 accepting in prophetic interpretation the day for the year. Be- 
 sides, if the period of Daniel were seventy literal weeks, there 
 would be nothing to correspond with its termination. I do not 
 say this alone is a conclusive argument : I merely state it as con- 
 firmatory of what I have advanced. It may be shown to be 
 historically impossible that seventy literal weeks from any one 
 period here indicated could end in the advent of any one that 
 could by possibility be interpreted to be the Messiah. I there- 
 fore conclude, I think justly, that the seventy weeks of Daniel 
 are seventy weeks of years, each day being taken for a year, 
 seven prophetic days in a prophetic week make seven literal years. 
 Seventy prophetic weeks, therefore, will be seventy times seven 
 prophetic days, or literal years — i. e. 490 years. The prediction, 
 therefore, is expressed, that from some given period, or as I have 
 called it, a terminus a quo, to another fixed period, the terminus 
 ad quod, or to the Messiah's manifestation and confirming of the 
 covenant, will be 490 years. 
 
 But you will notice in proceeding, that the seventy weeks, or 490 
 years, are divided by the prophet into three periods, in each period 
 of which some one great transaction is to take place. Inverse 25, 
 we read, " Know, therefore, that from the going forth of the com- 
 mandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the 
 Prince shall be seven weeks," [then] " and 'three score and two 
 weeks:" [these being sections of one period of seventy weeks, 
 and forming together sixty-nine weeks. ] " And the street shall 
 be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. " Then, 
 "And after three score and two weeks" [starting from the termi- 
 nation of the first seven weeks] " shall Messiah be cut off. " Then, 
 for one week additional to the sixty-nine he shall confirm the 
 
SACRED ARITHMETIC. 381 
 
 covenant. The whole period, then, is divided into three great 
 sections ; that is, the whole seventy weeks is divided into seven 
 weeks, sixty-two weeks, and one week, which three numbers 
 amount to seventy weeks. In the first seven weeks, the city was to 
 be built; at the end of the next division, or sixty-two weeks, the 
 Messiah was to be manifested, and in the middle of the last week he 
 was to be cut off, and during the remainder of it to confirm the cove- 
 nant, while in the midst of the same week he was to cause the sacri- 
 fice to cease. In the first seven weeks the city was to be built, in 
 the sixty-two weeks the Messiah was to be manifested, in the middle 
 of the remaining week the Messiah was to be cut off. The seven 
 weeks are equal to 49 years, the sixty-two weeks are equal to 434 
 years, and the one week is equal to seven years, making a total 
 of 490 years, which I have already specified. We have thus then 
 all the details of this question before us. The first difiiculty which 
 occurs, if it be a difficulty, which I scarcely think, though there 
 has been dispute about it, is, what is the commencing epoch of the 
 seventy weeks ? The words employed are, " Know therefore, and 
 understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to 
 restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall 
 be seven weeks, and three score and two weeks :'' that is, the two 
 put together, forty-nine years and 434 years ; these two periods 
 having elapsed, then the Messiah the Prince should be manifested. 
 I pass by much, after which, as we shall subsequently see, was to 
 occur m Jerusalem the overspreading of the abomination, the city 
 and the sanctuary with a flood. 
 
 Let me then look at the first period of seven week, i. e. forty- 
 nine years, of the three into which the seventy weeks or 490 years 
 are divided. The commencing period is from the going forth of 
 the commandment to build Jerusalem. When was this command- 
 ment given ? There have been but four great commands or edicts 
 that have respectively been supposed to be the commencing epoch. 
 There are but four, I say, that it is possible to suppose, or tliat 
 have been supposed to have been the commencing epoch. The 
 first was by Cyrus, during the first year of his reign in Babylon, 
 at the end of the seventy years' captivity, as recorded in Ezra i. 
 " Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of 
 the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord 
 
382 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia^ that he made a pro- 
 clamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, 
 saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, the Lord God of heaven 
 hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth ; and he hath charged 
 me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who 
 is there among you of all his people ? his God be with him, and 
 let him go up to Jerusalem, which is Judah, and build the house 
 of the Lord God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem. 
 And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let 
 the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with 
 goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house 
 of God that is in Jerusalem. Then rose up the chief of the fathers 
 of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with all 
 them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to build the house of 
 the Lord which is in Jerusalem. And all they that were about 
 them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, 
 with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, beside all 
 that was willingly offered. Also Cyrus the king brought forth 
 the vessels of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar 
 had brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put them in the 
 house of his gods ; even those did Cyrus king of Persia bring 
 forth by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and numbered 
 them unto Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah. And this is the 
 number of them : thirty chargers of gold, a thousand chargers 
 of silver, nine and twenty knives, thirty basins of gold, silver 
 basins of a second sort four hundred and ten, and other vessels a 
 thousand. All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand 
 and four hundred. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up with them 
 of the captivity that were brought up from Babylon unto Jeru- 
 salem.'' On reading the whole of this chapter carefully, you will 
 perceive that this commission is to rebuild the temple of Jerusalem. 
 The second command is the edict issued by Darius, recorded 
 in the 6th chapter of Ezra, which it is important to read : 
 ■ — " Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made 
 in the house of the rolls, where the treasures were laid up in 
 Babylon. And there was found at Achmetha, in the jmlace 
 that is in the province of the Medes, a roll, and tlierein was 
 a record thus written, In the first year of Cyrus the king, the 
 
SACRED ARITHMETIC. 383 
 
 same Cyrus the king made a decree concerning the house of 
 Grod at Jerusalem, Let the house be builded, the place where 
 they offered sacrifices, and let the foundations thereof be strongly 
 laid ; the height thereof three score cubits, and the breadth 
 thereof three score cubits : with three rows of great stones, and 
 a ix)w of new timber : and let the expenses be given out of the 
 king's house : and also let the golden and silver vessels of the 
 house of Grod, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the 
 temple which is at Jerusalem, and brought into Babylon, be 
 restored, and brought again unto the temple which is at Jeru- 
 salem, every one to his place, and place them in the house of 
 God. Now therefore, Tatnai, governor beyond the river, Shethar- 
 boznai, and your companions the Apharsachites, which are be- 
 yond the river, be ye far from thence : let the work of this 
 house of God alone ; let the governor of the Jews and the elders 
 of the Jews build this house of God in his place. Moreover 
 I make a decree what ye shall do to the elders of these Jews 
 for the building of his house of God : that of the king's goods, 
 even of the tribute beyond the river, forthwith expenses be 
 given unto these men, that they be not hindered. And that 
 which they have need of, both young bullocks, and rams, and 
 lambs, for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, 
 wine, and oil, according to the appointment of the priests which 
 are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail : 
 that they may offer sacrifices of sweet savours unto the God of 
 heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons. Also 
 I have made a decree, that whosoever shall alter this word, 
 let timber be pulled down from his house, and being set up, let 
 him be hanged thereon; and let his house be made a dunghill for 
 this. And the God that hath caused his name to dwell there 
 destroy all kings and people, that shall put their hand to alter and 
 to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius 
 have made a decree ; let it be done with speed. Then Tatnai, 
 governor on this side the river, Shethar-boznai, and their compa- 
 nions, according to that which Darius the king had sent, so they 
 did speedily. And the elders of the Jews builded, and they pros- 
 pered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah 
 the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it, according to 
 
384 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 the commandement of the Grod of Israel, and according to tLe 
 commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of 
 Persia. And this house was finished on the third day of the 
 month Adar , which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius 
 the king, and the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, 
 and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication 
 of this house of God with joy, and offered at the dedication of this 
 house of God an hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hun- 
 dred lambs ; and for a sin offering for all Israel, twelve he-goats, 
 according to the number of the tribes of Israel. And they set the 
 priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses, for the 
 service of God, which is at Jerusalem; at it is written in the book 
 of Moses. And the children of the captivity kept the passover 
 upon the fourteenth day of the first month. For the priests and 
 the Levites were purified together, all of them were pure, and 
 killed the passover for all .the children of the captivity, and for 
 their brethren the priests, and for themselves. And the children 
 of Israel, which were come again out of captivity, and all such as 
 had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the hea- 
 then of the land, to seek the Lord God of Israel, did eat, and kept 
 the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy: for the Lord had 
 made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria 
 unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of 
 God, the God of Israel.'^ But this plainly relates, like the former, 
 to the temple, and it alone. 
 
 The third edict, which I conceive to be the true one, is given 
 by Artaxerxes in the seventh year of his reign. It is contained 
 in the following chapter, Ezra vii. : — " Now after these things, in 
 the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra, the son of Seraiah, 
 the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, the son of Shallum, the 
 son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub, the son of Amariah, the son of 
 Azariah, the son of Meraioth, the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, 
 the son of Bukki, the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son 
 of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest: this Ezra went up 
 from Babylon ; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which 
 the Lord God of Israel had given : and the king granted him all his 
 request, according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him. And 
 there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and 
 
SACRED ARITHMETIC. 385 
 
 the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, 
 unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king. And 
 he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh 
 year of the king. For upon the first day of the first month began he 
 to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came 
 he to Jerusalem according to the good hand of his God upon him. 
 For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to 
 do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. Now this 
 is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the 
 priest, the scribe, even a scribe of the words of the commandment of 
 the Lord, and of his statutes to Israel. Artaxerxes, kings of kings, 
 unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, per- 
 fect peace, and at such a time. I make a decree, that all they of 
 the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my realm, which 
 are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with 
 thee. Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king, and of his seven 
 counsellors, to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according 
 to the law of thy God which is in thine hand; and to carry the silver 
 and gold, which the king and his counsellors have freely offered unto 
 the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem, and all the 
 silver and gold that thou canst find in all the province of Babylon, 
 with the freewill oifering of the people, and of the priests, offering 
 willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem : that 
 thou mayest buy speedily with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, 
 with their meat offerings and their drink offerings, and ofier them 
 upon the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem. 
 And whatsoever shall seem good to thee, and to thy brethren, 
 to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, that do after 
 the will of your God. The vessels also that are given thee 
 for the sercive of the house of thy God, those deliver thou 
 before the God of Jerusalem. And whatsoever more shall be 
 needful for the house of thy God, which thou shalt have occasion 
 to bestow, bestow it out of the king's treasure-house. And 
 I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the 
 treasurers which are beyond the river, that whatsoever Ezra 
 the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall re- 
 quire of you, it be done speedily, unto an hundred talents of 
 silver, and to an hundred measures of wheat, and to an hundred 
 
 33 
 
S86 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 baths of wine, and to an liundred baths of oil, and salt ■without 
 prescribing how much. Whatsoever is commanded by the God 
 of heaven, let it be diligently done for the house of the God of 
 heaven : for why should there be wrath against the realm of 
 the^king and his sons ? Also we certify you, that touching any 
 of the priests and Levites, singers, porters, Nethinims, or mi- 
 nisters of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose 
 toll, tribute, or custom, upon them. And thou, Ezra, after the 
 wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand, set magistrates and 
 judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the 
 river, all such as know the laws of thy God, and teach ye them 
 that know them not. And whosoever will not do the law of 
 thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed 
 speedily upon him, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, 
 or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment. Blessed be the 
 Lord God of our fathers, which hath put such a thing as this 
 in the king's heart, to beautify the house of the Lord which 
 is in Jerusalem : and hath extended mercy unto me before the 
 king and his counsellors, and before all the king's mighty princes. 
 And I was strengthened, as the hand of the Lord my God was 
 upon me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to 
 go up with me.^^ 
 
 A fourth one, as has been supposed by some, was given to 
 Nehemiah in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes. But on com- 
 paring carefully the seventh chapter of Ezra, which it is im- 
 portant to read, where the commission is given to Ezra, with 
 the second chapter of Nehemiah, where the commission is given 
 to Nehemiah, you will easily perceive that the proclamation given 
 to Ezra was a royal one, a general and a public one, and that 
 the commission given to Nehemiah was a personal and private 
 commission to an individual to go and carry out with great 
 speed and vigour what Ezra had begun ; and afterward we find 
 the two working together and carrying on the rebuilding and the 
 restoration of Jerusalem, its temple, its streets, in very troublous 
 times, the labourers having each the trowel in one hand and 
 the spear in the other. I therefore argue, that the commencing 
 period was the seventh year of the reign of Artaxerxes, as re- 
 corded in the seventh chapter of Ezra. There we begin the 
 
SACRED ARITHMETIC. 387 
 
 whole period of seventy weeks, and of course of the first period 
 into which it is divided, viz. seven weeks or forty-nine years. 
 We find that the sanctity of the Sabbath was restored, (you will 
 find, in the chapters we have read from Ezra and Nehemiah, that 
 I am giving only a summary of what is there,) the offering was 
 brought to the house of the Lord, the genealogies of the people 
 were entered, and the people were separated, and made distinct 
 and peculiar from other nations. We find by careful analysis 
 that Ezra had laboured thirteen years under the commission of 
 Artaxerxes, given in the seventh year of his reign, as recorded in 
 the seventh chapter of Ezra ; and that Nehemiah had laboured 
 twelve years under his, the twelve and thirteen years together 
 making twenty-five years. We read in Nehemiah, that he returned 
 from Jerusalem to his royal master, after he had laboured twelve 
 years in restoring the city, and that after residing with his royal 
 master for some time, he returned to complete the work which he 
 had left unfinished. We have now to ascertain how long he re- 
 mained away, in order to make up the years. In the last chapter of 
 Nehemiah, at verse 28, we read : '^ And one of the sons of Jehoiada, 
 the son of Eliashib the high-priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat 
 the Horonite." Then Eliashib was high-priest, and we know this 
 fact occurred 412 j^ears before Christ — that is, twenty years addi- 
 tional to the twenty-five which I have already specified. We have 
 therefore discovered twelve years, thirteen years, and twenty years, 
 that is in all forty-five. Now the difficulty is, how are we to get 
 the other four years. It rests with you as reasonable men to 
 judge whether what I shall advance makes out the point we are 
 in search of. 
 
 Nehemiah returned to finish the work he had begun at the 
 end of forty-five years. Well, the presumption is, that if he 
 had spent so long a time in carrying it on, and if so much re- 
 mained undone that he was under the necessity of returning to 
 help it to a close, he took at least four years to complete the 
 work. I have no element that will give me this four years abso- 
 lutely; I can only reasonably conjecture that when he returned 
 after forty-five years, to give the finishing strokes to this great 
 work, his labours occupied not less, and probably not more than 
 four years, thus making in all forty-nine years on the building 
 
888 rROPIIETIC STUDIES. 
 
 of Jerusalem in troublous times^ and presenting it^ as we know 
 it to have been presented, entire and complete. 
 
 Malaclii tbe propliet appeared just at this time, as the last of 
 the prophets: the spirit of prophecy then departed from the 
 Jews. This was 409 years before the Christian era. This ces- 
 sation of prophecy, the completion of the temple, and the organ- 
 ization of the Jewish polity, took place exactly forty-nine years 
 (this is matter of fact) after the issuing of the command in the 
 seventh year of Artaxerxes to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem. 
 We have thus, then, got rid of the first of the three divisions of 
 the 490 years. Taking away these seven prophetic weeks, or 
 forty-nine years, there remained sixty-two weeks from the com- 
 pletion of Jerusalem, that is, the termination of the forty-nine 
 years, to the manifestation of the Prince the Messiah, Now, if 
 we date the one week for his death, and confirmation of the 
 covenant from the going forth of the command, we shall find 
 that the 490 years, minus seven years, that is, seventy weeks, 
 minus the last one, expired exactly A. D. 26, — or in the year of 
 our Lord 26 the epoch expired. But how can it be said that 
 Jesus was manifested at the age of twenty-six? It is matter of 
 fact that he was not. Some have tried to prove that there wa» 
 at this time, when the Baptist made his appearance, a commenc- 
 ing manifestation, or what might be broadly construed as such. 
 But a fact has been introduced in this discussion which settles 
 the matter at once — that when the Christian era was settled, an 
 error of four years was committed. You will see an evidence of 
 this eiTor in the 2d chapter of the Gospel of Luke. It is the 
 marginal reading of Bagster's large Bible, and you will see it in 
 most of the marginal readings of other Bibles. At Luke ii. 43, 
 you will find these words — "And when he was twelve years old, 
 they v/ent up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast." Now, in 
 Bagster's Bible, and in Bibles having the full marginal reference, 
 you will see A. d. 8. In Bagster's Bible, called the Treasury Bible, 
 and a very valuable one it is, you will find A. D. 8. But if the A. I), 
 begins at our Lord's birth, the date would have been 12. This is 
 explained by a blunder of four years having been committed when 
 the Christian era was settled. If this be correct, we have to add 
 four years to twenty-six, and twenty-six and four are thirty, and 
 
SACRED ARITHMETIC. 3S9 
 
 thus tlie termination will be a.d. 30. Now we find, as a matter 
 of fact, that Christ was born, not at Christmas, as is popularly sup- 
 posed, but a considerable time before. The high probability is, 
 that our Lord was born in the autumn, in the beginning of Octo- 
 ber, or in the spring season. Another evidence of it is this, that 
 the shepherds were in the fields watching their flocks, which could 
 scarcely be in mid-winter : all the inspired picture suggests a se- 
 rene and beautiful evening, when the angels' song pealed from 
 the skies, '^Grlory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good- 
 will toward men I" Well, if so, you make the age of our Lord 
 twenty-nine and a half, by taking the period of the year, namely, 
 spring, into consideration; whether we suppose the nativity to 
 have occurred toward the close of J. P. 4709, or the commence- 
 ment of J. P. 4710, within which limits it demonstrably occur- 
 red, the year 31 of our Lord proves coincident with j. p. 4740, 
 A. D. 27;* and at that age, twenty-nine and a half, or thirty 
 years, we have the expiring of the seventy weeks, minus one 
 week, or the 490 years, being 434 years from the completion of 
 Jerusalem and the temple. But what took place in the year 
 A.D. 30 of our Lord's life? He was baptized by John, and a 
 voice came from heaven, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I 
 am well pleased.'' He was thus inaugurated into his office. 
 He then commenced his ministry, his precious ministry of love 
 and truth; he expired upon the cross three, or three-and a half 
 years after — that is, in the middle of last week, he was cut ofi", 
 but not for himself. 
 
 We have thus, then, reached with tolerable clearness, if I 
 have been able to make myself understood, the completion of 
 484 years, or the 490 years, minus seven years, or the one week, 
 which yet remain. In other words, I have accounted for that 
 part of the 490 years which embraces 483 years, i. e. for seven 
 weeks and sixty-two weeks. But one period, a week of seven 
 years, still remains to complete the 490 years. From the going 
 forth of the command to the manifestation of the Messiah was 
 483 years — the remaining week of seven years added, makes 490 
 years, that is the sum total. Let us ascertain then, what that 
 
 * See Dr. Nolan's "Warburtonian Lectures, p. 474. 
 
300 PrvOPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 week was, and how far the prediction that he should be cut ofF 
 in the midst of it, and confirm the covenant, have been realized, 
 Christ was to confirm the covenant for one week. There is but 
 one covenant, and this is especially predicted in Jeremiah xxxi. 
 31 : — " Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make 
 a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of 
 Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their 
 fathers.'' Then I refer to Hebrews x. 15-18 : " Whereof the 
 Holy Ghost also is a witness to us : for after that he had said 
 before. This the covenant that I will make with them after those 
 days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in 
 their minds will I write them ; and their sins and iniquities will 
 I remember no more. Now, where remission of these is, there 
 is no more offering for sin.'' The covenant, then, is plainly the 
 New Testament dispensation, and this covenant Christ was to 
 confirm with many, or, as the Hebrews words might be literally 
 translated, he was to confirm it " with the multitude" for one 
 week. Now let us watch our Lord's preaching. From the age 
 of thirty, when he began his ministry, to the moment of his con- 
 demnation, his preaching was eminently popular. It is declared 
 in one passage, that " the common people heard him gladly" — 
 the scribes, the priests, the Pharisees were then, as always, in- 
 stinct with inveterate antipathy, but the great mass of the peoj)le 
 heard him gladly. So enthusiastically was he received in some 
 parts of his glorious embas.sy, that they strewed his very path with 
 palms, and shouted as he came, " Hosanna to the Son of David: 
 Hosanna in the highest." With the multitude, that is, " with 
 many," he made the covenant; to the people he explained the 
 covenant, and they heard him gladly. But this he did from 
 thirty to thirty-three and a half years of age, or during three and 
 a half years. How does it apply to him after he v.^as gone? 
 We find that what he did personaUi/ for three and a half years 
 before his death, he did by the apostles mediately three and a 
 half years after his death, just as he did miracles personally be- 
 fore his death, and by the apostles after; at the end of this pe- 
 riod the apostles left the Jews, shaking the dust from their feet : 
 Peter gets his commission to go to the Gentiles, and the Jews 
 are cast off, and remain so to this day. During seven years, or. 
 
SACRED ARITHMETIC. 391 
 
 three years and a liulf previous, and three years and a half sub- 
 sequent to Christ's death, the covenant was confirmed to the 
 great multitude of that nation, after which it was taken from 
 them, and given to another people. But in the midst of this 
 last week Christ was to be cut off. Here, again, the perform- 
 ance and the prophecy perfectly tally 3 it was in the middle of 
 the week of the remaining seven years that Christ was cut off. 
 Three and a half years from his manifestation at thirty terminated 
 his life, three and a half years after that terminated the direct 
 mission of the apostles to the Jews as a distinctive and peculiar 
 people. But the best proof of it is, that when he should thus 
 die and be cut off, the prophecy was fulfilled that the offering and 
 the oblation should cease. It is said, "And in the midst of the 
 week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease," that 
 is plainly the morning and the evening sacrifice, and the great 
 atonement made once a year for the remission of sins. 
 
 Most interestingly God's providence reveals to us the truth of 
 God's prophetic word. The Talmudists say that about forty years 
 before the destruction of Jerusalem, that is, about the time of the 
 death of Jesus, the lots were not cast for the victim, or passed 
 into the priest's hand; the wool was not dipped in the blood of 
 the atonement, nor were evening lamps lighted, and the temple 
 doors were all left open. That is, in the very year in which 
 Christ was cut off, or about forty years before the destruction of 
 Jerusalem, it is admitted that there was a suspension of the regu- 
 lar office of the Jewish priests; the secession of the sanhedrim 
 had taken place, in consequence of which the high-priest was 
 incapacitated to perform the chief functions of his office. "We 
 find, moreover, that when the Jewish national independence had 
 ceased to exist, Pilate took away the robes of the high-priest, in 
 which robes alone he could officiate on the three high festivals. 
 These robes of the high-priest, in which alone he could officiate, 
 were locked up under seal in the tower of Antonia ; and for six 
 months before, and eighteen months after Christ's death, the 
 offering and the oblation ceased, because the priest had not the 
 proper robes in which to perform the one or the other ! How 
 striking is this fact ! And the very money collected to pay the 
 offering Pilate took away from the church, and appropriated to 
 
392 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 the state ; and it became a political tax, and not, as it might be 
 called, a church-rate. The very means and elements of Jewish 
 worship were thus exhausted ; the sacrifice and the oblation ceased. 
 But why did they thus cease ? Not merely was prophecy thus 
 fulfilled — ^but the shadow disappeared, for the sun had risen ! the 
 symbol evaporated, for the substance was come ! the type was lost, 
 for the antitype had now arrived ! And round that cross, when 
 Jesus died, and in mingled agony and triumph cried, ''It is 
 finished !" Moses, Abraham, and Levi, and Ezekiel, and Jere- 
 miah, and Daniel, and type, and prophecy, and sacrifice, and high- 
 priest, and Levite stood, and repeated each and all the cry, "It is 
 finished,^^ ''Amen." The oblation and the sacrifice ceased; the 
 great Sacrifice was come. Is not this reasoning, if not mathema- 
 tically conclusive, morally so ? Is it not the highest possible pre- 
 sumption that the epoch specified by Daniel is the Messianic, that 
 the Messiah predicted by Daniel is come ? 
 
 First, then, behold the great end and purpose of the Jewish 
 nation. How happens it that this people were preserved so pecu- 
 liar, singular, separate from the nations ? They were placed in 
 Babylon — but not lost in it : some of them were promoted to 
 high offices, and employed in lucrative works; they were mingled 
 with the people. All analogies, all laws would go to demonstrate 
 that a people seventy years in captivity, slaves for three genera- 
 tions, would inevitably be lost in the conquering nation, as a tri- 
 butary stream is lost in the mighty river into which it flows. And 
 yet, at the end of three generations, all their yearnings and their 
 instincts were as strong and earnest as ever toward Jerusalem, 
 and the instant that the depression of their condition was removed, 
 and their captivity expired, their hearts found a home only in 
 Jerusalem. Why was this people so preserved? Because the 
 truth of a thousand promises rested on their being so. God in- 
 terposed at every period of their wondrous history to keep them 
 for the promised birth of Him who should be of the tribe of 
 Judah — a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of his peo- 
 ple Israel. And so that people are kept still. Do you think it 
 accident that they are as they are — a people without a country, 
 their country without a people — found in all lands, speaking all 
 tongues, amid the snows of Lapland, on the sands of Senegal ; 
 
SACKED ArJTIDIETIC. 393 
 
 under tyrants that crush tliem, in republics that enfranchise 
 them ? Is it to no i^urpose that they are kept thus insulated from 
 the nations of the world ? Like globules of quicksilver dashed 
 upon the earth en masse, they are all shivered and scattered ; but 
 the great Restorer shall collect the bright drops from a thousand 
 lands, removing what prevents their cohesion, and they shall 
 meet and mingle in ancient and again beautiful Jerusalem, and 
 reflect the image of him who is the Prince the Messiah, amid 
 anthems and songs, " Hosanna to the Son of David, hosanna in 
 the highest ! Blessed is he that is come again in the name of 
 the Lord !'' 
 
 In the next place, we have here irresistible evidence, as I have 
 already indicated, that Jesus is the Messiah. The moral picture 
 and the chronological data, both combined, constitute the full 
 demonstration that he is the Messiah. We have no less proof of 
 the striking fact that Jesus died, and died, as I have shown, an 
 atoning death. His death — never forget it — was not the death 
 of a sainted martyr, but of an atoning victim ; we regard the 
 death of Jesus not as that of an heroic saint, but as that of an 
 expiatory and atoning sacrifice. It was altar-fire that consumed 
 him, it was a temple life that he led, it was an atoning death that 
 he died. Messiah was cut ofi^, but not for himself, and made re- 
 conciliation for our iniquit}^ 
 
 In the next place, this sacrifice was and is finished, perfect, 
 complete. JMy dear friends, we are justified, not by any thing we 
 contribute, not by any thing we do, not by any thing we sufibr, 
 nor by rite nor by ceremony, but by this : ^^ He that knew no sin 
 was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of 
 God by him." Our sins were laid upon him, external to his holy 
 nature ; the innocent lamb wore our tainted fleece, and in it the 
 Saviour expired a sacrifice. And as it was just in God to pour 
 out the expressions of his wrath upon the innocent one, because 
 he saw him in the robes of the transgressor, it will be but faithful 
 and just in God to pour out the expressions of his love upon us, 
 the strayed sheep, recovered, and clothed again in the glorious 
 fleece of Emmanuel's righteousness. God hid his eyes from the 
 innocence of Jesus because of our sins laid upon him ; he will 
 hide his eyes from the transgressions of his people because of 
 
394 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 Jesus' righteousness laid upon them. Because Jesus was cut off, 
 but not for himself, we shall live for ever. Every synagogue in 
 London is a standing testimony to the truth of the prophecy of 
 Daniel. Lambs and goats bleed for the sins of the people no 
 more. Where, my Jewish brethren, are your great atonement, 
 where the morning and the evening lamb, where the great sacri- 
 fices for sin ? Have you not read, that without shedding of blood 
 there is no forgiveness of sin ? Where is the shedding of blood ? 
 Why is it not ? Kabbi and Jew are silent ? AYhy ? I can tell. 
 Because the Messiah in the midst of the week was cut off and 
 made the long-prefigured sacrifice, and ended the oblation for sin. 
 Every Jew upon the streets unconsciously cries, ^^ It is finished ;"- 
 every synagogue in the land protests, ^' It is finished;" every me- 
 morial of the suffering of that persecuted race, their insulation 
 from the nations of the earth, their clinging to Levi, and to the 
 land of their fathers, all proclaim, '' It is finished." May it be 
 our heartfelt joy that " it is finished I" It is so. Thanks and 
 glory be to God. 
 
 '"lis finish'd; the Messiah dies 
 For sins, but not his own ; 
 The great redemption is complete, 
 And Satan's pow'r o'erthrown." 
 
395 
 
 LECTURE XXVII. 
 
 THE MESSIAH THE PRINCE. 
 
 " Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command- 
 ment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be 
 seven weeks, and three score and two weeks : the streets shall be built again, 
 and the wall, even in troublous times." — Daniel ix. 25. 
 
 After having explained at some length the priestly ojffice of 
 the Messiah, as that office is unfolded in verse 24, viz. '' To finish 
 transgression, and to make an end of sin, to make reconciliation 
 for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness/' I have thought 
 that I cannot close this first part of the visions of Daniel, which 
 we have contemplated before on successive Sabbath evenings, 
 without some remarks upon that most important office of the 
 Messiah, the kindly office, or Messiah the Prince. 
 
 That Jesus is the High-Priest of his church, all true churches 
 fully admit — that he is the only Prophet whose word is infallible, 
 all true Christians equally admit. His royal office is equally 
 important. Scripture speaks as often of the kingly office of the 
 Messiah as of his priestly and his prophetic offices ; and there is 
 no doubt that his roj^al functions are just as precious as his 
 sacerdotal, in practical value to us, or they would not have been 
 so often and so distinctly unfolded in Scripture. In all his 
 offices Jesus is the object of the faith and hope of believers. 
 
 Let me proceed to give some instances of scriptural allusions 
 to the princely or kingly office of the Messiah. In prophecy we 
 read — "A sceptre shall rise out of Israel" — that is, Christ the 
 Messiah shall be hing. Again : " His name shall be called [that 
 is, in prophetic language, he shall actually be] the Prince of 
 peace.'' Again: "I will raise unto David a righteous branch, 
 and a hing shall reign." Again, in Micah: '^Thou, Beth-lehem 
 
396 Pr.OPIIETIC STUDIES. 
 
 Ephratah, tliougli thou be little among tlie thousands of Judah, 
 yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to he ruler in 
 Israel/' 
 
 It was in the belief of these prophecies, or from their having 
 heard the echoes of them sounding over all the earth, that the 
 Magi, when they came to Jesus, guided by the prophetic star, 
 asked, " Where is he who is born King of the Jews V Again, 
 Nathanael said, " Thou art the Son of God, thou art the King 
 of Israel/' And Jesus, speaking of himself on that last day 
 when all destiny shall be settled, and the great drama of this 
 world shall be wound up for ever, says, '' Then shall the King 
 say to them upon his right hand/' Pilate, addressing Jesus, 
 asked him, '-Art thou a hingT^ Jesus answered in the affirma- 
 tive, ^^ Thou sayest /' that is, translated in modern phrase, ^'I am 
 a king/' And as if the rays of his kingly glory could not be 
 repressed — as if the splendour of that diadem which the scorn, 
 the insult, and reproach of the world were combined to tarnish, 
 could not be hidden, it is declared that his very foes inscribed, 
 under a mysterious influence they could neither explain nor resist, 
 these words upon his cross, " Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the 
 Jews/' When the priests, alive to the force of these words, 
 said, ^^ Say not the King of the Jews, but write that he said, I 
 am the King of the Jews," Pilate, the unconscious minister of a 
 sublime purpose, was made to authenticate the truth of the 
 inscription when he said, ^' What I have written I have written j" 
 Jesus of Nazareth is King of the Jews. In him, in short, centre 
 all the royalties of David, all the righteousness of IMelchisedek, 
 all the peacefulness of Solomon. He is ^'King of kings," "the 
 Prince of the kings of the earth." Hidden he may now be ] 
 denied by the world he is ; thousands may shout, " We will not 
 have this man to rule over us;" but in temples some of which 
 the sun gilds with his earliest rays, and on others of which linger 
 his retiring beams, these joyful words are sounding from pious 
 hearts and glad tongues — "Thou art the King of Glory, 
 Christ !" 
 
 In viewing this royal office of the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
 investigating the meaning of the expression of Daniel, " Messiah 
 the Prince," I may state, first of all, that he is represented in the 
 
THE MESSIAH THE PRINCE. 897 
 
 Scriptures as tlie true Melchisedek, the hing of rigliteousness ; as 
 that king, in short, who, in spiritual things, alone has legislative 
 and conclusive prerogatives. He alone can repeal a law^ he 
 alone can create or re-enact a law. Paul, Peter, John, the 
 ministers of the gospel, can say, '^A new commandment is 
 given f" but Christ could say, because he is Blessiah the Prince, 
 '^A new commandment / gii-e unto you.'' On the mount, in 
 that sublime sermon, unrivalled for its beauty and simplicity — so 
 grand that the greatest philosophers cannot exhaust its meaning, 
 so sweet and so plain that the humblest peasant is refreshed and 
 delighted with its truth — in that sublime discourse again and 
 again he said, ^^ Ye have heard. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a 
 tooth; hut I say unto you f' these are the words of Messiah the 
 Prince. The people felt it, the crowd exclaimed, " He speaks as 
 one having authority." In short, in all that Jesus did, in all that 
 he said, in all that he suffered, there are the irresistible signs of 
 the presence of the priest, the prophet, and the king; and the 
 unsophisticated multitude again and again admitted that it was so. 
 He alone, as Messiah the Prince, repealed the ceremonial law, by 
 presenting himself as its end, its aim, and its object. He alone, 
 as the great. Legislator of the church, as the Prince the Messiah, 
 finished all the functions of Aaron, and unfolded in all their 
 grandeur the lasting functions of Melchisedek. He alone enun- 
 ciated laws; he alone unfolded new and glorious truths; and 
 every doctrine that he taught, every law that he gave, are king's 
 words ; they bear the stamp and superscription of Messiah the 
 Prince ; they constitute a royal code : they are sublime pandects 
 to last while the world lasts, the law and testimony of his people 
 Israel. For any one now to add to the perfect law, or to step in, 
 and say, ^^ Christ hath said so-and-so ; but /saT/ unto you," would 
 be constructive treason against the Prince of the kings of the earth. 
 For any one to add laws to Christ's law, and to inculcate opinions 
 or ecclesiastical truths, however good the one or the other may 
 be, in their place, as if these were of equal authority with the 
 law of Christ, is not only treason, but apostasy; it is to intrude 
 into the king's place, to assume the king's name, to stamp the 
 image and the superscription of Messiah the Prince upon our 
 own vile brass, and give it currency among mankind. Thus 
 
 34 
 
398 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 Christ, as King, gives us laws ; none else are competent to do so. 
 His laws are in all cases conclusive. The law of Cassar and the law 
 of Christ may come into collision ; such collisions have occurred, 
 though not in our time, such possibilities may occur again ; but 
 when they do, as we pray they may not, we have no choice ; 
 whether it be right to obey Cod, or to obey Caesar, judge ye. 
 
 In the next place, it is as Messiah the Prince, or as the King, 
 that Christ bestows forgiveness. It was as a priest he made it 
 possible for Grod to forgive : it is as a king that he makes that 
 forgiveness actual to us. It was upon his cross that he purchased 
 forgiveness ; it is from his throne that he bestows that forgive- 
 ness. If Christ had never died for us, the possibility of our 
 forgiveness had not been ; if Christ did not sit a prince upon his 
 throne, the fact of our forgiveness could not be. Let us praise 
 him that he died for us ; let us praise him that he reigns for us. 
 Let us rejoice that forgiveness is possible, for Jesus died; let us 
 rejoice that forgiveness is obtainable, for Jesus reigns, Messiah 
 the Prince. He alone could say, " I died for sins f' he alone 
 can say, ^'I bestow the forgiveness of sins.^' It is, my dear 
 friends, as much an encroachment on the kingly office of Christ 
 to assume to forgive sin, as it is an encroachment on the priestly 
 office of Christ to pretend to purchase, or to suffer for, or to de- 
 serve, the forgiveness of sin. The hand that bled upon the cross, 
 that was pierced by the nail, is the only hand that can be 
 stretched out to bestow forgiveness upon me. For any one to pro- 
 nounce a judicial absolution is an intrusion into the kingly office 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ. He who atoned alone can absolve. 
 
 It is a remarkable fact, that during the first four centuries of 
 the Christian church, when the pretensions of the priesthood be- 
 gan to be stretched to an extravagant pitch, and many of the 
 fathers, such as Chrysostom, began to speak of the priesthood as 
 the ordo divinus — " the divine order,'' there is not one instance 
 recorded, of absolution being pronounced, by priest or prelate, in 
 the first person singular, "I absolve.'' In all the very ancient, 
 offices, absolution was simply a prayer, and not a judicial act. 
 And it is a pity that in the service of the Church of England, 
 amid so many services that are beautiful, there is one — I admit, 
 fallen very much into desuetude— in which is still a formula of 
 
THE MESSIAH THE PRINCE. 399 
 
 absolution whicli is not scriptural, not truly primitive, '^ I absolve 
 thee.'^ I know it is understood by evangelical ministers to be 
 declarative, but it is made tlie basis of pretensions on the part of 
 ministers of another stamp on which they assume to pronounce a 
 judicial absolution. A minister has no more power to absolve 
 sins than a layman. I believe truly the words which Martin 
 Luther uses : " A pope or a bishop has no more power to remit 
 sin than the humblest priest; nay, without any priest, every 
 Christian, even though a woman or a child, can do the same. If 
 a simple believer, woman or child, say to thee, ^ God pardon thy 
 sins, in the name of Jesus Christ,' and thou receive the word with 
 a firm faith, thou art absolved in God's sight.'' So completely 
 did that great reformer sweep out of the visible church all idea 
 of a priesthood among the ministers of the gospel. The great 
 nucleus of the growing apostasy that is around us is the idea of a 
 priesthood being the true character of the Christian ministry. 
 There is no such officer, I have often told you, as a Upeh:;, a sacri- 
 ficing priest, in the church of Christ. It would be more appro- 
 priate that a colonel of a regiment should stand by the communion 
 table, because he may be a Christian, than that a sacrificing priest 
 should pretend to do so : we know of no such officer ; there is no 
 room for him. The introduction of the idea that the ministers of 
 the gospel are sacrificing priests, is the opening of the door for 
 the inrush of the full flood of the western apostasy. Christ alone 
 absolves : as a priest he purchased forgiveness, and he has all the 
 glory of that ; as a king he bestows forgiveness, and he claims all 
 the glory of that. It is the very essence of Protestant and Scrip- 
 tural Christianity, not to keep you for a moment by the priest, 
 but to bring you to Christ for the price of forgiveness, to Christ 
 for the bestowal of forgiveness; that Christ in the midst of the 
 church, and in the believer's heart, as Prophet, Priest, and King, 
 may be all and in all. 
 
 In the next place, it is as a King that the Lord Jesus Christ 
 appoints and sends forth ministers of the gospel. Such appoint- 
 ment is the fruit of his intercession ; it is also the commission of 
 his kingly power. It matters not, or it may matter not, by what 
 ecclesiastical formula or canon or rite the minister may be ap- 
 pointed ; if he be a true minister, he is sent by the Lord Jesus 
 
400 PPtOPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 Christ ; for wlien he ascended up on high^ ^^ he gave some^ apos- 
 tles ; and some, prophets ; and some, evangelists ; and some, jjas- 
 tors and teachers." No human commission can be a substitute 
 for the divine one; the true presentation is from the upper throne; 
 the real ordination is under the hand of Jesus. The appointment 
 of a minister is a royal one, but it is from a royalty that lives and 
 lasts beyond the stars — the royalty of Messiah the Prince. Per- 
 haps, if we quarrelled less about ecclesiastical formulae, and 
 honoured more the kingship of Christ, by asking oftener of Mes- 
 siah the Prince to send forth labourers into the vineyard, it would 
 be better for the church of Christ. A patron may present one 
 who has every ecclesiastical fitness, but yet he may not be a minis- 
 ter of Christ. The people may elect one who has every element 
 of eloquence, and yet he may not be a minister of Christ. I do 
 not believe in the infallibility of the people any more than in the 
 infallibility of the patron. Christ alone can create, Christ alone 
 can commission a minister, and it is an invasion of his royal pre- 
 rogative to think that any one form is infallibly successful, or 
 that it alone may be used for the appointment of ministers of the 
 gospel. 
 
 In the next place, it is as Messiah the Prince, it is as Christ 
 the King, that he gives the Holy Spirit to them that ask him. 
 As a Priest he opened up the way for the descent of that Spirit ; 
 as a King he commissions and sends forth that Holy Spirit unto 
 them that ask him. Pentecost is the evidence of the kingly office 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ ; regeneration in the individual heart is 
 the impress struck by the King of Glory, Messiah the Prince. 
 Every true Christian is a current coin of that royal realm, on 
 which Christ has struck the image and superscription of himself. 
 Wherever you see a Christian, you have there the evidence that 
 Christ reigns; wherever a regenerated heart beats, there you 
 have a proof that Messiah the Prince lives, and sits upon his 
 throne a Prince and an Intercessor. 
 
 In the next place, it is in his kingly capacity that Christ will 
 decide at the judgment day. You recollect the very words that 
 he uses : "■ Then shall the King say to them on his right hand, 
 Come, ye blessed ;" " Then shall the King answer and say unto 
 them, Verily, I say unto you. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto 
 
THE MESSIAH THE PRINCE. 401 
 
 one of these little ones, ye have done it unto me." It is in his 
 royal capacity — it is as Messiah the Prince, that Christ pronounces 
 the everlasting doom of the lost, and declares the everlasting 
 and irreversible destiny of the saved. It is the King that says, 
 and it is therefore a royal word, " Come, ye blessed ;'' it is the 
 King that says, and therefore it is a royal decree, '^ Depart, ye 
 cursed." At that royal sound all that sleep in their graves shall 
 instantly awake : the particles of dust that float upon the wind 
 shall become consolidated into organized frames : the very gases 
 that mingle with the atmosphere, and are absorbed by the streams 
 of the earth, shall come out distinguished and eliminated at that 
 royal bidding, and form the bodies of the risen saints of the Most 
 High. That royal sound shall pierce the pyramids where the 
 Ptolemys sleep ; it shall enter the grave where the dust of the 
 beggar rests ; it shall come with its reverberation into the ancient 
 urn, and stir the ashes of the long-silent dead ; and all — the beg- 
 gar under the green turf, the prince in his mausoleum of marble 
 or of brass, shall come forth with equal readiness to answer for 
 the deeds done in the body, to Messiah the Prince, to Christ the 
 King. He then shall pronounce the rewards and punishments 
 of the last day ; and he alone can do it. Man, as a king, a legis- 
 lator, or a judge, can punish for outward acts that outwardly con- 
 travene the laws of the land ; but Christ alone has power, and he 
 claims it as his exclusive prerogative, to punish for inward senti- 
 ments, emotions, convictions, passions, desires. Man, the legis- 
 lator or judge, may and will punish the subject that breaks the 
 laws ; but no king upon the earth may put his royal hand into 
 that holy place called the conscience, even in the bosom of the 
 poorest beggar ; it is too sacred for kings to touch ; its solemn 
 nature is too awful for legislators to intermeddle with : and the 
 prince or magistrate that persecutes a person for the opinions that 
 he holds, however erroneous these opinions may be, not only in- 
 trudes on the prerogative of Messiah the Prince, but he conse- 
 crates the error in the eyes of thousands, and elevates the sufferer 
 into the dignity of a martyr for the rights, the liberties, and the 
 privileges of mankind. Persecution never put down an error, 
 and it never promoted a truth ', we have far better weapons ; we 
 
 want it not; if we dare use it, we will not, it is too weak : " The 
 
 3i* 
 
402 PROriiETIC STUDIES. 
 
 weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but migldi/, througli God, 
 to the pulling down of strongholds/^ 
 
 This leads me to remark, in the next place, that this kingly 
 office of the Lord Jesus Christ is just as intransferable as his 
 priestly office. What is not the least sin of the Church of Home? 
 and, in its degree, of the Tractarian party ? Just this — that they 
 claim for the church, as a visibly organized body, the functions 
 of prophet, priest, and king; they speak of the church — mean- 
 ing by the church practically the heierarchy — as if it were the 
 prophet, priest, and king of the people; while the pope, with 
 greater consistency, but with intenser blasphemy, calls himself 
 the prophet of the church, the high-priest of the church, and the 
 king of the church, and wears, as thx) demonstration that he is 
 so, the tiara, or the threefold crown, that stamps him in his own 
 view to have the threefold functions — that proclaims him in our 
 view to be the antichrist, " sitting in the temple of God, and 
 showing himself as if he were God.'^ No pastor in the church 
 may lawfully assume to be a king in it, any more than he may 
 assume to be a priest in it. The function of a minister of the 
 gospel is purely pastoral ; it is not in the least degree regal. You, 
 my dear friends, the communicants and worshippers in this church, 
 are not mij suhjccls, and I am not ?/oiu' lord ; you are my friends 
 and brethren, and I am your servant for Christ's sake. I am not 
 appointed by the Great King to lord it over the heritage of God; 
 but I am appointed and commissioned by him to feed the flock 
 of Christ which he has intrusted unto me. My function is pas- 
 toral, not regal; it is the shepherd's crook, not the monarch's 
 sceptre. In the next place, the Lord Jesus, as the Messiah the 
 Prince, is spoken of in Scripture as the " Prince of the kings of 
 the earth.'' All kings are, or ought to be, his subjects, respon- 
 sible to him for the dutifulness with which they serve and obey 
 him ; and as his subjects, and ministers, and servants, their 
 mighty influence should be consecrated to his glory, and to the 
 advancement of his truth. 
 
 He is also calkd in Scripture the "• Prince of life.'' What an 
 epithet is that ! Christ is the Prince of life. The kings of this 
 world cannot perpetuate life; the mightiest sovereign of the might- 
 iest empire must lie down, and turn his face to the wall, and die 
 
THE MESSIAH THE TRINCE. 403 
 
 as one of the meanest of the people. The bones and the ashes 
 of royalty are scattered through every land ; death enters as un- 
 ceremoniously royal palaces as poor men's hovels, and beats with 
 equal foot* at the doors of both. But Jesus can say, "I live, 
 and was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore;" Jesus can 
 say, ''I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in 
 me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.'' Christ gives life ; 
 he assumes to do so ; he proclaims himself the Prince of life : 
 he that does so is either God or is a blasphemer; but ''we know 
 in whom we have believed,'^ and that when he called himself the 
 Prince of life, he claimed the glory that is justly due to him, and 
 is exclusively his own. 
 
 The Lord Jesus is proclaimed in Scripture not only the Prince 
 of life, but he is also the Prince of peace. There was a contro- 
 versy between Grod and man ; not that G od had changed, but that 
 man had become guilty ; conscience felt its sin, foresaw and fore- 
 boded the advent of its Judge, and it trembled. But Christ, hav- 
 ing come, has made peace by the blood of his covenant, and con- 
 stituted himself the Prince of peace. And now it comes to pass 
 that that which satisfies the justice of God is also able to satisfy 
 the conscience of man. Nothing, my dear friends, can satisfy my 
 conscience except that blood that gave satisfaction to the justice 
 and the holiness of God. If we wish national peace, social 
 peace, domestic peace, universal peace, we never can secure it by 
 conventionalism, by organization, by eloquent eulogia on peace, 
 by animated pictures of its glories and its beauties : the only 
 basis on which peace can grow is the basis of righteousness and 
 truth ; there can no more be peace without the Prince of peace 
 than there can be light without the sun, or the beating heart 
 without the life-blood circulating through it. The true way, then, 
 to have universal peace, is to have universal Christianity. The 
 right way to render soldiers, which some so declaim against, 
 (though I doubt if it is more sinful to be a soldier than to be a 
 lawyer ; I question if a lawyer's weapons are not often as un- 
 christian as a soldier's,) altogether and in all concerns unnecessar}^, 
 
 * JEquo pede pulsat 
 
 Pauperuni tabernas rcgumque turres."' — Horace. 
 
404 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 and to turn the bayonet into the pruning-hook, to hang the clarion 
 in the hall, and let nations hear the roll of war's conquering drum 
 no more, is not to dismiss the army, but to preach and promote 
 among civilians the knowledge of him who is the Prince of peace, 
 and under whose shadow and sceptre alone there can be permanent 
 and blessed peace. '^ There is no peace to the wicked -^ preach 
 it as you like, individuals and nations must become Christians 
 before they can enjoy or maintain peace. Spread Christianity, 
 and there will be peace ; recognise Christ as the true Melchisedek, 
 the King of righteousness, and you will soon have Jesus as the 
 true Melchisalem, the Prince of peace. Bow before the sceptre 
 of Christ the King, and you will soon live under the olive-branch 
 of the Prince of peace. 
 
 As Christ the King has a kingdom, we may inquire what it 
 is ? It is not, as some seem to misapprehend, meat and drink. 
 The apostlo says, '^The kingdom of God is not meat nor drink, 
 but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. '^ It is, 
 therefore, neither fasting nor feasting, neither rubric nor rite, nor 
 ceremony; these things maybe too few or they may be too many; 
 they may be too severe or they may be too gorgeous ; they are 
 but the shells, the husks ; they are not the substantial elements 
 of the kingdom of Christ. Nor is that kingdom Episcopacy, nor 
 is it Presbytery, nor is it Congregationalism ; nor is it immersion, 
 nor is it sprinkling, nor is it baptism in infancy nor in maturer 
 years : these things may be, or they may not be ; they may be 
 good or they may be bad, or they may be indifferent; but they are 
 not the substantial elements of the kingdom of Christ; it flourishes 
 and spreads without them, often in spite of them, for it is some- 
 thing stronger and higher than them all — it is righteousness with- 
 out us, which is Christ's ; righteousness within us, which is the 
 Spirit's ; the righteousness which is imputed and perfect, and by 
 which we are justified ; the righteousness which is imparted and 
 imperfect, and by which we are sanctified — the one our title, the 
 other our fitness for heaven. And it is "peace;'' peace with con- 
 science, peace with our brethren, peace with God and with all the 
 universe besides. And it is "joy.'' It begins in righteousness, 
 it grows in power, it spreads in peace, it culminates in beauty, iu 
 glory, and in joy : it is planted as a seed in the individual heart; 
 
THE MESSIAH THE TRINCE. 405 
 
 it germinates and grows/ till upon the mountain-tops it waves 
 wdtli fruit like Lebanon, and the whole earth is covered with the 
 harvest of its glory. The existence of this kingdom upon earth, 
 the elements of which I have tried to define, is evidence of the 
 presence of a divine royalty in the midst of it. It is a kingdom 
 that derives no nutriment from the earth ; it is not of the world, 
 though it is in it. Left to itself, Christianity, with all its excel- 
 lence, would have expired long ago. It is as necessary that the 
 King should be upon his throne in the midst of his church, as it 
 is that the High-Priest should be by his altar in the midst of it ; 
 it is as necessary that Christ's sceptre should be over the towers 
 of Zion, as that Christ's cross should be set forth in its creeds, 
 and sermons, and prayers, and services. No professions, no rites, 
 no ceremonies, no polity could save a living church from destruc- 
 tion, if Christ were to cease to be true to that promise, " Lo, I 
 am with you alway, even to the end of the world." But because 
 the king has been in it, no weapon formed against it has pros- 
 pered. Heresy has tried to corrupt it ; power has sought to ex- 
 tirpate it. Like a tender flower amid the Alpine snows — like a 
 tiny spark amid the billows of the sea — like the ark with Moses 
 in it amid the waters of the Nile, with mighty forces gathered 
 round ready to overwhelm it, has the church of Christ been in 
 the history of the world, and in the experience of mankind. His 
 commission, '■'■ Go and preach," was a royal one ; his promise, 
 ^' Lo, I am with you always," is equally a royal one. This king- 
 dom, it is true, is not outward and visible : the soul is the seat of 
 its power; its victories, its glories, its achievements are all there. 
 And, blessed be God, this kingdom, invisible to sight, but real to 
 faith, and hope, and joy, and to every Christian heart, is a broad 
 and comprehensive one ; it is not restricted to a sect, but compre- 
 hends many of every name ; it is not limited to the world, but 
 stretches beyond the stars. Europe is not all Christendom ; Eu- 
 rope, Asia, Africa, and America are not the whole of Christen- 
 dom ) Christendom stretches into eternity ; we have brethren 
 beside the throne who drink of the stream as it bursts from the 
 fountain, while we drink of the same stream as it flows by the 
 footstool. Christendom comprehends saints in triumph and saints 
 that are militant — heaven and earth, in short, all God's people. 
 
406 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 The entrance into tliis kingdom — v/hat is it ? A way so broad 
 that there is no criminal in this audience (if such there be here) 
 that may not enter; and yet a way so holy that he must lay 
 down his criminality the instant that he takes a single step upon 
 it. The way into this kingdom is not by gold, nor frankincense, 
 nor myrrh — these cannot buy it ; politicians cannot create it: it 
 is Christ alone its title, regeneration by the Spirit alone the fitness 
 for it. 
 
 The law of this realm, the true Christendom — what is it ? It 
 is not law, it is love;. its subjects, we are told, love one another. 
 Jesus governs by love ; it is the pavilion of his power, it is the 
 throne of his glory, it is the badge of his subjects, it is the cohe- 
 sion of his own grand and mighty kingdom. One law governs 
 the clouds in the air, and binds the worlds to the sun : one in- 
 stinct guides the emigrant birds from home, and back to home 
 again : so one passion — love — guides and governs all the sub- 
 jects of Christ, and his kingdom coheres and moves in harmony, 
 because they have learned to love Christ and to love one another. 
 
 And this kingdom comes quietly. Jesus, when he walked in 
 Palestine, was surrounded by no pomp or parade ; he shot forth 
 no blazing and sensuous splendour on those that were around 
 him ; he came as his kingdom comes — like the rain upon the 
 mown grass, as the showers that water the earth. This kingdom, 
 made up of righteousness, joy, and peace, comes like the sweet 
 of spring — gentle, soft, yet persistent. The seed sown in tears, 
 watered with blood, grows up quietly while men sleep, and 
 while men wake. Satan fcills from heaven like a flash of light- 
 ning, or the thunderbolt ; but the Holy Spirit comes from hea- 
 ven descending like a gentle dove. The kingdom of sin passes 
 away like a fierce whirlwind : the kingdom of Jesus comes softly 
 like the morning light that shineth more and more unto the 
 perfect day. 
 
 Brethren, are you the subjects of Messiah the Prince ? Are 
 you members of this divine kingdom, this holy company, this 
 happy fellowship ? All members of all visible churches are not 
 so ; all baptized men, however baptized, are not so. There are 
 good fishes and bad in the net ; there are tares and wheat in the 
 visible church. Salvation is not union to a church, but union to 
 
THE MESSIAH THE PRINCE. 407 
 
 Christ. To belong to this kingdom is to be renewed in hccirt, 
 and not merely to be baptized by man. And they who are the 
 subjects of it are those Thessalonians of whom we read that they 
 have ''the work of faith, the hibour of love, the patience of 
 hope," who are chosen in Christ, who are missionaries to all that 
 are around them, who are patiently waiting for the Son of God 
 from heaven. Are you subjects of this King ? Do you love his 
 law ? Do you feel in your heart that law which is love ? '' If 
 any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ,'^ it matters not whether 
 he be a churchman or a dissenter, " he is none of his.'' If we 
 love him, and love the brethren as he hath given us command- 
 ment, we are his. And wbat a glorious king ! Bannibal con- 
 quered, and is gone; his existence is a fact, a dead fact, and no 
 more. Caesar reigned, and is gone ; his reign is a fact, a dead 
 fact, and no more. But Jesus lived, and lives ; his reign is a 
 living and ever-governing fact ; he reigned, and reigns ; fresh and 
 actual is his sceptre to-day as when first he proclaimed his king- 
 dom. His kingdom sinks not into sands of oblivion, it is ob- 
 structed by no power, it grows in beauty, it spreads in influence ; 
 and very soon we shall behold the King in his beauty, and the 
 land that is afar oJEf ; and he shall have dominion from sea to sea, 
 and all shall bless him, and shall be blessed in him; and the 
 prayers of his people, like the prayers of David the son of Jesse, 
 will then be ended. 
 
 ''With anthems of devotion 
 
 Ships from the isles shall meet, 
 And pour the wealth of ocean 
 In tribute at his feet. 
 
 "For ho shall have dominion 
 O'er river, sea, and shore ; 
 Far as the eagle's pinion 
 
 Or dove's light wing can soar." 
 
408 
 
 LECTURE XXVIII. 
 
 JERUSALEM AND THE JEWS. 
 
 "And after tlirecscoro and two wcelcs shall Messiah be cut off, but not for 
 himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and 
 the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of 
 the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with 
 many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice 
 and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations ho shall 
 make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall bo 
 poured upon the desolate." — Daniel ix. 26, 27. 
 
 I HAVE sliown by a previous comparison between the cliarac- 
 teristics of the work of the Messiah, as predicted in the 24th 
 verse of this chapter, and the actual facts that are recorded of 
 the life of Jesus, that he is the Messiah, and that he alone has 
 finished the transgression, made an end of sin, made reconciliation 
 for iniquity, brought in everlasting righteousness, sealed up the 
 vision and the prophecy, and is anointed now the most Holy. I 
 showed in a previous discourse that not only did a comparison of 
 the moral characteristics, as they are unfolded in the prophecy, 
 and find a counterpart in Jesus, prove him to be the Messiah; 
 but the chronology of the passage no less unequivocally attests it. 
 I showed, that from the time when the command went forth in 
 the seventh year of the reign of Artaxerxes, as recorded in the 
 seventh chapter of Ezra, to rebuild Jerusalem, to the manifesta- 
 tion of Jesus Christ at the baptism of John the Baptist, there 
 elapsed exactly seventy prophetic weeks, or seventy times seven, 
 or 490 years — minus the remaining week, (or seven years,) in the 
 midst of which he was to be cut off. I showed that in the midst 
 of the last week here specified the Messiah suffered. I gave 3'ou 
 the clear and irresistible evidence of it in the sudden cessation of 
 
JERUSALEM AND THE JEWS. 409 
 
 all the sacrifices of Levi ; in the fact that Pilate had plundered 
 the high-priest of his robes, shut them up in the tower of Anto- 
 nia, and made it impossible for the high-priest to offer up the 
 great sacrifice appointed by law ; in the fact that after the death 
 of Jesus, and the desolation of the temple, the Jews were, and 
 are still, without a sacrifice, without an altar, without a high- 
 priest. In short, the evidence is irresistible, that if Jesus be not 
 the Messiah, it is in vain that the Jews look for another. Many 
 of them are coming to this conclusion. I have heard repeatedly, 
 in late years, that on the continent of Europe many of the Jews 
 are become skeptics, casting oit even the hopes of Israel, believ- 
 ing that all has been false, because the disappointment is so bit- 
 ter. But it is when their hopes shall be lowest that the glory of 
 Israel shall rise upon them ; it is at eventide that it shall be light; 
 and when Israel's depression shall be the deepest, and its despair 
 of a coming Messiah shall have reached its meridian, then shall 
 he come, and ^' shine before his ancients gloriously,'^ ^'sl light to 
 lighten the G-entiles, and the glory of his people Israel." 
 
 In this lecture I wish to close this portion of the prophecies of 
 Daniel, on which I have spent so many Sabbath evenings, by re- 
 ferring to the sequel of the prediction contained in these verses — 
 namely, the destruction, desolation, and sweeping away of Jeru- 
 salem, its temple, and all its glory. It is expressly predicted in 
 verse 26, that " the people of the prince that shall come'' (that 
 is, the Romans, the subjects of Titus or Yespasian,) "shall de- 
 stroy the city." The words are literally, " the people of the leader 
 who is to come." Populus was the distinctive and emphatic 
 title of the Romans. Their rulers assumed no higher title than 
 Imperator, or Ruler. The prediction is verbally accurate, and 
 pre-allusive in every respect. It was ploughed up, according to 
 ancient prophecy : the ploughshare literally tore up its walls ; and 
 as to the sanctuary, not a trace of that temple remains. Is it 
 not remarkable that while the temple of Jerusalem was the most 
 majestic and magnificent erection in the world, surpassing in its 
 splendour even the temple of Diana, far surpassing all the tem- 
 ples that remain in heathendom in strength, in grandeur, in fit- 
 ness to bear the wear of weather, and to defy the fierce tempest ; 
 not one memorial of it remains above ground ? The only 2^ossibIe 
 
410 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 remain is a large stone, noticed by a deputation that visited Jeru- 
 salem, still kissed by the rabbis that go there for the first time ; 
 as if the 102nd Psalm could not contain a prophecy without its 
 being fulfilled — 
 
 " Thy saints [to use our own Scottish version] take jjleasure in her stones, 
 Her very dust to them is dear." 
 
 With that exception, the temple of Jerusalem is gone ; yet remains 
 of ancient heathen temples are traceable everywhere. But when 
 I express amazement that not one trace remains, why should I ? 
 The Lord of all truth hath said, '■'■ Not one stone shall be left 
 upon another, that shall not be thrown down ;" and Daniel said, 
 '■'■ The end thereof shall be with a flood,'' — that is, the destruction 
 of this city and of its temple shall not be a gradual thing. The 
 Parthenon at Athens has been gradually wasting by winds, rains, 
 and storms, and fragments of it are in the Louvre in Paris, and 
 in the British Museum in London ; the great theatres or amphi- 
 theatres of Home are still wasting and mouldering : but it was 
 prophesied of the temple of Jerusalem that " the end thereof 
 shall be with a flood" — its last trace should be utterly swept 
 away; '•'■ and unto the end of the war" — that is God's war against 
 that race — ^^desolations are determined," that is, no one need try 
 to rebuild it. It is a very remarkable history — whether true or 
 not, I cannot say, but I see no reason to doubt it — that Julian the 
 apostate, learning from the Christians that Grod had predicted the 
 final destruction of the temple of Jerusalem, and that it should 
 never be rebuilt until the time of his great controversy with the 
 Jews should be finished, and they should be recalled, and restored 
 in more than their ancient grandeur, said he would refute that 
 prophecy; and in order to do so, he appointed workmen, and sup- 
 plied money, to rebuild the temple. The record of ancient writers 
 is, that fire-balls burst in all directions from the earth, which 
 alarmed the workmen, and made them cease. Whether the oc- 
 currence of a miraculous obstruction be literally true or not, I 
 cannot say; but this I believe is true — that the attempt was 
 frustrated, that the workmen gave it up in despair, and that Julian 
 learned that one word of the everlasting God was stronger than 
 the legions of Cassar, and richer than all the treasures of imperial 
 Borne. 
 
JERUSALEM AND THE JEWS. 411 
 
 Then it is added in the 27th verse, that after the sacrifice and 
 oblation should cease, ^' for the overspreading of abominations he 
 shall make it desolate.'^ You recollect what our Lord says when 
 predicting the destruction of Jerusalem : ^' When ye therefore 
 shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the 
 prophet, standing where it ought not." Now this literally took 
 place ; for we read that the standards of the Romans were placed, 
 not only on the battlements and walls of Jerusalem, but in the 
 very '' holy place'' itself, where the altar was, and while sacrifices 
 were being offered. The eagles of imperial Eome, which orna- 
 mented the standards of the Romans, bare in their talons the so- 
 called thunderbolts of the heathen god Jupiter ; these standards 
 contained also the images of the gods and of the emperors, and 
 as such, divine honours were paid to them. To these gods and 
 images pourtrayed upon the standards of Rome, planted on the 
 altar where the cherubim, and the glory, and the mercy-seat once 
 were, sacrifices were actually offered up by the heathen priests at 
 the time that Titus was hailed as the emperor of the Romans, and 
 the soldiers were present witnessing this desecration of the holy 
 place, this overspreading of the abomination that made desolate, 
 this last blow that finished the polity and closed the majestic his- 
 tory of the most wonderful race that sun ever shone upon. "For 
 the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even 
 until the consummation" — that is, either the consummation of its 
 existence, or the consummation of the period determined for its 
 overthrow — "and that which is determined" — that amount of 
 wrath is determined — " shall be poured upon the desolate ;" and 
 then after that Israel shall be restored. 
 
 Now, this prediction in Daniel was that which awed and irri- 
 tated the Jew. Every Jew regarded Jerusalem as the most sa- 
 cred spot upon the earth ; the very stones of the noble temple 
 were dear to the Jew; its very dust was sacred to him, David 
 said, (what was only the prevailing sentiment,) " If I forget thee, 
 Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its cunning : if I prefer 
 thee not above my chief joy, let my tongue cleave unto the roof 
 of my mouth.'' It was the city of the great King; it was the 
 place for the presence of the Most High ; and to tell the Jew that 
 bis temple should be overthrown was almost equivalent to telling 
 
412 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 a Christian Gentile that God shall be dethroned and cease to 
 reign. You can conceive, therefore, with what exasperation the 
 Jews heard reiterated by our Lord the prophecy of their ruin ; 
 and what grounds for opposition they had to those prophets that 
 specially predicted the desolation of the city and the sanctuary, 
 and the overspreading of abominations which should make it 
 utterly desolate. 
 
 This prophecy, however, of Daniel, was not the only prophecy 
 of this kind contained in the Old Testament Scriptures : it is the 
 repetition of prophecies that were uttered at least a thousand 
 years before Daniel wrote. Moses, who had yiewed that glorious 
 land from Mount Nebo, who believed the bright promises that 
 related to its future prosperity and grandeur, was yet inspired by 
 God himself to predict its awful desolation in these words : "The 
 Lord will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy 
 seed. Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of 
 Egypt, which thou wast afraid of: and they shall cleave unto 
 thee. Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written 
 in the book of this law, them will the Lord bring upon thee, until 
 thou be destroyed. And ye shall be few in number, whereas ye 
 were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest 
 not obey the voice of the Lord thy God. And it shall come to 
 pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good 3 so the 
 Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to 
 nought ; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou 
 goest to possess it. And the Lord shall scatter thee among all 
 people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and 
 there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy 
 fathers have known, even wood and stone. And among these na- 
 tions shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot 
 have rest : but the Lord shall give thee a trembling heart, and 
 failing of eyes, and sorrows of mind : and thy life shall hang m 
 doubt before thee 3 thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have 
 none assurance of thy life : in the morning thou shalt say, Would 
 God it were even ! and at even thou shalt say. Would God it were 
 morainu ! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, 
 and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.'' I need 
 not quote from the prophecies of Malachi, nor from those of Je- 
 
JERUSALEM AND THE JEWS. 413 
 
 remiah; all corroborate the same thing. It was literally true 
 that the ^^ mothers that gave suck in those days/' to use the lan- 
 guage of our Lord, felt the weight of the predicted "\fo." It 
 is literally true that the very priests that were ofl&ciating at the 
 altar felt the vibrations of the earthc|uake that was undermining 
 its great foundations preparatory to the invasion of Titus. It is 
 perfectly true, that the high-priests and others officiating at the 
 altar, as recorded by Josephus, (who was anxious to cover the 
 shame and magnify the glory of his people,) heard sounding from 
 all the chambers of the holy place mysterious words they could 
 not comprehend, and were unable to suppress, ''Arise, let us go 
 hence.'' It is true that a prophet appeared upon the walls of 
 Jerusalem, while it was undergoing its last dread siege, and cried 
 for a whole year, ''Wo, wo to Jerusalem!" till, smitten down by 
 a stone, he died, crying, "Wo to myself!'' on which Titus 
 marched into the midst of it, and laid it utterly desolate. When 
 Titus came into the city, even after it had been sacked, and its 
 streets were running with the blood of its slain, and the Jews with 
 infatuated fury were massacring each other, and women eating 
 their first-born, as I have shown before, when referring to the ful- 
 filment of this prophecy; he was so struck with the splendour of 
 that glorious fane, that he even quailed before its awful majesty — 
 60 quailed, and was so awed, that he called to his soldiers, "What- 
 ever you destroy, spare this temple, and the holy place." But 
 he had scarcely said so, when an infuriated soldier, we are told 
 by Josephus, threw a firebrand into the midst of the holy place ; 
 and the overshadowing cherubim, and the mercy-seat, and all the 
 glory of Israel, perished in the flames. God had said, "It shall 
 be destroyed ;" and even a Titus was unable to avert by his power 
 what G-od had predicted in his infallible word. 
 
 The present state of Palestine is proof of the fulfilment of the 
 prediction of the overspreading abomination and its utter desola- 
 tion. I need not state what has been frequently recorded by his- 
 torians, what is indicated in almost every page of the books of 
 Moses, that Palestine was a land of unparalleled fertility and 
 beauty in ancient times. It was called the land that overflowed 
 with milk and honey : the milk indicating the number and the 
 value of its cattle, and the honey indicating the fragrance and 
 
 35* 
 
414 PKOPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 the number of its flowers. Grapes were so abundant in tliat 
 land that they were used as we use the commonest vegetables; 
 the mountain sides were clothed to their top with vines 3 it was 
 a land fitted to be the vineyard and the granary of Asia and 
 Europe together. But after you have read the accounts as given 
 by Moses of its wonderful fertility^ and also the predictions of its 
 approaching desolation, on visiting that land you will find that 
 God walks the fields of Palestine, pointing with a mj^sterious 
 finger to every nook, and stone, and acre, and ruin, and asking 
 the skeptic infidel that goes there to blaspheme, or the infidel 
 politician that doubts its coming restoration, "Is not my word 
 true? and is not all I prophesy, like all I promise, yea and 
 amen?" It is literally true that in this land the sun has become 
 like brass, and rent its once fertile, but now parched soil, into 
 thousands of fissures. It is literally true that its rain has be- 
 come powder and dust. The plague, the pestilence, and the 
 famine start forth on their dread march from the very spot 
 where the holy place and the cherubim were. Its cities are 
 mouldering in the sun; its population has become thinner every 
 year; tombs are traceable on almost every acre; while the re- 
 mains, as noticed by historians, indicate that it was once the city 
 of a vast and teeming population. The mystic Euphrates, which 
 is soon to be dried up, has overspread the whole land with vast 
 torrents of wandering Turks and plundering Arabs, the followers 
 and professors of the religion of the false prophet. You recollect 
 that under the sixth vial it is said, that the Euphrates should 
 be dried up : I showed this to denote the waning or wasting of 
 Turkish power prior to the restoration of the Jews to their own 
 land. That river has now overspread Palestine. The bare- 
 footed monk walks where the temple was; the muezzim cries 
 every day from his minaret, " There is but one God, and Mo- 
 hammed is his prophet. '^ That race, scattered throughout the 
 whole earth — the race of God's ancient people — have but to read 
 their ancient prophets, and then visit Palestine, or read the his- 
 tory of its present state, to learn how truly God has spoken, and 
 how terribly they themselves have been punished. A traveller, 
 celebrated for his taste, and for the brilliancy of his genius — I 
 mean Chateaubriand — writes in the following terms of the pre- 
 
JERUSALEM AND THE JEWS. 415 
 
 sent state of Palestine, (I quote his words because they are a 
 commentary upon what God predicted :) ^' If I should live a 
 thousand years, I can never forget that desert which was round 
 about Jerusalem, which seemed still as inspired with the majesty 
 of Jehovah and the terrors of death. We travelled laboriously 
 amid mournful regions to attain the summit of a hill at a dis- 
 tance before us. Arriving here, we rode for another hour upon 
 an elevated naked plain, sown, as it were, with round masses of 
 stone. Suddenly, at the extremity of this plain I perceived a 
 line of Gothic walls, flanked with square towers, enclosing appa- 
 rently the roofs of some buildings. At the foot of these walls 
 appeared a camp of Turkish cavalry [the overflowing of abomi- 
 nation] in their Oriental pomp. The guide instantly exclaimed, 
 ^ Behold the holy city ! Behold Jerusalem !' The most extra- 
 ordinary forms of objects declare it to be on all sides a country 
 which has groaned under miracles : the burning sun — the tierce 
 eagle — the barren fig-tree — all the poetry and all the painting of 
 the Scriptures are here. Every local name retains within it 
 some mystery^ every cavern speaks of futurity; each rocky 
 height reverberates the accents of some prophecy which God 
 himself has spoken within its walls; the wasting rivers, the 
 cloven rocks, j^awning tombs, attest the prodigy. The desert 
 seems still stricken dumb with terror, as if it had not yet dared 
 to break that silence which was felt when the voice of the 
 Eternal had been heard." Such is the testimony as to its pre- 
 sent condition of one who visited it, and who looked upon it 
 with a poet's and a Christian's eye. We have merely to read 
 any history of its present condition to see how completely history 
 is an echo to the prophecies of God. 
 
 While speaking of Jemsalem^s ruin, we cannot but notice that 
 that ruin has a limit. It is to be, says the prophet, ''until that 
 determined shall be poured upon the desolate,'^ and unto the end 
 of the desolations so determined. We gather from this that 
 God's anger toward Jerusalem has a limit — nay, we are certain 
 it has, for the prophet himself, inspired by God, has declared, 
 '' Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man 
 went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy 
 of many generations. Thou shalt also suck the milk of the 
 
416 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and tliou shalt 
 know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the 
 mighty one of Jacob. For brass I will bring gold, and for iron 
 I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron : I 
 will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteous- 
 ness. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor 
 destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Sal- 
 vation, and thy gates Praise. The sun shall be no more thy 
 light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light 
 unto thee : but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, 
 and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; nei- 
 ther shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine 
 everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. 
 Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the 
 land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, 
 that I may be glorified.^' Now it is not fair to take this pro- 
 phecy from Jeiiisalem, and apply it to the Gentile : its truths 
 are applicable to us only as all great moral and spiritual truths 
 are; it relates expressly to the restoration of Jerusalem; it is 
 meant to console and awaken the Jews in the midst of their 
 ruin; and at this moment many a Jew is sustained in his hopes, 
 and kept peculiar and insulated from the rest of the nations of 
 the earth, because in the records of the desolation of his ancient 
 and glorious capital he reads the thrilling prophecy that Jei-u- 
 salem shall be rebuilt, and that the Lord shall be to him his 
 everlasting light, and his God his glory. 
 
 In looking at the whole of this prophecy, I would notice, first 
 of all, that we have here a strong evidence of the inspiration of 
 the prophet Daniel. What he so minutely predicted has been 
 most minutely fulfilled. The inference from that is, that that 
 man was inspired by God who could look along the vista of 600 
 years, who could specify the time that should elapse till a given 
 event, who should declare what was done by and in that event, 
 who should proclaim what should be the consequence of that 
 event. The ceasing of the daily' sacrifice ; the departure of all ■ 
 the remains of ancient glory from the temple; the blasting, 
 withering, and fading of the fig-tree, that great and ancient 
 memorial of Judah; Titus smiting it with the sword; his sol- 
 
JERUSALEM AND .THE JEWS. 417 
 
 diers consuming it with tlie firebrands; tlie modern synagogue 
 standing up in tlie midst of every capital — an artificial copy of 
 the ancient temple, but destitute of the altar, the sacrifice, the 
 oblation, the priesthood, — are all standing and eloquent proofs, 
 not only that God is the God of truth, but that Daniel spake, 
 as other holy men spake of old, as they were moved by the Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 We learn, too, that the great cause of the desolation of Jerusa- 
 lem and of the fulfilment of all the menaces of God upon it, was 
 not the decree of God, but their own sins. God had predicted its 
 ruin, but his prediction did not bring that ruin down ; it was the 
 sins of the people that paved the way for the march of the legions 
 of Titus ; it was their murdering of the Lord of glory that was 
 the deed which consummated their crimes, which awoke the sleep- 
 ing earthquakes, and made the sky above Palestine to be as brass, 
 its rains to be as dust, its cities to be as sepulchres, and the only 
 memorials of its faded magnificence to be tombs, wrecks, and ruin. 
 It was sin, not God's prediction, that laid Jerusalem low. Our 
 Saviour only echoed the ancient prophecy when he said, " O 
 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest 
 them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered 
 thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens 
 under her wings, and ye would not!'^ And over that great city, 
 as over the grave of Lazarus — the scenes of the two great inci- 
 dents in the history of Jesus — it is said ^' Jesus wept" — wept 
 when he saw its hopeless ruin, its fading glory, its perishing 
 people, their rejection of the gospel, their departure and apostasy 
 from the living God. 
 
 We learn from this, too, that great privileges abused ever bring 
 down great judgments on the people that abuse them. Privileges 
 do not commend us to God; they commend God to us. No people 
 are saved because they have privileges ; they are only made thereby 
 responsible. The greater the privileges that God has given you, 
 not therefore the greater the safety you shall have, but the greater 
 the responsibility that rests upon you. Chorazin, Bethsaida, Tyre, 
 and Sidon perished by their sins ; but when Jerusalem fell, it fell 
 from a height of responsibility and privilege to which Tyre had 
 never reached, and therefore its fall was all but final. When aa 
 
418 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 angel fails he becomes a fiend. The depth of our ruin is in the 
 ratio of the height to which God's goodness and our privileges 
 have elevated us. If God spared not Jerusalem, the city that he 
 loved, when Jerusalem forsook him, God will not spare London, 
 the city he has privileged, when London proves untrue to him. It 
 is as applicable to the 19 th century as to the age in which it was 
 first uttered, '^ Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach 
 to any people." Sin is disorganization -, and wherever it is intro- 
 duced, there society loses all its cohesive properties, becomes a 
 rope of sand, ready to fall asunder when the external repressive 
 power that keeps it together is for a moment withdrawn. But 
 let a people be leavened with real religion ; let our homes be 
 vocal with prayer, with thanksgiving and praise; let our churches 
 be pure, steadfast, protesting against apostasy, and maintaining 
 truth ; let our pulpits resound with evangelical religion ; let our 
 people of all classes, and in all ranks, and of all degrees, from 
 the highest to the lowest, fear God, honour his ordinances, and 
 walk before him; then the nation will have in its bosom, if 
 any nation can have it, the element of immortality. God never 
 forsakes a people till that people forsake him. Nations rarely 
 fall by external assault ; it is generally by internal corruption. 
 We need never tremble about our safety : though France should 
 send afloat yet a mightier fleet than she has at Cherbourg, 
 though Napoleon's military avalanches should again rush down 
 from the Pyrenees and the Alps, though popes should send ship- 
 loads of cardinals, our island may rest upon the waters, and 
 smile, in conscious security, while our country cleaves to our 
 country's God. But let irreligion, pantheism, popery, and infi- 
 delity, and drunkenness, and Sabbath-breaking, and all the sins 
 that do abound — and, I fear in many quarters, increasingly 
 abound — gain the mastery ; and let protesting voices, and plead- 
 ing cries, and praying hearts be still ; then our palladium is 
 gone, the shields of the Lord are removed. The least aggression 
 will ruin the country that has . lost God ; the mightiest arma- 
 ment shall fail to scathe it when God is recognised as its strength, 
 its glory, its portion. Bighteousness, I repeat, exalteth a nation, 
 and sin is the ruin of any people. 
 
 We learn, too, that when sin thus runs along the streets, de- 
 
JERUSALExM AND THE JEWS. 419 
 
 grades and defiles the people universally, nothing it can attempt 
 can save it. All the policy of imperial Rome 3 all the manoeu- 
 vring and compromises of the priests, the scribes, and the 
 Sadducees; all the coalitions into which the people of Jerusalem 
 entered, were utterly unable to avert their ruin ; they rather con- 
 tributed to hasten its sure and certain doom, just because sin was 
 there. So, to apply it to other nations ; the arms and squadrons 
 of Xerxes, the legions of Caesar, the armies of Napoleon, did not 
 save them ; and the wooden walls of England will not guard us, 
 or any other nation, from utter ruin, if we do not keep ourselves 
 in the faith, the fear, and the hope of the gospel. When I speak 
 of national religion, I do not mean some transcendental view of it : 
 one way for us to have national religion for all practical purposes 
 is for each man to be a Christian. It is not by struggling to 
 carry some measure in the House of Commons, however valuable 
 it may be, that we shall make our nation Christian ; it is by each 
 man being so. One brick laid upon the ground does more to 
 complete a building than a thousand castles built in the air. One 
 family becoming truly and decidedly Christian is a greater con- 
 tribution to the Christianity of our land than the most brilliant 
 act of Parliament : I do not undervalue the latter ; yet the days 
 for getting such acts are ceasing, whereas the days for being 
 Christians are multiplying. Never were men more called upon 
 than in the present day to ^'be steadfast, immovable, always 
 abounding in the work of the Lord.'^ 
 
 We learn from all these predictions — to leave for a moment 
 the immediate topic under review, and to revert to all we have 
 been contemplating in the nine chapters of Daniel, over which I 
 have so rapidly passed — what man is without true religion. The 
 magi of Chaldea showed themselves to be but fools ; Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, Cyrus, Belshazzar, the royal despots of the earth — how 
 poor are they, how lustreless, beside the quiet grandeur of the 
 prophet Daniel, and the three Hebrew youths that counted not 
 their lives dear for Christ's sake ! The gospel elevates the 
 humblest and ennobles the highest; to the grandeur of the man 
 it adds all the glory of the saint, and makes individuals and 
 nations beautiful in that real and only beauty which the king's 
 
420 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 daughter alone lias — the beauty of holiness, and righteousness, 
 and truth. 
 
 We learn, too, how God rules and acts in all the affairs of men. 
 The great image was the shadow of what all history is : a nation's 
 dignity was merely a higher or lower place assigned it in the 
 great image — being clay, or iron, or silver, or gold, as God might 
 appoint. The same God that ruled in Babylon is the God that 
 rules now. "God is," not God-z^as; or, rather, "Jehovah is his 
 name ; God, who was, and is, and is to come." 
 
 How important must the Saviour have been felt to be by 
 Daniel ; and how important was he known to be of God, seeing 
 that all prophecy is literally the testimony of Jesus ! Daniel 
 cannot close a great cycle in his prophecy without closing it with 
 the exhibition of the Prince the Messiah ; Isaiah's liarp never 
 rises to its noblest strains except when he tunes it to the Name, 
 and sweeps it in the prospect of, a coming Messiah; Malachi 
 closes the Old Testament prophecy, as Daniel closes his pre- 
 dictions, by giving the glad hope that the Messiah, the Sun of 
 righteousness, was about to rise with healing under his wings. 
 Christ is the key-note of all the songs of David, the burden of 
 all prophecy, the alpha and the omega of the whole Bible. 
 
 We gather another lesson also — that the same religion we have, 
 Daniel had : he was as much a Christian as Martin Luther, Cecil, 
 Newton, Whitefield, or any other great and distinguished Chris- 
 tian or minister of Christ in modern times. There never was 
 sanctioned by God but one true religion. There are many current 
 religions; there is and has been but one that bears the super- 
 scription and the stamp of God. There is the religion of man, 
 the religion of the priest ; but there is but one that is true — that 
 is, the religion of God. This Christianity is as truly, if not as 
 clearly, in the Old Testament as in the New. Isaiah was as truly 
 an evangelist as John ; so much so, that he has been called the 
 evangelical prophet, although that phrase is objectionable, for 
 Jeremiah, Malachi, and Daniel were just as evangelical as Isaiah. 
 They all proclaimed one Saviour ; they all taught one sacrifice ; 
 they all built up our hopes of glory upon one great foundation, 
 Christ Jesus. The overshadowing angels on the mercy-seat, like 
 the Old and New Testaments, while the tips of their wings 
 
JERUSALEM AND THE JEWS. 421 
 
 touched each, other, hoth looked down upon one propitiatory or 
 mercy-seat Like the twin lips of an oracle, the old covenant 
 and the new equally utter and announce Christ and him crucified 
 as the great substance of the hopes of men. 
 
 And what dignity, let me add, in the next place, does this 
 give to God's word -, and what a lowly, though an important place 
 does prophecy impart to man's history ! There is something 
 wonderfully striking in this — that the calendars of nations are 
 the commentaries on the prophecies of God's word. Whenever 
 the historian is wanted, Josephus steps forth from his country, 
 and Gibbon emerges from the shadow of the Alps where he 
 sojourned, Alison comes from the north, Hume leaves infidelity, 
 and each sits down to write facts; Christians read the facts; and 
 lo ! they are the rebounds of prophecy, the echoes of God's 
 ancient word; and, consciously or unconsciously, the skeptic 
 Hume, and atheistic Gibbon, the accomplished and Christian 
 Alison, the Jew Josephus, attest in their histories that God's 
 word is true, and that "holy men of old spake as they were 
 moved by the Holy Ghost.-" So, in the same manner, every thing 
 that is now discovered, every thing that daily occurs, serves more 
 and more to show the truth of God's word. Daniel writes, two 
 thousand years ago, that toward the end of our dispensation 
 " many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased ;" 
 and to prove Daniel's prediction, the railway appears, and with it 
 the mysterious whispering wire, that knits together isles and 
 continents, so that the mother in London will yet convey mes- 
 sages in a few minutes to her son al Calcutta, and receive a 
 message in reply; all spring up when the moment comes, to 
 testify how truly the ancient prophet spake, when he said, "Many 
 shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.^' 
 
 In the next place, how humbling to great men are the truths 
 embodied in the word of God ! Hannibal, Cassar, Napoleon, all 
 the great generals and mighty captains that have successively 
 stepped upon the stage to win splendour for their names, and 
 glory for the armies of their country, to vindicate injured rights, 
 to deliver oppressed nations ; came forward, as they meant, to do 
 their own behests, and lo ! they are found to have been doing 
 God's word, filling up the great outline of God's predicted and 
 
 36 
 
422 PROPHETIC STUDIES. 
 
 pre-written Providential government; and so Hannibal, Caesar, 
 Alexander, and Napoleon were but the pens that the ready writer 
 used — but the chisels in the hand of the Great Statuary, as he 
 carved out in history what he had so clearly predicted in ancient 
 prophecy. When we take our stand on prophetic ground, what 
 composure, what quiet does it give us to see this, and be satisfied 
 (and I am as satisfied of it as I am of my own existence) that 
 all things are going right, that every thing is evolving its appro- 
 priate issue, that all occurrences are stepping in to fulfil God's 
 sure word, and to accomplish God's grand purposes ! Do not be 
 alarmed, my dear brother, when a leaf shakes with the wind, as 
 if the church of Christ were about to perish. Do not suppose, 
 when nations withdraw their endowments, and imperial crowns 
 their shields, from the Christian church — when popery enters 
 here, and infidelity spreads there, and divisions and exasperation 
 abound elsewhere, that the church of Christ is about to fall. It 
 remains : it gathers strength from the wreck, and grandeur from 
 surrounding ruin. The fracture of the earthen vessel is only the 
 letting forth of the inner perfume ; and the noise and quarrels 
 and debates that we hear are not the overturning of the glorious 
 fabric ; they are only the settling of its sure and its everlasting 
 foundation. Let us then acquaint ourselves with God, and with 
 God especially as he is revealed in his word, and be at peace. 
 
 In conclusion, let me ask, have you my hearer, my reader, an 
 interest in Messiah ? Do you stand in him as the stand-point 
 from which you can review all the movements of the nations of 
 the earth ? Is it well, first, with thine own soul ? and if it be 
 well there, by its being washed in that Saviour's blood, arrayed 
 in his righteousness, trusting in his name; then be still, and know 
 that he is God; rejoice in the hope of glory, for He in whom 
 you trust has engraven you on the palms of his hands, and holds 
 you in imperishable remembrance. 
 
APPENDIX* 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 " The predictions of things to come relate to the state of the 
 church in all ages ; and among the old prophets, Daniel is most dis- 
 tinct in order of time, and easiest to be understood ; and, therefore, 
 in those things which relate to the last times, he must be made the 
 key to the rest/' — Sir Isaac Neiotoii's Observations on Daniel. 
 
 " The Jews do not reckon him (Daniel) to be a prophet, and there- 
 fore place his prophecies only among the Ilagiographa ; and they 
 serve the Psalms of David after the same rate. The reason which 
 they give for it in respect of both is, that they lived not the prophetic 
 manner of life, but the courtly ; David, in his own palace, as king 
 of Israel, and Daniel in the palace of the king of Babylon, as one 
 of his chief counsellors and ministers in the government of that em- 
 pire. And in respect of Daniel they further add, that, although he 
 had divine revelations delivered unto him, yet it was not in the pro- 
 phetic way, but by dreams and visions of the night, which they 
 reckon to be the most imperfect manner of revelation, and below 
 the prophetic." — Prideaux's Connection. Anno 534. 
 
 " Never were any prophecies delivered more clearly, or fulfilled 
 more exactly, than all these prophecies of Daniel were. Porphyry, 
 who was a great enemy of the Holy Scriptures, as well of the Old 
 Testament as of the New, acknowledged this. And therefore he 
 contends that they were historical narratives, written after the facts 
 were done, and not prophetical predictions, foretelling them to come. 
 This Porphyry was a learned heathen, born at Tyre, in the year of 
 Christ 233, and there called M^^lchus ; which name, on his going 
 among the Greeks, he changed into that of Porphyry, that signifying 
 
 * See at the end of Rev. Dr. Nolan's 'Warburton Lectures, and Rev. P. Miles* 
 Lectures, to both of which I am indebted for long and useful notes. 
 
 423 
 
424 APPENDIX. 
 
 the same in the Greek language which Malchusdid in the Phoenician, 
 the language then spoken at Tyre. lie being a bitter enemy to the 
 Christian religion, wrote a large volume against it, containing fifteen 
 books, whereof the twelfth was wholly against the prophecies of 
 Daniel. Those concerning the Persian kings and the Macedonian 
 that reigned as well in Egypt as in Asia, having been all, according 
 to the best historians, exactly fulfilled, he could not disprove them 
 by denying their completion ; and therefore, for the overthrowing of 
 their authority, he took the quite contrary course, and laboured to 
 prove their truth ; and from hence alleged, that being so exactly true 
 in all particulars, they could not therefore be written by Daniel so 
 many years before the fiicts were done, but by some one else under 
 
 his name, who lived after the time of Antiochus Epiphanes 
 
 For which purpose, he made use of the best Greek historians then 
 extant. Such were Callinicus Sutorius, Diodorus Siculus, Ilierony- 
 mus, Polybius, Posidonius, Claudius Thcon, and Andronicus Aly- 
 pius ; and from them made evident proof that all that is written in 
 the eleventh chapter of Daniel, was truly, in every particular, acted 
 and done in the order as there related ; and from this exactness of 
 completion, endeavoured to infer the assertion mentioned, that these 
 prophecies were written after the facts were done, and therefore are 
 rather historical narratives relating to things past, than prophetical 
 predictions, foreshowing things afterward to come. But Jerome 
 turns the argument upon him, and, with more strength of reason, 
 infers that this way of opposing these prophecies gives the greatest 
 evidence of their truth, in that what the prophet foretold is hereby 
 allowed to be so exactly fulfilled, that he seemed to unbelievers not 
 to foretell things to come, but to relate things past. Jerome, in his 
 Comments on Daniel, makes use of the same authors that Porphyry 
 did ; and what is in these Comments are all the remains which we 
 now have of this work of that learned heathen, or of most of those 
 authors which he made use of in H." — Prideaux's Connection. Anno 
 164. 
 
 PEOPHECy AND HISTORY. 
 
 " Whatever is now done was foretold ; whatever is now seen, was 
 first heard. If earthquakes swallow up cities ; if islands are in- 
 vaded by the sea ; if foreign and domestic wars distract states ; if 
 kingdom rises up against kingdom ; if there are famine, and pesti- 
 lence, and slaughters in divers places ; if the wild beasts of the 
 mountains lay waste many regions ; if the humble are exalted, and 
 the lofty laid low; if justice is rare, and iniquity abounds; if the 
 regard for every good and wholesome discipline waxes cold ; if even 
 
APPENDIX. 425 
 
 the times and seasons vary from their appointed order, all these have 
 been predicted by the Providence of God. While we suffer these 
 calamities we read of them ; when we recognise them as the objects 
 of prophecy, the truth of the Scriptures which predict them is 
 proved. The daily fulfilment of prophecy is, surely, a full proof of 
 revelation. Hence, then, we have a well-founded belief in many 
 things which are j^et to come, namely, the confidence arising from 
 our knowledge of the past, because some events, still future, were 
 foretold at the same time with others which are past. The voice of 
 prophecy speaks alike of each ; the Scriptures record them equally ; 
 the same Spirit taught the prophets both. In the predictions, there 
 is no distinction of time ; if there be any such distinction, it is made 
 by men ; while the gradual course of time makes that present which 
 was future, and that past which was present. How can we, then, 
 be blamed for believing also what is predicted respecting the future, 
 when our confidence is founded upon the fulfilment of prophecies 
 relating to the present and the past?^' — TJie Aj)ulo(jij of TertuUian, 
 eh. XX., Chevallier's trans. 
 
 THE FORCE OF PEOPHECY. 
 
 " Suppose that, instead of the spirit of prophecy breathing more 
 or less in every book of Scripture, predicting events relative to a 
 great variety of general topics, and delivering, besides, almost innu- 
 merable characteristics of the Messiah, all meeting in the person of 
 Jesus, there had been only ten men in ancient times who pretended 
 to be prophets, each of whom exhibited only^re independent criteria 
 as to place, government, concomitant events, doctrine taught, effects 
 of doctrine, character, sufferings, or death ; the meeting of all 
 which, in one person, should prove the reality of their calling as 
 prophets, and of his mission in the character they have assigned 
 him : suppose, moreover, that all events were left to chance merely, 
 and we were to compute, from the principle employed by mathema- 
 ticians in the investigation of such subjects, the probability of these 
 Jifty independent circumstances happening at all. Assume that 
 there is, according to the technical phrase, an equal chance for the 
 happening or the failure of any one of the specified particulars, then 
 the probability against the occurrence of all the particulars in any 
 way, is that of the 50th power of 2 to unity; that is, the probability 
 is greater than 1125,000,000,000,000 to 1, or greater than eleven hun- 
 dred and twenty-Jive millions of millions to one, that all these circum- 
 stances do not turn up, even at distinct periods. This computation, 
 however, is independent of the consideration of time. Let it then 
 
 36* 
 
426 APPENDIX. 
 
 be recollected further, that if any one of the specified circumstances 
 happen, it may be the day after the delivery of the prophecy, or at 
 any period from that time to the end of the world ; this will so in- 
 definitely augment the probability against the contemporaneous oc- 
 currence of merely these ffty circumstances, that it surpasses the 
 power of numbers to express correctly the immense improbability of 
 its taking place. Be it remembered, also, that in this calculation I 
 have assumed the hypothesis most favourable to the adversaries of 
 prophecy, and the most unfavourable possible to the well-being of 
 the world and the happiness of its inhabitants ; namely, the hypo- 
 thesis that every thing is fortuitous ; and it will be seen how my ar- 
 gument is strengthened by restoring things to their proper state. 
 If every thing were left to blind chance, it appears that the proba- 
 bility against the fulfilment of only fifty independent predictions in 
 the same time, place, and individual, would be too great to express, 
 numerically ; how much greater, then, must it be, in fact, when all 
 events are under the control of a Being of matchless wisdom, power, 
 and goodness, who hates fraud and deception, who must especially 
 hate it when attempted under his name and authority, Avho knows 
 all that occurs in all places, and who can dissipate, * with the breath 
 of his mouth,' every deceiver, and all their delusions? The more 
 we know of the prophecies, and of history, whether sacred or pro- 
 fane, the more we are struck with the correspondence of predictions 
 and events; their coincidence, in hundreds of instances, is so pal- 
 pably notorious that none can deny it: every principle of reason, 
 every result of correct computation, instituted with a view to this 
 inquiry, is in favour of the positions maintained by Christians in all 
 ages. Imagine these to be still doubtful, and what is there else that 
 is stable and certain V — Letter's of JDr. OlintJuis Gregory, Letter VI. 
 (See Emerson on Chances, Prop. 3; Wood's Algebra, Art. 419, 
 Chances.) 
 
 THE FOUR GREAT EMPIRES. 
 
 " It was from Daniel's prophecy, too, that the distinction first 
 arose of the four great empires of the world, which hath been fol- 
 lowed by most*historians and chronologers in their distribution of 
 times. These four empires, as they are the subject of this prophecy, 
 are likewise the subject of the most celebrated pens, both in Ibrmer 
 and in later ages. The histories of these empires are the best writ- 
 ten, and the most read of any ; they are the study of the learned 
 and the amusement of the polite ; they are of use both in schools 
 and in senates ; we learn them when we are young, and we forget 
 
APPENDIX. 427 
 
 them not when we are old ; from hence examples, instructions, laws, 
 and politics are derived for all ages ; and very little, in comparison, 
 is knovrn of other times or of other nations." — Bisliop Newton on 
 theFropTiecies, Diss. 13. 
 
 THE STONE. 
 
 "In an ancient book of theirs, written hy R. Simeon Ben Jochai, 
 the author interprets this stone, cut out of the mountain without 
 hands, to be the same with him who, in Gen. xlix. 24, is called the 
 Shepherd and Stone of Israel; as it is by Saadiah Gaon, a later 
 writer ; and in another of their writings, reckoned by them very 
 ancient, it is said that the ninth king (for they speak often) shall be 
 the King Messiah, who shall reign from one end of the world to the 
 other, according to that passage, iJie stone iddcli smote the image, &c. 
 verse 35; and in one of their ancient Midrashes, or expositions, it is 
 interpreted of the King Messiah : and so E. Abraham Seba." — Dr. 
 Gill's Commentary on Daniel, ii. 34. 
 
 CITY OF BABYLON. 
 
 " And, besides these, there were also four half-streets, which were 
 built but of one side, as having the wall on the other. These went 
 round the four sides of the city, next the walls, and were each of 
 them two hundred feet broad, and the rest were about one hundred 
 and fifty. By these streets thus crossing each other, the Avhole city 
 was cut out into six hundred and seventy-six squares, each of which 
 was four furlongs and a half on every side, that is, two miles and a 
 quarter in compass. Round these squares, on every side toward the 
 streets, stood the houses, all built three or four stories high, and beau- 
 tified with all manner of adornments toward the streets. The space 
 within, in the middle of each square, was all void ground, employed 
 for yards, gardens, and other such uses." — Prideaux. Anno 570. 
 
 " For the further securing of the country, Nebuchadnezzar built 
 also prodigious banks of brick and bitumen on each side of the 
 river, to keep it within its channel, which were carried along from 
 the head of the said canals down to the city, and some way below it. 
 But the most wonderful part of the work was within the city itself; 
 for there, on each side of the river, he built from the bottom of it a 
 
428 APPENDIX. 
 
 great wall, for its banks, of brick and bitumen, -which was of the 
 same thickness with the walls of the city ; and, over against every 
 street that crossed the said river, he made, on each side, a brazen 
 gate in the said wall, and stairs leading down from it to the river, 
 from whence the citizens used to pass by boat from one side to the 
 other, which was the only passage they had over the river, till the 
 bridge was built which I have above mentioned. The gates were 
 open by day, but always shut by night. And this prodigious work 
 was carried on, on both sides of the river, to the length of one hun- 
 dred and sixty furlongs, which are twenty miles of our measure, and 
 therefore must have begun two miles and a half above the city, and 
 continued down two miles and a half below it ; for through the city 
 was no more than fifteen miles.''^ — Prideaux. Anno 570, 
 
 "Next this temple, on the same east side of the river, stood the old 
 palace of the kings of Babylon, being two miles in compass. Ex- 
 actly over against it, on the other side of the river, stood the new 
 palace ; and this was that which Nebuchadnezzar built. It was four 
 times as big as the former, as being eight miles in compass. It Avas 
 surrounded with three walls, one within another, and strongly forti- 
 fied, according to the way of those times." — Ibid. 
 
 " These eight towers, being as so many stories one above another, 
 'were each of them seventy-five feet high, and in them were many 
 great rooms with arched roofs, supported by pillars The up- 
 permost story of all was that which was most sacred. . . . Over the 
 whole, on the top of the tower, was an observatory, by the benefit of 
 which it was that the Babylonians advanced their skill in astronomy 
 beyond all other nations. . . . For when Alexander took Babylon, 
 Calisthenes, the philosopher, who accompanied him thither, found 
 they had astronomical observations for one thousand nine hundred 
 and three years backward from that time : which carrieth up the 
 account as high as the one hundred and fifteenth year after the flood, 
 which was within fifteen years after the tower of Babel was built. 
 This account Calisthenes sent from Babylon into Greece to his mas- 
 ter Aristotle, as Simplicius, from the authority of Porphyry, delivers 
 it unto us in his Second Book De Coelo." — Ibid. 
 
 ** This stood till the time of Xerxes, (b. c. 479 ;) but he, on his re- 
 turn from his Grecian expedition, demolished the whole of it, and 
 laid it all in rubbish, having first plundered it of all its immense 
 riches, among which were several images or statues of massy gold." 
 — Ibid. See Jer. li. 44. 
 
APPENDIX. 429' 
 
 "What was most wonderful in it were the hanging gardens, which 
 were of so celebrated a name among the Greeks. They contained a 
 square of four plethra (that is, of four hundred feet) on every side, 
 and were carried up aloft into the air, in the manner of several large 
 terraces, one above another, till the highest equalled the height of 
 the walls of the city. The ascent was from terrace to terrace, by 
 stairs ten feet wide. The whole pile was sustained by vast arches 
 built vipon arches, one above another, and strengthened by a wall, 
 
 surrounding it on every side, of twenty-two feet in thickness 
 
 On the top of the arches were first laid large flat stones, sixteen feet 
 long and four broad, and over them was a layer of reed, mixed with 
 a great quantity of bitumen, over which were two rows of bricks, 
 closely cemented together by plaster, and then over all were laid 
 thick sheets of lead : and all this floorage was contrived to keep the 
 moisture of the mould from running away down through the arches. 
 The mould or earth laid hereon was of that depth as to have room 
 enough for the greatest trees to take rooting in it ; and such were 
 planted all over it in every terrace, as were also all other trees, 
 plants, and flowers, that were proper for a garden of pleasure. lu 
 the upper terrace there was an aqueduct or engine, whereby water 
 was drawn up out of the river, which from thence watered the whole 
 garden.^' — Frideaiix. Anno 570. 
 
 THE SON OF MAN. 
 
 " This Son of Man the Jews themselves confess to be the promised 
 Messias, and they take the words to signify his coming, and so far 
 give testimony to the truth ; but then they evacuate the prediction 
 by a false interpretation, saying, that if the Jews went on in their 
 sins, then the Messias should come in humility, according to the de- 
 scription in Zachary, loioly, and riding upon an ass, (ix. 9 ;) but if 
 they pleased God, then he should come in glory, according to the 
 description in the prophet Daniel, loith the clouds of heaven: whereas 
 these two descriptions are two several predictions, and therefore 
 must be both fulfilled. From whence it followeth, that being Christ 
 is already come, lowly, and sitting upon an ass, therefore he shall 
 come gloriously with the clovds of heaven. For if both those de- 
 scriptions cannot belong to one and the same advent, as the Jews ac- 
 knowledge, and both of them must be true, because equally pro- 
 phetical, then must there be a double advent of the same Messias.'' 
 ** Indeed, the Jews do so generally interpret this place of Daniel of 
 
430 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 the Messias, that they make it an argument to prove that the Messias 
 is not yet come, because no man hath yet come with the clouds of 
 heaven/' — BisJioj) Pearson on the Creed, Article VII. 
 
 THE MILLENNIUM. 
 
 " That the kingdom in Daniel and that of 1000 years in the Apo' 
 cahjpse are one and the same kingdom, appears thus : — 
 
 " First. Because they begin ah eodem ter7Jiino, namely at the de- 
 struction of the Fourth Beast: that in Daniel, when the beast (then 
 ruling in the wicked horn) was slain, and his body destroyed and 
 given to the burning flame, Dan. vii. II, 22, 27. That in the Apo- 
 calypse, when the beast and the false prophet (the wicked horn in 
 Daniel) were taken, and both cast alive into a lake of fire, burning 
 with brimstone, Ajjoc. six. 20, 21, &c. 
 
 " Secondly. Because St. John begins the Regnum of a thousand 
 years from the same session of judgment described in Daniel, as ap- 
 pears by his parallel expression borrowed from thence. 
 
 Daniel says, chap. vii. 
 
 Ver. 9. I beheld till the thrones were 
 pitched down . . . and the judg- 
 ment (i. e. judges) sat. 
 
 22. And judgment was given to the 
 saints of the Most High. 
 And the saints possessed the king- 
 dom ; viz. with the Son of Man 
 who came in the clouds. 
 
 St. John says, chap. xx. 
 
 Ver. 4. I saw thrones, and they sat 
 upon them. 
 
 And judgment was given unto them. 
 
 And the saints lived and reigned 
 with Christ a thousand years. 
 
 •' Now if this be suflSciently proved, that the thousand years begin 
 wnth the day of judgment, it will appear further, out of the Ap)o- 
 calypse, that the judgmeiit is not consummate till they be ended ; for 
 Gog and Magog's destruction and the universal resurrection, is not 
 till then ; therefore the whole thousand years is included in the day 
 of judgment. 
 
 " Hence it will follow, that whatsoever Scripture speaks of a 
 kingdom of Christ, to be at his second appearing or at the destruc- 
 tion of Antichrist, it must needs be the same which Daniel saw 
 should be at that time, and so consequently be the kingdom of a 
 thousand years, which the Apocalypse includes between the beginning 
 and consummation of the great judgment. 
 
 "Ergo, that in Ijiike xvii. from verse 20 to the end. 
 
 "And that in Luke xix. from the Ilth verse to the I5th inclu- 
 sively 
 
APPENDIX. 481 
 
 " And that in Luke xxi. 31. Wheii ye see these things come to pass, 
 know that the hingdom of God is at hand. See what went 
 before, viz. The Son of Man's coming in a cloud ivith poioer and 
 great glory ; borrowed from Daniel. 
 " And that in 2 Tim. iv. 1. I charge thee before God, and the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, loho shall judge the qidck and the dead at his ap- 
 pearing and his kingdom. 
 "By these we may understand the rest; taking this for a sui-e 
 ground, that this expression of [The Son of Man's coming in the 
 cloiids of heaven] so often inculcated in the New Testament, is taken 
 from and hath reference to the prophecy of Daniel, being nowhere 
 else found in the Old Testament." — Mede, Book IV. Epist. 15, page 
 763. See likewise Book III., page 532 ; also Wintle on Dan. "vii. 14. 
 
 The following very important discussion I take from Hengsten- 
 berg : — 
 
 TRACES OF THE BOOK IN PRE-MACCABEAN TIMES. 
 
 *' To the external arguments of the genuineness belong, lastly, the 
 traces of the existence of our book in the pre-Maccabean times. If 
 those traces are not of such a nature as to suffice alone for a proof 
 of the genuineness, and to have equal weight with really important 
 counter arguments, yet, since such counter arguments are nowhere 
 to be found, they are, in connection with ail the other proofs of the 
 genuineness, of no small importance, 
 
 "a. According to Josephus, Arch. xi. 8, 5, the Book of Daniel was 
 shown to Alexander the Great, and that prophecy was referred by 
 him to himself, in which a Greek was announced as the conqueror of 
 the Persian empire. Now, in order to enfeeble this testimony, at- 
 tacks have been directed partly against the whole narrative, partly 
 against this particular point in it. To judge of the former, we must 
 previously place more exactly before us the contents of the nar- 
 rative. 
 
 *' During the siege of Tyre, Alexander commanded the Jewish 
 high-priest to do him homage, and send him troops and provisions. 
 The high-priest, true to the oath which he had taken to the still 
 living Darius, had refused this. Alexander deferred his revenge till 
 the conclusion of the siege of Tyre and Gaza. After that, he 
 marched against Jerusalem. The high-priest is in great consterna- 
 tion ; public prayers and sacrifices are commanded ; after these he is 
 tranquillized by God in a dream, and commanded to go himself, with 
 
432 APPENDIX. 
 
 the priests in their official habiliments, and with the rest of the 
 people in ■white garments, to meet the conqueror. This is done as 
 soon as Alexander approaches the city. The procession meets him 
 at a place where there was a view of the city and temple. Alexan- 
 der goes immediately to the high-priest, embraces him, and testifies 
 his veneration for the name of God on his mitre. To the wondering 
 question of Parmenio, why he, to whom all others testified their 
 veneration, honours the Jewish high-priest, Alexander replies, that 
 the homage is not rendered to the high-priest, but to his God ; for 
 that he had seen Him in a vision in this very expedition, when he 
 was yet in Macedonia ; that He had promised to undertake the lead- 
 ing of his army, and to give him the Persian dominion ; that this 
 coincidence of the dream with the reality gave him a firm hope of 
 victory. He then, attended by the high-priest, and surrounded by 
 the priests, marched into the city, sacrificed in the temple, according 
 to the directions of the high-priest, and showed great honour both to 
 him and to the priests. Then they showed him the Book of Daniel. 
 On his demanding that he should ask some favour for the people, the 
 high-priest asked for exemption from tribute in the seventh year, as 
 being the fallow year. Many Jews tlien, on the command of Alex- 
 ander, determined to participate in the expedition. The Samaritans, 
 under the pretext that they had affinity with the Jevvs, tried to ob- 
 tain a share in the favours imparted to them ; but in this they did 
 not succeed. 
 
 "The truth of this whole account has been assailed, after the ex- 
 ample of V. Dale, [dissert sup. Aristeam de LXX. interpreit., p. 68 
 sqq.,) by several moderns, on the following grounds: 1. 'The cir- 
 cumstance that Alexander, after the conquest of Tyre, marched to 
 Gaza, from thence back to Jerusalem, and from thence to Egypt, is 
 chronologically false. He would then have made a useless circuit 
 of several days. All writers, too, agree that he went immediately 
 from Gaza to Egypt. Thus Prideaux, 1. c. iii. p. 115 ; and after him, 
 word for word, Griesinger, p. 33.' But there is no difficulty in dis- 
 covering the reason why Alexander marched first to Gaza and then 
 to Jerusalem. Gaza would seem to him by far the more important ; 
 the brave Persian satrap Betis had hired Arabian mercenaries, and 
 laid up provisions in that strong city for a long siege ; the walls were 
 very high, the siege extremely difficult. (Comp. Arrian exp. Al. p. 
 151, ed Blancardi.) Alexander might hope that, if he succeeded in 
 taking this place, the rest, including Jerusalem, would submit to 
 him without drawing his sword, and the result showed that in this 
 calculation he was not deceived. This advantage was certainly well 
 worth the circuit of a few days. Moreover, this very representation 
 of the march of Alexander, so improbable at first view, speaks in 
 faA'our of the trustworthiness of Josephus. Had he not confined 
 
ArPENDix. 433 
 
 himself strictly to his authorities, he would certainly have placed 
 the coming of Alexander to Jerusalem betvreen the siege of Tyre 
 and of Gaza. The statement of the other historical sources, that 
 Alexander marched immediately from Gaza to Egypt, proves no- 
 thing ; it is a mere argumentam a silentio, founded on the omission 
 of a diversion of some days, -which is the less surprising considering 
 the abundance of important incidents which the life of Alexander 
 affords. Besides, it affects the opponents in like manner; for Alex- 
 ander must have been in Jerusalem, as we shall afterward see ; but 
 the ancient writers make him pass just as immediately from Tyre to 
 Gaza, as from Gaza to Egypt. 2. ' It is not matter of history, when 
 Josephus makes Parmenio say to Alexander, that all men offered 
 him the ri^osxvvriGi^ (t'I/' 6?jrtO'z'f, n^O!SxvvQvvtuv avtov aTtdv-tcov, avroj 
 Tipogxvvr-astE tov 'lovbaiLoi' apj^-cfpfa.) Not till a later period did Alex- 
 ander think of exalting himself into a god, and demanding the 
 npotsxvi'tjai^ as an acknowledgment of his divine dignity.' But 
 surely nothing was more natural than for the subjects of the Per- 
 sian empire to transfer to him the customary mark of honour, even 
 without his demanding it ; and that he assumed it icilUngly may be 
 supposed from his subsequent conduct. 3. ' Chaldeans are men- 
 tioned in the retinue of the king ; yet at that time they were still 
 subject to the Persian king.' But what hinders our assuming that, 
 even before the taking of Babylon, Chaldee renegades had deserted 
 to Alexander, as Josephus seems to intimate in express terms ? This 
 may the more readily be imagined, as the Babylonians afterward re- 
 ceived Alexander with joy, as the restorer of their worship, to which 
 the Persians had borne an ill will. 4. * The dream of the high-priest 
 looks very like a fiction.' But if we set aside all supernatural opera- 
 tions, and suppose that the high-priest only dreamed what had 
 passed through his waking soul, or that he only gave out that he 
 dreamed it, certainly all in the narrative that concerns the high 
 priest's share in the affair has the highest probabilit3^ The whole 
 contrivance was admirably suited to the character of Alexander. It 
 could not have been forgotten by the high-priest that, on the capture 
 of Tyre, Alexander had spared all those who had taken refuge in the 
 temple, that he had sacrificed to BLercules, had instituted a great fes- 
 tival in honour of him, and dedicated a Tyrian ship to him. (Comp. 
 UssHER. z. J. 3673.) The measure which he chose, therefore, must 
 have appeared to him the most suitable for mitigating the wrath of 
 Alexander. 
 
 "Let us now pass on to establish the truth of the narrative by 
 positive arguments, in which whatever else has been advanced 
 against it will find a sufficient reply. 
 
 " In several main particulars the narrative is confirmed by express 
 historical testimonies. Arriax says that Judea was not mastered 
 
434 APPENDIX. 
 
 by force of arms, but surrendered of its own accord, (1. ii. p. 150: 
 xau tp> OJvfM 'ta /xev aT^Tia tr^i; UaT.aiSfiVTj^ jiaTLOu^itVryf St'pt'aj Ttpoaxs' 
 XupT^xota rjbri.) The personal presence of Alexander in Judea is re- 
 marked, apart from Josephus, not only, as Schlosser asserts, 
 ( Wellgescli. I. p. 170) by the Arabian writer Makrizi, but also by 
 Pliny, [Hist. Kat. xii. 26,) who speaks of an observation made in 
 natural history in connection with this event. That Jews served in- 
 the army of Alexander, is reported by the contemporary heathen 
 writer Hecat^eus Abderita. How great the favour of Alexander 
 must have been toward the Jews, appears from the statement, 
 although a false one, of the same writer, (in Jos. c. Aj). ii.4,) that 
 Alexander granted to the Jews the region of Samaria. The genuine- 
 ness of this book has indeed been called in question by an anony- 
 mous author in Eichhorn's Bihl. f. bibl. Litt. Th. 5, p. 432, sqq., 
 who maintains that the writing was forged by some nameless Jew. 
 But the only argument advanced for this assertion, the predilection 
 for the Jews displayed in the fragments of Ilecatseus, is, as Zorn 
 has already shown, [Hectcei Abd.fragmenta. Alton. 1730, ann. p. 5,) 
 certainly not sufficient to establish it. It must be well remembered 
 that those who have preserved to us the fragments of IIecat^eus, 
 Josephus, and Eusebius, select only what was favourable to the 
 Jews. It appears from the fragments of IIecat.eus themselves, that 
 he was a.n enlightened heathen, for whom, therefore, Judaism had 
 some attractions, and who, as was often the case in those times, had 
 a certain leaning toward it. How few external reasons there were 
 for suspecting the book, is clear from the fact that even Herexnius 
 PiiiLO, in Origen c. Celsiwi, 1. 1, did not venture decidedly to reject 
 its genuineness, and that Josephus could dare, in the face of his 
 heathen readers, boldly to appeal to its authority. AVhat, moreover, 
 is decisive against this assertion, is the great want of acquaintance 
 with the older history of the Jev/s, which the author clearly displays. 
 Neither a Jew nor a Jewish proselyte could relate that the Persians 
 (instead of the Chaldeans) carried away many myriads of Jews to 
 Babylon. So gross an error, also, as that Samaria was granted to 
 the Jews, could hardly have come from a Jew. But the favour of 
 Alexander toward the Jews is clear from another circumstance. Af- 
 ter the founding of Alexandria he not only granted them the fi'ce 
 observance of their religion and laws, but guaranteed them the same 
 privileges in that respect as the Macedonians themselves. (Comp. 
 Prideaux, 1. c. p. 126.) But if the favour of Alexander toward the 
 Jews is established, we may draw thence a conclusion for the truth 
 of the whole narration. For it is correctly observed by Jaiin, 
 {Archiiol. II. i. p. 306,) 'If this principal point, the favour shown 
 toward the Jews, be correct, there must have been some great cause 
 for it, corresponding to the character of Alexander; and, since that 
 
APPENDIX. 435 
 
 assigned by Josophus is of such a nature, there is no reason to doubt 
 of it.' We have brought forward this passage, also, that it may be 
 seen how correctly Bleek has read, when he maintains, 1. c. p. 184, 
 that even Jahn is satisfied to vindicate simply the main fact, the 
 favour shown to the Jews, as historically true. Even the special 
 circumstance that the high-priest in full costume, and particularly 
 with the head-dress, {ini t)j^ xs^aJ^rjg e%ovTfa t'j^v xl8apvv x. t". 7..,) went 
 to meet Alexander, is confirmed by a passage of Justin, xi. 10: 
 Tunc in Syriam prqficiscitur, nbi ohvios cum infulis mullos Orientis 
 regea Jiahuit. Ex his pro meriiis singidonim aliis in societatem recepif, 
 aliis regninn ademit, suffectis in loca corum aliis regihus. Finally, 
 the truth of the narrative as a whole is confirmed by other ancient 
 Jewish writers, who agree with Josephus in the essential circum- 
 stances; compare the passages in Hess, [Geschidde der Regentenin 
 d. Exil. ii. p. 37,) who well deserves to be consulted on this incident. 
 "But that which has no express historical confirmation is recom- 
 mended so strongly by its internal truth, that we cannot think of 
 fiction in the matter. For instance, the behaviour of Alexander is 
 so very correspondent with his historical character, that persons 
 have only manifested their ignorance of history in trying from this 
 point in particular to obtain arguments against the truth of the nar- 
 ration. Alexander had a twofold reason for his kindly behaviour 
 toward the Jews. In the then state of things, (the Persian empire 
 was indeed weakened, but not for a long while after conquered,) it 
 would be to him of no little importance to lay under obligation to 
 him a people who were not insignificant, and in this way to bind 
 them firmly to him ; and then the way in which the high-priest came 
 to meet him offered him a welcome opportunity of doing it, accord- 
 ing to his custom of perverting religion as the means to his ends, 
 and representing himself as a favourite of Deity. We maintain, 
 against Hess, 1. c. p. 33, that the dream of Alexander, in all proba- 
 bility, was fabricated by him. Could any thing else be expected of 
 a man who, soon afterward, sent forward persons to bribe the priests 
 in the temple of Jupiter Ammon to declare what he wished ? — who, 
 on the expedition against the Scythians, demanded from the seer, 
 " Aristandcr, when he foretold misfortune, that ho should invent 
 another prophecy promising success? (Arriax, 1. iv. p. 246) — who, 
 when the Chaldeans cautioned him not to go to Babylon, expressed 
 his decided disbelief of all prophecy, by quoting the verse of Eu- 
 ripides — 
 
 (Arrian, p. 478,) and yet constantly inquired of the seers? But 
 how much the character of Alexander inclined him to such a political 
 use of religion, may be shown by many examples. From this ten* 
 
436 APPENDIX. 
 
 dency of his, various tales originated by which his history, even in 
 his own time, was disfigured. Thus, the account of the two ravens, 
 who, according to the statement of Ptolemy Lagus, led the army on 
 the expedition through the wilderness to the temple of Jupiter and 
 back again ; or, according to Calisthenes, in Plutarch, even brought 
 back the several stragglers to the army. Men tried by such fables 
 to gain the favour of the king. Alexander desired nothing more 
 than that, on the expedition to India, certain tribes should receive 
 him as the third son of Jupiter. (Prideaux, iii. p. 150.) On his re- 
 turn from India he instituted, in imitation of Bacchus, a procession 
 of three days. (Prid. p. 153.) In order to attain this end, he sub- 
 mitted to exertions and sacrifices in comparison of which the favours 
 conferred on the Jews are not deserving of mention. So, in order 
 to procure for himself the advantages which the Persian kings de- 
 rived from their divine honours, he undertook a tedious, difficult, 
 and dangerous journey to the temple of Jupiter. Ammon, on which 
 he and his whole army nearly perished with thirst. He submitted 
 humbly to the demand of the priests, that no one besides himself 
 should enter the temple. At a time when his power was much more 
 established, he had the temple of Bel as, at Bab^don, restored at im- 
 mense cost. When it is asserted that Alexander would not have 
 condescended to sacrifieo in the temple under the direction of the 
 high-priest, it seems to be forgotten that he did the very same thing 
 under the direction of the Chaldean priest, at Babylon, in the temple 
 of Belus ; and, indeed, his whole conduct there is very similar, in a 
 religious point of view, to that at Jerusalem. Arrian says, p. 190 : 
 tv9a 6>2 Jcctt T'otj Xa.?t6at-ot5 h-htvxf^ xal oaa sBoxsi 'KoXSaioi^ ajx^i 'ta tspa 
 T'tt iv BoSv'Kmvc, frfpo^E' T'a -r'f a?^a. xai ro) Br^'Ka xa.da ixuvot, e^r^yovvto, 
 kdvasv. 
 
 " Let us now turn specially to the statement of Josephus, touching 
 the prophecies of Daniel. Ilcre also it may be easily shown how 
 well it was contrived that the prophecies about himself should be 
 laid before Alexander, how extremely suitable to Alexander is the 
 behaviour ascribed to him on that occasion. Alexander knew too 
 well the influence which prophecy exercised on the whole world at, 
 that time, not to avail himself of this means, among others, for the 
 establishment of his authority and for the gratification of his vanity. 
 He endeavoured, by the voices of the seers of the most diverse na- 
 tions, to get himself declared the favourite of the gods, while in se- 
 cret he laughed at superstition, certainly at least when the prophe- 
 cies were not altogether to his mind. Plutarch remarks generally, 
 as characteristic of him, that he alwaj^s prided himself much on hav- 
 ing prophecies in his favour, [avy.^CKo-dfxovix.ivoi dst tol^ ^.i.avtivi.i.a.st.) 
 The soothsayer, Aristandor, was constantly in his train ; even an or- 
 dinary Syrian woman, who passed for a prophetess, was not con- 
 
APPENDIX. 437 
 
 sidered by him too mean to be allowed access to him day and night, 
 (compare Arriax, p. 269 ;) the priests of Jupiter Amnion must 
 make him out by an oracle to be a son of their god ; the Chaldean 
 sages, on his entrance into Babylon, came to meet him in solemn 
 procession, and he found much to transact with them. 
 
 " The objections which have been raised against the exhibition of 
 the prophecies of Daniel to Alexander, need to be hardly more than 
 quoted to show their weakness. 1. ' How could Alexander read a He- 
 brew writing? How could he make out the symbolical language? 
 Why did he not feel himself ofiended at seeing himself represented as 
 a he-goat, and his great empire as a passing show V AH these ob- 
 jections rest on the false supposition, which has not the least founda- 
 tion in the text of Josephus, that Alexander himself read the pro- 
 phecies of Daniel. They were shown to him, and he was told tlieir 
 contents ; and the king, careless about what was really contained in 
 the book, caught eagerly at it, because the alleged contents were 
 quite according to his wish, just as the Assyrians, (compare Ges. zu 
 Jes.i. p. 94G,) without further inquiry, made use of the Hebrew pro 
 phecies, in which, as they might have learnt by mere hearsay, an 
 U'ruption on their side was predicted as a divine judgment. As re 
 gards the image of the he-goat, it is judging quite according to our 
 ideas in the present day, when it is asserted that it must have ap- 
 peared offensive to the king ; in the symbolism of the Babylonians 
 and Persians, as we shall hereafter see, the he-goat was a very ho- 
 nourable symbol, and Alexander was surely familiar enough by this 
 time with the symbolical spirit of the East, not to take such a thing 
 oifensively. And, besides, just that prophecy which of all pointed 
 most distinctly to Alexander, and the one therefore that was proba- 
 bly laid before him, chap. xi. 2, 3, is quite destitute of imagery. It 
 is true, in the prophecies which foretell Alexander's greatness, there 
 is at the same time predicted the speedy dismemberment of his em- 
 pire after his death. But who shall say that they did nut content 
 themselves with imparting to him only just as much as would dispose 
 him favourably toward the nation ? And, supposing an}^ one should, 
 without reason, assume the contrary, have we not other instances in 
 which Alexander, from among prophecies which announced both suc- 
 cess and misfortune, joyfully appropriated the former, and allowed 
 the others to rest in peace ? (Comp. Arrian, p. 151.) 
 
 "2. 'In both prophecies (viii. 21, xi. 2, 3,) the express command 
 was laid on Daniel to close them up or to seal them, and they are 
 thus declared to be uninteUigible. It must therefore be allowed that, 
 in the time of Alexander, no one as yet could understand the mean- 
 ing of these prophecies.' This argument again is peculiar to Bleek. 
 It is sufficient for its refutation to remark that in the passages quoted 
 it is not an absolute obscurity that is spoken of, but that whi^h is 
 
438 APPENDIX. 
 
 only relative and partial. This is clear, if not sufficiently from the 
 nature of the case, at least quite so from a comparison of chapter x. 
 1 with xii. 8. In the first passage, it is said that Daniel obtained an 
 insight into the vision, chap. x. 12 ; in the second, ' I heard it, but 
 understood it not,^ and Daniel receives the command to seal up the 
 vision, because it vras destined for a future period. If a gross con- 
 tradiction is not meant to be set up here, one is compelled to take 
 the understanding and the non-understanding relatively. But if 
 this is the case, then there could not have been, at least as to those 
 prophecies which refer to Alexander, especially at the time when 
 they had already begun to be fulfilled, a non-understanding, since 
 they belong to the clearest in the book. That a Greek would some 
 day destroy the Persian empire, is declared in such explicit and di- 
 rect terms that even a child must understand it, and nothing further 
 was said to Alexander by the Jews, even according to Josephus ; the 
 personal reference to himself was his own work. But we will not 
 linger any longer on the refutation of such an argument. 
 
 " Thus we think we have sufficiently justified the testimony of 
 Josephus to the existence of the Book of Daniel in the time of Alex- 
 ander the Great, and consequently to its genuineness, since the ques- 
 tion can only be whether Daniel is genuine, or whether composed in 
 the time of Ant. Epiph. Of course, if there existed any decisive 
 grounds against the genuineness, the statement of Josephus alone 
 would not suffice to invalidate them ; but we have already seen that 
 such is not the case. And thus it looks quite gratuitous for Bleek, 
 p. 185, to suppose that the Jews might easily have appealed to pro- 
 phecies in relation to Alexander, and that it is merely a fiction of 
 Josephus to say they were the prophecies of Daniel in particular. 
 
 " We add in conclusion, further, on the historical character of the 
 whole relation of Josephus, a remark of a modern historian, whose 
 hostile disposition toward revealed religion and toward the chosen 
 people, makes him discover in their history, in other respects, a tissue 
 of lies and fables, and whose testimony, therefore, as that of an em- 
 bittered, blinded enemy, is of peculiar weight. Leo says, in his 
 Vorlesungen ither die Gescliiclite des J'dd. Volkes, p. 200, * The entire 
 tale has nothing improbable in itself: armed resistance on the part 
 of the high-priest would have been folly ; he might thus have 
 peaceably gone to meet Alexander. And how readily Alexander al- 
 lowed the Asiatic world to believe that he stood in near connection 
 with the gods of the nations which- he had subdued, is known from 
 other sources. It has been regarded as improbable that Alexander' 
 should not have hastened immediately from Gaza to Egypt ; but to 
 march from Gaza to Egypt by way of Jerusalem, was, at the most, a 
 circuit of only a few days, and Judea no unimportant point in an 
 
APPENDIX. 439 
 
 expedition to Egj^pt; this mountain land must on no account be left 
 in the rear, in tiio hands of enemies.' 
 
 " b. The dying Mattathias, 1 Mace. ii. 59, 60, exhorts his relatives, 
 among other things, to steadfastness, by referring to the example of 
 Daniel and his three companions: 'Ananias, Azarias, Misael, by 
 believing, were saved out of the flame. Daniel, for his innocency, 
 was delivered from the mouth of lions.'* Now several, as Bert- 
 HOLDT, maintain that Mattathias can have had before him here only 
 the several tales in question, circulating independently of each other — > 
 which assumption rests on the demonstrably incorrect hypothesis of 
 a plurality of authors ; or that he may refer to oral tradition, which 
 is refuted by the fact that all the other numerous examples adduced 
 by him are borrowed, without exception, from the sacred writings. 
 Bleek, on the contrary, (p. 183,) allows that the passage is really to 
 be regarded as a testimony to our Book of Daniel, but avers that we 
 have not here Mattathias's own words, but a discourse put into his 
 mouth by the historian. This assertion, it is true, cannot be com- 
 bated with decided certainty ; but it could not be rightly considered 
 as made out, unless we could from other sources prove the spurious- 
 ness of Daniel ; and, since this is not the case, this testimony de- 
 serves always to be alleged among the arguments for the genuine- 
 ness. Even supposing the correctness of Bleek's position, it is at 
 least so far of importance, as it shows bow firmly people were per- 
 suaded of the genuineness at a time so near the assumed origin of 
 the Book of Daniel. A reference to Daniel is perhaps also found in 
 the words of Mattathias, 1 Mace. ii. 49 : ' Now is pride established, 
 and rebuke, and the time of destruction, and the wrath of indigna- 
 tion. 'f Comp. Dan. viii. 19 : ' Behold I will make thee know what 
 shall be in the last end of the indignation ; for at the time appointed 
 the end shall be. 'J Mat. appears to intimate that the grievous time 
 pointed at by Daniel is now arrived. 
 
 "c. The Alexandrine translators have introduced the doctrine of 
 guardian angels of kingdoms, which in the whole of the Old Testa- 
 ment occurs only in Daniel, into two passages, in which so small a 
 space of it is contained, that only a previous acquaintance with this 
 doctrine could have led them to give this translation. In Deut. 
 xxxii. 8, (God has defined the boundaries of the people according to 
 
 * ^A-vaviae, 'A^ap^'aj, 'Xlv^arjX rCastivaavte^ eadiOrjaav ix ^^oyoj. Aaviri% 
 av "trj arc%6tyjtv azTfov ip^jvadrj ix Gtojxato^ T^toptcov, 
 
 f Nvv iarrjpixG'y] VTisprj^avia xai iT^Byfioi xai xatpb^ xataatpoipriS xai opyv} 
 dvfiov. 
 
 X 'l8ov iyui ttrtayytX;^^J 60i a tdTfat, i7t' iox^T^ov tr^i 6py)j5 fotj vloc^ tov 
 ?iaov 6ov' In ydp ft? topaj xaipov ovi'T'fXftaj ixevil. 
 
4-10 APPENDIX. 
 
 the number of the children of Israel,) they translate the words 
 '^K'^^** *^D 15DD 7 ^V' ' accordmg to the number of the angels of 
 God ;'- in Isa. XXX. 4, the words V^b"! lON^S?^ (i\*'^':S VPt O 
 
 T T T T : - I : T 
 
 by, 'For there are in Tanos, as princes, wicked angels/f It has, on 
 the other hand, been objected that the LXX. might have taken the 
 dogma thus introduced from the popular belief, which originated in 
 their intercourse with heathen nations, and independently of the Scrip- 
 ture. But we saw before, how unfounded the assertion is that the 
 Jews borrowed the doctrine of the tutelary spirits of nations from 
 the Persians, among whom it did not all exist; and it is to be well 
 observed that this doctrine is by the Jews constantly founded on 
 Daniel. (Corap. Eisenmenger, i. p. 806. Jo. a Lent. iheoJogia Jud. p. 
 27G.) It is true, however, that this argument can only pass for a 
 secondary argument, since it must be allowed possible, altliough not 
 probable, that the Jews derived this doctrine from gross misunder- 
 standing of some passages of the Bible besides Daniel. 
 
 " d. More important than the two preceding is the proof now to be 
 adduced of the existence of the Book of Daniel previously to the 
 times of the Maccabees. Here we must begin with making good cer- 
 tain presumptions which form the groundwork of it. 
 
 "1. It is time at length to examine the assertion, which is as 
 generally as confidently made, of a Hebrew or Aramcean original of 
 the First Book of the Maccabees, now that we have so long and va- 
 riously quoted it with its alleged arguments in our favour. This 
 examination naturally cannot be instituted here comprehensively, 
 and so as to exhaust the subject ; yet this much, at least, may be 
 briefly shown, that the arguments hitherto alleged for a non-Greek 
 original are not tenable. We are reminded that Origen quotes the 
 title of the book in Hebrew, (Orig. in Eus. II. Fed. vi. 25 : i|co be 
 iovtoiv Jati ifa '\laxxa(ja'Cxa, arCsp ErttysypaTtr'at. Sap/Bji^ Xapj3avs "ETl.,) 
 which, it is said, supposes, of course, that in his time the Avhole book 
 was in existence in Hebrew or Aramaean ; that Jerome had even 
 seen the Hebrew original. [Prol. gal. : Maccahctorum jirimum librum 
 Hebraicum reiKvi.) But these testimonies show nothing more than 
 that in the time of Origen and Jerome the book existed also in 
 Hebrew or Aramcean ; if Origen and Jerome regarded this as the 
 original work, that is not at all to the purpose. ' The Hebrew or 
 Aramaean copy might just as well be a translation, as we possess 
 such translations of most of such apocryphal writings as were writ- 
 ten in Greek. It is further alleged that in the book many expressions 
 
 * KaT'd apiOfibv ayyiTuov @£0v. 
 
 f "Ot'c £L(iiv iv Tarsi dpx-y]yoi dyyrXoi jtovy]f) 
 
 1 01. 
 
APPENDIX. 44^ 
 
 occur which do not receive their full explanation till they are trans- 
 lated back again into IIel)rew. But were this argument valid, all 
 the books of the New Testament might, with little difficult}'', be 
 proved to have had a Hebrew or Aramaean original. The occurrence 
 of Hebraisms in tliis book, however, assuming its Greek original, is 
 still more conceivable, if we remember that the Greek language was 
 then much more recent and strange to the Jews. And, what is 
 more, the very Hebraisms which have been produced as the most 
 convincing, (comp. e. g. EicnHORX, Einl. in die Apokr. p. 219, sqq.,) 
 are found in the LXX,, and, as probably taken by the author from 
 them, serve rather for proof th.at Greek was the language of the 
 original. Thus, e. g. for rjtotpLdaOrj 57 Qaao'Kda ivi!o7ii,ov Avtioxov, i. 16, 
 comp, 1 Sam. XX. 30, 1 Kings ii. 12, 1 Chron. xvii. 11; for rtaj o 
 i^ovata^' pL£vo^ T'w w^9, ii, 24, comp. Ezra ii. 68, vii. 15, &c. ; for 
 a7i?^^v%o(, in the sense of Philistines, 1 Kings xiii. 2. Of more im- 
 portance would be the proof from errors in iranslation, if the only 
 vouchers that have been adduced for this did not rest on insecure 
 assumptions. Thus in chap iv. 16, iVt rCTirjpovvtog 'lov8a raxJT'a, * whilst 
 Judas was saying this,' rCTiT^poa is said to be used in a sense quite 
 
 unusual, and only to be explained from the exchange of 77D ^^^ 
 
 ^^f2- But here it may first be asked whether 7iXy;p6co has really the 
 meaning ascribed to it, to say, and not rather that which occurs not 
 rarely in the LXX. and in the New Testament, to complete, to do. 
 In chap. vi. 1, [htlv 'ETiv/xal's h -t'/j IlspaCdi, rto?itf,) we are told, such a 
 sad error in the geography as the changing of the province Elymais 
 into a city, can only be explained by supposing that the Greek trans- 
 lator, from ignorance of geography, translated the Hebrew H^'H/p 
 as Aquila does, Dan,viii.2, hj city, instead oi province. This as- 
 sertion mi.glit have some plausibility, if there did not occur in the 
 First Book of the Maccabees, in the other accounts relating to 
 foreign geography and histoiy, numerous and almost as great mis- 
 takes. These are all the arguments for a non-Greek original of the 
 book. On the contrary, among other things, may be noted the fol- 
 lowing. We have above shown that the author of the First Book of 
 the Maccabees made use of Daniel ; and that he copied not the 
 original, but the LXX., is shown by the frequent verbal agreement 
 in the expressions. That the expression (5dt%vyixa tr^s spj^^uwafcoj is 
 borrowed from the LXX. even Bleek, p. 181, allows. Now, it might 
 be objected that several of the expressions quoted (although not by 
 any means all ; even for J85I. if. sp. Theodotiox has, chap. 31, jSSsXt-y.uo. 
 vida-vLOfx-ivov) arc translated in the same way by Tiieodotiox, and that 
 therefore the agreement of the First Book of the Maccabees with the 
 Alexandrine version can only be accidental. But this objection is 
 
442 APPEInDIX. 
 
 rendered invalid, if we consider that Theodotiox, not only in general, 
 as Jerome and Epiphanius have already remarked, (comp. among the 
 moderns, e.g. De Wette, p. 81,) but in particular in dealing vrith 
 Daniel, as the most cursory comparison will prove, did not by any 
 means give a new translation, but only retouched and improved the 
 Alexandrine. Now, if the using of the Alexandrine version in the 
 First Book of the Maccabees, as it lies before us, is established, is it 
 at all likely that the alleged Greek translator introduced this agree- 
 ment? Would he not have independently translated, not merely the 
 book as a whole, but these particular passages that relate to the 
 Book of Daniel ? Moreover, Josephus has nowhere made use of a 
 non-Greek original; he rather follows constantly our Greek book, 
 and, indeed, often in its very words. The Syrian translator, too, has 
 translated from the Greek. Lastly, there is no reason to doubt that 
 the Chaldee copy of the First Book of the Maccabees, still existing, 
 and edited by Bartolocci, is the same that Origen and Jerome 
 meant. This, however, may be immediately seen to be a bad and 
 disfigured copy of our First Book of the Maccabees. 
 
 " 2. It has been frequently maintained that the First Book of the 
 Maccabees could not have been composed till after the death of John 
 Hyrcanus, (106 B.C.,) because, according to chap. xvi. 23, 24, the 
 memoir of the life and deeds of Hyrcanus already existed as a com- 
 plete whole at the time of the composition. (Comp. e. g. Eichhorx, 
 p. 247, Bertholdt, p. 1048.) But this passage, [xal ta Xotrta -rwv 
 J'^ywv "lojclvvov — ibov ravta ylypartrat irtt j8t,3?aov ^/xfpwv ap;j;c-fpc<j5i;t?;j 
 avtov, a^ ov iysvr^9'/j apx'-^P^^? fiita tov Tiatipa avtov,) on the contrary, 
 shows that the book was composed, although certainly a considerable 
 time after the beginning of the reign of Hyrcanus, yet before the 
 end of it — otherwise, why should the terminus a quo be expressly 
 assigned, and not the teiminus ad quem f We must make the more 
 use of this indication, because we are compelled by the internal 
 complexion of the book to place the time of its composition as early 
 as possible. Ancient and modern scholars are agreed that the book, 
 as far as regards the native accounts, possesses in a high degree the 
 character of trustworthiness and historical fidelity, that it is dis- 
 tinguished in particular by an exact and correct chronology. Now, 
 how can those marks of excellence, which appear in an especially 
 striking light on comparison with the Second Book of the Macca- 
 bees, be otherwise explained than on the assumption that the book 
 was written at a time comparatively near the incidents depicted in it, , 
 so that the author could write the truth if he really wished to ? This 
 assumption is the more necessary, the more numerous were the fic- 
 tions and exaggerations by which the Jewish national pride by de- 
 grees disfigured the history of the Maccabees. We can avoid it only 
 on the hypothesis that there were older written authorities ; but this 
 
APrEXDTX. 4^3 
 
 is very improbable, because the author no"^here refers to such 
 sources, not even -where, as in chap. ix. 23, we might surely expect 
 such a reference, the more so as the historical books of the Old Tes- 
 tament, ■which the author is perpetually copying, are accustomed to 
 quote their authorities. Besides, in the closing verses of the book 
 that are adduced, there seems contained an intimation that beyond 
 the period whose history the author described, no written records 
 existed. For when the author closes his work with the death of 
 Simon, and pronounces the continuation of it unnecessary, because 
 the history of Hyrcanus was to be found written elsewhere, it surely 
 seems to follow that from the same reason he would not have written 
 the earlier history, if there had already existed trustworthy earlier 
 records respecting it. 
 
 " 3. The Alexandrine version of Daniel, as appears from the fore- 
 going remarks, must have been made before the First Book of the 
 ^Maccabees, and, indeed, probably a considerable time before, since 
 the way in which the author makes use of it seems to suppose its 
 distribution and reception by the church in Palestine. "SVe have a 
 second testimony to its earlier composition in the prologue to Jesus 
 Sirach, composed about the year 130 b. c, in which, as De "Wette 
 also (1. c. p. 75) is inclined to assume, the Greek translation of the 
 entire Old Testament is supposed complete. Lastly, an indication 
 of the time of composition is perhaps furnished us by the translation 
 itself. — In chap. x. 1, it renders the words "li3"in DN P^l by 
 xa.1 to 7i%r^9o^ to iaxvpov Siavor^Or^sstai to Ttpoatayi-ia. Bv to rtT^r^O. to iax- 
 are probably intended the Jews at the time of the Maccabees, as 
 those who, according to chap. xii. 9, 10, will receive a full insight 
 into the vision which was partially closed up at the time it was 
 given. But a very exact definition like this, for which there is not 
 the slightest ground in the text, can only be explained by supposing 
 the author to have lived in the ]Maccabean time itself, and observed 
 the mighty influence exerted upon it by the prophecies of Daniel. 
 
 " Xow, according to these explanations, the Alexandrine version is 
 in any case separated by only a very small interval of time from the 
 composition of the book itself, if we are to regard it as spurious. 
 According to Bleek, (p. 2SS,) chapters i.-vi. were composed during 
 the time that the Jewish worship was abolished by Antiochus 
 Epiphanes — very soon after the consecration of the altar of burnt- 
 otiering for heathen sacrifices ; the prophetic sections probably some- 
 what later, after the restoration of the Jewish worship by Judas 
 Maccabseus, shortly before or immediately after the death of An- 
 tiochus Epiphanes ; the whole, therefore, within the 3-ears 167-163, 
 B. c. But we should certainly expect that a book whose author and 
 translator are quite contemporary, or at most separated by only a 
 very small interval of time, would be more correctly translated than 
 
444 APPENDIX. 
 
 all the other far older books of the Old Testament ; and in like man- 
 ner, too, that no traces of variation in the translation would occur, 
 which, indeed, in a work only just come to light, are scarcely to be 
 conceived. But now, in the present case, the very contrary is found. 
 The translation of Daniel is the very worst of all, so bad that the 
 ancient church rejected it — a thing that, with their high veneration 
 for the LXX., says much — and substituted the translation of Theo- 
 DOTiON ; comp. De Wette, 1. c. p. 76. Gross misunderstandings of 
 the original are so frequent on every hand, that it is not worth while 
 to quote particular instances, especially as Michaelis has already, 
 in his dissertation on this version, [Or. hihl. iv. p. 17, sqq.,) collected 
 a sufficient quantity of them. Many tim.es, e. g. x. 8, the translator 
 gives mere words, without any sense. Perhaps it will be attempted 
 to charge this character of the translation on the Alexandrine origin 
 of it. But, for one thing, this origin is very far from proved, since 
 it does not follow from the composition of most parts of the LXX. at 
 Alexandria, that they were all composed there ; for another, it can- 
 not be supposed that, with all the active intercourse between the 
 Jews in Palestine and in Egypt, a proof of which would be furnished 
 by the speedy transmission and immediate translation of the book, 
 the complete understanding of it which the Jews of Palestine must 
 have possessed in the time of the Maccabees, should have been with- 
 holden so entirely from the Alexandrines ; and, finally, the f\ict 
 that the Alexandrine version was in Palestine also the received one, 
 as appears from its being taken as the basis in the First Book of the 
 Maccabees and in the Xew Testament, shows that Daniel was no 
 better understood there than in Egypt. Nor is it less true that traces 
 are found of variations, although Michaelis, (1. c. p. 34 sqq.,) has 
 ascribed much to that source, which can be ascribed only to a para- 
 phrastic freedom, or to ignorance of the language, and to mistakes 
 on the part of the translator. Comp. e. g. chap. v. 21, (rt?.^p);? tdv 
 'y^fA,spojv, xal IV6o|oj iv yrjpst,; chap. xi. 4, {xal Ifspovs St§a|ft ravi'a,) 
 &G,"—Hengstenherg on Daniel, pp. 224-240, Edinburgh, 1848. 
 
 THE PAPACY. 
 
 The strongest expressions I have used in describing the Papacy 
 in the Lecture ending at page 245, are justified by the occurrences 
 of 1850. 
 
 The head of the Apostasy has taken ecclesiastical possession of 
 England— divided it among his creatures— appointed Cardinal Wise- 
 
APPENDIX. 445 
 
 man as their head, and Archbishop of Westminster. Perhaps the 
 most expressive comment on this lecture •will be found in the docu- 
 ments themselves. 
 
 THE PAPAL BULL. 
 
 Apostolic Letter of His Holiness Pope Pius IX., estdblisJiing an 
 Episcopal Hierarchy in England, 
 
 "Ad perpetuam rei memoriam." 
 
 " The power of governing the universal church, intrusted by our 
 Lord Jesus Christ to the Roman pontiff, in the person of St. Peter, 
 Prince of the Apostles, has maintained for centuries in the apostolic 
 see the admirable solicitude with which it watches over the welfare 
 of the Catholic religion in all the earth, and provides with zeal for 
 its progress. Thus has been accomplished the design of its Divine 
 founder, who, by establishing a chief, has in his profound wisdom 
 insured the safety of the church unto the uttermost time. The effect 
 of this solicitude has been felt in most nations, and among these is 
 the noble kingdom of England. History proves that since the first 
 ages of the church, the Christian religion was carried into Great 
 Britain, where it flourished until toward the middle of the fifth cen- 
 tury. After the invasion of the Angles and Saxons in that island, 
 government, as well as religion, fell into a most deplorable state. At 
 once our most holy predecessor, Gregory the Great, sent the monk Au- 
 gustine and his followers ; then he created a great number of bishops, 
 joined to them a multitude of monks and priests, brought the Anglo- 
 Saxons to religion, and succeeded by his influence in re-establishing 
 and extending the Catholic faith in all that country, which then began 
 to assume the name of England. But, to recall more recent facts, 
 nothing seems more evident to us in the history of the Anglican 
 schism of the sixteenth century than the solicitude with which the 
 Roman, pontiffs, our predecessors, succoured and supported, by all 
 the means in their power, the Catholic religion, then exposed in that 
 kingdom to the greatest dangers, and reduced to the last extremities. 
 It is with this object, apart from other means, that so many efforts 
 have been made by the sovereign pontiffs, either by their orders or 
 with their approbation, to keep in England men ready and devoted 
 to the support of Catholicism ; and in order that young Catholics en- 
 dowed by nature might be enabled to come on to the continent, there 
 to receive an education, and be formed with care in the study of ec- 
 clesiastical science, especially in order that, being in sacred orders, 
 they may, on their return to their country, be able to support their 
 
416 APPENDIX. 
 
 countrymen by the ministry of their word and by the sacraments, 
 and that they may defend and propagate the true faith. 
 
 "But the zeal of our predecessors will perhaps be more clearly 
 admitted, as regards what they have done to give the Catholics of 
 England pastors clothed in an episcopal character at a time when a 
 furious and implacable tempest had deprived them of the presence 
 of bishops and their pastoral care. First, the apostolic letter of 
 Gregory XV., commencing with these words, 'Ecclesia Romana,^ and 
 dated the 23d of March, 1G23, shows that the sovereign pontiff, as 
 soon as possible, deputed to the government of English and Scotch 
 Catholic bishops, William Bishop, consecrated Bishop of Chalcis, 
 with ample faculties and powers. After the dea£h of Bishop, Urban 
 VIII. renewed this mission in his apostolic letter, dated January 4, 
 1625, addressed to Richard Smith, and conferring on him the bishop- 
 ric of Chalcis, and all the powers previously resting on Bishop. It 
 seemed subsequently, at the commencement of the reign of James 
 II., that more favourable days were about to dawn upon the Catholic 
 religion. Innocent XI. profited at once by this circumstance, and 
 in 1685 he deputed John Leyburn, Bishop of Adrumede, as vicar- 
 apostolic for all the kingdom of England. Subsequently, by another 
 apostolic letter, dated 30th January, 1688, and commencing as fol- 
 lows, ' Super cathedram,^ he joined with Leyburn three other vicars- 
 apostolic, bishops in partibiis, so that all England, by the care of the 
 apostolic nuncio in this country, Ferdinand, Archbishop of Amosia, 
 was divided by that pontiff into four districts ; that of London, the 
 west, the centre, and the north, which at first were governed by apos- 
 tolic vicars furnished with proper faculties and powers. In the ac- 
 complishment of so grave a charge, they received rules and succour 
 either by the decisions of Benoit XIV., in his Constitution of May 
 30, 1753, which commences with the words, ' Apostolicum minis- 
 terium,^ or by those of other pontiffs, our predecessors, and our Con- 
 gregation for the Propagation of the Faith. This division of all 
 England into four apostolic vicarages lasted till the time of Qregory 
 XVI., who, in his apostolic letter, ' Muneris apostolici,' dated July 
 3, 1840, considering the increase of the Catholic religion in England, 
 and making a new ecclesiastical division of the country, doubled the 
 number of vicarages, and confided the spiritual government of Eng- 
 land to the vicars-apostolic in London, of the west, the east, the 
 centre, of Lancaster, York, and the north. The little we have just 
 said proves clearly that our predecessors applied themselves strongly 
 to use all the means their authority gave them to console the Church 
 of England for its immense disgraces, and to work for its resurrec- 
 tion. Having before our eyes, therefore, the good example of our 
 predecessors, and desirous, by imitating them, of fulfilling the duties 
 
, APPENDIX. 447 
 
 of the supreme apostolate ; pressed, besides, to follow the movements 
 of our heart for that portion of the Lord's vineyard, we proposed to 
 ourselves, from the commencement of our pontificate, to pursue a 
 work that was so well begun, and to apply ourselves in the most 
 serious manner to ftivour every day the development of the church 
 in this kingdom. For this reason, considering as a whole the state 
 of Catholicism in England, reflecting on the considerable number of 
 Catholics, which keep still increasing, remarking that every day the 
 obstacles are falling off which stood in the way of the extension of 
 the Catholic religion, we have thought that the time was come when 
 the form of ecclesiastical government should be resumed in England, 
 such as it exists, freely exists, in other nations, where no particular 
 cause necessitates the ministry of vicars-apostolic. We have thought, 
 that by the progress of time and things, it was no longer necessary 
 to have the English Catholics governed by vicars-apostolic, but on 
 the contrary, that the changes which had already been made neces- 
 sitated the ordinary form of episcopal government. 
 
 *' We have been confirmed in these thoughts by the desires ex- 
 pressed to us by the vicars-apostolic in England, as well as by num- 
 bers of the clergy and laity distinguished by virtue and rank, and by 
 the wishes of the great majority of English Catholics. In maturing 
 this design, we have not failed to implore the aid of the Almighty 
 and Most Gracious God, and that he would grant us grace in this 
 weighty affair to resolve upon that which should be most suitable to 
 augment the prosperity of the church. We have further besought 
 tlie assistance of the blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and of 
 the saints whose virtues have made England illustrious, that they 
 would deign to obtain by their intercession with God the happy suc- 
 cess of this enterprise. AVe have since commended the whole busi- 
 ness to the grave and serious consideration of our venerable brothers 
 the cardinals of the holy Roman Church, forming our Congregation 
 for Propagating the Faith. Their sentiments having been found 
 completely conformable to our own, we have resolved to sanction 
 them, and carry them into execution. It is for this reason, after 
 having weighed the whole matter most scrupulously, that of our own 
 proper motion, in our certain knowledge, and in the plenitude of our 
 apostolic power, we have resolved, and do hereby decree the re- 
 establishment in the kingdom of England, and according to the 
 common laws of the church, of a hierarchy of bishops, deriving their 
 titles from their own sees, which we constitute by the present letter 
 in the various apostolic districts. 
 
 " To commence with the district of London, it vrill form two sees 
 — to wit, that of Westminster, which we hereby elevate to be metro- 
 politan, of archiepiscopal dignity, and that of Southwark, which we 
 assign to it as suffragan, together with those which we proceed to 
 
448 APPENDIX. 
 
 indicate. The diocese of Westminster will include that portion of 
 the aforesaid district which extends to the banks of the Thames, and 
 comprehends the counties of Middlesex, Essex, and Hertford; that 
 of Southwark, on the south of the Thames, will include the counties 
 of Beds, Southampton, Surrey, Sussex, and Kent, with the Isles of 
 "Wight, Jersey, Guernsey, and others adjacent. In the northern dis- 
 trict there will be but one episcopal see, which will take its name 
 from the town of Hagglestown, and huxe for its circumscription that 
 of the existing district. The district of York will also be a diocese, 
 whose capital will be the town of Beverley. In the district of Lan- 
 cashire there will be two bishops, of whom one, the bishop of Liver- 
 pool, will have for his diocese the Isle of Mona, the districts of 
 Lonsdale, Amounderness, and AVest Derby ; and the other, the 
 bishop of Salford, will extend his jurisdiction over Salford, Black- 
 burn, and Lcyland. The county of Chester, though belonging to this 
 district, will be united to another diocese. In the district of Wales, 
 two archiepiscopal sees will be established, that of Salop and that 
 of Merioneth and Newport united. The diocese of Salop will con- 
 tain the counties of Anglesea, Caernarvon, Denbigh, Flint, Merioneth, 
 and Montgomery, to which we join the county of Chester, detached 
 from the district of Lancaster, and that of Salop from the centre. 
 To the diocese of the bishop of Merioneth and Newport are assigned, 
 the counties of Brecknock, Glamorgan, Carmarthen, Pembroke, and 
 Radnor, also the English counties of Hereford and Monmouth. In 
 the western district we create two sees, Clifton and Plymouth ; the 
 first comprehending the counties of Gloucester, Somerset, and Wilts ; 
 the second those of Devon, Dorset, and Cornwall. The central dis- 
 trict, from which we have detached the county of Salop, will have 
 two episcopal sees, Nottingham and Birmingham : to the first wo 
 assign the counties of Notts, Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, and Rutland; 
 to the second the counties of Stafford, Bucks, Oxford and AVarwick. 
 In the eastern district there will be one see, which will take its name 
 from the town of Northampton, and retain the present circumscrip- 
 tion of the district, except the counties of Lincoln and Rutland, 
 which we have assigned to the diocese of Nottingham. 
 
 ''Thus, in the very flourishing kingdom of England there will be 
 one single ecclesiastical province, with one archbishop and twelve 
 suffragans, whose zeal and pastoral labours will, we hope, by the 
 grace of God, bring new and daily increase to the poAver of Catholi- 
 cism. For this reason we reserve to ourselves and successors the 
 right to divide this province into several, and to increase the number 
 of its bishoprics as new ones may be required, and in general to 
 settle their boundaries as it may appear meet before the Lord. 
 
 " Meanwhile, we enjoin the the archbishop and bishops to furnish 
 at stated seasons reports of the state of their churches to our Con- 
 
APPENDIX. 449 
 
 gregation of the Propaganda, and not to omit informing us on all 
 points concerning the spiritual good of their flocks. We shall con- 
 tinue to avail ourselves of the aid of the Congregation of the Pro- 
 paganda in all that concerns the affairs of the church in Enghmd. 
 But in the sacred government of the clergy and people, and all 
 which concerns the pastoral office, the archbishop and bishops of 
 England will enjoy all the rights and faculties which bishops and 
 archbishops can use, according to the disposition of the sacred 
 canons and the apostolic constitutions, and they will likewise be 
 equally bound by all the obligations to which other bishops and 
 archbishops are held by the common discipline of the Catholic 
 Church. 
 
 " Their rights and duties will not be in any case impaired by any 
 thing that is at present in vigour, whether originating in the former 
 form of the English Church, or in the subsequent missions instituted 
 in virtue of special constitutions, privileges, or customs, now that 
 the same state of things no longer exists. And in order that no 
 doubt may remain, we suppress, in the plentitude of our apostolic 
 power, and entirely abrogate all the obligatory and juridical force of 
 the said special constitutions, privileges, and customs, however 
 ancient their date. The archbishop and bishops of England will 
 thus have the integral power to regulate all that belongs to the exe- 
 cution of the common law, or which are left to the authority of 
 bishops by the general discipline of the church. As for us, most 
 assuredly they shall never have to complain that we do not sustain 
 them by our apostolical authority, and we shall always be happy to 
 second their demands in all which appears calculated to promote the 
 glory of God and the good of souls. In decreeing this restoration of 
 the ordinary hierarchy of bishops in England, and the enjoyment 
 of the common law of the church, we have had principally in view 
 the prosperity and increase of the Catholic religion in the kingdom 
 of England ; but we have also desired to gratify the wishes of so 
 many of our reverend brethren governing in England, under the 
 style of vicars-apostolic, and also of a great number of our dear 
 children of the Catholic clergy and people. Many of their ancestors 
 presented the same prayer to our predecessors, who had begun to 
 send vicars-apostolic to England, where no Catholic bishop could 
 exercise the common ecclesiastical law in his own church, and who 
 afterward multiplied the number of vicars-apostolic, and of districts, 
 not because religion was submitted in this country to one exceptional 
 rule, but rather because they would prepare the foundation for the 
 future rebuilding of the ordinary hierarchy. 
 
 " This is why we, to whom it has been given by the grace of God 
 to accomplish this great work, declare here that it is not in any 
 manner in our thoughts or intentions that the bishops of England, 
 
 38* 
 
450 APPENDIX. 
 
 provided with the name and rif!;hts of ordinary bishops, should be 
 destitute of any advantages, of -whatever nature they may be, which 
 they formerly enjoyed under the title of vicars-apostolic. It would 
 be contrary to reason to alloAV any act of ours performed at the 
 earnest prayer of the English Catholics, and for the benefit of re- 
 ligion, to turn to their damage. Eather we cherish the firm hope 
 that our dear children in Christ, whose alms and largesses have never 
 been wanting to sustain in England religion, and the prelates who 
 govern there as vicars, will exercise a still larger liberality to the 
 bishops who are now attached by permanent bonds to the English 
 church, in order that they may not be deprived of temporal aid, 
 Mdiich they will require to ornament their temples and adorn the 
 divine service, to support the clergy and the poor, and for other 
 ecclesiastical services. Finally, lifting the eyes to the almighty and 
 gracious God, from whom comes our help, we supplicate him with 
 all instance, obsecration, and action of grace, to confirm by divine 
 grace all that we have decreed for the good of the church, and to 
 give of his grace to those whose it is to execute these decrees, that 
 they may feed the flock of God committed to their care, and that 
 their zeal may be applied to spread the glory of his name. And, in 
 order to obtain the most abundant succour of celestial grace, we 
 finally invoke, as intercessors with God, the holy Mother of God, the 
 blessed apostles St. Peter and St, Paul, with the blessed patrons of 
 England, and especially St. Gregory the Great, in order that the 
 solicitude we have displayed, notwithstanding the insufficiency of our 
 merit, to restore the episcopal sees of England, which he founded in 
 his days with so much advantage to the church, may likewise re- 
 dound to the good of the Catholic Church. We decree that this 
 apostolic letter shall never he taxed with subreptice or obreptice, nor 
 be protested for default either of intention or any defect w^>atever, 
 but always be made valid and firm, and hold good to all intents and 
 purposes, notwithstanding the general apostolic edicts which have 
 emanated from synodal, provincial, or universal councils, the special 
 sanctions as well as the rights of former sees in England, missions 
 apostolic, vicarages constituted in the progress of time — notwith- 
 standing, in one word, all things contrary whatsoever. We likewise 
 decree that all which may be done to the contrary by any one, who- 
 ever he may be, knowing or ignorant, in the name of any authority 
 whatever, shall be without force. We decree that copies of this 
 letter, signed by a notary-public, and sealed with the seal of au 
 ecclesiastic, shall be everywhere received as the expression of our- 
 will. 
 
 "Given at St. Peter's, at Rome, under the seal of the fisherman, 
 the 24th of September, 1850, and in the fifth year of our pontificate. 
 
 *' Cardinal LAMURUscniNi.'^ 
 
APPENDIX. 451 
 
 Cardinal Wiseman next issues the following pastoral letter, which 
 was read in all the Romish churches : — 
 
 THE RESTORATION OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC HIERARCHY. 
 
 "Nicholas, by the divine mercy of the holy Roman Church, by 
 the title of St. Pudentiana, Cardinal Priest, Archbishop of West- 
 minster, and Administrator Apostolic of the Diocese of Southwark, 
 to the clergy, secular and regular, and the faithful of the said arch- 
 diocese and diocese. 
 
 " The great work (it says) is complete ; what you have long de- 
 sired and prayed for is granted. Your beloved country has received 
 a place among the ftiir churches which, normally constituted, form 
 the splendid aggregate of Catholic communion ; Catholic England 
 has been restored to its orbit in the ecclesiastical firmament, from 
 which its light had long vanished, and begins now anew its course 
 of regularly adjusted action round the centre of unity, the source of 
 jurisdiction, of light, and of vigour. How wonderfully all this has 
 been brought about — how clearly the hand of God has been shown in 
 every step, we have not now leisure to relate ; but we may hope soon 
 to recount to you by word of mouth. In the mean time we will con- 
 tent ourselves with assuring you that, if the concordant voice of those 
 venerable and most eminent counsellors to whom the Holy See 
 commits the regulation of ecclesiastical affairs in missionary'coun- 
 tries, if the overruling of every variety of interest and designs, to 
 the rendering of this measure almost necessary, if the earnest prayers 
 of our Holy Pontiff and his most sacred oblation of the divine 
 sacrifice, added to his own deep and earnest reflection, can form to 
 the Catholic heart an earnest of heavenly direction, an assurance that 
 the Spirit of truth, who guides the church, has here inspired its su- 
 preme head, we cannot desire stronger or more consoling evidence 
 that this most important measure is from God, has his sanction and 
 blessing, and will consequently prosper.^' 
 
 Dr. ITllathorne, bishop of Birmingham, was enthroned on Sunday 
 last: Father Newman, one of the seceders from the Protestant 
 Church, preached the sermon on the occasion, in the course of which 
 he said— "The mystery of God's Providence is now fulfilled, and 
 though he did not recollect any people on earth but those of Great 
 Britain, who having once rejected the religion of God, were again re- 
 stored to the bosom of the church, God had done it for them. It was 
 wonderful in their eyes. The holy hierarchy had been restored. 
 The grave tvas opened, and Christ ivas coining out I" 
 
452 APPENDIX. 
 
 The Bishop of London, ^vhose sympathy with the bishop of 
 Exeter's views of baptism is so much to be regretted and deplored, 
 seems recalled to his earliest and best conviction by this invasion, 
 and thus writes in reply to a memorial from the Westminster 
 Clergy :— 
 
 "Fulham, Octoter 28, 1S50. 
 
 ** Reverend and dear Brethren, — The sentiments expressed in the 
 address which you have presented to me are in entire accordance 
 with mine, and I am persuaded that they will be responded to by the 
 unanimous feeling of Protestant England. 
 
 " The recent assumption of authority by the Bishop of Rome, in 
 pretending to parcel out this country into new dioceses, and to 
 appoint archbishops and bishops to preside over them, without the 
 consent of the Sovereign, is a schismatical act without precedent, and 
 one which would not be tolerated by the government of any Roman 
 Catholic kingdom. I trust that it will not be quietly submitted to by 
 our own. 
 
 " Hitherto, from the time of the Reformation, the pope has been 
 contented with providing for the spiritual superitendence of his ad- 
 herents in this country, by the appointment of vicars-apostolic — 
 bishops who took their titles as such, not from any real or pretended 
 sees in England, but from some imaginary dioceses in pariibus 
 injidelium. In this there was no assumption of spiritual authority 
 over any other of the subjects of the English Crown than those of 
 his own communion. But the appointment of bishops to preside over 
 new dioceses in England, constituted by a Papal brief, is virtually a 
 denial of the legitimate authority of the British Sovereign and the 
 English episcopate ; a denial also of the validity of our orders, and 
 an assertion of spiritual jurisdiction over the whole Christian people 
 of the realm. 
 
 " That it is regarded in this light by the pope's adherents in this 
 country is apparent from the language in which they felicitate them- 
 selves upon this arrogant attempt to stretch his authority beyond its 
 proper limits. A journal which is generally believed to express the 
 sentiments of a large portion of them at least, (not, I believe, of all,) 
 points out, in the following words, the difference between the vicars- 
 apostolic and the pretended diocesan bishops. Alluding to certain 
 members of our church, who are accused of a leaning toward Rome, 
 it says — ' In this act of Pope Pius IX. they have that open declara- 
 tion for which they have been so long professing to look. Rome, 
 said they, has never yet formally spoken against us. Iler bishops, 
 indeed, are sent here, not as having any local authority, but as pas- 
 tors without flocks ; bishops of Tadmor in the Desert, or of the ruins 
 of Babylon, intruding into territories which they cannot formally 
 claim as their own. This specious argument is once for all silenced. 
 
APPENDIX. 458 
 
 Rome has more than spoken — she has spoken and acted. She has 
 again divided our hind into dioceses, and has placed over each a 
 pastor, to whom all baptized persons, without exception, within that 
 district, are openly commanded to submit themselves in all eccle- 
 siastical matters under pain of damnation ; and the Anglican sees, 
 those ghosts of realities long passed away, are utterly ignored.' 
 
 " The advisers of the pope have skilfully contrived so to shape 
 this encroachment upon the rights and honour of the Crown and 
 Church of England, that his nominees to imaginary dioceses will not 
 actually offend against the letter of the law by assuming the titles 
 which he has pretended to confer upon them ; but that it is contrary 
 to the spirit of the law there can be no doubt. As little doubt can 
 there be that it is intended as an insult to the sovereign and the 
 church of this country. 
 
 " With respect to the conduct proper to be pursued by you on this 
 occasion, it ought, in my opinion, to be temperate and charitable, 
 but firm and uncompromising. 
 
 *' You will do well to call the attention of your people to the real 
 purport of this open assault upon our reformed church ; and to take 
 measures for petitioning the Legislature to carry out the principle of 
 the statute which forbids all persons, other than the persons autho- 
 rized by law, to assume or use the name, style, or title of any arch- 
 bishop of any province, bishop of any bishopric, or dean of any 
 deanery in England or Ireland, by extending the prohibition to any 
 pretended diocese or deaneries in these realms. 
 
 " It is possible that such prohibitions might not have the effect of 
 preventing the assumption of titles by the Papal bishops, when deal- 
 ing with their own adherents : but it would make the assumption 
 unlawful, and it would mark the determination of the people of this 
 country not to permit any foreign prelate to exercise spiritual juris 
 diction over them. 
 
 " But there are other duties besides those of protesting and peti- 
 tioning, the performance of which seems to be specially required of 
 us by the present emergency. Unwilling as I am to encourage con- 
 troversial preaching, I must say that we are driven to have recourse 
 to it by this attempted usurpation of authority on the part of the 
 bishop of Rome, and by the activity and subtlety of his emissaries 
 in all parts of the kingdom. We are surely called upon for a more 
 than ordinary measure of watchfulness and diligence in fulfilling the 
 promise which we gave when we were admitted to the priesthood, ' to 
 banish and drive away all erroneus and strange doctrimcs contrary 
 to God's word.' 
 
 "Let us be careful, as well in our public ministrations as in our 
 private monitions and exhortations, to refrain from doing or saying 
 any thing which may seem to indicate a wish to make the slightest 
 
454 APPENDIX. 
 
 approach to a church which, far from manifesting* a desire to lay 
 aside any of the errors and superstitions which compelled us to 
 separate from it, is now reasserting them with a degree of boldness 
 unknown since the Reformation ; is adding new credenda to its 
 articles of faith, and is undisguisedly teaching its members the 
 duty of worshipping the creature with the worship due only to the 
 Creator. 
 
 "After all, I am much inclined to believe that in having recourse 
 to the extreme measure which has called forth your address, the 
 Court of Rome has been ill-advised as regards the extension of its 
 influence in this country, and that it has taken a false step. That 
 step will, I am convinced, tend to strengthen the Protestant feeling 
 of the people at large, and will cause some persons to hesitate and 
 draw back who are disposed to make concessions to Rome, under a 
 mistaken impression that she has abated somewhat of her ancient 
 pretensions, and that a union of* the tAvo churches might possibly be 
 effected without the sacrificing of any fundamental principle. Hardly 
 any thing could more effectually dispel that illusion than the recent 
 proceeding of the Roman Pontiff. He virtually condemns and ex- 
 communicates the whole English Church, sovereign, bishops, clergy, 
 and laity, and shuts the door against every scheme of compre- 
 hension save that which should take for its basis an entire and un- 
 conditional submission to the spiritual authority of the Bishop of Rome. 
 
 " That it may please the Divine Head of the church, who is the 
 true centre of unity and the only Infallible Judge, to guide and 
 strengthen us in these days of rebuke and trial, to open our eyes to 
 the dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions, and to unite us in 
 one holy bond of truth and peace, of faith and charity, is the earnest 
 prayer, 
 
 " Reverend and dear Brethren, 
 
 " Of your affectionate friend and Bishop, 
 
 (Signed) "C.J.LONDON. 
 
 " To the Rev. the Clergy of the City and 
 Liberties of AYestminster.^' 
 
 Without making any remarks on the measure of 1829, that altered 
 BO materially the position of Roman Catholics in England, it is not 
 uninteresting to recall to recollection the words of Lord Eldon, ad- 
 dressed to the House of Lords on that occasion. 
 
 " I know that sooner or later this bill will overturn the aristocracy 
 and the monarchy. What I have stated is my notion of the danger 
 to the establishment. Have they not Roman Catholic archbishi^ps 
 
APPENDIX. 465 
 
 for every Protestant archbishop ? Eoman Catholic deans for every 
 Protestant dean ? Did not the Roman Catholic ecclesiastics dispute 
 against Henry VIII. in defence of the power of the pope ? And, in 
 Mary's time, were not the laws aflocting the Roman Catholics re- 
 pealed, not by tlie authority of Parliament, but through the influence 
 of the -legate of the pope? And, even though you suppress these 
 Roman Catholics who utter those seditious, treasonable, abominable, 
 and detestable speeches, others will arise who will utter speeches 
 more treasonable, more abominable, and more detestable. No sincere 
 Roman Catholic could, or did look for less than a Roman Catholic 
 king, and a Roman Catholic Parliament. Their lordships might 
 flatter themselves that the dangers he had anticipated were visionary, 
 and God forbid that he should say that those who voted for the third 
 reading of the bill will not have done so, conscientiously believing 
 that no danger exists, or can be apprehended from it. But, in so 
 voting, they had not that knowledge of the danger in which they 
 were placing the great, the paramount interests of this Protestant 
 state ; they had not that knowledge of its true interests and situation 
 which they ought to have. Those with whom we are dealing are 
 too wary to apprize you, by any indiscreet conduct, of the danger to 
 which you are exposed. When (said the noble earl, in a tone 
 peculiarly solemn and impressive) — when those dangers shall have 
 arrived, I shall have been consigned to the urn, the sepulchre, and 
 mortality ; but that they will arrive, I have no more doubt than that 
 I yet continue to exist. You hear the words of a man who will soon 
 be called to his great account. God forbid, therefore, that I should 
 raise my warning voice did I not deem this measure a breach of 
 every notion that I have of a civil contract — a breach of every article 
 of the constitution, and contrary to the spirit of those oaths which I 
 have taken to my king and to that constitution. Pardon, my lords, 
 a man far advanced in years, who is willing to give up his existence 
 to avert the dangers with which all he loves, all he . reveres, are 
 threatened. I solemnly declare that I had rather not be living to- 
 morrow morning, than, on awaking, find that I had consented to this 
 measure. Believing it as I do, after all the consideration which I have 
 given it, to be an abrogation of all those laws which I deem to be 
 necessary to the safety of the church — a violation of those laws which I 
 hold to be as necessary to the preservation of the throne as of the 
 church, and as indispensable to the existence of the lords and commons 
 of this realm as to that of the king and of our holy religion ; — feeling 
 all this, I repeat that I would rather cease to exist, than upon awak- 
 ing to-morrowmorning, find that I had consented to a measure fraught 
 with evils so imminent and so deadly, and of which, had I not solemnly 
 expressed this my humble but firm conviction, I should have been act- 
 ing the part of a traitor to my country, my sovereign, and my God." 
 
456 APPENDIX. 
 
 LORD JOHN RUSSELL'S LETTER 
 
 One of the redeeming signs of the times is the following noble 
 letter from the prime-minister of England. It is as much the ex- 
 ponent of his own feelings, I doubt not, as it is the evidence of the 
 depth and strength of the current of indignation that has set in 
 against the daring intrusion of the " Little Horn." 
 
 In all probability the steps taken by Pius IX., so much in advance 
 of our expectations, will hasten his approaching ruin. 
 
 " Quem Deus vult perdere prius dementat," seems an axiom sin- 
 gularly applicable here. 
 
 The' Papal invasion is worth having, for the sake of the hidden 
 Protestantism it has manifested, and the dormant feeling which it has 
 awakened. 
 
 "TO THE RIGHT REV. THE BISHOP OF DURHAM. 
 
 " My dear Lord, — I agree with you in considering * the late ag- 
 gression of the pope upon our Protestantism' as ' insolent and 
 insidious,' and I therefore feel as indignant as you can do upon the 
 subject. 
 
 " I not only promoted to the utmost of my power the claims of the 
 Koman Catholics to all civil rights, but I thought it right, and even 
 desirable, that the ecclesiastical system of the Roman Catholics 
 should be the means of giving instruction to the numerous Irish 
 immigrants in London and elsewhere, who without such help would 
 have been left in heathen ignorance. 
 
 "This might have been done, however, without any such innova- 
 tion as that which we have now seen. 
 
 " It is impossible to confound the recent measures of the pope 
 with the division of Scotland into dioceses by the Episcopal Church, 
 or the arrangement of districts in England by the Wesleyan Con- 
 ference. 
 
 " There is an assumption of power in all the documents which have 
 come from Rome — a pretension to supremacy over the realm of Eng- 
 land, and a claim to sole and undivided sway, which is inconsistent 
 with the queen's supremacy, wnth the rights of our bishops and 
 clergy, and with the spiritual independence of the nation, as asserted 
 even in Roman Catholic times. 
 
 " I confess, however, that my alarm is not equal to my indigna- 
 tion. 
 
 "Even if it shall appear that the ministers and servants of the 
 pope in this country have not transgressed the law, I feel persuaded 
 that we are strong enough to repel any outward attacks. The 
 liberty of Protestantism has been enjoyed too long in England to 
 allow of any successful attempt to impose a foreign yoke upon our 
 
APPENDIX. 457 
 
 minds and consciences. No foreign prince or potentate will be per- 
 mitted to fasten his fetters upon a nation which has so long and so 
 nobly vindicated its right to freedom of opinion, civil, political, and 
 religious. 
 
 " Upon this subject, then, I will only say that the present state of 
 the law shall be carefully examined, and the propriety of adopting 
 any proceedings with reference to the present assumptions of power 
 deliberately considered. 
 
 " There is a danger, however, which alarms me much more than 
 any aggression of a foreign sovereign. 
 
 " Clergymen of our own church, who have subscribed the Thirty- 
 nine Articles, and acknowledged in explicit terms the queen's su- 
 premacy, have been the most forward in leading their flocks, ' step 
 by step, to the very verge of the precipice.' The honour paid to 
 saints, the claim of infallibility for the church, the superstitious use 
 of the sign of the cross, the muttering of the Liturgy so as to dis- 
 guise the language in which it is written, the recommendation of 
 auricular confession, and the administration of penance and absolu- 
 tion — all these things are pointed out by clergymen of the Church 
 of England as worthy of adoption, and are now openly reprehended 
 by the Bishop of London in his Charge to the clergy of his diocese. 
 
 " AVhat, then, is the danger to be apprehended from a foreign 
 prince of no great power, compared to the danger within the gates 
 from the unworthy sons of the Church of England herself? 
 
 *' I have little hope that the propounders and framers of these 
 innovations will desist from their insidious course. But I rely with 
 confidence on the people of England ; and I will not bate a jot of 
 heart or hope, so long as the glorious principles and the immortal 
 martyrs of the Reformation shall be held in reverence by the great 
 mass of a nation which looks with contempt on the mummeries of 
 superstition, and with scorn at the laborious endeavours which are 
 now making to confine the intellect and enslave the soul. 
 
 "I remain, with great respect, &c. 
 
 "J. Russell. 
 
 " Doioning street, Nov. 4." 
 
 39 
 
INDEX, 
 
 Absolution, in ancient offices, simply 
 a prayer, not a judicial act, 398. 
 
 Accidental, nothing is, 81. 
 
 Allusions, scriptural, instances, of, 395. 
 
 Ancient of days, who? 241; described 
 by Daniel, 242 ; described by John, 
 242 ; comes before the Millennium, 
 246 ; what follows revelation of, 
 246. 
 
 Ancient prophecy echoed by our Sa- 
 viour, 417. 
 
 Apostles refer to Book of Daniel, 22 ; 
 they all believed the Book of Daniel 
 inspired, 23. 
 
 Artaxerxes, third edict given by, in the 
 seventh year of his reign, 387. 
 
 Atonement, objections to, 329 ; nature 
 of 344 ; considered, 353 ; joyful news, 
 358 ; faith in, makes happy and safe, 
 359 ; we need none but Christ's to 
 be delivered from sin, 367. 
 
 Austria smitten second by the stone, 
 103. 
 
 Authenticity of Book of Daniel, 25. 
 
 B 
 
 Babylon, apostasy of the earth, to be 
 destroyed by Christ's kingdom, 114. 
 
 Babylon, description of, by Jeremiah, 
 chap, xxvii. 5-8, 61 ; Bible predic- 
 tions against, 61 ; description of 
 siege of, 65 ; modern travellers de- 
 scribe complete ruin of, 67; its pow- 
 er, duration of, 68 ; type of desti'ue- 
 tion of, described in the Apocalypse, 
 68. 
 
 Babylon, the king of, his likes and dis- 
 likes, 33 ; like the world, 33 ; his 
 
 wishes, 33 ; his reason for changing 
 the names of the Hebrew youths, 34; 
 his endeavours to convert the three 
 Hebrew youths, 34. 
 
 Baptism, not surely and always rege- 
 neration, 112. 
 
 Beast, wild, a symbol of a nation with- 
 out the gospel of Jesus, 226. 
 
 Belly and thighs of brass, the Graeco- 
 Macedonian, or thii-d universal king- 
 dom, 101. 
 
 Belshazzar, festival of, women present 
 at, 25; feast of, 166; not necessa- 
 rily sinful, 166; the sin that charac- 
 terized it, 167; its accompaniments, 
 170. 
 
 Bible, the truth of, nothing insignifi- 
 cant which establishes it, 26; change 
 in all, except, 84 ; reasons for cleav- 
 ing to it, 235 ; should be possessed iu 
 our hearts, 236 ; the secret of a coun- 
 try's safety, 364. 
 
 Body, the, kings may control, 122. 
 
 Breast and arms of silver, the Medo- 
 Persian, or second universal king- 
 dom, 101. 
 
 Business, adopt that which requires no 
 sacrifice of principle, 53. 
 
 Ceremonies and forms evanescent, 105. 
 
 Channing, Dr., remarks on his creed, 
 343. 
 
 Charlemagne, 56. 
 
 Children, hearts of, tender, 31 ; undu- 
 tiful, one reason why they are so, 
 54; should be accustomed to self- 
 sacrifice, 218; should be taught to 
 pray, 218 ; should have heart as well 
 as head education, 219. 
 
 459 
 
469 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Chrism, meaning of, 373. 
 
 Christ, the stone cut out without hands, 
 92 ; his kingdom is secondly a king- 
 dom of persons, 112; coming of, 
 description of, 244 ; comes with the 
 speed of lightning, 245 ; his death 
 expiatory, 328 ; voluntary, 329 ,; ac- 
 companiments of, peculiar, 330 ; ac- 
 companied by miracles, 331 ; leading 
 descriptions of, 332 ; appellatives of, 
 332 ; commercial appellatives of, 335; 
 sacrificial appellatives of, 336; na- 
 ture of, objective and occasional, 338; 
 nature of, remote relation or final 
 decision, 340 ; nature of, expressive 
 of divine action, 342; his mission, 
 one end of it to seal up the vision 
 and prophecy, 371 ; the Holy One 
 of God, 372; anointing of, what is 
 meant by, 372 ; is the Key to unlock 
 the Psalms, 374 ; cut off in the midst 
 of the last seventy weeks, 390 ; his 
 preaching eminently popular, 390 ; 
 the true Melchisedec, the King of 
 righteousness,. 397; every action and 
 word of, bear the stamp and super- 
 scription of Messiah the Prince, 397; 
 to add to his laws is treason, 397; 
 his law, and law of Caasar, come 
 sometimes into collision, 397 ; as 
 King, bestows forgiveness, 398 ; can 
 alone absolve, 398 ; as King, sends 
 forth ministers of the gospel, 399 ; 
 the King, gives the Holy Spirit, 400 ; 
 in his kingly oflBce, will decide at 
 the judgment-day, 400 ; his kingly 
 ofiice intransferable, 402 ; Pi-ince of 
 Peace, 403 ; his kingdom, the en- 
 trance into it, 406; his kingdom, 
 comes quietly, 406. 
 
 Christian, a, does not live to himself, 
 209. 
 
 Christians, real, need not to be con- 
 vinced of inspiration of Daniel, 23 ; 
 many like Naaman, 43. 
 
 Christianity, inward, the church's 
 strength, 106. 
 
 Christmas, Christ not born on, but be- 
 fore it, 389. 
 
 Church government, not the main 
 thing, 52. 
 
 Church of God, captive in Babylon, 
 58. 
 
 Church of Rome, constructed on the 
 ruins of the Roman empire, 77; what 
 she depends on for her power, 121; 
 
 secures the homage of all the senses, 
 121. 
 
 Church, the, Christ has been with from 
 the beginning of the world, 132; de- 
 scription of, 132; Tekel applied to, 
 191; a Christian, when, 203. 
 
 Coming of Christ, passages which an- 
 nounce it, 241. 
 
 Commands of God, never hesitate to 
 comply with, 130. 
 
 Condemnation, the greatest, a neg- 
 lected gospel, a rejected Saviour, 
 375. 
 
 Conduct, a Christian's, estimated by the 
 world, 194. 
 
 Confession, two sorts, 303 ; true, is full 
 and explicit, 303 ; of Daniel, specific, 
 304 ; of sins, must be to God himself, 
 305.. 
 
 Congregations, all should have schools, 
 39. 
 
 Conscience, sin in the, awful power of, 
 210. 
 
 Corruption, the greatest when it is 
 the corruption of that which is pure, 
 119. 
 
 Covenant, one only confirmed by Christ, 
 the New Covenant predicted in Jer. 
 xxxi. 31, 390; Heb. x. 15-18, 390; 
 the New Testament dispensation, 
 390. 
 
 Crucifix, the true, 237. 
 
 Daniel, exposition of, 19 ; figures of, 
 20; Jews' objections to Book of, 20; 
 the author of Book of, 20; the au- 
 thor, evidence of, 20 ; contemporary 
 of Ezekiel, 21 ; the Book of, receiv- 
 ed by the Jews as authentic, 21 ; the 
 Book of, translated by- Alexandrian 
 Jews, 21 ; the Book of, in Septua- 
 gint, 21; the Book of, written partly 
 in Chaldee, 21 ; New Testament, al- 
 lusions to, 22 ; allusion to, in 2 Thess. 
 iii. 22; the Book of, alluded to in 
 .Heb. xi. 33, 23 ; Book of, its distinc- 
 tive features, 26 ; Book of, great ob- 
 ject of it to depress all that is human 
 and exalt all that is divine, 27; pro- 
 phecy of, partly fulfilled, 27; the 
 Book of, a duty to study, 28 ; very 
 young when made a captive, 29 ; 
 
INDEX. 
 
 461 
 
 called a child, 29 ; his reason for 
 refusing to eat and drink the king's 
 moat and wine, 30; reason of his 
 firmness, 30 ; had a religious edu- 
 cation, 30 ; education of, under God, 
 the means of his preservation, 30,- 
 of noble birth, 31,- a scholar, 31; 
 skilled in all the learning of his 
 times, 32 ; a Hebrew, 32 ; his ac- 
 quaintance with all branches of 
 knowledge, 33 ; not like many mo- 
 dern Christians, 36 ; his adherence 
 to truth at all times, 36 ; invitation 
 to study him, 36; date of the writ- 
 ing of, proved, 39 ; remark about, 
 39 ; sought duty rather than smile 
 of kings, 42; his conduct teaches a 
 lesson, 42 ; faitlifulness of, gives a 
 tone to his whole life, 44; trusted in 
 goodness of his cause, 47; his gen- 
 tleness and courtesy, 47; not a loser 
 by adherence to principle, 48 ; ex- 
 plains the vision of the king, 58 ; 
 explains what the image represent- 
 ed, 58; the reason why he consented 
 to be the head of the astrologers, 
 175 ; reason why he prayed at an 
 open window, 203; prayer sustained 
 the inner life of, 204; his nearness 
 to God, in private that made him 
 consistent in public, 204; his life in- 
 strumental, in God's hand, in con- 
 version of Darius, 208 ; educated in 
 the gospel, 217; self-sacrifice a result 
 of his education, 217; a sketch of, 
 by an ancient writer, 221; intensity 
 of his prayer, 315; the time he 
 prayed, 323 ; his religion and ours 
 the same, 420. 
 
 Darius, his decree, 215; edict of, se- 
 cond period, recorded in Ezra vi., 
 382. 
 
 Death not a natural thing, 207; the 
 Christian victorious over, 207; only 
 the removal to life in the case of a 
 Christian, 207. 
 
 Deity, pictures of, objectionable, 242. 
 
 Dream of Nebuchadnezzar, 135. 
 
 Dreams, conclusions to be come to re- 
 specting them, 69. 
 
 Duties of to-day best preparation for 
 to-morrow's trials, 50. 
 
 Duty not a thing of longitude and lati- 
 tude, 41 ; the same everywhere, 41 ; 
 manner in which Daniel discharged I 
 his, 201. I 
 
 39 
 
 E 
 
 Early martyi's, Shadrach, Meshach, 
 and Abcd-nego, 117. 
 
 Earthly grandeur treated in Scripture 
 as fading grass, 76 ; minds, charac- 
 teristics of, 188. 
 
 Edict, fourth, given to Nehemiah in 
 the 20th year of Artaxerxos, 386. 
 
 Education, Christian, a blessing, 39. 
 
 Elliot, Mr., his belief drawn from Scrip- 
 ture, 104. 
 
 Empire of head of gold, 61; of Cyrus 
 described by Xenophon and Hero- 
 dotus, 74; silver, overthrown by 
 Alexander, 75 ; Roman, much said 
 of it by Daniel, 76 ; fourth univer- 
 sal, further proved by Gibbon, 78; 
 the iron, 87. 
 
 Empires, the four, their names, 59 ; 
 Medo-Persian and Grasco-Maeedo- 
 nian, 72 ; four universal only, 101. 
 
 Eucharist not a fast but a feast, 360. 
 
 Events often turning-points in one's 
 character, 43. 
 
 Evidence conclusive that Jesus is the 
 Messiah, 377. 
 
 Facts recorded in the Bible are attest- 
 ed by heathen historians, 120; tend- 
 ing to prove that the heavens do 
 rule, 161; a repetition of, before 
 stated, 223. 
 
 Faith not our Saviour, 360, 
 
 False religion only a corrujjtion of the 
 true, 119. 
 
 Fasting considered, 271; true, the na- 
 ture of, 274; the end of, 275; to be 
 observed in the spirit and not in the 
 letter, 277; advocated by Jerome, 
 280. 
 
 Feast of Belshazzar, not necessarily 
 sinful, 166; the sin that character- 
 ized it, 167. 
 
 France smitten by the stone, 103. 
 
 G 
 
 Gates frequently referred to in the Ei- 
 
 ble, 118. 
 Gentile law of God's worship, 201. 
 
462 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Germany smitten third by the stone, 
 103. 
 
 Gibbon, his description of Koran, 250, 
 
 God our only refuge in trouble, 96; 
 he rules, and in this fact he designs 
 good to us and glory to himself, 158; 
 he reigns, evidences that, lfi7; weighs 
 all motives and men, 180 ; never for- 
 sakes his people till they forsake him, 
 442. 
 
 God's people, their frequent expe- 
 rience, 59 ; word more powerful than 
 princes, 67 ; doings to be viewed 
 in connection with another world, 
 160. 
 
 Gold, fall of the head of, 65; head of, 
 the Babylonian or first u.niversal 
 kingdom, 101. 
 
 Good, all things work for, 217. 
 
 Gospel, the character of, 108. 
 
 Grace, pray for, 206. 
 
 Grandeur, earthly, described in Scrip- 
 ture as fading grass, 75. 
 
 Heathens note a purer life sooner than 
 a pure creed, 196. 
 
 Heaven, we must be fitted for it by the 
 Holy Spirit, 367. 
 
 Hebrew youths, circumstances of, 39 ; 
 the beautiful answer of, to Nebu- 
 chadnezzar, 124; felt duty to God 
 greater than loyalty to an earthly 
 king, 129; their faith in God's pro- 
 mises, 131. 
 
 Herodotus, Babylon described by, 61 ; 
 describes siege of Babylon, 66 ; de- 
 scribes empire of Cyrus, 74. 
 
 Hesitation wrong in matters of reli- 
 gion, 132. 
 
 High-Priest, Jesus is the, of his church, 
 395. 
 
 History, the echo of truth in the pro- 
 phecies of God, 56; unconscious 
 echo of God's prophecy, 79. 
 
 History and historians attest the truth 
 of God's word, 421. 
 
 Hooker, a passage from, 221. 
 
 Horn, little, 225 ; the Papal power now 
 reigning at Rome, 227; prophecy of, 
 fulfilled, 228 ; another feature to 
 identify it with Papal power, 230 ; 
 wasting away of, 238 ; what meant 
 
 by, 254; rise and progress of, 257j 
 when did it begin to fail ? 262. 
 
 Horns, three, the three states of the 
 church, 103. 
 
 Houses, in taking them prefer those 
 which are nearest to a gospel mi- 
 nistry, 52. 
 
 Howell's, Mr., a saying of, 107. 
 
 Image, the mystic stone, smiting the, 
 86 ; ten toes of ten kingdoms, 102. 
 
 India, use of secular education in, 32. 
 
 Isaiah and Daniel, of a royal tribe, 
 31. 
 
 Islamism adverse to Christianity, 262. 
 
 Italy, smitten fourth by the stone, 103. 
 
 Jerome advocated fasting and monke- 
 ry, 280. 
 
 Jerusalem, Daniel's prayer for, appro- 
 priate to present times, 313 ; com- 
 mand to rebuild it, the commencing 
 period of the seventy weeks, 379; 
 its destruction, 409 ; temple of, only 
 possible remains, a stone, 410; what 
 Christ says in predicting its ruin, 
 410 ; God's anger to it has a limit, 
 415. 
 
 Jesus Christ, refers to Book of Daniel, 
 22 ; his greatness in minute afiairs 
 of this life, 45 ; his faithfulness in 
 great as well as in little things, 45 ; 
 works of, contrasted with those of 
 Mohammed, 261 : grand characteris- 
 tics of death of, 376 ; results of death 
 of, embodied in Dan. ix. 24, 376; the 
 Messiah, irresistible evidence that he 
 is, 393; the object and hope of all 
 true believers, 395. 
 
 Jews, their objections to Book of Da- 
 niel, 20 ; the gathering to their own 
 land, 114; reason why they always 
 looked to Jerusalem when they 
 prayed, 203; law of their worship, 
 204. 
 
 Jos'ephus asserts authenticity of Da- 
 niel, 46; his comments on Daniel, 
 49 ; some account of, 49 ; like our 
 modern philosophers, 49 ; a fact re- 
 lated by, 212. 
 
 Judgment-day, description of, 400. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 463 
 
 K 
 
 Kingdom, fourth, strong as iron, 73. 
 
 Kingdom, Christ's first, is a kingdom 
 of principles, 105. 
 
 Kingdom of God, main elements of, 
 107. 
 
 Kingdom of Christ, external charac- 
 teristics of, 112 ; a catholic kingdom, 
 113; united kingdom, 113; a holy 
 kingdom, 113 ; to destroy all other 
 kingdoms, and cover the earth, 114; 
 comes speedily, 115 ; saints only will 
 occupy, 247 ; description of, 247. 
 
 Kingdoms, universal, four, 55. 
 
 Kingdoms, part of, now severed from 
 the pope, 103. 
 
 Kings should be prayed for, that they 
 may have grace not to set up any 
 idols, 120. 
 
 Knowledge, secular, not to be discou- 
 raged, 50. 
 
 Koran, Gibbon's description of, 259. 
 
 Law, by deeds of, none can be justified, 
 
 184. 
 Layard, his disclosures, 60. 
 Learning, man's, a great aid in proving 
 
 the inspiration of the Bible, 26. 
 Lessons, practical, 233. 
 Living religion, the great defence 
 
 against Puseyism and Popery, 236. 
 
 M 
 
 Malachi prophesies the downfall of the 
 
 Jews, 412. 
 Man, prayerless, is graceless, 205. 
 Marshal Massena, anecdote of, 200. 
 Martyrs, when required, receive from 
 
 God a martyr's spirit, 124. 
 Men, all weighed by God, 181 ; their 
 
 affairs God rules, 420. 
 Messiah, important offices of, 395. 
 Messiahship, pretendei'S to, no disproof 
 
 of claims of Jesus, 378. 
 Millennium, description of, 247. 
 Milton, a passage from, 231. 
 Minister, a, has no power to absolve 
 
 from sin, 399 ; none true but those 
 
 commissioned by Jesus, 399. 
 
 Mohammed, his mission, Gibbon testi- 
 fies to, 261 ; a finished hypocrite, 
 262. 
 
 Monkery opposed by Vigilantius, 280. 
 
 Moses predicted the downfall of the 
 Jews, 412. 
 
 Mother, a, her lessons, 39. 
 
 Motives, all weighed by God, 180. 
 
 Music,]S[ebuchadnezzar knew the charm 
 of, 121. 
 
 N 
 
 Name, Christian, a beautiful thing, 40. 
 
 Napoleon, 56. 
 
 Nation, a, its duties, 190. 
 
 Nation, Jewish, great end and purpose 
 of, 392. 
 
 Nations, Tekel may be applied to, 190. 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar tried an artful plan 
 to convert the three Hebrew youths:, 
 40, 41 ; his conduct quite Popish, 
 118 ; the image that appeared to, 
 120; his dream and the interpreta- 
 tion, 135 ; the epistle of, pervaded by 
 missionary feeling, 137; his dream 
 expatiated on, 138 ; his experience 
 teaches the blessings of afiiiction, 
 143. 
 
 Newton, Sir Isaac, on Daniel, 19. 
 
 Newton, Bishop, 19. 
 
 Newton, John, remark about, 39. 
 
 Nineveh, its destruction, 60. 
 
 Offering and oblation ceased six months 
 before and eighteen months after 
 Christ's death, 392. 
 
 Oratorios, remarks on, 169. 
 
 Palestine, present state of, fulfils the 
 prediction, 413 ; Chateaubriand de- 
 picts present state of, 414. 
 
 Parents spoken to, 51. 
 
 Pastor, his office not kingly, 402. 
 
 Peace, the consequence of justifica- 
 tion by faith, 107; Christianity gives 
 perfect, 201; confidence in God gives 
 perfect, 201; the Christian enjoys 
 even in suffering, 207; true way 
 
464 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 to have it, 403 ; none to the wicked, 
 404 
 
 Pentecost, the evidence of Christ's 
 kingly office, 400. 
 
 People of God, characteristics of, 188 ; 
 a suffering people, 207. 
 
 Peter believed Book of Daniel inspired, 
 22. 
 
 Popery more corrupt than heathenism, 
 119. 
 
 Porphyry, his opinion of Daniel, 27. 
 
 Porte, or gate, Turkey the only country 
 now using the word, 118. 
 
 Prayer, the only resource in trial, 57; 
 God answers, 57 j necessity of, 106; 
 with or without a liturgy, does not 
 necessarily constitute a person a 
 subject of the true kingdom, 112; a 
 privilege as well as a duty, 204; 
 efficacy of, 269 ; the age of, still lasts, 
 270 ; importance of, cannot be over- 
 rated, 283 ; hymn on, 283 ; the end 
 of, 284; works no change in God, 
 285 ; not an atonement for sin, 286 ; 
 not a penance, 286; should be ad- 
 dressed to God as our Father, 290 ; 
 should be ofFered in the name of 
 Christ, 291; should be in the strength 
 of the Holy Spirit, 291; should bo 
 intense, earnest, 293 ; should be 
 made for temporal blessings, 293; 
 should be made chiefly for spiritual 
 blessings, 294 ; to be made for foes 
 as well as friends, 296; encourage- 
 ment to, 296 ; real intensity of, 314; 
 Christian elements of, 316; not to 
 be for ourselves alone, 318 ; to be 
 combined with pains-taking, 320 ; of 
 Daniel, the answer to it was imme- 
 diate, 325. 
 
 Predictions of St. Paul, the echo of the 
 prophecies of Daniel, 239. 
 
 Pride, God will abase, 144 ; the great 
 lesson taught in the dream of Ne- 
 buchadnezzar, 144; the elements of 
 human, 147; power another source 
 of, 147; various sources of, 147; the 
 gospel alone can humble, 149. 
 
 Priests,no such office in Christ's church, 
 399. 
 
 Prime-minister, Daniel an honest, 196. 
 
 Princes, God's word more powerful 
 than, 67. 
 
 Principle the path of the highest ex- 
 pediency, 132. 
 
 Promises to be turned into prayer, 294. 
 
 Prophecies, evidence of the fulfilment 
 of, 65. 
 
 Prophecy, history of the echo of, 61; 
 reflected even in newspapers, 84; 
 study of, useful, 99 ; what it indi- 
 cates by four notable horns history 
 teaches, 253; result of study of, 254; 
 fulfilment of, useful lessons drawn 
 from, 264; spirit of, departed from 
 the Jews, 388 ; years before the 
 Christian era, 388. 
 
 Prophets, all point to Jesus, 374; all 
 proclaim one Saviour, 421. 
 
 Propositions, three, which necessitate 
 the sort of death Christ suffered, 
 345. 
 
 Proverb, a German, 93. 
 
 Providence of God reveals to us the 
 truth of God's prophetic word, 391. 
 
 Psalms all celebrate Jesus, 374. 
 
 R 
 
 Reconciliation, Christ shall bring in, 
 369. 
 
 Refuge, cities of, an appeal to fly to, 
 191. 
 
 Regeneration not the consequence of 
 baptism, 112; what it is, 149. 
 
 Regime, ecclesiastical, not essential to 
 the existence of the kingdom of 
 Christ, 106. 
 
 Religion, to some a mere romance, 51; 
 real, to be showed in little things as 
 well as great, 46; the great thing, 
 49 ; true, nothing permanent with- 
 out, 82 ; all nations without it dete- 
 riorate, 82 ; established by law, not 
 to be followed unless it be the true 
 one, 127 ; evangelical, the religion 
 of the Bible, 234; one only true, 
 445. 
 
 Riches, rank, worthlessnoss of, 98. 
 
 Righteousness, Christ's, twofold, 99, 
 
 Rite, nor ceremony, neither can justify, 
 394. 
 
 Roman empire, much said of it by 
 Daniel, 76; divided into ten king- 
 . doms, 102. 
 
 Roman, or iron kingdom, the fourth 
 universal kingdom, 101. 
 
 Roman Catholic, how contrasted with 
 the Christian, 211. 
 
 Rome, the fourth empire of Daniel, 
 testimony to, by Gibbon, 77; Church 
 
INDEX. 
 
 4G5 
 
 of, to be swept away by the coming 
 of the Lord, 239. 
 Romish Church constructed on the 
 ruins of the Roman empire, 76. 
 
 S 
 
 Sabbath, when used for trade, a dese- 
 cration of the holy vessels, 170. 
 
 Sabbaths, never to be sacrificed, 53 ', 
 the poor man's pi-ivilege, 53. 
 
 Sacrifice and oblation ceased, reason 
 why, 392. 
 
 Salvation, what it is, 407. 
 
 Satan, his presence in the rise and fall 
 of Mohammedanism, 264 ; his power 
 limited, 265. 
 
 Sermon, the evidence of a good one, 
 26. 
 
 Sermons unregarded become awful 
 judgments, 177. 
 
 Seventy Aveeks, disputes about, 377 ; 
 are 70 weeks of years, or 490 years, 
 380 ; difficulties about when they 
 commence, 382; a difficulty about, 
 387, 
 
 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, 
 reference to, 23 ; their being fed at 
 the royal table corroborates the fact 
 that Daniel lived at the time alleged, 
 24. 
 
 Shorter Catechism, its excellence, 30. 
 
 Sin, acknowledgment of, 299 ; not 
 made by God, 299 ; whence from, 
 Bible does not say, 299 ; source of 
 evil, 299 ; wrong done to man's con- 
 science, 299; wrong done to the 
 affections, 300 ; an injury done to 
 reason, 301 ; injury done to the soul, 
 301; injury done to society, 301; 
 hateful to God, 301 ; forgiveness 
 of, 307; God alone forgives, 307; 
 unlike every thing else, 353 ; the 
 cause of the ruin of men and cities, 
 417. 
 
 Singularity, fear it not in matters of 
 religion, 129. 
 
 Society, difference of God's and man's 
 plan for the amelioration of, 109. 
 
 Soul, importance of its safety, 51; the, 
 kings cannot control, 122. 
 
 Stone, which is Christ, to fall suddenly 
 on the ten kingdoms, 102; France 
 smitten by the, 103. 
 
 Strabo, Babylon described by, 61. 
 
 Strength and victory, source of, 46. 
 
 Suffering to a Christian is paternal, 
 365 ; to an unbeliever is penal, 
 366. 
 
 Symbol, every, has its counterpart in 
 fact and history, 73; the four king- 
 doms depicted under a new, 224 ; 
 first, image of different metals, 224; 
 second, four wild beasts, 224. 
 
 T 
 
 Tekel explained, 181 ; how to escape 
 this inscription, 185. 
 
 Ten toes, or divisions of fourth king- 
 dom, 55. 
 
 Ten kingdoms, 55 ; description of, 90 ; 
 startling fact respecting, 90. 
 
 Thanksgiving to be made when prayer 
 is answered, 57. 
 
 Time, a, in prophetic language, is a 
 year, 232. 
 
 Transgression, to finish, the first work 
 that Daniel predicts Christ is to ac- 
 complish, 363. 
 
 Truth of God lasting, 102. 
 
 Truth needs no apology, 144; its tri- 
 umph, 249 ; set forth by ancient writ- 
 ers hierogiyphically, 252. 
 
 Vial, seventh, 94. 
 
 Victory and strength, source of, 46. 
 
 Vigilantius opposed fasting and monke- 
 ry, 280. 
 
 Visible churches, members of, are not 
 all members of Christ's kingdom, 
 407. 
 
 Vision of the king explained, 58. 
 
 W 
 
 Warriors and statesmen unwittingly 
 
 fulfilling prophecy, 80. 
 Ways, maay, to prove that the narra- 
 
 tiv^e Daniel relates is from his pen, 
 
 24. 
 Weeks, seventy, commencing period of, 
 
 the seventh year of reign of Artax- 
 
 erxes, 387. 
 Weighed and found wanting, 185 ; who 
 
 are, 185. 
 
466 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 ■VVoman, what has raised her to her 
 
 proper position, 364. 
 "Word, God's, stronger than all besides, 
 
 102. 
 Works, God's, in all, infinite detail and 
 
 patient labour, 44. 
 
 X 
 
 Xenophon, his authority to prove the 
 fact that women went to festivals, 
 26 ; description of the last king of 
 Babylon by, 26 ; his description of 
 
 city of Babylon, 60 j 
 pire of Cyrus, 74. 
 
 describes em- 
 
 Years, 379 ; divided by the prophet 
 into three periods, 381. 
 
 Young men need every argument to 
 convince them of the inspiration of 
 Scripture, 24; a lesson to, 48. 
 
 Youths, the Hebrew, their firm ad- 
 herence to principle, 35; circum- 
 stances of, 39. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 STEREOTYPED BY L. JOHNSON * CO. 
 pniLADELPmA, 
 
liitoit ^ aSlakistDH; Ic^ljilatolpliiu, 
 
 HAVE JUST PUBLISHED 
 
 THE SEPULCHRES OF OUR DEPARTED. 
 
 REV. F. R. ANSPAOH, A.M., 
 
 HAGERSTOWN, MARYLAND. 
 
 As flowers which night, when day is o'er, perfume, 
 Breathes the sweet memory from a good man's tomb. 
 Sir E. B. Lttton. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Communion with the Past. 
 
 The Sacredness of the Sepulchre. 
 
 Visits to the Sepulchres of our De- 
 parted. 
 
 Lessons -which the Sepulchre im- 
 parts. 
 
 The Glory of Man. 
 
 In the Sepulchre the Conflicts of Life 
 end. 
 
 At the Sepulchres of our Departed we 
 may learn the Value of Life. 
 
 The Sepulchre proclaims the Evil of 
 Sin. 
 
 The Sepulchres of our Departed ad- 
 monish us to be gentle and kind to 
 the Living. 
 
 Posthumous Fame. — The Sepulchre 
 instructs us how to Live, so as to be 
 
 ^ remembered when Dead. 
 
 The Repose of the Holy Dead. 
 
 The Sepulchre reminds us of the Value 
 and Immortality of the Soul. 
 
 The Hope of Resurrection divests the 
 Sepulchre of its Terrors, and brings 
 Consolation to the Bereaved. 
 
 The Indestructibility of the Family 
 Bond a source of Consolation to the 
 Bereaved. 
 
 At the Sepulchres of our Departed we 
 may also learn the Right which God 
 holds in us and our Families. 
 
 Future Recognition. 
 
 The Sympathy of Jesus with afflicted 
 and bereaved souls. 
 
 Our Present and our Future Home. 
 
 Darkness turned to Light, or the Uses 
 we should make of afflictions and 
 bereavements. 
 
 Grave-yards and Cemeteries, or the 
 Claims of the Dead upon the Living, 
 and the Care which should be be- 
 stowed upon the Places of their Re- 
 pose. 
 
 One Volume, 12mo. Price, $1 00. 
 
f iniMtt k %kMm\, ^c^jiilnhlpliiri; 
 
 HAVE RECENTLY PUBLISHED 
 
 THE CHILDREN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 BEV. THEOPHILUS STOEK, D.D. 
 
 " Of such, is the kingdom of heaven." — Jesus. 
 <' How oft, heart-sick and sore, 
 I've wished I were, once more, 
 A little child."— Mrs. Southet. 
 
 CONTENTS, 
 
 INTRODUCTION. — THE WONDERS OF 
 BETHLEHEM. 
 
 The " Holy Child Jesus." The Child- 
 hood and Youth of Christ. The De- 
 vout Simeon, with the Infant Saviour 
 in his arms. Jesus among the Doc- 
 tors in the Temple. Tlie sympathy 
 of Christ with little children. The 
 beauty of childhood. Poetical quo- 
 tations from Wordsworth. 
 
 LITTLE CHILDREN BROUGHT TO THE 
 SAVIOUR. 
 
 Explanation of the scene in Mark x. 
 13, 14. The Disciples' conduct. 
 The probable reasons of their inter- 
 ference. The Saviour's displeasure 
 at their conduct. His affectionate 
 welcome to children. How parents 
 now may prevent children from 
 going to Christ. An earnest dis- 
 suasive from such deportment. The 
 importance of example. The influ- 
 ence of the home-spirit. The posi- 
 tive duty of bringing our children 
 to the Saviour. 
 
 THE CHILDREN IN THE TEMPLE. 
 
 Explanation of the temple-scene, Matt, 
 xxi. 15, 16. The hosanna of the 
 children. The displeasure of the 
 priests and scribes. The Saviour's 
 vindication of the children. Ps. 
 viii. 2, explained. The importance 
 of early impressions. Reformation. 
 
 One neat 12mo. Volume, Cloth, gilt. Price, 75 cents. 
 
 National education. Sunday schools. 
 Facts, showing that children trained 
 in religion will become the cham- 
 pions of truth and virtue. Beautiful 
 visions of the future. 
 
 TIMOTHY. 
 
 His early religious education. The 
 influence of matei-nal piety. Eunice 
 an example for the imitation of mo- 
 thers. The *' child father of the 
 man." Instruction and piety com- 
 bined. Encouragement to pious 
 mothers. 
 
 THE INFANTICIDE AT BETHLEHEM. 
 
 Explanation of the scene. Seeming 
 incongruity. Vindication of Divine 
 Providence, in the massacre of the 
 infants. Infant martyrs. The scene, 
 suggestive of the following topics : 
 
 1. The death of little children. Sources 
 of consolation. Providence. Infant 
 salvation. 
 
 2. Mission of children. The advent 
 of a little child in the family. The 
 child at home. The sick and dying 
 child. The memory. 
 
 3. Children in heaven. Beautiful as- 
 ■pect of the heavenly home. 
 
 4. Recognition. Difiiculties of the 
 doctrine. Scriptural aspect of the 
 subject. David. Recognition of the 
 loved and lost in heaven. 
 
 Conclusion. 
 

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