Sl^"^ THE I'KOl'KIKTY Acknowledging the Lord IN ALL OUR WAYS ithc i^afcalaurcatc Sermon I'Kl. \cili;i> i:i.i (JKI-. THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY. June i6th, 1878. v^ HV AMKS McCOSH, D.I)., I.L.I ). HKKSIDE.NT OK THE COLI.K( \i:W YORK : ROBKRT CARTER AND B R O T H M R S l'HINtKI<»\: MiGINNKSS .t KUNYoN 1878. of rr//TcJ: THE PROPRIETY OF Acknowledging the Lord IN ALL OUR WAYS. JTUt Baccalaurcatt .^rrmou PREACHED BEFORE THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY, June i6th, 1878. JAMES McCOSH, D.D., LI..D., PRESIDENT OF THE COLLEGE. NEW YORK: ROBERT CARTER AND BROTHERS. 1878. Ki.wAKi) « ). Jhnkins' Print, 2o N. William St. THE rKOrRlETY OF Acknowledging the Lord IN ALL OUR WAYS. ""In all thy 'aays acknoivled^f Him and l!f shall dirfct thy fath.^^—Vrow iii. 16. " A man's heart drz'ist'tlt his 7fay, but the Lord directeth his steps.''' — Prov. xvi. 9. " There are many dei'ices in a mans heart : nevertheless the coun- sel ,i/ the Lordy that shall standi— Vxos. xix. 21. IT is very interesting to look on a company of youn<; people, such as I now see before me. We shall find that the wise man has some lessons to them. I. Let us look at the many ways before the YOUNG. As the sky bends all around him, the boy regards his father's house as the center of the world, and in a sense it is so to him as is every other spot in which he may be. In a like way every man's present position, rather than the past or the future, is the center of his world — his sky bends all around it. The whole of his past has come down to it ; his future starts from it. All the roads lead to it ; all the roads go out from it. In the metropolis of this country the streets go out toward the various States. From 4 THE PROPRIETY OF ACKNOWLEDGING the point the)- liavc reached, the young men may look out on the ways spread before them. There are the professioual walks anxiously regard- ed by thoughtful }ouths: the learned professions, business, farming, travel, literature, science, the pas- toral, the missionary office. There are the various motives and ends seen at a distance, which would lead }Ou to enter these walks, such as wealth, fame, fash- ion, usefulness in the church or world. Some set one of these aims before them and pursue it eagerly. Most mingle more or fewer of these ends in all kinds of ill-assorted and undefined proportions, leading to very incongruous lives. There are ways before you which lead through time into eternity, and through eternity itself. There is the wide gate, and many going in thereat, with a number of paths going out from it : the path of pleas- ure with flowers on either side; and the path of am- bition with promised crowns apparently ready to be placed on your brow ; but with the issues carefully concealed, the dismal swamps, the deserts strewn with the carcasses of slain reputations, and the end of the whole everlasting darkness. There is the strait gate where you have to leave your sins be- hind you, that you may go unburdened with a pros- pect ever becoming more pleasant under a shaded avenue, and ever and anon opening to you glimpses of the city which hath foundations. These two gates are before you ; you must enter one or the other. Choose ye this day which ye will take. A curious sight would be disclosed to us, if wc THE LORD IX AIJ. OCR WAYS. 5 could h:i\c a horoscojic to reveal to us the coming destiny of those now before me. Su|jpose the class- roll were called at a certain time in the future, say ten or twenty years hence, and as the name came up, a note taken as to the position of each one. How divers the marks we would have to take d(jwn. 'I'he ma- jority we might still find toiling in one or other of the dusty walks of life, not having yet reached their end, but still laboring in hope. Some are prosper- ing; others have met with one disappointment after another. Some are already wealthy; more, perhaps, have still to struggle for the bare means of subsist- ence. A few have reached an eminence more or less lofty ; most are still climbing the hill. .Some we may fear are living for self and for this world ; others, we trust, are living for (jod and to do good. Many, we hope, are sustaining a high character; one or more have fallen through pride and lust, and are living with a blackened character. It is certain that for a num- ber, less or more, others have to answer ; for they have been called auay to the other world, where their destiny is fixed forever: their friends beliexing that they are in the land of light and love; but some, alas! — the experience of the world leads us to make the supposition — leaving behind them a name, which their friends seldom mention, because it is as offen- sive as the odors which issue from an open grave. But from our present point, we can not thus look into the future, and ascertain what is to be the particular lot of any one. (^lod has in wisdom and in kindness drawn an imjienetrable veil over the details of tlie 6 THE rROPRIETY OF ACKNOWLEDGING future, and all that we ma\' attend to the duties of the present. We can, indeed, see in a general way, that those who pursue an evil course will, sooner or later, be visited with God's righteous judgment ; and that those who walk in the right way will be encouraged and strengthened, and reach a blessed termination in this world or the next. Beyond this no one has any vision of what is to come ; and it is well that it is so, as premature disclosures, if gloomy, might unfit us for exertion, and, if bright, might slacken our energy. So, from our present position, our duty is to choose the proper path and walk steadily in it. II. Let us consider the heart as devising its WAV. The heart, as the word is now used, stands for the feelings. But it should be observed that the word " feelings" is not used in Scripture, and the word " feeling " occurs only twice, and in neither case in our sense of the phrase. Some are spoken of in Eph. iv. 19, as being " past feeling," afrtAyem. past modesty ; and in Heb. iv. 15, Jesus is said to be " touched with a feeling of our infirmities," av/zTaO//rof, with a sym- pathy. Nor is there in the Greek or Roman languages a word of exactly the same meaning as our *' feelings." The phrase used in Scripture is a more comprehensive and expressive one, ** heart," denoting something deeper than mere floating or fleeting emotions. We read in Scripture again and again of the "imagina- tions," the "devices," the "thoughts," the "pur- poses" of the heart. THE LORD IX ALL OCR WAYS. ; In the Word of Ciod tlic phrase " licart " denotes what vvc now call the " Motive" part of man's nature (the Orcc i/c of Aristotle), that which raises up de- sire and leads to action. It embraces the springs of action, the "heart, out of which are the issues of life." It denotes not so much the streams as the fountain out of which they flow. It is the choosing, the moving power, out of which come our projects, purposes, devices, plans, in thought and imagination, as well as our affections and feelings. Hence we read, Prov. xvi. I, of "the disposings of the heart." Mad this meaning of the word been kept in view, wc should have been saved an immense amount of confused and confusing controversy as to whether faith, whether religion, is an affair of the feelings or the understand- ing. Faith is an operation of the heart — '' with the heart man believeth"— but of the heart in the enlarged sense of Scripture, embracing will and motive and purpose, being specially ''trust," the word used in the Old Testament. We see how wide and compre- hensive the command, " Keep thy heart with all dili- gence, for out of it are the issues of life." It directs that the fountain be made pure, that the streams may be pure. The work of Christ, when He enters the heart, must be of the same kind as that of the good King Heze- kiah, when he entered the Temple which had been so polluted during the reign of his predecessors. On approaching it, he sees the porch shut up; on en- tering it by force, he finds the golden candlestick, which, for ages, had burned with Hght from heaven. 8 THE PROPRIETY OF ACKNOWLEDGING extinguished in darkness. When a light is brought what a scene is disclosed ; the vessels of the house of the Lord cut in pieces, and the house of the Lord filled with all uncleanness. The altar was still there, but no holy incense had for years risen from it. And what was the first work of Hezekiah in these circum- stances? It was a work of overthrow and purifica- tion, and for long successive days were the Levites employed in bringing out these abominations from the Temple, and casting them into the brook Ke- dron. Now, there is such a scene disclosed to our view when God opens the heart which should have been His temple, and there must, in the first instance, be a similar work of overthrow. Or, rather, the work more nearly resembles that in which Hezekiah's son, the ungodly son of a pious parent, engaged in his declining life when he was brought to know that " the Lord he is God." That poor man had made his children pass through the fire to Moloch, and reared up altars to Balaam, and altars to all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord, and set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of the Lord. But, on being brought to repentance, he has to enter the Temple, and undo all his work. '' And he took away the strange gods and the idol out of the house of the Lord, and the altars which he had made in the mount of the house of the Lord, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city." Now, the work in which the sinner, brought to see his sin, has to engage, more nearly resembles the work of Manasseh than the THE LORD IN ALL Ol'R \VA VS. g work of I Iczckiali ; for tlic deeds w liich he lias to undo are his own deeds, the altars and idols which he has to cast down are the altars and idols which he had raised. And what a scene is beheld b\' him, and beheld b)' him with disma)', and with all the greater dismay, because he used to survey it with pleasure and complacency ! Here is pride blocking up the very entrance ; here is covetousncss, which is idolatry; here is vanity, a carved image, and lust and passion, with their abominations nestling in this spot and in that spot, in the very temple of God. There is need of a work of preparation. There must be a way prepared by and for the Lord. In order that the heart may be pure, it must first be purified, and to have it purified is our first duty. Our first duty is not to do certain works : to give alms, to keep the Sabbath and give up particular sins; all these are duties and important duties, but they arc not the first, though they should immediately follow, or rather go along with, the first. When a man's body is diseased, his first duty is to be rid of the malady. When a man's house is on fire, his first business is not to furnish or adorn it, but to extinguish the flames. So the first work of a sinner, under sin and condemnation, is to be delivered from the fatal mal- ady, from the consuming fire. The first care of the burdened pilgrim is to be rid of his load, that he may pursue his journey. This is the decisive step in the Christian's life; it is, in fact, the crisis of his being. It is called the '' new birth," " conversion," '* regener- ation ;" it is the stej) b)' which we are born into the 10 THE PROPRIETY OE ACKNOWLEDGING kincfdom of heaven, as bv our natural birth we were born into the world. Till this change is wrought in him, the devices of the man's heart are sure to be worldly, sinister, pciverted, crooked. Even when we would do good, evil is present with us. While alto- gether unaware of it, we may be swayed by selfish and ungodly motives, leading us into one sin after another. The diseased eye needs to be rectified be- fore it can see things in their proper form and color. But being so purified, we are now ready to discern our way. It is a man's duty to devise his way, to choose a way among those spread out before him. God has given him faculties for this purpose ; among others, powers of observation and of discernment. He can look back on his past experience and gather wisdom from it. He can take the advice of friends in whom he has confidence, that they know the world and mankind, and have a regard for him. He should calmly survey the position in which he is placed, and his prospects as to any given line of life that may be open to him. He may survey his bodily strength and determine whether his health is likely to stand the labor which he has to undertake. He is called specially to estimate his talents, and to find what they are adapted to. This is somewhat difficult and delicate work, as men are often very inadequate judges of their own capacities, frequently overrating them, ancj so trying tasks beyond their strength, but at times through a morbid modesty underrating them, and so declining work which they could ac- THE LORD IN ALL OUR \VA VS. \ \ comi)li.sh if only tlic}- had the courai^^c to undertake it. Still, by means of trials of various kinds, success- ful and unsuccessful, the candid man will be able to ascertain what he is fit for. In a subordinate way the youth may consider not only his ^nfts, but his very tastes: as special tastes often proceed from special talents; and as he is most likjly to succeed in a line of life for which he has an inclination. Look- ing thus to his position and his capacities he may discover a fitness which determines for him his choice and his path. He may then go forward, feeling as if he had been drawn in, or shut in by God, who has not indeed spoken to him by an audible voice, but has called him by His Providence. Having thus weighed everything, and devised his way, he should set out courageously and hopefully, and pursue his way steadfastly, hearing by faith a voice behind him saying: "This is the way, walk ye in it." This faith will impart a hope and an energy to him in the path lie takes. Nothing can be more despicable than the aimless, inconsistent life which many lead. If you ask them for what purpose they are living, they can scarcely tell you, for in fact they have no end before them, except to eat and drink, and act as others do, and according to the whim of the moment, or their surroundings at the time. There are youths to whom God gives a special call to enter on the work of the minister or the mis- sionary. A father or mother dedicated him, as Hannah did Samuel, to the service of the Lord in His temple, w;hich is His Church. Prayers have been offered for him continually all toward this end. 1 2 THE PROPRIETY OF ACKNO WLEDGING There has been a constant reference to it in the training in the family, in the school, and in the col- lege. Or prompted from above, he purposed at the time when he entered the Church to consecrate his life to the proclamation of the Gospel at home or abroad. He sees that he would serve higher ends, and be more useful in this service than in any other work. When he looks to all this, he should feel that the call is of God, and immediately obey. As he does so, he is not to be frightened by difficulties, or refuse to go forward because they are in the way, or until they are removed. '' He that observeth the word shall not sow, and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap." But when we hear the command, "■ In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand," let us go forth and obey, and the winds will blow in our favor, and the clouds discharge gracious showers. There is a timidity and a fear on the part of many that is cowardly. When God is calling for soldiers let us hasten to be enrolled. When the order is given, '' Speak unto the people that they go forward," let us go forward, even though the sea be rolling at our feet, and we shall find that God will make a way even in the depths of the sea for His people to pass in, and the waters shall be a wall unto them on their right hand and on their left. 111. TiiK Command is, A( knowi.kdck thk Lord in ALL THY WAYS. We should do so, if for no other reason, yet, for this, that while man may liave many THE LORD IN ALL OCR \VA VS. 13 devices, " the counsel of the Lord, it shall stand." We should plan, but should all the time remember that there is One above us whose plans overrule ours, to thwart them or bring them to a successful issue. God often shows that He is above man, and that He is stronger than man. We are all made to feel how dependent we are on Him. A youth sets out on his professional career with bright prospects of success, but is prostrated by disease and loses the tide, and knows not that another will rise in his favor. More than one of the grand old Greek plays teach that the gods carried their purposes not only in spite of the opposition of men, but by means of the very opposi- tion. It having been foretold that a son is to kill his father, the son is banished, in consequence, to a dis- tant country, but it is so ordered by fate that the son falls in with the father and murders him, without knowing who he is. The truth thus brought out strongly, but rudely, by those old poetical moralists, is clearly and accurately declared and illustrated in the Old Testament by numerous incidents. Thus, Ahitophel, who had all his life been a man of deep policy, on his abandoning David at the time when Absalom rebelled, is detected and exposed in the view of the whole world, and lays violent hands on himself. Haman is suspended on the gallows which he had erected for the execution of a noble-minded Jew. " The wicked," says the Psalmist, *' are caught in their own snare." We are to acknowledge the Lord in all our ways. We are to acknowledge Him at starting, that He may 14 THE PROPRIETY OF ACKNOWLEDGING keep us from setting out on the wrong path. We arc to acknowleclge Him tliroughout, lest He abandon us at a critical time, the time of danger and temptation, and leave us to walk in our own way, which may be one of folly ending in misery. You remember how the children of Israel, without consulting God, en- tered into a treaty with the Gibconites, who deceived them, and were allowed to dwell in the land where for ages they were as thorns in the sides of the chil- dren of Israel, and on one occasion came down upon them with nine hundred chariots of iron and oppress- ed them mightily. We are to acknowledge Him by constantly and habitually looking to His Word, es- pecially to His law in the Old Testament form, rigid and unbending, and the New Testament form, com- prised in the Sermon on the Mount, irradiated all over with the smiles of love beaming from the coun- tenance of Jesus. For this purpose we should read a portion of it daily, that its precepts may be kept be- fore us. Even when we are not thinking of a par- ticular passage, we will be walking in the light of (jod's law shed around us, as we walk in the light of the sun even when we are not looking directly at it. Walk- ing thus we will draw back from whatever is discoun- tenanced by that law ; and not act as Balaam did when, lured by the wages of iniquity, he went on his way without leave from God, and did not take the warning of the angel with the drawn sword standing across his path, and in the end perished in his sin. In that light we shall see light, and see oj^enings of usefulness on the ri'dit hand and on the left. THE LORD IN ALL OVR WA VS. 5 We arc to ackno\vIcd