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The Man and His Message 
 
THE 
 
 Man and His Message 
 
 Addresses 
 
 HENRY M. BOOTH, D.D., LL.D. 
 
 First President of Auburn Seminary, and Professor of Prac- 
 tical Theology, 1893-1899 
 
 Delivered before the Students and Alumni of the Theological Seminary, 
 of Auburn, in the State of New York 
 
 New York Chicago Toronto 
 
 Fleming H. Revell Company 
 
 Publishers of Evangelical Literature 
 
Copyright, 1899 
 
 by 
 
 FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 
 
Prefatory Note 
 
 The addresses which are published in this 
 volume express the life purpose which en- 
 riched the ministry of my father. With him, 
 sin was a reality which could be met only by 
 the love of a Divine Saviour; and his happiest 
 moments, whether in the active work of the 
 pastorate at Englewood, or amid the student 
 life at Auburn, were in proclaiming the love 
 of "Jesus Christ, and Him crucified." 
 
 With this confidence, he labored; and when 
 his work was finished, he quietly laid down 
 his task, "and stood in the presence of the 
 Master." 
 
 The "Man for the Message," is his inau- 
 gural address when inducted into the office of 
 President, and Professor of Practical Theology 
 in Auburn Seminary, in October, 1893. 
 
 The remaining six addresses were delivered 
 upon successive years to the graduating classes 
 of the Seminary. The last message — "Stew- 
 ards of the Mysteries of God," was completed 
 a few days before my father's death, on 
 eighteenth of March of this present year, and 
 
 5 
 
Prefatory Note 
 
 was read at Commencement some two months 
 later. 
 
 "The Man and His Message" may serve as 
 a title to unify these addresses. They present 
 a conception of the Christian ministry, which 
 a lifetime of service gave to my father. 
 
 Fisher Howe Booth. 
 Tenafly N. J. 
 
 November 1899 
 
Contents 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Man for the Message ... 9 
 
 " Power from on High " ... 45 
 
 "Ambassadors on Behalf of Christ" . 63 
 
 Jesus Christ, and Him Crucified . . 85 
 
 "The Mind of Christ" . . . .105 
 
 Watching for Souls . . . . 123 
 
 Stewards of the Mysteries of God . .143 
 
The Man for the Message 
 
The Man for the Message 
 
 The man for the message is the appeal of 
 the world. Christendom is dominant, even 
 while Christendom is not yet Christian. The 
 armies, the navies, the commerce, the uni- 
 versities, the libraries, the civilization of the 
 century acknowledge the supremacy of Jesus 
 Christ. His name stands above every other 
 name; and His word is accepted as the wis- 
 dom that must rule in life and conduct, if 
 prosperity and happiness are ever to find a 
 home on this earth. A cycle of Cathay is not 
 equal to fifty years of Europe; and the grey 
 barbarian is confessedly lower than the Chris- 
 tian child. 
 
 Heathenism is conscious of a decadence 
 which is suggestive of social and religious 
 transformations. Mohammedanism is still ag- 
 gressive. In the Soudan, each new Mahdi se- 
 cures a few converts. But the sword has been 
 sheathed; and the Koran or death are seldom 
 the alternative. The crescent has been taught 
 by the cross, so that Christian methods of 
 education and government are influential in 
 the Orient. "The New Islam," which is a 
 progressive movement among the cultured 
 11 
 
12 The Man and His Message 
 
 Mohammedans of India, ventures to rebuke 
 polygamy, concubinage and slavery. Irre- 
 ligion is apathetic, while infidelity is critical, 
 rather than constructive. The open doors of 
 opportunity are more evident, and more im- 
 portunate, than was the vision of Troas, which 
 gave to Europe an apostolic man and a gospel 
 message. God has answered prayer. Ob- 
 stacles have been removed. Invitations have 
 been issued. The conviction is prevalent, that 
 the gospel message is "good tidings of great 
 joy, which shall be to all people"; and the ap- 
 peal of the world, unuttered it may be, yet 
 real and urgent, is a Macedonian call for the 
 man who is prepared to carry God's message, 
 or to act as God's messenger. 
 
 This is the situation that is now addressed 
 by a Theological Seminary. A Theological 
 Seminary exists for the purpose of training 
 men who are to serve as "ambassadors for 
 Christ." Manhood, and manhood that is dis- 
 tinctively and emphatically Christian, is the de- 
 sirable product of a Theological Seminary. 
 There must be an agreement between the man 
 and the message, and as the message is a 
 divine revelation that has been announced in its 
 completeness, the man must be made to con- 
 form to its spirit and truth. No heathen 
 orator, even with the matchless speech of a 
 Demosthenes or a Cicero, can make the mes- 
 
The Man for the Message 13 
 
 sage effective by its verbal proclamation; and 
 no brilliant genius, even with the intellect of a 
 Goethe or the pen of a Shakespeare, can ac- 
 complish the noble service of a messenger of 
 the gospel, if he has failed to experience in his 
 own soul, "the power of the Highest." The 
 message summons the man, disciplines him, 
 indicates his work, and reaches the world 
 through his personality, because the Holy 
 Spirit is pleased thus to use the man, in recon- 
 ciling the world to God by Jesus Christ. Thus 
 St. Paul went forth with the glad confidence 
 that God, who had called him by His grace, 
 had revealed His Son in him in order that he 
 might preach. He was conscious that he had 
 "the mind of Christ." When he was " cruci- 
 fied with Christ," he entered upon the new 
 life, which he thereafter lived "by the faith of 
 the Son of God." With him stand all the 
 great preachers, all the heroic missionaries, all 
 the martyrs and confessors, who have enriched 
 the world by their fidelity, and who have 
 made the gospel precious to the weary, lonely 
 and sad daughters and sons of men. The 
 gospel has become personal. They have in- 
 carnated its truths. In them, Jesus Christ has 
 lived, and ruled, and manifested His desire 
 "to seek and to save that which was lost." 
 
 If the message is to determine the man, it is 
 essential that the message should be under- 
 
14 The Man and His Message 
 
 stood. For while the man may be affected by 
 racial, national and personal characteristics, by 
 the centuries and the continents, the message 
 is always and everywhere the same. It con- 
 siders and answers those three great questions, 
 which are the religious questions of the ages: 
 What can be said of sin ? What can be said 
 of God ? What can be said of immortality ? 
 When those three questions are satisfactorily 
 answered, the religious problem is solved. For 
 sin is the ever-present obstacle to individual 
 and social perfection, and God is essential to 
 the completeness of human life, and immor- 
 tality is the demand of every eager, intelligent 
 spirit. So true is it, as Augustine of Hippo 
 has said: " Thou hast made us for Thyself, oh 
 God, and our souls are ever restless, until they 
 rest in Thee." 
 
 To understand the message, the Holy Scrip- 
 tures must be searched. This was the injunc- 
 tion of the Master, when He and His disciples 
 held in their hands a portion only of the Holy 
 Scriptures. That portion has received a con- 
 siderable and an important addition, since the 
 New Testament canon has been associated 
 with the Old. The Old Testament secured the 
 endorsement of our blessed Lord, and the New 
 Testament was composed by apostolic men, 
 to whom was given the promise of the Holy 
 Spirit's enlightenment, guidance and control. 
 
The Man for the Message 15 
 
 Thus the sacred volume is the Word of God, 
 and "the only infallible rule of faith and prac- 
 tice." It is said to be inspired — "God 
 breathed." Just what is meant by inspired, it 
 is not easy to say. In his essay on " The Hu- 
 man Understanding," Locke quotes a Latin 
 aphorism, which is pertinent to this question 
 of inspiration: 
 
 " Si non rogas, intelligo." 
 
 " If you don't ask me, I know." 
 
 Whenever the divine activity is exception- 
 ally evident, the limitations of the human un- 
 derstanding are the rebuke of free inquiry. 
 Results may be known, while methods or 
 processes baffle comprehension. "The wind 
 bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the 
 sound thereof." Who can properly question 
 the reality of the breeze, the gale, or the tem- 
 pest ? Yet who can tell us, " whence it Com- 
 eth, and whither it goeth " ? Men have tried 
 to be very wise in their definitions and expla- 
 nations of how God must have acted, and how 
 God must still be acting. But very much of 
 this wisdom is only a darkening of counsel by 
 words without knowledge. The a-priori con- 
 clusions must meet the scrutiny of the a-pos- 
 teriori facts, and facts are often destructive of 
 philosophies. It is possible that too many 
 questions may be asked concerning the most 
 
1 6 The Man and His Message 
 
 sacred things, and it is possible that a man 
 may exhibit his learning, and his piety too, by 
 saying frankly, "I do not know." In the 
 presence of the sweet singer of the Olney 
 hymns, the evidences of a divine regeneration, 
 a complete spiritual transformation, which ex- 
 tends to body, soul and spirit, are as plain as 
 are the evidences of the summer, when the 
 fields are covered with ripening grain. John 
 Newton, once a libertine, now a saint, once a 
 slave trader, now a benefactor of the race, can 
 be explained only as the grace of God, in the 
 activity of the Holy Spirit, is recognized. He 
 is filled with the Holy Spirit. Now, shall 
 curious questionings undertake to tell us just 
 how the Holy Spirit regenerated John Newton, 
 and just how far the regenerating influence of 
 the Holy Spirit extends to his finger tips, into 
 the hairs of his head and throughout his body ? 
 No! We prefer to silence such questionings. 
 They appear to us to trifle with a sublime 
 mystery. We are satisfied with John Newton, 
 as we have him. When he is present, we 
 know that we are confronted by a man of 
 God; and when we grasp his hand, we feel 
 the warm pressure, which is that of a divine 
 life in a human frame. 
 
 The Holy Scriptures are filled with the in- 
 spiration of God. From Genesis to the Apoc- 
 alypse, these writings are "God-breathed." 
 
The Man for the Message 17 
 
 One may appear more valuable than another, 
 just as the fruit of a tree may seem to be more 
 precious than the bark. Yet the bark is essen- 
 tial to the fruit; and the Creator of all life gives 
 the bark, as truly as He gives the fruit. But 
 the fruit is for food, which men are to eat, 
 without insisting that the bark is just as nu- 
 tritious, because it is the bark of a living 
 tree. 
 
 The message which we are seeking is the 
 precious fruit of the Holy Scriptures. In the 
 Holy Scriptures, there is discovered a revela- 
 tion, and that revelation is the message. An 
 inspired volume contains a divine revela- 
 tion. As the wise men of Westminster de- 
 clared, more than two hundred years ago, 
 "The whole counsel of God, concerning all 
 things necessary for His own glory, man's 
 salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set 
 down in Scripture, or by good and necessary 
 consequence may be deduced from Scripture, 
 unto which nothing, at any time, is to be 
 added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, 
 or traditions of men." " The Supreme Judge, 
 by which all controversies of religion are to be 
 determined, and all decrees of councils, opin- 
 ions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and 
 private spirits are to be examined, and in 
 whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other 
 but the Holy Spirit, speaking in the Scripture." 
 
1 8 The Man and His Message 
 
 Those seventeenth century sentences require 
 no revision. They are the conservators of 
 truth and liberty and progress. Attention is 
 directed to a well-known volume whose con- 
 tents become the possession of a devout 
 scholarship. Such scholarship has the prom- 
 ised enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. It goes 
 not to man, nor to any organization, for its 
 opinions, but to the Holy Scriptures. As the 
 Holy Scriptures are searched, theories may be 
 dismissed, interpretations may be discarded, 
 bodies of divinity may find their catacombs on 
 the upper shelves of dust-covered libraries. 
 Biblical theology must, after all, be the the- 
 ology, which is to equip the man for the mes- 
 sage, and to send him out as a true and loyal 
 servant of the living God. Such theology goes 
 to the Holy Scriptures, as the modern astron- 
 omer sweeps the heavens with penetrating 
 lenses, confident that the vision which is keen 
 will discover the deep things of God, whose 
 reality was never imagined by men of a 
 former generation. When Abram stood at 
 his tent door, and looked up at the divine 
 bidding, he saw in the stars of that eastern 
 sky, the number of his descendants. But 
 what did he know, what could he know, of 
 the stars as the men of to-day know them, 
 whose watch-towers are splendidly equipped 
 for observation ? 
 
The Man for the Message 19 
 
 Decadence in spiritual appreciation is not a 
 sign of the times. Never since the Holy Scrip- 
 tures became one book has the opportunity for 
 study equalled the present; and never, through 
 the centuries, has the purpose to grasp the con- 
 tents of the Holy Scriptures been as resolute as 
 now; and never, in all the years of the Chris- 
 tian Church, has there been as intelligent an 
 estimate of what the Bible is, and of what it is 
 for, as among the men and women of our day. 
 The spirit of the Beroeans is active. An earnest 
 of a stronger faith and of a more effective 
 evangelism is to be found in the many open 
 and well-worn Bibles. A Biblical age must be 
 an age of faith and activity. We may not all 
 agree as to points of emphasis, as to polity and 
 ritual. The right of private judgment is an in- 
 heritance from the reformers, which every 
 Protestant values. It has its perils, just as life 
 and activity always have. The cemetery is a 
 place of safety, because the quiet of death is 
 there. But our busy, thinking age is not a 
 cemetery, and the Church of Him who is alive 
 forevermore, should never be satisfied with a 
 peace which is the stillness of death. The 
 peril of inquiry, evident as it is, is better, far 
 better, than the safety of indifference, igno- 
 rance or fear of ecclesiastical disfavor. In a 
 fair contest with error, whether scientific, his- 
 toric or philosophic, the Bible has never suf- 
 
20 The Man and His Message 
 
 fered; while that sacred book has often suf- 
 fered, when the theories of the schools have 
 been attached to it in such a manner that the 
 Bible and the theories have been regarded as 
 identical. 
 
 One Sabbath afternoon, not long ago, I at- 
 tended a service in Westminster Abbey. The 
 Abbey was crowded, so that I was compelled 
 to take a seat in the transept, distant from 
 choir and pulpit. As I could not hear the ser- 
 mon, I gave myself up to the impressive asso- 
 ciations of that historic sanctuary. Around 
 me were the splendid memorials of England's 
 greatness in peace and war; those magnificent 
 statues which are a nation's tribute to wisdom, 
 valor and patriotism. 
 
 As I recalled the achievements which are 
 thus immortalized, the sunset hour drew on 
 and the daylight began to fade. Suddenly 
 there was heard the roll of distant thunder, 
 and a flash of lightning was seen. The Abbey 
 became very dark. The rain began to fall in 
 torrents. The rushing wind rattled the case- 
 ments. 
 
 The preacher finished his discourse. A few 
 prayers were said. The anthem was an- 
 nounced. By this time the storm had reached 
 its height. The thunder was echoing among 
 the arches of the Abbey, and the lightning 
 brought out into strong and bold relief the 
 
The Man for the Message 21 
 
 marble statues. It was a strange, weird expe- 
 rience, there among the living and the dead, 
 with nature convulsed. Even the notes of the 
 great organ were, at times, inaudible. No ear 
 could distinguish the words of the anthem, al- 
 though a full choir was engaged in the service 
 of praise. There was a pause, brief but elo- 
 quent, a lull in this contest between man and 
 the elements, when a single voice took up a 
 sentence, and sang it sweetly, like a seraph 
 before the throne. Again in higher key, and 
 still again in key yet higher, and higher still 
 that voice was heard, above the hissing of the 
 wind, and the beating of the rain, and the tu- 
 mult of the thunder, until it seemed that no 
 voice of man could strike a higher note, an- 
 nouncing, calmly and exultantly, that one sen- 
 tence, only one: "And His truth endureth 
 from generation to generation." 
 
 I shall never forget that hour and that voice. 
 My unbelief was rebuked. My faith was 
 strengthened. "His truth endureth." His 
 Word is truth. In that, our Holy Bible as we 
 have it, we place our confidence. Men may 
 question, may criticise, may deny. But the 
 Holy Bible will assert its power, and proclaim 
 to all the world that glorious salvation which 
 is God's eternal love for man. We need not 
 fear. The end is not doubtful. The Holy 
 Bible, as the Word of God, will yet be read in 
 
22 The Man and His Message 
 
 every language, be welcome in every dwell- 
 ing, be influential in every life. So we believe, 
 and therefore speak. 
 
 In the Holy Scriptures, Jesus Christ, the Di- 
 vine Redeemer of mankind, is everywhere 
 present; sometimes He is the theme of proph- 
 ecy, and again He is the significance of type; 
 now He is the burden of song, and again He 
 is the interpretation of parable; here He is 
 doctrine, and there He is life. But there is no 
 contradiction. The stream flows onward from 
 the fountain which appears in Eden, to the 
 pure river of the water of life, which is seen 
 in the City of God. The protevangelium of 
 the garden is the pledge of the welcome, which 
 is heard in the New Jerusalem. What Adam 
 and Eve must have understood when God cov- 
 ered their nakedness with coats of skin and led 
 them to an altar and a bleeding sacrifice, the 
 convert of yesterday knew as he turned, by 
 faith, to "the Lamb of God, which taketh 
 away the sin of the world." The truth is the 
 same, whether whispered in simple language 
 to the infancy of the race, or proclaimed in 
 terms of profound significance to that race in 
 its adult years. Abel, the first martyr, whose 
 faith in the Redeemer cost him the lower life 
 and secured him the higher, stands at the head 
 of the multitude that no man can number. 
 There is but one message. There has never 
 
The Man for the Message 23 
 
 been but one. We have no expectation that 
 there will ever be another. 
 
 " We abide 
 Not on this earth ; but for a little space 
 We pass upon it ; and while we pass 
 God through the dark hath set the Light of Life, 
 With witness of Himself, the Word of God, 
 To be among us man, with human heart, 
 And human language, thus interpreting 
 The one great will incomprehensible, 
 Only so far as we in human life 
 Are able to receive it. Men as men, 
 Can reach no higher than the Son of God, 
 The Perfect Head and Pattern of Mankind." 
 
 For He, the Son of Mary, is also the eternal 
 Son of God. Immanuel is His appropriate 
 designation. Made like unto His brethren in 
 His voluntary condescension, He is infinitely 
 superior to angels and to archangels in the 
 glory of His divine nature. He is the mes- 
 sage, for he who knows Jesus Christ, knows 
 the love of God and the plan of God and that 
 wonderful accomplishment, which has given 
 us Bethlehem, Nazareth, Gethsemane and Cal- 
 vary, with the slope of Olivet, on which we 
 stand gazing up into heaven. 
 
 From the lips of Jesus Christ, when He was 
 here among men, fell these words of priceless 
 meaning: " God so loved the world, that He 
 gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever 
 
24 The Man and His Message 
 
 believeth in Him should not perish, but have 
 everlasting life." That sentence is a cube of 
 the purest gold, that may be minted into the 
 current coin of a daily exchange, as it makes 
 possible a true Christian socialism; or fash- 
 ioned into the ornaments, which befit the chil- 
 dren of a king, as the doctrine of God, our 
 Saviour, is adorned in all things; or held as the 
 token which will admit a sinful creature into 
 the pure and radiant life of heaven. Few 
 words are used; but each word finds its inter- 
 pretation in the Holy Scriptures, whose main 
 purpose is "the unveiling of God's character." 
 So that we may know and believe, that the 
 same God who is announced in the book of 
 Genesis, as the Creator of "the heavens and 
 the earth and all the host of them," is He who 
 has " loved us with an everlasting love." This 
 love is the source of every redemptive bless- 
 ing. The initiative is with God, "He first 
 loved us." "There are two kinds of religion 
 and only two," remarked President Seelye, as 
 he addressed the educated Hindus of India: 
 " The one begins with man, and seeks by hu- 
 man endeavors, after a divine fellowship. 
 The other begins with God, and by a way 
 wholly divine seeks after man. In this is the 
 peculiarity of the Christian, in distinction from 
 all other systems of religion, and in the revela- 
 tion of this doctrine, is the distinction of the 
 
The Man for the Message 25 
 
 Bible from all other books. The salvation 
 which the Christian religion announces is pro- 
 cured wholly through a divine work and is 
 offered to man, not in the least because his 
 obedience or service can merit it, but solely 
 through the free exercise of divine mercy." 
 The little word "so" covers all that is distinc- 
 tive in the gospel message, " God so loved the 
 world." The so is grace, and grace, so far as 
 we are aware, is God's especial love for this, 
 our world. He may have, and He has, other 
 love for other beings and for other worlds. 
 But for us, God's love is grace — unmerited 
 favor. When He loves the world, God is 
 " kind unto the unthankful and the evil." 
 
 The grace is active sympathy; for God has 
 given His Son to suffer and to die, in order 
 that the world may not perish in sin, but live 
 in holiness. The Son is freely offered, as the 
 only Redeemer; and the one condition of ac- 
 ceptance is repentance and faith. Believing in 
 Him, "whosoever" — and that means any hu- 
 man being — may find life, and life that can be 
 lived peacefully and happily forever and for- 
 ever more. The whole world is addressed. 
 There are no limitations. When the call is to 
 "whosoever," men are not invited to a banquet, 
 which has not food enough to go around. The 
 invitation is genuine. "There is grace enough 
 for thousands of new worlds as great as this." 
 
26 The Man and His Message 
 
 The love of God in Jesus Christ is inexhaust- 
 ible. The gospel message is for all the world. 
 The command is, "Go and preach to every 
 creature." 
 
 The glorious gospel of the grace of God is 
 the message for the man. He must not disre- 
 gard it. Other themes may tempt him. He 
 may be interested in science, in art, or in poli- 
 tics, and he may imagine he has a special mis- 
 sion to discharge. But let him not fall into 
 the error which has destroyed the influence of 
 many a Christian minister. He can do more 
 for art, for science, and for politics by using 
 the gospel aright, by indirection, if you please, 
 than he can by neglecting the gospel, and de- 
 voting himself to art, to science and to poli- 
 tics. The world expects that a Christian min- 
 ister will present Christianity at all times. 
 This was the daily work of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, who could have spoken, and with wis- 
 dom too, on finance and politics, and philoso- 
 phy, and literature, and science, and art; but 
 who concentrated His daily speech upon the 
 vital interests of sin and salvation. We may 
 safely learn of Him. The gospel is compre- 
 hensive. When it makes a new man in Christ 
 Jesus, every desirable interest of human life is 
 affected. The "new earth wherein dwelleth 
 righteousness" will possess a refined art, a 
 true science and politics which are pure. 
 
The Man for the Message 27 
 
 It is said that the saintly Archbishop Leigh- 
 ton was once reprimanded in a synod, "for 
 not preaching up the times." "Who," he 
 asked, "does preach up the times?" The 
 reply was, "All the brethren." "Then," re- 
 joined Leighton, "if all of you preach up the 
 times, you may surely allow one poor brother 
 to preach up Jesus Christ and eternity." The 
 American pulpit has known no minister who 
 has been superior to Dr. George W. Bethune, 
 in the wide range of public sympathy. Yet 
 Dr. Bethune carried into his ministry the wise 
 counsel of his godly father, who said : "My 
 son, preach the gospel. Tell dying sinners of 
 a Saviour. Mind nothing else. It is all folly." 
 I have been present more than once where the 
 appointments of service were elaborate and 
 costly, where the associations of the sanctu- 
 ary were those of an Evangelical past, and 
 where men and women were waiting to hear 
 "the truth as it is in Jesus." And I have lis- 
 tened to what Spinoza has to say, or to what 
 Darwin has to say, or to what Huxley has to 
 say, to theories of light and motion, to ethical 
 discussions, until my soul has cried out within 
 me in earnest desire to hear what our blessed 
 Lord has to say. These things ought not so 
 to be. A Christian sanctuary, on the Lord's 
 day, is open for Christian worship, and he 
 who, in the conduct of worship, fails to make 
 
28 The Man and His Message 
 
 the gospel prominent above all else that can 
 be spoken, is guilty before God and men of a 
 perversion of his sacred privilege. The two 
 terms, sin and salvation, admit of all needful 
 modifications and adjustments, while the two 
 personalities, the sinner and the Saviour, are 
 expressive of all any man can know of him- 
 self and of the infinitely wise and Holy God. 
 For the saint is the sinner redeemed, renewed, 
 perfected, glorified; while the Saviour is 
 Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Triune God, 
 in the blessed activities of a world's salvation. 
 This, then, is the message for which the man 
 is to be trained. Who can fail to see that its 
 divine origin is stamped upon its surface? 
 Who can fail to realize that a desirable social 
 order waits upon the acceptance of this truth ? 
 "Loving God is but letting God love us." 
 And as we love God we shall love all the 
 children of God, even while they are coarse 
 and vulgar and unlovely. For our love for 
 God's children will be like God's love for us. 
 "God so loved us." We may believe that we 
 are superior to the degraded Papuans, and we 
 are; we may ask ourselves why we should 
 care anything about distant human beings, 
 who are inferior to a well-bred dog, and why 
 should we? Simply because God's love for 
 us begets in us a love for them. The distance 
 that separates us from the Papuans is infinites- 
 
The Man for the Message 29 
 
 imal, when compared with the distance that 
 separates us from God. Yet may we look up 
 devoutly into the face of God and say, " Who 
 loved me and gave Himself for me" /This is 
 the missionary spirit, and the only spirit that 
 will ever conquer the world. No human be- 
 ing is beyond our sympathy. " We are debt- 
 ors both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians, 
 both to the wise and to the unwise." " It 
 was a fine touch in the ancient hymn," re- 
 marked Dean Stanley, "which described how 
 when he landed at Puteoli, St. Paul turned 
 aside to the hill of Pausilipo to shed a tear 
 over the tomb of Virgil, and to think of how 
 much he might have made of that noble soul 
 if he had found him still on earth: 
 
 "Ad Maronis mausoleum 
 Ductus. Fudit super eum 
 Piae rorem lachrymae — 
 Quantum, dixit, te fecissem 
 Si te vivium invenissem, 
 Poetarum maxime." 
 
 With such a message, a distinct and perfect 
 revelation, which we find in a sacred book, 
 whose entire contents are controlled by a di- 
 vine inspiration, what of the man ? Who is 
 sufficient for such things as these? In the 
 apostolic age, when the teaching and influence 
 of Jesus were fresh and influential, when 
 
30 The Man and His Message 
 
 Christendom was an infant and Christianity a 
 full-grown man, the message secured an ap- 
 propriate messenger without difficulty. The 
 lines were drawn. To be for the gospel was 
 to be against the world. Life was eloquent. 
 In Jerusalem they marvelled, when they saw 
 the boldness of Peter and John, and at once 
 they referred their courage to Jesus. Saul of 
 Tarsus, who had every opportunity of prefer- 
 ment as a Jew, counted all things but loss for 
 the excellency of the knowledge of Christ 
 Jesus, his Lord. Humble artisans, common 
 sailors, simple-hearted women were carried 
 away by an enthusiasm for the Lord, whom 
 they loved. Wherever they went they pro- 
 claimed the message; artisans, as they worked 
 at their trade; sailors, as they steered the rude 
 barques toward the shores of distant Britain; 
 women, as they met the obligations of servi- 
 tude in the dwellings of proud Romans. Ere 
 long, there were converts in the Praetorium, 
 and the apostle could send the Christian saluta- 
 tions of some in Caesar's household. When 
 the message found the messenger, the con- 
 quest of the world was assured. Within 
 three hundred years after the gospel went out 
 of Jerusalem, in poverty and under reproach, 
 the cross was above the eagle, as the symbol 
 of imperialism. This is the marvel of history 
 whose explanation must be found in the 
 
The Man for the Message 31 
 
 words of Jesus, which tell us, that, as he was 
 sent by the father, so are His disciples sent by 
 Him, to declare in character, in speech and in 
 conduct, the gracious love of God. What 
 think you, would be the result within a dec- 
 ade, if every disciple of our blessed Lord 
 should feel the pressure of a similar constraint 
 and should become a gospel messenger ? 
 
 In the city of London, a year ago, Mr. Edwin 
 Long exhibited a splendid picture, which he en- 
 titled Anno Domini. Upon the canvas, there was 
 placed an accurate representation of an Egyp- 
 tian temple, from whose spacious courts a 
 brilliant procession of soldiers, statesmen, 
 philosophers, artists, musicians and priests 
 were advancing in a triumphal march. A 
 huge idol, which was central in the triumph, 
 was the challenge and the boast of heathenism. 
 In the foreground, there was a group of idlers 
 — men, women and children — who seemed to 
 be entertained as much by a few jugglers with 
 their tricks, as they were by the magnificent 
 pageant which was the event of the hour. 
 Across the pathway of the advance and in 
 close proximity to the idlers, the artist placed 
 a patient ass whose back was burdened with 
 the weight of a fair, young mother and her in- 
 fant child, and whose bridle was held by the 
 strong hand of a reverent, thoughtful man. 
 They were entering Egypt in flight, from the 
 
32 The Man and His Message 
 
 wrath of King Herod, and they were thus 
 crossing the path of an aggressive heathenism. 
 Then the clock struck, and the year of the 
 Lord was entered on the calendar. For the 
 littfe child in the mother's arms introduced an 
 era, which is still rebuking idolatry, as it 
 blesses mankind with a pure and spiritual 
 faith in one living and true God. 
 
 It is interesting to consider the discipline 
 that was used by Jesus in His training of the 
 twelve. For three years, He devoted Himself 
 to the training of these men, one of whom 
 was a failure, and was never graduated from 
 the Apostolic College. He took them in the 
 rough and refined them. They came to Him 
 from their merchandise and fishing. His per- 
 sonality touched theirs. He gave them daily 
 instruction. Their horizon was soon enlarged. 
 They ceased to be Galilean. They became 
 cosmopolitan. New and grand ideas took 
 possession of their minds. The old occupa- 
 tions were outgrown. Christ for the world 
 became their ideal. Obstacles did not dis- 
 courage them. They learned that minorities 
 with God are more powerful than majorities 
 without God. They became the world's bene- 
 factors. They live still in the religion, the 
 patriotism, and the philanthropy of the most 
 favored lands. 
 
 The great truth which was prominent in the 
 
The Man for the Message 33 
 
 training of the twelve was the revelation of 
 God. " I have declared unto them Thy name," 
 said Jesus, "and will declare it, that the love 
 wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in 
 them, and I in them." This is the supreme 
 human need. Men do not know God. When 
 they do know Him, they become His true and 
 loving sons. "What is the effect of revela- 
 tion ?" was the question of the devout Thomas 
 Erskine of Linlathen. To which he gave an- 
 swer, "It is the disclosure to us of our rela- 
 tions to God, and to one another." This is 
 what Jesus undertook to tell us. Life may be 
 lived from below, and that is sensualism; or 
 from its environment, and that is worldli- 
 ness; or from above, and that is spirituality. 
 "Except a man be born from above," the 
 marginal reading gives the thought, "he can- 
 not see the kingdom of God." But when a 
 man is thus born, he looks up, with faith, 
 and hope, and love, because he sees his father, 
 and he looks around with consideration, and 
 sympathy, and enthusiasm, because he sees 
 his wayward brothers and sisters, whom he is 
 anxious to rescue and save. Thus, the thought 
 of Jesus took possession of the hearts and 
 minds of His disciples, who soon became men 
 for the message, as they and the message 
 were identical. 
 But this did not mean the sacrifice of the 
 
34 The Man and His Message 
 
 individuality. When the genial sun of the 
 summer morning looks down upon the gar- 
 dens, it does not demand that every separate 
 flower shall respond to its greeting, with the 
 same tints and colors. It respects the crimson 
 of the rose, and the violet of the heliotrope, 
 and the delicate purity of the lily of the valley. 
 There was a Petrine character and utterance, 
 and yet there were also the life and expression 
 of the beloved John. Unity with variety was 
 possible. The revelation may be appreciated in 
 one way or another. Schools of thought, va- 
 rieties of institutions, activities of many kinds 
 are possible. There are many members of the 
 body whose adorable head is Jesus Christ. 
 
 One of these men of the Apostolic College, 
 has given a fine enumeration of the distinctive 
 features of a truly Christian life. It introduces 
 the man for the message. "Add to your 
 faith," he says; and, therefore, he regards 
 faith as basal. This is the vital principle 
 which lays hold of eternal life by its union 
 with the Lord of life. Without faith, such 
 faith as this, there can be no life at all. When 
 faith is exercised, life begins. 
 
 " Virtue," is to be added to faith, and virtue 
 is "the courage of the saints," of which we 
 have so often heard; the endurance, which is 
 conscious of the invisible, the dependence 
 upon God, whose recompense is assured. 
 
The Man for the Message 35 
 
 Then "knowledge " is named, of which the 
 man for the message can never have too much, 
 when his knowledge is under the control of 
 faith. Every portion of God's universe may 
 be searched for the evidence of His thought, 
 in order that He, our Father, may be the bet- 
 ter known. 
 
 "Temperance" is commended, and tem- 
 perance is far above abstinence, inasmuch as 
 the use of the hand, the foot, or the eye, to the 
 glory of God is to be preferred to the excision 
 of any member. Abstinence may often be 
 duty, while temperance is always law. 
 
 To "temperance" add "patience," which is 
 itself a refined, spiritual sort of temperance, 
 ruling the affections as temperance rules the 
 appetites and desires seen often in men of 
 strong, resolute will, like David Livingstone, 
 whose patient gentleness with the stupid 
 ignorance of his African attendants, is a sub- 
 lime tribute of devotion to the interests of a 
 neglected and despised race. 
 
 With "patience," "godliness" is asso- 
 ciated, and "godliness" becomes the servant 
 of the King of Kings, whose affairs are the 
 present business of this mortal life. 
 
 But "godliness" stimulates "brotherly 
 kindness," for while the dear Lord has prom- 
 ised to visit the sick, to feed the hungry and 
 to comfort the sorrowing, He has now no 
 
36 The Man and His Message 
 
 visible lips for speech, no visible hands to 
 offer benefactions, no visible feet to carry 
 Him upon His errands of mercy, except those 
 of the mystical body, the Church, whose mem- 
 bers are we. Often, it is true, He ministers 
 directly through the activity of the Holy Spirit. 
 But more often He sends a cup of cold water 
 in human hands, and His disciples are His 
 representatives. 
 
 Such "brotherly kindness" needs only an 
 expansion to become a "charity" which 
 makes "the whole world kin." "Now 
 abideth faith, hope, charity, these three, but 
 the greatest of these is charity." We have 
 found the man for the message. " He that 
 dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in 
 him." The message is no longer confined to 
 the pages of a sacred book. It has taken 
 possession of a man. Out of the abundance 
 of the heart, let him now speak. "Add to 
 your faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; 
 and to knowledge, temperance; and to tem- 
 perance, patience; and to patience, godliness; 
 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to 
 brotherly kindness, charity." The Apostle's 
 enumeration is complete. A perfect character 
 is thus presented. The centuries have not yet 
 matched this splendid ideal, save in the per- 
 sonality of the Man of Nazareth. For it is 
 possible to substitute one word for the many 
 
The Man for the Message 37 
 
 words of St. Peter's outline, and to write in 
 letters of gold, as the requirement of complete 
 manhood, the familiar oft-repeated word, 
 Christian. He who is a Christian, has become 
 a man in Christ, for Christ, and like Christ. 
 
 A year ago, last August, a friend of mine 
 was visiting Alfred Tennyson, in his home at 
 Aldworth, Surrey. When they parted, after 
 many days of delightful conversation, my 
 friend asked the old poet to give him his 
 autograph, with a sentiment from one of his 
 poems. Then the sweet singer, who has 
 interpreted to us so many noble sentiments, 
 and who was unconsciously very near to the 
 veil that separates us from the world of song, 
 wrote these lines from Locksley Hall: 
 
 " Love took up the harp of life, and smote on all the chords 
 with might ; 
 Smote the chord of self, that trembling, passed in music 
 out of sight." 
 
 It was his benediction. Could he have 
 written a better sentiment? Is it not true 
 that, with the disappearance of self and the 
 supremacy of love, Christ will be "all, and in 
 all " ? 
 
 If we have now found the man for the 
 message, it is proper that we should mention 
 a few of the advantages of the Theological 
 Seminary of Auburn, in the training of such a 
 
38 The Man and His Message 
 
 man. For we are engaged in the inauguration 
 of a minister of the gospel, who is to act as 
 the President of the Seminary, and the Pro- 
 fessor of Practical Theology. As the Presi- 
 dent, he must have the supervision of a work, 
 whose desirable product is Christian manhood, 
 and as the Professor of Practical Theology, he 
 must face the world, whose appeal for Chris- 
 tian manhood is incessant and often pitiful. 
 The scholar, who is not conspicuous for man- 
 hood, is not an honor to an institution. The 
 minister, who is not more of a man than a 
 minister, is not welcome. First the man, then 
 the scholar; first the man, then the minister. 
 For the message, if its delivery is to be 
 apostolic, must be carried by a Christlike 
 man. 
 
 Let me then, very briefly, tell you why I 
 believe that the Seminary of Auburn, has 
 preeminent advantages for this grand work. 
 In so doing, I shall tell you why I rejoice that 
 God has sent me to accept your cordial and 
 distinguished invitation to labor with honored 
 and beloved associates in the great work of 
 training "ambassadors for Christ." 
 
 First. The environment of the Seminary. 
 It has its home in a beautiful city of the lake 
 country of the Empire State. A great city is 
 distracting. A village is provincial. But 
 Auburn, with its newspapers, its railroads, its 
 
The Man for the Message 39 
 
 telegraphs, its industries, and its residences, is 
 large enough to be "in touch" with every 
 important interest, and small enough to be 
 favorable to study and meditation. The 
 Seminary is an intellectual centre of an in- 
 tellectual community. The churches are 
 numerous and attractive. Under the direc- 
 tion of experienced pastors, the opportunities 
 of Christian service possess a practical utility. 
 
 Second. The history of the Seminary. 
 
 The Seminary was founded by devout, 
 liberty-loving, evangelical men. They believed 
 in the rights of conscience. They were inde- 
 pendent and courageous. From the first hour, 
 they were students of the Word of God. An- 
 alyses of "the water of life" were made in 
 their own laboratory, which soon gained a 
 reputation for honest work. Attempts to com- 
 pel them to accept the analyses of other labora- 
 tories were resisted. Charges of carelessness, 
 or of unfaithfulness, or of error were met by 
 statements of belief that became the Magna 
 Charta of one of the most impressive move- 
 ments of modern times. Excision in 1837, was 
 followed by grand years of self-sacrifice, re- 
 vivals and missionary enthusiasm, which is- 
 sued in an approval of the "Auburn Declara- 
 tion" by the General Assembly (O. S.) 1869. 
 
 Thus "Auburn" stands to-day for a cour- 
 age which is true to its convictions, at any 
 
40 The Man and His Message 
 
 cost; for a courage which fears not the face 
 of man in its consciousness of God's approval; 
 for a courage which cares more for truth than 
 for tradition, and which proposes to speak the 
 truth as the Holy Spirit leads to its apprehen- 
 sion in the divine Word. "Auburn" stands, 
 also, for a toleration, which respects the opin- 
 ions of other Christians, and which insists that 
 its own opinions shall be tolerated; which be- 
 lieves that the church is large enough to hold, 
 and in peace, many schools of inquiry and of 
 thought; which is convinced that they who 
 love the Lord should compose their differences 
 by prayer and conference, rather than by 
 charges, discipline and votes. "Auburn" 
 stands for a catholicity which discovers a 
 brother in every Christian. "A Christian 
 who is good enough for Christ, is good enough 
 for you and me." " Auburn " stands for con- 
 secration, for a practical ministry, for the 
 camp and the battlefield. "Auburn" stands 
 for an intelligent loyalty to the standards and 
 discipline of the Presbyterian Church. Those 
 standards, in their "essential and necessary 
 truths" are heartily approved. That disci- 
 pline, so far as it is constitutional and just, is 
 unhesitatingly accepted. But the standards are 
 not infallible, as the Word of God is, and the 
 discipline is sometimes sadly human. When 
 there is a recognition of any departure from 
 
The Man for the Message 41 
 
 the tenets of righteousness and love, "Au- 
 burn," true to the honored past, must be al- 
 ways on the side of the Word of God and of 
 equity, believing ever as an honored citizen of 
 this community, the Hon. Wm. H. Seward, 
 once said, that there is "a higher law," to 
 which every human interpretation and enact- 
 ment must bow. Thus, there is an "Auburn " 
 thought, and an "Auburn" spirit, and an 
 "Auburn" history, which are the precious 
 legacy of an illustrious past. "Auburn " needs 
 not to rush into conflict, in order to be en- 
 rolled among the valiant soldiers of the Lord. 
 Scars on the breast are evidences of heroism, 
 and veterans can afford to be patient until the 
 Captain's orders are distinctly heard. This is 
 the time to march, to suffer, and, if God so 
 orders, to die. 
 
 Third. The curriculum. This has been 
 carefully selected, and the instruction is given, 
 by men, "whose praise is in all the churches." 
 I will not name them in this presence where 
 their names are household words. But I may 
 say that it is an honor to be their colleague; 
 and especially do I count it a privilege to be 
 the fellow-laborer of my lifelong friend, from 
 whose lips in the closest friendship, I have 
 never known an unworthy utterance to fall; 
 and in whose heart I ever feel as safe as David 
 did with the faithful Jonathan. These men 
 
42 The Man and His Message 
 
 are worthy successors of the noble men whose 
 names are starred; and of the beloved and 
 honored triumvirate, unstarred as yet, but en- 
 joying a well-earned retirement, after years of 
 patient, self-denying toil. 
 
 Fourth. The personal contact of teachers 
 and pupils. This is an important element in 
 education. President Garfield's remark about 
 a bench with Doctor Mark Hopkins on it being 
 a good enough college for him has in it more 
 than a grain of sense. It takes a man to make 
 a man. The manhood of Jesus of Nazareth, 
 explains the manhood of the sons of Zebedee. 
 But that manhood "touched." Friendship is 
 possible here. Our class-rooms are within the 
 limitation of friendship. We can know and 
 love one another. 
 
 Fifth. The Alumni of the Seminary. They 
 are an inspiration. What they have done, 
 the men, who are now students, may do. The 
 work accomplished is an earnest of grander 
 work to be accomplished. "Auburn" has 
 cared for the average man; and in so doing, 
 has given the man of exceptional ability, the 
 best equipment for special work. Whenever 
 there has been a Chrysostom in a class, he has 
 been heard from ; while churches and mission- 
 stations have rejoiced to welcome pastors and 
 missionaries who have been educated here. 
 After the brief course is finished, forth go our 
 
The Man for the Message 43 
 
 students, carrying the Bible in their hands, and 
 Jesus Christ in their hearts, ready for hardship 
 or for sacrifice, rejoicing that they can respond 
 to the appeal of the world and obey the com- 
 mand of our Lord. And, as we bid them, 
 year by year, our fond good-bye, it shall be 
 with the charge, reiterated again and again: 
 
 " Ye Christian heralds ! Go, proclaim 
 Salvation through Immanuel's name." 
 
 Gentlemen of the Board of Commissioners 
 and Trustees, you have been pleased to invite 
 me to undertake important duties in the Sem- 
 inary which is under your control. I accept 
 the responsibilities of these offices, and am 
 grateful to you for your confidence. I need 
 not say to you that my presence here will 
 prove a disappointment and a failure, if God 
 withholds His blessing. He is my dependence 
 as He is yours. May I not, therefore, in clos- 
 ing this address, adopt the language of the 
 Apostle Paul, which he used when he was 
 writing to Christian brethren of Rome ? For 
 he, as you will remember, said to them in his 
 letter: "I beseech you, for the Lord Jesus 
 Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, 
 that ye strive together with me in your prayers 
 to God for me." 
 
"Power From on High" 
 
"Power From on High" 
 
 A small class of theological students once 
 met, with their Teacher, upon the slope of a 
 mountain. They had just completed a three 
 years' course of instruction, during which they 
 had considered the essential truths of religion, 
 looking at old faiths in a new light, and study- 
 ing ancient predictions, whose evident fulfill- 
 ment, in current events, had been a perpetual 
 surprise. The day of their graduation had ar- 
 rived. On the slope of the mountain, their 
 Teacher was to leave them. With his farewell 
 address, their student life would close, and the 
 active service, for which they had been prepar- 
 ing, would begin. The occasion was impress- 
 ive. Behind them were the years of fellow- 
 ship and of study. Before them were the 
 years of hardship and of sacrifice. Beside 
 them was their Teacher. 
 
 The farewell address was brief, but per- 
 tinent. Curiosity was rebuked. Patience was 
 encouraged. Duty was enjoyed. Then their 
 Teacher directed them to return to the city, 
 which was on the other side of the mountain, 
 and there to wait. With all the instruction 
 that they had received, and with all the ad- 
 47 
 
48 The Man and His Message 
 
 vantages that they had enjoyed, they were not 
 ready for work. One thing was lacking, and 
 for that one thing, they must wait. 
 
 Confidence in their Teacher sustained those 
 theological students for ten days. They held 
 meetings for prayer and conference; they 
 undertook to perfect an organization; and 
 they drew to themselves many sympathizing 
 friends. But they made no impression upon 
 the city; and they ventured upon no activity 
 that would test their strength. They were 
 anticipating "power from on high," because 
 their Teacher had said: "Ye shall receive 
 power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon 
 you." 
 
 The Day of Pentecost conferred the prom- 
 ised blessing, and with it a persuasive elo- 
 quence that called into the membership of the 
 Church " about three thousand souls." Then 
 those men, and others like them, were grandly 
 equipped for service, and the world speedily 
 realized that the crucified Nazarene is the 
 triumphant Saviour and Lord of men. 
 
 This same " power from on high " had been 
 the dependence of their Teacher, who did not 
 enter upon his public ministry, until the Dove 
 had hovered over him at the Jordan, and the 
 Holy Ghost had taken possession of his soul. 
 His superb endowments, his exceptional 
 ability, and his marvellous personal magnetism 
 
" Power from on High " 49 
 
 were not adequate to the great work that was 
 to engage his attention. He waited for 
 " power from on high." When that was re- 
 ceived, three years sufficed to change the his- 
 tory of the world. 
 
 Think it not strange, therefore, that the em- 
 phasis of this solemn hour is placed upon a 
 familiar truth. The theological students of 
 to-day may be satisfied to stand with the the- 
 ological students of the Apostolic College, and 
 their renowned Teacher. "Power from on 
 high " is the condition of success now, as it 
 was then. For it, there should be earnest, 
 prayerful waiting; while with it, there will be 
 those blessed accomplishments, that will make 
 heaven melodious, as the angels are kept sing- 
 ing, because unnumbered multitudes of sin- 
 ners are turning from their sins. 
 
 The dignity of human nature is evident, 
 when it is considered that human nature can 
 receive "power from on high." A diamond 
 can receive the sunlight, and can reveal an un- 
 suspected brilliancy, when it is thus illumi- 
 nated. But no diamond can receive " power 
 from on high." The lilies of the field can re- 
 ceive the sunlight, and can respond to the be- 
 nign greeting with every delicate shade of 
 color. But no lily can receive "power from 
 on high." A dog or a horse can receive in- 
 struction and sympathy and love, and the 
 
50 The Man and His Message 
 
 higher animals may thus become the friends 
 of man. But no dog or horse can ever receive 
 "power from on high," as the degraded 
 Papuan or stupid Hottentot may. This is a 
 distinction that places humanity within the 
 family of God. "No creature being," Dr. 
 Bushnell once remarked, "can excel, in order, 
 a soul, so configured to God, as to be inspir- 
 able by Him, able to receive His impulse, fall 
 into His movement, rest in His ends, and be 
 finally perfected in the eternity of His joys." 
 
 In the church of Francesco di Paola at 
 Naples, there is a colossal statue of Augustine. 
 The eyes are directed to heaven. The finger 
 of the right hand points thither. The left arm 
 supports a volume, which bears the title of his 
 immortal work. "De civitate Dei." On the 
 pedestal is inscribed a passage from the writ- 
 ings of the great theologian, in these words: 
 "Ibi vacbimus. Ibi videbimus. Ibi gaude- 
 bimus. Ibi laudabimus. Et hoc erit in fine, 
 sine fine." "There we shall be at liberty. 
 There we shall see. There we shall rejoice. 
 There we shall adore. And this will be in the 
 end without end." 
 
 "The spirit of man is the candle of the 
 Lord," is the philosophical statement of a He- 
 brew Proverb. " Thou wilt light my candle," 
 is the grateful estimate of a devout Psalmist. 
 "Place the lighted candle on a candlestick 
 
"Power from on High" 51 
 
 that the household may have light," is the 
 command of the Teacher who gave the prom- 
 ise of "power from on high." For when 
 "power from on high" touches the spirit of 
 man, there is light, which may be carried into 
 the dark places of the earth, to illuminate that 
 darkness. Men everywhere are in need of 
 inspiration. God is indispensable to man. 
 Since Jesus Christ has died, and triumphed 
 over death and the grave, and ascended to the 
 throne of universal empire, the Holy Spirit, 
 who is this "power from on high " has been 
 using the gospel to spiritualize life; and the 
 privilege is ours, my brethren, of cooperating 
 with the blessed Spirit in transforming, in en- 
 nobling, in expanding, in glorifying this hu- 
 manity, which has been defiled and brutalized 
 by sin. Only thus can men be saved; and 
 with this estimate, the Christian minister be- 
 comes "an ambassador for Christ," represent- 
 ing the Son of God, and sustained by the spirit 
 of God. 
 
 But if the work of a Christian minister has 
 this definite, spiritual outlook, if the endeavor 
 is to bring "power from on high" into the 
 lives of men, so that they may be spiritual, 
 and no longer carnal, what must be said of his 
 own personal needs and desires ? Must he not 
 be seeking and welcoming this "power"? 
 Most certainly! Upon this, he must depend 
 
52 The Man and His Message 
 
 for the light, which will enable him to "search 
 the Scriptures," and to place each truth in its 
 true perspective, and to apply truth to his own 
 experience. During the years of academic 
 and professional study, the mind accepts truth 
 very much as the miller accepts the grist that 
 is left at the door of his mill. Bag after bag 
 of corn or wheat is taken in, and piled on the 
 floor of the granary. By and by, the grist 
 will be ground. Just now, however, the mill 
 is not running, while the miller is busily en- 
 gaged in receiving what is left him. No stu- 
 dent can have a complete, systematic concep- 
 tion of truth, when he goes out to his work, 
 after the student life is finished. He may 
 think that he has; and the conceit of his 
 thinking so will interfere sadly with proper 
 inquiry. For gradually, and as the years mul- 
 tiply with their sorrows and their joys, truth 
 will open to the appreciation of the intelli- 
 gence, will appeal to the heart, will move the 
 will, and will thus form character. There is 
 progress in the apprehension of truth, which 
 is as apparent now, as it was, when St. Paul 
 wrote his Epistles. For who can fail to dis- 
 cover the advance in the apprehension of truth 
 that separates the Epistles of the Imprison- 
 ment from the First Epistle to the Thessalo- 
 nians ? 
 This apprehension of truth meets the prom- 
 
"Power from on High" 53 
 
 ise of our Divine Lord, who said: "when He, 
 the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you 
 into all truth: for He shall not speak of Him- 
 self, but whatever He shall hear that shall He 
 speak, and He will shew you things to come." 
 No minister, therefore, however gifted as a 
 student, can hope to use truth effectively, if he 
 is not guided by the Holy Spirit. He may 
 talk about truth. He may rehearse the lessons 
 of the class-room. He may be a man of pro- 
 found scholarship. But he cannot make full 
 proof of his ministry, because "the things of 
 God knoweth no man but the Spirit of^God." 
 These things " are spiritually discerned." Re- 
 tirement, meditation, prayer are the essential 
 conditions of effectiveness; for, in such sea- 
 sons, the Holy Spirit is made welcome. God's 
 elect servants are usually called aside, after 
 they have been anointed, that they may rest 
 awhile. Here we place the years that the 
 great Hebrew Leader passed in the Desert of 
 Horeb, before he organized and conducted, the 
 Exodus: here, also, we locate those mysterious 
 years in Arabia that preceded the missionary 
 activity of the Apostle Paul: and here, too, we 
 interpret the significance of the days in the 
 wilderness, that separated the Baptism and the 
 public career of Jesus of Nazareth. Such 
 periods are not lost time. The sword of the 
 spirit must have the sword arm of the Knight 
 
54 The Man and His Message 
 
 of the Cross; and that arm must be disci- 
 plined. The short, sharp and decisive cam- 
 paign waits upon the drill of the camp. The 
 needle-gun was the expression of an artisan's 
 patient labor in the quiet work shop. Yet the 
 needle-gun changed the map of Europe in a 
 war of a few weeks. If the ministry is inef- 
 fective, it would be well to call a halt, and 
 to devote an entire season to fasting, humili- 
 ation, meditation and prayer. This was done 
 in Scotland, during the year 1651 a. d., and 
 immediately thereafter a revival of religion 
 swept over the land. Devotional hours must 
 be respected. Neander's motto should be 
 ours; "Pectus est quod theologum facit." 
 When we have "an unction from the Holy 
 One," we may hope to know all things. " It 
 is not opinions that man needs," says a devout 
 writer of our own time, " it is truth. It is not 
 theology: it is God. It is not religion: it is 
 Christ. It is not literature and science: but 
 the knowledge of the free love of God in the 
 gift of His only begotten Son." You and I 
 can never meet that need, without "power 
 from on high." 
 
 Such " power" will equip the minister with 
 spiritual momentum, which is the earnest of 
 endurance, industry and heroism. "None of 
 these things move me," was the remark of 
 one, who was pressing forward to meet bonds 
 
" Power from on High " 55 
 
 and imprisonment, while the stormy life of an 
 old Hebrew prophet ended in a whirlwind, 
 with horses and a chariot of fire, as a celestial 
 equipage. 
 
 Momentum has been defined as " the quan- 
 tity of motion in a moving body." In the 
 common experiences of walking or running, 
 motion is accumulated. The runner, who 
 wishes to make a long jump will increase his 
 speed before he leaps: and the rider who 
 wishes to cross a broad ditch will put spurs to 
 his horse. When motion is suddenly arrested, 
 as in a collision, the momentum will appear, 
 because a shock will be felt, and objects will 
 have a tendency to keep moving. For the 
 same reason, a steam carriage will run a long 
 distance after the steam has been shut off. 
 
 This principle of physics is operative in 
 every sphere of human life. Human beings 
 do not instantly lose the influences that have 
 gained control of them. The descent into vice 
 and degradation is never a plunge, although it 
 often seems to be. The rapids are above the 
 cataract. Judas Iscariot startles his compan- 
 ions by the betrayal and suicide. Yet the mo- 
 mentum of his sinister character has been in 
 that direction from the beginning. Great 
 crimes, like great rivers, are distant from their 
 sources. On the other hand, virtue is heredi- 
 tary. Pure blood explains thrift, usefulness 
 
56 The Man and His Message 
 
 and honor. The divine promise is to children's 
 children. Back of the youthful Timothy are 
 the grandmother Lois and the mother Eunice. 
 Abraham is still the father of the faithful. As 
 grace abounds, momentum is accumulated. 
 But the momentum, let us remind ourselves, 
 is not perpetual motion. Activity exhausts it. 
 Then is the time of peril. Esau sold his birth- 
 right for "a morsel of meat," when he was 
 faint. 
 
 The highest expression of this principle is 
 found in the kingdom of grace. For grace 
 originates, nurtures and sustains the " holiness, 
 without which no man shall see the Lord." 
 This grace is stored in the soul very much as 
 electricity is stored in a storage-battery. Just 
 as soon as the mechanism of a holy life begins 
 to work, there are drafts upon the supply of 
 grace. If more grace is not secured, the mech- 
 anism will stop. The grace that was given at 
 the beginning of a Christian experience will 
 not answer the requirements of a pastorate. 
 In the strength of the food that God gave him, 
 as he rested beside the juniper-tree, Elijah went 
 for forty days and forty nights. But you and 
 I are not Elijah. In this interest, we resemble 
 the Hebrew, who gathered manna, day by 
 day: and our prayer must ever be: "Give us 
 this day our daily bread," with an emphasis on 
 the daily. 
 
" Power from on High " 57 
 
 A brief consideration of the nature and char- 
 acteristics of grace will assist to an understand- 
 ing of spiritual momentum. Grace is the re- 
 demptive love of God. When God loves a 
 sinner, in the atoning sacrifice of His Son, our 
 Saviour, Jesus Christ, that is grace. Grace 
 forms the Christian graces. But the grace is 
 not the graces. Between the grace and the 
 graces, there must always be the life of a sin- 
 ner, just as there must be the life of a plant be- 
 tween the inorganic matter and the flowers 
 and the fruit: or the life of an animal between 
 the grass of the fields and the bone and the 
 muscle, the flesh and the blood that are fed 
 thereby. I do not know that holy angels could 
 receive and assimilate the grace of God. But 
 I do know that sinful men can. When they 
 make that grace their own, there is an assured 
 promise of growth. This growth, like every 
 other growth, is an expression of an energy, 
 which is dynamic, having the power of selec- 
 tion and of increase. An acorn does not con- 
 tain all the energy that is apparent in the stout 
 trunk, the spreading branches, and the myriad 
 leaves of the oak. But it has, in itself, the 
 power of selection, that can appropriate from 
 the earth and the atmosphere whatever it re- 
 quires; and thus the tiny acorn becomes the 
 giant oak. 
 
 With the acceptance of grace, Jesus Christ 
 
58 The Man and His Message 
 
 becomes the dynamic power of life: and con- 
 tinues thereafter to exert His influence, in order 
 that the soul may be filled with all the fullness 
 of God. "For it pleased the Father that in 
 Him should all fullness dwell "; "and in Him 
 dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bod- 
 ily "; " and of His fullness have all we received, 
 and grace for grace." The beginning of spir- 
 itual momentum is His presence; while the 
 maintenance and the increase of spiritual mo- 
 mentum is " Christ in you, the hope of glory." 
 Instantly the importance of routine observ- 
 ance, in the use of the means of grace, is evi- 
 dent: and, also, the necessity of exceptional 
 dependence upon "power from on high." 
 The routine observance keeps up the momen- 
 tum, and the exceptional dependence adds to 
 it in case of an emergency. The engineer 
 supplies momentum to the train by steadily 
 feeding the fire in the boiler. Then if there is 
 a sudden demand for speed, he quickens the 
 fire, and uses more steam. Daniel, an eminent 
 statesman, had regular hours for prayer and a 
 definite place; and when the time of trial an- 
 nounced itself, Daniel was heroic; while Ne- 
 hemiah, a man of unusual executive force, re- 
 cruited his courage and gained wisdom, as he 
 stood at the table of Artaxerxes by an appeal 
 to God. " So I prayed to the God of heaven, 
 and said unto the King." Prayer cannot be 
 
" Power from on High " 59 
 
 left to the bidding of impulse, nor can it be 
 limited to times and seasons. He who prays 
 only when he feels like praying will find that 
 his feelings prompt him less and less frequently 
 to pray. The momentum must be kept up; 
 and daily prayer is a necessity. Then ever and 
 always, God is near and attentive. The unex- 
 pected is in His hands. He can supply all you 
 need. Faith is wisdom, as well as peace. A 
 savage may think that a locomotive is a demon, 
 but a man of intelligence knows that mechan- 
 ism and steam are on the rails. Christian per- 
 severance, like that of St. Paul; Christian forti- 
 tude, like that of Stephen; Christian fidelity, 
 like that of the aged seer of Patmos; Christian 
 heroism, like that of brave old Polycarp of 
 Smyrna; Christian patience, like that of David 
 Livingstone in Africa; and Christian hope, like 
 that of Mackay of Uganda, are not fortuitous. 
 They are momentum. That is all. "Power 
 from on high" in life. Spiritual dynamics. 
 The Christian's private life tells us how they 
 came to be. 
 
 Thus "power from on high" is the pledge 
 of strength, comfort, hope and joy. " Another 
 Comforter" has taken the place of the visible 
 Christ. The economy has been spiritualized. 
 The Holy Spirit enters the soul, to abide there 
 forever. This is our confidence: and with this 
 confidence, we venture to go forth to the work. 
 
60 The Man and His Message 
 
 God is for us — that is good. God is with us — 
 that is better. God is in us — that is best of all. 
 Let us then, my dear brethren, believe in 
 "power from on high." It is a blessed reality. 
 The word of God assures us that it shall be 
 ours. The testimony of men and women con- 
 firms the word of God. Perhaps, "the Spirit 
 itself beareth witness with our spirit." "I be- 
 lieve in the Holy Ghost," is Bible, creed and 
 experience— all three. 
 
 "Whoso hath felt the power of the Highest 
 Cannot confound, nor doubt, him, nor deny. 
 Yea, with one voice, oh world ! tho' thou deniest, 
 Stand thou on that side, for on this am I." 
 
 "We, also, believe, and therefore speak." 
 "Let the redeemed of the Lord, say so." 
 Speak out. "If we live in the Spirit, let us 
 also walk in the Spirit." Men can only know 
 that you have received "power from on 
 high," as they observe your character and con- 
 duct. A temple of the Holy Ghost should 
 never be silent, dark and cheerless. Worship 
 is appropriate to a temple; and love, joy, 
 peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, 
 meekness and temperance are the sacred mel- 
 ody of this divine indwelling. "Flowers," 
 says Longfellow, "are the animate spring- 
 time." The beauty of a June morning is a 
 calendar in itself. No one need be told that 
 
"Power from on High" 61 
 
 summer has come. A holy, loving, soul-sav- 
 ing, gentle, zealous minister of Jesus Christ is 
 the gospel incarnate. No one can deny that 
 God is present, when His ministers are faith- 
 ful; for their faithfulness must be referred to 
 " power on high." 
 
 Dear brethren, our work for you is finished. 
 We have endeavored to prepare you to be 
 able ministers of the New Testament. To 
 our endeavors, you have responded cordially. 
 Our fellowship with you has been precious. 
 We send you forth, from this venerable insti- 
 tution, with high anticipations. In the name 
 of my honored associates, your teachers, I 
 pledge you sympathy, love and prayers. May 
 you ever enjoy " power from on high," to en- 
 able you to think clearly, to live holily, to act 
 bravely, and to die calmly, in the faith of our 
 blessed Lord ! It is an auspicious circumstance, 
 that the next Lord's Day, your first Sabbath 
 after graduation, is Whitsuntide. May it 
 bring you a Pentecostal equipment! Then go, 
 as did that small class of theological students, 
 whose Teacher was the Nazarene, to preach 
 the gospel, to organize the Church, to com- 
 fort the saints, to endure, to suffer, and to 
 die; that, with them, you may live, and reign, 
 and rejoice forever in the immediate presence 
 of their Teacher, who is our Saviour, Inter- 
 cessor, Lord and King. 
 
"Ambassadors on Behalf of Christ" 
 
" Ambassadors on Behalf of Christ " 
 
 Three questions arise, as a student enters 
 upon the active work of the Christian ministry. 
 For there is a desire to know what sort of a 
 man he should be, what sort of a message he 
 should proclaim, and what sort of a depend- 
 ence he should enjoy; or, in other words, con- 
 sideration is given to character and conduct, 
 to doctrine and speech, and to confidence and 
 hope. 
 
 The Christian minister is to be a man among 
 men, with his feet upon the earth, and his 
 hands outstretched toward human sin and 
 misery. His service is not angelic, and Gabriel 
 is not his chief. Violence and pain and sor- 
 row are the occasions of his activity. If these 
 were not realities, he would not be a demand. 
 But so long as these are present in the life of 
 the world, so long will there be a call for the 
 Christian minister. 
 
 As a man among men, the Christian min- 
 ister is a representative. He is not engaged 
 in his own work, nor is he seeking to promote 
 his own interests. Behind him, and above 
 him, there is an authority, whose commands 
 he is to obey, and whose support he is to 
 claim. That authority is visible. It proceeds 
 
 65 
 
66 The Man and His Message 
 
 from the Infinite Ruler of the Universe, who 
 is ''the living and true God." He is pleased 
 to use men as His representatives, and to ac- 
 complish His purposes through their instru- 
 mentality. 
 
 With a delicate touch of humor, the Apostle 
 Paul, when he was a prisoner of the Pretorian 
 Guard, informed the Christians of Ephesus 
 that he was an ambassador. At that time, the 
 Rome of the Caesars was a city of ambassa- 
 dors. They were present from all parts of the 
 world, and were living in great luxury. It 
 was their ambition to impress the Romans 
 with the wealth and power of the monarchs, 
 who had sent them to the Imperial City. 
 Their persons were sacred. Especial privi- 
 leges were theirs. An indignity, or an insult, 
 offered to one of them would be resented in- 
 stantly, and might provoke a war. Alexander 
 the Great had destroyed Tyre, because his am- 
 bassador had been abused; and the Roman 
 Laws declared that if any one should assault 
 the ambassadors of an enemy, he should be 
 adjudged guilty of a breach of International 
 Law. 
 
 Under such conditions, and with these am- 
 bassadorial surroundings, St. Paul wrote to his 
 friends, that he was "an ambassador in 
 bonds." He must have smiled, as he did so. 
 "His own hired dwelling" was not palatial, 
 
"Ambassadors on Behalf of Christ " 67 
 
 and the Emperor had disregarded the Law of 
 Nations in his treatment of this distinguished 
 representative, who was then in chains. Yet 
 the Apostle was faithful to his King, and he 
 never failed to confess that the promise of sup- 
 port had been fulfilled in every emergency of 
 his life. For, at another time, when he was 
 at liberty, he had made a similar announce- 
 ment; and the Church of Corinth had under- 
 stood his declaration, that he was "an am- 
 bassador on behalf of Christ." 
 
 That declaration is the distinction of the 
 Christian ministry. A man can ask for no 
 higher rank, can wish for no grander service, 
 can look for no more secure dependence. To 
 be "an ambassador on behalf of Christ" is to 
 enjoy a privilege that is not granted to sinless 
 angels. Yet that privilege is ours; and it must 
 seem especially great and attractive to stu- 
 dents, who have, long time, been preparing 
 for the service, which it presents. 
 
 "Give me a thought to live by," was the ex- 
 clamation of a German, who realized that 
 thought is essential to life. Life, without 
 thought, is aimless. Reuben-like, it is as un- 
 stable as water, and cannot excel. Life, with 
 a base thought, is "earthly, sensual, devilish." 
 While life, with a noble thought, is heroic and 
 sublime. Find out what a man's thought is, 
 and you will know the man. 
 
68 The Man and His Message 
 
 Perhaps, in the declaration of the Apostle, 
 " a thought to live by " may be found, that will 
 answer the three questions already raised. 
 
 For, 
 
 First:— As "an ambassador on behalf of 
 Christ," the Christian minister is to represent 
 the King and the Kingdom of Heaven, and thus 
 he may know what sort of a man he should 
 be. The King of Heaven is our adorable Lord 
 and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and the Kingdom of 
 Heaven is His dominion. Aforetime, under 
 the old economy, the dominion was more fre- 
 quently called a Kingdom, than, in later years, 
 under the gospel, where it is usually termed the 
 Church. By and by, in the glorious consum- 
 mation, it will be "the holy city, Jerusalem." 
 But whether as Kingdom, or Church, or City, 
 the dominion is essentially the same, having 
 the same authority, the same purpose, and the 
 same triumph. There is a prevalent error that 
 disparages the Church and exalts the Kingdom, 
 suggesting that the Church is for the Kingdom, 
 and that the Kingdom is more humane, more 
 sympathetic and more practical than the 
 Church. The error is the mistake of contrast- 
 ing the real Church with the ideal Kingdom, 
 or the Church as it is with the Kingdom as it 
 should be. The contrast is not fair. The ideal 
 and the real can never be contrasted to the ad- 
 vantage of the real. Let any man contrast his 
 
"Ambassadors on Behalf of Christ " 69 
 
 real self with his ideal self. The real inevita- 
 bly suffers, when thus confronted with the 
 ideal. The Church as it is, has become 
 worldly, selfish, proud and oppressive. But 
 this Church is not the ideal Church, which is 
 the Bride of our blessed Lord, or the Body, of 
 which He is the Head. The ideal Church— and 
 some day the ideal Church will be the real 
 Church— is just as pure, just as considerate, 
 just as efficient as the Kingdom is, or ever can 
 be. They are one; the Church and the King- 
 dom. For whatever may be said of the 
 Church may be said of the Kingdom, and 
 whatever may be said of the Kingdom may be 
 said of the Church. Let us not engage in this 
 disparagement of the Church, which as the 
 Body of Christ has hands to rescue the perish- 
 ing, and eyes to look tenderly upon distress, 
 and ears to catch the faintest whisper of en- 
 treaty, and lips to proclaim, through all the 
 earth and unto every creature, that the God 
 and Father of us all is merciful and gracious, 
 and feet to run swiftly as the messenger of 
 salvation! Let us make the Church efficient, 
 in delivering the world from the curse of sin; 
 and we shall hear no more of the superiority 
 of the Kingdom and the inferiority of the 
 
 Church. 
 
 The representative activity of a Christian 
 minister is in, and through, the Church. His 
 
70 The Man and His Message 
 
 character and conduct must, therefore, har- 
 monize with his commission. Republics, like 
 our own, do not send their ambassadors to 
 imitate the ambassadors of European mon- 
 archies. Republican simplicity is commend- 
 able in the ambassadors of a republic. Benja- 
 min Franklin at the luxurious French court 
 was an American citizen in his dress, his 
 equipage, and his mode of living. As such, 
 he reflected honor upon the Continental Con- 
 gress, whose representative he was. 
 
 The Christian minister must always be a 
 Christian man. The emphasis is upon the ad- 
 jective rather than upon the noun. The vir- 
 tues and graces, which are evident in Jesus 
 Christ, should appear in him. It is not a diffi- 
 cult thing to be a minister. A black coat and 
 a white cravat are the outfit of the tailor and 
 the haberdasher, while Reverend before the 
 name is the distinction that follows the ap- 
 proval of a presbytery. Thus equipped, the 
 minister steps forth to speak oraculary upon 
 every theme, and to enjoy the flattery that is 
 poured into his ears by the weak souls whom 
 he captivates by his speech. Any one can be- 
 come a minister. The doors into the profession 
 are wide open. Every applicant is sure to find 
 a welcome at some door. 
 
 But to be a Christian minister, "a man in 
 Christ," a man who sees the world as Christ 
 
"Ambassadors on Behalf of Christ " 71 
 
 saw it, a man, who loves men as Christ loved 
 them, a man, who is ready to touch the leper, 
 as Christ was, a man who is superior to en- 
 vironment, a man, who is ready for service 
 anywhere, but who cannot live if he cannot 
 serve somewhere, to be a Christian minister, 
 to live in these United States as Christ lived in 
 Capernaum, in Bethany, and in Jerusalem, to 
 be strong and yet gentle, to be courageous 
 and yet sympathetic, to commune with God 
 and yet to play with children, to be holy and 
 yet to live among sinners, to stand between 
 poverty and oppression, to make the world 
 sweeter, purer, richer in faith and hope and 
 love, to fulfill a Christian ministry — why that is 
 the grandest use of life that can be suggested. 
 Knowing Christ and making Christ his ideal, 
 the Christian minister will not err. That dis- 
 tinctive quality that we call Christlikeness 
 should be the characteristic of ambassadors. 
 They are not to be ambitious of fame, of 
 wealth, of honors, or of power. But they are 
 to seek to be holy. This is the distinction of 
 these ambassadors — holiness. "A holy man 
 of God, which passeth by us continually," was 
 the tribute that was paid to a Hebrew minister 
 by a woman of Shunem. Elisha was a faith- 
 ful ambassador of his King and kingdom; 
 and, in character and conduct, he was a man 
 of God. 
 
72 The Man and His Message 
 
 My own revered and beloved teacher, the 
 aged Thomas H. Skinner, was an accomplished 
 rhetorician, a keen theologian, a ripe scholar, 
 and an eloquent preacher. Fifty years ago, 
 when he was in the prime of his life, he stood 
 in the front rank of the profession. But his 
 name is mentioned, to-day, in view of his con- 
 secration to the service of our Lord and 
 Saviour, Jesus Christ; and his saintly life is to 
 our American Church just what the memory 
 of Thomas Wilson, the Bishop of Sodor and 
 Man, is to the Church of England, a priceless 
 treasure. 
 
 The answer to our first question is evident, 
 and it is this: The Christian minister as "an 
 ambassador on behalf of Christ," must be a 
 Christlike man. 
 
 " O happy man ! There is no man like thee ! 
 Worn out in service of humanity ! 
 Still working on thro' all thy failing years, 
 And dead at last, 'mid universal tears ! 
 Thy name a fragrance in the speaker's breath, 
 And thy divine example life in death." 
 
 Second: — As "an ambassador on behalf of 
 Christ," the Christian minister is to speak for 
 the King of Kings, and then he may know 
 what his doctrine and speech should be. Doc- 
 trine is responsible for speech, and for con- 
 duct, too. "As he reasoneth within himself, 
 
"Ambassadors on Behalf of Christ " 73 
 
 so is he," is Old Testament, while " out of the 
 abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh," 
 is New. Matthew Arnold has insisted that 
 conduct is three-fourths of life. But conduct, 
 he understood as we do, is an expression, and 
 an expression of belief. To believe a lie is to 
 live a lie. Even sincerity does not relieve the 
 situation. Just because belief is sincere, it is 
 a power for evil in the world. Saul of Tarsus 
 was sincere in believing that Christianity was 
 a blasphemous, revolutionary heresy that 
 should be suppressed. That was his belief; 
 and the man and the career that matched the 
 belief are presented in the Acts of the Apostles, 
 where it is written, that, "Saul, yet breathing 
 threatening and slaughter against the disciples 
 of the Lord." Another belief, held sincerely, 
 too, introduced "such a one as Paul the aged, 
 and now a prisoner also of Christ Jesus." 
 
 Ambassadors are expected to deliver the 
 messages, or instructions, of the authority 
 that sends them. His representative attitude 
 must determine the teaching and preaching of 
 a Christian minister. Men in the ministry 
 sometimes forget this. The Christian min- 
 istry is the ministry of, and for, Jesus Christ. 
 He has no audible voice, except the voice of 
 discipleship. The great commission was a 
 command to preach the gospel. When the 
 pulpit is degenerating, and when religion has 
 
74 The Man and His Message 
 
 become formalism, then there is satisfaction 
 with themes that are selected from current 
 novels and the sensations of the day. But 
 when the pulpit is awake to its responsibility, 
 and when religion is spirituality, then "Jesus 
 Christ, and Him crucified," is the imperative 
 demand. This supreme doctrine of the cross 
 has relations to all life, and to life in its many 
 phases. The Christian minister is not limited 
 by being distinctively and emphatically Chris- 
 tian. The attractive power of the cross is a 
 magnetism, that can draw every interest into 
 holy relations. 
 
 One of the most progressive of sociological 
 writers tells us that the new social order must 
 be dominated by the sacrifice of Christ. 
 
 This may seem a commonplace, so often has 
 the statement been made. But it needs repeti- 
 tion. The temptation to draw the multitude 
 to the house of God by attractive sensation- 
 alism is in the path of every one of us. More 
 than thirty years ago, a shrewd observer of 
 men and events, in addressing an evangelist, 
 said: "You are a minister of Christ, and, as 
 such, an ambassador from God to men. You 
 are not a lecturer on any science, even that of 
 Theology. You are not a cultured orator for 
 the entertainment of crowded assemblies. But 
 you are God's ambassador to His rebellious 
 subjects." 
 
"Ambassadors on Behalf of Christ " 75 
 
 Earthly ambassadors have not only their 
 formal, written instructions, but they carry 
 with them also verbal hints and suggestions 
 from the authority that sends them. Not so 
 with you as the ambassador of God. The 
 embassy you execute is the embassy of the 
 Bible. Your written instructions are the Bible, 
 the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible. 
 There is no supplement of Catholic tradition; 
 no reserved privilege and discretion of reason; 
 but only this written word, the wisdom of 
 God and the power of God, to the salvation of 
 every believing soul. 
 
 It is not expected that the ambassador of 
 Great Britain to the French Republic shall 
 represent or advocate Republicanism. He is 
 the ambassador of a monarchy, and his in- 
 structions are given by the Foreign Office 
 of the English Queen. Li Hung Chang was 
 China's ambassador to effect a peace with 
 Japan, and he would have received universal 
 condemnation, if he should have failed to 
 prove his loyalty to the Chinese Emperor and 
 nation. 
 
 We wonder that Christian ministers ever 
 become unmindful of their ambassadorial 
 character. Yet they do; and, in the pulpit, 
 they neglect the glorious gospel for the dis- 
 cussion of scientific propositions, or the 
 elaboration of ethical theories. I can well 
 
76 The Man and His Message 
 
 remember a service on the Atlantic Coast, 
 where, within a splendid, historic sanctuary, 
 whose magnificent appointments of worship 
 would have startled the Puritans who founded 
 the church, a pastor discoursed learnedly upon 
 theories of light, and gave to his waiting, 
 needy congregation only a hint as to the 
 preeminence of "the Light of the World," 
 and not a word as to the way out of their 
 darkness into that "marvellous Light"; and I 
 remember another service, on the Pacific Coast, 
 where, after a very entertaining lecture on the 
 Yosemite Valley, the announcement was made 
 that the Lord's Supper would be administered, 
 and the invitation was given to all present to 
 unite in that most impressive and solemn 
 ordinance. " My brethren, these things ought 
 not so to be." As " ambassadors on behalf of 
 Christ," we are bound to preach the gospel 
 first, last and always. It is questionable if we 
 have any right to introduce other themes into 
 the Christian sanctuary on the Lord's Day. 
 We are privileged men. Our fellow-Chris- 
 tians, whose servants we are for Jesus' sake, 
 have given us position and influence among 
 them, in order that we may instruct them, and 
 others, in the gospel. They do not ask us to 
 lead their politics, nor to attend their legis- 
 latures, nor to solve their questions in 
 economics or natural history. There are men 
 
"Ambassadors on Behalf of Christ " 77 
 
 among us, who are more than we can be in 
 such matters. Our charge is the gospel, whose 
 proper interpretation will surely affect, elevate, 
 and purify every human interest. 
 
 Therefore, we must be students of the 
 Bible, and we must be familiar with its doc- 
 trines. Doctrines are facts. Unless we are 
 acquainted with the doctrines, or great facts 
 of Christianity, how can we be "ambassadors 
 on behalf of Christ " ? How could a man 
 represent the United States at the Court of St. 
 James if he had never studied the constitution 
 of the United States ? The ambassador studies 
 the constitution and laws of his country, and 
 they enter into his thought and personality, so 
 that he is identified with his country. He has 
 the genius of his country. It is not necessary 
 that he should parade the constitution and 
 laws, no more is it necessary that the "am- 
 bassador on behalf of Christ " should make a 
 display of his theology. But he will be a poor, 
 a contemptible ambassador, if he is ignorant 
 of theology, and is not ready to give a reason 
 concerning the hope that he cherishes. " Know 
 Theology, Preach Religion," is a crisp state- 
 ment of duty. 
 
 The answer to our second question is at 
 hand, and it is this; the Christian minister as 
 "an ambassador on behalf of Christ" must 
 preach the gospel. 
 
78 The Man and His Message 
 
 ■ For God has other words for other worlds, 
 But for this world, the Word of God is Christ ; 
 And when we come to die, we shall not find 
 The day has been too long for any of us, 
 To have fulfilled the perfect law of Christ." 
 
 Third: — As an "ambassador on behalf of 
 Christ," the Christian minister may depend 
 upon infinite resources, and may look for a 
 glorious reward, and thus he may know what 
 his courage and hope should be. An ambassador 
 has the strength of his government. He may 
 be a puny man, who could not wrestle with a 
 schoolboy, and yet he may stand undaunted 
 in the presence of the Czar of Russia, because 
 he has ironclads and armies and a great nation 
 behind him. A friend told me that he was in 
 the city of Beyrout, just after the Franco- 
 German War, when the Crown Prince Fred- 
 erick of Germany came ashore from the Med- 
 iterranean Fleet. My friend said that the noble 
 German bore himself with the proud con- 
 sciousness of victory and a consolidated 
 empire. That is the ambassador's privilege. 
 A strong government can send out dignified, 
 influential ambassadors, while the ambassa- 
 dors of a third-rate government are painfully 
 conscious that they can only strut and pose 
 upon the diplomatic stage. 
 
 Who, and what, are behind the Christian 
 minister ? The answer comes ringing down 
 
"Ambassadors on Behalf of Christ " 79 
 
 the centuries: "All authority hath been given 
 unto Me in heaven, and on earth. Go ye, 
 therefore." "And lo, I am with you alway, 
 even unto the end of the world." Omnipotence 
 speaks. The Son of God is heard. We are 
 His representatives. 
 
 The promise of divine aid can be trusted. 
 Our Lord will be true to His word. He will 
 never leave, nor forsake His ambassadors. 
 They have a right to be courageous, because 
 He is with them. This has been the martyr's 
 dependence; and it has never failed. St. Paul 
 himself is in evidence. His is a noble figure, 
 wherever he appears in the Apostolic journeys. 
 What a contrast is that which is witnessed in 
 the Roman palace of Cesarea, when Agrippa 
 and Bernice and Festus, with the chief captains 
 and the principal men of the city, are assem- 
 bled to hear the defence of a solitary Jew, who 
 is held as a prisoner! That Jew is under sus- 
 picion. He has nothing to commend him ex- 
 cept his sincerity. He has been led in from 
 the guardhouse, where his companions have 
 been coarse, common soldiers. Yet, in the con- 
 sciousness of Christian manhood and in the 
 strength of his relation to his invisible Lord 
 and Master, St. Paul says to Agrippa, the 
 king: "I would to God that not thou only, 
 but also all that hear me this day, might be- 
 come such as I am, except these bonds." 
 
80 The Man and His Message 
 
 That certainly is a noble attitude. Who can 
 fail to estimate St. Paul, the lonely Jew, as a 
 stronger, braver, more heroic man than 
 Agrippa, the king, with all his pretentious 
 surroundings, or than Festus, the governor, 
 with the Roman legions at his command ? 
 
 Or take the last view that we have of the 
 Great Apostle, when he is writing from a cold, 
 damp cell in Rome, and assuring his beloved 
 Timothy that he had been called to the bar of 
 Caesar, and that not a friend was there to give 
 him cheer. Then how finely he adds: "But 
 the Lord stood by me, and strengthened me, 
 and I was delivered out of the mouth of the 
 lion." 
 
 What was done for a notable ambassador 
 will be done for every one of us. We, too, 
 are ambassadors, and the service is the same. 
 This is our hope. With the sword of the 
 executioner in view, the crown of righteous- 
 ness is also visible; with the light and momen- 
 tary affliction in one scale, there is the far 
 more exceeding and eternal weight of glory 
 in the other. The ambassador is to return. 
 The Earl of Beaconsfield was the proudest man 
 in England, when he returned from Berlin to 
 report to his sovereign that he had brought 
 " peace with honor." What has the " ambas- 
 sador on behalf of Christ " to take with him, as 
 he goes to meet his Lord ? "They that turn 
 
"Ambassadors on Behalf of Christ " 8 1 
 
 many to righteousness shall shine as the stars, 
 forever and ever." That is one thing. 
 "Blessed are the peace-makers." That is 
 another. The extension and the establishment 
 of the kingdom. That is a third. The welcome 
 is assured. The " well done " will be heard. 
 
 As they go forth to service, ambassadors are 
 permitted to have a personal audience with the 
 Ruler, whom they are to represent, that in- 
 structions may be given, and that acquaintance 
 may be formed. In like manner, at the home- 
 coming, it is to the Ruler that they report their 
 fidelity, that they may hear the words of ap- 
 proval that are richly prized. 
 
 The Christian minister, Christ's ambassador, 
 has a similar privilege. From the presence of 
 the King, our adorable Redeemer, he goes out 
 upon his embassy, carrying in his heart the 
 message from the sacred lips divine, and the 
 sweet assurance of sustaining sympathy and 
 grace that ever accompanies a command to 
 toil; to endure, and to suffer in the cause of 
 Christ; and in the presence of the King, our 
 blessed Master, Jesus Christ, he renders an ac- 
 count of his life-work, here on the earth, re- 
 ceiving that priceless recompense, which 
 means the right hand, the mansion, the crown, 
 and everlasting felicity with saints, with 
 angels, and with God. 
 
 Now we have the answer to our third ques- 
 
82 The Man and His Message 
 
 tion, and it is this; the Christian minister, as 
 "an ambassador on behalf of Christ," has God 
 for his dependence, his hope and his joy. 
 
 " Champion of Jesus ! on that breast 
 From whence thy fervor flowed, 
 Thou hast obtained eternal rest, 
 The bosom of thy God." 
 
 To you, Beloved Brethren of the Graduating 
 Class, this ambassadorial service is most attract- 
 ive. Years of self-sacrifice and patient study 
 are represented in your present equipment. 
 You have believed that God called you to be 
 " ambassadors on behalf of Christ," and your 
 response to that call has been your fidelity in 
 preparing for the service. Now you are ready, 
 and the service is to begin. God only knows 
 where and what it shall be. To some of you 
 it may be a pleasant life among congenial 
 peoples, who reverence your Lord and Master; 
 and who will esteem you very highly in love 
 for your work's sake; while to others of you, 
 it may be hardship, suffering, reproach, and 
 even martyrdom. We cannot know. Our 
 ignorance is blessed. The future is safe with 
 Him, whose you are. You are His ambassa- 
 dors. Let that be your thought to live by. 
 Match that thought with your activity, and 
 you will not err. The retrospect will be 
 bright, and the prospect will be brighter. 
 
"Ambassadors on Behalf of Christ " 83 
 
 During your student days among us, you 
 may have gone to Fort Hill Cemetery to visit 
 the grave of that eminent statesman, 1 whose 
 devotion to liberty secured for him a con- 
 spicuous position among the patriots of 
 America. In the truest sense, he was an am- 
 bassador. Yet he was reproached and 
 honored; he was abused and praised; he was 
 assaulted with violence and he closed his life in 
 peace. After an abundance of service, and 
 with the laurels of a nation's gratitude upon 
 his brow, there was selected, as the epi- 
 taph to be carved above his grave, the simple, 
 grandly expressive declaration: " He was 
 faithful." 
 
 On behalf of my associates, your instructors, 
 who have labored, these years, to prepare you 
 for service, I bid you go forth to the Christian 
 ministry, as "ambassadors on behalf of 
 Christ," expressing their hope and mine that 
 when the service is over, and our Lord Jesus 
 Christ calls you home, it may be said, there 
 and here, of each one of you, 
 
 "He was faithful." 
 
 1 William H. Seward. 
 
Jesus Christ, and Him Crucified 
 
Jesus Christ, and Him Crucified 
 
 The great preachers of the church have been 
 men who have known what to preach, and 
 how to preach it. Matter and manner have 
 been considered in their preaching; and mat- 
 ter has always held the first place. The mat- 
 ter of preaching is abundant. Truth is a 
 treasury, whose contents are the thoughts of 
 God. When God utters His thoughts, truth is 
 accessible, even if it is unrecognized. The 
 recognition, however, will come with the in- 
 crease of knowledge. Science is constantly 
 unlocking the vaults of the treasury; and re- 
 ligion is steadily advancing to clearer estimates 
 of essential doctrines and vital principles. 
 
 The great preachers have understood that 
 one great truth is enough for one man's life- 
 work; and they have been great enough to be 
 satisfied with the effective knowledge of one 
 influential truth. That truth, firmly grasped 
 and persistently used, has made the preach- 
 ing of the preacher a hammer to break the 
 fetters of the enslaved, a bugle to organize the 
 struggle for liberty, a standard to lead the army 
 of the Lord to peace and plenty, and a gentle 
 presence to remind the sorrowful that they are 
 87 
 
88 The Man and His Message 
 
 the sons and daughters of "the Father of 
 mercies" and "God of all comfort." 
 
 Men of one idea form public opinion, and 
 exercise authority after public opinion has been 
 formed. They are not necessarily narrow 
 men. Their breadth will depend upon the size 
 of their idea, and there are ideas, and many of 
 them, which take hold of every human inter- 
 est, as they reach from the depths of hell to 
 those sublime heights, where God Almighty 
 sits enthroned. 
 
 The preacher will manifest wisdom in his 
 selection of the truth, which he is to make his 
 own. When that truth, if it is a great truth, 
 becomes his, he can preach it with power; and 
 his hearers will believe that a man of God is 
 before them, and that he has a message, which 
 they must hear, and heed. 
 
 But what shall the great truth be? From 
 among the great truths, which one shall be se- 
 lected ? How can a young man be guided in 
 his choice ? Perhaps the experience of an 
 eminent, and a very successful preacher may 
 prove instructive. He was once on a journey, 
 when he reached the principal university city 
 of Europe, where he was a stranger. The 
 leading men of the city were not in sympathy 
 with his views of truth: and yet they were 
 men, whose opinions were eagerly sought, 
 and whose fame had gone out through all the 
 
Jesus Christ, and Him Crucified 89 
 
 earth. They invited him to preach and he 
 consented. Impressed as he evidently was 
 with the intellectual character of his audience, 
 the preacher selected a somewhat abstruse and 
 philosophical theme, which he treated in a 
 somewhat philosophical manner. He was 
 heard with curious attention, which presently 
 gave way to laughter and ridicule. The phi- 
 losophers and scholars of the university city 
 were not impressed by what he said; and he 
 left them, with the painful consciousness that 
 his preaching had not been a success. 
 
 As he resumed his journey, he had time to 
 think, before he reached another city, which 
 was a busy centre of commercial activity, 
 where two continents met to interchange ideas 
 and commodities. When he entered that city, 
 his decision was formed. He had selected the 
 greatest truth of the gospel, which he began, 
 at once, to preach. He was heard with anx- 
 iety and conviction, as preachers, who have 
 preached that truth, always have been heard. 
 There was resistance and persecution, it is 
 true, but there were many converts, and many 
 splendid exhibitions of heroism, and there was 
 a noble church, and a magnificent influence 
 going out into that luxurious profligate city. 
 The selection of the preacher was commended 
 by the results, and ever after, he held to the 
 truth of "Jesus Christ and Him crucified." 
 
90 The Man and His Message 
 
 I need not mention the preacher's name, even 
 when I say that, to us, audiences will be more 
 Corinthian than Athenian. Our life-work will 
 take us to Corinth more often than to Athens. 
 Yet even in Athens, the truth that was grandly 
 effective in Corinth will prove that it is "the 
 power of God, and the wisdom of God." 
 Therefore, with all the emphasis that belongs 
 to this supreme hour, in the lives of many 
 here present, I would urge you, my brethren 
 of the graduating class, to choose "Jesus 
 Christ, and Him crucified," as the matter of 
 your preaching. It is a glorious truth. If you 
 are faithful to it, you cannot fail. It is just what 
 you are commanded to preach, and it is just 
 what you will be tempted not to preach. But 
 do not yield to temptation. Be loyal to the 
 truth. Honor your commission. Appreciate 
 its comprehensiveness. Dare to be men of one 
 idea, and let that idea be "Jesus Christ and 
 Him crucified." 
 
 First: — This truth addresses the world prac- 
 tically. The world's attention is held by it, as 
 by no other truth. It is the one truth that the 
 world must accept, if the world is ever to be 
 saved. There is no human interest that this 
 truth cannot effect, and that it has not affected. 
 It reaches individuals, and they become new 
 men in Christ. It touches families, and home- 
 life, so sacred and so blessed, takes the place 
 
Jesus Christ, and Him Crucified 91 
 
 of house-life, so common, and so often cor- 
 rupt. It enters into states and nations, and 
 the Christian commonwealth, with schools, 
 colleges, libraries, museums, churches, hos- 
 pitals, asylums, and a noble citizenship, is the 
 response. Its method is as scientific, as it is 
 efficient. The tree is made good, with the ex- 
 pectation that the fruit will then be good. 
 The issues of life are traced to the heart, and 
 the endeavor is to produce a beneficial change 
 of heart. The renewed man will make his 
 own appropriate environment. Oranges on 
 Christmas trees do not lead us to look for an 
 orange crop in a hemlock forest. If there are 
 to be ''new heavens and a new earth, wherein 
 dwelleth righteousness," there must be a mul- 
 titude of righteous men and women. The 
 preacher's work is to promote righteousness; 
 and Jesus Christ, and Him crucified, is the 
 truth of all truths that makes for righteous- 
 ness. Professor Shedd, whose promise as a 
 theologian was first recognized by Auburn 
 Seminary, has said, that "When the ministry 
 sink all other themes in the one theme of the 
 cross, they see the soul of man born into the 
 kingdom of God; and then, as an inevitable 
 consequence, with which they had little to do 
 directly, but which is taken care of by the 
 providence of God, and the laws by which He 
 administers His government in the earth, they 
 
92 The Man and His Message 
 
 also see arts, sciences, trade, commerce, and 
 political prosperity following in of them- 
 selves." A popular writer of the day, the 
 author of " Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush," re- 
 marks in one of his sermons that "Theology 
 has many departments, but the most fruitful 
 and effectual is that which expounds the death 
 of Jesus. . . . The Church of Christ has made 
 her home beneath the shadow of the cross." 
 
 This is just as the Master said. From His 
 lips came the declaration; "and I, if I be 
 lifted up from the earth, will draw all men 
 unto Myself." His cross has an irresistible 
 magnetism. Missionaries among savage peo- 
 ples have used its attractive power to draw the 
 heathens away from their degrading, super- 
 stitious rites, and to interest them in Christian 
 modes of living. It has been the inspiration 
 of self-sacrifice. The church, whose mem- 
 bership have realized that "one died for all," 
 has been the church, whose zeal for missions 
 has been conspicuous. The success of the 
 English Universities' Mission, which has been 
 a splendid exhibition of consecrated talent, 
 was due to the appeals which reached the 
 students of Oxford and Cambridge from the 
 cross of Jesus. Less attention was given to 
 the needs of Africa and Asia, than to the suf- 
 ferings and death of our blessed Lord. Count 
 Zinzendorf, the Moravian, whose ministry was 
 
Jesus Christ, and Htm Crucified 93 
 
 apostolic in its devotion, kept ever in his 
 chamber a crucifix, which had beneath it the 
 words: "All this for thee, how much for 
 me?" We believe, and we are justified in 
 our belief, that the use of the crucifix pro- 
 motes superstition. Let us not, however, in 
 our rejection of a visible symbol, lose sight of 
 the great truth, that before our "eyes Jesus 
 Christ is openly set forth, crucified." 
 
 This consciousness of a crucified Saviour is 
 the only adequate explanation of Chalmer's 
 career in the Wynds of Glasgow, and of Guth- 
 rie's work for the poor of Edinburgh. Spur- 
 geon held the confidence and affection of the 
 English middle class for thirty years, as he 
 preached the vicarious atonement in every 
 sermon. Liddon at St. Paul's Cathedral was 
 confessedly the grandest preacher in the Es- 
 tablished Church, and the crucified Christ was 
 freely offered by him, as the only hope of a lost 
 world. Henry Ward Beecher's most effective 
 sermons were those which he preached in 
 middle life, when the cross of Calvary had es- 
 pecial prominence in Plymouth Church. His 
 later sermons on Evolution did not add to his 
 reputation as a preacher; and did not add to 
 the Church "those that were being saved." 
 The great revivalists, like Whitefield, the 
 Westleys and Finney, found their success, as 
 winners of souls, in pungent appeals to the 
 
94 The Man and His Message 
 
 conscience, and in earnest invitations to the 
 bleeding Lamb of God. Perhaps at the pres- 
 ent time, 1 the preaching power of Dwight L. 
 Moody is superior to that of any other man ; 
 and every one knows that he preaches the 
 precious blood of Christ as the only redemp- 
 tion. 
 
 Is not this evident ? If so, why is it that we 
 do not hear more of "Jesus Christ, and Him 
 crucified " ? What means the Salvation Army, 
 with its crude, boisterous methods, and its 
 conversions by the hundreds every year, if the 
 prominence, thus given to the cross, is not at 
 once a rebuke and an exhortation to the Church. 
 The Salvation Army succeeds where the 
 Church fails, because the truth that pledges 
 success is in the speaking and in the songs. 
 Let the Church go and do likewise, and there 
 would be no need of a Salvation Army. 
 
 Charles Dickens was certainly a keen ob- 
 server. He knew men and he understood the 
 forces that affect men. Writing in one of his 
 shorter articles on "Two views of a Cheap 
 Theatre," he contrasts the impressions made 
 by the play of Saturday night with the im- 
 pressions made by the preaching of Sunday 
 night. The Sunday night congregation 
 crowded the large audience room, and the ser- 
 mon was given by a plain, unlettered preacher. 
 j 1896. 
 
Jesus Christ, and Him Crucified 95 
 
 " And it was a most significant and encourag- 
 ing circumstance," says Mr. Dickens, "that 
 whenever the preacher described anything 
 which Christ had done, the array of faces be- 
 fore him was very much more earnest, and 
 very much more expressive of emotion than at 
 any other time." 
 
 The world is waiting for the coming of "the 
 Desire of all nations." He must come to the 
 world, if He is to prove a blessing, as of old 
 He came to His disciples, saying, "Peace be 
 unto you," and instantly showing His hands 
 and His sides. That is what the world needs, 
 peace, but peace which comes with the vision 
 of the nail-prints and the riven side. Do we 
 believe this ? Then let us go forth to make 
 full proof of our ministry. 
 
 Second: — This truth yields its contents sat- 
 isfactorily. Every great truth must submit to 
 analysis, and the analysis will discover the 
 contents of the truth. These may be traced as 
 the long roots and tendrils of a giant oak may 
 be. Great truths are composite, and this great 
 truth is especially so. As we announce it, it 
 is a simple familiar statement — Jesus Christ 
 was upon earth, about one thousand eight 
 hundred years ago, and He was crucified. No 
 man of any intelligence will deny that state- 
 ment. It is sustained by the facts of history. 
 We cannot help believing it. The Jews be- 
 
96 The Man and His Message 
 
 lieve it. The critics believe it. The infidels 
 believe it. Jesus Christ was born during the 
 reign of Herod the Great, and He was put to 
 death when Pontius Pilate was the Procurator 
 of Judea. 
 
 Now, when we have said that, and it is easy 
 to say it, we are ready to ask, who was Jesus 
 Christ, and why was He crucified, and how 
 does His crucifixion concern us ? To answer 
 those questions we should go to the " place 
 that is called Calvary," where the three crosses 
 stand in "the midday midnight." There we 
 can look into the face of the Son of Mary, and 
 can properly estimate the significance of His 
 sufferings and death. Yet in that supreme 
 hour, He recognizes the sacred relation of Son 
 and Mother. The motherhood is genuine. 
 The humanity is not a pretence. For three 
 and thirty years, He has been 'Mike unto His 
 brethren." The weakness of infancy, the de- 
 velopment of youth, the strength of manhood 
 have been His. He has known hunger, thirst, 
 weariness, grief and pain, as other men have. 
 He has touched life with a brother's hand. 
 Every human interest is addressed by Him. 
 The man, Christ Jesus, is as true a man, as any 
 one of us. To this article of our faith, we 
 hold with confidence. Whatever else we may 
 say, we shall affirm that Jesus Christ is the 
 man of Nazareth. And so, there opens to our 
 
Jesus Christ, and Him Crucified 97 
 
 view a prospect, that is as broad as human 
 need and expectation. The Incarnation gives 
 us the perfect life, with which we may go 
 anywhere, to urge any people to find that 
 which is best in resemblance to Him. Pontius 
 Pilate was right, when he introduced Him, 
 with the memorable "Ecco Homo." For He 
 is "the man," and with Him to preach, there 
 is no limitation of theme. 
 
 But He is more than a man. The Son of 
 Mary is the Son of God. From the cross, it is 
 not difficult to look to the manger; but what 
 evidences of divinity are there between Bethle- 
 hem and Calvary, and what convincing evi- 
 dences are soon to present themselves in the 
 garden of the Arimathean! Jesus Christ — we 
 affirm it unhesitatingly — cannot be kept upon 
 the plane of humanity. He is more than man, 
 more than angel, more than archangel. For 
 we believe, as the creed of Nicea (325 a. d.) 
 has it, that He is "very God of very God." 
 God and man equal Jesus Christ. And so, if 
 He addresses the world through His humanity, 
 who shall tell us whither He looks, since He 
 is divine ? What is His authority ? What is 
 His influence ? And why is He here, covered 
 with blood and crowned with thorns ? Surely, 
 there is no limitation of theme, when Deity 
 Incarnate is our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. 
 
 Now the mind is throbbing with eager, anx- 
 
98 The Man and His Message 
 
 ious questions, which demand a reply. What 
 does this tragedy mean ? Is this martyrdom ? 
 Yes, and more! Is this love's consummate 
 expression? Yes, and more! Is this God's 
 endeavor to melt impenitence by the genial 
 warmth of His Son's voluntary sacrifice ? Yes, 
 and more! What is that "more"? There 
 are present, and evident too, martyrdom, love, 
 persuasiveness and something more? What 
 is that? Satisfaction, propitiation, atonement. 
 "Jesus Christ, and Him crucified," as my dear 
 friend, Dr. William M. Taylor, once said, " so 
 satisfied the claims of the divine law, and 
 magnified the honor of the divine justice, that 
 on the ground of that propitiation, God could 
 be, at once, merciful and just in the pardoning 
 of sin." This is a cardinal truth of the gospel. 
 A vicarious atonement is essential to the valid- 
 ity of the Christian scheme. " Christ died for 
 our sins, according to the Scriptures." "Whom 
 God hath set forth to be a propitiation, through 
 faith by His blood, to shew His righteousness, 
 that He might Himself be just, and the justifi- 
 cation of Him that hath faith in Jesus." 
 
 Writing of his predecessor in the See of 
 Durham, Bishop Lightfoot remarks that Joseph 
 Butler "expressed it as an awful thing to ap- 
 pear before the moral Governor of the World." 
 The great Bishop was then in the last solemn 
 hours of life, with the consciousness that he 
 
Jesus Christ, and Him Crucified 99 
 
 must soon stand in the presence of the heart- 
 searching God, whose righteousness had been 
 his study for many years. Hearing the excla- 
 mation, Dr. Foster, the chaplain, who was at 
 the bedside, "spoke to him of the blood 
 which cleanseth from all sin." "Ah! this is 
 comfortable," was the response of the dying 
 prelate; and with those words upon his lips, 
 he gave up his soul to God. " The sequence," 
 adds Bishop Lightfoot, " is a necessary se- 
 quence. He only has access to the Eternal 
 Love, who has stood face to face with the 
 Eternal Righteousness. He only who has 
 learned to feel the awe will be taught to know 
 the grace. The righteous Judge, the moral 
 Governor of the world, is a loving Father also. 
 This is the central lesson of Christianity." 
 And here, too, there is no limitation of theme. 
 Third: — This truth anticipates acceptance 
 confidently. Why is there confidence ? Simply 
 because this truth is adapted to the needs of 
 all men, and because it has the promise of 
 God's blessing. Without the blessing of God, 
 the Holy Spirit, who alone can apply truth to 
 the hearts and consciences of those who hear, 
 the preacher will preach in vain. It is true 
 that he may be as " a very lovely song of one 
 that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well 
 on an instrument," that he may enjoy the favor 
 of the crowd, whose ears are tickled by his 
 
ioo The Man and His Message 
 
 witticisms, his epigrams, and his jokes, that 
 he may hold the attention of thoughtful men, 
 who are charmed by his eloquence. But if 
 that is all that he cares for, he has mistaken 
 his calling. The concert hall is the place for 
 him, or the lecture platform, not the pulpit of 
 a Christian church. In the pulpit, the aim 
 must be, to lead men to new and holy lives; 
 and that result can only be attained, as the 
 Spirit of God is present and active. There is 
 no promise that he will bless, with converting, 
 sanctifying power, the pleasantries of the 
 pulpit, or the scientific dissertations of the 
 pulpit, or the rhetorical essays of the pulpit, 
 as there is that he will make the preaching of 
 "Jesus Christ, and Him crucified," effective 
 unto salvation. Pentecostal revivals are not 
 known until the cross has been placed on Cal- 
 vary, and the stone has been rolled away from 
 the door of the sepulchre. We must be true 
 to God, if we expect His blessing. "Not by 
 might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith 
 the Lord of hosts." That is Old Testament. 
 "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave 
 the increase." That is New Testament. And 
 the two Testaments agree. I am an optimist, 
 and yet I look, with anxiety, upon the ten- 
 dencies of the times, which are leading us 
 away from the cross. Consult the journals of 
 any large city on a Saturday morning, and you 
 
Jesus Christ, and Him Crucified 101 
 
 will realize how far from the cross of an aton- 
 ing sacrifice are many of the subjects that are 
 to receive consideration on the Lord's day. 
 Go to the sanctuary on the Lord's day, and 
 you may listen not once, nor twice, but many 
 times, it may be, before you will hear what an 
 anxious sinner should hear continually, and 
 that is that the death of Jesus is the life of the 
 world. What wonder is it, that pure religion 
 and undefiled languishes! What wonder is it 
 that colossal debts are crushing the life out of 
 all missionary activity? Oh! for a revival of 
 Christian preaching! Oh! for a dependence 
 upon the bleeding heart of a Sinless Victim! 
 Oh! for a ministry whose service is always 
 shadowed by the Cross of Calvary! 
 
 From the first day until now, a vicarious 
 atonement has been the teaching of Auburn 
 Seminary, and I trust that the day will never 
 dawn upon this venerable and beloved institu- 
 tion, which shall witness a disregard of this 
 fundamental truth. Let us magnify the law 
 and justice of our God ! Let us proclaim His 
 eternal love! Let us, in Jesus Christ crucified, 
 present law, justice and love, as the substantial 
 hope of a lost world. 
 
 In the House of the Interpreter, Bunyan's 
 pilgrim saw the portrait of a very grave per- 
 son, whose eyes were lifted up to heaven, 
 whose hand held a copy of the Holy Scrip- 
 
102 The Man and His Message 
 
 tures, whose lips were impressed with the 
 word of truth, whose back was turned to the 
 world and over whose head there was a 
 golden crown. The portrait, as he learned by 
 inquiry of the Interpreter, was the portrait of 
 the man whom the Lord of the Celestial City 
 had appointed to be the guide of Pilgrims. 
 
 Such a guide, and of Pilgrims, are you to 
 become, dear brethren, from this hour. Of 
 this we have been mindful during the years 
 that you have been with us. We have striven 
 to make you wise, patient and faithful. You 
 have been considerate and appreciative. If we 
 have misunderstood you at any time, and have 
 grieved you, forgive us. You go forth with 
 our sympathy, our love, and our prayers. We 
 shall watch you and rejoice in you and with 
 you. Our ministry for souls must be largely 
 through you and others like you. If you are 
 God's servants; then are we servants of serv- 
 ants ; and all for Jesus' sake. 
 
 By and by — and it cannot be long — you 
 and we will see "the head that once was 
 crowned with thorns," and will feel the grasp 
 of the pierced hand. Then, and forever after, 
 it will be our joy— will it not ?— that we can 
 say, with St. Paul "Jesus Christ, and Him 
 crucified," was the matter of our preaching, in 
 the last sermon as in the first, and in all the 
 rest. 
 
Jesus Christ, and Him Crucified 103 
 
 Even now, methinks, I can see that the 
 pierced hand is placing a crown upon the head 
 of every one, thus faithful, and that the lips, 
 once trembling in the agony of death, are 
 opening to pronounce the welcome of the 
 servants, who have done well. 
 
"The Mind of Christ" — as Ministerial 
 Equipment 
 
"The Mind of Christ" — as Ministerial 
 Equipment 
 
 The world is waiting to hear what Jesus 
 Christ has to say. Centuries have been num- 
 bered since His voice was last heard of by 
 men. He disappeared in a cloud, as He was 
 speaking to His disciples, who were careful to 
 make a record of what He said and did. That 
 record is in the New Testament. It is access- 
 ible, and it is intelligible. Any one may read 
 for himself; and, under certain prescribed con- 
 ditions, any one may understand what he 
 reads. The record makes Jesus Christ a pres- 
 ent and a permanent Benefactor; and the 
 prescribed condition makes His character, 
 speech and conduct a perpetual inspiration. 
 Yet the world is still waiting to hear from Him. 
 The problems of life are numerous and per- 
 plexing, and it is the prevalent belief that He 
 can solve them. But how shall He do so, if 
 His voice cannot be heard ? 
 
 He must be represented. His disciples, and 
 especially, among the disciples, the men who 
 have been called to service in the Christian 
 ministry, must speak for Him. Having become 
 familiar with His thought and spirit, the Chris- 
 107 
 
108 The Man and His Message 
 
 tian minister is expected to represent Jesus 
 Christ, just as Peter and John once did in 
 Jerusalem, when the elders, rulers and scribes, 
 and even the High Priest of the Jews took 
 knowledge of them that they had been with 
 Jesus. 
 
 Of a city missionary, whose service is recent, 
 the remark was often made, that, when he 
 went from door to door on his visits, the peo- 
 ple "felt as if Jesus Christ had been in 
 the house." 
 
 " His life grew fragrant with the inner soul, 
 And weary folk, who passed him on the street, 
 Saw Christ's love beam from out the wistful eyes, 
 And had new confidence in God and man." 
 
 Such ministers, and there are many of them, 
 possess " the mind of Christ," which is minis- 
 terial equipment. He who has that mind is a 
 Christian, and he who has not that mind is not 
 a Christian; while he who has the least of that 
 mind will be saved, "yet so as through fire," 
 and he who has the most of that mind will 
 render conspicuous service among his fellow- 
 men, and will receive the crown of life from 
 the hand of God. 
 
 No last words to beloved companions in 
 sacred study can be more expressive of our 
 hearts' desire and prayer to God for you all, 
 than those of urgent entreaty to secure the 
 
"The Mind of Christ" 109 
 
 mind of Christ, as the equipment of your 
 ministry. 
 
 What is " the mind of Christ " ? An answer 
 must be found in the New Testament. Jesus 
 of Nazareth was what He was, because His 
 mind was what it was. He Himself, in 
 thought, in feeling, and in choice, was His 
 mind. It is not possible to limit the familiar 
 expression of St. Paul to the intellect, or to an 
 intellectual process. No one can claim that he 
 has the intellect of Christ, nor, for that matter, 
 the intellect of any one else. Intellect is not 
 transferable. Each individual has his own in- 
 tellect, and he will have it forever; and the in- 
 tellectual processes of each individual will be 
 determined, in large measure, by the quality 
 of the intellect. Aristotles and Newtons and 
 Shakespeares must think great thoughts, be- 
 cause they have great intellects. 
 
 In the estimate of St. Paul, who is an in- 
 spired interpreter of Jesus Christ, "the mind 
 of Christ " is comprehensive of every phase of 
 the spiritual activity of the Master, intellectual, 
 emotional and volitional, and all proceeding 
 from the perfect harmony of His perfect 
 nature. 
 
 Pure thought is blended with pure feeling, 
 and is expressed in pure activity. The la- 
 mented Bishop Phillips Brooks once said, that 
 " the great fact concerning the intellectual life 
 
no The Man and His Message 
 
 of Jesus is this; that, in Him, the intellect never 
 works alone. You can never separate its 
 workings from the complete operation of the 
 whole nature. He never simply knows, but 
 always loves and resolves, at the same time. 
 Truth, which the mind discovers, becomes 
 immediately the possession of the affections 
 and the will." 
 
 The spiritual harmony of Jesus was due to 
 His sinlessness. Sin produces discord every- 
 where. The processes of a sinless mind can- 
 not fail to be more profound and discrimi- 
 nating than are those of a mind that is under 
 the constraint of sin. The perfect eye sees 
 with distinctness; and the perfect ear hears 
 with accuracy. Jesus could not have writ- 
 ten the closing verses of the seventh chapter 
 of the Epistle to the Romans. His experience 
 did not match that of the greatest thinker 
 among his followers, who was constrained 
 to confess: " To will is present with me, but 
 to do that which is good is not. For the 
 good which I would I do not, but the evil 
 which I would not, that I practice." Such a 
 confession is indicative of a spiritual conflict, 
 of which Jesus knew nothing. 
 
 While we may not expect to become sinless, 
 we may hope, by the grace of God, to gain 
 the mastery of sin; so that our minds shall no 
 longer be under its dominion. That will be 
 
"The Mind of Christ" in 
 
 an important step toward securing "the mind 
 of Christ." 
 
 The sinlessness of Jesus was associated with 
 His dependence upon the Father. God was in 
 all His thoughts. He knew, because He did, 
 the will of Him who sent Him. He was alone, 
 and yet, save for the dark hours on the cross, 
 He was never alone, because the Father was 
 with Him. He was superior to His environ- 
 ment, as any one of us may be, who carries 
 in his breast the consciousness of God. The 
 natural man knows nothing of this, as the 
 spiritual man does, who enters new worlds, 
 under divine leadership. The horizon is un- 
 limited. The outlook is God's. One may 
 look upon every interest, as God does. He 
 may behold, not alone the firmament, with its 
 countless stars; he may see not alone the 
 celestial city, with its open gates, and its 
 crowded streets; he may rejoice, not alone in 
 the beatific vision and the smile of God; but 
 he must be observant, as God is, of the dis- 
 tress and misery and shame of life upon the 
 earth, while he responds, as the Son of God 
 did, who ''emptied Himself, taking the form 
 of a servant, being made in the likeness of 
 men . . . becoming obedient, even unto death, 
 yea, the death of the cross." 
 
 Thus "the mind of Christ" placed upon the 
 map of history Bethlehem, Nazareth and Cal- 
 
ii2 The Man and His Message 
 
 vary. The incarnation, the ministry and the 
 atonement of Jesus Christ were manifestations 
 of His mind. The Lamb was slain from the 
 foundation of the world. Hence the gospel. 
 Given the mind, and the three and thirty years 
 in Judea and Galilee are logical. The manger, 
 the carpenter shop and the cross are eternal 
 realities in the mind of the Son of God, who 
 makes them present blessings to a lost world. 
 
 " The mind of Christ" must be the measure 
 of Christian character. This, after all, is the 
 simplest form of definition; far more simple 
 than assent to an ethical creed, of which so 
 much has recently been said. For one may 
 subscribe his assent to an ethical creed, and 
 still go about with an unsurrendered life. But 
 no one, until he has been born anew, can have 
 "the mind of Christ "; and that new birth can 
 only be experienced under the direct influence 
 of the Holy Spirit. We often say of another, 
 that he and we are like-minded, when we 
 mean that we are thinking the same thoughts, 
 and cherishing the same desires, and choosing 
 the same things. The Holy Spirit, through 
 the new birth, enables us to say: "I live, and 
 yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me." 
 "Christ in you, the hope of glory." "Your 
 life is hid with Christ in God." 
 
 Here we discover the especial value of the 
 Word of God, inasmuch as Holy Scripture 
 
"The Mind of Christ" u 3 
 
 acquaints us with ''the mind of Christ," so 
 that we are transformed into the same image 
 from glory to glory. Study reports itself in 
 character, and holy character is equipment for 
 service in the Christian ministry. 
 
 Dean Swift of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, 
 had genius, wit and learning, and Thomas 
 Wilson, the Bishop of Sodor and Man had 
 grace and Christlikeness. They were to- 
 gether at the University. Jonathan Swift lived 
 in the full blaze of worldly applause, and dis- 
 appeared, as he himself said, "Dying in a 
 rage, like a poisoned rat in a hole." While 
 Thomas Wilson, "after he had, in his own 
 generation, served the counsel of God, fell on 
 sleep," to be mourned and honored by the 
 Church of England, as preeminently her 
 "saintly preacher." But it has ever been so. 
 The Christlike minister will ever do the 
 Christlike work. 
 
 Theological discipline, in the professional 
 school, has this end in view. The course of 
 study is arranged with reference to "the mind 
 of Christ." The aim of the course is to make 
 " the mind of Christ" the mind of the student, 
 so that the truth will appear as it appeared to 
 Christ, so that sympathy for human need will 
 be Christ's, so that the supreme desire of life 
 will be to make men and women Christlike. 
 
 That was a singularly bright and suggestive 
 
ii4 The Man and His Message 
 
 remark that the Italian artist, Donatello is said 
 to have made to his master, Brunelleschi, who 
 had surpassed him in carving a crucifix. 
 Donatello had put his best work into the pro- 
 duction of a crucifix, which Brunelleschi had 
 received with the sharp criticism: "What you 
 have done there is no Christ, but a peasant 
 nailed to a cross." "To find fault," replied 
 Donatello, "is easier than to do better." 
 
 Brunelleschi awaited his opportunity, and 
 meanwhile prepared a crucifix. One morning, 
 when it was finished, he placed it conspicu- 
 ously in the atelier. Donatello came in with 
 their breakfast; and at sight of the exquisite 
 workmanship, he raised both his hands in 
 amazement, and the breakfast was scattered 
 over the floor. " How now are we to break- 
 fast ?" quietly asked Brunelleschi. "Pick up 
 what you like," was the answer of Donatello, 
 "I have had my breakfast. I see truly that 
 you were made for Christs, and my art is fit 
 for nothing more than peasants!" The re- 
 mark of the Italian announces its application. 
 How many of us, my brethren, are fit for 
 Christs, and how many of us are satisfied, if 
 we can make peasants ? But we should not 
 be satisfied with anything less than Christs. 
 We are to serve in the ministry to make 
 Christs out of fallen, human nature, and thus 
 to make the world Christlike. Our service is 
 
The Mind of Christ 
 
 JI 5 
 
 definite, and it is expected that we will respect 
 the definiteness of the service. We are not 
 civil engineers, and yet the success of our 
 work will promote the industries that call for 
 civil engineers. We are not politicians, and 
 yet we cannot preach the gospel without af- 
 fecting politics. We are not scientists, and 
 yet science will flourish, wherever we are do- 
 ing just what our Lord has sent us forth to 
 do. We are simple preachers, whose duty it 
 is to convince men of sin, and to lead them to 
 "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the 
 sin of the world." Let us be satisfied with 
 our high and holy calling. There is enough to 
 be done. We are to represent Jesus Christ, 
 and the world wishes to hear from Him. We 
 may be able to express His mind. Let that be 
 our ambition. Gospel preachers are in de- 
 mand. He, who knows the gospel, and who 
 can preach it in an earnest, entertaining man- 
 ner will have a hearing. At the top of the 
 ladder there is always room. Speak then 
 from the heart; and be sure that the heart is all 
 Christ's. 
 
 Let us go forth now with the minister, who 
 has "the mind of Christ " into that most sacred 
 place, the study. Here is to be enjoyed a 
 sweet and blessed fellowship with all that en- 
 nobles character and life. The best thoughts 
 of the wisest and best men are the environ- 
 
n6 The Man and His Message 
 
 ment of the study, in the books that line the 
 walls. The windows are opened toward 
 Jerusalem. There is telephonic connection 
 with the audience chamber of the King of 
 Kings, who is the Father of the minister. For 
 this humble man is an heir of God. Prayers 
 ascend, and messages of love descend in the 
 sacred Word, in kindly providences, in the 
 personal ministrations of grace. Here a man 
 is alone with God; and that is just where he 
 wishes to be. The study becomes the seclu- 
 sion of Moses at Horeb, or of Elijah in the 
 cave of the Desert, or of Saul in Arabia, or of 
 the Beloved Disciple on Patmos. Men who are 
 to move their fellow-men must often be alone. 
 Meditation precedes effective activity. The 
 short, sharp, decisive Franco-German war had 
 its explanation in Von Moltke's plan of cam- 
 paign. The fire burned, while the Psalmist 
 was musing. Even Jesus of Nazareth, who 
 had not where to lay His head, converted the 
 hillsides into a study after sleep had fallen 
 upon the world. Whatever else you neglect, 
 do not neglect the opportunities of communion 
 in the study. If they are improved, you will 
 come from them with a radiance upon your 
 countenance, which will convince men that 
 you have been with God. 
 
 Upon the wall of the study, to catch the eye 
 of the minister, as he enters, the student's 
 
"The Mind of Christ " 117 
 
 promise is written: "If any man willeth to do 
 His will, he shall know of the teaching." 
 Obedience is the condition of knowledge. 
 And another promise is, also, visible: "The 
 Spirit of Truth will guide you into all the 
 truth." Submission to the leadership of the 
 Holy Spirit is the pledge of spiritual discern- 
 ment. These are the promises to "the mind 
 of Christ." They may be trusted. God has 
 given them. " All the truth " is to be grasped 
 by him, whose supreme desire it is to know 
 the Incarnation of Truth, who is the Way, 
 and the Truth, and the Life, who reveals the 
 Father, and who reveals mankind as well, who 
 comes from God, who solves the riddle of ex- 
 istence, who answers the questions of the 
 soul, whose control is love, who takes the 
 whole world in His pierced hands and presents 
 it at the throne of Grace. "The mind of 
 Christ" is expanding under these influences. 
 The Redeemer of a Sacred Book and of a far-off 
 land and age is becoming a present and a per- 
 sonal Reality. This man of study and of 
 prayer is losing himself, that he may find him- 
 self completely in Christ. He is seeing with 
 the eyes of Christ, and is hearing with Christ's 
 ears. Large, generous considerations are his. 
 He is an optimist, in spite of the wickedness 
 that surrounds him. For he perceives that 
 Christ Jesus announced the truth that every 
 
n8 The Man and His Message 
 
 human being needs for his best life, and that 
 the household requires to convert it into a 
 home, and that the community awaits to 
 transform it into a brotherhood, and that com- 
 merce must respect if business is to be some- 
 thing better than greed, and that politics must 
 honor if there is to be a clean administration 
 of affairs, and that nations must coin into in- 
 ternational currency, if Chinese walls are to be 
 broken down, and plowshares are to outnum- 
 ber swords. Jesus Christ has spoken, and 
 His ministers — you and I — are to keep on 
 speaking for Him, and as He did, until there 
 shall be but one mind in all the world, and 
 that mind His mind. 
 
 Let us leave the study, and let us go out 
 upon the streets. Here there is the oppor- 
 tunity to preach a seven days' gospel. The 
 minister has one day for the pulpit, and seven 
 days for the streets; and the streets often con- 
 tradict the pulpit. What manner of man 
 should we find upon the streets ? You know, 
 as well as I, for the streets call for a man with 
 "the mind of Christ." The streets know 
 him. He is strong, yet gracious. He is brave, 
 yet tender. He is sincere, yet gentle. " An 
 holy man of God, who passes by us continu- 
 ally." The housewife of Shunem described 
 the Christian minister, when she called atten- 
 tion to the Hebrew prophet. Bad men are 
 
"The Mind of Christ" 119 
 
 afraid of him, as King Herod was afraid of 
 John the Baptist. Good men confide in him, 
 as the Christians of Philippi confided in St. 
 Paul. Little children love him, as they loved 
 the children's Friend, who once said, "Suffer 
 little children to come unto Me." Tender ap- 
 peals reach him, as they were sent across the 
 Jordan by the sisters of Lazarus; "Lord, be- 
 hold he whom Thou lovest is sick." Bethany 
 and Nain and Cana and Capernaum have place 
 in the experience of a man, who crosses the 
 threshold of a dwelling with "the mind of 
 Christ." 
 
 It is related by Mr. Siddons, the husband of 
 England's greatest actress, that upon one oc- 
 casion, when his wife was engaged with the 
 character of Lady Macbeth, he was alone in 
 his library, late at night. Suddenly he heard 
 footsteps on the stairs, and going to the door, 
 he saw his wife, who had become possessed 
 with the idea that she was Lady Macbeth. 
 With a word from him, the spell was broken; 
 and as she gained composure in his strong 
 arms, Mrs. Siddons told him that she had be- 
 come absorbed in her study, until she seemed 
 herself to be the guilty queen. Then the 
 horror of the realization caused her to flee 
 from her lonely chamber, to seek relief any- 
 where. 
 
 Some such transformation is his, who, 
 
120 The Man and His Message 
 
 studiously and prayerfully, resolves to possess 
 " the mind of Christ." He will surely become 
 Christlike; and the Christlikeness will not 
 be a superficial veneering, but, like the growth 
 of flower and fruit, the true expression of the 
 inner life. 
 
 And now a word in regard to the pulpit. 
 For to the minister, all roads lead to the pulpit. 
 Eloquence may not mount the pulpit stairs. 
 But eloquence is not a demand. Each gener- 
 ation has a few, only a few, eloquent preach- 
 ers. There is something better. It is the 
 speech of a man, through whom Jesus Christ 
 speaks. "What would this babbler say?" 
 was the sarcastic inquiry of cultured Athen- 
 ians, when there stood before them a man, of 
 whom the Corinthians said; " his bodily pres- 
 ence is weak, and his speech of no account." 
 That man, if we may believe tradition, was a 
 little Jew, who had none of the charms of 
 oratory, yet he has "turned the world upside 
 down," as he has been preaching "Jesus 
 Christ, and Him crucified." We are of those 
 who would read Jesus in the light of St. Paul, 
 believing, as we do, that this inspired Apostle 
 understood the mind of the Master, and that 
 he is our safest leader in going back to Christ. 
 For we very much fear, that, if we reject the 
 leadership of St. Peter, St. Paul and St. John, 
 we shall go back to a Christ, who may be the 
 
"The Mind of Christ" 121 
 
 Son of Mary, but who is not the Son of God, 
 we shall make our way to Bethlehem and the 
 manger, and shall hear no voice nor song of 
 angels above the hills, we shall reach Golgotha 
 to find there only the cross of a martyr instead 
 of the cross of an atoning Saviour, whose 
 blood is offered in the face of heaven for the 
 sins of a lost world. 
 
 For pulpit service, I believe that we may be 
 satisfied with St. Paul, as an example, and 
 that as to theme, treatment and manner. He 
 had the mind of Christ, and so he preached 
 the eternal verities, whose two terms are the 
 sinner and the Saviour. This is a standpoint 
 that addresses every interest. The Holy Spirit 
 waits upon, and blesses Pauline preaching. 
 By it, converts are made and saints are edified. 
 It solves the sociological problems, by force of 
 the eleventh commandment, "that ye love 
 one another, even as I have loved you." It 
 makes the Church just what it should be, the 
 body of Christ; and the body of Christ once 
 went about doing good. The Church should 
 be doing just what Jesus Christ did. Good 
 men make good laws, and administer them, 
 when made. Progess is recorded. The poor 
 are considered, and the less favored have a 
 chance. Men have not to die to know some- 
 thing of heaven. This earth has foretastes of 
 heaven. Life is worth living. 
 
122 The Man and His Message 
 
 " The whole world gives back the song 
 Which now the angels sing." 
 
 And all this is true, because plain, ordinary 
 men have accepted the rarest privilege and dig- 
 nity that mortals can enjoy, and have permitted 
 " the mind of Christ," who is the adorable and 
 ever-blessed Son of God, to become their mind. 
 
 Dear friends of the Graduating Class, this is 
 our last word to you; and it is spoken from 
 our hearts. May you have "the mind of 
 Christ"! You need it. You may have it. 
 Make it yours. 
 
 We shall never meet again as a company, 
 until we meet before "the great white throne." 
 From this hour, our paths diverge. God only 
 knows what may be before each one of us; 
 and because He knows, we are safe. 
 
 Very pleasant has our fellowship in the 
 gospel been to us, your teachers. We shall 
 miss you. You aroused our interest, when 
 first we met. You have held our respect and 
 confidence, as you have pursued your studies. 
 You carry with you our love, because we 
 know your hearts. 
 
 " God be with you, till we meet again; " in 
 toil, to strengthen you; in temptation, to de- 
 liver you; in prosperity, to sanctify you; in 
 sickness, to heal you; in sorrow, to comfort 
 you; in death, to encourage you; in heaven, to 
 crown you. 
 
Watching For Souls — The Work of 
 the Ministry 
 
Watching For Souls — The Work of 
 the Ministry 
 
 The student of theology is projected into the 
 Christian ministry. He does not grow into it. 
 From the theological seminary to the pulpit, 
 there is but one step: and that step is taken in 
 response to the call of a church. The call be- 
 comes the warrant for active service. It 
 locates an inexperienced young man over a 
 parish, in which he will be expected to be a 
 leader of thought, a superintendent of work, 
 and an illustration of all the Christian graces. 
 The parish may be as large, and as exacting, as 
 any that he will ever serve. In it, he will be 
 more independent than men of other profes- 
 sions can be at their work. He can select his 
 own themes of discourse and plan his own 
 courses of study. If he desires, he can turn 
 night into day: and he is at liberty to consume 
 his energies with midnight oil. Christian for- 
 bearance will tolerate a ministerial idler and 
 trifler until patience ceases to be a virtue. The 
 lawyer is under constraint of office hours; so 
 is the physician; and the merchant; and the 
 mechanic. But to an unusual degree, the 
 minister is his own master; and the authority 
 
 125 
 
126 The Man and His Message 
 
 thus exercised, is often weak, foolish and 
 ruinous. 
 
 Thomas Chalmers began his ministry at Kil- 
 many, a little town not far from the University 
 of St. Andrews. As he was especially in- 
 terested in mathematics, he made an engage- 
 ment to lecture in the University and to devote 
 the most of his time to the duties of his lec- 
 tureship. He went over to St. Andrews on 
 Monday and returned to Kilmany on Saturday; 
 and he unhesitatingly declared that "after the 
 satisfactory discharge of his parish duties, a 
 minister may enjoy five days in the week of 
 uninterrupted leisure for the prosecution of any 
 science in which his tastes disposes him to en- 
 gage." "I find you always busy," remarked 
 a neighbor, " but come when I may, I never 
 find you at your studies for the Sabbath." 
 "Oh," replied young Chalmers, "an hour or 
 two on the Saturday evening is quite enough 
 for that." He could do as he pleased, and his 
 pleasure was the neglect of sacred duties. For 
 later in his life, he confessed that he had been 
 guilty of "a heinous crime" in his treatment 
 of the church at Kilmany. 
 
 Entering upon his work without experience, 
 and left as he is to himself, the Christian 
 minister should have a clear, definite concep- 
 tion of what his work is. It is distinct from 
 other men's work, and yet it is strangely re- 
 
Watching for Souls 127 
 
 lated to every human interest. If it is well 
 done, it will sanctify, bless and adorn every 
 interest that affects the lives of human beings. 
 What is it ? In what department of life is the 
 Christian minister expected to serve ? 
 
 I reply that the work of the Christian minis- 
 try is to watch for souls. " They watch on 
 behalf of your souls, as they that shall give 
 account; that they may do this with joy, and 
 not with grief; for this were unprofitable for 
 you." This Scriptural statement meets the 
 situation perfectly. The watching is intense. 
 It strains the nerves, until sleep becomes an 
 impossibility. Reference to the account that 
 must by and by be rendered is a perpetual 
 admonition. The prophet Ezekiel sounds a 
 note of warning, when he addresses the watch- 
 men of Israel, who fail in the discharge of 
 duty, and the shepherds of Israel, who neglect 
 the flocks. God is observant. In His sight, 
 they are very guilty. For He expects that 
 trusts will be faithfully administered, and that 
 responsibility will be met with scrupulous 
 fidelity. He honors men, when He appoints 
 them as watchmen, and His severe displeasure 
 is visited upon those who consult ease, safety, 
 comfort and pleasure rather than the duties of 
 the service to which they have been assigned. 
 
 That service, when the Christian ministry is 
 mentioned, is to watch for souls. John Keble 
 
128 The Man and His Message 
 
 — the poet-preacher of the English Church — ac- 
 complished his great life-work under the con- 
 viction that " the salvation of one soul is worth 
 more than the framing of the magna charta of 
 a thousand worlds." Many interests are 
 ephemeral. They perish with the day. While 
 the soul is immortal.- It must live forever. 
 And where ? That is the question of destiny. 
 
 Society will respect and honor the man, who 
 attends to his own business. The care of 
 property is the lawyer's business. The care of 
 health is the physician's business. The care of 
 the soul is the minister's business. While He 
 was in this world, Jesus Christ concentrated 
 His attention and efforts upon this supreme in- 
 terest. His example is eloquent. Christian 
 ministers can afford to do as He did. 
 
 Clericalism in public affairs has written a 
 history, which is the humiliating record of 
 blunders, duplicity and oppression. Jesuitism 
 is the name for it, whether Roman Catholic or 
 Protestant. The Jesuits, as an order, have 
 been driven out of half the countries of 
 Europe — and why ? Simply because they have 
 departed from the original plan of Ignatius 
 Loyola. It was in Paris — and the year was 
 1543 — a young man of distinguished ancestry 
 was a member of the University. Day by day, 
 there met him a Spanish knight, who had been 
 wounded in battle, and who, upon a couch of 
 
Watching for Souls 129 
 
 suffering, had become a Christian. One 
 question — only one — was upon his lips. He 
 asked it at the close of every interview, and 
 often at the beginning. " What shall it profit 
 a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and 
 lose his own soul?" Always the same, that 
 impressive question presently took such hold 
 upon Francis Xavier, that he gave himself to 
 the Society of Jesus, which Ignatius Loyola 
 was then organizing, with the avowed pur- 
 pose of preaching the gospel to save souls. 
 What would the Society of Jesus have done for 
 the world, if its members had been true to that 
 avowed purpose ? But soon, very soon, they 
 became ambitious to meddle in politics, and 
 thus they made Jesuitism the scandal of Chris- 
 tianity. 
 
 The ministry should be satisfied with a divi- 
 sion of labor. No one man can do everything, 
 and very few men can do many things, and 
 do them all well. "The aristocracy of emi- 
 nent ability," it has been said, "is not large, 
 and never has been. How many Cromwells 
 and Miltons may have died in their mother's 
 arms, nobody knows. But the grown up 
 Cromwells and Miltons have all been heard 
 from." To put men and women on the right 
 side for God and humanity is the grandest 
 work that can be done in the interests of the 
 family, the state, the nation and the world. 
 
130 The Man and His Message 
 
 Nehemiah gave proof of his good, sound com- 
 mon sense, as well as of his consecration to 
 duty, when he said; "I am doing a great 
 work, so that I cannot come down." And 
 yet, he was only building a stone wall. Single- 
 ness of aim, if the aim is the true one, will 
 serve to keep a man from wasting time and 
 energy. A man may have his recreations, as 
 he should. The legend of St. John and the 
 partridge is instructive. The bow must be un- 
 strung, if its elasticity is to be preserved. 
 "One thing I do," however, is Pauline; and 
 St. Paul made his ministry tell upon life; both 
 Jewish and Christian. 
 
 As a watchman, the Christian minister is 
 God's representative. God is always watch- 
 ing for souls. That beautiful incident in the 
 life of Jesus, which expressed His solicitude for 
 the disciples, who were toiling in rowing 
 when the wind was contrary, is indicative of 
 God's watchfulness. He had gone to the 
 mountain-side to be alone in prayer. The dis- 
 ciples were out upon the lake. A storm burst 
 upon them. They were in peril of their lives. 
 As He prayed, Jesus watched them. When 
 they were ready to despair, He was present to 
 speak safety and peace. Now we know that 
 God is, as Jesus was. The manifested interest 
 of Jesus upon a single occasion is the perpetual 
 interest of God. He knows the value of a 
 
Watching for Souls 131 
 
 soul. Bethlehem and Calvary — the Incarna- 
 tion and the Crucifixion — are eloquent of di- 
 vine sympathy and love, because the Son of 
 God is there. 
 
 Thus Christian ministers stand behind the 
 Son of God — a long way behind, if you please, 
 — but still in the same path. As He was sent 
 into the world, so are they. His work is 
 theirs. He ever watched for souls, and they 
 must always do the same. 
 
 Jesus watched, because He believed that 
 souls need salvation; and if we have the same 
 belief, we shall watch somewhat as He did. 
 Perhaps we do believe, and again perhaps we 
 do not. " The Son of Man came to seek and 
 to save that which was lost." "I am not 
 come," He said, "to call the righteous, but 
 sinners, to repentance." He who is not a sin- 
 ner has no need of a Saviour, while he who 
 is a sinner has. Our ministry is not to sinless 
 angels, but to human beings, who have sinned, 
 and who must be saved by Jesus Christ. 
 "Without Christ," and, therefore, without 
 hope. There may be culture and refinement, 
 there may be the advantages of wealth and in- 
 fluence, and yet, " without Christ," the soul is 
 ignorant of God's love, and can have no pros- 
 pect of seeing God's face, and of hearing God's 
 welcome — "For this is life eternal, and they 
 should know thee, the only true God, and 
 
132 The Man and His Message 
 
 Him whom Thou didst send, even Jesus 
 Christ." 
 
 He who watches for souls must carry this 
 burden, just as God does. God cannot, and 
 He will not, roll it off. No more should the 
 watchman. For he looks abroad, and what 
 does he see? Many, many souls "without 
 Christ," and many others who have but a 
 slight hold of Christ. These souls are steadily 
 moving on to the solemn judgment, which 
 shall announce the destiny of each. Can there 
 be more important work, especially when the 
 watchman is able to cry aloud in warnings, in 
 exhortations, and in cordial offers of forgive- 
 ness, peace and heaven ? 
 
 During the plague season of 1665, the city 
 of London was panic-stricken. Many of the 
 people fled to the country, while those who 
 were compelled to remain in the city faced 
 death at every turn. Then was heard the 
 voice of the faithful watchman, who offered 
 salvation and called for its prompt acceptance. 
 "No polished periods, no learned disquisi- 
 tions, no labored paragraphs chilled their ap- 
 peals, or rendered their discourses unintelligi- 
 ble." "Old Time," wrote Thomas Vincent, 
 one of the heroes of the hour, "seemed to 
 stand at the head of the pulpit, with his great 
 scythe, saying, with a hoarse voice, "Work, 
 while it is called to-day. At night, I will mow 
 
Watching for Souls 133 
 
 thee down." "But," inquires an earnest 
 minister of our time, " should it ever be other- 
 wise? Should there ever be less fervor in 
 preaching, or less eagerness than there was 
 then? True, life was a little shorter then — 
 that was all. Death, and its issues, are still the 
 same. Eternity is still the same. The soul is 
 still the same. Salvation is still the same." Oh, 
 that we might realize this. Our work is ineffec- 
 tive, because it lacks consecration. We labor 
 in vain, and spend our strength for naught, 
 when our efforts are merely professional. It 
 should not be so. Sermons should be preached 
 for souls, — every sermon should. Results 
 should be expected. Parochial duties, house 
 to house visitation, should be undertaken with 
 the definite purpose of helping souls. Such 
 calls are pastoral, and the pastor is ever hear- 
 ing, and heeding the command, "Feed My 
 lambs; Feed My sheep." 
 
 It is the exalted privilege of God's watch- 
 man to carry with him the conviction that the 
 Lord Jesus Christ is the complete and only 
 Saviour — complete and only. As to these two 
 points, there is to be no doubt whatever. 
 Without reserve, he agrees with the Apostle 
 Peter, that "in none other is there salvation, 
 for neither is there any other name under 
 heaven, that is given among men, wherein we 
 must be saved." The Jesus of Nazareth, who 
 
134 The Man and His Message 
 
 lived, suffered, died, arose from the sepulchre 
 and ascended to the throne of God, is the Sav- 
 iour of the world, and the emphasis must be 
 upon the definite article — the. The Saviour. 
 It will not do for us to imagine, or suggest, that 
 there may be other Saviours, or that some 
 people can get on without any Saviour at all. 
 We are Christians, and Christians believe that 
 Jesus of Nazareth is the only Saviour and that 
 He must save every one who ever is saved. He 
 came to this world— the Son of God — as has 
 been recently said, not simply to deliver a 
 message — i. e., to tell us that God is merciful 
 and gracious; but also that there might be a 
 message to deliver — L e. } to do something 
 Himself that may be told to all the world. We 
 often quote St. John iii. 16, and it is well that 
 we should — God's love cannot be too fre- 
 quently announced. But let us remember that 
 St. John iii. 14-15, which contain the refer- 
 ence to the serpent that was lifted up in the 
 wilderness, presents a truth which must go 
 with the proclamation of God's love. For the 
 message of the gospel is in terms of history. 
 Facts underlie the message. " If Christ hath 
 not been raised, — " the appeal is to facts, 
 "then is our preaching vain ; your faith also is 
 vain." No subjective impressions; no "value 
 judgments," made by the recital of what may 
 have been, or what may be supposed to have 
 
Watching for Souls 135 
 
 been will answer. Our gospel is historic. We 
 take our stand unhesitatingly upon the Incar- 
 nation, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection and 
 the Ascension of Jesus Christ. These are facts 
 — not legends. The Apostle's Creed is the 
 substance of the watchman's message. With 
 that Creed we can watch for souls, believing 
 that a veritable incarnation of deity brought 
 the Son of God into this world, "in the like- 
 ness of sinful flesh and for sin: " that a shame- 
 ful death upon the cross presented the price- 
 less blood of a sinless Victim, as an atonement 
 for the sins of the world: that a glorious 
 resurrection is the conquest of death and the 
 subjection of the grave: and that a triumphant 
 ascension is the pledge that the Saviour is to 
 live forever as Advocate and Mediator; and 
 that He is to come again to be welcomed in 
 the blessed peace of His benign reign. This 
 is the message, and it has the witness of suc- 
 cess. Souls are saved by it and, when saved, 
 are cheered and led on to noble living. 
 
 Yet when we thus speak we are aware that 
 our speech is sharply challenged. There are 
 influential schools of thought whose members 
 do not think as we do. At the last Church 
 Congress in England there was an animated 
 discussion on "The Progress of Life and 
 Thought in the Church of England, during the 
 Victorian Era." A broad churchman referred 
 
136 The Man and His Message 
 
 with kindly expressed contempt to the views 
 of the Evangelicals, who hold that the chief 
 characteristic of the converted is that they 
 have accepted the atonement, or believe that 
 Jesus Christ died for them; in other words, 
 that Jesus Christ has borne upon the cross the 
 punishment due to their sins, and has made it 
 possible for God to forgive them. Then he 
 added these words: "I think that it will be 
 admitted that, throughout English Christendom 
 in general, these doctrines are either openly 
 repudiated, or tacitly ignored, or avowed with 
 bated breath." Now that is to us a startling 
 statement. If it is true of England, I am sorry 
 for the great Church of England. If it should 
 prove true of the United States, I should be 
 solicitous for the future of Christianity in this 
 broad land. I have no zeal for denominational 
 tenets, as such. I prefer those of my own de- 
 nomination, else I should go to another. But 
 I have an intense zeal for what is known as 
 the evangelical faith. If souls have been 
 saved, it must be used. When the Church 
 ceases to use it, then there will be a loud call 
 for the Salvation Army and kindred organiza- 
 tions, whose leadership will be conducting 
 lost sinners into the kingdom of God, through 
 the proclamation of the atoning merits of the 
 sinner's Friend, Jesus Christ. 
 The present interest in applied Christianity 
 
Watching for Souls 137 
 
 is in danger at this point. Applied Christianity 
 may be ethical without being evangelical. It 
 may seek to save the body, and neglect to 
 save the soul. It may supply bread and butter 
 to the hungry, and never offer "the Bread of 
 Life." I would not say one word in dispar- 
 agement of applied Christianity. God be 
 praised that it has prominence. Let its fruits 
 abound yet more and more. It is needed. 
 We cannot do without it. The dear Lord 
 Himself had compassion on the multitude, and 
 fed them. We must minister to physical 
 wants. The human beings, over whom we 
 are to watch, are not disembodied spirits. 
 They must have respectable dwellings, good 
 food, pure water and warm clothing; and 
 when they are sick they must have medical 
 skill and medicines. The good Samaritan, 
 conducting the wounded man to an inn, is ap- 
 plied Christianity. The benedictions of the 
 right hand are pronounced in view of service 
 rendered to hungry and thirsty people, to 
 strangers, to the naked, to the sick, and to 
 prisoners. 
 
 But while we thus speak, let us ever re- 
 member that applied Christianity is an expres- 
 sion of convictions, and that evangelical con- 
 victions make the constraint of the love of 
 Christ the most powerful motive that has ever 
 been known. His love for me; my love for 
 
138 The Man and His Message 
 
 Him: and His love for all mankind. Measure 
 that if you can, and then you may hope to 
 find a limit to your efforts when you seek to 
 save souls. 
 
 In watching for souls the Christian minister 
 has the satisfaction of knowing that souls are 
 saved by Jesus Christ. This is the reward. He 
 has souls for His hire. Souls are to be saved, 
 to be pure and honest and sweet and gentle, 
 to care for the better things, to make life 
 worth living, to enjoy God, to be ready for 
 heaven. That is salvation as the Master and 
 His apostles present it. Character is its result. 
 The perfect stature in Christ Jesus is the ideal. 
 
 With this ideal, and for this result, Jesus 
 taught and labored. No teacher, no reformer, 
 no philanthropist has ever done as much to 
 ennoble society as He has. Yet what He said 
 to Nicodemus — "Ye must be born anew" — 
 was always prominent in His teaching. He 
 was wiser than His generation, and His wis- 
 dom is still the rebuke of our folly. We work 
 too much on the surface. We veneer life. 
 We depend upon preambles and resolutions. 
 We are satisfied to legislate the ten command- 
 ments. We dress iniquity in the garments of 
 Christian respectability, and then congratulate 
 ourselves that we have done the Lord's work. 
 It is a mistake — this popular method, and we 
 should have learned the mistake long ago. 
 
Watching for Souls 139 
 
 We have our instructions. The standing 
 miracle of Christianity — saved men and 
 women — is before our eyes all the time. 
 "Greater works than these shall he do," said 
 Jesus, who had made the blind to see, the 
 lame to walk, and the dead to live. Now 
 what can be greater ? Why this — to turn a 
 sinner from error to truth, to persuade a man 
 to walk with God, to call the spirituality dead 
 to eternal life in Christ. "That is a miracle 
 as great as any that He did. It covers the 
 whole work of salvation — the social effects of 
 the change, as well as the individual experi- 
 ences." 
 
 Ours is not a money-making profession, nor 
 is it laden with worldly honors. For most of 
 us simple, plain living, and an obscure record 
 is the outlook. We shall work hard, be poor, 
 and die without applause. The rewards are 
 not attractive to one, who has no enthusiasm 
 for souls. I would advise such a man to se- 
 lect another profession, and to engage in some 
 other business. It does not pay to be a Chris- 
 tian minister, when the best that can be said 
 is the plea; "put me I pray thee into one of 
 the priest's offices, that I may eat a morsel of 
 bread." 
 
 But to the man who loves souls, the rewards 
 are most attractive. God pays the watchman 
 the very best wages, when he gives Him 
 
140 The Man and His Message 
 
 souls. That is enough. Who can ask for 
 more? What does that salvation mean to 
 the soul, to society, to the state, to heaven, 
 to the Redeemer, who gave His life to 
 save souls? A soul saved. A name writ- 
 ten in the Lambs book of life. A call to the 
 angels to sing a song of rejoicing. A soul 
 saved. And saved, because God's watchman 
 has done just what he ought to have done. 
 He has been faithful. That is all. The re- 
 ward is ample. A part of it is enjoyed, here 
 and now; while the larger part is reserved for 
 the great hereafter, when we shall meet before 
 the throne with those who will declare that, 
 
 " from thy mouth, 
 
 We heard of Jesus' love, and thine the hand 
 
 That led us to His feet." 
 
 Dear brethren of the Graduating Class, the 
 message of the hour should be the purpose of 
 your ministry. You need singleness of aim. 
 There are, and there will be, many distracting 
 appeals. New ideas are seeking consideration 
 and approval. You will be tempted in many 
 ways. The ministry of your generation should 
 be keen-eyed and stout-hearted. Novel theo- 
 ries of social reconstruction are abroad. It is 
 fashionable to cry down the old, and to cry up 
 the new. You will have need to be resolute. 
 Stand ever for Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 
 
Watching for Souls 141 
 
 Consult your commission. Understand what 
 your work is. Be satisfied to do one thing, 
 and to do it with all your might, especially as 
 your one thing is the greatest thing that man 
 can do. God honors you in permitting you to 
 represent Him. Be grateful for the honor. 
 Let the watchman's spirit be yours. Proclaim 
 your message. Believe in the certainty of the 
 reward. 
 
 The learned Archbishop Trench of Dublin 
 once wrote some quaint lines, which read as 
 if delivered to his clergy in the nature of a 
 charge. The spirit of the lines should be the 
 spirit of your ministry. Listen to them. 
 
 " I say to thee, do thou repeat 
 To the first man thou mayest meet, 
 In lane, highway, or open street, 
 < That he, and we, and all men move 
 Under a canopy of love, 
 As broad as the blue sky above.' 
 And ere thou leave him, say thou this, 
 Yet one word more ; ' They only miss 
 The winning of that final bliss, 
 Who will not count it true that love, 
 Blessing, not cursing, rules above, 
 And that in it we live and move.' 
 And one thing further make him know, 
 That to believe these things are so, 
 This firm faith never to forego — 
 Despite of all which seems at strife 
 With blessing, all with curses rife 
 That this is blessing, this is life." 
 
142 The Man and His Message 
 
 That is your message. And you are watch- 
 men. Be true. 
 
 And now may God bless you. Cherish 
 pleasant memories of us, as we shall of you. 
 Come back when you can to cheer us by your 
 presence and words; and write us freely of 
 your joys, your sorrows, your hopes and your 
 disappointments. Pray for us, as we shall pray 
 for you. Face the work with courage, know- 
 ing that God is with the watchman in the 
 work. Move into the large opportunity of 
 the next century with strong faith that, ere its 
 one hundred years shall be numbered, the song 
 of redeeming love will be heard in every land 
 beneath the sun. 
 
Stewards of the Mysteries of God 
 
Stewards of the Mysteries of God 
 
 Ministers of Christ are stewards of the 
 mysteries of God. St. Paul says so; and he 
 himself was an eminent minister of Christ. 
 As an itinerant theological professor, the Eras- 
 mus of the first century, he educated, for the 
 service of the Church, a large number of ear- 
 nest men. Such were Timothy, whom he met 
 at Lystra; and Aquila, who was with him in 
 Corinth; and Apollos, whom he taught at 
 Ephesus; and Epaphroditus, who visited him 
 in Rome; and Tychicus, who was a travelling 
 companion, and a trusted messenger; and Luke, 
 who was the beloved physician, and the first 
 medical missionary. 
 
 The lecture-halls, in which St. Paul taught 
 his pupils, were the solid Roman roads, over 
 which he journeyed with them ; the decks of 
 Alexandrian corn-ships, on which he sailed 
 with them; the workshops, in which, with 
 their assistance, he wove the Cilician hair- 
 cloth; the hired lodgings, in which he dictated 
 his Epistles, and preached the gospel; the 
 synagogues of the Jews, whose worship he in- 
 terpreted from the standpoint of a Christian; 
 the cheerless prisons, in which he exhibited 
 the heroic qualities of a manly life. 
 145 
 
146 The Man and His Message 
 
 He was well aware that he could not live 
 forever, and that a succession of trained men 
 was essential to the continuance and perpetuity 
 of his work. These men would enlarge his 
 influence; and, with others like-minded, would 
 carry on his work long after he had gone to 
 his reward. Consequently he endeavored to 
 do just what his Master had done. He pre- 
 pared men of promise to become ministers of 
 Christ, and, as such, stewards of the mysteries 
 of God. 
 
 The expression, stewards of the mysteries 
 of God, is but one of the many that the Apos- 
 tle used, to illustrate the work of Christian 
 ministers. Each of the expressions was in- 
 telligently selected, with a desire to present 
 the work in a fresh, clear light. They are 
 crisp, strong, masterful thoughts to live by. 
 It is well that a class of theological students 
 should take one of them as a motto; and it is, 
 also, well that theological professors should 
 bring their aims and accomplishments to the 
 test of these expressions. 
 
 "Stewards of the mysteries of God" is, 
 therefore, the theme of this year's farewell ad- 
 dress; and it will be the purpose of the few 
 words that shall be spoken, to exhibit the 
 wealth of thought and the constraint of duty 
 that the expression contains. 
 
 The mysteries of God are the trust of the 
 
Stewards of the Mysteries of God 147 
 
 stewardship. What then are the mysteries of 
 God ? Do they, in any particular, resemble an 
 estate that is entrusted to a steward ? 
 
 The Greek world was familiar with the 
 mysteries, whose real significance, however, 
 was understood only by the initiated. The 
 Eleusinian mysteries were said to conceal 
 comforting assurances respecting a future life, 
 and the initiated were pledged to secrecy. 
 The uninitiated knew that there was some- 
 thing at Eleusis, near Athens, that exerted a 
 powerful fascination, and the initiated claimed 
 that the mysteries were most impressive and 
 solemn realities. Athens was alive with ex- 
 citement at the season when the Eleusinian 
 mysteries were celebrated by public demon- 
 strations, which were the accompaniments of 
 the secret ceremonials within the Temple of 
 Demeter. 
 
 Like the mysteries of the Greeks, the mys- 
 teries of God are hidden from some, and made 
 known to others. They are the thoughts, the 
 secret counsels, the eternal purposes of God, 
 which have been revealed. They antedate 
 history, and yet they stand in historical rela- 
 tions. They have always been present with 
 God, while in the fullness of the time, they 
 have been expressed. Thus the Lamb was 
 slain, not first of all on Calvary, some nine- 
 teen hundred years ago, but from the founda- 
 
148 The Man and His Message 
 
 tion of the world. Divine thought precedes 
 divine activity. Accomplishment is the un- 
 folding of plan. When it shall be said, that, 
 "the kingdom of the world is become the 
 kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ," an 
 eternal idea will be matched by the events of 
 time. For this after all, is the dominant idea 
 of the universe, that has controlled the course 
 of history and governed the movements of 
 the planets. "The stars in their courses 
 fought against Sisera." It is an idea of colos- 
 sal dimensions. No finite mind has ever been 
 able to comprehend it, while, for practical util- 
 ity, it may be apprehended by the intelligence 
 of a little child. "Great is the mystery of 
 godliness," exclaims St. Paul, as he addresses 
 Timothy; and, in his letter to the Colossians, 
 he declares that this is " the mystery which 
 hath been hid from all ages and generations; 
 but now hath it been manifested to His saints, 
 to whom God was pleased to make known 
 what is the riches of the glory of this mystery 
 among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, 
 the hope of glory; whom we proclaim, ad- 
 monishing every man and teaching every man 
 in all wisdom, that we may present every man 
 perfect in Christ." 
 
 This precious deposit of truth is the trust, 
 of which ministers of Christ are stewards. It 
 is something definite, which, like the Grecian 
 
Stewards of the Mysteries of God 149 
 
 mysteries, can be known by the initiated, and 
 by no one else; and the initiated, in this in- 
 stance, are they who have been enlightened 
 by the Holy Spirit. "They are spiritually 
 judged." The wise and understanding cannot 
 appreciate the mysteries of God, which, as 
 Jesus once said, have been revealed unto babes. 
 The great doctrine of Christ crucified is a 
 stumbling-block unto the Jews, and foolish- 
 ness unto the Gentiles, while unto them that 
 are called, whether Jews or Gentiles, this cen- 
 tral doctrine is the power of God and the wis- 
 dom of God. 
 
 Stewards, in the ancient world were usually 
 household slaves, whose intelligence and fidel- 
 ity secured the implicit confidence -of masters. 
 Vast estates were left to their care, while the 
 masters were abroad, for pleasure, or in mili- 
 tary or naval service. Their duties were three- 
 fold; and these duties are the evident duties 
 of the ministers of Christ, who rejoice to be 
 considered the bond-slaves of Jesus Christ. 
 Inventory, administration, and account are the 
 words that designate the duties of a steward. 
 
 First: — As stewards, ministers of Christ 
 must inventory the mysteries of God. To in- 
 ventory is to present, in a clear and an orderly 
 manner, a description of the characteristics 
 and the value of an estate. An inventory 
 should contain a complete statement of the en- 
 
150 The Man and His Message 
 
 tire property, so that it may be known how 
 much cash there is in the books, what bonds 
 and mortgages are held, and what their condi- 
 tion is; what stocks, or other securities, should 
 be in the report, and what real estate. The 
 steward must, therefore, be a critical student, 
 a patient observer of the entire property. He 
 should not depend upon what his representa- 
 tives, or agents, may be pleased to say. He 
 must see for himself, visiting the banks and 
 safe-deposit vaults and farms and tenements; 
 so that he may understand, from personal ob- 
 servation, just what he is responsible for. And 
 this work must not be done once, but all the 
 time. The inventory should be, at least, an 
 annual statement; for only thus can it be true, 
 and truth is an essential quality in an inven- 
 tory. 
 
 Here is where the student life of a minister 
 of Christ finds its work. It may have a begin- 
 ning. It can have no end. The mysteries of 
 God are discovered in nature, in history, in the 
 Church and in the Holy Scriptures. " By divers 
 portions and in divers manners," God has been 
 pleased to speak. He has many voices; yet 
 truth is one. Nature and grace, science and 
 religion will be seen in harmonious relations, 
 if there is intelligent interpretation. The dif- 
 ficulty too often is that the interpretation is 
 partial and prejudiced. The perspective is 
 
Stewards of the Mysteries of God 151 
 
 narrow. The student stands in the low val- 
 leys, not upon the hills, when he takes a view. 
 He becomes intolerant, whether his especial 
 interest is nature or grace, science or religion. 
 He ceases to study, and vainly imagines that 
 the instruction of venerated teachers in his 
 school days will carry him safely and wisely 
 to the grave. Perhaps it will, if he is willing 
 to put on grave clothes prematurely, and to 
 walk the earth among living, thinking men in 
 the habiliments of the tomb. Then he should 
 not complain, if his services are not desired, 
 and if he is recognized as over the dead line, 
 which has been aptly termed the lazy line, be- 
 fore he has numbered two score and ten years. 
 He has failed to live in the present, expanding 
 in soul with the progress of the years, and 
 gaining new views of truth from persistent in- 
 vestigations. Resolve, therefore, and hold to 
 the resolution, that you will be lifelong 
 students of the mysteries of God. 
 
 No steward would be wise or faithful, if he 
 should devote time and attention to one por- 
 tion of the estate only; or if he should fail to 
 bring each portion of the estate to an estimate 
 with other portions. His work must be analyt- 
 ical and synthetical, both. He must know the 
 estate in detail, and as a whole. 
 
 How true this is of the divine mysteries! 
 Yet how prone such stewards are to disregard 
 
152 The Man and His Message 
 
 the teaching! Exegetical study attracts, and 
 systematic study repels. There is an impres- 
 sion abroad that systematic theology has had 
 its day, and that henceforth it may be disre- 
 garded, in order that specific doctrines may be 
 investigated, one by one. But no doctrine 
 stands by itself, nor can any one doctrine be 
 studied by itself. Sectarianism of the worst 
 sort will be the result of such a false method 
 of study, which, like the tangent in mathemat- 
 ics, leaves the main body of truth, never to 
 return, but to become increasingly attenuated 
 until presently it is too weak and thin to be of 
 any value, save as a will-o'-the-wisp, to alarm, 
 or to rally credulous souls. 
 
 The steward of the mysteries of God should 
 not be that kind of a man. He should believe 
 that "cosmos" has been written over these 
 mysteries. There is order in the thoughts of 
 God, and it is man's principal business to re- 
 spect that order. When he does so, it will be 
 found that seekers after truth are brethren in a 
 common pursuit, and that they stand, face to 
 face, around that matchless Personality Divine, 
 who, after all, is the 
 
 " One far-off, divine event, 
 To which the whole creation moves." 
 
 Second: — The mysteries of God are to be 
 administered by ministers of Christ, who are 
 
Stewards of the Mysteries of God 153 
 
 stewards. The inventory is for the sake of 
 the administration. Stewards seek to know 
 what is under their care, in order that they 
 may use it. Administration includes develop- 
 ment, investment and collection, or the in- 
 crease of the practical value of the property, its 
 employment for the appointed ends and the 
 gathering of its returns or harvests. No stew- 
 ard of the mysteries of God resembles the 
 warden of the Tower of London, who has the 
 charge of the crown jewels of England. For 
 he is only expected to preserve just what he 
 received. The mysteries of God are not 
 diamonds, rubies and pearls. They are seeds, 
 which must be planted and replanted and 
 planted over again in order that there may be 
 food for the hungry, and well-filled granaries 
 in the time of famine. God wishes no man to 
 keep this precious deposit in a napkin, and to 
 return it just as it was given out. It is for de- 
 velopment. Every minister of Christ should 
 understand that he has something to do in 
 making truth more intelligible than it was 
 when he became steward. This is the nicest 
 kind of work, which will certainly expose one 
 to criticism. The past claims reverence. The 
 ark of God is sacred. It seems presumptuous 
 for a man of the present to imagine that he 
 can develop these mysteries, which have com- 
 manded the wisdom and devotion of the cen- 
 
154 The Man and His Message 
 
 turies, and which are expressed in the great 
 creeds and confessions. Is not that work 
 final ? Is it not rashness to question what has 
 been done? I answer unhesitatingly, No! not 
 if the questioning is in the right spirit. And 
 what is that spirit ? I reply that it may be 
 one of blind adherence, or of reckless inquiry, 
 or of intelligent loyalty: and intelligent loyalty 
 is the only spirit that is worthy of a minister 
 of Christ. 
 
 The spirit of blind adherence accepts every 
 formal statement of the past, just as it stands. 
 No allowance is made for advances in scholar- 
 ship, which have unlocked many of the inner 
 recesses of nature, history, the church and the 
 word of God. These advances will report 
 their work, and the work must prove influen- 
 tial. The mysteries of God do not change, 
 truth cannot change, because God is unchange- 
 able. But interpretations may change, the un- 
 derstanding of the mysteries must increase, 
 the proper expression of God's thought will 
 ever be a demand. If students, in other de- 
 partments, are moving forward in their esti- 
 mate of the mysteries that they are investigat- 
 ing, why should ministers of Christ be com- 
 mended, if they stand still, and look backward ? 
 Ours is a progressive science. Light is con- 
 stantly bursting forth from the Holy Bible, 
 which contains the most complete revelation 
 
Stewards of the Mysteries of God 155 
 
 of the divine mysteries. But the revelation, as 
 we have already remarked, imposes conditions 
 of its own, which must be met; and those 
 conditions assure us that we should keep on 
 studying and understanding, with the confi- 
 dent expectation that, one day, we shall 
 know, as we have been known. 
 
 Protestant theology has no Council of Trent 
 to dominate its scholarship with authoritative 
 declarations; and the venerable creeds and 
 confessions of the centuries must, every one 
 of them, be constantly subjected to the test of 
 truth. If they are truthful statements, nay 
 further, if they are the best truthful statements 
 that can be made, let them stand. If not, then 
 let them give way to other, and more satis- 
 factory, forms of speech. 
 
 The spirit of blind adherence is too much 
 like that of Pope and Pagan in Bunyan's alle- 
 gory, " by whose power and tyranny, the men 
 whose bones, blood, ashes, etc., lay there, 
 were cruelly put to death." Pagan had been 
 dead many a day; while the other, "grown 
 so crazy and stiff in his joints, could only sit 
 in his cave's mouth grinning at pilgrims, as 
 they go by, and biting his nails because he 
 cannot come at them." 
 
 If the spirit of ultra conservatism is not to 
 be commended, no more is the spirit of reck- 
 less inquiry. This is the modern spirit. Up- 
 
156 The Man and His Message 
 
 to-date thinking is applauded. Present day 
 views are popular. The new is admired, just 
 as the latest fashion is accepted, because it is 
 new. There is no reverence in this spirit. 
 The mysteries of God are treated just as 
 nursery rhymes are. The Holy Bible, it is 
 claimed, is literature, and should be studied 
 just as any other literature is. But the Holy 
 Bible, be it said, has its own canons of literary 
 study, which must be respected. In this par- 
 ticular, it asks just what Shakespeare's dramas 
 do and what all literary productions do; and 
 that is that the canons of criticism shall be 
 employed. For no one imagines that the 
 canons of criticism that rule in the study of 
 philosophy will control in the study of poetry; 
 and no one should expect to interpret the mys- 
 teries of the Divine Word, if he disregards the 
 evident characteristics of that Word. God 
 does not manifest Himself in His Word, except 
 to the intelligence that is illuminated by the 
 Holy Spirit; and such an intelligence has the 
 humility of genuine scholarship. 
 
 It is safe to predict that the prevalent com- 
 mendation of up-to-date thinking will be 
 short-lived. We shall soon pass through its 
 rarefied atmosphere to the levels, where 
 thought will be calmer, more profound and 
 more satisfactory in its announcements. 
 Wise men have preceded us. It is doubtful 
 
Stewards of the Mysteries of God 157 
 
 if there is upon the earth, to-day, an intellect 
 that can equal the master minds of the great 
 realms of inquiry. Let us, my friends, be on 
 our guard, lest we fall under the spell of this 
 reckless spirit, and become to our shame in- 
 tellectual iconoclasts. 
 
 Between these two spirits, there is the spirit 
 of intelligent loyalty; and this is the only 
 spirit that the stewards of God's mysteries 
 should manifest. This spirit is neither blind 
 nor reckless. It is the nineteeth century be- 
 holden to the centuries that have gone before, 
 but intelligently. There is a fair presumption 
 in favor of the decisions that have been made, 
 which, however, does not keep the Beroeans 
 from examining daily whether these things 
 are so. Truth, and nothing but truth must be 
 authoritative. 
 
 Confidence in God is strong and expectant. 
 We shall know more of truth, and shall use 
 more than our fathers did; and that will be 
 our privilege, simply because we have their 
 work to instruct us, and the same blessed 
 Holy Spirit to guide us into all the truth. Their 
 hand upon affairs is not a dead hand, nor shall 
 ours be. They did not expect to control the 
 future absolutely, but to make its progress a 
 possibility. We honor them, and most of all 
 do we render honor to the Holy Spirit when 
 we build upon the past, as a secure founda- 
 
158 The Man and His Message 
 
 tion, our own course of workmanship in the 
 temple of truth. 
 
 Thus each generation of thinkers and work- 
 ers is able to use, in a practical way, such 
 portions of the mysteries of God as the gen- 
 eration claims for its own. We, in our gen- 
 eration, are not using the portions that our 
 fathers did. They did their work to the best 
 of their ability, as we are doing ours. Their 
 aim was to apply God's truth in human con- 
 ditions. Ours is the same. We believe, as 
 they did, that this truth can transform char- 
 acter and conduct, if it has opportunity. A 
 new heart may be trusted to have good man- 
 ners and to live a clean life. Barbarism yields 
 to evangelization, just as refined selfishness 
 does. Applied Christianity is the mysteries of 
 God at work. 
 
 With such practical activity, the stewards of 
 God's mysteries will be constantly gathering 
 the returns of His work, and will be adding 
 them to the value of His sacred trust. There 
 are spiritual harvests, which increase the 
 wealth of our King. Souls saved, institutions 
 established, laws framed, principles explained, 
 blessings dispensed. These are all harvest. 
 The mysteries of God are a richer possession 
 to-day than they were when Jesus took leave 
 of His disciples. The oak is grander than the 
 acorn. Yet the acorn holds the oak. 
 
Stewards of the Mysteries of God 159 
 
 And the steward has great joy, as he realizes 
 that his fidelity is thus approved and that his 
 Master is glorified. 
 
 Third: — There is an account to be rendered 
 by stewards of God's mysteries. "Give an 
 account of thy stewardship," is the demand 
 that sounds, with prophetic solemnity, in every 
 hour of service. There can be no escape or 
 exception. Ten-talent men and one-talent 
 men alike must give account each for himself. 
 And to the heart-searching God! What 
 shall it be ? I know not. I cannot answer 
 for myself. How can I speak for others ? I 
 tremble when I think of the day and the hour, 
 and I should despair if I had not a strong con- 
 viction that an Advocate will be there to plead 
 in view of my unworthiness. With oppor- 
 tunities so abundant and with privileges so 
 rare, what should the account be ? 
 
 If I cannot tell for what the account will be, 
 I can tell you what some of its features should 
 be, and they are these. As stewards, the ac- 
 count should indicate what the mysteries have 
 done for us personally. We have been stew- 
 ards of the mysteries of God for twenty, 
 thirty, forty and even fifty years, and what 
 have they done for us ? Are we better men ? 
 Have they made us holy men of God ? Shall 
 we be castaways after we have preached to 
 others? It should not be so. Ministers of 
 
160 The Man and His Message 
 
 Christ ought to be the purest men, the 
 bravest men, the noblest men, the best men 
 in the world. Let us see to it that our steward- 
 ship has that effect upon us. 
 
 Then we should present the honest work 
 that we have done upon the mysteries them- 
 selves, in making them more intelligible and 
 available. This is glorious work, and it is 
 much needed. In many respects the mys- 
 teries of God are not understood nor appre- 
 ciated. Men will say things about them that 
 they would never say if they were properly 
 explained. Take that greatest of mysteries, 
 God's sovereign election into everlasting life, 
 and recall what is written about it, and you 
 can realize how much painful ignorance and 
 misrepresentation there is upon one of the es- 
 sential and precious truths of our holy religion. 
 Or take the atonement of our blessed Re- 
 deemer, and you will quickly see that many 
 statements respecting such a vital doctrine are 
 travesties of the truth itself. Or take the work 
 of the Holy Spirit, and read some of the cur- 
 rent rhapsodies about the infilling of the Holy 
 Ghost. Are you not called to careful work ? 
 Is there nothing for the young scholars of to- 
 day to do in clearly stating the mysteries of 
 God? 
 
 Gentlemen, I firmly believe that there are 
 young scholars with us, who will render con- 
 
Stewards of the Mysteries of God 161 
 
 spicuous service in this direction before they 
 become veterans in the cause of Christ. State- 
 ments are to be reformulated; and when they 
 are, the mysteries of God will help a great 
 many anxious souls, who are now standing 
 afar in wonderment and perplexity and awe. 
 Let me commend to you this phase of your 
 stewardship, and let me urge you to undertake 
 something on this behalf. 
 
 Then the steward must report the work that 
 has been done in the rescue of the perishing, 
 the consolation of the sad, the inspiration of 
 the faint-hearted, the bringing heaven down to 
 earth. 
 
 No man can render the account that the 
 faithful stewards of God's mysteries can. 
 They have been working with God; and 
 God's Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ, worked 
 as they have been working, when He was 
 upon the earth. Great must be their joy, as 
 they report to the Master and receive the com- 
 mendation of His gracious approval. The 
 trust is surrendered. The crown is bestowed. 
 
 Gentlemen of the Graduating Class, so soon 
 to be ministers of Christ, and stewards of the 
 mysteries of God, it is a happy circumstance 
 that you leave this honored Seminary, and 
 enter upon your life work, on Ascension Day. 
 With songs of praise and prayers of adoration, 
 the holy church catholic throughout the world, 
 
1 62 The Man and His Message 
 
 has been engaged in commemorating the his- 
 toric fact that Jesus Christ, the Conqueror of 
 death and the grave, ascended to His throne 
 from the slope of Olivet. He has been wor- 
 shipped, from the rising of the sun to the go- 
 ing down of the same, as the Living One, who 
 was dead, and is alive forevermore. From 
 His exalted throne He observes you, and from 
 that throne of power, He sends you help in 
 every time of need. "Lo, I am with you al- 
 way, even unto the end of the world," is an 
 assurance, which brings courage and hope, 
 when it falls from lips like His. 
 
 Go forth to your work with the conscious- 
 ness that His eye is always upon you, and that 
 His arms are strong to help you. You will be 
 lonely, and He will know that you are, and 
 He will be your friend. You will be weak, 
 and He will know that you are, and He will 
 be your strength. You will be disheartened, 
 and He will know that you are, and He will 
 be your hope. One of the first Christian min- 
 isters — his name was Stephen — discharged his 
 stewardship in the face of a howling mob of 
 Jerusalem Jews and he was calm and satisfied, 
 because he saw Jesus standing on the right 
 hand of God. 
 
 " He heeded not reviling tones, 
 Nor sold his heart to idle moans, 
 Tho' cursed and scorned, and bruised with stones." 
 
Stewards of the Mysteries of God 163 
 
 The heavenly vision held him to his work, 
 as it will you. Never forget it. Ours is not a 
 dead Saviour, but a triumphant Redeemer. 
 Carry the thought with you. Feel its con- 
 straint. Enjoy its inspiration. 
 
 Ministers of Christ! Stewards of the mys- 
 teries of God! We greet you in your youth- 
 ful ardor and expectancy. We welcome you 
 to the service for which you have been pre- 
 pared, with our loving farewell. We once 
 more remind you that the eye that never sleeps 
 will always watch you, and that the hand that 
 holds the worlds will rest gently on your 
 shoulders, to guide, to strengthen, and to 
 cheer. 
 
Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 
 
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