LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. %P Ocpjrigf/I I?o. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. V The Pacific Coast t Pulpit Edited by the Rev. D. Hanson Irwin, WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY THE Rev. Robert Mackenzie, D. D. "ait of °<" FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY X^c/ New York : : Chicago : : Toronto Publishers of Evangelical Literature. "WASV 1 [the library I iOF CONGEE** 1 |WASHINGTOW_ Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1893, by FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D. C. EDITOR'S PREFACE. If any apology be demanded for flooding the theological market with another volume of ser- mons, let it be found in the introduction to this volume, kindly furnished by my friend, the Rev. Dr. Mackenzie, or in the volume itself, which, I beg leave to think, is no unworthy addition to the sermon literature of the day. I would acknowledge the uniform kindness of my brethren on the Coast, and so express to them my thanks that I have been permitted to complete this selection of their pulpit work with the single aim and hope that as their ministry from the pulpit has been used of God to the conversion of souls and the confirming of their faith, so now in a still larger sense, the Divine Spirit may carry these arrows of gospel truth home to the mind and heart of ' ' the larger congregation. " It has been my privilege to listen to the delivery of some of these sermons, and I cordially assent that in some cases the charm of personal magnet- ism has much to do with the warmth of the recep- tion of the Divine truth. I am not without hope that the reading may be as profitable to others as the hearing was to me. [ill] iv EDITOR'S PREFACE. It is necessary I should insert an explanatory re- mark concerning the address of Rev. Ng Poon Chew. That good brother preaches in the Chinese mission in San Francisco in CJiinese ; and such preaching, when translated, would lose its value for the general hearer or reader. For this reason, and at his special request, I have published an address which he delivered before a large congregation dur- ing the famous religious revival of 1892. I must gratefully acknowledge the manner in which the work of publishing has been executed ; and the assistance rendered me in the same by Mr. Fleming H. Revell. I commend these sermons to the careful perusal of all who are ready to receive the truth in the love of it, and I pray the Divine blessing may at- tend the word thus faithfully expounded. D. Hanson Irwin. San Francisco, Cat., October, 1893. INTRODUCTION. There are two things the same everywhere, in London and New York, in Boston and San Fran- cisco, — the human heart and the Word of God. And when these two are properly brought together, the same result everywhere follows. We do not meet a different race of men on the Pacific Coast, nor do we need a special Bible for California. Both these are stereotyped. We have no call to tamper with the plates. The circumstances and accidents of society, how- ever, vary in varying times and places. There is a time current and place current characteristic of this Coast, which must be taken into practical ac- count by the preacher. Custom does not keep the ministry here. There is no premium on the pro- fession of Christianity. A man's position in busi- ness, or politics, a woman's position in society, is not materially affected by attendance or non-at- tendance at church. The sun shines, and the rain falls ; the spring in matchless beauty, and the autumn in marvelous plenty, come down on both alike, and God does not settle his accounts on the first of each October out here. Life seems prosperous without religion, and M vi INTR OD UCTJON. there is a tacit conviction cherished by many that religion is not so important but that one can get along very well without it in California. It is not infidelity, there is not much of that here ; infidelity requires a more earnest soil than we yet have. It is not agnosticism ; God is ac- knowledged and believed in and believed to govern, good-naturedly withal. It is not any form of active antagonism to Christ and Christianity, but a con- tented indifferentism, a modern Athenianism, — ' i We will hear thee again on this matter," while they go back to the market-place. This condition can be successfully met only by an evangelical, orthodox gospel. It is sometimes thought that the demands of the gospel must be modified and its warnings softened in such a coun- try as this. No greater mistake can be made. The theology which would prevail must be an out- and-out theology. The usual compromises which have dulled the conscience of those in older com- munities opposed to an evangelical gospel are not equally successful here. Here, unless a man has real religion, he sees no necessity for professing or supporting the outward appearance of one. The West is conservative in theology, not because its ministers are ignorant of the scholastic issues of the day, but because they daily meet not a speculative, but a practical philosophy of life, and have to meet it, not with the "perhaps" of a possible interpreta- INTRODUCTION. vii tion, but with the ' ' Thus saith the Lord " of a posi- tive conviction. Any indefiniteness or uncertainty is discovered and resented first by the people, who leave the guesser with the remark that they have guesses enough of their own. Nor does sensationalism, commonly understood, avail in the community. There is already so much genuine, untrammeled sensationalism in business, in society, and in the newspaper, that people com- ing to church pray to be delivered from it, knowing well its hollowness. The big drum has never been successfully beat for any length of time out here. The drum and the drummer have appeared occa- sionally in each of the denominations, but after a brief performance they have been excused. The truth as it is in Christ, preached in knowl- edge, in sympathy, and in love, will accomplish here what it has accomplished elsewhere, — the conversion and sanctification of men, and nothing else will. Robt. Mackenzie. San Francisco, Cat., October, i£pj. CONTENTS. The Incarnate Word i Rev. John Q. Adams. Some New Thing 18 Rev. Arthur J. Brown. Too Busy 35 Rev. E. S. Chapman, D. D. The Chinese in San Francisco 49 Rev. Ng Poon Chew. What Christ Teaches us to Believe about the Bible 57 Rev. R. F. Coyle, D. D. The Sure Foundation, and its Seal 73 Rev. Arthur Crosby, A. M. What to do with Christ 86 Rev. J. W. Dinsmore. Where to Throw your Salt, or "Healing the Springs " 101 Rev. Thomas C. Easton, D. D. CONTENTS. God Inscrutable : Why ? 1 18 Rev. W. W. Faris, D. D. Christ's Challenge and Question to Unbe- lievers 131 Rev. H. A. Ketchum, D D. A Life Retrospect 142 Rev. Henry Collin Minton, D. D. Vicarious Suffering 153 Rev. Robert Mackenzie, D. D. Ourselves Sinners 171 Prof. Warren H. Landon, D. D. What Think Ye of Christ ? 185 Rev. W. B. Noble, D. D. The Anchors of the Soul 200 Rev. J. M. Patterson. Love's Bitter Cup 220 Rev. James Cuming Smith. The Foolishness of Preaching 229 Rev. John B. Stewart, D. D. BEV, JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. THE INCARNATE WORD. BY REV. JOHN Q. ADAMS, Pastor Westminster Presbyterian Church, San Francisco, California. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) , full of grace and truth. John i : 14. The Word was made flesh. He became what He was not before, a man, a whole man, a man in his physical, intellectual, and moral nature. The text asserts ' ' the reality and the integrity of the human mode of existence into which the Word en- tered. " — Godet. The Word became flesh and dwelt, tabernacled, among us, full of grace and truth. The glory of this Word, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, John saw. He heard, he saw, he in- tently regarded, and he handled this Word, who became flesh. But who is this Word ? The Word was ' ' in the beginning with God, " and ' ' was God " in that beginning ; all things were made by Him ; He is the Life and Light of men ; His own received Him not, but He gives power, right, privilege, to those [i] PACIFIC COAST PULPIT. who receive Him, to become the children of God ; He becomes man, and other men gaze upon Him ; a forerunner bears witness to Him, and declares that ' ' of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace," and that this grace came by Jesus Christ. The Word, then, is Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, who, though manifested in the flesh, was God, and is in the bosom of the Father. No plainer statements are needed. This prologue to John's Gospel has been memo- rable in the history of Christian thought. Rarely, if ever, have such profound truths been expressed in so few words, or have words had concentrated upon them so much study. They teach us that the Word, Jesus Christ, existed prior to his earthly birth, and before all created things, and that He was pos- sessed of a superhuman character. The Creator of all created things, He is excluded from their num- ber, and His eternal Deity affirmed ; for when time began, He was. He is the Life, the Light, the only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, the Word become flesh and dwelling among men. We have, then, as our fundamental thought, the very foundation of our faith, the basis of the Gos- pel, the INCARNATION OF GOD IN MAN. What is thus affirmed is not an isolated truth, nor one that appears only in John's Gospel. You can- not tear it out of this Bible ; it cannot be separated from this Gospel, without its becoming another THE INCARNATE WORD. 3 Bible, another Gospel. The fate of Christianity rests upon this fact. We affirm, also, that it is the supreme fact of history. It is almost a trite state- ment to make, that as once all roads led to Rome, so all ancient history leads to Bethlehem's manger ; and that from Jesus of Nazareth, modern history and civilization date their beginning and have re- ceived their organizing law. If, then, this Incar- nation be impossible, if its proofs be insufficient, if we are compelled to reject it, then with it goes this Book and that Man who has deceived ail the ages ; and history becomes a tangled skein. Strange, in- deed, will it be if He who is ■ ■ the purest of the mighty, the mightiest of the pure ; who with His pierced hands raised empires from their foundations, turned the stream of history from its old channels, and still continues to rule and guide the ages," shall at last be found to be other than He claimed, or only the creation of an idle brain and a dying world ! This question, then, of the Incarnation becomes of practical interest to us, even though sometimes it may seem a hard and dry subject, encrusted with the thought, wise or unwise, of the past. If it be not true, our faith is vain. And let it be remem- bered just here that it concerns primarily a revealed fact, not a dogma, not an abstract truth. Its his- torical verity and our belief of it are the first things involved, and not our speculative knowledge of its PACIFIC COAST PULPIT. processes. The latter will always be somewhat vague and indefinite, the former may be clear and positive. I. In further studying this question, consider in the first place, that the history of religious thought shows nothing more clearly than this ; that men everywhere, in all conditions of society, and un- der all forms of religious belief, have felt the necessity of a mediator to stand between them and the Most High God. They have called Him by different names, but they have felt that He must be in some sense Deity incarnate, the divine and hu- man in one person. We do not dispute with those who assert that other religions have had their incarnations. It is what ought to have been expected, if Jesus Christ is the answer of heaven to the cry of earth. This admitted fact is an argument for the Christian truth. A solid foundation is thus furnished for the belief that the idea so universal has been realized in a fact \ the actual union of God and man in one person. The heathen religions have the idea ; the Christian religion alone has the reality. Every one who has a conscience has the ideal of a perfect man. He wants a model, and he creates one, but he wants more than this, — even the reality. That is given him in Jesus Christ, and nowhere else. THE INCARNATE WORD. It is to be remembered in this connection that within the historical period these heathen incar- nations, so-called, have tended to greater defi- niteness. The less clear and certain have been succeeded by the more positive and definite. Then, if we go back to the earliest records, into the pre- historic period, we seem to find clearer ideas on this matter than in history's morning. In other words, men worked from light into darkness, and then from the darkness toward the light again, in their thinking on this matter. But at the best these are only ' ' disfigured incarnations. " Still they rep- resent a trend of thought, a cry of the soul, that, if human nature be not a lie, must find its answer somewhere. The conclusion is certainly warranted from all this that there must be some grand neces- sity in human nature demanding such a mani- festation, or it would not have been universally craved. It is difficult to understand how any one after comparing these alleged incarnations with the Bib- lical, Christian conception, can honestly assert that the latter has grown out of the former. This, as is well known, is often the dogmatic assertion of certain would-be theologians in these days. But such a theory utterly fails to account for what is distinctive in the Christian idea, for that which separates it by an immeasurable distance from any other supposed incarnation. Thus the Christian PACIFIC COAST PULPIT. idea itself may be brought forward as a further element in the proof of the fact. Whence this idea, so holy, so entirely separated from everything that is coarse, low, degrading, unworthy of God or man, which mars the world's thinking elsewhere on this subject, if the incarnation of Jesus Christ as a fact is not the foundation of the idea, if the fact does not answer to the idea as the original to its shadow ? Moreover Christianity teaches an incar- nation in order to a redemption, and thus is abso- lutely separated from other religious systems and from philosophical teachings on this matter. It follows from this universal want and this Christian answer to it, that the man who attempts to change the thinking that has ruled the world for many centuries, must have something like in kind to offer, or there is little hope of his success. Kant says somewhere : " Facts without ideas are blind, and ideas without facts are empty." The world has written in the past, and is writing to-day, its condemnation — because it has found them empty — upon many a scheme without facts offered it in place of that Manger and that Cross. And the attempt to resolve the incarnation of Jesus Christ into the idea of God in humanity, God in nature, God in everything, is putting emptiness in place of the Divine fullness. A personal God-man, mani- fested in historic time, alone answers the universal cry. The heart of man demands it. The only THE INCARNATE WORD. way to be rid of it is to educate him out of it, and in this process you have crushed out some of his noblest and holiest aspirations, dwarfed and crip- pled his soul. Still further confirmation of the necessity for a mediator is given by those who reject, sometimes with contempt, the Christian idea and fact. "Hu- man struggle, " says Weiss, ' ' has ever been a struggle toward an incarnation ; " and in saying this he considers he has set aside any necessity for the Incarnation. But that struggle is hopeless, and has no promise of success, if it was not ended when the angel chorus announced the birth of Christ our Lord. ' ' The Infinite Mother, " says Theodore Parker, ' ' spreads wide her arms to fold us to that universal breast, and is ready to inspire your soul. " — Sermons of Religion, p. 392. Here we have a God-woman ! Figurative language has gone mad, but the heart has simply cried out for what the head had denied it. Will not God help in this struggle ? Will He not answer this cry ? Will He not meet this universal want ? Is it not a fitting place for God to inter- vene ? If not, then our holiest aspirations only mock us, the heart of man has cruelly deceived him, and in place of a fact there is only emptiness. ' ' I need a God," a pagan of old is reported as saying, "who can speak to me and lead me." Has He come ? or look we for another ? PACIFIC COAST PULPIT. II. We are thus led, in the second place, to consider whether Jesus Christ meets this demand. Do the facts concerning Him satisfy the necessities of the case ? The opinions with reference to Jesus Christ may be classed for our purpose now under three general divisions : First, that He was a mere man, not altogether faultless, who fell upon fortunate times, and into line with providential developments. But if only a man, why not other men like him in the ages since, who are farther along in the line of de- velopment, and are placed in more favorable circum- stances than He ? As well account for the ' ' Great Eastern " by saying that a school-boy whittled it with his jack-knife, or affirm that the Canyon of the Colorado was furrowed with a plow. The theory must account for the facts, and no mere man could ever have plowed the ages as He has done. Secondly, that He was a being more than human, but less than God. Then He is still at an infinite distance from God, but at a measurable distance from the worm. This theory does not meet the great want, and leaves a vacuum in history. Thirdly, that he was both the man of Nazareth and the only begotten and eternal Son of God. This is indeed a startling statement ! But such as this He claims to be ; and they who have opened their THE IXCARNATE WORD. hearts to receive Him ratify the claim. Account for it as you may, there is something about that Babe in Bethlehem's manger, that has caused more hearts to rejoice in His advent, than in all other birthdays, hoary with the centuries or fresh in re- membrance. But the only reason for it that ac- counts for the facts is that men have believed and still believe that there God and man met in one, in Jesus Christ, the Saviour of men. There is a mystery here, great and deep. We have climbed a lofty mountain peak in the moral and religious world when we stand on the mount of the Incarnation ; but as is the case even from Shasta's lofty dome, a horizon of darkness and ignorance bounds our vision. We need not deny nor attempt to cover up this fact. If it were not so, the God of grace would be a different Being from the God of nature. But it is a mystery which rests on facts that cannot be set aside. We are dealing with ' ' a problem, a mystery, a sym- metrical and exquisite conception, which certainly exists," though man may vehemently declare that he knows not how it can be, nor whence it is. ' ' Treat this claim, " says some one, "asa similar claim of other men has been treated." The trouble is, the facts will not let us. We are not dealing with a man like other men, nor with a claim like other claims. They are separate and distinct. We have here the unique Man of all the ages, and a 1 PA C1FIC CO A S T PULPIT. unique claim in its absolute holiness and redemp- tive purpose. The question, then, is not whether there is here a mystery, but whether the mystery is in harmony with all the rest and consistent with itself ; for all the facts demand a supernatural and mysterious person. Are there marks in all this history of a twofold nature ? Does this life begin and end in a mystery ? Is the preparation for it, and the out- come of it, consistent with the mystery of the per- son ? No long search is required to answer these questions. In the preparation for His coming He stands alone. No such anticipations of the corning of any other have ever been seen. Not only when the time came was one found to fill the place, as in the course of history elsewhere, but for long centuries a nation had been trained to wait for His law. They were anxiously peering into the future, ex- pecting . some one greater than Moses ; David's ' ' Lord, " Isaiah's ' ' King " and ' ' Man of Sorrows, " Daniel's "Son of Man," and Malachi's "Messen- ger of the Covenant." Here is the fact, and the theory must recognize it. Ancient history con- verged to that Manger and that Cross. Away off upon the horizon some few true souls saw the faintest promise of the coming day, and were glad. The centuries rolled by, and brighter grew the sky, till when the Sun of Righteousness arose upon the THE INCARNATE WORD. 11 world, all eyes were fastened on Him as the hope of all, and the angels joined with men in heralding His advent. Throughout this preparation we catch glimpses, we find intimations, of the Incarnation. There are mysterious appearances only understood in the light of the New Testament. Fitting pre- ludes they are to the mysteries that center in the Cradle and the Cross. Mysteries still, though we have beheld His glory. To Abraham, to Jacob, to Moses, and to other olden worthies, they were granted. And even in the dim twilight in which they saw Him, they knew Him as the " Angel of the Lord." To them He was a "King," "the Mighty God," "Father of Eternity," "the Prince of Peace," "the sure Foundation," and "the Right- eous Branch." But He was also a "Child," a 1 ' Man of Sorrows, " a " Root out of dry ground, " the "Seed of the woman," a "Son of David," and "the Despised and Rejected of men." What means this preparation for His coming ? this dual character of the promised One ? the pre- figurations of God manifest in the flesh ? Is not the mystery which follows fittingly preceded by the mystery of the preparation ? Must not the right answer to the question, Who is He ? be based on these facts, even though they be mysterious ? When the long course of preparation was ended, and the fullness of the time had come, the dual mystery still continues. The introduction 12 PA CIFIC CO A S T PULPIT. to His humanity takes place in a stable ; that to His divinity amid scenes that are strange and supernatural, not like the ordinary and the human. We have the Annunciation and the tri- umphing faith of the mother of our Lord ; the angel chorus and the star ; the song of Simeon, and Anna's response ; the temple scene when twelve years of age ; the speaking with authority and the mighty works ; the Garden and the Cross ; the resurrection and the ascension ; and his reg- nant power among men ever since ; — all this of Him who was hungry and thirsty, who was weary and troubled, who wept and died. What is the meaning of it all ? We have as much reason for doubting our own identity, as these facts. Does not the mystery continue ? and is it not consistent ? Does it not strengthen the argument, and furnish additional proof of the Incarnation ? Then consider for a moment Christ's wholly unique position in history. It has been won against every adverse circumstance, — birth, na- tion, education, social position, poverty, failure to commit a word to writing, and shameful death at the hands of His own countrymen. While at the same time, the men who loved Him with a love stronger than they loved life, and who wrote His life, were so reticent that they have scarcely left us a hint that enables us to reproduce His personal appearance. Almost everything of detail consid- • THE INCARNATE WORD. 13 ered essential to biography is omitted. Jesus him- self only wrote upon the sand. Rightly, it would seem, might His contemporaries have said that this represented His influence, which the first breath of heaven, or wave of earth would destroy. Yet ' ' His influence is the marvel of history. " How can these things be ? Why is it that the only nations that are free to-day, are those which to some extent have been baptized with His influence ? Why is it that civilization has marched with Jesus Christ through the centuries and among the na- tions ? No reasonable explanation has yet been given, save that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Rest assured that this idea of the In- carnate Word ' ' would scarcely have survived the first shock of solid opposition " it certainly has met, much less have marched "in the van of nineteen centuries with unwearied feet, " as it certainly has done, if the idea did not rest on the solid ground of fact. There is no question but that He was a man. For, — " Like as a man, he trod on earthly soil, He bore each pang, and strove in weary toil ; He spake with human words, with pity sighed ; Like us he mourned, and feared, and wept, and died." None the less surely do the facts here considered tell us that He is something more than man — that we worship in Jesus of Nazareth, God manifest in the flesh. 14 PACIFIC COAST PULPIT. Review briefly the ground gone over. We have found that John plainly declares that the Word was God incarnate, and that this is in harmony with the other teachings of this book. We have recog- nized the fact that there has been a universal want felt for such an Incarnation ; and we have rightly reasoned, we believe, that this want warrants us in believing that God will satisfy it, else our nature is a lie, and God a deceiver. We have found it im- possible to believe that the Scriptural idea was de- veloped out of the other. We have admitted a mystery that is unexplained, but have found this mystery consistent with the facts. A mystery pre- ceded Him, traveled with him in His life on earth, and has followed Him through the ages. All these facts receive their only satisfactory explanation in the statement that He was and is God. Renan has truly said : "A great life is an organic whole which cannot be constructed by the simple ag- glomeration of minute facts." We accept his state- ment, and affirm that here in the Gospels ' ' a great life" is presented, which is "an organic whole," and which could not have been constructed if it was not a real life. And because it is a reality, God in human form has spoken to men. The lessons that almost force themselves upon us are many, and must here be briefly stated : — i. By becoming man, He has made known God. "No man hath seen God at any time; the only THE INCARNATE WORD. 15 begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." For the chief part of its knowledge of God the world is indebted, not to nature, not to science, not to reason, but to Jesus Christ. 2. He who became man so continues to be, — "the man Christ Jesus." Let us not lose hold of this great truth with all that it involves. The world needed the God-man in the first century, and it needs Him in the nineteenth as well. And, blessed be God, at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, He still continues to be man. We have here the truth made plain, that the body is an integral part of our humanity ; and the assur- ance given that He will ' ' fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory. " "To the Christian alone it is given to see the Man Christ Jesus, radiant in resur- rection life, filling with His brightness the eternal future ; and with Him, His redeemed perfected in their humanity, body, soul, and spirit." — Andrew's Revelation of God to Man, p. 377. 3. By becoming man, He has become our brother. 1 ' And the warmth of His heart is more to us than the gems that sparkle in his crown. " 4. By becoming man, He has become our Re- deemer. The Incarnation gives us a " sense of prodigious depths in human ruin," but it also en- ables us to look upon "altitudes in human blessed- 16 PACIFIC COAST PULPIT. ness." Made " in the likeness of sinful flesh," by his death He has " condemned sin in the flesh," and brought to us deliverance from its guilt and power. The greatness of the gift is in harmony with the greatness of the need. Sin has done its awful work, slavery and death are its fruits. But here is One who has conquered death, who has power to break the chains of sin and to let the op- pressed go free. With peace and joy was his birth proclaimed ; and after centuries of trial He still of- fers peace and joy to every heart that admits Him. Open thy heart now, and let Christ be born in thee, 1 ' the hope of glory. " 5. By becoming man, He has become our merci- ful and faithful High Priest. And having suffered Himself, being tempted, "He is able to succor them that are tempted." 6. The Incarnation gives us, also, the assurance that the work of the Redeemer shall be completed. We do not follow a defeated Leader, nor a forlorn hope. Light is here thrown upon the divine pur- poses, and even death itself is transformed into the vestibule of completed redemption. 7. This same Jesus, taken from us into heaven, shall so come again in like manner. For He " shall appear a second time, apart from sin, to them that wait for him, unto salvation." Heb, 9:28. "Amen: Come, Lord Jesus." THE INCARNATE WORD. 17 Till then, let us give Him our heart's best offer- ing ; let us consecrate to Him our all ; let us obey His voice ; and let us never weary of proclaiming Him as the only Saviour, the Life and Light of men, the Word become flesh. "Joy to the world, the Lord is come. Let earth receive her King ; Let every heart prepare him room, And heaven and nature sing." SOME NEW THING. BY REV. ARTHUR J. BROWN, D. D. , Pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Portland, Oregon. For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their ti?ne in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing. Acts 17: 21. Athens ! the very name conjures up a host of pleasing memories, — memories of battle-field and studio, of bema and academy. It was a wonder- ful city, a city of spacious forums and graceful por- ticoes ; of shapely statues and magnificent palaces ; of temple-crowned hills looking up to a radiant sky, and away to a blue and sparkling sea. To that city we trace much of our intellectual inspiration. It has been happily characterized as one of those cities whose contributions to the world have been greater than those of empires. All Russia means less to us than that single town, whose population was never great as compared with modern cities ; for there the human mind attained its highest culture. There appeared a long line of poets and philosophers, sculptors and architects, orators and statesmen, whose fame has survived the changes of [18] REV. ARTHUR BROWN, D. D. SOME NEW THING. 19 more than twenty centuries, and which will survive the changes of twenty centuries to come. There beauty and valor, eloquence and song, patriotism and refinement, all physical graces and intellectual accomplishments, made their home. And to-day, we, though of a far-distant age and land, find a reverence for the achievements of Athens, com- patible with nineteenth century enlightenment, and deem a knowledge of her language and litera- ture indispensable to a liberal education. But the city which Paul saw was not the glori- ous Athens of old. There was, indeed, no visible change. Outwardly, Athens was as magnificent as ever. Her public and private edifices were still numerous and costly. Innumerable statues still adorned her streets and temples. But there was an intellectual and moral decay. The vigor of the citizens had departed ; the spirit of independence had vanished. Athens was no longer producing great men or doing memorable deeds ; she was simply ' ' trading " on the memory of the past glories. A Miltiades no longer led her citizens forth to war ; a Pericles no longer guided her councils ; a Socra- tes no longer disputed in her forums. Her streets were filled with shallow rhetoricians, who boasted of a greatness which they were not enhancing. It was a city of gossipers — of babblers — of men in- tellectually enfeebled and morally debased. Still " Greece, but living Greece no more." 20 PACIFIC COAST PULPIT. As Paul walked the streets of this city, ' ' his spirit was stirred in him." He saw the idolatry of the people, but he also saw another evidence of degeneracy which impressed him almost as deeply as the idolatry, and which was even more truly characteristic. It secured him a hearing, but it deprived the hearing of value. He describes it in the text : ' ' All the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing." A manifest physical, intellectual, and moral weakness was strangely blended with an intense eagerness for novelty. We ordinarily associate a desire for new things with progress, but here that desire is associated with that which is the reverse of prog- ress. This warrants the statement that a desire for something new is not necessarily indicative of prog- ress. Indeed, it may be indicative of regress. It may not be an earnest desire for something better, but a mere restless, uneasy craving for change. To seek the new simply because it is the new, and apart from any consideration of its intrinsic worth, is to go backward rather than forward. I would not disparage legitimate desire for prog- ress. Only a bigot will assert that "that which is new is not true, and that which is true is not new." Some new things are true, and some old things are false. As a rule, too, the collective SOME NEW THING. 21 wisdom of an age has been greater than that of the age which preceded it. I am persuaded that the world is growing better and wiser. I should be sorry if it were not. God reigns. * • There is yet more light to break out of His most holy Word," more truth to be discovered in the realms of nature and of mind. Our own age has made invaluable contributions to the stock of the world's knowledge, and succeeding ages will doubtless make other contributions equally valu- able. Let reverent investigation go on. Let it be accorded the widest liberty. To hinder it were intellectual and moral treason. But the contention now is, that progress and restlessness are not synonymous terms. It is not the seeking of ' ' some new thing " which is wrong, but the " doing nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing." Indeed, so far from being good, it is evil. It indicates a fevered con- dition of the system — an unhealthy and morbid state. It begets instability of character and pur- pose. It leads to superficial ideas and modes of thinking. It withdraws attention from the tried and settled, and directs it to the flotsam and jetsam of daily happenings, the real importance of which is hardly ever discerned till time has set them in their true perspective. I do not mean, of course, that a knowledge of daily happenings is of no value ; but it is not all that is of value. Much 22 PACIFIC COAST PULPIT. occurred before our time which is of inestimable importance. Men need to-day, not less of the new, but more of the old, a wiser perception of its relative worth. More seriously, this craving for something new often dupes men. As a matter of fact, most new things are comparatively worthless — not all, but most. Thousands of new books are being pub- lished every year, but whoever takes the time and patience to examine them, will find that the really valuable books are like Gratiano's two grains of wheat in two bushels of chaff. Originality is rare. What we commonly call originality is usually ec- centricity, and eccentricity nearly always means a screw loose in the intellectual or moral machinery. If an alleged new thing proves to be really good, the presumption is that it is not as new as it was supposed to be. But it not infrequently happens that the so- called new idea is an old error. We hear much in these days about materialism as the most formid- able of modern foes to Christianity. But ■ ' the materialists of our day have not advanced a step upon the system of Epicurus," who lived three hundred years before Christ. Many deny the doc- trine of the Trinity, who are apparently ignorant that such a man as Arius ever existed, and that every phase of the Trinitarian conflict was fought out in the fourth century by masters in apologetics. SOME NEW THING. 23 We are told almost daily that modern thought has shown a belief in miracles to be unreasonable, and yet there is hardly a modern objection to miracles which was not anticipated by Celsus, who lived in the second century. Multitudes have adopted the theories of Strauss regarding the person of Christ, who evidently do not know that the theory of Strauss has been repudiated in the land of his birth, and that ' ' there is not enough left of the mythical theory of Strauss to make a fig-leaf to cover the shame of modern skepticism." The ma- jority of these people who so ostentatiously pa- rade themselves as " advanced thinkers," are really retrogressive thinkers. So far from being origi- nators of anything new and good, they are as a rule, simply body-snatchers, prowling in the world's theological grave-yard, resurrecting moldering skeletons, dressing them up showily, and complacently displaying them to the world as the "latest teachings of modern science." Ever and anon some troubled soul sends me a newspa- per clipping containing an attack upon evangelical Christianity, and implores me to write an article in reply. But I usually find the article to be a rehash of arguments which have not only been refuted a hundred times, but which are no longer used even by intelligent skeptics. It is strange that some news- papers, which are conspicuously able in their dis- cussion of secular topics, should sometimes allow 24 PACIFIC COAST PULPIT. their ' ' religious " editors to convert their columns into a veritable museum of malodorous antiquities. Instead of being tempted to write an article in reply, I am more often tempted to make the re- quest which Mark Twain is said to have made of the Egyptian guide who was waxing eloquent over a collection of mummies: "If you have any nice, fresh corpses, now, trot them out ; but do n't try to palm off any more of these moldy mummies on us." Conversely, the presumption is that the old and established ideas are true. Not always, I grant. I would not fall into the opposite error. I would not question the reality or the value of the many great achievements of the present age. But it is a fair presumption that the old is the true. This was so of Athens in the -time of Paul. The past was glorious, but the Athenians of Paul's day, with all their passion for hearing or telling some new thing, added nothing to the stock of the world's knowledge. For all that we owe to Athens, we go centuries back of those babblers. It is a recognized principle in our civil govern- ment that the opinion of the multitude is more apt to be correct than the opinion of the individual. Our thought is but the development of this princi- ple. The accumulated wisdom of ages is more likely to be of value than the wisdom of a single generation. Dryden and Milton were contempora- ries. The age in which they lived thought Dryden SOME NEW THING. 25 the greater poet, but posterity has reversed that judgment. The world now places Milton in the front rank of poets, and Dryden in the third rank. So, too, the contemporaries of John Bunyan re- garded him and his work with contempt, and even Cowper in his exquisitely appreciative tribute said : — " I name thee not, lest so despised a name Should move a sneer at thy deserved fame." But to-day the "Pilgrim's Progress" is considered one of the world's best books, and the most fas- tidious critics vie with each other in their tributes of praise. When any idea, or book, or institution has withstood the storms of ages and approved itself to the judgment of successive generations, the probabilities are that it is based on eternal truth. This is well illustrated by the history of the Church. How enduring her power has been ! Centuries have come and gone, empires have risen and crum- bled, but the Church of God has remained. Revo- lutions which have brought ruin to everything else have only hastened her onward progress. " O, where are kings and empires now, Of old that went and came ? But, Lord, thy church is praying yet, A thousand years the same. "Unshaken as eternal hills, Immovable she stands, A mountain that shall fill the earth — A house not made by hands." 26 * PACIFIC COAST PULPIT. All history teaches us that progress is as likely to consist in getting back to old standards as in creat- ing new ones. These things need to be remembered in this age, particularly in America. A craving for the new is fast becoming a national character- istic. We have a comparatively new country ; we are giving the world some new ideas and inventions of real value, and, intoxicated by our success, we are in danger of being led into the restless spirit of the Athenians of Paul's time, who "spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing. " European observers like Bryce notice this spirit and comment upon it. There is real ground for the apprehension that we may be- come a volatile people, lacking in stability and weight of character. We see this in literature, in the demand for new books, and in the neglect of old ones of tried value. ' ' Robert Elsmere " is a case in point. The book is simply a dressing-up in popular, narrative style, of the stalest and shallowest rationalistic objections to Christianity. Great was the commotion which it excited ; dire were the prophecies of the ruin which it would accomplish in the church ! But lo ! that wonderful book, which was so vociferously praised, and which was to empty all our churches, is now a drug in the market ; and some time ago I saw a great stack of copies surmounted by a placard bearing the inscription : " ' Robert Elsmere ' and a SOME NEW THING. 27 Cake of Soap for 25 cents ; " and the salesman told me that he could not get rid of the book even at that price. Go into any public library, and you will find that the new and silly modern society novels are soiled and worn by frequent reading, while the world's really valuable books stand upon the shelves unsoiled, save by the dust which has had ample time to accumulate upon them since they were last called for. We see it in science, in the haste with which new theories are accepted and promulgated as facts. Indeed, no matter how wild a theory is, there are always multitudes who are ready to seize it, and loudly to proclaim that all existing institu- tions must be reorganized in harmony with it. Some one asked me the other day, ' ' Why is it that the majority of scientific men are not Christians ? " The question is based upon a false assumption. The majority of scientific men are Christians. Our scientific men are, as a rule, the professors of science in our colleges and universities, and nine tenths of them are, and by the charters of their institutions must be, Christians. The greatest scientists the world has known have been disciples of Christ. Witness Copernicus, Kepler, Newton, Bayle, Cuvier, Faraday, Herschell, Brewster, Max- well, and many others. At a recent convention of scientific men, the proceedings were opened with prayer, and a daily prayer-meeting was maintained 28 PACIFIC COAST PULPIT. by the delegates, a large majority of whom were Christians. The greatest and best men of our own as of past ages have been Christian men. Every member of the present Supreme Court of the United States is a Christian. Gladstone declares — and his testimony outweighs that of a host of others — that "neither the highest poetry nor the highest philosophy can now exist in separation from that new conception of the relations between God and man which Christianity has supplied." And he adds, that of the sixty master minds with whom he has come in contact during his long public life, and who have moulded the affairs of the modern world, all but five were Christians. We are sometimes told that there is a conflict between science and religion. It is a mistake. There is no conflict between science and religion. Indeed, Christianity has been the mother of all the science there is, has founded and maintained the institutions in which the science is taught, and has furnished, and is to-day furnishing, the men who pre- side over those institutions. Those who believe that the majority of scientific men are not Christians, have been deceived by the vociferous clamor of a comparatively small number of scientific men, who make up for the paucity of their numbers by the pro- digiousness of their noise, and who resemble nothing else so much as the "three Tooley Street tailors," who issued a proclamation commencing, ' ' We, the SOME NEW THING. 29 people of England." The most eminent among them is Professor Huxley. A minister's opinion of him might not be considered valuable, but listen to the opinion of the Duke of Argyle, one of the foremost thinkers of the modern world. Speak- ing of Professor Huxley, he says : ' ' Loud and con- fident in matters in which both he and we are profoundly ignorant, we see him hardly less bois- terous in asserting ignorance where the materials of knowledge lie abundant to our hands. We have seen his canons of criticism — how rude and undis- cerning ; his claim for the physical science — how inflated ; his own dealings with one of them — how shallow and how dogmatic." Talk about the big- otry of theology ! The bigotry of some of these agnostic infidels would make Torquemada turn green with envy if he could witness it. ' ' What is an agnostic ? " Burdette represents a small boy as asking, who was reading something by Huxley. "An agnostic," replied Uncle George, "is a man who loudly declares that he knows nothing, and gets mad and abuses you if you believe him. He says he does n't know anything, but he really be- lieves he knows everything. " We see this same craving for new things in every- day life, in the restless moving of people from place to place, in the frequency of business changes, in the small talk of society, in the rage for specu- lation. It seems to be the great object in life of 30 PACIFIC COAST PULPIT. many people to devise something novel, " some- thing we've never had before," — the utility of the thing devised being usually a secondary considera- tion. And we see it especially in religion. Many peo- ple do not like the old ideas of sin and atonement, of regeneration and sovereignty. They want some- thing new, and the minister who gratifies them is sure to have a large, though unsubstantial following. Multitudes are hurried hither and thither by their craving for change. It may be said of them in a sense which the inspired writer did not contem- plate, that ''here they have no continuing city." Their religious convictions are those of the last book they have read or the last person they have talked with. They have no settled ideas of truth. They are " spending their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing." Some people lament the credulity of faith, but they might more profitably lament the credulity of skepti- cism. Men who will not believe the plainest and most clearly established facts of Christianity, almost fall over each other in their eagerness to accept anti-Christian theories which involve ten times more serious difficulties than the doctrines of Christian- ity. They stand like eaglets, opening their mouths at every passing shadow or slight noise, and ready to swallow with avidity whatever may be thrown SOME NEW THING. 31 into them. Men and brethren, there is danger in this tendency. Athens was never so degenerate, never so effeminate, never so despicable, as when her citizens "spent their time in doing nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing. " Suffer me in conclusion to make two additional remarks : First, a disposition to undervalue estab- lished ideas or institutions is a sign of a weak mind. A misconception is prevalent at this point. There are some, particularly among the young, who say that they will not accept anything which they have not personally investigated and found to be true ; and they pride themselves upon that position, and deem it an evidence of intellectual strength and in- dependence. As a matter of fact, it is simply an evidence of intellectual conceit and moral debility. Belief is normal to sense and health ; unbelief is abnormal to both. He is not a wise man who as- sumes that all who " have lived before him were either ignorant or foolish, and that wisdom ap- peared in the world at the moment he was ushered into it. It is sheer folly to put an interrogation point after all the truths in the horizon till you have examined them for yourselves. Has the world learned nothing in all these thousands of years ? Has it proved nothing to be true ? Does the en- dorsement of ages create no favorable presump- tion ? Of course, investigate for yourselves as soon 32 PACIFIC COAST PULPIT. as possible and as profoundly as possible. Chris- tianity does not demand blind faith. It is not afraid of examination. It has stood the questionings of nineteen hundred years, and it can probably stand yours. But pending such investigation, you will do well to assume the truthfulness of that which the world has long held to be true. A sen- sible man will no more refuse to become a Christian because he has not had time to investigate for him- self the history and claims of Christianity, than he will refuse to become a citizen of the country in which he was born and reared, until he has satisfied himself by years of study that the institutions of that country are better than the institutions of other countries. He who declines to avail himself of an electric car, because he has not yet learned what electricity is, is not a wise man, but a fool. Secondly, in this restless age, we need a progress- ive conservatism, a willingness to accept the new when it is true, but a holding fast to the old which has demonstrated its right to be. Why, the sub- lime truths of the world are old ! The sovereignty and fatherhood of God, the inspiration of the Bible, the Holy Spirit's work and power, — these and kindred truths are not new. This Gospel which we preach, and in which lies the hope of the race, is not a new Gospel. It has been in the world nearly two thousand years. It has been preached amid SOME NEW THING. 33 the snows of Greenland and in the jungles of Africa ; on the steppes of Asia and in the valleys of South America. It has rescued millions from selfishness and sin, from temporal and eternal ruin. It has assuaged earth's sorrows. It has given scope and dignity to human life. It has filled dying hours with joy and peace. It has been, and it is, the mightiest of agencies for the saving and uplifting of a lost and dying race. And we love it because it is old, because time has not been able to weaken it or exposure to tarnish it, — because all the attacks of earth and hell have not been able to overthrow it. It stands before us after the lapse of all these tu- multuous centuries, still fadeless in beauty, majes- tic in strength, and imperishable in vitality. That Gospel I declare unto you. I have no other. I want no other. I declare it boldly, be- cause it has been tested by time and found to be true. I proclaim it to you as the solution, and the only solution, of the problems of society and gov- ernment ; as the adequate instrument for the re- generation of the world ; as the sure salvation of all those who put their trust in it. Yes, it is the old Gospel, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that the world needs. It is a story of pathos unspeakable, of love most wondrous, — a story fraught with sweetest music to my ears. In the hours of my soul's need, tell me not of some new thing, but — 3 34 PACIFIC COAST PULPIT. "Tell me the old, old story Of unseen things above, Of Jesus and his glory, Of Jesus and his love. Tell me the story simply, As to a little child ; For I am weak and weary And helpless and defiled. " Tell me the story slowly, That I may take it in — That wonderful redemption, God's remedy for sin ! Tell me the story often, For I forget so soon ! The ' early dew ' of morning Has passed away at noon ! " Tell me the story softly, With earnest tones, and grave ; Remember ! I'm the sinner Whom Jesus came to save. Tell me that story always If you would really be In any time of trouble — A comforter to me. "Tell me the same old story, When you have cause to fear That this world's empty glory Is costing me too dear. Yes, and when that world's glory Is dawning on my soul, Tell me the old, old story : « Christ Jesus makes thee whole. : REV. E. S. CHAPMAN, J). />. TOO BUSY. BY REV. E. S. CHAPMAN, D. D. Delivered at the First Presbyterian Church, East Oakland, California. And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. i Kings 20: 40. It is not because we are too stupid, or too lazy, but because we are too busy, that we neglect life's most important duties. We are busy people, and we live in a busy age. Our almost measureless achievements do not keep pace with our desires and aspirations. Our fathers could ride content- edly in ox-carts, but we fret at the delays of the lightning express. We are doing many things all at once, and trying to do many more. ' ' Careful and troubled about many things, " we leave undone the things of greatest importance. The unsaved man is too busy with the things of this life to give attention to the things of the life to come ; too busy in caring for his body to secure the salvation of his immortal soul ; too busy with stocks and bonds and earthly goods to lay up for himself treasures in Heaven. He is not an idler. [35] 36 PA CIF1C CO A S T PULPIT. Far from it. He is a most arduous toiler in life's tedious activities. He toils till he is weary, and toils when he should be at rest. Head and hand and heart are heavily taxed, and each responds to the call with hearty cheerfulness, and shrinks not from hardship or discouragement. He is also an effective toiler. " Each morning sees some task begun, Each evening sees its close." He watches the seasons, the markets, and the indications of future demands and supplies. He sows at the best time, and reaps a plentiful har- vest. He buys and sells wisely and receives large profits. He guards against calamity by prudent forethought, and mends every breach before serious evils are possible. In the brightness and beauty of the summer, he provides for the dreary and deso- late winter ; and while securely sheltered from the winter's storm, he prepares for the activities of milder days. It is his purpose to attend faithfully to all matters requiring his attention ; he does not intend to neglect any. He does not mean to neglect his eternal interest ; he has many times promised himself and others to speedily return to God, and secure eternal life — but he is so very busy ! he has so much to do that the ' ' one thing needful " is utterly neglected. And thus the years come and go, and he remains unsaved ! TOO BUSY. 37 Such men are before me at this moment, and as they hear these words, they confess their applica- tion to themselves. They do not mean to be lost, but they are too busy to be saved, — too busy keep- ing above the waters to get into the life-boat and be borne safely beyond the destroying waves ; too busy watching the forked flames and curling smoke, to escape from the consuming fires ; too busy to be saved ! Only think of it ! Too busy to love and obey God ; too busy to love and trust the Lord Jesus Christ ! The unsaved woman is too much occupied with the cares of her home and family to make her peace with God and prepare for Heaven. With cooking and cleaning and mending, with nursing and teaching and governing, with calling and re- ceiving and entertaining, with parties and balls and theaters — with all these and a thousand other kindred engagements and duties — how can she find time to be saved? If she only had a little leisure — only a little release from these ceaseless calls of duty — she might give attention to the interests of her soul. But she is too busy ! Yes, a wife, a mother, a rational, intelligent woman is too busy to give attention to religion. She means to do it, but so many things crowd upon her atten- tion and tax her energies, that days and weeks pass by, and weeks and months multiply into years, and Christ and Heaven are neglected. Her heart is 38 PACIFIC COAST PULPIT. like the inn at Bethlehem, where there was ' ' no room " for the infant Saviour. She would receive him, but there is "no room." She does not intend to reject him, but she * ' really cannot give attention to such matters." She is too busy! too busy to yield her affections to One who is ' ' the fairest among ten thousand," and " altogether lovely." Christian parents are many times too busy to attend to the religious instruction and training of their children. There was a time in human history when the head of the family was its priest, and religious instruction and religious services held the first place in every godly household. Nothing was permitted to crowd out family instruction and cult- ure in the truth and service of God. It is no wonder that from such families there should arise characters like Moses, and Samuel, and John the Baptist, and Timothy. But in many homes of to-day the family altar is unknown, and careful, systematic instruction in divine truth is utterly neglected. Many children of professed Christian parents never heard the voice of either father or mother in prayer ! Can this be true ? Yes, O yes, sadly, deplorably true ! Many who are now children in our Christian families will never be per- mitted in after years to rejoice in the strength which comes from early religious culture, nor call to remembrance the hallowed associations and in- fluences of the family altar. They are being delib- TOO BUSY. 39 erately and cruelly robbed of their priceless heritage by those who are responsible for their existence in the world, and who have taken upon themselves the vows of Christian parentage. No words can describe the losses they are thus sustaining. The sweet remembrances of home, with all its divine atmosphere, and its blissful ex- periences, are of more value to us in the struggles of life than all the mines of wealth and tomes of ancient lore. With such remembrances the child of parental faithfulness passes safely over raging seas, and through dark and stormy nights, and anchors at last securely in the harbor of endless rest. Why, then, should any ' professed Christian — knowing the fierceness of life's battle, and the value of relig- ious instruction and culture in the days of childhood — why should any Christian father or mother fail to afford their children this great blessing ? Do they not love their children ? Certainly they do. No one would question that. Have they not en- gaged to rear them ' ' in the nurture and admoni- tion of the Lord " ? They have, in the most solemn and impressive services of God's house. Are not family worship and religious instruction included in the baptismal obligations of Christian parents ? Unquestionably they are, and are so regarded by those who assume the solemn obligations of Chris- tian parentage. Why, then, are there so many Christian homes 40 PACIFIC COAST PULPIT. without a family altar, and so many professed Christian parents who never pray with or instruct their children in Bible truth ? Why is it ? They are too busy ! Fathers are in too great haste to reach the place of business or of labor, to begin the day upon their knees before a Throne of grace, and they are too weary at night, or subject to too many interruptions, to close the day with fitting family devotions. Mothers are so sorely pressed with cares and labors that they do not attend to these important matters ; and besides, the children are so busy with their studies, or with the claims of society, or with some plans of pleasure, that wor- ship and religious culture are crowded out ! Too busy for family worship ! Too busy to instruct their own offspring in the way of life and salvation ! Only once — and for so short a time — is the child in the parents' hands ' ' as clay in the hands of the potter," and then those parents are too busy with other and minor matters, to mould and shape their characters for Heaven and eternal joy ! I do not say with whom, of those who hear me, this is the case ; God knows, and so do you. Many Sunday-school teachers are too busy to make the necessary preparation for their great work. It is not because they have been idle dur- ing the days and nights of the week that they are so poorly prepared to instruct those under their care in the Sunday-school. They have not been TOO BUSY. 41 idle ; they have been busy ; busy with a thousand cares and duties which have occupied their time and crowded out interest in the Sunday-school lesson. Hence they appear before their classes un- prepared to instruct them in the word of eternal truth, and lead them to Jesus, or build them up in Him. They are sadly conscious of their weakness, and, in a measure, realize their own fault in the matter. It was not their purpose to neglect such a sacred trust, but other things have received their attention and this has been crowded out. There are others who devote so much attention to the letter of the word, that its spirit is almost wholly neglected. Facts and names and dates and texts are memorized and drilled upon, and the heart of the scholar remains untouched, and the soul un- saved. Plans to secure regularity and punctuality of attendance and commendable deportment in school, tax heart and brain to the exclusion of pra) T er and effort to win the heart to the Saviour, and build up a noble Christian character. Too busy with the means to give attention to the end. Many Christian workers are so busy with the work of sociables, entertainments, and lectures that they forget that all this is only to win souls to Christ, and to build up His kingdom in the hearts of men. Far be it from me to speak any word or cherish any thought in disparagement of these, or 42 PACIFIC COAST PULPIT. of their arduous labor of love. Let my right hand forget her cunning, before I forget or fail to appre- ciate the wearisome services of those who are engaged in these activities of the church. But I must be faithful to warn as well as to commend and encourage ; and there is very great danger of utterly losing sight of, and interest in, the real end and purpose of our efforts, in our most enthusiastic use of the means to that end. We may lose all true spirituality while we are wearing ourselves out in church services. * We may be so very busy, even with what we call church work, that we neglect our own spiritual culture and growth in grace. We may be work- ing so hard for the church that we forget to read and study the holy Scriptures, and neglect secret prayer. We may be too busy in minor matters to attend to matters of greatest moment. Too busy to secure the rest which will enable us to be early at the house of God, and wakeful during the hour of worship. Too busy to attend the prayer-meet- ing. At the lodge, and the meeting of the build- ing association ; at the political meeting ; at the concert ; but too busy to attend the service of prayer. Not too good, or too bad to be there, but actually too busy. Too busy to visit that sick neighbor, though weeks have passed since he or she was shut up in that dark room of pain and peril. Too busy to call upon those strangers who TOO BUSY. 43 have moved into the house just across the way. They may be church people, and they may not ; you ought to know about this, and know if those precious children attend Sabbath-school or church. You have intended to call, but have been too busy. Too busy to form the acquaintance and gain the confidence of that young man just from the coun- try, though you were told of his coming to the city, and said you would hunt him up. Too busy greet- ing your next-door neighbor, or some other well- known friend who sits near you in church, to speak to those strangers who have ventured into the house of God. You were not indifferent to their presence ; you were all alive with interest, but you were busy. Too busy in thinking of the artistic rendering of that sacred song, to pray and strive that it might reach the heart of some poor, perish- ing sinner ! And, because you are thus occupied and interested, that song which might have been attended by divine power, becomes as a " sounding brass or a clanging cymbal." And this may be true of every feature of church service, and of all classes of church workers. The Christian minister may be too busy to do any effective work for Christ. Too busy in striving to tickle the public ear to think of the sad and sinful one who is perhaps hearing his last sermon. Too busy striving for his own glory, to glorify his Lord and Master. Too busy with social engage- 44 PACIFIC COAST PULPIT. ments to be able to bring beaten oil into the sanct- uary of God. Too busy visiting and nurturing mature members of the church to be able to visit the unsaved and win them to the Saviour. Too busy, perhaps, in seeking to keep the church in harmony, to have time to nourish and shepherd the lambs of the fold, and build them up into vig- orous Christian life. Too busy with those who are saved, to have time or ability to save those who are lost. Too busy in building a new church, and in planning and soliciting, and praying for success, to be able to secure a revival of religion, and the sal- vation of perishing multitudes all around him. O righteous God, can this be so ? Those whom thou hast sent to rescue the perishing, too busy with other matters to be successful in that great work ? 4 ' As thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone ! " Yes, while we are thus busy, the oppor- tunity passes forever away. The blessed Saviour turns away from the heart at which He has so long and so patiently lingered. Lovingly did He plead for admittance ; faithfully did He disclose His bleed- ing wounds and proffer His divine mercy ; but all in vain, for other guests were receiving attention, and the needy soul remained in darkness and sin, too busy to hear and heed the calls of salvation. Until His locks were wet with the dews of the night, He tarried and sought admittance to the heart, but now He is gone, and the offers of salvation are TOO BUSY. 45 closed. Do you wonder that He goes ? Do you not rather wonder that He tarries so long ? Are you not filled with amazement that He has not long since turned forever away from you ? " Behold a stranger at the door, He gently knocks, has knocked before. Has waited long, is waiting still, You treat no other friend so ill. O let the dear Saviour come^in, He '11 cleanse thy heart from sin, O keep Him no more, out at the door, But let the dear Saviour come in." Soon, ah, soon He will be gone ! He surely will not linger to be treated thus. If you are too busy to be saved, when He freely offers you salvation, what will you receive when He is busy with those who desire salvation ? And the tender, inquiring boy who waited for your smiles and yielded to your influence — is gone. While you were too busy to mould and fashion him for Christ, he has gradually slipped out of your grasp, and he will never again be the tender, susceptible boy he once was. That boy is gone ; gone up into riper years, and greater strength of character and will. You were then too busy to teach him the way of life, he is now too busy to be taught. And those boys and girls who now gladden your hearts and brighten your homes, will all soon be gone. They are even now going out into the fierce battle of life ; into the fearful 46 PACIFIC COAST PULPIT. conflict with the powers ■ D. THE FOOLISHNESS OF PREACHING. BY REV. JOHN B. STEWART, D. D., Pasadena, California. For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preach- ing to save them that believe. I Cor. i : 21. In most of the ancient faiths it pleased the gods to destroy. They were vengeful, sullen, and inac- cessible. It remained for Christianity to bring God and man within speaking distance. Fate had usurped the place of faith, and law excluded love. It is the great achievement of the gospel that 1 * they who were afar off are brought nigh. " But even in the sanctified heart a remnant of the old heathenism remains. Hence the first duty implied in the text is — /. To seek a knowledge of God through Christian eyes rather than heathen. In our efforts to know more of God, it is encour- aging to be told that God desires to be known. Most men believe that it is God's nature to conceal and not to reveal. But light, not darkness, is the [229] 230 PACIFIC COAST PULPIT. ''habitation of his throne." Light is the rule, darkness the exception. Satan, not God, is the 1 ' Prince of darkness. " What men regard as the divine reticence is often but another name for our ignorance. It is man that inhabits darkness — God dwells in light. Inaccessible, indeed, but only as the sun is inaccessible, while self-extend- ing and self-imparting. It is not God's nature to retire within Himself. He has no desire to shut out His intelligent creat- ures. He takes no enjoyment in the solitude of His own immensity. "He rejoices in the habit- able parts of the earth, and his delights are with the sons of men." It is only because darkness and negation are eternal necessities that they exist. They come largely of matter being finite and space infinite, at least this is true where no immediately benevolent end is to be conserved. The telescope reveals sixty-four thousand suns within a space no larger than can be covered by a half dollar held up at arm's length. Think of it ! Sixty-four thousand suns, each like our own, the center of a system ! Who will say that God does not take kindly to light and revelation ? He is not a solitary God, He is a social God. He is a fatherly God, and with reverence be it said, a brotherly God. He never did anything more like Himself than when ' ' he became man " — our Brother — and "dwelt among us that we might THE FOOLISHNESS OF PREACHING. 231 behold his glory," and at the same time enjoy His sympathy. The obstacle lies not in the Creator's unwilling- ness to communicate, but in the creature's unwill- ingness or inability to receive the communication. Just so it is with nature. She is always ready to give up her profoundest secrets, and to make them the property of the human race the moment that even one man can be found capable of receiving the revelation. God is not driving men back from the throne, like earthly potentates. He is not walling them out, lest peradventure they become too familiar. It is to-day a thousand times more difficult to ob- tain an audience with the czar of Russia than with the Creator and supreme Ruler of the universe. God can afford to be on terms of intimacy with His subjects. His throne needs no fictitious arti- fices for its support. It is established. Thus we see that the divine mind is on the side of light and revelation, limited mainly by man's capacity and willingness to receive. This being so, the world's actual theology is measured not so much by God, the object, as by man, the subject. What the man is, his theology will be. Its growth will be in the ratio of the man's piety and intelligence. Thus it is in nature. The same facts are in the heavens, — the same planets, and the same stars, — the same revelation ; 232 PACIFIC COAST PULPIT. but all men do not have the same ability to under- stand the revelation ; there is a subjective difficulty in man's stupidity. The same stars that burned in space and fixed the gaze of Galileo now look down upon the poor, ignorant wretches that swarm in the streets of Rome and Naples. But what did the stars say to Galileo or what to Copernicus, and what do they say to the lazzaroni ? Or, what is more to the purpose, what did they say to the wisest of the ancients who were ques- tioning nature in regard to the great mysteries of the " unseen and eternal " ? What said the stars? Did they reveal the comforting fact that in the midst of all this iron-clad penalty which nature is exacting all around us, the heart of God is going out in loving sympathy toward His sinning and suf- fering children ? How God may dispose of the ancient heathen, or the modern, we know not. Let dogmatism answer the question. We only know that it will be by another law than that to which the enlightened men of a Christian congregation stand responsible. For the ancient heathen world — the subject of the Apostle's declaration — nature had no theory of divine government above naked, absolute, un- conditional retribution. Nature was the only re- vealer, and nature knew nothing but law. Law moreover was inexorable. Penalty was supreme. THE FOOLISHNESS OF PREACHING. 233 Thrust your hand into the fire, and you will be burned, and it serves you right. Fire would not be fire if it did not burn. Water would not be water if it did not drown. Interrogated upon the great question of the ages, — "How can a man be just with God" ? — nature had no answer which could bring comfort or strength to the fainting heart. " I hear no pray- ers, " she said, "I grant no pardons," "I take no bribes," "I know no repentance," "I listen to no explanations, and accept no apologies." That is what nature said to Socrates, to Epictetus, to Mar- cus Aurelius, and to all the world that ' ' by wisdom knew not God" — that only — a clear case beyond question. Two thousand years ago — we are reminded. Very true. The world is growing older and wiser, let us hope. And what if nature should now be found to be more communicative ! Reason has been doing wonders. She has been making mar- velous discoveries. Well, the first duty of reason is to be reasonable, and the first duty of a man who appeals to reason is to hear what reason has to say. Appealing to reason, to reason he must go ; and reason admits that there are some things which reason cannot do. This is all that the text affirms. There is no disarrangement of reason. In her proper sphere reason is as legitimate as Faith, and in obtaining a saving knowledge of God both are 234 PA CIFIC CO A S T PULPIT. necessary. The visible declares the invisible. Hence, — II. Between true faith and right reason there can be no conflict. The mistake of reason is in undertaking to per- form the office of faith, and faith makes a similar mistake when she takes the place of reason. The two great heresies are faith without reason, and reason without faith. Neither is Christianity. " Faith is the gift of God," and so is reason. They are children of the same Father, though not neces- sarily co-ordinate. With this fact before us, we have the same right to insist upon a reasonable reason that we have to demand an intelligent faith. We have also the right to insist that the two shall go together. Reason without faith is like skepticism. Faith without reason is fanaticism. And here lies the two-fold danger of the church. Her Scylla and Charybdis are rationalism on the one hand and superstition on the other. Let her keep an eye toward either shore and in mid-stream hold her way onward. While faith is exalted, reason must not be ignored nor ostracized. In His public min- istry, Jesus always honored the fact that right reason is not the enemy of religion. In fact His system is founded more largely than many suppose upon the testimony of the senses in the exercise of right reason. Hence the miracles, hence the THE FOOLISHNESS OF PREACHING. 235 whole range of the ' ' Evidences of Christianity " as we have them to-day. They date back to some- thing that men saw, or heard, or felt, and con- cerning which they reasoned, made inferences, and drew conclusions as we do to-day. It is not a sin to reason, nor yet to accept the testimony of the senses. ''Blessed are they that have seen," though still more blessed are ' ' they that have not seen and yet have believed." Ours is a reasonable religion, and they are not its friends who represent it as avoiding the light which reason has to give. Paul was a simple- hearted Christian. He had the faith of a little child ; it was his polar star. But Paul was also a Christian philosopher. He grappled with the pro- foundest problems that ever honored the human intellect. He wrote the Epistle to the Romans. Jesus never laid an injunction upon thought. He had nothing to say about the lower or the ' ' higher criticism ; " but He did say, ' ' Search the Scriptures ; " and with those to whom He spake, it meant the closest and most critical examination of which honest scholarship was capable. It meant, ' ' Get down the old manuscripts, the Hebrew Bible, the original text ; and if your own Scriptures do not testify of me, then do not believe me/ Reason has its place. Learning has its place. There is no priest-craft in Christianity, no dark- lantern affair, no concealments, no wedge of gold 236 PACIFIC COAST PULPIT. nor goodly Babylonish garment in the tent of Christianity, that she should avoid a search-war- rant. Our religion, if it is the godliest, is also the manliest that ever offered itself for human accept- ance. ''In secret have I done . nothing," said its great Founder ; "I have done all things openly. " It is a questioning religion meeting a questioning age and a questioning humanity. And standing as we do in the presence of Him who says, ' ' Come and let us reason together," we fondly indulge the hope, that the time is not far distant when, in the church at least, the old philosopher's dream will be realized, and men will no longer be either killed or persecuted for asking questions. And yet the present is a time when men do well to find the Fountain of light and authority. We have had reason ; the world had it. Reason had a grand opportunity and a fair trial, but she failed ; still was it true that ' ' the world by wisdom knew not God ? " What next ? III. The church offers herself. — When "the world by wisdom knew not God," it pleased God to give the church, we are told — the visible church being meant — an advance upon heathenism, but one in which loyalty to church takes the place of loyalty to Christ. In the text the church is sug- gested by the omission — conspicuous by its ab- sence. Why, must be puzzling to an ultra-church- man. Why should the church be passed over in THE FOOLISHNESS OF PREACHING. 237 seeking for the great Revealer ? It starts the ques- tion, What is the visible church which men declare a ' ' fountain of authority " ? There is doubtless an invisible church catholic somewhere in the minds and hearts of men ; and if this could be heard from, the vox ecclesiae might perhaps be accepted with a show of reason as the vox dei. But the voices we do hear are from the visible church. Multiform in its constitution and contra- dictory in its utterances ; organized by divine authority in its fundamental concept, an ' ' earthly house of God ; " but too often in ' ' strife and vain glorying " for the gratification of unholy ambitions, and always by good men and bad men from good motives and bad motives. The visible church would seem to be but a poor fountain of authority. Thus we are forced back to God. God is the only fountain ; all else are but media — channels through which God may communicate to give Himself out to the children of men. Reason has her place, the church has her place ; but of the one it is not said that "it pleased God to save" them that know, nor of the other, that it ' ' pleased God to save " them that obey. Instead we have the declaration that ' ' it pleased God to save them that believe," faith including both knowledge and obedience. Thus, for the knowledge of God, and the salvation of the soul, we are called upon to emphasize — 238 PA CIFIC COAST PULPIT. IV. The supremacy of faith coming ordinarily through the written Word. — Ordinarily — for true, saving faith came to Abel and others before there was a written Word. Supreme — that is to say, supreme in Faith's own domain, as Reason is su- preme in Reason's own domain. They are friendly monarchs of two friendly empires. Faith honors Reason so long as she minds her own business, and does not meddle with that which does not belong to her. But to see God and to know Him is pre-emi- nently the office of faith. We are surprised that this cognitive, or knowing, quality of faith is not more insisted upon ; for the knowledge that faith gives is saving, and can be obtained in no other way. The knowing is as important as the trust- ing. To know God is to love Him, and to love Him is to trust Him. The sequence is inevitable, and the result is salvation ; hence the phrase ' ' saving knowledge " is more than cant. It means to know God in the loveliness and the lovingness of His character, as faith alone can reveal Him. As between reason and faith it is a question, not of exclusion, but of supremacy. The thing affirmed of Reason is that she cannot know God. And of Faith that she sees God. She 4 'endures as seeing Him who is invisible." The visible is quite enough for Reason. Let her man- age testimony, she will have her hands full if she THE FOOLISHNESS OF PREACHING. 239 does that. She can even go a little farther, and "feel after God," and finally confess "the un- known God. " But to the questions, Who ? What ? Whence ? or Where ? she has no answer. She knows mathematics, and that is something to boast of ; but Faith knows God. The one is natural, the other is supernatural. Not that faith is utterly divorced from the natural ; for it is not. My faith sees London though I never was in London ; and that far the natural takes hold upon the invisible. Even in this the eye of faith can see farther than the eye of sense. More is needed however. London is natural, and beyond London and all the material universe there is a vast domain of the supernatural begin- ning with God. Shall this be ignored ? Are God and soul and immortality to be passed by ? Is the sin problem to be counted of little or no conse- quence ? Are we to have no light shed upon this mighty mystery of life and destiny ? Are we to be left to grope our way down to the tomb asking questions and receiving no answers ? Or is there a sense, a faculty, an endowment, a revelation, a voice, or anything that can enable us to penetrate this great wall of thick darkness ? Faith, you say. Faith in the world by wisdom believed in immortality. What ? In immortality ? Socrates believed in immortality. Faith in the supernatural ? Socrates believed in the supernat- 240 PA C1FIC CO A S T PUL PIT. ural. Faith in divine revelation ? Socrates be- lieved in divine revelation. But belief in a quality is not belief in a person. Reason had not reached in any true sense the con- cept of divine personality ; and to have predicated Fatherhood and Brotherhood of divinity would have been blasphemy. The personal Christ was wanting, — the divine Brother, "the express image of the Father," the visible manifestation of the in- visible God. A radical change was at hand. Reason had failed after a fair trial. The great Athenian had been four hundred years in his grave. The mighty Plato, his great expositor, had risen, and still the inspired testimony must be borne, ' ' The world by wisdom knew not God." Reason must now give way to faith — the portico to the pulpit, wisdom to weakness, the philosophers to the fishermen. Proud Greek ! To give it all up and join the ' ' Salvation Army ! " Let us pity him. The word ' ' foolishness " lets in a flood of light upon the subject. It points to the preaching of the cross which was " foolishness to the Greek." Thus interpreted, preaching stands for faith. "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." True preaching is God speaking to the soul through the written Word. God is the preacher. He may employ an ambassador, or He may not ; but the end is salvation through knowledge of Him- THE FOOLISHNESS OF PREACHING. 241 self in the person of His Son. Faith cometh by preaching, a pure heart by faith, and a pure heart sees God. That is the divine concatenation. And this is the fact to be emphasized, — not the clear head, but the pure heart sees God, and the pure heart comes by faith. Faith is the seeing, as well as the trusting quality of the soul. It has an intelligence peculiarly its own, which acts in the spiritual world analogous to instinct in the natural world. It reaches its con- clusion by a bee-line, while reason struggles, fal- ters, and fails. Faith is intelligent, it understands. ' 1 By faith we understand that the worlds were made by the word of God," — " understand " is the proper word. John Ruskin, in speaking of Judas, says that he did not understand Christ — could not make out the worth or the meaning of Him. Of course he could not. Christ is ' ' spiritually discerned, " and Judas had no eye for the spiritual ; he was blind on that side of his nature. He knew Christ as a man who worked miracles and who could probably be trusted to work yet another, and thus free Him- self from the hands of His enemies. Christ would escape, and Judas would have the ' ' thirty pieces of silver." He had a keen eye to business, was evi- dently a sharp, wide-awake business man, and was no doubt elected treasurer on the strength of his business ability. Ruskin says, ' ' He was a muddle- 16 242 PACIFIC COAST PULPIT. headed fellow, with just brains enough to make money." But we may spare the epithet. There are some things — and great things too — ' ' which are hidden from the wise and prudent and revealed unto babes." Christ's divinity and even the perfec- tion of His humanity were too deep for Judas. He could not see them nor understand them, but it was not because he was muddle-headed. It was not more brains, but a pure heart that he needed, to see God, or even to see a good man. A bad man never sees a good man, much less can he see God. For the function he must have the faculty. That faculty is faith ; and when all other sources of knowledge have failed, faith comes to the front. Moses' rod swallows up all the other rods. There is a point up to which it may be safely recorded, ' ' The magicians of Egypt also with their enchantments did likewise ; " but sooner or later we reach a point beyond which ■ ' the magicians of Egypt" cannot go. Take Pardon of Sin. Let Reason undertake the solving of this great problem. Nature is Reason's Bible ; to her Bible must Reason turn for light. She must be consistent ; she must say to Nature, 1 ' To whom shall we go ? Thou hast the words of eternal life." And to Reason we say, "Handle your Bible reverently. It is a great book. We love to read it. It has marvelous revelations. If you will not have our Bible, take your own, and THE FOOLISHNESS OF PREACHING. 243 make the best of it. Nature, like God, is on the side of light and revelation. She is not averse to giving up her secrets. If she has pardon for sin, she will say so. She is honest and truthful. Ask her if she knows of any way by which ' ' a man can be just with God. " We have tried to read this book of Nature with thoughtfulness and fairness. We find sin enough — sin everywhere — but no pardon. The fact is, nature is but another name for law, and law knows no pardon. Pardon is not of the essence of law. If mercy come, it must be from somewhere outside of law. What does Nature say to the man who sins against her and against his own body by a reckless course of dissipation ? What does she say when the man's vital powers are hopelessly impaired, his blood poisoned, his lungs decayed, his heart crip- pled, and the whole economy of digestion and assimilation so fearfully enfeebled as no longer to be able to support the wasted tissues or to meet the daily demand ? What does Nature say to the poor wretch as he lies bemoaning his folly, and vowing a hundred times over' that if ever he shall rise from that bed of pain, he will lead a new life, and be a better man ? Does she say to this sinner, begging and pleading for mere}', ' ' Look unto me and be ye saved," or " Come let us reason together ; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as 244 PACIFIC COAST PULPIT. white as snow, though they be red like crimson they shall be as wool " ? Does she say, ' ' I will forget the past," "I will remember thine iniquities no more against thee," " I will give thee new lungs, a new liver, a new heart, new nerves, pure blood, and a healthy brain" ? Not so does Nature meet the man who has cast off her authority or tram- pled upon her laws. She stands before him the impersonation of an insulted avenger. She says, "I have warned you by my servants, rising up early. I have plead with you to regard your own interests, and when you have disregarded and violated the laws of your physical being, I have still brought you health and healing. But now your day of grace is over. No repentance will now be accepted, no promises of amendment. You have despised my goodness ; now lie there and take what you deserve." That is what Nature says to those who sin against her. True, nature makes an effort at healing within certain limits, but the healing is never final — no immortal healing. It is only temporary, a stay of execution, for there comes a time when nature can do no more, death — the inevitable — supervenes, and for death nature has no antidote. No help here ; none from nature ; none from reason ; none from law, — law but no love ; penalty but no par- don ; sin but no Saviour ; hunger but no food ; thirst but no water. Oh ! it is pitiful to see the THE FOOLISHNESS OF PREACHING. 245 millions of our poor, famishing humanity l ' coming hither to draw" and turning away with empty pitchers from these dry wells, so utterly unsatisfied ! But a voice comes in the midst of it all, ' ' Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters ; " ' ■ Whosoever shall drink of the water that / shall give him shall never thirst ; " ' ' If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." Yes, there is ' ' one way given under heaven whereby men can be saved ; " and one way is enough if it be God's way. But it is faith or noth- ing. Law saves no sinners — she saves the inno- cent. Law says, ' ' You have sinned, and you must die." Faith says, "You may live. It is at your own option; choose it, and you have it." Reason puts you in league with nature's power, which ends in death. Faith calls in God's power, which is life. Reason is for wise people, but faith serves the ignorant as well as the wise. We hail a plan of salvation that gives ignorance a chance. Thank God for a gospel that can find its way outside of Boston, and breathe other air than that of the university! — a gospel that is not afraid of the "Cowgate," and can keep its bearings in the old 11 Five Points," a Jerry Mc Cauley gospel, that bids the wretched victim of rum, poverty, and squalor look up to the heavens, and remember that they are men and women, and that for them Christ died. 246 PACIFIC COAST PULPIT. And then the hard places of life common to us all — we all meet there ; and whence the strength to help us over ? There is the point where God makes foolish the wisdom of this world. ' ' Where is the wise, then ? " " Where the disputer ? " The strong man, strong of nerve, mighty of brain, here trembles "like a reed shaken of the wind." He is dealing with God. He is weak, but he lays hold upon God's right arm, and now he is strong. The sublimest thing in all this world is a humble, suffer- ing, trusting human soul. It is the seed-thought of that marvelous poem — the book of Job. Grander than Homer, but never so grand as when in the midst of it all, there is given to suffering a voice, and to sorrow a song — the sacred drama — the 4 ' Divine Tragedy " of the far-away land of Uz, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him," — simple, childlike trust in God ! Faith we call it ; well, faith let it be — leaning on Him — leaning hard. He has spanned the chasm, bridged it with mercy — chasm deep and dark, bridge narrow, fragile ; it seems trembling beneath your feet ; but no matter, it is God's bridge, trust it. Love built it, love measured its strength, and love can never deceive you. It is an old story. Chalmers told it first, others have told it since, for well does it bear the telling. Afoot the great Scotchman, as was so often his wont, had found his way to the humble abode of THE FOOLISIIXESS OF PR EACH IX G. 247 poverty. Across the burn was the peasant's lonely home. It was late in the evening, and growing dark. The "wee bit ingle" shed an uncertain light upon the water, through the open door. The plank was weak, he "kenned," for one so burly. The good man drew back, but kindly eyes were watching, and in clear broad Scotch there came the assuring words, " Lippen to it Doctor." " Aye, lippen, that is the word, woman ; it means to trust, to give your full weight to it, I will lippen to it." And when in after days a poor old Scotch soul was struggling in the dark valley for a firmer foot- hold, the same good Doctor stood at the bedside, helping the weak ' ' old body " to find the way. Of faith he spake, but ill was he understood. He tried this and he tried that, but with small success. It was then that with a flash came the incident now years agone. "Just lippen to Him." "Aye, lippen, is that what you mean, Doctor ? Yes, I can do that, I can lippen to Him ! " We must all come to this at last. Peasant or philosopher, it is all the same. ' ' Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven." By- Paths of Bible Knowledge. 'The volumes issuing under the above general title fully deserve sue* cess. They have been entrusted to scholars who have a special acquaint- ance with the subjects about which they severally treat." — Athen&um. These books are written by specialists, and their aim is to give the results of the latest and best scholarships on questions of Biblical history, science and archaeology. The volumes contain much informa- tion that is not easily accessible, even to those who have a large acquaintance with the higher literature on these subjects. 15. Early Bible Songs. With introduction on the Nature and Spirit of Hebrew Song, by v A. H. Drysdale ftl. A $100 14. Modern Discoveries on the Site of Ancient Ephesus. ByJ.T. Wood, F.S. A. Illustrated $100 13. The Times of Isaiah. As illustrated from Con temporary Monuments. By A. H. Sayce, LL. D. .80 12. The Hlttites; or the Story of a Forgotten Empire. By A. H. Sayce, LL. D. Illustrated. Crown, 8vo $1 20 1 1. Animals of the Bible. By H. Chichester Hart, Naturalist to Sir G. Nares' Arctic Expedition and Professor Hull's Palestine Expedition. Illustrated, Crown, 8vo $1 20 10* The Trees and Plants Mentioned in the Bible. By W. H. Groser, B. Sc. Illustrated $1 00 9. The Diseases of the Bible. By Sir J. Risdon Bennett $100 8. The Dwellers on the Nile. Chapters on the Life, Literature. History and Customs of Ancient Egypt. By E. A. Wallis Budge, M. A., Assistant in Department of Oriental Antiquities, British Museum. Illustrated $1 20 T. Assyria; Its Princes, Priests and People. By A. H. Sayce, M. A., LL. D., author of "Fresh Light from Ancient Monuments," "Introduction to Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther," etc. Illustrated $130 0. Egypt and Syria. Their Physical Features in Relation to Bible History. By Sir J. W. Dawson. Principal of McGill College, Montreal, F. G. S., F. R. S., author of "The Chain of Life in Geological Time," etc. Second edition, revised and enlarged. With many i llustrations $1 20 6. Galilee in the time of Christ. By Selah Merrill, D.D., author of "East of the Jordan," etc. With Map $100 4. Babylonian Life and History. By E. A. Willis Budge, M. A., Cambridge, Assistant in the Depart- ment of Oriental Antiquities, British Museum, illustrated $120 8. Recent Discoveries on the Temple Hill at Jerusalem. By the Rev. J. King, M. A., Authorized Lecturer for the Palestine Exploration Fund. With Maps, Plans and LUustrations $1 08 t. Fresh Lights From the Ancient Monuments. A Sketch of the most striking Confirmations of the Bible from recent discoveries in Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Palestine and Asia Minor. By A. H. Sayce, LL. D., Deputy Professor of Comparative Philology, Oxford, etc. With facsimiles from photographs $1 23 1* Cleopatra's Needle. History of the London Obelisk, with an Exposition of the Hiero- glyphics. By the Rev. J. King, Lecturer for the Palestine i'xplora- tion Fund. With Illustrations $101 148-150 Madison Street. flBIDIIJQ M. KBVBIi UO. 113 Fifth Ave., near :6th Writings of Rev. F. B. MEYER, B. A. — <■ m ■ Mr. Meyer always writes to edification.— C. H. SPURGEON. ?f 6 t fl 1) , Beloved— Hated— Exalted. Cloth, 16 mo., $1.00. In the present volume Mr. Meyer retells with skill and pathos the old-world story of the Israelitish youth who rose through pit and prison to the post of Premier of Egypt; a story of undying interest and worth, not only as a true tale of Eastern romance, but as a unique example of the value of piety, purity of life and fidelity in service. IOTH THOUSAND. b r (l [) (X ttt S or, The Obedience of Faith. Cloth, 16 mo., $1.00. % A book we would very heartily commend to those who desire to make progress in Christian life and experience; each will find it helpful and sug- gestive, sending new light upon many a well-known narrative. — Christian Progress. The contents of the book before us are such that no one can rise from its perusal without feeling consciously strengthened in God and inspired afresh for the Godly life. — Sunday-School Chrofiicle. Really a very beautiful work, which will be read with delight by many a fireside. After all, this home-like treatment of Scripture biography, with the object of bringing out the spiritual lessons, is amongst the highest and most profitable studies.— The Freeman. I3TH THOUSAND. %, r (J£ I : A Prince with God. Cloth, 16 mo., $1.00. Mr. Meyer ha* great descriptive power. He can tell a narrative well. This subject in his hand glows with life, and the scenes and events in the history of his hero pass vividly before you, and are ever being used to force home some important principle. — British Messenger. With a keen moral insight, and a deep spiritual sympathy, he de- scribes the piety and weakness of the best beloved of the Patriarchs. —-Christian Leader* Exceedingly good, not only spiritual, but also thoughtful, fresh, sug gestive and thoroughly practical. — C. H. Spurgeon, in Sword and Trowel, From first to last the book is richly suggestive and spiritually fruit- ful.— Word and Work, I5TH THOUSAND. i i \ Cl b : and tne Secret of his Power. Cloth, 16 mo., $1 .00. The leading object of this volume is to show that Elijah's God is our God; and how a like dependence maybe ours if our dependence is in the living God. It is encouraging and stimulating; yet full of solemn warnings. Some parts are grandly written and of thrilling interest.— Footsteps of Truth. Good, exceedingly good ! Mr. Meyer is a great gain to the armies 01 Evangelical truth; for hi 3 tone, spirit and aspirations are all of a fine Gospel sort. — Sword and Trowel. new york: :: Fleming H, Revell Co. « Chicago, WRITINGS OF REV, F, B. MEYER, B. A "%*i vio?v Uvt fiW**' 1 Expositions of the First Epistle of Peter. Cloth ~ XX ™* i 6 mo., $1.00. We doubt whether any work has appeared since the time of Leighton, on the same subject, which equals the one before us. These expositions of one of the richest of the Epistles are brightly and beautifully written and infused by a lofty and evangelical Christian spirit — Primitive Methoaist. s 2IST THOUSAND, lie Jhresent Senses 0f the Biesseb fife, cioth, 32 mo., 50c. We commend the book as one that cannot fail to be read with profit, ^-Evangelical Christendom. A gem and brimful of spiritual life.— Methodist New Connexion Magazine. 20TH THOUSAND. (J^ btistian doing, cioth, 32 mo., 50c. Full of sweetness and light. No Christian can read it and fail tcf receive stimulus in the direction whither the true-hearted would go. — Con- gregational Magazine. Special stress is made in this little volume on the practical side of the Christian life. Thoughts calculated to strengthen and inspire in the per- formance of every-day duties, are put in clear and simple form. — Advance. ■ They prove most refreshing reading; and for the culture of the relig- ous life we can recommend nothing better.- -Standard. I9TH THOUSAND, ^he Shepherd JJsctlm. Meditations on the 2 3 d Psalm, cioth, 32 e^*~) " 7n(f., 5OC. We have never read anything so charming on the Twenty-third Psalm. It is full of beauty and poetry. Anything that this gifted and spiritual author writes requires no recommendation, as he is well known to the Christian public. — Irish Congregational Magazine. Mr. Meyer has given us a devotional work on this inspired Psalm which every Christian man and woman should not only read but carry about in his pocket in order to snatch even amid the busy employment of life an uplifting and elevating thought. This little book is worth its weight in gold. — Central Baptist. Envelope Series of Booklets, by Rev. F. B. Meyer. The Chambers of the King. Words of Help for Christian The Lost Chord Found. With Christ in Separation. Girls. Why Sign the Pledge ? Seven Rules for Dai y Living, The Filling of the Holy Spirit. The Secret of Power. The Secret of Victory over Sin. The Stewardship of Money. Our Bible Reading. The First Step into the Blessed Where am I Wrong? The Secret of Guidance. Life. Young Man, Don't Drift! Peace, Perfect Peace. 30C. per dozen, or $1.50 per 100. CHOICE EXTRACTS from writings of F. B. Meyer, 48 pages, 5c. per copy; 35c. dozen. newyork. :: Fleming H. Revell Co. :: Chicago. Important Missionary Publications. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOHN G. PATON. Missionary to the New Hebrides. Introductory note by Arthur T. Pierson, D.D. 2 vols., 12mo., portrait and map, in neat box, $2.00 net. One of the most remarkable biographies of modern times. "I have just laid down the most robust and the most fascinating piece of auto- biography that I have met with in many a day It is the story of the wonderful work wrought by John Q. Paton, the famous missionary to the New Hebrides; he was made of the same stuff with Livingstone."— T. L. Cuyler. "It stands with such books as those Dr. Livingstone gave the world, and shows to men that the heroes of the cross are not merely to be sought in past ages," — Christian Intelligencer. THE LIFE OF JOHN KENNETH MACKENZIE. Medical Missionary to China ; with the story of the First Chinese Hospital by Mrs. Bryson, author of "Child Life in Chinese Homes," etc. 12mo., cloth, 400 pages, price $1.50 with portrait in photogravure. "The story of a singularly beautiful life, sympathetically and ably written. . . . . A really helpful, elevating book."— London Missionary Chronicle. "The volume records much that is fresh and interesting bearing on Chinese customs and manners as seen and vividly described by a missionary who had ample opportunities of studying them under most varied circumstances and conditions."— Scotsman. THE GREATEST WORK IN THE WORLD. The Evangeliza- tion of all Peoples in the Present Century. By Rev. Arthur T. Pierson, D.D. 12mo., leatherette, gilt top. 35c. The subject itself is an inspiration, but this latest production of Dr. Pierson thrills with the life which the Master Himself has imparted to it. It will be a welcome addition to Missionary literature. THE CRISIS OF MISSIONS. By Rev. Arthur T. Pierson, D.D. Cloth, $1.25 ; paper, 35c. " We do not hesitate to say that this book is the most purposeful, earnest and intelligent review of the mission work and field which has ever been given to the Church." — Christian Statesman. MEDICAL MISSIONS. Their Place and Power. By John Lowe, F. 11. C- S. E., Secretary of the Edinburgh Medical Mission Society. 12mo., 308 pages, cloth, $1.50. "This book contains an exhaustive account of the benefits that may, and in point of fact do, accrue from the use of the medical art as a Christian agency. Mr. Lowe is eminently qualified to instruct us in this matter, having himself been so long engaged in the same field."— From Introduction by Sir William Muir. ONCE HINDU: NOW CHRISTIAN. The early life of Baba Padmanji. Translated from the Marathi. Edited by J. Murray Mit- chell, M. A , LLD. 12mo., 155 pases, with appendix. Cloth, 75c. " A more instructive or more interesting narrative of a human soul, once held firmly in the grip of oriental superstition, idolatry and caste, gradually emerging into the light, liberty and peace of a regenerate child of God, does not often come to hand."— Missionary Herald. AN INTENSE LIFE. By George F. Herrick. A sketch of the life and work of Rev. Andrew T. Prattt, M.D., Missionary of the A. B. C. F. M., in Turkey, 1852-1872. 16rao., cloth, 50c new york. : : Fleming H-jieoell Company : : Chicago. Important Missionary Publications (Continued.) EVERY-DAY LIFE IN SOUTH INDIA, or, the Story of Coopoo- svvamev. An Autobiography. With fine engravings by E. Whym- per. i2mo., cloth, $1 00. THE CHILDREN OF INDIA. Written for children by one of their friends. Illustrations and map. Small 4to , cloth, $1.25. "These are good books for the Sunday-School Library, and will help young people in missionary societies who desire to have an intelligent idea of the people in India whom they are sending their money and their missionaries to convert." — Missionary Herald. HINDUISM, PAST AND PRESENT. With an account of recent Hindu reformers, and a brief comparison between Hinduism and Christianity. By J. Murray Mitchell, M.A., LLD. 12mo., cloth, $1.60. " A praiseworthy attempt to present a popular view of a vast and important ubject." — Saturday Review. GOSPEL ETHNOLOGY. With illustrations. By S. R. Paterson, F. G. S. 12mo, cloth., $1.00. 11 The first attempt to treat this subject from a thorough-g'ung scientific stand- point. A very powerful argument for the truth of Christianity. ''—English Church- man. "A book to refer to for information not easily to be obtained otherwise. — Church Missionary Intelligencer. NATIVE LIFE IN SOUTH INDIA. Being sketches of the social and religious characteristics of the Hindus. By the Rev. Henry Rice. With many illustrations from native sketches. 12mo., cloth boards, $1.00. " Those who have heard Mr. Rice's missionary addressed Will be prepared to hear that this is a fascinating book." — Life and Work. CHRISTIAN PROGRESS IN CHINA. Gleanings