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DAVID J. LEWIS. 
 
Word and Work 
 
 of 
 
 DAVID J. LEWIS. 
 
 "JVot myself, but the truth that in life I have spoken, 
 Not myself, but the seed that hi life I have sown, 
 Shall pass on to ages — all about me forgotten, 
 
 Save the truth I have spoketi, the things I have done.'''' 
 
 M. W. KNAPP. 
 
 Office of the Revivalist, Cincinnati, Ohio. 
 1900. 
 
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 AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 
 TO ALL GOD'S PEOPLE. 
 
 8K00ND COPY, 
 
 Copyrighted, 1900, by M. W. Knapp. 
 
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PREFACE. 
 
 "TT might have been" that the sainted writer of 
 these sermons, had he lived, would have written 
 some sermons expressly for the press. These, how- 
 ever, were not so intended, but only as references for 
 his own future use, and were written from memory after 
 they were delivered, with no special thought as to dic- 
 tion, rhetoric, style, or literary merit; and, while written 
 out quite fully in some parts, it is evident that they were 
 intended to be developed and enlarged in many parts. 
 However, there has been no attempt at distorting them 
 out of their original proportions, or any critical "pass- 
 ing upon" them, or "trimming up" that which was 
 quickened into being by the breath of God upon his 
 soul. 
 
 This little memoir has been compiled from per- 
 sonal reminiscences, and from experiences and incidents 
 of various co-workers; and while the task has been en- 
 tered upon with a reluctance which arises from a con- 
 sciousness of inability, it is also with a confidence and 
 assurance — the outgrowth of a Divinely-implanted desire 
 that, as the spoken words of our "loved and lost" 
 were so potent through the Spirit's power in touching 
 and tendering human hearts, bringing men to repent- 
 
 3 
 
Preface. 
 
 ance, and encouraging and inspiring believers, his writ- 
 ten words may be likewise fruitful. 
 
 After this statement concerning the origin of this 
 consciously-defective work, it is presumed, with some 
 degree of certainty, that the literary reader's indulgence 
 will not be asked in vain. 
 
 And now, as the example of David J. Lewis, it is be- 
 queathed as a legacy to the Church. May all who read 
 these pages be partakers of that holiness which was 
 so conspicuous in him! May we catch something of 
 his inextinguishable hopefulness for mankind; and may 
 his noble, self-forgetting ministry make all ministers 
 
 braver, purer, nobler, truer ! 
 
 E. H. I* 
 Short Creek, O., 12th mo., 1899, 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 PvAVID J. LEWIS was a choice friend of mine, and 
 a fellow-laborer in the gospel of Jesus Christ; and 
 I take great pleasure in recording my very great appre- 
 ciation of his labors in the ministry, and to express my 
 thankfulness that this little book has been prepared by 
 his devoted wife, which, I trust, will be very helpful 
 to those who read it, especially to those young in the 
 ministry. 
 
 We labored together many months in perfect har- 
 mony. I was always deeply impressed with his pure, 
 godly life, as he went in and out before his people. It 
 was a constant lesson of instruction to ministers, both 
 old and young. His private devotion, so much in 
 prayer and meditation, was really remarkable, a good 
 example to all who expect to succeed in the Lord's 
 work. I would also call attention to the fact that he 
 was a devout student of the Bible, and a great reader of 
 the very best books, as his large and valuable library 
 shows. But I would write more particularly of our 
 dear brother's ministry. He always spoke as though 
 he had an important message to deliver. His whole 
 being seemed to be inspired, so that even his manner- 
 isms seemed to be fully under the power of the Holy 
 
 5 
 
6 Introduction. 
 
 Ghost; his sermons always rich, strong, and full of 
 truth and power. How the Church needs such men 
 as David J. Lewis, so strong in the Lord spiritually, so 
 strong intellectually; so well-read, and of such retentive 
 memory, and of such executive ability in religious mat- 
 ters; a man full of faith and the Holy Ghost and wisdom! 
 His sermons are enriched from his broad field of 
 illustration. He was remarkably gifted in meeting the con- 
 dition of the doubter and the agnostic and the speculative 
 theories of science, falsely so-called. In all our labors to- 
 gether on the Atlantic and Pacific Coast, I never knew 
 him to preach a sermon without immediate fruit, either 
 in conversion of sinners or the sanctification of believ- 
 ers; and his personal work in the congregation was 
 always very effective. I mourn his loss as a personal 
 friend and fellow-laborer, and I mourn his loss on be- 
 half of the Church. It is sad that one so gifted should 
 leave us so early in life. May all who read his ser- 
 mons be greatly instructed, and our young ministers 
 be helped in reading and studying them; and may the 
 mantle of our precious brother fall upon many! In the 
 midst of our mourning and grief, we rejoice that the 
 beloved one is receiving a rich reward in heaven in 
 the presence of the One he so dearly loved and faithfully 
 served. Could David speak to us, he would say, "What 
 I am, I am by the grace of God. Not unto me, but unto 
 
 Him, be all the glory!" 
 
 JOHN HENRY DOUGLAS. 
 
 McMiNNviiyi,E, Oregon. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Preface, 3 
 
 Introduction, 5 
 
 I. 
 
 Childhood and Youth, 9 
 
 II. 
 Conversion and Call to the Ministry, 19 
 
 III. 
 
 First Pastorates, 27 
 
 IV. 
 Work in Adrian Quarterly Meeting, 32 
 
 V. 
 Last Illness, 37 
 
 VI. 
 Extracts from His Diary, 47 
 
 VII. 
 Tributes, 56 
 
 VIII. 
 Memorial Sermons, 74 
 
 IX. 
 
 SERMONS OF DAVID J. LEWIS : 
 The Grace of Our Lord. — 2 Cor. viii, 9, 82 
 
 X. 
 
 God's Covenant with the Generous. — 2 Cor. ix, 8, 89 
 
 XL 
 God's Way of Eternal Life. — John xvii, 3, 105 
 
 XII. 
 
 Some Items of Spiritual Worship. — 1 Kings viii, 10, 11, . . . .111 
 
 XIII. 
 Elisha, or the Double Portion. — 2 Kings ii, 9-15, 128 
 
 7 
 
8 Contents. 
 
 XIV. Page. 
 
 God's Word Learned, Lived, and Loved — Psa. cxix, n, . . . . 144 
 
 XV. 
 
 Glimpses of Early Evangelism. — 1 Cor. ix, 12, 155 
 
 XVI. 
 
 Thoughts on the Thief's Conversion. — Luke xxiii, 42, 43, . . .165 
 
 XVII. 
 
 Intelligent Goodness : Baccalaureate Address. — Eccl. ix, 14, 15, . .172 
 
 XVIII. 
 David's Spirit of Loyalty. — 1 Chron. xxviii, 3, 194 
 
 XIX. 
 Gideon. — Judges vi, 12, 217 
 
 XX. 
 The Lamb of God. — John i, 29, 227 
 
 XXI. 
 
 The Unity of The Bible. — Psa. cxix, 89, 238 
 
 XXII. 
 Perfect Love. — 1 John iv, 17, 249 
 
 XXIII. 
 The Transforming Vision. — 2 Cor. iii, 18, 268 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 Christianity versus Infidelity. — Deut. xxxii, 31, 273 
 
 XXV. 
 The New Man. — 2 Cor. v, 17, 286 
 
 XXVI. 
 Harmonies Announced at the Advent of Christ : 
 
 A Christmas Sermon, 293 
 
 XXVII. 
 Life Aggrandized by Grace. — Isa. Ix, 17, 300 
 
 XXVIII. 
 The Glorious Hope. — Titus ii, 13, 3°7 
 
I. 
 
 CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 
 
 jpv AVID J. LEWIS was the third of a family of eight 
 *-* children, born in Pittsburg, Pa., May 20, 1859. 
 His parents — Dr. D. A. Lewis and Diana Lewis — were 
 both of honorable Welsh lineage, whose families were 
 distinguished by many beautiful and admirable traits of 
 character, which belong to noble minds and large hearts ; 
 conspicuous not less for public spirit and philanthropy 
 than for their scientific acumen and literary attainments, 
 his father many times having won prizes in the Welsh 
 Eisteddfods — a Congress of bards — for which the race 
 is famous; and he learned the English and mastered 
 the dead languages after he was of age. They had 
 always used the Welsh language in their family till 
 the eldest two children started to school. He belonged 
 to an industrious family, in which idleness was con- 
 sidered a crime; and when not employed in manual 
 labor, the children must be reading, studying, or other- 
 wise improving their minds. 
 
 From his youth, David had before him in his parents 
 an example of undaunted fidelity to truth, almost to 
 sternness, which enabled him on all occasions to deter- 
 mine at once the right, and to do it regardless of con- 
 sequences or probable results. He never parleyed with 
 a wrong in moral questions, but was always clear, posi- 
 tive, and decided against it. 
 
 At the time of the Rebellion, in the '6o's, the family 
 9 
 
io Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 was small; but the father, possessed of a conscientious, 
 patriotic loyalty to the new country of his adoption, 
 hired a man to go and enlist in his stead, but after- 
 ward felt he had not fulfilled a loyal citizen's part till 
 he should give his own personal services. And he did 
 so, and after months of service and sickness he received 
 an honorable discharge from the hospital as a disabled 
 soldier, but would never receive a cent from the Gov- 
 ernment, though the injuries received were a lifelong 
 affliction, and would have entitled him to a liberal pen- 
 sion. Thus he willingly and cheerfully gave two men's 
 services to his country, with no thought of compen- 
 sation other than that which comes from a sense of 
 duty nobly performed. 
 
 Little David's happy childhood and early school- 
 days were spent in the city of his birth ; and there, at the 
 age of eight years, he made his start in business for 
 himself, selling papers. 
 
 He was of a genial, happy disposition, which made 
 him an agreeable companion for elders, while always 
 popular and a leader among those of his own age. 
 
 Very early in his life appeared a hatred to anything 
 like oppression, which manifested itself in his entire 
 energies being directed against injustice wherever he 
 saw it. When but a boy, he witnessed a very unequal 
 combat between a large boy and a small one. David's 
 sense of justice was at once appealed to, and he volun- 
 teered his services to bring about fair play, when the 
 affair was ended rather unpleasantly, and an officer in- 
 terfered to "right" matters. David palliated his own 
 offense, saying, "It was the big fellow I licked." The 
 officer excused him with a small fine, saying, "I ex- 
 pect he needed it." 
 
Childhood and Youth. ii 
 
 His sympathies were always with the oppressed, 
 the weak, the erring; for he truly loved humanity. 
 
 In November, 1871, came the first great sorrow to 
 the family in the death of a patient and loving wife and 
 mother, whom David always regarded with the most 
 affectionate tenderness. 
 
 In speaking of any delinquencies in his own life, or 
 of any member of the family, or any privations endured 
 as motherless children, he 'd often remark with such ten- 
 der pathos, "It would n't have been so had mother lived." 
 Always excusing any seeming neglect or sternness 
 in his father, who was ever a close student, and allowed 
 nothing (not even the demands of his children) to dis- 
 tract his hours of study. 
 
 His most vivid recollection of his mother was of 
 her helping him in his Bible-reading to keep up with 
 the other children, who were all reading it through. 
 
 In his childish conversation with the other chil- 
 dren upon sacred things, the name of Jesus was men- 
 tioned in rather a lighter way than she approved. 
 Very mildly, but solemnly, yet with an emphasis which 
 he never forgot, as she turned her large, expressive, 
 tender, motherly eye upon her boy, she said, "David, 
 I never speak the name of Jesus but with reverence." 
 That gentle and loving rebuke penetrated his heart, 
 and abode there, and seemed to ever impart to his ac- 
 cents of that sacred name a peculiarly modified and 
 touching mellowness. 
 
 Ah! it can not but be true that a mother who guards 
 with such care, not only the words, but also the very 
 accents of her children's words, will not fail of the 
 promise: "All thy children shall be taught of the Lord, 
 and great shall be the peace of thy children." 
 
12 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 David's filial obedience and brotherly affection were 
 most admirable and exemplary. It is not remembered 
 that he ever uttered an unbecoming or vulgar expres- 
 sion in the presence of his sisters, whom he ever re- 
 garded with utmost tenderness, and whose opinions 
 he held in the highest esteem. After the mother's death 
 he was untiring in his efforts to help care for the younger 
 members of the family, being a constant comfort and 
 companion to his eldest sister, who, from the age of four- 
 teen, posed as mother and kept the family together. 
 
 In the spring of 'J2 the family moved to Wheeling. 
 Here David was employed in a rolling-mill, and sev- 
 eral years later as a steel polisher, doing a man's work 
 while but a youth, and was often censured by less 
 speedy workmen for turning off so much work. It was 
 too hard work for one of his years. His finger-joints 
 were often so stiff in the morning he 'd have to take 
 one hand to open the fingers of the other. Thus, early 
 in life, as in later years, from his natural force of en- 
 ergy, he followed the precept of the wise, "Whatsoever 
 thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might." 
 
 The family moved to their home in Portsmouth, 
 Ohio, in the spring of '74, where David worked on a 
 farm and market garden, going to school in the winter 
 months, when he could be spared, and managing the 
 garden in its season. Six years of his life were devoted 
 to this work, himself doing a greater part of the labor, 
 rising early and working late. His leisure hours were 
 spent in study and mental improvement. 
 
 Another great sorrow fell upon their home in '79 
 in the death of a brother, ten years of age, by drown- 
 ing while swimming in the river. This made a great 
 
Childhood and Youth. 
 
 13 
 
 blank in David's life; for there seemed more than a 
 brotherly attachment between them. 
 
 And when a neighbor, with a small family, had lost 
 her husband, David wanted to adopt all her five chil- 
 dren, to overcome in a measure the loss of his brother 
 Gomer, and to help the poor widow. So his great, 
 kind heart had room for every need he met. 
 
 For a time he was employed as salesman for a whole- 
 sale millinery store; but not being apt in identifying 
 colors, he did n't remain there long, but entered the 
 employ of a wholesale grocer in Portsmouth, O., where 
 he remained two years. Then, in a decline of health, 
 in the autumn of '82, he took a business trip through 
 the South, descending the Mississippi from Memphis 
 to New Orleans in a little sail-boat. 
 
 It was in February, 1882, he was first convicted 
 for sin; and, after much penitence and prayer, he real- 
 ized his sins forgiven, and united with the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church of Chaplain Street, Wheeling, 
 W. Va., but the life upon which he immediately en- 
 tered was not conducive to his advancement in the di- 
 vine life. 
 
 This hazardous expedition, as many after events in 
 his life, shows his intrepid daring, his bold self-confi- 
 dence, and his resolute courage in overcoming diffi- 
 culties and making a way where there was none. 
 
 Far up among the passes of the Himalayas there 
 are rivers struggling to find their way through gorges 
 which threaten at a hundred points to render the es- 
 cape impossible. Yet on they press, and either find or 
 form a channel. This is an attribute of genius; and 
 David Lewis did likewise in both moral and religious 
 
14 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 effort; and, when consecrated to God, and cheered by 
 His light, he pressed forward with a faith that 
 " Laughs at impossibilities, 
 
 And cries, ' It shall be done !' " 
 
 For faith is not to be defeated when it is divine. 
 
 With a strong determination, a brave heart, and a 
 kind confidence in humanity, and with no weapon but 
 a penknife for his personal defense, he started all alone, 
 with a stock of optical goods for sale, down the "Fa- 
 ther of Waters." Old men accustomed to the perils 
 of river-life often told him he could never "make it" in 
 that boat; but his brave heart (brave even to daring) 
 knew no fear, and he pressed on. In later years, how- 
 ever, in speaking of the exploit, he remarked, "Fools 
 will run where angels fear to tread." Very many times 
 the good hand of Providence was upon him in most 
 miraculous deliverance and rescue, with many narrow 
 escapes with his life. In St. Louis, Mo., he had a very 
 severe illness of bilious fever, which he thought would 
 surely terminate his life. He was nursed by strangers 
 very kindly at a hotel. In the same city he had a most 
 alarming and continuous nasal hemorrhage. He went 
 to the river, and bathed his head and neck to check the 
 bleeding, but without effect; and being so chilled by 
 the water and so weakened by loss of blood that he 
 could not walk, he was taken to his room; and, with 
 his nostrils rilled with absorbents, and abundance of 
 waste linen under his head, he lay face down upon the 
 bed, fully expecting that was his last day upon earth, and 
 upon waking in the morning he found everything under 
 his head and about it — waste linen, sheet, pillow, mat- 
 tress, and all — saturated with blood, and a pool upon 
 the floor. 
 
Childhood and Youth. 
 
 15 
 
 At another time he found himself in the outer ed- 
 dies of the most destructive whirlpool on the Mississippi, 
 circling to its vortex. Almost the last ounce of his 
 strength was employed as he bent to the oar, and es- 
 caped with utmost exhaustion. And many times he 
 narrowly escaped snags and rocks and other impedi- 
 ments to navigation. How we see in this, as in the 
 story of every eventful life, that which teaches the in- 
 efficiency of human means, and the present control of 
 a Supreme Agency ! 
 
 When referring to these past experiences, it was with 
 much gratitude and humble thankfulness that God ever 
 saved his soul, and turned his feet into the path of 
 righteousness, so often, with much fervor, saying, "O! 
 if I had a thousand lives, they would all be devoted to 
 that Savior who so wondrously delivered my soul from 
 death and my feet from falling in the slippery paths 
 of sin." 
 
 " Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well 
 When our deep plots do pall ; and that should teach us 
 There 's a Divinity that shapes our ends, 
 Rough hew them how we will." 
 
 With the associations that such a life drew around 
 him, it was easy for him to drift away from God, as 
 he neglected Sabbath privileges and other means of 
 grace in caring for his boat and his goods. He met 
 many interesting characters, and was friendly, kind, and 
 genial even to the most uncouth, ever ready to share 
 his supplies and means with the poor and unfortunate, 
 of which class he met many, often taking several travel- 
 ers in his boat with him, freely helping them on their 
 way, and sharing with them his comforts as with broth- 
 ers, always winning their confidence and esteem, and 
 
1 6 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 never received any violence, or suffered any loss from 
 malicious hands, though he afterward learned he 'd had 
 for companions the outlaws of the country, shedders of 
 innocent blood, who were fleeing" from justice. But 
 who could do an injustice to such a nature as David 
 Lewis? He was endowed with that "art of all arts," and 
 even in what he was pleased to term his wicked (?) days 
 was possessed with that beautiful trait of character which 
 could see and bring out even the latent good in those 
 he met. 
 
 On one occasion several men were aboard. One had 
 lost his hat in the river, and, unable to recover it, tried 
 to purchase one of the fellow-passengers who had extra 
 hats; and they, naturally enough, took advantage of the 
 man's misfortune, and asked him double the value of 
 a hat. The man, not able to pay so much, resigned him- 
 self to his fate, and tied his handkerchief over his head 
 till he could reach New Orleans. David, taking in the 
 situation, took off his hat, and gave it to the man, say- 
 ing that the man was bald, and needed a hat, but he 
 had plenty of hair, and would not suffer. This inci- 
 dent so touched the others that he had several hats 
 offered him before he reached the city. 
 
 While in New Orleans, he laid the foundation of his 
 library, purchasing a number of rare and valuable books. 
 
 Though in his boyhood he had been led a few times by 
 evil associates into drinking intoxicants, it never became a 
 habit; and he was by principle opposed to anything that 
 would steal away from man the God-endowed gift of 
 reason and intelligence. And while stopping at a hotel 
 in his journey, he was the only male guest that did not 
 drink. The others frequently asked him to drink with 
 them, but he would always refuse. Finally they gave 
 
Childhood and Youth. 17 
 
 him his choice of doing so willingly or being compelled 
 to do so. Upon his still refusing, they held him down, 
 and tried to force the liquor into his mouth. Their 
 plans were thwarted, however, by a burly Irishman, 
 who came in, and, seeing the difficulty, told them to let 
 the fellow up, or he 'd "clean out the place." 
 
 Small wonder that, in after years, when David Lewis 
 preached on the subject of intemperance, he let it be 
 known that every ounce of his weight and every drop 
 of his blood should testify against the nefarious traffic. 
 
 Small wonder that he could command no words 
 strong enough, or paint no picture dark enough, to 
 convey half the loathing and abhorrence he had for the 
 business that is not content to take to perdition its own 
 willing supporters, but will even use violence to draw 
 the pure, the innocent, and the good down with them. 
 
 He traveled over most of the Southern States, fitting 
 glasses to defective eyes, and often giving to the needy 
 that were unable to buy. 
 
 The varied and numerous experiences of this jour- 
 ney furnished a rich store of illustration, from which 
 he drew in his ministry, to fasten religious truth or 
 vividly convey some spiritual lesson. Many interesting 
 and laughable incidents (among the Negroes and super- 
 stitious whites) were related by him; for, though he al- 
 ways viewed sacred things with seriousness, he had the 
 happy faculty of seeing the pleasant side of things, and 
 his fun-loving nature enabled him to draw mirth from 
 most uncanny circumstances. 
 
 One sad incident. — At one time he was thrown in 
 company with an old man, who had passed the "sunny 
 side" of life, as the world puts it, with no hope or cheer 
 for his declining years. David had, by his kindness, 
 
18 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 won the old man's heart, which he opened to David 
 concerning his fears of the future and his longing for 
 that "hope which is within the vail." David, being in 
 a backslidden state and careless himself concerning 
 things of eternity, told him: "Never mind the future. 
 Enjoy the present life; go on and do the best you can, 
 and you '11 come out all right." Many, many times in 
 his ministry he referred to this incident, and with tearful 
 eyes and trembling voice and arm outstretched to 
 heaven, he said: "O my friends! I'd give that right 
 arm to the shoulder if I could but recall that oppor- 
 tunity, and put my arm around that dear old man, and 
 tell him, 'O my brother, there is mercy and pardon; 
 Jesus died for you.' I feel I 'd gladly walk all the way to 
 Florida to undo that wrong if it were possible. It seems 
 to me that old man will meet me at the bar of God, 
 and speak against me. But I know God in His mercy 
 has pardoned me, and may He also save the dear old 
 man!" 
 
 " The deeds we do, the words we say, 
 Into still air may seem to fleet : 
 
 We count them ever past ; 
 
 But they shall last, — 
 In the dread judgment they 
 And we shall meet !" —John KEB13. 
 
II. 
 
 CONVERSION AND CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 
 
 A FTER his return from the South, David Lewis again 
 **• engaged with his former employer as grocer in 
 Portsmouth, Ohio. His services were highly valued, 
 and his salary was doubled to induce him to remain; 
 but for some unaccountable reason — unless it be an 
 overruling Providence that was preparing him for better 
 things — he came home to Wheeling for a rest. 
 
 Here the providence of God was beautifully mani- 
 fested in turning him, with his teeming energies and 
 his vivacious and fun-loving disposition, from the fas- 
 cinations of the world to be an humble messenger of 
 the gospel. 
 
 In the summer of '84 a friend of his in the city of 
 Wheeling, who was addicted to intemperance, and 
 longed for freedom from its temptations, induced David 
 to take him to the country, among the Quakers, twenty 
 miles from the city. They went to the home of William C. 
 and Judith C. Johnson, ministers, who had been helpful 
 to the poor man in previous conflicts with the liquor 
 demon; and, while helping another, David himself was 
 helped. He was at this time in a backslidden state, and 
 had embraced infidelity, having read many infidel books, 
 and fortified himself in their doctrine; but he did not 
 long escape the questioning of these Friends, who make 
 it their chief business to endeavor to establish all within 
 their influence upon that Sure Foundation. David's 
 
 19 
 
20 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 vain confidence was shaken, his false peace disturbed, 
 and his eyes opened to see his danger. He was brought 
 under deep conviction, and spent many a prayerful, 
 sleepless night. 
 
 Neither did the consistent daily life of these joyful, 
 happy Christians escape his notice. 
 
 Men and women are on trial when they least sus- 
 pect it. Many times, in giving an account of his own 
 conversion, he has said, "I didn't care for argument; I 
 could answer all that. I did n't care for fine sermons and 
 good theology. I was ready for anything I might meet 
 in a conflict of words; but when I found a home, subject 
 to all the conflicts attendant upon family life, with its 
 duties and cares, ruled by the Prince of peace; when I 
 found a man who, like Joshua, said, both in word and 
 deed, 'As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord;" 
 when I found a happy man, one that could sing all day 
 when the rain threatened to ruin his hay, and when 
 farm hands were slow, indifferent, and careless; who, 
 w r hen the cattle would break into the corn, could drive 
 them out with a smile instead of a curse, I said, 'O, it 
 is Divine power alone can do this.' " 
 
 He was thus awakened to the sense of his danger- 
 ous position, and began praying and asking the prayers 
 of his friends. He attended prayer-meetings and preach- 
 ing-services several times while in the country, and 
 on all suitable occasions confessed his need and lost 
 condition, made open confession of his wayward life, 
 and maintained his position as a seeker after pardon; 
 and, though he felt no assurance of his acceptance, he 
 firmly asserted his intentions, by the grace of God, to 
 hold on by faith till the victory was won. He was, 
 from the first, very zealous in the cause of Christ; 
 
Conversion and Call to the Ministry. 21 
 
 earnest in public as well as private prayer; was often 
 leader of prayer-meetings, where God gave him power 
 to win souls; and he often made family visits where he 
 knew of any in distress, and gave short exhortations on 
 all suitable occasions. Thus he continued, with much 
 uneasiness of mind on his own account, and many prayer- 
 ful and sleepless nights, with diligent reading of God's 
 Word; struggling on for three weeks, not yet having 
 the witness of the Spirit to his acceptance, or the peace 
 and joy in believing. 
 
 His heart was heavy. He felt he 'd been a hypocrite, 
 and determined, at the next opportunity, to denounce 
 religion, give up his efforts and his hold upon God, and 
 tell his friends he had been deceived; that religion, what- 
 ever it might be to others, to him it was a failure. He 
 was soon to lead a cottage prayer-meeting in Wheel- 
 ing. He arose, Testament in hand, in one corner of the 
 room, with the previously-arranged words upon his 
 lips; but the Spirit would not allow them to be uttered. 
 This extremity of human effort was God's opportunity; 
 and as he cast his eyes over the room, a flood of light 
 illuminated his soul, the peace of God filled his heart, 
 and the reality of things unseen took possession of him; 
 and as he opened his mouth, God filled it with His own 
 words; and with broken utterances, amid tears of joy, 
 he said, "Brothers and sisters, if there 's but one per- 
 son in this room to-night going to heaven, that 's Da- 
 vid Lewis." The scene that followed can scarcely be 
 described. The impenitent were brought to contrition, 
 the lukewarm were revived, believers were built up in 
 the most holy faith, and the work of soul-saving went on ; 
 and there were added to the Church through his efforts 
 more in a few weeks than through the pastor's work in 
 
22 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 several months. Thus God gave to his labors the seal 
 of fruitful results in the conversion of souls from the 
 very beginning. God's service was his delight, and 
 though, as he often said, he was so ignorant of the 
 Bible when he was converted that he did not know 
 where to find the Book of Romans, he began a diligent 
 study of the Word, feeling he must redeem the time. 
 He often added the night to the day in his careful read- 
 ing, and, while in the city, it was very easy for a soul 
 so enthused with the powers of the world to come, 
 and so awakened to the sense of the wickedness and 
 sin about him, to find open doors for service, and he 
 was too wise to allow any of his precious moments to 
 be trifled away. 
 
 He walked cheerfully, as well as valiantly, in the 
 ways of God. He sought out the poor and needy and 
 the fallen victims of intemperance, and took to them 
 the gospel of salvation; and many a broken-hearted wife, 
 then struggling in hopeless want and poverty, to-day 
 rejoices in a happy, united home, worthy members of 
 the Church of Christ, through David Lewis's early 
 efforts for God. 
 
 The Church immediately gave him work, and while 
 yet a probationer in the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 they gave him minister's license, and placed him in a 
 vacancy caused by the illness of the pastor. 
 
 The acceptance of this, however, was not without a 
 severe struggle, much heart-searching, and pleading 
 with God to know His will. He wanted to work for 
 God, but preferred the little cottage prayer-meeting. 
 He chose to seek out the by-way sinner, the fallen 
 drunkard, the unloved, unknown, and unsought crimi- 
 nal, and lift them up into the sunshine of God's pres- 
 ence and peace. 
 
Conversion and Call to the Ministry. 
 
 23 
 
 And before he gave the final answer to the call, he 
 spent the night in prayer, earnestly desiring to know 
 God's will. His sister, who had always been the guid- 
 ing star of his life and ever a comfort and help to him 
 in his Christian work, said, "Now, David, God has an- 
 swered my prayer, and is going to make you a 
 preacher;" and he felt, if that had been her prayer, God 
 would do it, and he must be obedient. 
 
 He was much humbled that God should thus so 
 plainly call one so ill qualified, as he felt; one so ig- 
 norant of Divine things, and one who had willfully lived 
 so far from God; and with throbbing heart, trembling 
 limb, and eyes bathed in tears, after a sleepless night of 
 prayer, he packed his satchel and started, with the 
 parting kiss and blessing of a godly sister, on the first 
 of many missions of love for the Master. 
 
 " God's purposes will ripen fast, 
 Unfolding every hour ; 
 The bud may have a bitter taste, 
 But sweet will be the flower." 
 
 The Church where he was sent was a large and 
 fashionable one. Among its members were educators, 
 professors, and business men. He felt his insufficiency, 
 his ignorance, and his want of preparation for the work 
 before him, and was almost overcome by the task. He 
 read, and prayed, and studied, wrote and rewrote his 
 sermons, making the best preparation he could. He 
 would often say, "I never can do it;" but his appeals to 
 God reached the Throne, and God's strength was made 
 perfect in his weakness. To use his own language, as 
 he described his own experience: 
 
 "I persevered for several weeks, holding on to God 
 instead of allowing God to hold on to me. I would 
 arise to speak, with my knees smiting together for very 
 
24 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 fear, my heart in my mouth, and my voice trembling at 
 every sentence, and all the colors of the rainbow played 
 upon the page before my eyes. I made my messages as 
 short as would do. The hymns and prayers seemed of in- 
 determinate length. The benediction was the most enjoy- 
 able part of my service. It was torture to serve God in 
 this way. I almost hated the sight of the church which 
 was the scene of such self-mortification, and the sound 
 of the bell that called the people together to hear the 
 Word of God so poorly expounded. I could not en- 
 dure it any longer, and I told the Lord about it. And after 
 doing my best in preparation of heart and mind by 
 much prayer and careful thought, I said: 'Now, Lord, 
 I can't go on this way any longer. I 'm a disgrace to 
 Thy cause, I dishonor Thy name, I 'm ignorant and 
 uncultured in Thy Word ; but I love Thee, Lord, and want 
 to serve Thee, and I '11 try once more. But, Lord, if 
 Thou dost not deliver me from this man-fearing spirit, 
 if Thou dost not lift me up above myself and the people, 
 if Thou dost not take away this trembling, and give 
 me confidence, / 7/ never preach again. 1 ,: 
 
 This prayer was made in an extreme moment, and 
 in all candor and good faith, and he often said: "I 
 meant it. I fully intended to pack my grip and start 
 home the next morning, thinking I had been mistaken 
 in my calling." But O ! then God showed himself strong 
 in behalf of him whose heart was perfect toward Him. 
 
 " When thou sinkest, He will bring 
 Beneath thy fall His own great wing." 
 
 Yes, and that great wing lifted him above every 
 earthly hindrance. He said: "I ascended the pulpit- 
 stairs as light as a feather, almost walking in the air. 
 My heart was no longer in my mouth, or my knees 
 
Conversion and Call to the Ministry. 
 
 25 
 
 smiting together. My voice was clear as a bell; and the 
 people, they seemed as babies before me. My message 
 was from the Holy One. I was on the King's business. 
 I was impatient for the choir to finish, so I could de- 
 liver my message. God's Spirit came. I was lifted up. 
 I never saw those learned men and those critics in my 
 audience. I saw only the Cross of Calvary, and felt its 
 power in my own soul, and tried to make ' my hearers 
 feel it. That day was a pivot point in my experience.' , 
 And up to the close of his life he said: "Never, from 
 that day to this, have I asked God for an evidence that 
 I was called to preach. Never, from that day to this, 
 have I doubted for a moment that God had made me a 
 messenger of the Cross; and never, from that day to 
 this, have I had any desire for worldly pursuits." 
 
 And while opportunities for theological training, 
 with flattering prospects beyond, were open to him, and 
 the privilege of mastering the sciences of the schools, 
 he devoted himself to what is in truth the flower and 
 crown of all sciences — the science of salvation, the 
 knowledge of that plan which came from heaven to 
 guide men thither. This he entered upon as the passion 
 of his life. He felt the King's business required haste, 
 and that he must immediately enter the harvest-field be- 
 fore him, caring more for the salvation of souls and the 
 glory of God than for the allurements of prominence or 
 the favor of men. What the feeble may attempt in 
 paroxysms, or under intense excitement, his great heart 
 did as a calm habit, a firm conviction, a steady purpose. 
 
 In no place better than in the domains of religious 
 effort can we find more satisfactory examples of con- 
 centration of purpose and decisive action; and David 
 Lewis's decided life gives one more proof of the effects 
 
26 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 that man can accomplish when he gives himself wholly 
 to realize some cherished result. He was valiant for the 
 good and true, and wrought out his purposes with un- 
 swerving persistency. "This one thing I do," was a fa- 
 vorite quotation from St. Paul; and he, like its author, 
 knew how unwise it was to allow his powers to run to 
 waste amid distracting pursuits. And that first great 
 command, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all 
 thy heart, and all thy soul, and all thy strength, and all 
 thy mind," proclaimed to him as from the very Throne 
 what should be first, last, and supreme in the soul — the 
 one, over-mastering, all-absorbing principle. 
 
III. 
 
 FIRST PASTORATE. 
 
 T T IS engagement with this Church expired in a few 
 * * months, and he entered into evangelistic work with 
 Judith C. Johnson, among Friends in Short Creek 
 Quarterly Meeting, holding successful revivals at 
 Guernsey and at East Richland, O. At the latter place 
 there was a large number of conversions of men and 
 women, thirty of whom made application for Church 
 membership with Friends, on condition that David 
 Lewis would remain as their pastor; and, though this 
 was foreign to any of his plans, and altogether a new 
 thought to him, it seemed the voice of the people was 
 the voice of God, and his name, with the others — pastor 
 and people together — was accepted into membership by 
 Short Creek Monthly Meeting. 
 
 He felt the responsibility of his new position, and 
 his own insufficiency, and gave himself to the study of 
 the Word of God, and to prayer, lived a very studious 
 and abstemious life, for many days together subsisting 
 upon one scanty meal a day, that he might have the more 
 time for reading and study. In this new bent, which 
 strong conviction gave to his energetic mind, he dis- 
 played much ardor, and his efforts were such as might 
 be expected in a character like his when aroused by a 
 Power that makes all things new. 
 
 He was a model Christian man, prudent, prompt, 
 tender, loving, resolute, fearing God, and having no 
 
 27 
 
28 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 other fear. His calm judgment acquired the power 
 which belongs to strong passion. His decision for good 
 and his fortitude in enduring were resistless. 
 
 He advanced in the knowledge of Divine things. His 
 zeal, his devotedness, his fascinating persuasiveness, and 
 the power of the truth he taught, won hearts to himself 
 and to the Master he served. 
 
 Short Creek Monthly Meeting recorded him a min- 
 ister, December 22, 1886. 
 
 All study and research impressed upon him more 
 and more the realities of Divine truth. He cast aside 
 every weight, he resisted every sin, and neglected noth- 
 ing that might prove either the sincerity of his zeal or 
 the fervor of his love. He dedicated his time, his tal- 
 ents, his acquisitions, his substance, to the Lord, de- 
 siring to present his whole being as a living sacrifice, 
 expressive of his entire devotion. And as he regarded 
 not his own interest, so neither did he seek his own 
 honor. 
 
 In all the changing circumstances of life he acted like 
 a man whose treasures were laid up in heaven, and 
 possessed of that crowning grace, 
 
 " Humility — that low, sweet root 
 From which all heavenly virtues shoot." 
 
 Holiness in his life was religion shining. It was 
 faith gone to work; it was charity coined into action; 
 it was devotion breathing benediction on human suffer- 
 ing. In his morning walks, which he was accustomed 
 to take for healthful exercise, he would sometimes find 
 a homeless traveler by the way, and would bring him 
 to the house, and feed and clothe him. He never 
 called them tramps. And when the stock of discarded 
 clothing was exhausted, he has taken off his own wear- 
 
First Pastorate. 29 
 
 ing apparel, that he might not refuse the call of the 
 needy. And when it was suggested that the object 
 might not be worthy, or that they were as able to work 
 for a living as himself, he'd reply: "We don't know 
 what sad misfortune has brought him to what he is. Poor 
 fellow! He has a kind, good face, and may be as worthy 
 as you or I; and we must help him." And then: "Who 
 made us to differ from him? When I come to meet 
 God, I 'd rather have helped a hundred undeserving 
 poor than to have turned away one in real want. We 
 must do it for Jesus' sake, who was kind to the un- 
 thankful and to the evil. ,, 
 
 Many a destitute outcast has walked miles to reach 
 the door of David Lewis, knowing they 'd meet a friend, 
 and receive help and cheer. He was never known to 
 refuse a call to help any religious or benevolent enter- 
 prise. If he had but a dollar in his pocket, it was given 
 as heartily as though he had a thousand; and when kind 
 friends would suggest that he could not afford to give 
 so freely when he had no certain income, with a look 
 of "holy horror" and a tone of "righteous indignation" 
 at the thought of allowing personal interests to supersede 
 the work of the Church, he would reply, "J can't afford 
 to let God's cause suffer as long as I have a dollar." 
 
 Faith was put to the test for temporal things many 
 times in his early experience. The income being small, 
 the strictest economy was required that the little library 
 might grow, which was to him what tools are to a 
 mechanic; and, though sometimes without fuel, sugar, 
 butter, and other necessities, his zeal for the Master or 
 his cheerfulness in His service were never affected by 
 either fullness or scarcity. To be patient under trial is 
 no small praise; to be content is more; but to be cheerful 
 is the highest pitch of Christian fortitude. With the as- 
 
30 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 surance that he was safer in a storm that God sends 
 than in a calm befriended by the world, he never made 
 known his temporal needs to any human friend, but 
 poured them into the Divine ear, with full assurance 
 that our "God is able to deliver;" and most marvelous 
 and immediate were the answers to such petitions, and 
 our hearts would be humbled in gratitude, and he often 
 exclaimed, "O God, I never again can doubt Thy power 
 or Thy willingness. " The assurance that he was a child 
 of a King to whom all the silver and gold belonged lifted 
 him above harassing fears of temporal want, his absorb- 
 ing desire for knowledge led to many personal inconven- 
 iences and even discomfort and exposure, many times 
 walking long distances, and carrying a heavy grip, that 
 the railroad or livery fare might thus be saved and added 
 to the little book fund. He fairly tore the heart out of 
 every book that came within his reach, making it his very 
 own, storing it away for future use, and he knew just when 
 to use it and where to find it. His facts and ideas were 
 arranged in his mind as his hat, clothes, and books were 
 arranged in his room — in systematic order. His system 
 and order in personal habits helped him in system and 
 order in thinking and speaking. 
 
 He read, as he did everything else, with a purpose, 
 and that purpose was to make himself more efficient in 
 his heaven-appointed mission. 
 
 The deep humility and gratitude with which he ever 
 regarded his own salvation often found expression in 
 words like these: "I tremble to think how indifferent I 
 was, but O, how merciful God was to spare my life to 
 seek His face and favor ; and, friends, if God could save a 
 David Lewis, convert him from a life of profanity and 
 infidelity, change his tastes and inclinations from a pleas- 
 
First Pastorate. 
 
 3i 
 
 ure-seeking, fun-loving worldling to be an humble fol- 
 lower of the Cross, take his feet from the downward path 
 and set them on the King's highway, put a new song in 
 his mouth, even praise to our God, He can save any- 
 body. Glory! We do not say the sun ought to shine, 
 a good tree ought to produce good fruit, seven and three 
 ought to make ten. The sun does shine by its own light, 
 a good tree does produce good fruit, seven and three do 
 make ten, and has from everlasting. So living faith in 
 Christ does produce a Christlike life." It did in David J 
 Lewis. 
 
 Early in the year 1888, after a successful revival at 
 Winona, Ohio, held by Judith C. Johnson and himself, 
 David Lewis was called to the pastorate of that place; 
 many men and women were saved and added to the 
 Church, and remain to the present to be shining lights for 
 God and worthy supporters of the cause of Christ. Faith- 
 fully and well did he serve his Master and His flock at this 
 place for two years. 
 
 His ministry was distinguished by a rich, chaste, and 
 boundless imagination, and exhaustless resources of beau- 
 tiful language and happy illustration; always ready and 
 prompt, his conceptions seemed almost intuitive. He was 
 skillful in putting into words the experiences of the inner 
 life — a real translator of latent thoughts. He spoke what 
 the hearer had often felt, but could not express, and never 
 heard before, until he is surprised at hearing the most 
 secret emotions of his innermost heart springing from 
 those anointed lips as the gentle ripple of a silver stream. 
 
 As the world's teacher he was first God's learner. His 
 study opened outward to the world around, and upward 
 to the heaven above, for no man can draw so near to the 
 world's heart without first drawing near to God's. 
 
IV. 
 
 WORK IN ADRIAN QUARTERLY MEETING. 
 
 COMPILED BY JACOB BAKE)R. 
 
 pvAVID J. LEWIS'S first acquaintance with Friends 
 ■ L ^ of Adrian was in the winter of 1890. He was sent 
 to us of God, was much blessed of Him in building up 
 the brethren in the most holy faith, and numbers were 
 gathered into the fold of Christ and added to the Church 
 throughout the quarter through his faithful ministry. 
 
 He was called, as pastor, to Raisin Valley, where he 
 lived for one year, giving his Sabbath mornings to that 
 meeting and the evenings to Tecumseh, seven miles away. 
 His heart seemed set upon this meeting, to build up its 
 waste places. Their place of worship was a small meeting- 
 house in the suburbs of the village. As a revival pro- 
 gressed, and interest and numbers increased, a plan was 
 laid for a new and larger church in a more convenient 
 location. This plan was developed and executed the fol- 
 lowing summer, and near the middle of November, 1891, 
 the new church, carpeted and cushioned throughout, 
 lighted and heated, was dedicated without a cent of debt, 
 David using much personal effort and means in its ar- 
 rangement and completion, and spent much time in solicit- 
 ing funds. From this time David remained a member of 
 Adrian Quarterly Meeting until he was taken to the Church 
 triumphant. For several years he was superintendent of 
 evangelistic work, always manifesting the sweet spirit of 
 Christ, and showing himself skillful in many peculiarly 
 
 32 
 
Work in Adrian Quarterly Meeting. 33 
 
 trying circumstances. This work, together with wider 
 evangelistic services, took him much from his flock and 
 his home, and once, twice, thrice, yea, four times, the 
 telegraphic wires bore to him the tidings that the little 
 "sunlight" of their home was "fading away;" and these 
 little lights each went out, leaving their arms empty and 
 their home childless. 
 
 "They seemed as cherubs, who had 
 Lost their way, and wandered hither ; 
 So their stay with us was short ! " 
 
 And four times the "little dresses" were "put away," 
 and four little, undeveloped buds of immortality, 
 
 " Crowned with the beautiful flowers, 
 Under the changing sky." 
 
 David's intense nature was doubly intense in his affec- 
 tionate fondness and tenderness to his "loved and own." 
 These sorrows wounded deeply his sensitive heart; but 
 these griefs, keen as they were, seemed only to increase 
 his power to love, to serve, and to sacrifice, and he toiled 
 on, with these thorns against his breast, only to sing, 
 more sweetly: 
 
 " Fade, fade each earthly joy, 
 Jesus is mine." 
 
 At Quincy. — In the winter of 1893 ne ne ^ a series 
 of union services at Quincy, Michigan, in which scores 
 of sduIs gave evidence of a saving knowledge of Christ, 
 one of which we can not fail to emphasize: Thomas 
 Johnson, a most intemperate man, his home one of 
 wretchedness and toil, and, though otherwise a kind hus- 
 band and father and a good workman, he was rarely free 
 from the influence of intoxicants, thus disqualifying 
 him for work, his faithful Christian wife supporting the 
 3 
 
34 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 family by her own efforts. David visited him in his 
 blacksmith-shop, and invited him to meeting, promising 
 to go home with him to dinner. Thomas came, somewhat 
 intoxicated, wearing a straw hat, though the weather was 
 severe. David put his arm in his, and walked up the 
 street to their humble home. He spent the afternoon 
 earnestly and lovingly pleading with Thomas to forsake 
 his life of sin, and submit to Christ. That night and two 
 succeeding nights he went to the altar under the influ- 
 ence of drink; the fourth night he went sober, and was 
 converted. A few days after the old appetite came back, 
 and having promised David that he would die before he 
 would again taste anything intoxicating, he took a bottle 
 of liquor he had secreted in his shop, threw it upon the 
 ground, dropped upon his knees, and asked God to take 
 away all desire for the "vile stuff;" and from that hour 
 the appetite was gone forever. Of this convert, the Rev. 
 H. D. Allen, of the Baptist Church, writes: "I well re- 
 member one testimony in his new home about two years 
 afterward. He said: 'I could not control my appetite. I 
 used to think I 'd commit some crime, and get into prison, 
 where I could not get liquor, or take the "Gold Cure;" 
 but I had no money; but I took the "Blood Cure." Thank 
 God, and how effectual! How precious the blood that 
 did save and cleanse and deliver such a man as I was.' ' : 
 Brother Allen says : "I took him and his wife and daughter 
 into the Church, and I never had a more consecrated and 
 faithful member. He was a good workman, and indus- 
 trious, and soon got out of the old house into a new, well- 
 furnished one, all the time giving liberally to the support 
 of the Church. I never knew such a witness for Christ; 
 no skeptic in all the community but was effectually 
 silenced at the mention of Thomas Johnson's name as 
 
Work in Adrian Quarterly Meeting. 35 
 
 evidence of God's saving power. He was with us a little 
 over two years. One Monday he attended the funeral 
 of a member of the Church, walked up town and back 
 with his wife, and at the family altar read the fifty-eighth 
 chapter of Isaiah. Each prayed, and in thirty minutes 
 Thomas was in glory." David, in writing me, said, "That 
 we have been instrumental in leading Thomas to Christ 
 will ever be a source of great joy;" and now David has 
 gone to join Thomas in praising the Savior who was so 
 precious to them both. When I think of this one star 
 in David's crown, I am made glad, and rejoice, and would 
 hail my dear brother from the glory world. Thou hast 
 gained infinitely more in being the humble instrument 
 in the hands of God in bringing this one soul to glory 
 than all earth could have given thee. I praise God as I 
 write that David Lewis turned his back upon all the al- 
 lurements of this world — its wealth, its pleasures, its hon- 
 ors — and consecrated himself, with all his ransomed 
 powers, to the one work of saving souls. I have had 
 many evangelists assist me, but none that I prized so 
 highly as David. He was one of the sweetest-spirited 
 men I ever knew; everybody loved him, I suppose, be- 
 cause he loved everybody. He spent three hours a day 
 in private prayer in his room, was a wise workman, 
 preached the Word faithfully, and had great power in 
 prayer." 
 
 We have the following account of the Springville work 
 in the winter of 1893 and 1894: The first sermon was 
 preached to a scattered congregation; but the truth took 
 hold of the people, and as the knowledge of the meeting 
 spread, the house was filled, people were deeply impressed, 
 and the Lord's power was felt by all. One man remarked, 
 when he heard of the meeting, "I am sorry, for it will be 
 
36 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 all excitement." He did not believe in the reality of re- 
 ligion, but after attending the first meeting, said: "No 
 man could offer such a prayer as Brother Lewis offered 
 if religion were not a reality." He was the first in that 
 meeting to find the Savior. No one could listen to Brother 
 Lewis's discourses without being impressed that he 
 preached what he believed, and believed and practiced 
 what he preached. In the harness he was at his best. 
 
 Meetings were also held at Clinton, Macon, Onsted, 
 Jonesville, Ypsilanti, Hanover, and other places, with 
 more or less success, according to the degree of zeal and 
 unity among the Christian people. As an evangelist, 
 David, being in close and constant fellowship with God, 
 found the way to the hearts of the people with rare tact 
 and wisdom, and all hold him in high esteem for his work's 
 sake, and he became endeared to the Friends of Michigan 
 so that the parting was keenly felt. 
 
 Rest he could not not, such was his burden for souls, 
 and when failing health came he could not comply with 
 the earnest request of his many friends to slacken his ef- 
 forts, but still put his life on the altar of sacrifice, and 
 not till strength was well-nigh gone did he lay off the 
 armor. 
 
 The writer knew him personally from his first min- 
 isterial service, being often associated with him in official 
 work of the Church, and learned to love him for his 
 open, earnest efforts to hold up the true standard of a 
 life of holiness in accordance with the pentecostal ex- 
 perience as taught and lived by the primitive Church un- 
 der the teaching of the apostles. 
 
 Truly, David was a living trophy of redeeming grace, 
 and a workman of whom none need be ashamed. "The 
 memory of the just is blessed!" 
 
V. 
 
 LAST ILLNESS. 
 
 P ARLY in the evening, just as the twilight was deepen- 
 *-' ing into night, February 16, 1899, we can imagine 
 the Savior thus addressing the Father: "Father, I will 
 that David J. Lewis be with Me where I am, that he may 
 behold My glory which Thou hast given Me." Then 
 came the Lord Himself — not death — for, as Coleridge 
 beautifully expresses it, "Death once was conqueror, but 
 on the bed where a Christian expires, 't is death itself that 
 dies." "We repose confidence in God who, out of so 
 great a death, rescued us, and doth rescue, in whom we 
 have fixed our hope that even yet He will rescue." 
 
 It seemed to all that his life was too valuable to the 
 Church for him to be taken now, and prayer was made 
 daily for his recovery. He had a strong desire to live for 
 the sake of the cause of Christ, which so inspired his 
 heart; but when he thought of the Savior's "welcome 
 home" he was "homesick for heaven." Not many weeks 
 before the last, he clipped the following poem from a 
 paper, saying it expressed his own feelings : 
 
 " My feet are weary, and my hands are tired, 
 My sonl oppressed. 
 And I desire what I have long desired — 
 Rest — only rest. 
 
 'T is hard to toil when toil is almost vain, 
 
 In barren ways ; 
 'Tis hard to sow and never garner grain 
 
 In harvest days. 
 
 37 
 
38 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 The burden of my days is hard to bear, 
 
 But God knows best; 
 And I have prayed, but vain has been my prayer, 
 
 For rest — sweet rest. 
 
 'Tis hard to plant in spring and never reap 
 
 The autumn yield. 
 'T is hard to till, aud when 't is tilled, to weep 
 
 O'er fruitless field. 
 
 And so I cry — a weak and human cry — 
 
 So heart-oppressed; 
 And so I sigh — a weak and human sigh — 
 
 For rest — sweet rest. 
 
 My way has wound across the desert years ; 
 
 And cares infest 
 My path, and through the flowing of hot tears 
 
 I pine for rest. 
 
 'T]was always so. When but a child I laid 
 
 On mother's breast 
 My wearied little head, e'en then I prayed, 
 
 As now — for rest. 
 
 And I am restless still. 'Twill soon be o'er; 
 
 For down the west 
 Life's sun is setting, and I see the shore 
 
 Where I shall rest." 
 
 On returning the slip, the remark was made, "That 
 do n't seem like you, dear; you always chose labor rather 
 than rest." He replied: "Yes; but I can't work as I once 
 did; I can't make things go as I used to do." 
 
 Many things in his later ministry pointed to the rapid 
 ripening for this harvest, and he would weave into his 
 sermons such snatches of poems as indicated a spirit dwell- 
 ing more in the invisible than in the present world — as 
 one who was a pilgrim and a stranger her. 
 
Last Illness. 
 
 39 
 
 Toplady's lines on "Patience" he often read with much 
 fervor : 
 
 "When languor and disease invade 
 This trembling house of clay, 
 'Tis sweet to look beyond the cage, 
 And long to fly away. 
 
 Sweet to reflect how grace Divine 
 
 My sins on Jesus laid ; 
 Sweet to remember that His blood 
 
 My debt of suffering paid." 
 
 The decline in health and strength was steady and con- 
 stant for the last year or more, and all acknowledged that 
 Divine interposition was the only hope as his frail form 
 slowly wasted away; but as the outward man perished, 
 the inward man was renewed day by day, and his view 
 of Divine things grew keener, clearer, and more vivid 
 as he approached that "bend in the river of life that sets 
 its current heavenward." 
 
 It was often remarked by members of his own Church 
 and others: "We can't afford to miss one of those heavenly 
 messages; we won't hear them long." And as he slipped 
 slowly away, we could only watch and pray and wait and 
 trust; but his efforts to ever do his best for God's cause 
 in reading and studying and preparing his own heart 
 were unabated until flesh and heart literally failed, and he 
 was granted the petition he so often made while in health : 
 "And when we fall, may it be with the armor on, in 
 sight of heaven, crowned with immortality, saved by the 
 power of an endless life through the merits of Jesus Christ, 
 our Lord." 
 
 So far was he from willingly relinquishing work, 
 even under his physical disabilities, that, on penning his 
 
40 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 last entry in his diary on New-Year's Day, 1899, he wrote: 
 "God being my Helper, I hope to make this the best year 
 of my life. I shall pass the fortieth milestone in my life's 
 journey this year, should my life be spared to see it. I 
 shall have preached fifteen years, and O, how I am re- 
 minded of how little I have accomplished in comparison 
 to my hope and early dreams! Yet I am all the Lord's, 
 and, health and grace given, shall be delighted to re- 
 double my diligence, and make full proof of my ministry, 
 and show myself a faithful workman and minister of the 
 New Testament in the spirit of love." 
 
 It is worthy of note that in a very recent sermon, as 
 he portrayed the power of Divine grace, he suddenly 
 made a pause of unusual length, as if to gain rapt atten- 
 tion for the reception of profound truth, and with face up- 
 turned and eyes lifted heavenward, with that gentle move- 
 ment of the head from side to side, as was wont to ac- 
 company solemn statement, and that rapid patting of the 
 foot, as the vibrations of a minor key of some stringed 
 instrument, which gesture added solemn and burning em- 
 phasis to Divine impulse, he said: "Ah! my friends, as 
 sure as there is a God in heaven, there is a time coming 
 when David Lewis will need all there is of Divine grace 
 in the boundless storehouse of God's infinite fullness !" 
 
 And, as feeling a closer intimacy and attachment to 
 Divine companionship than to human, he 'd often repeat: 
 
 "Abide with me ! fast falls the eventide, 
 The darkness deepens — Lord, with me abide ! 
 When other helpers fail, and comforts flee, 
 Help of the helpless, O abide with me. 
 Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day; 
 Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away; 
 Change and decay on all around I see; 
 O Thou, who changest not abide with me !" 
 
Last Illness. 41 
 
 The Lord so kindly let him know that the time of 
 departure was near at hand, and the day before the last, 
 he said: "I think it will be settled to-morrow," and on the 
 morrow he spoke calmly and lovingly of many things of 
 the past and hopes for the future, and made a few re- 
 quests concerning some of his effects, and sent messages 
 of love to absent dear ones, whose hearts were breaking 
 that they were not permitted to minister to his wants in 
 those last sad hours or catch the parting words from his 
 failing lips. And as we clasped each other's hand with 
 the intensity of that power that first drew our hearts into 
 one, we had a sweetly solemn paradise together, and that 
 "holy flame" which thirteen years of joy and sorrow, 
 pleasure and pain, had only caused to leap higher and 
 higher, that day joined heaven to earth. 
 
 " O the tender ties which, broken, 
 Drain off the soul of human joy, 
 And make it pain to live, — 
 When such friends part, 
 "Tis the survivor dies." 
 
 He was capable of great things ; capable of imparting 
 great happiness. His words, even in his weakness, were 
 cheery and animated, and the patience and humility that 
 marked his life remained the crowning virtue of his clos- 
 ing days, and every little comfort or luxury was received 
 with expressions of gratitude. Often, when his coun- 
 tenance manifested uneasiness or weariness, and he was 
 asked if he were suffering, he 'd reply: "O no, I 'm only 
 tired, so tired ; but God is so good, I do n't have an ache 
 or a pain. How we ought to praise God! I 'm not down 
 a-bed, as so many dear sufferers are, with painful bed- 
 
42 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 the house until the last day, when he said, "I think I '11 
 rest to-day; I do n't feel like getting up." 
 
 As he spoke of his life-work for Christ, and reviewed 
 God's goodness, how he upbraided himself for having ac- 
 complished so little for God; how plain to him were his 
 mistakes; how ever present, in his weakness, were his 
 failures, which he seemed to see above all his successes! 
 Ah, friends, if such thoughts of duty unfaithfully per- 
 formed should cause a passing regret in the closing hours 
 of a saint so devout, of one who, ever since he knew God, 
 had lived for Him alone, of one who never drew a selfish 
 breath, but whose crowning ambition and only aim in 
 life was to honor the Christ who died for him, what must 
 be the dying regrets of those "who have a name to live, 
 and are dead," of those who serve God for motives other 
 than pure love alone, or who serve Him not, of those 
 who never felt the responsibility of being ambassadors 
 for Christ? 
 
 Ah ! what will be the dying regrets of those who never 
 sacrificed a single comfort or luxury that some darkened 
 life might be brightened, of those who never spent a sleep- 
 less night or an anxious thought over the sinful world 
 for whom Jesus died? 
 
 "jUp ! 't is no dreaming time. Awake ! awake ! 
 Lo, while ye trifle, the light sands steal on, 
 Leaving the hour-glass empty, and thy life, 
 Gliding away, stamps wisdom on its hours." 
 
 All through his sickness, as we watched by his side, 
 in his restful, half-asleep moments, he would be speaking 
 half-indistinctly, and always about the work of the Church, 
 or words of prayer or exhortation, or leading some peni- 
 tent soul to Christ. Thus his latest breath, even in his 
 
Last Illness. 43 
 
 dreams, was employed in exalting the theme that had 
 been so dear to his heart while in health. 
 
 As friends sat by his side, he spoke of his fond hopes 
 for them, his tender love to them, and his disappointment 
 that he had not been able to do more for the little Church, 
 and expressed his desire that the last rites should be 
 simple and inexpensive. 
 
 The following is his dying message, in his own words, 
 which God gave us strength and grace to pencil down 
 calmly as you now read. Yes, that pinnacle of sorrow 
 became the pinnacle of grace, upon which may our feet 
 ever rest 
 
 " Till we shall see Him face to face, 
 And tell the story, saved by grace !" 
 
 "I die with a hearty good will to all brother ministers 
 with whom I 've labored, a feeling of universal benev- 
 olence to every man, woman, and child, and a sincere 
 Christian fellowship with all God's people. I never had 
 occasion to thank God for more kindly consideration, 
 more tender sympathy, or more hearty good will from 
 any congregation I ever served. I only regret I was not 
 able to do more for God and the Church, but if He now 
 takes me to Himself, I '11 praise Him for evermore, not for 
 any good I ever did, no sermon I ever preached, no book 
 I ever read, no money I ever made, but all through the 
 merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. And in the morning 
 of the resurrection, when Christ shall appear, my bones 
 shall rise from the shore of the Pacific." 
 
 So divorced was he from thoughts of self, and so ab- 
 sorbed for the good of others that, in nearly the last lucid 
 moments, as a sister sat by his side speaking of Divine 
 things, he inquired about her husband, who was not in 
 
44 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 the fold of Christ, saying: "I had such a pleasant visit 
 with him not long ago, dear fellow. God bless him! I 
 found him a little tangled up; I tried to deal honestly 
 with him. But this is what I wanted to say, sister : I want 
 to pray, and I want thee to pray." Then he thus began: 
 "Now, Lord, this is the last time I '11 make this petition. 
 I 'm not going to ask Thee any more. I have no desire 
 of my own. Do Thy own pleasure with me. 'Living 
 or dying, I am the Lord's.' Heal me now, Lord, or take 
 me to Thyself, all through the merits of Jesus Christ our 
 Lord, and I '11 praise Thee for evermore; but if Thou 
 would only let Ella go too; but I know Thou wilt care 
 for her for Jesus' sake." 
 
 And when it was evident to all that his spirit was on 
 the borderland, and his tongue, that had so long spoken 
 of the glories of our God and King, began to fail, he was 
 asked, "Do you feel the Lord is coming for you, dear?" 
 He replied : "O yes, dear ; He 's here now ! Glory to Jesus ! 
 I 'm so happy! I 'm so happy!" And when the tongue 
 would no longer express the joy of his new-found in- 
 heritance, he turned his body over with an unnatural 
 strength, with his face towards us, and a heavenly radiance 
 illuminating it, as he laughed aloud, amid the half-dis- 
 tinct utterance, "So happy! so happy!" And we saw he 
 had already awaked in the perfect likeness of Him whose 
 image he had reflected in life. Quietly he lay, with a few 
 symptoms of inward struggle. Fearing he might strangle 
 or have distressing cough, silently, but earnestly, 
 prayer was made that God would prevent those painful 
 symptoms, and gracious was the answer, and the last 
 hour or more was as quiet and restful as a babe on its 
 mother's bosom. And clasping his hand, he gave the 
 last confirming assurance by a loving pressure, as the text 
 
Last Illness. 45 
 
 was repeated that we had taken for our comfort during 
 his illness: "Thanks be unto God, who giveth us the vic- 
 tory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
 A day or two before the last, Brother G. D. Watson 
 came in to pray with him. He seemed to realize God's 
 thoughts for David, and after a prayer of resignation and 
 hope in the unseen reward so near at hand, he sang the 
 following : 
 
 " Down in the valley, among the sweet grasses, 
 Walks my Beloved ; His footprints I see. 
 Haste I to follow Him, Savior and Lover ; 
 
 How the winds whisper Thy dear name to me ! 
 
 Gentler Thy voice than the whisper of angels ; 
 
 Brighter Thy smile than the sun in the sky. 
 Gather me tenderly close to Thy bosom; 
 
 Faint with Thy loveliness, there let me die." 
 
 David expressed admiration for the sentiment of the 
 hymn, and said: "I can only say for myself, 'Lead, Kindly 
 Light,' and I will follow; I would not choose my way." 
 On returning from his last preaching service, noticing 
 that his efforts were more deliberate and easy than was 
 his custom, the remark was made, "You are preaching 
 more easily to yourself; you are learning to preach with 
 less exhaustion." It was taken as an encouraging omen 
 when it was just the opposite. Ah, how slow we are to 
 credit the assurance of coming sorrow! In speaking to 
 a friend the last day he lived, he referred to that occa- 
 sion, saying: "Ella made a remark not long ago which 
 showed me I was failing. I knew if I did not put energy 
 and effort into my sermons it was because I had none." 
 
 But now the course has been finished, the race has 
 been run, the good fight has been fought, the faith has 
 been kept. The crown has been won and gathered from 
 
46 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 the field of conflict; the armor, bright with constant use, 
 laid off for the robe; the sword laid down for the palm; 
 prayer turned to praise, faith to sight, hope to glorious 
 fruition, and, in the bosom of Infinite Love, abiding for- 
 ever. 
 
 When we contemplate his redeemed soul thus in the 
 fullness of his promised inheritance, in the glorious light 
 that shines from Calvary, methinks, could he speak to us 
 with the approving smile of the Master, whose he was and 
 whom he served, he 'd repeat what he said while he was 
 yet with us: "What matter if our bed be hard or our 
 board be scant; what matter if we are misunderstood, neg- 
 lected, and ostracized if, at last, we reach the shining 
 shore, and hear, from those sacred lips, the words that 
 will heal every wound, rest every tired nerve, soothe our 
 fevered brow, and bind up our broken hearts forever, 
 Well done, thou good and faithful servant; enter thou 
 into the joy of thy Lord?' " 
 
VI. 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM HIS DIARY. 
 
 "THE following miscellaneous quotations, culled from 
 * his diary at different places in revival work, written 
 when all alone, and for no eyes but his own, coming from 
 the "low-down depths" of his heart, where all true living 
 is done, reveal, as no analysis of his character can do, the 
 close and vital union with Christ, the True Vine, and the 
 power that sustained him in his journeying often, in perils 
 in the city, in perils in the country, in perils by sickness, 
 in weariness and painfulness, in watching often, in cold 
 and weakness, in fasting and prayer; how he spent and was 
 spent in the cause of Christ, and how utterly he disre- 
 garded his own health and comfort when the work for 
 souls was considered: 
 
 January I, 1895. — "Jesus only" shall be my motto this 
 year, and by grace I hope to fill my fleeting months with 
 my love and labor for souls. God help me to submerge 
 my appetites and passions beneath the flood of my con- 
 scious love for my Savior, that He might be able to reign 
 in my body, soul, and spirit! 
 
 2d. — Onsted, Mich. Am very well. Glory to my 
 Healer! Had good meeting last night; nine more new 
 seekers. Praise the Lord! Interest very good; large 
 audience, and I dislike very much to close, but must in 
 order to fill next appointment at Quincy. God is blessing 
 me much, and I walk five or six miles a day for exercise. 
 
 pth. — Quincy, Mich. O God, aid me this day to stir 
 47 
 
48 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 up saints and sinners! Read James iv especially. I am 
 condemned for talking needlessly of others. Preached 
 on Mark v, 1-20. The meeting needed a sermon on holi- 
 ness, and this did not do. God, help me to hear Thy 
 voice! 
 
 nth. — Am real well; sleep good; am rubbed nightly 
 with good effect; my cold baths are refreshing. Several 
 conversions. Preached on 1 John i, 9; P. M., on Acts 
 xvii, 16, to the Church. A number of conversions and 
 renewals. God help me to deal more with the Church 
 in revivals, as they, nearly invariably, are in the way of 
 conversion of sinners. 
 
 15th. — Am well, but jaded. Want to pray much to- 
 day. O, God is so good to me! I have so many bless- 
 ings. Am O, so tired! Went to my room, and cried to 
 God to help me. Preached on "The Jailer," Acts xvi, 30. 
 People hard to reach. 
 
 18th. — Am some rested, but nervous. O, that God 
 may enable me to live on Him ! Had the best altar service 
 since coming here. I never had so much power in prayer, 
 
 ipth. — Am real well; alcoholic baths, with God's bless- 
 ing, gave me good rest, though I had been very tired. 
 Good meeting; great conviction; several stood for pray- 
 ers, but no conversions. 
 
 20th. — Burdened with the work ; can't shake it off, but 
 follows me to bed. God help me to overcome! A number 
 of sinners stood for prayers. 
 
 21st. — The meeting was weak, as I did not pray 
 enough; too tired. 
 
 25th. — Am persuaded the more sinful men are the less 
 they feel themselves sinners unless attended with some 
 physical reminder, as whisky or the opium habit; then 
 Satan tells them they are too bad. Had a wonderful 
 
Extracts from His Diary. 
 
 49 
 
 prayer-meeting. Preached on Isaiah xxviii, 17. Four 
 conversions. Glory! 
 
 February 3d. — In a new field. Am tired, but well. No 
 time to pray. Short altar service. Not much life. God 
 help the Church ! 
 
 $th. — Very cold; everything frozen in my room — water 
 and ink, and myself, too, almost. I tremble for my throat. 
 O, that God would give me victory and power of body 
 and soul to endure hardness for Him! God, make me an 
 extraordinary Christian for His praise! 
 
 6th. — Cold has affected my throat, and am much 
 hampered by hoarseness. God, help me to trust Thee for 
 deliverance! 
 
 ph. — Am well, save my breast and bronchitis; but 
 am trusting all to God for healing. Altar full, seeking 
 pardon or holiness. Believers getting power. O that God 
 would come to Zion! 
 
 8th. — Spent the day reading Carradine on "Holiness 
 in Symbol" and in earnest prayer. O, that I could know 
 the spirit of abiding, prevailing prayer! God help me, 
 and teach me the "art of arts!" Spent the evening in 
 prayer for the work, but did not have much liberty. O 
 God, help me to draw more and more into a life of prayer! 
 
 10th. — Glory to God! The Lord gave me victory for 
 my throat, and I preached with a clear voice. 
 
 nth. — Am well, but depressed about the meeting. I 
 failed almost utterly last night. The illustrations were 
 too cold; then I did not get down to the people, nor vary 
 the mode of appeal and address. God, help me, for Jesus' 
 sake, to learn to preach! I got the victory over regard 
 for man in my heart I was unconscious of. God help me! 
 Four or five converts. 
 
 1 2th. — Not quite rested over Sabbath's work. God, 
 4 
 
50 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 give me more vitality for Jesus' sake ! Several converted, 
 but the work moves heavily on. No men to push it; all 
 taken up with secret societies. O God, turn the tide of 
 affairs in the Church for Jesus' sake! 
 
 16th. — Am real well. Am a marvel to myself. Walked 
 several miles, and studied as I went. 
 
 23d. — At home. Am well, but digestion impaired. 
 Have dropped down, physically, in my relaxation from 
 work. I must forego all rich eating if I would succeed 
 in my calling. God help me! O, how it pays to pray! 
 I will do more than ever. 
 
 March 2. — Beginning a new work. Visited saloons 
 to-day, and was much helped in one in a season of prayer. 
 
 4th. — Had a sweet season of prayer with Brother R. 
 in my room. Talked too much about people to feed or 
 fatten the soul. I asked God, on my knees, to forgive 
 me, and by His grace divine will guard my lips against 
 this sinful tendency. O tongue! 
 
 ph. — A thousand praises well up in my soul, although 
 the meeting did not yield souls as I had hoped and prayed. 
 O God, help me to-day to prevail for this place ! Preached 
 on Isaiah lvii, 15. Eight or nine conversions. 
 
 nth. — Very weary, O, so tired; but God is so good 
 to us. Preached on Mark x, Bartimeus. Four at the 
 altar. But I 'm too tired. God help me! 
 
 April ph. — Am burdened about the meeting, and I 
 feel the effect on my nerves. God help me! 
 
 August 24th. — Am well, but weary. I must take more 
 exercise, but I can not carry on revival work without 
 a burden on my heart and a tax on my nerves. 
 
 December 31st. — I have tried in '95 to do all my duty; 
 but, D. V., 1896 shall be better in every way by grace 
 divine. Good-bye, old friend "Diary." 
 
Extracts from His Diary. 
 
 51 
 
 January, 1896. — Resting at home. Read a score or 
 more pages, but can not stand much. 
 
 " How fast the time does roll ! 
 Another year has come 
 Of work for body, mind, and soul ; 
 And cheer — it has its sum. 
 
 To me the task is given 
 
 To load the passing time 
 With treasure for the home in heaven — 
 
 To make my life sublime." 
 
 12th. — Am not strong, yet God is with me. 
 
 15th. — Am better, but do not have time nor strength 
 to study and read as I could wish, but, by God's grace, I 
 shall do the best I can for Jesus in every possible way. 
 
 18th. — Took dinner out. Prayed less, and, of course, 
 preached poor. Two converts. Glory to God! 
 
 21st. — The work moves heavily. Some conviction, 
 but the mass seemed unmoved. O God, bring victory! 
 Three young men staid for prayers. 
 
 2 2d. — Got an invitation to a dance; am at a loss to 
 know how to treat it. May God lead and keep me alike 
 from fear and presumption for Jesus' sake! 
 
 26th. — Sabbath. God helped me to preach on Isaiah 
 xlvi, 12, 13. Fifty, perhaps, stood for prayer. Seven con- 
 verted. Glory! 
 
 27th. — Have caught cold; am very hoarse, but trust 
 God for victory. 
 
 28th. — Got the victory over my hoarseness, and 
 preached fairly well. 
 
 February 8th. — Wofully tired. Visited some; had a 
 good time; but broke down. Had too much to carry in 
 meeting. I had to be rubbed all night, and laid in bed 
 till two o'clock next day. 
 
52 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 pth. — Almost sick, and sadly broken. Tried to rest, 
 and was able to preach a weak sermon on Jude 20. Ten 
 converted; house overflowing; meeting closed. 
 
 nth. — Resting at home ; quite tired. 
 
 15th. — Left home to engage in union meetings. 
 
 igth. — Fairly a blizzard. Cold hard on a revival, yet 
 God has His way in the storms, and so it is all well, very 
 well. I am doing all I can stand. 
 
 March pth. — Visited, and had the joy of leading a sick 
 man, who had been very wicked, to Christ. Glory! Four 
 days' rest at home; then entered upon a new work. 
 
 iyth. — Greatly burdened for the work; all I can pos- 
 sibly do. 
 
 2 1st. — Spent the A. M. in prayer; it was a great bless- 
 ing to me. 
 
 April 12th. — Not quite well, but intended to go into 
 another meeting; but our darling Edna seemed quite sick, 
 and I remained at home. 
 
 13th. — Our darling Edna's life went out at midnight. 
 It is well, yet we are bowed and sorrow exceedingly. 
 Our darling gone, how lonely and sad we shall be! Yet, 
 7 is well. 
 
 14th. — We are broken up in the death of our little 
 darling, and we bow to God's will and way. He knows 
 best. Friends and neighbors are kind indeed. 
 
 15th. — Sister Rosanna came; she is a great comfort 
 to us. We are almost prostrated. 
 
 16th. — Laid the little form of our darling to rest in 
 Tecumseh Cemetery. Burdened for the work; it moves 
 slowly. 
 
 July 3d. — In revival work in Maine. 
 
 8th. — Am happy, but feel keenly the work's slow 
 progress. 
 
Extracts from His Diary. 53 
 
 nth. — The work goes so slowly it almost crushes me. 
 No enthusiasm; lukewarm; ease-loving. O, that God 
 could shake this place for Jesus' sake. 
 
 2fih. — I am jaded; rested poorly. O, that God would 
 come in power and abundant grace! I preached on Cor- 
 nelius. Good feeling, but we need power. 
 
 August 3d. — Had a pleasant A. M. reading. Preached 
 on "Faith." O, that God would give us victory! 
 
 ph. — Had a good prayer service; seven raised hands 
 for prayer. O, that God could be honored! 
 
 14th. — Have a great depression in my lungs, but God 
 gives the victory. The Church not burdened nor work- 
 ing as it should. 
 
 28th. — Am well, but the work moves so slowly. It 
 is all I can possibly stand ; but the work is the Lord's. His 
 name be praised for all and forever! O, that He would 
 make bare His arm! 
 
 September pth. — Am real well; slept well, and I feel 
 like going on; but took a cold; throat sore, and hard 
 cough; but my trust is in God. 
 
 nth. — Am better of my cold, but as weak as water, 
 can scarcely stand or walk, but went to meeting at night. 
 
 12th. — Am much better. I napped and prayed, and 
 God much helped me. Glory to His name! 
 
 13th. — Am weak from coughing, but my cold is bet- 
 ter. 
 
 December 17th. — The work moves heavily. The 
 Church won't honor the Holy Ghost. 
 
 18th. — My throat bothers me somewhat more than 
 common, and is quite sensitive and susceptible to cold. 
 
 ipth. — More jaded, as I slept but little, and my throat 
 bled considerable when I coughed. 
 
 January 1, 1897. — At "home, sweet home," resting, 
 
54 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 owing to my throat hemorrhage. I am enjoying my read- 
 ing and study, loafing and resting. May God enable me 
 to do more in my study this year than formerly! I feel 
 the need of culture, especially discipline of mind, and I 
 enter the work with hope and enthusiasm. 
 
 30th. — Am getting stronger. I need to write and 
 think more for mental discipline, yet to get the time and 
 make it a habit seems quite an effort; but I shall make 
 it by God's help. 
 
 31st. — Sabbath. Am quite up to par. My throat 
 shows the benefit of rest and exercise at home, but I had 
 not prayed enough to give me boldness and assurance. 
 God help me! Preached, A. M., on 2 Cor. v, 17, and 
 P. M., on 2 Cor. v, 20. 
 
 February 1st. — A good Monday, without a tint of 
 "blue." Glory to God! 
 
 yth. — Am reading "History of the Reformation." Am 
 not up to par. My recovery is slow. 
 
 nth. — Had a sweet season of prayer, in which God 
 much helped my body. 
 
 26th. — Reading "Reformation," and enjoying it. 
 Worked in my study, and went to see a sick young man, 
 who was too low to be seen. 
 
 2Jth. — Called again, and found him very low, and un- 
 saved. Poor, dear fellow! Prayed, but I do not know 
 what to hope. 
 
 March 8th. — At home, doing ordinary work of a pas- 
 tor. Reading "Reformation" and studying the "Book of 
 books." I must live more in the fresh air, and exercise 
 more systematically. 
 
 26th. — Started this morning on my trip East. Feel 
 depressed, but looking to God for help. O, that He might 
 liberate my poor, sick body! I feel He will. 
 
Extracts from His Diary. 55 
 
 April ipth. — Philadelphia. Got a telegram calling me 
 home to sick baby. 
 
 20th. — Arrived at home 10 P. M. Found my dear 
 baby needing me very much. O, I am so glad I have 
 come. 
 
 May 5th. — Inez seemed better, but we greatly fear. 
 
 6th. — Our darling Inez was called from us this morn- 
 ing at 5 o'clock. How sad to mourn the loss of another 
 only child! Sad and strange; yet 'tis well. God's will 
 be done! We prayed, hoped, lost, and submit. 
 
 ph. — So lonely and sad, but God greatly helps us to 
 triumph over all. 
 
 16th. — Feel fairly well, but conscious of lack of prepa- 
 ration for Lord's-day work. Preached on Luke xii, 32. 
 
 We forbear to chronicle the oft-repeated record of 
 weakness and weariness of the last sad year. How, from 
 day to day, striving against disease, hoping against hope, 
 sweetly, patiently, and perpetually he endured and ripened 
 a character into a loveliness as near perfect as it seems 
 possible for humanity to attain. So often, with most 
 pathetic earnestness, would he say, "No one but God in 
 heaven can ever know the physical limitations I endure 
 in doing my little work for Him; but, bless God, He 
 knows it all!" 
 
 His knowledge, his health, his time, his means, his 
 every endowment, were employed for the good of man- 
 kind. He prayed, he wrote, he read, he preached, summer 
 and winter, day and night; he gave, he labored, he suf- 
 fered, he endangered, nay, destroyed his health and his 
 life, in his service for souls. He practiced Paul's words, 
 "Neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might 
 finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have 
 received of the Lord Jesus." (Acts xx, 24.) 
 
VII. 
 
 TRIBUTES. 
 
 THOMAS ARMSTRONG. 
 
 T"\AVID J. LEWIS was a man of profound convic- 
 *^ tions. Whatever he attempted to accomplish, en- 
 gaged all his powers. He was an earnest searcher after 
 the truth as revealed in Jesus Christ, and as the great 
 facts of redemption were made clear to his own under- 
 standing, he seemed to have no rest only as he could be 
 declaring it to others. 
 
 Endowed as he was with an unusually retentive mem- 
 ory and a broad intellectual grasp, his presentation of 
 the truth was vivid and clear, sometimes almost startling; 
 at others, grand and lofty as those mighty ranges of 
 God's love, so clear to his own mind, were brought to 
 view in language so elegant and chaste as to appeal to 
 the admiration of all. Though physically frail when we 
 knew him, there was continued evidence of the illumin- 
 ating and upholding energy of the Divine Spirit, so that 
 none could fail to see that he was continually leaning 
 upon a power greater than his own. His sermons were 
 clear, logical, and deeply spiritual. In them there was 
 a depth and breadth that convinced the understanding, 
 and a tenderness of love that often unlocked the foun- 
 tains of the great deep in dark hearts that had hitherto 
 seemed to be impervious to the reception of truth. 
 During the four-weeks' revival-meetings at Whittier, in 
 the spring of 1898, the manifestation of God's power to 
 
 56 
 
Tributes. 57 
 
 use his devoted followers to His glory was remarkably 
 evident. 
 
 Day after day the gospel stream flowed — notwith- 
 standing there was continued physical weakness — result- 
 ing in the reclaiming, conversion, and sanctification of 
 more than a hundred persons. 
 
 Of these, a number of cases were of peculiar interest 
 because of circumstances surrounding them. During our 
 recent Yearly Meeting, an hour was devoted to a memo- 
 rial service in memory of Dr. Nicholson and David J. 
 Lewis, when many availed themselves of the opportunity 
 thus offered to express their appreciation of the value of 
 the services of our dear, departed brother as a minister, 
 and of the large place that had been made in the hearts 
 of the members of the Church, and also of the community 
 at large, by his social qualities, in which was continually 
 manifested his genial spirit, which was quickened, mel- 
 lowed, and illuminated by the Divine presence. We feel 
 that the loss to the Church, by the removal of our gifted 
 brother, is great, and that we are utterly unable to under- 
 stand the purposes of our Father in it; and yet we would 
 not call the wisdom of it in question, as faith can only say, 
 "Thy will be done," and worship, and look up. 
 
 A Tribute of Love. 
 
 R. ESTHER SMITH. 
 
 A tribute of love to the memory of that young and 
 gifted servant of God, David J. Lewis, on behalf of many 
 that knew and loved him at Long Beach, California. 
 
 'T is not to write an eulogy, as that would be, could 
 he speak, contrary to his wishes. He would deprecate 
 any praise that would exalt him in any wise except such 
 as exalts the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, which made 
 
58 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 him so useful in life and triumphant in death. But that 
 grace was in him so winningly manifest, there was in his 
 life so much to admire in the devolopment of it, that it 
 is due to the power of the grace of God that words of 
 testimony be written. 
 
 However exalted may be the praise given in com- 
 memoration of our departed pastor and friend, it will not 
 transcend the merit of its object or offend the taste of 
 the most scrupulous and truth-loving critic. 
 
 To consecrate the ashes of the dead, and to remember 
 and practice what was good and generous in their lives, 
 is the most acceptable service we can render. Let this 
 be the tribute we pay the memory of our departed brother. 
 The Benjamin of our household of faith has gone from 
 us for a season, yet we are better and richer because 
 he lived among us. Words of ours can not do him jus- 
 tice, nor can we, in fitting language, portray the power 
 of his influence among the people, or that exquisite ten- 
 sion of mind which developed his genius and understand- 
 ing. He was courteous and gracious to all, and in- 
 gratiated himself with the ignorant, the unfortunate, and 
 oppressed. His unwavering kindness of heart had room 
 for all. No one, regardless of color or condition, looked 
 into his face, and failed to know him as a friend and 
 brother. He was always quick with sympathy and suc- 
 cor; his hand was always open to soothe distress, to aid 
 the feeble, and to answer every call of friendship. Who 
 ever appealed to him in vain for relief or comfort? If 
 he had a weakness, it was on the generous side of frail 
 humanity. Untiring energy and ceaseless toil attended 
 his steps by day, and unwearying vigils have been his 
 companions by night. He stored his mind with large 
 learning, he enriched it with culture, and he trained it 
 with severe discipline. 
 
Tributes. 59 
 
 His intellectual character consisted of free and fear- 
 less thought, with expression powerful and perfect. Each 
 apple of gold was set in its picture of silver. Life is not 
 measured by years, but by acts. It is not the rolling 
 season, but entries, by the recording angel, of great and 
 noble deeds. Measured by this standard, we bear wit- 
 ness, by our feeble words, that the life of David J. Lewis, 
 though brief, was a full one. The pleasing presence, the 
 hearty welcome, the confiding and warm nature of our 
 brother, are now gathered in sweet memories about us. 
 
 "Heroic spirit, take thy rest — 
 
 Thou art richer, we are poorer ; 
 Yet, because thou hast been with us, 
 Ivife is sweeter, heaven surer." 
 
 If any among us was ready, by a spiritual, an inner 
 life, hid with Christ in God, he was more. If any among 
 us was worthy to be called higher, he was more. It is 
 sweet to think of his preparation, his capacity, for the 
 full enjoyment of heaven, and his nearness to the Throne ; 
 yet to many of us the world will never seem quite the 
 same as it did before Heaven claimed David J. Lewis. 
 It remains to us to close the ranks a little firmer, bear 
 the burden a little braver, and be true to God. 
 
 Grateful for thy love and noble friendship, we would 
 reverently ask the privilege of laying this simple memo- 
 rial-leaf upon thy tomb, and then of standing somewhere 
 near the circle of thy nearest and dearest, waiting and 
 watching with them for that time when wounded hearts, 
 that bleed and break, are healed forever, and when, 
 
 " In the room 
 Of this grief-shadowed present, there shall be 
 A present in whose reign no grief shall gnaw 
 The heart, and never shall a tender tie 
 Be broken." 
 
60 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 A Tribute. 
 
 Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and 
 see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, 
 if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judg- 
 ment, that seeketh the truth." (Jer. v, I.) 
 
 Well may the Church of to-day, with its many empty 
 pulpits, its spiritless worship, and its worldly member- 
 ship repeat the cry of Jeremiah; but it was hard to believe 
 God needed such a man in heaven more than upon earth 
 when he took David J. Lewis from the Church militant. 
 The little Church over which he was pastor, so peculiarly 
 favored, now so sadly stricken, can truly say, Never was 
 there one more beloved as a friend, and seldom any 
 whose death could cause so many to feel that no other 
 friend could ever occupy his room. He was loved and 
 revered by many who gave no evidence of love to Christ, 
 and those who but "wondered and perished" acknowl- 
 edged him to be a man of God — a true disciple of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 If few congregations are so fed and blessed, is it not 
 that few ministers preach with the fervor, the Christ-ex- 
 alting simplicity, and the prayerful expectancy of David 
 Lewis, and few follow out their preaching with the yet 
 more impressive urgency of his gracious intercourse and 
 consistent example? It was obvious to all that the tone 
 of Christianity was raised as much by his holy walk as 
 by his heavenly ministry. He was ever zealous to add 
 to his own attainments in holiness, ever ready to learn 
 and quick to apply any suggestions that might tend to 
 his greater usefulness. Two things he seems never to 
 have ceased from; viz., the cultivation of personal holi- 
 ness, and the most anxious effort to save souls. It was 
 
Tributes. 6i 
 
 a frequent prayer, "Lord, if I 'm not all right, make me 
 right; if I am right, keep me right. Make me as holy 
 as a pardoned sinner can be made;" and in his heart- 
 searchings would ask himself the question, If God had no 
 better men in the Church than I am, what kind of work 
 would be done for the Lord? And, in his heart-to-heart 
 exhortations to his people, would say, "Dear brother and 
 sister, live as close to the Lord as I mean to try to do; 
 be as holy as I mean to try to be." 
 
 The holy consistency of his daily walk, his candor, 
 his uprightness, and his generosity were felt by all his 
 brethren, and his opinions, though the opinions of so 
 young a man, were regarded with more than common 
 respect. Aware that one idle word, one needless con- 
 tention, one covetous act, may destroy in people the effect 
 of many a solemn exhortation and earnest warning, he 
 was peculiarly circumspect in every act. Whatever be 
 said in the pulpit, men will not so much regard if the 
 minister do not say the same in private, with equal ear- 
 nestness, in speaking with his people face to face. 
 
 In family visits among his people he ever sought to 
 do good to their souls, and in all his conversation, light 
 and cheery, on business or politics, Church work or 
 theology, science, literature, or art, all were used as a 
 preparation of the soil to receive the seeds of truth which 
 he hoped at some time to sow. 
 
 His demeanor was easy and pleasant to all, exhibit- 
 ing a meekness of faith and a delicacy of feeling. There 
 was in his character a high refinement, that came out, in 
 the poetry of true politeness, to small and great, old and 
 young, rich and poor alike. Many business men have 
 remarked that when they would feel unusually depressed, 
 and prospects were gloomy to them, to see David Lewis 
 
62 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 pass the window, with his gracious bow, cheery smile, 
 and courteous gesture of the hand, and to hear his hearty 
 " Good-morning ," would brighten the entire day, and the 
 tide of business seemed turned. 
 
 He looked upon men, not according to their natural 
 qualities, their ability, riches, or worldly distinctions, but 
 according to their more noble relations, and those com- 
 mon to all — as creatures immortal, lively images of God, 
 formed to love and praise Him through all eternity; as 
 clothed in purple by the blood of Jesus; as brothers and 
 co-heirs with him to an inheritance, and therefore ten- 
 derly loved by him. He looked upon the image of God 
 in every human being, and he loved, not only the Chris- 
 tian, but all men without exception. 
 
 It was the chief aim of David J. Lewis to apply and 
 unite himself to the Lord Jesus, and from this union and 
 example to derive all his virtue, and inspire all his labors 
 of love; to mold himself after this Divine model, both in 
 his inward tempers and his outward behavior, was his 
 constant endeavor. He never took his eyes off this Divine 
 copy. Often was he heard to say, "Ever since it became 
 an experimental fact to me that Jesus died for me, have 
 I tried to conform my life to the principles of the gospel 
 and the precepts of the Master.' , Thus he endeavored 
 to draw every line in exact harmony with His likeness, 
 making Him his perfect original. 
 
 "O Paradise! O Paradise! 
 I want to sin no more ; 
 I want to be as holy here 
 As on thy spotless shore." 
 
 And this intimate union with God, attended with such 
 a wonderful peace of mind, shone forth in every lineament 
 of his placid face, and begat a kind devotion in his be- 
 
Tributes. 63 
 
 holders. Strangers seeing him in public, often remarked, 
 "I never saw so saintly a face." 
 
 As Emerson says: "Nature will be reported. All 
 things are engaged in writing their own history. The 
 rolling rock leaves its mark on the mountain-side; the 
 river, its channel in the soil ; the fern and leaf, their modest 
 epitaph in the coal. So every act of a man's life, and 
 every thought of his heart, inscribes itself in the memory 
 of his fellows, and in his own manners and face." 
 
 David Lewis could not be other than saintly, for, as 
 Kepler of old, "he thought God's thoughts after Him." 
 
 Upon his well-shaped forehead, with its perpendicular 
 walls of reason and truth (as Spurzheim puts it), there 
 was always an animated expresion, a sunny pleasantness, 
 and a generous and glowing feeling kindled his large, 
 kind eye, in which lurked many a merry twinkle, that 
 came dancing forth at the slightest incentive. There was 
 also that reflective air, that thoughtful poise, which spoke 
 of patient investigation, profound reflection, and stead- 
 fast determination. 
 
 " There was that in his face 
 
 Which cometh not, 
 Save when the soul has many 
 
 A battle fought, 
 And conquered self 
 
 By constant sacrifice." 
 
 So rapidly did he advance in Scriptural and experi- 
 mental acquaintance with Christ, it was like one friend 
 learning more of another, and becoming more like him. 
 In his case these words had palpable meaning, "Behold- 
 ing as in a glass the glory of the Lord, we are changed 
 into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit 
 of the Lord." 
 
64 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 For years he had measured his life by the following 
 rules, which he had copied in his Bible: 
 
 "To be a holy man, I give myself — 
 To make myself of no reputation. 
 To do all self-killing jobs presented. 
 To never exalt self or work for self-exaltation. 
 To never compare myself with others. 
 To know no man after the flesh. 
 To never favor carnal man for favor. 
 To declare the whole counsel of God. 
 To let the whole Word of God color my whole life. 
 To live and love and labor in the Spirit. 
 To do all for Jesus and to Jesus only. 
 To do all just as Jesus would do. 
 
 To give my loves, sympathies, preferences, all to Jesus. 
 To do all in the name of Jesus. 
 For I am purchased to be His own. 
 
 David J. Lewis." 
 
 He had learned to do everything in the name of Jesus. 
 "For Jesus' sake" was his motto. A man can not be a 
 faithful minister of Christ till he preaches Christ for 
 Christ's sake. 
 
 In his ministerial office his earnest appreciation of 
 duty to God and man was his peculiar characteristic. 
 He lived, not for man's smiles, but for God's favor. In 
 all his efforts he recognized the truth of the sacred words, 
 "The friendship of the world is enmity to God." He 
 seemed emancipated from all human vanity, he experi- 
 enced the power of God in his own soul before he de- 
 livered it, and when he spoke there was a sinking of the 
 individual in the infiniteness of God, and when his clear 
 mind and loving heart were poured out for men's guid- 
 
Tributes. 65 
 
 ance, men listened to him as an oracle of God. He was 
 most fruitful in expedients and illustrations to help the 
 understanding and the confidence of the seeking soul, and 
 his deeply spiritual mind, clear conceptions of truth, and 
 great simplicity of soul rendered his efforts most inter- 
 esting and efficient; and with great and exceptional afflu- 
 ence, with fervid and glowing speech, he seemed to take 
 men and lift them up into that ideal kingdom and life of 
 the soul in which he himself dwelt, and to which all true 
 men aspire, and made them feel and know that they were 
 dwellers there with God. Every life to him was great, 
 every life full of promise, and the glory and hopefulness 
 of life were the burden of his speech. One felt, in listening 
 to him, how great, how full of promise, how valuable 
 beyond price, was even the poorest life. The little, ob- 
 scure corner, how big it seemed to become! the little, 
 monotonous path, how bright it seemed to become! and 
 all around, as he spoke to us in our dull and plodding 
 life, there was a heaven at hand. His message was not 
 for some, but for a//, and as, with rapt attention, men list- 
 ened to his torrent of speech, they felt that here was a 
 man sent of God with a mesasge to all men, which they 
 were willing and waiting and glad to hear. His messages 
 were high and spiritual, always holding up the loftiest 
 conceptions. They were pervaded by a seemingly in- 
 spired earnestness, and abounded with illustrations that 
 flashed the many-sided truth of Scripture with stereoptic 
 suddenness and prismatic beauty. They were punctured 
 with wit and satire that gave keener point to the arrow 
 of the gospel; reached flights of eloquence at times, and 
 drew upon the lore of the receding ages ; but in the midst 
 of these features, and above them all, was ever to be 
 seen the illuminated Cross of Calvary as the objective 
 5 
 
66 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 point of every line of thought and as the shining Star 
 of the lost world's sure and only hope. And admirably 
 did he bring to the profound and learned the plain les- 
 sons of the wonderful gospel teaching which also helped 
 the unlettered. To the young, he was full of mirth and 
 buoyancy; to the old and infirm, he was tender as a child; 
 to the troubled and sad, he was a man deeply acquainted 
 with grief. 
 
 " For heavy is the weight of ill 
 
 In every heart ; 
 And comforters are needed much 
 
 Of Christlike touch." 
 
 All men, in all classes and conditions, claimed him, 
 because he claimed all men; he entered into their dis- 
 appointments and successes, and made them his own. 
 This is a rare gift. It is a greater thing to stand close 
 to humanity's heart than to stand close to dogma and 
 doctrine. He preached, not for the approval of the 
 schools, but for the help of the sin-laden and sorrowing. 
 He preached, not cold ideas, but a gospel as real as life's 
 difficulties, that will enter with the mother into the kitchen 
 and nursery, the merchant into the counting-room, the 
 mechanic into the shop, the farmer into his field, and 
 suited alike to the varied necessities of each. He re- 
 vealed to men the possibility of working, out of their own 
 plain, daily callings, present power and future glory. His 
 brave, strong words cheered many a drooping spirit, and 
 roused, to new endeavor, men and women who were 
 sinking under the burdens of labor and care and un- 
 satisfied desire. 
 
 David J. Lewis felt himself especially a preacher to 
 young men, and it was young men, earnest, open-minded, 
 loving-hearted, who, perhaps more than any others, 
 through him learned to love and reverence the living 
 
Tributes. 67 
 
 Christ; and how well he understood their condition, their 
 exposure, their frailties, their temptations, their lofty as- 
 pirations, and their infinite possibilities, and always with 
 the sympathy of that warm and brotherly heart that was 
 beating and palpitating in his breast! How easily he won 
 their confidence ! how completely he commanded their re- 
 spect! how nobly he led them always up to wiser and 
 better things! and many are to-day telling the "old, old 
 story" who first heard it, in its wonder-working power 
 and simple beauty, from his consecrated lips. 
 
 Salvation of souls was his object, and this unity of 
 purpose gave a continuous earnestness and solemnity 
 to his ministry. The solicitude with which he yearned 
 over his hearers made him affectionate even beyond his 
 natural tenderness. A manly man, vast in intellect, tender 
 and gentle of heart as a woman, could not fail to win 
 men to the adoration and worship of the God he adored. 
 With lifted hand and upturned face, he seemed to be 
 speaking before the wounds of the bleeding Christ, and, 
 by their efficacy, entreated men to look and live. His 
 pleading with sinners seemed something Divine, as in 
 weariness almost to fainting, amid paroxysms of coughing 
 almost to exhaustion, he seemed to be in the gateway 
 of the glory world; in sight of the thorn-pierced brow 
 and bleeding side — now glorified — he would again and 
 again entreat, urge, and plead that wanderers might re- 
 turn before the door was shut, and fearing lest some 
 promise had been left out, some incentive not given, he 
 would give some other illustration, some incident of re- 
 pentance and mercy, some comforting assurance, some 
 Scripture promise, that, by some means, some others 
 might be induced to make their peace with God. 
 
 His co-workers, often all exhausted and feeling that 
 all had been done that could be, that every phase of the 
 
68 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 gospel had been presented — there was nothing more to 
 say — but he had more to say. His feeblest appeal was 
 more personal and importunate than the most pointed 
 exhortations of vaguer ministers in their most faithful 
 moods. His earnestness was not a temporary heat pro- 
 duced by the friction of the mind upon a subject, and 
 which manifested itself in sparks and brilliancies, but was 
 rather a warmth of Divine love implanted in the heart, 
 and which did not expend itself on special occasion, but 
 continued through the whole year, through his whole 
 life. Yes, it lasted 
 
 "As long as life did last, 
 
 And was strong as love is strong." 
 
 He felt that his very best efforts were none too much 
 for every occasion of service for Christ, and he never al- 
 lowed even a prayer-meeting's duties to overtake him 
 without a close study upon some gospel theme, and ear- 
 nest pleading for the Holy Spirit for that especial service, 
 and while all felt he was a great student, yet the im- 
 pression was not so much that he came from his study 
 as that he came from his closet. 
 
 His engaging personality, his grace of manner in the 
 pulpit, and an eloquence like the tidal flow of the waves; 
 his pictorial powers; his weeping gentleness at one time, 
 and his judge-like severity and grandeur at another; his 
 fervent love, holy life, and glowing appeal, all contributed 
 to make him a master in grace. 
 
 But with all this wealth of endowment and the self- 
 respecting consciousness which he could not fail to pos- 
 sess, there was that marvelous modesty which shrank 
 from anything of self-assertion. He never availed himself 
 of his fine genius and happy powers of language to pro- 
 cure a name for eloquence. His poetic fancy and in- 
 
Tributes. 69 
 
 stinctive taste, with a steady flow of thought and words, 
 kept always something new and fresh before his hearers. 
 He was thoroughly honest, desperately in earnest, and 
 withal willing to pay the cost of success in the assiduity 
 of the all-round preparation of himself for it. He never 
 tried to imitate some one else. He was at home in the 
 pulpit. There was no pausing for effect, no pulpit man- 
 nerism, no unnatural tones, no ministerial "twang," no 
 "sanctimonious drawl" or explosive, half-whispered 
 cadences of voice. There was none of those unrealities 
 of manner, or professional affectation, but as a manly 
 man, with urgent business, he spoke in manly style. 
 
 Whatever other theme may become outworn or trite, 
 the essential gospel of Christ, with its unattained heights, 
 its fathomless depths, and its illimitable expanse, he felt 
 could never be out of date. It was to him the one thing 
 needful for a restless world, and the right delivery of it 
 the most continuously sensational theme, and he made 
 it his constant prayer, "That utterance might be given me, 
 that I might speak boldly, as I ought to speak." 
 
 His deepest and finest feelings clothed themselves in 
 fitting words with scarcely any effort when he was descant- 
 ing on the glory and wonders of Divine grace; but he 
 seemed to despair of transferring to other minds the 
 emotions which were overfilling his own; and after de- 
 scribing those excellencies which often made the careless 
 wistful, and made disciples marvel, he would leave the 
 subject with evident regret that where he saw so much 
 he could say so little. He would often remark, with much 
 feeling, "O, if I could only put it so people could see it 
 and feel it as I do!" 
 
 Confession, as one of the elements of all true prayer, 
 was rarely omitted in his public or private devotions, 
 
70 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 and with a heart-deep and humbling submission that lifted 
 him up to the very throne of the Eternal, his vows of 
 affection and fidelity were solemnly renewed as occasion 
 offered. Then he held such reverential and endearing 
 communion with a reconciled God; he pressed so near 
 the Throne; he was so lost to everything earthly; so 
 express, so urgent, so hopeful were his supplications, 
 he seemed to be within the vail, his hands on the mercy- 
 seat, and his eyes fixed on things invisible. His prayers 
 were made real and strenuous by his rich and satisfy- 
 ing thoughts of God. He spoke with such a sense of 
 reality. He put into them so much soul and passion, 
 faith and love, that they seemed lifted forever above the 
 realm of mere petition, and all doubt and misgiving lost 
 in the higher wish, not that the particular request should 
 be granted, but that the will of God might be known 
 and done. With prayerful watchfulness, as the Savior 
 enjoins, he diligently kept from his heart and life every- 
 thing that was un-Christlike. 
 
 While he detested vice, and fled from sin as from a 
 serpent, and was scathing in his denunciations of crime 
 and godlessness, he pitied the sinner, and turned to the 
 vicious with the warmest emotions of benevolence and 
 charity. Considering them as inexpressibly poor, he 
 joyfully offered to them the "pearl of great price." His 
 highest wish was to convert the wicked from the error 
 of his ways, anxious to do the work of an evangelist, 
 and not ashamed that every hour and every place should 
 bear testimony to the affectionate zeal with which he 
 labored. 
 
 He studied to present the religion of Jesus in its 
 most alluring form, not "as a vial of wrath," but as a 
 "cup of consolation;" not as a galling yoke, but as a 
 
Tributes. 71 
 
 never-failing support. His most searching sermons, 
 which portrayed God's abhorrence of sin and the cer- 
 tainty of retribution, were always accompanied with 
 much prayer and humility, tenderness, and appeal, in- 
 stead of reproach and upbraiding. He uttered a voice 
 of solemn warning instead of hardening threats, and 
 would often ask, on returning home from such serv- 
 ices, "Did I speak with tenderness and in the spirit of 
 love?" Yes, it was the voice of Divine love heard amid 
 the thunder that pierced the consciences of his hearers. 
 
 He could do and endure all things through 
 Christ which strengthened him. Severe against sin, 
 but gentle to all besides. 
 
 With singleness of aim and simplicity of confidence, 
 he took Heaven's truth for his. Then nothing is too 
 great for man to dare or accomplish. He knew the 
 truth would make men free, and he sought with all his 
 heart to spread it. And truth had the force of a pas- 
 sion, which manifested itself in an almost overwrought 
 intensity. He showed how far love can go to rescue its 
 object when it is enkindled by Him who loved us and 
 gave Himself for us. 
 
 Much as his labors were, he deemed them but a 
 trivial offering upon the altar of redeeming love, and 
 humbly ranked himself below the most unworthy of all 
 God's chosen, and always deploring he was not able to 
 do more, so humbly praying, — 
 
 "What we lack in our work, 
 
 May'st Thou find in our will; 
 And in mercy winnow 
 The good from the ill." 
 
 He did not content himself with the fact that he 
 was taking an unequal share with others in the work 
 
72 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 done, or that men were satisfied with his efforts, or even 
 that they pointed to him as an example. "Much fruit" 
 was his ambition for God. He never sacrificed truth for 
 favor, "never abandoned the high-road of right for the 
 low-lands of expediency." He was bold and daring, as 
 well as generous and genial. He feared no danger, and 
 shrank from no toil — a hero, indeed, of the highest 
 type; for why should the title be reserved for warriors 
 alone? The truth has its heroes as well as the sword, 
 and David Lewis was one of them. Indomitable in 
 resolution, powerful in speech, enterprising in spirit, not 
 to be repressed or easily turned from his purpose, he 
 could use as instruments what others might encounter 
 as barriers. 
 
 In all his manly decisions he embodied that gener- 
 ous nature and unruffled spirit of a man who had learned 
 to fear God, and have no other fear. He was a man of 
 unwavering faith. Faith, in him, changed fear to cour- 
 age, "crooked paths" to king's highways, and "feeble 
 efforts" to glorious exploits. To him faith subdued all 
 evils, supported and solaced him under all sorrow and 
 trial, and made the fullness of Christ all his own. 
 
 As the miser toils to increase his hoards, and as the 
 ambitious person studies to advance his reputation in 
 the world, with equal earnestness and desire this holy 
 man endeavored to promote the salvation of the lost; 
 and, while some men were toiling for that which is only 
 as the "apples of Sodom," or seeking that safety which 
 is found under gourds, David Lewis chose that better 
 part, was blessed, and made a blessing, because he 
 sought no resting-place here but in a close walk with 
 God. 
 
 Hundreds of souls were his reward from the Lord 
 
Tributes. 73 
 
 ere he left us, and in him have we been taught how much 
 one man may do who will only press further into the 
 presence of God, and seek more earnestly the unsearch- 
 able riches of Christ, and speak more boldly for his God. 
 And, while it is owned that the possession of such a 
 bright and shining light was the Church's privilege, is 
 not the rarity of such the Church's sin? 
 
 When we remember his intense earnestness, which 
 nothing but his most extreme efforts could satisfy, his 
 untiring endeavors in seeking to save the lost, his dili- 
 gence in the employment of his time, his Christlike 
 condescension toward all at all times, and his sacred 
 familiarity with the Divine Mind, we ever felt ourself 
 the happiest of women in the possession of so conse- 
 crated and heavenly friend; and the sorrow bears a due 
 proportion, which only finds its consolation in a per- 
 fect submission. 
 
 From the two inexhaustible mines of human ex- 
 perience — out of sorrow and out of love — we could 
 draw the treasures of richness and beauty, and heap up 
 glowing and merited praise till the pinnacle would reach 
 far beyond the limit of ken, into that invisible realm of life 
 of the soul, which is now his own ; and we feel obliged by 
 the strongest ties to pay this small tribute to one, of whom 
 it may be justly said: No nobler spirit ever came into 
 the world or went from it. Not a truer heart ever 
 beat in human bosom. Not a more beautiful memory 
 ever followed the name of a man after death, and it now 
 lingers like a sacred benediction. 
 
VIII. 
 
 MEMORIAL SERMONS. 
 
 Memorial Sermon, 
 
 delivered at east richland, o., by thomas hodgin. 
 
 "I go the way of all the earth." (i Kings ii, 2.) 
 
 HP HE subject before us to-day is one of tenderness; and, 
 * while sorrow and weeping and shedding of tears 
 have been the scene of many a home from East to West, 
 where David's memory will always live, yet we rejoice 
 to know that he was ready and prepared to meet the 
 pale-faced messenger, who had been stealing away at 
 his body these many years. From my first acquaint- 
 ance with this noble man of God he seemed more like 
 a brother than a friend; and it mattered not how hum- 
 ble or how weak the human frame, he always had a 
 kind, cheering word for every passerby. His life-work 
 seemed to have been of short duration; and, while we 
 do not understand why he should be called home right 
 in the bloom of manhood, and while being so useful in 
 the hands of God in winning many hundreds — yes, and 
 perhaps thousands — of precious souls to the fold of 
 Jesus Christ, we will not murmur or complain. But 
 we know that He who doeth all things well had 
 an object in view when He called David from our 
 midst. We have often heard him say, "I '11 be true 
 to God, and preach the truth, until Jesus says, 
 'David, it is enough ; come up higher.' " And, friends, 
 dearly beloved, while he was your shepherd, you 
 
 74 
 
Memorial Sermons. 
 
 75 
 
 know there was no sacrifice too great for him to 
 make, or burden too heavy for him to bear; and, 
 again, we remember how, in time of battle, when every- 
 thing about him seemed to be dark and gloomy, and 
 defeat staring him in the face, yet right in the thickest 
 of the fight he stood like a hero; and, with a smile on 
 his face, he would say, "Glory!" 
 
 He was used of God in leading us out into the min- 
 istry. He used to say, "Thomas, live on thy knees, and 
 God will make thee a great blessing." One day he 
 said to me, "Thomas, a good Quaker preacher will not 
 have very much of this world's goods, but will get a 
 glorious reward in heaven;" and often he would say, 
 "Thee be true to God, and preach the truth." 
 
 For nearly three years I was under his care; but, 
 beloved, I never knew how to appreciate his words of 
 counsel and courage until now. But, my friends, Da- 
 vid's voice is hushed, his counsels are a thing of the 
 past; but his memory is as fragrant to me to-day as 
 the beautiful rose. 
 
 His last sermon is preached; the last blessed revival 
 has been held; the last and great battle is fought, and the 
 glorious victory won. Hallelujah! To-day David's dust 
 lies near the beautiful shores in California, where he 
 awaits the morning of the first resurrection; and when 
 Jesus comes for His bride, I expect to be among that 
 number, and will meet David in the air. Glory! 
 
76 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 MEMORIAL ADDRESS, 
 
 IN HONOR OF REV. DAVID I,EWIS, DELIVERED SUNDAY, AT THE 
 FRIENDS' CHURCH, BY REV. LIDA ROMICK. 
 
 The present pastor, Mrs. Romick, preached from the 
 text: "And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, 
 Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from 
 henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest 
 from their labors; and their works do follow them." 
 (Revelation xiv, 13.) 
 
 At the outset, I ask myself the question, "What is 
 meant by dying in the Lord?" and I find this answer: 
 "To die in the Lord, one must be in the Lord when 
 death finds him;" and "in the Lord" implies: 
 
 1. Saved by faith in Him. 
 
 2. United by faith to Him. 
 
 3. Walking by faith in Him. 
 
 4. Working by faith for Him. 
 
 These are the sure preparations for blessed dying, 
 and, tested by these, we are fully assured that our de- 
 parted brother, David Lewis, died in the Lord. 
 
 In his young manhood he turned from a life of sin 
 and rebellion, and accepted life and salvation through 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, and was united to Him as the 
 branch is united to the vine — by a living, vital union. 
 Of his walk in Christ I need say but little, as most of 
 you knew him more intimately than I did. I suppose 
 more of his life as a minister of the gospel was spent in 
 Tecumseh than in any other one place. 
 
 Henry Ward Beecher has said: "Men carry uncon- 
 scious signs of their life about them. Those that come 
 from the forge, and those from the lime and mortar, and 
 
Memorial Sermons. 77 
 
 those from the soil, bear signs of being workmen and of 
 their work. One need not ask a merry face, or a sad 
 one, whether it hath come forth from joy or grief; tears 
 and laughter tell their own story. Should one come 
 home with fruit, we say he comes from the orchard; 
 if with hands full of wild flowers, he has been in the fields ; 
 if one's garments smell of mingled odors, we say he 
 has walked in a garden. But how much more, if one 
 has seen God, hath held converse with Him through 
 the Holy Spirit, and hath walked in heavenly places, 
 should he carry in his eye, his words, and his perfumed 
 raiment the sacred tokens of Divine intercourse !" 
 
 In your homes, on the streets, in the stores, wherever 
 I have heard the name of David Lewis mentioned, it 
 has been ever with affectionate tributes to his purity 
 of life, his kindness of heart, his consistent Christian 
 walk and conversation. "He was a good man," is the 
 uniform testimony. Not that mere natural goodness, but 
 partaker of the Divine nature, the well of water in him 
 ever springing up, and flowing out in streams of bless- 
 ing. Like Enoch of old, "he walked with God; and 
 he was not, for God took him." 
 
 The blessedness of such a death consists in that — 
 
 I. THEY REST FROM THEIR LABORS. 
 
 Willingness and joy in God's service do not pre- 
 vent weariness. The flesh is weak. Those who have 
 carried the burden of immortal souls, who. have gone 
 forth weeping, bearing precious seed, who have put 
 forth every energy of their being in the effort to bring 
 lost men to the Savior, alone know the utter weariness 
 and prostration that follow such effort. It is a work 
 that angels might envy and covet; but, though we love 
 
78 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 the service, there are times when we long for the Mas- 
 ter's ''Well done" and the sweet home-rest. David 
 Lewis, when asked in the morning of the day he died 
 if he was suffering, replied, "No, but so tired;" and at 
 one time told his wife that when he got to heaven he 
 felt he would like to rest twenty years, he was so tired. 
 Not that he was weary of preaching the blessed gospel 
 of life, but the weariness of a poor, sick, worn-out body, 
 its last energies spent in the service to which he had 
 joyfully given his life, only missing three Sabbaths from 
 his pulpit in Long Beach before he went to be with God. 
 Truly can it be said of him: 
 
 "Thou hast fallen in thine armor, 
 Thou soldier of the Lord, 
 With thy last breath crying, ' Onward V 
 And thy hand upon the sword." 
 
 His last prayer was that, if his work was done, he 
 might go home; and that day he rested from his labors. 
 Eternal rest! 
 
 II. THEIR WORKS DO FOLLOW TH^M. 
 
 Works of love and charity, words of faith and coun- 
 sel, sermons, exhortations, and prayers from hearts full 
 of the Divine love, can never die, but will live on and 
 multiply themselves in the hearts and lives of men un- 
 til the end of the age. A young man who had lived a 
 wicked, dissipated life, but was saved upon his death- 
 bed, exclaimed with anguish to those about him, "O 
 gather up my influence, and bury it with me!" But 
 how impossible! If I speak to any to-day who realize 
 that your influence is not such as you will want to follow 
 you to the bar of God, will you not call a halt now, 
 and say, "By the help of God, I will sow no more bad 
 
Memorial Sermons. 79 
 
 seed in the harvest-field of my life?" If we have been 
 brought to Christ, and saved through the instrumental- 
 ity of some faithful Christian, let us send the blessing on 
 to other hearts, lest it should die out in our own. 
 
 "Have you had a kindness shown? 
 
 Pass it on, pass it on ! 
 'T was not given for thee alone, 
 
 Pass it on, pass it on ! 
 Let it travel down the years, 
 Let it wipe another's tears, 
 Till in heaven the deed appears, 
 
 Pass it on, pass it on !" 
 
 III. THEY SHALL HAVE PART IN THE) FIRST RESURRECTION. 
 
 "For if we believe that Jesus died and and rose again, 
 even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring 
 with Him." There are still some who cavil at this glo- 
 rious Scripture doctrine of the resurrection of the body, 
 and who are ready to ask, "Shall I rise again out of 
 the dust, the fire, the sea, and appear in beauty and 
 glory?" Reason says, "No." Nature answers, "Yes." 
 Ask the spotless Easter lily or the fragrant hyacinth 
 what and where they were a short time ago, and they 
 will tell you, "We were dry and brown, and apparently 
 lifeless, but a few weeks ago; but, buried in the earth 
 a little while, and the germ of life implanted in us by 
 the Creator burst the brown and homely covering, and 
 we became things of beauty and fragrance." Ask the 
 butterfly that poises its brilliant wings above the flowers 
 of the garden whence it came, and it answers, "I was 
 only an ugly worm in a little dry cocoon, but there 
 was something in me which was destined for a higher 
 life;" and the worm has found its wings, and floats in 
 the summer, a lovely type of the resurrection life. Reve- 
 
80 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 lation says, "Yes, if a man die, he shall live again." 
 "So, also, is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown 
 in corruption, it is raised in incorruption ; it is sown in 
 dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it 
 is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised 
 a spiritual body." The flower is more beautiful than the 
 seed. It lives in the atmosphere of light and air and 
 beauty, instead of in the dark, damp ground out of 
 sight. It has new powers, new fragrance, new loveliness; 
 so will be our spiritual bodies, compared to those we 
 now possess; for they shall be made like unto Christ's 
 most glorious body. 
 
 To the friends of those who die in the Lord is pre- 
 cious consolation in the evidence that they are with 
 the Lord, and in the hope of seeing them again. How 
 we treasure as a priceless legacy those dying utterances 
 that breathe assurance of eternal joys, that speak of vic- 
 tory over the king of terrors, and give glimpses of the 
 dawning glory. Frances E. Willard's dying words will 
 never die, "How beautiful to be with God!" David 
 Lewis's last expression that could be understood was, 
 "The Lord has been very good to me, and I am so 
 happy." 
 
 Beloved, if you would meet him again who was your 
 pastor and friend, follow him as he followed Christ. 
 Perhaps you say, "I can never be such a Christian as 
 he was." You may not be called to be a preacher of 
 the gospel, as he was, but God has called us all to holy 
 lives and to communion with Himself. "It is not the 
 want of grace or of the means of grace that so few at- 
 tain to that degree of piety where the soul lives in 
 constant communion with God, but the want of fixedness 
 of purpose and faithfulness in walking in the light." 
 
Memorial Sermons. 8i 
 
 Upon the tomb of Judge Samuel Hoar, at Concord, 
 Mass., the following is inscribed: "And they laid the 
 pilgrim in an upper chamber, whose windows looked 
 toward the East, and the name of the chamber was 
 Peace. There he slept till break of day. Then he awoke 
 and sang." Our brother sleeps in the land of sunshine 
 and flowers and ocean breezes, far from his kindred and 
 friends, but he is numbered with the "blessed dead," 
 and in the morning he, too, will awake and sing. 
 6 
 
SERMONS OF DAVID J. LEWIS. 
 
 IX. 
 
 THE GRACE OF OUR LORD. 
 
 "For we know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became 
 poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich. ,, 
 (2 Cor. viii, 9.) 
 
 HP HE idea of poverty is ever oppressive to the human 
 * heart. How instinctively we shrink from the 
 thought of pinching poverty can be seen in the life 
 and strife of all we meet. But if that poverty be min- 
 gled with suffering, it makes the heart sick. And yet 
 the One this morning we are pleased to call our Savior 
 was the poorest of the poor, the lowest of the lowly. Ah, 
 how the world looks upon the one that lives the life 
 of what is called a commercial failure! How the world 
 of sin and unbelief has tried to pour contempt on the 
 fair name of the Son of God! How the cross was a 
 stumbling-block to the law-proud Jew, and foolishness 
 to the Greek; but, thank God, it is the wisdom and 
 power of God to those who love Him, of whom, this 
 morning, I am so glad to say I am one. Let this wicked 
 world say that Jesus was born of a poor Jewish family, 
 in a common feed-stable, and that He lived the life of 
 a poor carpenter, and that all His friends forsook Him 
 and fled, and finally was nailed to the cross as a male- 
 
 82 
 
The Grace of Our Lord. 83 
 
 factor. Yet let them say, too, that few of the great and 
 wealthy of His day believed He was what He claimed 
 to be; and still I will be glad in my heart this very hour 
 to say that He is my Savior and only hope; for all this 
 but proves His great love for me. Yes, let the case be 
 made as bad as speech can declare; still I say that only 
 shows how much He loves me. 
 For we read that though 
 
 I. HE WAS RICH. 
 
 This has reference to the life of the Son of God in 
 the courts of glory. How rich he was, who can tell? 
 And yet we have a fair conception of what wealth is. 
 
 Let us go to the country. As we drive along the 
 road, our eyes are drawn to contemplate a scene of 
 beauty. There stands a house in the shade of a clump of 
 trees that, while large, have been planted by the hand 
 of man, and are the finest species of shade-trees. Look 
 at the orchard that covers the beautiful hill back of the 
 house. See those herds feeding in the distant fields. 
 The flocks are just across the branch that flows like a 
 silver line through the emerald pastures. How every- 
 thing seems to be perfection itself! Look at the house, 
 surrounded with flowers and shrubs, filled with the 
 works of art, in which full and plenty crown its board 
 and supply its larder; and we say that is the home of 
 wealth, they are rich. 
 
 Let us go to the city. We take a drive up one of 
 the shaded avenues, 'mid trees and walks, shrubs and 
 flowers, lawns and fountains. We say the rich are here. 
 Look at the brown-stone front or marble palace of an 
 Astor, Stewart, or a Vanderbilt. We say that is the 
 home of the rich. Factories and mills, banks and stores, 
 houses and land are told; and we say they are rich. 
 
84 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 Let us go to Europe, and we stroll into the grounds 
 of a prince. There are the marble statues, the lakes rilled 
 with fish, the lawn filled with flowers, and the palatial 
 house filled with the product of scores of lands. The 
 library shelves groan with books, the walls are papered 
 with pictures, the floors are carpeted with velvet that 
 fairly swamps you, while the chairs and cushioned rest- 
 ing-places are upholstered with silk. Look at the deer- 
 parks, hunting-courses, driving-tracks. Here are the 
 banks and vaults filled with gold hoarded away; and we 
 say that is wealth. But let us go to the home of the 
 great King Solomon, whose houses are of cedar, whose 
 porches are finished in ivory pillars, whose walls are 
 covered with gold; and we say that is wealth. Yes, that 
 is wealth and riches in truth. But what is all that 
 compared with the riches of the Son of God as King of 
 glory! Solomon's porches were torn down, his wealth 
 taken, and little was missed; but if the world were 
 filled with the wealth of heaven, no perceptible impres- 
 sion could be made upon it. No bound was placed to 
 His domain; no fires ever flamed in His mansions; no 
 panics ever wrecked His banks; no disease ever deci- 
 mated His armies; no death ever took away His friends; 
 no hostile hordes ever usurped authority; no armies ever 
 invaded His dominion; no one ever contested His 
 power; no want was ever feared; no pain was ever felt, 
 and an angel accountant for a million years could not 
 tell His resources. Ah! that is wealth — rich! rich! Who 
 can comprehend? 
 
 If we have a little home, how secure we feel; if a 
 little bank-stock, how independent; if a good position, 
 how brave: if a good family, how joyful! Who would 
 part with them, if possessed? But the text tells us that 
 
The Grace of Our Lord. 85 
 
 Jesus, though so rich, became poor; not gave a little, 
 not part, but became poor. 
 
 II. H£ became POOR. 
 
 The cry of sorrow went up from this wicked world. 
 Abel's blood cried to heaven for help; the lashing floods 
 that swept across the world and submerged the race, 
 save one family, cried for help; the flaming cities, go- 
 ing up in smoke because of their sins, cried for help. 
 The cry reached the heart of God and the ears of Christ, 
 and He who had offered Himself for the sins of the 
 race wended His way to this sin-cursed, Satan-ridden, 
 sorrow-burdened, murder-bordered, hell-bent earth, to 
 take up His abode as poor. As poor — the Son of God! 
 Yes, poor indeed. 
 
 He came, not to the palace of the Caesars, nor the 
 mansions of the great. He came, not to the site of Solo- 
 mon's temple and porch. He came, not in the ermine 
 of the judges, and the purple of the kings. Ah no! He 
 came as poor. Were the angels led to the home of com- 
 fort and luxury? Was He laid in a cradle of ivory, with 
 springs of gold, or where? We find Him in the 
 manger of a common feed-stable. O, was ever child 
 poorer? We find Him numbered among the poor. 
 His mother was a poor Jewish maiden. He lived with 
 the poor. Ah! to give up His Father for a place in 
 the family of the poorest, and to be born in a manger. 
 
 He lived a Stranger even there. Who knew Him? 
 Who sympathized with Him? Who was fellow with 
 Him! Ah! that is poor indeed. Who of us could or 
 would get on without sympathy? Take sympathy from 
 us, and what would we do? Could we stand? Look 
 at that poor man with a smile on his face. How 
 
86 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 happy he looks! What can be the good fortune befallen 
 him? Why, he is nearing his home. There he has sym- 
 pathy and love. There dear ones are waiting for him. 
 Take that sympathy from him — would he smile? would 
 he be joyful? O no! The man that has love and sym- 
 pathy is not so poor after all. But this is just what 
 made the poverty of Jesus so great — no love, no sym- 
 pathy — a Stranger even among His own. 
 
 But He gave up a mansion for a highway. Not even 
 a home to know, no roof to shelter, no door to protect, 
 no one to welcome, a homeless Wanderer. The birds 
 had their nests, the foxes had their holes, but this fair 
 Stranger is a born Wanderer on the face of the earth. 
 No home. Ah, how poor! 
 
 He gave up the companionship of the blessed for 
 the publican and sinner. How pure love loves! How 
 the company of the good enraptures! How the love 
 of heaven must be sweet! But all this He gave for 
 the fickle friendships of those in the humblest circum- 
 stances. 
 
 Yes, He gave up love for hate. Not only did He 
 have the publican and sinner for His companions, but 
 He even had the hate of the world for His portion. 
 He said, "They hated Me without cause." Instead of 
 reading in the face of heaven's hosts the deep love and 
 reverence they felt for Him, He saw the scorn of hate 
 curl on the lip of sin; He saw the arm of murder in 
 the garb of piety; He saw the assassins in the purple 
 of the judge. 
 
 But He gave love for hate, life for death, crown for 
 a cross. 
 
 But He not only gave love for hate, but a crown of 
 glory for a crown of thorns, a throne for a cross, and 
 
The Grace of Our Lord. 8j 
 
 life for death; while he gave up all heaven for a little 
 sepulcher in the earth, peopled glory for a lonely grave. 
 
 O, how poor Christ was hated, hunted, homeless, 
 without love, without sympathy, without appreciation; 
 away from His Father, His home, His all! O, how 
 poor! What grace this was! 
 
 But note, the text says He for our sakes became 
 poor, that we should become rich. 
 
 III. THAT WE) SHOULD BECOME. RICH. 
 
 How the world sings the praise of those who have 
 defended its interests, developed its resources, and 
 helped to make it grow! 
 
 How society appreciates and lauds the man or 
 woman who has done for their friends or family some 
 marked act of love and effort! How the papers praise 
 and tongues voice with loud acclaim the deeds of those 
 who save a fellow-being from floods, flames, or famine! 
 When at Newport, my attention was directed to a little 
 figure — Ida Lewis, who was rowing up the coast in 
 her little boat. How our eyes fill with tears when we 
 think of Sir H. Davy refusing a million dollars for a 
 lamp, and, turning around, gave it away for nothing 
 to the poor coal-miners of Wales! How the blood 
 rushes through our veins when we hear such stories 
 as the woman washing the bootblack's feet, and then 
 shoeing them, when he said, "You must be some relation 
 to Jesus!" How the lives of Fletcher, Wesley, Whitefield, 
 and our Fox, all make us feel glad to claim them as 
 our own! But all the while helping their fellows, who 
 could appreciate them, and in a measure reward; but 
 Jesus became poor for us; for such as we are; for me. 
 
 Ah! that is grace, gracious beyond language to por- 
 
88 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 tray. Did that for me that I might become rich, that 
 I might have what He lost when He came here. Why, 
 it seems too good to be true; but that is what the text 
 says, that we, through His poverty, might become rich. 
 
 Look at the fallen woman. Surely, He will not give 
 His grace to her? Yes, He said, "Go, I condemn thee not." 
 Poor Mary, out of whom seven devils were cast, was 
 not beneath His purpose to enrich. But there is the 
 thief on the cross, not only devil-possessed, but almost 
 in the very dominion and domain of the devil. Death 
 is fastening his cruel fingers upon his throat. Life will 
 soon be out forever. But Jesus came to his rescue, and 
 bestowed upon him the riches of His grace, and told 
 him that he should be with Him in paradise that day. 
 O, what condescending love! Come, ye swift-winged 
 seraphs; come and tell this people something of the 
 grace of our Lord. Come, ye mighty of earth, that 
 have been washed in His blood. Come, ye redeemed 
 of glory, and say a word to this perishing people about 
 our Lord's grace and goodness. Come, Paul. Thou 
 hast told others; come, tell again to-night this people 
 how much that grace means. 
 
 Ah! see us going up the shining way. The gate 
 flies open. The city looms up. I see my friends. But 
 I see my Savior, who was rich, but for my sake became 
 poor, that I through His poverty might be rich. 
 
X. 
 
 GOD'S COVENANT WITH THE GENEROUS. 
 
 "And God is able to make all grace abound toward 
 you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, 
 may abound to every good work." (2 Cor. ix, 8.) 
 
 T^HE apostle Paul has been commending these Chris- 
 A tians for their liberality. Liberality is a great need of 
 all Churches in all ages, and is ever an expression of a high 
 state of grace. It is a common adage that revivals open 
 pocket-books; and as long as sin abounds and evil men 
 and deceivers waxing worse and worse, there shall ever 
 be a demand for the sort of piety that the Corinthians 
 exhibited. 
 
 But the apostle assured them that, while they had 
 been and were liberal, they had nothing to fear, as God 
 would take knowledge of them; and if they gave to 
 Him, He would surely bless them in return, and they 
 should never lack anything. And while this promise 
 was given to them, God has preserved it for us; and as 
 we are all one family, and God the one Father of us 
 all, and as He has but one code of law and liberality 
 for all His children in every age, and is no respecter 
 of persons, this promise is as much ours as any that 
 God has written to the believers. So let us proceed to 
 note what the promise implies, trusting that we will 
 prove ourselves worthy of the same by imitating those 
 to whom it was first given. 
 
 Note, however, by way of introduction, that the 
 89 
 
90 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 language is in the absolute degree. All is repeated 
 three and in sense four times. And when God says 
 "all," He means it. And not only does He mean it, 
 which men so often do not — God is able to make it ai,i,. 
 So observe : 
 
 i. ali, grace; is granted. 
 
 This is a wonderful promise when we consider what 
 it means. Grace or goodness or gift has reference to 
 the provisions God has made for His children till the 
 end of time. This same apostle says in another place 
 that according to His riches in glory, when referring to 
 the same thing. O, what must that be! All grace, 
 riches in glory! No mind can comprehend it, much less 
 shall any life ever exhaust it. We have some idea of 
 what God can do for a man. We have seen men very 
 much blessed in word and deed. But God do n't say 
 that He will make all the grace that others have or 
 had abound toward us, but He will make all grace. I 
 often sit and wonder what God would do for a people 
 that would give him a real good chance. We know 
 what He has done for some. We have seen their works 
 and felt their influence; but has any one ever exhausted 
 all the grace of God or had all He has to bestow? We 
 need not look at any man to see how much God can do 
 to-day. All grace is the measure. I fear we too often 
 shut ourselves up in some little corner of grace, and 
 look about us, and say, Well, all this is mine — when, in- 
 deed, we are like the little minnow in a small pool upon 
 the beach, with the whole ocean stretching out before us. 
 
 Now, this is peculiarly sweet since we often have 
 occasion to deplore the sad lack of grace in some lives, 
 as we seem to see them. Many of us have said, "Well, 
 
God's Covenant with the Generous. 
 
 9i 
 
 if I had no more religion than that fellow, I 'd make no 
 profession." Well, may be you have not more religion; 
 but you may have, though we trust you have more. 
 The thought is, that no one can set the limit of what 
 grace can do for us if we are faithful. I see people fall- 
 ing. I need not fall if all grace is at my command. I 
 see others breaking down just where they should be 
 strong; we need not, if all grace is at our command. I 
 see many, not what they should be, not what they could 
 be, not what they would be if they had all God can 
 give them; and yet this shall not discourage me, since 
 God has promised to make all grace abound toward 
 me. And, with this text before me, I can say that if 
 any man fails, it is all his own fault; for God has prom- 
 ised all grace to abound — and that means all — so that 
 the fall is not because God has shut off the stream, but 
 because we have failed to connect with it; that is all. 
 Was there any necessity for Judas to sell his Master 
 for thirty pieces of silver, when the Lord owned the 
 cattle on a thousand hills? Was there any need of 
 Saul going to the witch of Endor, when the Lord has 
 invited all to seek Him for counsel and wisdom? Was 
 there any occasion for Solomon taking to himself those 
 godless women for wives, when any maiden in Israel 
 would be glad enough, and good enough too, to be his 
 wife? Was there any need of David acting base and 
 mean as he did when he was a king? Was there any 
 need of Sampson grinding corn with his eyes out, when 
 God had made him more than a match for all his enemies? 
 No; all will say no. So don't say, Well, others have 
 failed; I must expect to do so too. For all grace is yours. 
 Again, this is most precious, because we feel our utter 
 dependence. How helpless we are when left to ourselves 
 
92 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 we have often proved in times of trial and sore need. 
 When sickness has assailed us, and we are prostrated on 
 the bed, we look around in vain for help for our troubled 
 soul. We seek for help and comfort in the things that 
 have ever interested us, but in vain. We change our po- 
 sition, we seek rest from aches and pains in various ways, 
 but we ever feel that after all we can do, or that any one 
 can do for us, our case is a desperate one. And the man 
 who when well thought little of God and religion, will 
 then think, with the emphasis of pain, of his dependence 
 on the One he has ever neglected. But even in health 
 the natural man will feel a helplessness that no tongue 
 can express. Man has always felt so, as can be seen in 
 the monuments of an earlier age as well as in the anguish 
 of the infidel and atheist in his last moments, when left 
 alone with God and eternity. Voltaire, on the Alps, when 
 the snowslide drove him to his knees to pray; then, re- 
 covering himself, he arose and began to swear. All the 
 monuments that have ever been erected to God in the 
 misty past; all the shrines and temples of a more modern 
 civilization; all the confessions of dying men, and the 
 prayers of living, prove how every honest man, when not 
 hampered, will cry to God for help. We, too, with all 
 our boasted civilization, are as helpless as men in any 
 earlier age of the world. We have our printing presses, 
 but they can not write our names in the Lamb's book of 
 life ; we have our railroads, but they can not carry us into 
 the world of spirits; we have our telegraph lines and tele- 
 phones, but the longest wire can not reach the Throne; 
 we have all the improved appliances of our modern 
 methods of life, but they can not insure against death. 
 No, friends, with all we have, or shall ever possess, we 
 can not do without God; and if we had all the world for 
 
God's Covenant with the Generous. 93 
 
 our own, we still would be in need of the grace of our 
 Lord Jesus as much as though we had not a penny. Then, 
 how sweet it is to have the promise that all grace is given 
 unto us! Praise the Lord! 
 
 And when we consider that the grace of God does for 
 us that very thing that none other can do, nor altogether 
 can effect, how our hearts must leap with joy at the 
 promise if we only believed it! Now, what we need most 
 is not money, though a little is handy; neither is it fame, 
 the will-o'-the-wisp of fools; neither is it a thousand things 
 after which the Gentiles seek; but it is character, the gift 
 of God's grace. I am now expanding the limitation of 
 the text somewhat to take in the spiritual as well as tem- 
 poral side of God's grace. I do this, for there is really 
 no limit to grace — the grace of God. God, in giving us 
 grace, the expression of His goodness, can build us 
 up in Him till it is as natural for us to be generous and 
 liberal as it is for the miser to be kind, and a great deal 
 easier. When we show a disposition to be what God 
 would have us become, God just comes to our help, and 
 makes all grace abound, that we shall find it easy to do 
 all we have begun to do. I think this is a part of the 
 sense of our text, that not only will God give us the 
 means to do good, but the disposition, ever increasing, 
 to do good. All grace shall abound toward us in this 
 thing. Now, we know the truth of this thought is seen 
 in the man that withholds his substance, and becomes 
 miserly. See the man who does not give to the cause 
 of truth, or the poor, or to anything but his own com- 
 fort. At first he has only made the resolution to be sav- 
 ing, and to not give when he can well avoid it. Now 
 the call comes for money; he is asked to give to some 
 good cause that he is impressed with ; others are giving, 
 
94 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 and he feels as though he should give some little too ; but, 
 then, he has said he would try to be saving, and not give 
 anything that was not really necessary, and this do n't 
 seem to be really necessary for him to give, as others 
 are giving, and may be they will get enough without his 
 contribution; and yet, as the basket goes past him, he 
 feels a real desire in his heart to give, yet he does not; and 
 then the next time he has no desire, or less than before, 
 and so on, till he has lost all the finer instincts of the 
 soul, and has become the merest fossil of what he once 
 was, and the merest fraction of what he might have been. 
 Just the contrary is the effect that the grace of God has 
 on the believer's heart. Not only does he learn to give 
 by habit, but God's grace actually makes it natural and 
 a pleasure to give to right things. 
 
 Do you now feel it a little hard to give? And yet if 
 you give from a sense of right, God will make it easy. Do 
 you feel a little doubtful as to the prudence of great 
 liberality in giving for God? Look well to the promise, and 
 claim it, and God will make the pledge of safety to give 
 of your substance for Him. Do you feel, sometimes, as 
 though you were giving more than your share, or that 
 others were shirking their duty, and their load fell upon 
 you? Be assured, God's grace can make this very thing 
 a means of grace and blessing. All grace is given, so 
 that the disposition to give will be as natural and enjoy- 
 able as the contrary has ever been to any or the many 
 who hoard their substance. And if a thing is right and 
 safe and enjoyable, no one can ask more for the reason- 
 ableness of its performance. 
 
 A dear, devoted Christian girl had a brother prepar- 
 ing for the ministry. He was smart, gifted, fluent, and 
 bid fair to become a bright light for the cause of Christ; 
 
God's Covenant with the Generous. 
 
 95 
 
 but on his way home from college he met a sudden, sad 
 death. The sister, desiring that his work might not die 
 with him, took upon herself the education of a Chinese 
 lad, and gave him the name of her brother. And though 
 earning her own living as a teacher, she regularly and 
 systematically took from each month's wages the five 
 dollars necessary for the education of the lad. This be- 
 came a pleasure to her. She did it for Christ's sake; 
 not because she had no other place for her money, 
 but because it was for God, and He made it easy and 
 pleasant and natural. 
 
 II. AUv EMERGENCIES MET. 
 
 At all times — "always" — having an all-sufficiency. I 
 do not know why, but true it is, that men instinctively 
 have a fear of the remote and dim future, more than of 
 the real and difficult present. I care not what man is 
 burdened, or in what way; if you get his real inner thought, 
 he will tell you that, somehow, there are times when he 
 fears the future will bring more trouble, in spite of the 
 natural tendency to hope that is ever in the human breast. 
 "Shall I not, at some time, come to know limitation that 
 I do not now?" is heard and felt by many. But this text 
 assures you that you can take all the joy out of the 
 present, and look for its continuance in the future, if 
 the Lord is on our side and the Giver of our joy. That 
 feared trial is met; that threatening trouble is provided 
 for; that probable season of want will have its supply; 
 that old age and death will be robbed of their sting. The 
 woman who Rev. Cushon spoke of as fearing death and 
 the grave, and at last, after a season of prayer, declared 
 she had no fear whatever. No, God is eternal, and we 
 can not drift or live beyond His love and care. Glory! 
 
96 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 All temporal need supplied. The apostle assured the 
 Philippians "that his God would supply all their need ac- 
 cording to His riches in glory, by Christ Jesus." All their 
 need, and here we are to have an all-sufficiency, mean- 
 ing the same thing. Now that God is able, no one doubts ; 
 but He will so do, the apostle declares. There are some 
 things that God knows we need, and can not get on 
 without; food and raimant and a home, these things God 
 will surely provide if we do the right thing. Now the 
 right thing, in the mind of the writer, is to live for God, 
 and use this world as a stepping-stone to the next in 
 spending and being spent for the glory of God. The 
 blessed Savior said if we sought first the kingdom of God 
 and His righteousness, all these things shall be added 
 unto us. Does God mean it? Of course. Then, what 
 do we fret and worry our righteous souls about? But 
 some will say, Then we need not do anything, and can 
 sit down and take it easy. Does the Scripture say so? 
 No; the Word is, if we sow liberally, that is the guarantee. 
 God nowhere fosters fanaticism, but has hinged all His 
 blessings upon a consistent foundation or pivot of obe- 
 dience. But God will care for His own, and the psalmist 
 says he "never saw the righteous forsaken, nor his seed 
 begging bread." Nor will any one else ever see them. 
 Praise God! Now, then, do n't let us be over-anxious to 
 get dollars or land, but to see that we are glorifying God 
 in all the ways open to us, and we have nothing to fear. 
 
 Now some will say, "Well, I do not see the believer 
 getting rich." No, thank God, it does not say we all 
 shall be bankers. Nor does it say that we shall have all 
 that some other fellow has, that he might think is the 
 thing to have. Some people have silk hats. I do n't want 
 them. They never were fit for man to wear. They are 
 
God's Covenant with the Generous. gy 
 
 too heavy, and can't stand any rain or roughing, so I 
 do not want one. So of a few diamonds and gold, or a 
 thousand other things that some people have. If God 
 had said we might have all some one else had, or all 
 we might want, we would rob heaven of its golden 
 streets, strip the angels of their wings to put them on 
 our bonnets, and run away with all the golden harps of 
 the kingdom. Why, some people would not be satis- 
 fied if they had all the world for a farm, and the moon 
 for a sheep pasture. Yet, on the other hand, God is 
 willing for us to have nice things that we will use to his 
 glory. I know a woman who prayed God to send her a 
 canary bird. She was sick, and, no doubt, thought the 
 bird would be a blessing to her. At all events, a day or 
 two after she had asked God for the bird, a friend came 
 with a nice cage and a pretty little singer in it. God 
 does not mean that we shall not have a piece of carpet 
 on our floors, nor a picture on our walls, nor a few spare 
 things of art about the house. These things may have 
 a wonderful elevating influence on our minds and hearts, 
 and all who come and enjoy will feel the refining, edu- 
 cating influence of these things of art and comfort. A 
 woman, who was such a notably wicked woman, of des- 
 perate and dissipating habits, was reformed by the gift 
 of a single picture for the wall of her bedroom. But 
 one thing is ever manifest with the things that God allows 
 and gives for our comfort or elevation, we are never vain 
 of them. We do n't hoard them as though they had some 
 intrinsic value, but we use them as a means to an end — 
 that is, to make us better men and women. Nor will we 
 begrudge others having and enjoying the same things, nor 
 things of the same kind. Rather will we wish all men 
 to have them and enjoy as we do. 
 7 
 
98 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 Now if we please God, and He cares for us, no one 
 will question His ability to do for all, all the text has 
 promised. And the number of those who have found God 
 good as His word are not few if we only knew them. 
 How many, in answer to prayer, have had their wants 
 supplied for years when they were not able to do for 
 themselves! The old couple w T ho had been stricken with 
 sickness, and had nothing left but an apple, asked God 
 for what they needed till they were able to get to work 
 again. And a woman sent her daughter with a basket 
 of eatables and a skirt for the old mother. When the 
 lady had taken the eatables out of the basket, forgetting 
 the skirt, she started to go, and the old lady, so sure 
 God had heard all her prayer, in childlike confidence 
 asked, "And where 's the skirt?" for she 'd been asking 
 God for that too. A poor Scotch woman had prayed all 
 night for something to keep the bairns from starving, 
 and near daybreak the promise of cattle on a thousand 
 hills came to her; then, a little later, a steer with a broken 
 leg fell at the door, and the driver asked permission to 
 leave it. So she had meat and to sell for other necessities. 
 
 But after all we have said about the Lord's provisions 
 for the body, the greatest wants are still unsupplied. The 
 things of the body will so soon be left in the dim past, 
 but the things of the soul will be a consideration for- 
 ever. We shall outgrow our present homes as we have 
 our childhood's clothes, toys, and plays; but the things 
 that furnish the soul — faith, hope, and love — will be the 
 garment of the spirit when the sun is old and cold. And 
 how much we need them, and how varied they are when 
 we take the time to look into the various things that the 
 grace of God means of soul-traits and habits! 
 
 How much we need the baptism of love for the un- 
 
God's Covenant with the Generous. 99 
 
 lovable, who never dream of the burden of weight they 
 lay upon our hearts ! Now, unless we love, we are noth- 
 ing, if we had all the world to possess; and unless God 
 can give us love, it matters but little how much worldly 
 prosperity He may give us. The apostle said if we pos- 
 sessed all, and gave all we possessed, unless we had love, 
 we are nothing. So this is the greatest need possible. 
 Now that God can give us love, and take all the vinegar 
 and venom out of hearts, is assured from His Word. 
 The apostle says, "The love of God is shed abroad in 
 our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." 
 So that while many have to acknowledge a natural lack 
 of this prime requisite of the holy life, we never need 
 know a lack, for God has promised an all-sufficiency. 
 A woman went to the foreign field, and found so many 
 squalid, uncomely children, that were not only dirty, but 
 repulsive in their habits and tempers, and so unlike the 
 children of her childhood, that she confessed she could 
 not love them. She thought of giving up her work as 
 a missionary, and coming home. But thinking how it 
 tf would sound to tell the reason of her change of mind, 
 and thinking of, may be, not pleasing her Savior, she 
 thought she would pray over it. She found a quiet place, 
 and there, alone with her God, she told all her heart 
 out to the Great Father of all, and somehow, while she 
 prayed, a love for those poor, little, neglected children 
 came into her heart, and she felt as though she could 
 have hugged and kissed the ugliest and dirtiest of them. 
 Now that we shall need love for some that we meet 
 along the ways of life, no one will ever doubt. How un- 
 lovable we all are in the eye of an angel I can not tell, 
 but I am sure we look to them very much as the vicious 
 and vile must look to the eyes of the good. But yet they 
 
i oo Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 have to minister to us, and they surely love, for if they 
 did not, they could not please God. So if we are going 
 to please God and serve those about us, we must love 
 them. It is not natural to love the ungrateful and the 
 unthankful; but God is able, for He loved us when we 
 were all this and more. It is not natural to love those 
 who lie about us, and try to injure our character or de- 
 stroy our comfort; but God has said He will give an all- 
 sufficiency, and there will never be an individual against 
 whom we need have the least hard feeling. Praise God! 
 O, how many try to explain away that text that we are 
 to love our enemies, by saying, "It do n't mean just to 
 love them." Yes, it does. Love is love, and you can 
 not have any hatred in love. And God is able to give 
 us a baptism of love that will go clear through us, and 
 make us love even as He loves. O, what a gift is this! 
 How much more to be desired than all the world be- 
 sides! How sad is the unlovableness of those who hold 
 hatred in their hearts ! I can imagine how those that have 
 not the love of God in their souls, that have never known 
 the power of the love that loves all and ever, will look 
 as they enter the eternal world of love where all is love, 
 and stand before a loving God who loved them more than 
 they ever knew; and before all the angels and the re- 
 deemed, they stand ugly and disfigured by the absence 
 of love. A thousand worlds like this would they give 
 to be like those about them, who have the life of love. 
 This is the greatest need of the soul. Yet this is assured 
 us in this promise, for it is one of the things we can not 
 get on without and be all God would have us. How 
 sweet was the character of Stephen, who, when stoned, 
 could ask God for the pardon of his murderers! How 
 sweet the love of Christ, who, when dying on the cross, 
 
God's Covenant with the Generous. ioi 
 
 prayed for the cruel persecutors or the poor fellow that 
 drove the nails in his hands and feet ! That is love worth 
 more than all the world besides. Have you it? You 
 may have. Glory! 
 
 The baptism of power and service we may have. All- 
 sufficiency takes in all that we need to make us powers 
 in God's hand for good. 
 
 Then a baptism of prayer, that makes prayer not only 
 a delight, but a mighty power for good in the hands of 
 those who know how to wield it as an intrument of 
 Christian warfare. The apostle tells us that "we know 
 not what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit helpeth 
 our infirmities." Now this is just as real as love or 
 power. How much has been accomplished by prayer 
 we shall never know in this world, but that it is a mighty 
 power the whole Word of God assures us. By it, Moses 
 prevailed for the defeat of the Amalekites in the valley 
 below; by it, Miriam was healed of leprosy for railing at 
 the priests of God; by it, Elijah overthrew the worship 
 of Baal, and put the priests to the sword; by it, Daniel 
 prevailed with His God while a captive in Babylon; by 
 it, Peter was liberated from prison; and if I should take 
 time to mention all the answers to prayer that have been 
 given to the children of God in the Bible record, we 
 should be able to say nothing more. But what a power 
 prayer is in the hands of a holy man or woman! If a 
 man had nothing in this world, and was as destitute as 
 Job after he was afflicted, yet would he be rich, for it was 
 in an answer to prayer that Job got the deliverance and 
 had twice as much given him as before. No one is poor 
 who knows how to pray well. No one can be useless 
 who uses this means of doing good. No one can be what 
 God wants them to be unless they know something about 
 
102 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 this wondrous gift. And I am so glad that the apostle, 
 this same apostle, assures us that it is the Spirit that 
 teaches us how to pray, and as we may have the Spirit 
 as the natural part of the all-sufficiency — Glory ! — we may 
 know the power of a baptism of prayer. 
 
 Now if there is anything else that I have not mentioned 
 that you desire in the way of spiritual furnishings, re- 
 member that God will not supply all your need accord- 
 ing to the sermon of the pastor, but according to 
 His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Not as some 
 one else has been supplied, for many walk when they can. 
 ride; many just lunch, when they have all meals paid, 
 as the man on boat. 
 
 Note, in the third place: 
 
 III. ALI, EFFORT SUSTAINED. 
 
 All financial efficiency guaranteed, if we want it for 
 God and His glory. Not that He calls every one to be 
 the custodian of great sums of money for the advance- 
 ment of the kingdom; but that all the work, be it small 
 or great, that He lays upon our hearts, He has prom- 
 ised to supply all needed amounts. The lives and labors 
 of Cullis-Muller, and many others, as the Alliance Move- 
 ment, that have handled millions of money, and seemed 
 to raise money the easiest possible. Experience at Beulah 
 Park, Old Orchard, and New York all show this. Do n't 
 hoard your money to give sometime to come, but give, 
 and the Lord will give more when it is needed. If for 
 Him, that is the only condition that must be met, and 
 God will surely supply. 
 
 All grace granted to the soul in the work to which 
 we are called. Now in viewing the lives of the disciples 
 before they were baptized with the Holy Ghost and fire, 
 
God's Covenant with the Generous. 103 
 
 how imperfect their character was ! They seemed, indeed, 
 to be incompetent for any severe trial of faith or courage. 
 They were easily browbeaten and discouraged, and had 
 but little purpose for so great an undertaking. But when 
 the Holy Ghost and fire fell upon them, what marvelous 
 power they everywhere manifested! They were called to 
 preach, and with what marked unction they did it! They 
 were called to instruct, and with what a grasp of Scrip- 
 ture they told the story of the Christ! They were called 
 to suffer and endure hardness, and nothing in this world 
 seemed for one minute to daunt or intimidate them. They 
 seemed to have all they needed of all sort of power for 
 every emergency, and not one, at any time after the Pente- 
 costal baptism, manifested the lack of the grace of God 
 in any manner of experience whatever. The apostles, 
 whether we consider the transformed heart of Paul, from 
 the persecutor to the affectionate, suffering apostle to the 
 Gentiles; or the transformed life of the Apostle Peter, 
 from the impulsive, profane roughness he so often mani- 
 fested, to that of one who could endure all for Christ 
 without a word; or that of the loving John, who, as 
 gentle as a woman, could endure the tortures heaped 
 upon him, finally terminating in a banishment to the island 
 home to dig in the mines; or indeed any one of the school 
 of apostles, we are called to marvel at the great trans- 
 formation that marks their every word and deed. They 
 are indeed new creatures. Now this is the all-sufficiency 
 of the grace of God that is offered to each and all of us 
 for any and all the work we may be called to do for Him 
 our holy Head. 
 
 But this is what we might expect if we consider the 
 Old Testament saints. Look at Moses. He thought he 
 could not speak. God told him he could, and He would 
 
104 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 be to him tongue and utterance. Moses doubted, but 
 went with Aaron, only to find, however, that he could 
 talk himself, when he had occasion, full as well as his 
 more eloquent brother. Joshua had courage imparted 
 to him, for he naturally had but little, else God would 
 not so often exhort him to be courageous. But when 
 he needed it, God supplied, and he stands to-day as one 
 of the most illustrious. David had the heart of a woman 
 for love, but, under the guiding hand of God, the heart 
 of a giant for war and conquest. God gave Solomon 
 wisdom, so that he was the greatest of men that have 
 ever lived or written on the common duties of life. He 
 gave Sampson strength, so that, had he been wise, too, 
 he might have lived as one of the most illustrious char- 
 acters in the whole realm of Holy Writ. Yes, if we 
 could see, to-day, the marvelous changes that have taken 
 place in the hearts and lives and circumstances of the 
 servants of God, who, like Dowie or Kenworthy, could 
 not at first speak without stammering, or as Muller and 
 poor Cullis, were poor, and had no money to give, and 
 after gave their millions; or like many others that felt 
 they had no fitness for any particular work, have be- 
 come renowned for efficiency, we would say God surely 
 will and does supply all needed grace, that we have an 
 all-sufficiency at all times, and may abound to every good 
 work. 
 
XI. 
 
 GOD'S WAY OF ETERNAL LIFE. 
 
 "And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee 
 the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast 
 sent." (John xvii, 3.) 
 
 C TERNAL life has been the dream and longings of the 
 *-^ ages. Elixir of life, fountain of life, and philosopher's 
 stone, all myths blown away by the sure fact of eternal 
 life in Christ and God. Knowing God is the sesame, 
 talisman, and cabala of the ancients, all in one, who would 
 not know God and Christ? 
 
 Now in comparison with endless life, not endless ex- 
 istence, what can be compared? And if there is a science 
 that teaches us how we might become eternal in the 
 full life of God, surely we shall bend every effort to get 
 possession of it. 
 
 A knowledge of God in Christ Jesus is of itself a 
 pledge and guarantee of all that eternal life means in 
 the language of the Scriptures. Note, then, 
 
 I. THE MODE OF THIS KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 A knowledge of books, things, or persons has each 
 a law to itself. How we know books — things — persons. 
 Now, as God is a personality, the last method is to be 
 observed. 
 
 We know men, or persons, by association and sym- 
 pathy. We do not know men when we can tell the color 
 of their eyes, height, weight, etc.; but character is the 
 
 105 
 
io6 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 man, the being; and to know character, we must com- 
 mingle and have sympathy. See as they see, and from 
 their standpoint. To know and interpret distant beings, 
 we must have a medium of communication. The letter, 
 wire, servant, carrier (dove), etc., all adown the ages 
 show. Now God has employed two of these ways — the 
 messenger and the dove. To know superiors, we must 
 allow them to state ways of intercourse. Let them set 
 the means; we must comply with their ways. God has 
 said that by humility and purity all men shall know the 
 truth, and know Him who is the Truth. An author will 
 write a book, and we know him by it; a painter will 
 paint a picture, and we know him by it, etc. So God 
 has revealed Himself in His Son; so Phillip said, "Show 
 us the Father, and it sufficeth us." So when we see the 
 power of Christ, we see the earthly manifestation of 
 God, not all His power. Who could behold all of wis- 
 dom, gentleness, love, and purpose to save and elevate 
 men? God is seen and known in Christ; associate with 
 Christ, sympathize with Him, and you shall see God. 
 
 II. TH£ REJAUTY OF THIS KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 Some do n't know God. Pharaoh asked, "Who is 
 the Lord?" So did the pleasure-seekers in Job's day; 
 while the fool says, "There is no God." But while fools 
 and others so say, men of God, as Wesley, Luther, Ed- 
 wards, Finney, and millions more of earth's best, say 
 they know Him. They say they do, and who can ques- 
 tion? Their word is good on all else; why not here? 
 especially when only questioned by those who do not 
 know. All knowledge comes by a sense — one sense. 
 Color, weight, flavor, sound, odors, all call one sense into 
 use. Each sufficient knowledge is known by a sense. 
 
God's Way of Eternal Life. 107 
 
 Consciousness witnesses to it in knowing God as in 
 other things. How do we know a thing is heavy? We 
 are persuaded by consciousness of it. Transformations 
 by knowledge make it sure, and real. How knowledge 
 changes tastes, tempers, impressions, thoughts of things! 
 Now the man knowing God feels, sees, thinks, loves as 
 never before. Any one can illustrate this in a revival. 
 If any one says he knows God, and experiences no change 
 in taste, tempers, and purposes, it would be as a man 
 saying he knows history, and yet having no different view 
 of things from other men who do not know, or a man 
 saying he is an artist, and yet see no more than others 
 of nature. Inspiration is ever a mark of knowledge. 
 The man who knows farming, books, or anything else, 
 is more inspired on that point than men who do not. 
 The reality of a knowledge of God is seen in the inner 
 uplift of soul that comes to the heart of the one that has 
 gained this priceless culture. Nearly all knowledge in- 
 spires with a motive, purpose, or disposition to do that 
 which is peculiar to itself. And though it may be deep 
 hidden in its early existence, nothing is more real to a 
 soul than this knowledge and its inspiration. Howe and 
 Barrow were made new men by this knowledge, and so 
 are all who acquire it. 
 
 III. THE EXPRESSION OE THIS KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 Knowledge ever shows itself in the enlarged world 
 of the possessor. So a knowledge of God manifests 
 itself in ways that can not be misinterpreted. And while 
 I would ask for the knowldge of God more than could 
 be asked for any other sort of lore, yet I am content, for 
 the greater part, to go along the lines of manifestation 
 seen in other branches of knowledge. 
 
108 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 So note: It entrances. All knowledge has a sort of 
 entrancing power to the one who possess it. Let a 
 man know something about farming, and every land- 
 scape to him has a lesson of agriculture; let him know 
 something of war, and he will be marshaling forces in 
 every field, on every hillside; if he is a geologist, every 
 stone tells him of changes of ages agone; if an astron- 
 omer, he sees in the heavens the work of the Mighty One 
 planned and ordered ; if a naturalist, every bug and insect 
 has a study for him ; so the man of God, that knows God, 
 sees in all around the deep lessons of God. He sees the 
 hand of God in history, in providence, in all the changes 
 of earth, and while others might be confused and stunned, 
 he is lost in wonder, love, and praise. Everything tells 
 him something about God and His power and goodness. 
 He lives in another world; he is charmed by a spell that 
 binds him to the God of love; he wants to communicate 
 his knowledge. Men of idea and knowledge wish to 
 impart, if they are normal men; hence the paintings, 
 books, and statuary of the world. Men that think, and 
 have well-founded knowledge, wish to announce it. So 
 the man of God, that has a knowledge of God, will be 
 ever speaking of it. You call the man of an idea a one- 
 sided man because he is ever talking on one side; but the 
 only reason for him being one-sided is, that the other 
 fellow has no side to show. He is full of enthusiasm, he 
 will tell you of it when he has a hearing; and the man 
 that knows God, and will not speak of it when he has a 
 good chance, is a man that does not know God at all. 
 Men of a theme will speak of it; they are more possessed 
 than possessing. Expansion is another phase of the life 
 of knowledge. The larger life is a life of information. 
 The man of an idea, or a truth, seems to live in another 
 
God's Way of Eternal Life. 109 
 
 world from ordinary men. The historian lives in the 
 past, and seems, to others, strangely lost; the scientist 
 lives in the world about him, above, beneath, and all 
 around him, and is lost to much that is before the eyes 
 of the less schooled. He has a larger world, in a sense, 
 than the man who knows less; he seems to live in the 
 unseen. Just this is true of the man of God who knows 
 God. He lives in the vast, unbounded eternity; he medi- 
 tates upon God and the future; he has a controlling faith 
 that makes him seem strange to men of earthly sense 
 only. Men of faith are ever strange. Look at C. W. 
 Field, Morse, Franklin, Astor; so of the man of God, he 
 lives in the future, unseen. He lays up treasure in heaven, 
 and associates with the redeemed in two worlds. Glory! 
 Columbus lived on the unseen shore while yet in the Old 
 World. And so do we who know God. We live in the 
 unseen, though we walk among men here. Just one thing 
 remains to be said on this head to complete my thoughts, 
 and that is, the assimilation of the man to his knowledge, 
 especially if it is an author. Heroes often change the 
 character of the admirer for the worse, always for better 
 or worse. This is the harm of the bad novel, and good 
 of the good book, or better, of the knowledge of God. 
 Michael Angelo studied the great works of art up to his 
 day, and became the world's greatest artist. Webster 
 studied and memorized the orations of Demosthenes, and 
 became, like him, the Demosthenes of this country. 
 Napoleon studied the life and battles of Caesar, and be- 
 came a conqueror. Caesar studied the life of Alexander, 
 and became a great general and conqueror, while Alex- 
 ander studied the lives of the generals that lived before 
 him, and became the man of blood he was. Know a man 
 well that you admire, and you will be like him, is the 
 
no Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 lesson of the past. So it is with God if we know Him, 
 and as we must love Him before we can know Him, we 
 must sympathize with Him before He can be known; 
 then we begin to assimilate His character. If we say 
 we know Him, and do not keep His commandments, 
 we lie. (i John ii, 3; Titus i, 16.) It is the most natural 
 thing in the world for us to imitate the man or the being 
 nearest and greatest in our eyes and hearts. So if we 
 do not get gentle, kind, loving, self-forgetful, like God, in 
 our lives, we do not as yet know the great God, and be- 
 cause of this lack, we lack the eternal life of which re- 
 semblance to God is but the badge. 
 
 Much of the knowledge of this world is not very 
 valuable; much of the knowledge of this world is be- 
 yond our reach of time; and much of the knowledge of 
 this world only puffs up and makes vain; but the knowl- 
 edge of God, ever at hand, ever grand and glorious, 
 always prepares us for the presence of God by preparing 
 in us a life and fitness for the spirit-world, where we may 
 ever be with Him, 
 
XII. 
 
 SOME ITEMS OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 "And it came to pass when the priests were come out 
 of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the 
 Lord, so that the priests could not minister because of 
 the cloud; for the glory of the Lord had filled the house 
 of the Lord." (i Kings viii, 10, II.) 
 
 '"FHESE words are from the account of the dedication 
 * service of the first temple. And while so many cen- 
 turies have gone since it took place, we have to do with 
 the same God, and very much in the same way as they 
 did. 
 
 That there is a preparation in worship seems to be 
 completely overlooked by some well-meaning people. 
 How many rush into the presence of God, and clamor 
 for the things they seem to think they need, and never 
 so much as take time to examine their motives, much 
 less their fitness to receive, and the grounds on which 
 they ask the Almighty to interpose on their behalf! These 
 people never think how long it took the Lord of life 
 and glory to prepare a worship for them. If they 
 could look back into the dim past, when the world 
 and worship were young, and see how carefully the 
 great God was educating their forefathers to accept His 
 love and goodness in the spiritual worship of the gospel, 
 they would, I am inclined to think, blush to see, by con- 
 trast, how little thought they had bestowed upon the 
 most important and solemn of all life's duties. 
 
 in 
 
ii2 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 How the Lord, in all the types and shadows, symbols 
 and ceremonies, of the Old Testament, was preparing the 
 world for the real things of the gospel of His son! 
 Everything in the Old Testament was significant, as a 
 type, when we get to see it in the line of preparation. 
 This is why typical teaching is of importance, and very 
 fascinating to some teachers. But back of all we see is 
 the great, unseen world ; back of all we know as a prepa- 
 ration is what went on in the courts of high heaven in 
 the way of planning our redemption; and I think, if we 
 could but see the great care, the protracted time, the 
 infinite wisdom, and, withal, the boundless love that have 
 brought salvation to us, we would be very slow to turn 
 from the mercy-seat without a special answer to our 
 prayers, or to feel that we can not get as near God as 
 others do; for if we but manifested the care to be ready 
 to converse with the King of the heavens that most 
 men manifest to converse with the monarchs of earth, 
 how different would be the religious experience of the 
 followers of Christ to-day! 
 
 So let us note : 
 
 I. PREPARATION FOR SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 Reverence born of faith. In the Hebrews we read 
 that without faith it is impossible to please God; "for he 
 that cometh to Him must believe that He is, and that He 
 is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." Now 
 if all believers in coming to the Lord would think, be- 
 fore praying, that they were talking to the King of high 
 heaven, and that He to whom they spoke knew them 
 better than they themselves did, and that He knew all 
 of their motives, and had a right to expect reverence 
 and respect when He was approached, what a different 
 
Some Items of Spiritual Worship. 113 
 
 tone our prayers would sometimes possess, and how many 
 prayers would we then hear that now remain unspoken 
 in the heart, perhaps even unnoticed! Men, in coming 
 into the presence of the renowned of earth, and some- 
 times renowned for nothing very good either, they plan 
 an approach, and are very precise about all that they 
 offer before the one they wish to conciliate. Did you 
 ever hear any one pray at another in a prayer-meeting? 
 I have heard people fly into a passion on their knees, 
 and pray at the one present that had incurred their dis- 
 pleasure, as though they wanted the Almighty to vent 
 His displeasure on those very ones at that very moment. 
 There is such a thing as praying at some one; do you 
 know it? You can pray for those who sin, those who 
 do not live right, those who hinder the cause of Christ, 
 with a pure motive; but to take your own personal 
 grievances into the prayer service, and address the Lord 
 about some one that has done you a wrong, as though 
 the Allwise did not know all about it, and to ask ven- 
 geance on others, instead of yourselves, is sufficient proof 
 that the petitioner does not believe in the great God or 
 reverence Him. 
 
 Again, the psalmist says, "If I regard iniquity in my 
 heart, the Lord will not hear me." (Psalm lxvi, 18.) 
 In coming to God to worship Him with the heart, we, 
 of course, must come with a clean heart, or willing to 
 have it made clean. How carefully did the greatest of 
 kings prepare a temple for the worship of Jehovah in 
 Old Testament times! And yet, after he got all finished, 
 in honesty he had to say that the Lord dwelt not in 
 temples made with hands, for even the heaven of heavens 
 could not contain him. But, dear ones, how careless 
 are we sometimes to prepare our hearts, the real temple 
 8 
 
ii4 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 of the Holy Ghost, in which the Lord surely dwells! 
 But the preparation the individual heart needs, each in- 
 dividual and the Lord alone know. Suppose a man 
 would come to God, and ask for the baptism of the Holy 
 Ghost, ask to be filled with the Spirit, and his heart al- 
 ready filled with anger, lust, covetousness, or some other 
 secret sin, how long would he pray before the Lord 
 could answer his petition? If he would pray till the 
 day of eternal doom, the Almighty would not, could not, 
 hear and answer him. Even God can not make two things 
 occupy the same space at the same time. The Almighty 
 can't make the sun to shine and keep the world dark at 
 the same time. These are physical impossibilities. So 
 the filling of a man's heart with the Holy Ghost when 
 it is already full of sin is a moral impossibility. If we 
 would be consistent, we should either quit praying or 
 quit sinning. This sinning may assume a thousand and 
 one phases. In Matthew vi, 23, it speaks of differences 
 between members of the body of believers to be put 
 away, etc. 
 
 But the greatest preparation that we all need, to be 
 spiritual worshipers, is the Lord Himself. God is not 
 worshiped with men's heads, pockets, possessions, elo- 
 quence, or learning, though we sometimes say we will 
 worship God by giving of our substance. Really, all 
 worship, all true worship, is born and begotten by the 
 Lord in our hearts by the Spirit. So that, in preparing 
 the temple for the Lord, we are to seek the Lord with 
 all our hearts, since it is the Spirit alone that can make 
 a true worshiper. This, then, is part of the preparation 
 we all need to worship God aright. If the prayers that 
 are now offered up for minor things, and things purely 
 incidental, were offered for the baptism of the Holy 
 
Some Items of Spiritual Worship. 115 
 
 Ghost, how much more we would realize the Lord's ideal 
 for us as His children! 
 
 Have you not heard, have we not often prayed, "Lord, 
 take away this man-pleasing spirit; Lord, take away this 
 man-fearing spirit; Lord, give me boldness in Thy service; 
 Lord, give me more faith ; Lord, help me to do Thy will," 
 and so on, ad infinitum? When, if we would go to God, 
 and ask for the Holy Ghost that Christ promises to all 
 believers, we would have love, hope, and faith, and on 
 down to the last thing we need to make us all God would 
 ask us to be in order to serve and worship Him. For, 
 observe, the Lord does not ask any one to bring their 
 brains merely, body, booty, bounty, or any other thing, 
 but to come to worship Him in spirit and in truth. Over 
 and over, again and again, our blessed Savior exhorted 
 His disciples to tarry for the baptism of the Holy Ghost. 
 He promised that He would send the promise of the 
 Father upon them. He said it was expedient for Him 
 to leave, that the Holy Ghost might come; He said the 
 Holy Ghost, who is the Comforter, would do many things 
 for the believer, and O, how little attention do we pay 
 to the words so fitting to us to-day! 
 
 And finally, as an item of preparation, we must aim 
 to please the Lord. What other could the Jew have as 
 a motive than the purpose to do the things that would 
 best please the Lord, the great Sovereign of their nation? 
 If they pleased the Lord, all things were promised them. 
 If they would not please the Lord, nothing was promised 
 them but a certain looking forward to judgment and 
 dread adversity. So with the believer of to-day. We 
 worship God, not so much for what it will bring us in 
 some form of wealth or honor, but we worship Him be- 
 cause it is the only way to do our duty as His children. 
 
n6 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 Not that the sole aim of the Almighty is that we comply 
 with some sort of Divine whim or sentiment that has 
 for its existence no other end than to cross the inclina- 
 tion, though we need crossing; but the will of God is the 
 highest wisdom, and to please Him means the well- 
 being of all His creatures. 
 
 Religion, in this sense, is something more than an 
 observance or form. Not like the colored man's view 
 of religion, of whom Booker T. Washington, the colored 
 educator, spoke, who went to class, and said, "Well, 
 dear pastor, I have had an up-and-down experience since 
 I was de last time at this place. I s'pose I done broke 
 all the comandments, ebery one ob dem, N and yet, thank 
 God, I 'se not losed my religion any ob de time!" Now 
 he, no doubt, thought that as long as he professed, he 
 was all right; he had still his religion. But when we have 
 the only motive that can be right, and aim to please God 
 in all things, we shall be right in all that pertains to time 
 and eternity — the things that now are, and those that 
 are to come. 
 
 The motive, with the Lord, is so much. And to see 
 that our motives are pure, to see that all we do and are, 
 yea, all we have and hope to be or to hold, is prompted 
 by the love of God and our neighbor, which is the sum 
 of all comandments, we shall then be in a place where 
 the old Jews were when they had built and dedicated 
 the temple in accordance with the will of an infinite God, 
 who was doing the very best thing for them and their 
 posterity. This is our preparation for the worship of 
 the blessed Lord of life and glory. Reverence, purity, 
 spirit, and a right motive, are our part of worship. 
 
 Now this throws some light on some great char- 
 
Some Items of Spiritual Worship. 
 
 117 
 
 acters we have seen shining out, in the world's moral 
 darkness, like meteors in the night. We look, some- 
 times, at a man as though he had possessed all the strik- 
 ing qualities we see him hold, that make him a man of 
 might and influence, perfectly natural, without effort or 
 culture. But this is a sad mistake. Some one has said 
 genius is merely a capacity to toil; that what we call 
 brain is nothing more than brawn; or, instead of mind, 
 we should call it muscle developed. We see a man that 
 has performed some great task, and we say, What a 
 smart man! You might have said, What a hard worker! 
 When Thiers, the great Frenchman, delivered one of 
 his memorable speeches, he was complimented, by an 
 auditor, as having performed almost a miracle in deliver- 
 ing, off-hand, a speech containing so much thought in 
 such an eloquent manner. The Frenchman said, "That, 
 sir, is no compliment; I have studied fifty years to de- 
 liver that speech." Just so with men who had been 
 noted for their spiritual power and efficiency; they have 
 worked, on their knees, may be over their Bibles, long 
 into the night, while others slept. The poet puts it: 
 " The heights by great men reached and kept 
 
 Were not attained by sudden flight; 
 For they, while their companions slept, 
 
 Were toiling upward in the night." 
 
 Overcome self, and prepare the heart. 
 
 A Wesley, a Luther, a Fox, were not the product 
 of some natural impulse, but the result of patient, con- 
 tinuous, persistent effort to please the Lord in all things. 
 And the art has not perished with them, for we, too, 
 may please the Lord, and have all the graces of the 
 Spirit that made these men immortal, if we will but put 
 
n8 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 forth an intelligent effort to prepare our hearts for the 
 Lord's abiding. Praise His name! 
 
 II. THE INSPIRATION OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 The glory of the Lord filled the temple. This was 
 the inspiration that came to them as they had prepared 
 the temple for the worship of Jehovah. All it meant 
 to them I might not be able to say; but when the glory 
 of the Lord fills this heart of ours we know, by what 
 others have enjoyed, what shall be our lot and spiritual 
 power. 
 
 It was the Lord's presence that gave the disciples 
 such wonderful insight into the truth as we see them 
 possess. So it was that same Presence, in the temple of 
 old, that gave the Jewish priest, with Urim and Thummim, 
 the knowledge of future things, as well as the will of 
 God at the time he sought Him and His will. 
 
 Spiritual inspiration has in it the Divine will vivified. 
 We know and feel the Divine will as an all-controlling 
 truth. How many say, when under the power of spirit- 
 ual ministry, "Well, I always knew that; but I saw it so 
 plain to-day." This presence of the Lord in worship is 
 one of the most important features. It gives deep con- 
 victions. It makes a man give up all that this world 
 has to offer, and, if need be, face the stake, and welcome 
 death, rather than do anything that would violate his 
 conscience. Elijah, inspired to convince the Jews on old 
 Carmel, and Elijah running before Jezebel, illustrate 
 this truth from history. All the world could not have 
 made him run when inspired on Carmel. He saw, he 
 felt, he experienced the will of God as the only thing 
 in this world of consequence; but when the inspiration 
 ceased, he was only mentally convicted of the truth. 
 
Some Items of Spiritual Worship. 119 
 
 To believe that God does inspire those who receive 
 His Spirit is the only way we can understand the phe- 
 nomena that have occurred in the moral world all down 
 the ages. Here and there arises a man who, like Luther 
 or George Fox, manifests a knowledge of the truth that 
 puts them at once in the lead of all their age. A Savon- 
 arola in Florence, or the French Calvin, or the Bohemian 
 Huss, or the English Wickliff, ahead of their times, and 
 beyond their age, teaching the deep things of God, while 
 the learned and the great are lost in the labyrinth of 
 darkness and gloom. Behold the same phenomenon in 
 the Pentecostal baptism that fell on the apostles! Listen 
 to Peter's marvelous sermon, so broad in its historical 
 grasp, and convincing in its logic, that it fell like fire 
 from the eternal altar on the smitten consciences of the 
 apostate Jews, who had crucified their own King. This 
 is why we see men utter truths at times to which they 
 can scarcely aspire at other times. That there is a direct 
 inspiration no one who is familiar with the biography of 
 the Christian Church can doubt. And where more 
 marked than in our own Church fold? George Fox, 
 rising from his lowly calling to be one of the greatest 
 religious teachers of the world! Alone, seemingly, rising 
 like a lone star in the night, and shining out with such 
 brightness that the whole realm of Great Britain was 
 illumined by the clear light of the truth, by inspiration, 
 he taught. And while Lord Bacon and the brains of the 
 literary world were saying things savoring more of sin 
 than sanctity, this simple, sanctified man gave forth the 
 sure Word of God as he had read and received it from 
 the Almighty. O yes, this is a fact in history, that the 
 inspiration of the Spirit does give light and sure guidance 
 in Divine things. 
 
120 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 Then the inspiration of the Spirit gives cheerfulness. 
 I suppose the Jews, as they saw the glory of the Lord, 
 the celestial fire, the vesture of God's presence, filling the 
 temple, their hearts leaped with joy; and the joy abode 
 while the Almighty was in the shekinah of the temple. 
 So with the joy Jesus promised to His disciples who 
 would ask largely. That meant no other than asking 
 for the Spirit, who would give joy as long as He was wel- 
 come and had the right of way in their hearts. The 
 disciples surely had a joy as supernatural as was their 
 intelligence. Hated, shunned, cast out as evil, hunted, 
 and chained in cells of filthiest character, ostracized by 
 their own families, and regarded as the enemies of God 
 and man, yet were able to rejoice all the while. In prison, 
 Paul could sing and rejoice; in weakness, in perils, in 
 wanderings, in shipwrecks; and though at last, in old 
 age, all he ever got for his love and fidelity to mankind 
 was imprisonment and death, yet he ever rejoiced. Many 
 have suffered, and did nobly, yet without the triumph 
 of joy; but the apostles manifested the wonderful might 
 of Divine inspiration by rejoicing under all the severest 
 trial that malice and bigotry could heap upon them. 
 
 John Howe, the noted Puritan preacher, chaplain to 
 Cromwell, was so gloomy before he knew the Lord that 
 those who knew him best despaired of him ever being 
 anything, and indeed thought he should end his days as 
 an utter imbecile. Xavier was joyful in all his many 
 privations. Go to the aged soul, who, in loneliness and 
 want, living day by day on the charities of a cold world, 
 yet ever rejoicing. To the bed of pain, where languishes 
 the disease-weakened form of some prostrated sufferer, 
 and yet, while no ray of hope is given of recovery, keeps 
 patient years and years, and proving, in the midst of all, 
 God's joy of inspiration. 
 
Some Items of Spiritual Worship. 121 
 
 Belle Cook, of New York, who for thirty years has 
 lain abed, and yet, with not a wrinkle on her face and 
 a beaming countenance, she lives, a benediction to all 
 that enter her home. 
 
 Again, how can we understand the lives of those who, 
 year after year, labor in the most trying circumstances 
 this wicked world sees or knows ; who, with all the hin- 
 drances and discouragements peculiar to a Christ-hat- 
 ing populace, yet keep up their enthusiasm for the gospel 
 that has driven them to all the four corners of the earth ? 
 Go into the densely-populated districts of China, and 
 there you will find the enthusiasm of inspiration that 
 sent consecrated hearts, beating and throbbing with 
 sympathy, all through the sad scenes and trying ordeals 
 as though they had all the comforts of life and a guarantee 
 of peace and immunity from all failure ; and while, year 
 after year, so few of the millions will receive the truth, 
 yet their enthusiasm never fails. Go to Africa, where 
 death seems to stalk about with his dread sickle, with 
 special vengeance toward the missionary, where already 
 hundreds on hundreds lie buried on the dread Soudan 
 and Congo, amid the savagery and cannibalism of the 
 direst sort all about them, with so much hatred to the 
 truth, yet, with enthusiasm, Spirit-inspired men and 
 women have planted the standard of the Cross, and rally 
 round it till the coil of death fastens upon their weakened 
 forms and takes them from the task dearer to them than 
 their own lives. India, with all its exclusiveness of caste 
 and bigotry of priestly superstition, has not been able 
 to daunt or dishearten the enthusiastic missionary. When 
 it meant more than it now does to live and labor there, 
 how the bold, brave men and women of God have labored 
 with an enthusiasm not to be found in any of the callings 
 of earth ! Year in and year out they have toiled and 
 
122 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 suffered with a persistent effort to enthrone Christ, their 
 King, where now sits the gods of wood and stone. Noth- 
 ing has been able to daunt the enthusiasm of those who, 
 filled with the Spirit, felt it laid on them to go to the 
 benighted and down-trodden, the ignorant and oppressed, 
 the vicious and murderous, and, with a loving hand, 
 offer them the salvation of the Cross. Go to the eternal 
 snows of the North; then turn, and go to the burning 
 sand of the South ; then go around the whole equatorial 
 earth, from remotest east till you coast along the west- 
 ern border of our own land, and there is no place, let 
 it be soever unhealthy, remote, uncongenial, or danger- 
 ous, where the enthusiasm of the inspired believer has 
 not set up the Cross of the Son of God. 
 
 How did it come about? How has it lasted? Simply 
 by the enthusiasm begotten of the Spirit. What a mighty 
 power is the inspiration of the Holy Ghost! It is none 
 other than the power of God in the hearts of men and 
 women who have prepared their hearts to receive Him. 
 Glory to God for this priceless boon within the reach of 
 all God's children! 
 
 This glory manifested at the dedication of the temple 
 is more significant than at first occurs to most readers. 
 The glory was none other than the celestial fire that is 
 the vestment of the Almighty when He is minded to 
 manifest His will and power to His own Church and 
 people. Its first occurrence in the Scriptures was to 
 Abraham, in Gen. vii, 17. Then, again, we see the Lord 
 by fire challenging the attention and commissioning 
 Moses at the burning bush, which though afire was not 
 consumed. Also, when the Law was given on Mt. Sinai, 
 the cloud and fire of God's presence covered the mount, 
 and all Israel in the valley below trembled at the sight, 
 
Some Items of Spiritual Worship. 
 
 123 
 
 while any beast that touched the mount was to be stoned 
 to death, since Moses, the man of God, was communing 
 with his Maker, and receiving the universal law of morals. 
 And also, when the disciples met on the day of Pente- 
 cost with one accord, and the Holy Spirit fell upon them 
 in the form of cloven tongues of fire, and the Christian 
 Church was begun in earnest. Lastly, after John had 
 baptized Jesus, and Jesus went up out of the water, the 
 Spirit, as a dove, not in the form of a dove, but as a dove, 
 fell upon Him, and by this John knew it. was the Messiah. 
 (John i, 33.) Not that he, or indeed any one, can see 
 the Spirit, but the fire that is the vestment of the Divine 
 presence or Spirit. Now this is the glory of the apos- 
 tolic writings, "Go from glory to glory," etc. Now it 
 was this that filled the temple, and it is this that fell on 
 Pentecost, and it is this that, without the fire, comes 
 now into the believer's soul, which constitutes the in- 
 spiration of the believer's life, since the blessed Holy 
 Ghost comes, not to be with us, but in us. 
 
 This certifies the Church. Never, till the glory filled 
 the temple, was God with them to empower and com- 
 municate, and never, till we have the Holy Ghost, and 
 consequent inspiration He gives, are we true Israel, or 
 believers. One may have a creed well in head, a de- 
 nomination well at heart, a form of worship well at hand, 
 yet, for all this, no one is a real believer till the Spirit 
 fills. When the Spirit fills, then are we His disciples in- 
 deed. We can then drink of His cup, and be baptized 
 with His baptism, and walk in His way, doing His work 
 and will from our hearts. Is it any wonder the blessed 
 Lord over and over again exhorted the disciples to tarry 
 for the promise of the Father which He was going to 
 send upon them? O no! And we often think we need 
 
124 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 money, more members, more influence; but this is the 
 only thing Jesus told His disciples to get, to count upon, 
 and expect, for this made them a true Church, and noth- 
 ing else can. 
 
 It clarifies faith. Many dear, good people ever look 
 their faith in a sort of haziness, a kind of twilight belief, 
 just for want of the clear, defining power of the Holy 
 Ghost. How, when a man receives the Holy Ghost, he 
 seems to be a sort of new creature in his belief, when, in 
 fact, he has only seen the truth in the clear light of the 
 fire of God's presence! How the furniture of the temple, 
 all golden, must have shone with a sheen unearthly and 
 Divine when the shekinah of the Divine presence was 
 in the temple! The altar and all that pertained to it 
 must have been resplendent with the heavenly radiance, 
 and O, how beautiful it must have been to the Jehovah- 
 honoring Jew! But just this the Spirit does for all who 
 will receive Him into their hearts now. A man may have 
 believed in the atonement with all his heart before bap- 
 tized with, the Spirit, but he sees it now so clear he is 
 about to believe he was a half-infidel before. So with 
 the Fatherhood of God, the ministry of angels, and all 
 the other blessed truths of the Bible. He sees so plainly 
 now, he simply marvels at his past stupidity, and yet per- 
 haps he has not had a single new idea imparted into his 
 mind. But what he held in the dim twilight he sees now 
 in the high noon of a holy heart. Glory! 
 
 It intensifies his appreciation. Not only does the Spirit 
 make truth stand out clear and well-defined, but He 
 gives us a more just appreciation of the value of those 
 truths. It is this blessed baptism that has caused men and 
 women of God to go to their closets and pour out their 
 souls to God in mournings that can not be uttered. This 
 
Some Items of Spiritual Worship. 
 
 125 
 
 has impelled godly men and women to do the new things 
 that incur the displeasure of the cold and indifferent, in 
 order to get the heedless world to look and live. This 
 heavenly fire fell on Luther, and made him dare all the 
 opposition of the legal Church in his days. This flame 
 burned in the heart of Fox, and impelled him to leave his 
 bench and tools to go out into the streets to preach 
 Christ and incur persecution and prisons. This has sent 
 men into the dark continents of the earth, to people be- 
 nighted and sunk in sin beyond our knowledge to con- 
 ceive or appreciate ; to dare the storm of the sea, the 
 tooth of the cannibal, and the claw of the beast. This 
 has constrained men to leave the company and comforts 
 of home and native land, and sojourn in the densely-popu- 
 lated regions of China, in the caste-cursed and priest- 
 ridden precincts of India, and to dare the death-dealing 
 lands of the Soudan and the Congo. This has made the 
 island of the sea more to be desired than all the environ- 
 ments of their native land. It has driven them to pene- 
 trate the regions of eternal snows, and plant the standard 
 of Jesus Christ in the ices of the North; energized by this 
 fire, they have pressed the burning sands of the equator, 
 and in the straw and mud hut of the black man, to un- 
 fold the riches of the glorified Redeemer. Yes, prompted 
 by the Divine energy,* they have felt the impulse to girt 
 the world for God, till to-day the sun never sets where 
 the gospel has not risen, and no land on earth has not 
 felt the tread of the missionary's feet. 
 
 This blessed Spirit has founded the Sunday-schools, 
 opened missions, visited jails, relieved the poor, com- 
 forted the sick, built up the waste-places of God's heri- 
 tage, and in many places has made the desert to rejoice 
 and blossom as the rose. And when so many are so foot- 
 
126 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 bound, worse than the poor Chinese (in our Churches), 
 and mouth closed more effectually than Hindoos, who 
 do not allow their women to talk; when we see so 
 many empty chairs in the prayer-circle, and so much 
 talent lying idle, O how my heart yearns once more for 
 the filling of the glorious Spirit of the Lord, who does 
 such wonders for all who receive Him! 
 
 And, lastly, it purifies. No matter how carefully the 
 offerings were prepared for the altar, they were not 
 finished nor accepted till fire had done its blessed work. 
 Then, if anything impure or unhealthy remained after the 
 careful inspection of the priest, it was burned up, and 
 thus made clean. So with the fire of God on the heart 
 of the believer. It purifies and cleanses from all un- 
 righteousness, and makes the believer and service ac- 
 ceptable unto God. No more important is the fire under 
 the crucible to purge the gold from dross, no more re- 
 quisite is the sun in high heaven to dispel the frost and 
 cause the plants to flower and the trees to fruit, no more 
 indispensable is the atmosphere of the earth to the life 
 upon its surface, than the blessed Holy Ghost is to the 
 believer's heart who would be and remain all the blessed 
 Lord would have him be. 
 
 Then, lastly, note: 
 
 III. THE CESSATIONS OP SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 The text says the priests could not minister by reason 
 of the glory of the Lord filling the temple. Now it comes 
 to me like this : The presence of the Lord in the temple 
 supplants, not the good, but the fleshiness of all par- 
 ticipants. 
 
 Now the deeds of the flesh are a whole lot of things 
 that we are all so well acquainted with that we almost 
 
Some Items of Spiritual Worship. 
 
 127 
 
 blush to mention. But the form I would dwell upon are 
 those peculiar to the altar when the flesh is permitted to 
 officiate. 
 
 Pride, envy, jealousy, hatred, covetousness, laziness, 
 and all those many evils that are the product of the carnal 
 nature, and which can be hid, in a measure at least, in 
 the heart of the possessor, till they come out at the altar 
 of service. 
 
 How much pride there is in many a heart that really 
 loves the Lord! It can not endure to be lowly like its 
 Master, but wishes the lofty places of earth. But when 
 the Spirit comes in, all this ceases. Praise the Lord! 
 
 Personal ambition is lost in the sight of some great 
 event or development. Men lose sight of the selfish in 
 the presence of the sublime. 
 
 Doubts were all put away in the presence of the fire 
 of God in the grand old temple of Solomon. Men saw 
 and said it can be, instead of it can't be, as so often in 
 these days of no Spirit and power. 
 
 All little feuds will end under the light of the Shekinah. 
 No hate ever goes through the fire of the Holy Ghost. 
 Glory ! It all goes. 
 
 The flesh all ceases. If we would know what are the 
 things of the flesh, let us look to the writings of the 
 apostles. They had to do with the flesh, and they knew 
 its numerous aspects well. 
 
 O, then even the head of the preacher is lost! The 
 itching ears of the pew, the hypocritical faculty of the 
 cold and indifferent. God is now enthroned Lord over 
 all in the heart and the worship of His people. 
 
 Will we prepare for the blessed Spirit, and welcome 
 Him when He comes? 
 
XIII. 
 ELISHA, OR THE DOUBLE PORTION. 
 
 "And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion 
 of thy spirit be upon me." (2 Kings ii, 9-15.) 
 
 "THE man versed in biography need not be a fool. 
 Lives of others are a study no man can afford to neg- 
 lect. The Bible is very fruitful of remarkable lives. The 
 good and the bad, the great and the small, the success- 
 ful and those that have failed, all find record in the 
 Book that God intends to be our daily companion and 
 instructor. And throughout its pages there are few lives 
 more instructive than those of the twin prophets, Elijah 
 and Elisha. 
 
 We find Elijah brought to view without ancestry 
 or birth recorded, and simply introduced to us as Elijah 
 the Tishbite, as he came from Tish. He was a very re- 
 markable man in everything that is to be associated 
 with his life. The first words he uttered in our hear- 
 ing were, "As the Lord God liveth, before whom I 
 stand." These words seem to be the motto of his event- 
 ful life ; and from the uttering of these words till we 
 see him translated in the chariot of fire, there is noth- 
 ing ordinary to be seen. But it is Elisha that repre- 
 sents this, the gospel dispensation. 
 
 The first act of Elijah after he is brought to view 
 is confronting Ahab with the assurance that no rain 
 shall fall for years, only as he said. Then, after he deliv- 
 ers his message, God sends him to the brook Cherith, 
 
 128 
 
Elisha, or the Double Portion. 129 
 
 where he was fed by the ravens (rather humble serv- 
 ants), but they did their work well. Then, when the 
 brook dried up because of no rain, God sent him to 
 the widow of Zarephath, whose handful of meal the man 
 of God multiplied and then shared. The next thing that 
 we see the man of God doing is raising the dead son of 
 the widow to life. Then the word of the Lord came 
 to Elijah to go and show himself to Ahab; and, while 
 he was on his way, he was met by the good Obadiah. 
 And Obadiah fell on his face before the man of God, 
 but Elijah cut short the scene with the instruction to 
 go and tell Ahab that he would show himself to him 
 that day. But Obadiah said, "Not so; for if I go to 
 tell Ahab, the Spirit of the Lord will come and catch 
 you away, and I shall not be able to find thee, and I 
 shall be put to death." But Elijah said, "I will show 
 myself to Ahab this day." So Obadiah went to Ahab, 
 and Ahab came to meet Elijah, and said, "Art thou he 
 that troubleth Israel?" And Elijah stood up like a 
 true man of God, and told the whole truth, and said 
 it was he and his fathers that troubled Israel with their 
 sins. So Elijah had him call all the Baalites and proph- 
 ets of the groves and the hosts of the worshipers to Mount 
 Carmel. And there he called the fire from heaven down 
 upon the sacrifice he had prepared after the Baalites 
 had failed to make their gods hear. Then, the people 
 being convinced that the Lord Jehovah is indeed the 
 God of all the earth, he had the priests of the grove and 
 the prophets of Baal executed; for that was the only 
 way to stop that idolatrous worship. We next see him 
 running from Jezebel, and taking shelter in the cave, 
 and asking God to let him die. But God comes to him, 
 and gave him sleep and something to eat, and he went 
 9 
 
130 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 on to Horeb. There God spoke to him in the still small 
 voice, after he failed to find any voice in the wind or 
 earthquake. Then God assured him that there were 
 in Israel seven thousand that had not bowed their 
 knees to Baal, and commissioned him to go and anoint 
 Elisha prophet in his stead. So he departed thence, 
 and found Elisha, the son of Shaphat, plowing in the 
 field with twelve yoke of oxen, and passed by and cast 
 his mantle upon him; and as soon as Elisha went home 
 and made an offering of his cattle to the Lord, he left 
 all, and followed Elijah. We next see Elijah confront- 
 ing King Ahab, as he went to see the vineyard of poor 
 Naboth that he had put to death; and there Elijah told 
 the king of the death he and his wife Jezebel should die. 
 And again we see Elijah on the mount, when the mes- 
 sengers of the wicked king of Samaria and their men 
 were killed as they tried to compel him to come down. 
 And afterward Elijah came down, went to see the king, 
 and told him that he should not live, and then the Lord 
 appeared to him and told him that he should be taken 
 up. So we see both prophets at Gilgal. And Elijah 
 said unto Elisha, "Tarry here, while I go to Bethel;" 
 but Elisha said, "As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul 
 liveth, I will not leave thee." So they went together; 
 and when they got to Bethel, Elijah said to Elisha, 
 "Tarry here till I go to Jericho." And Elisha said 
 the same thing, "As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul 
 liveth, I will not leave thee." And on they journeyed 
 till they came to Jericho. And there again Elijah said 
 to Elisha, "Tarry here; for the Lord has sent me over 
 the Jordan." But Elisha repeated his vow to stay with 
 him. And then when they had reached the other side 
 of the Jordan, Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask what I shall 
 
Elisha, or the Double Portion. 131 
 
 do for thee, and it shall be done for thee." So Elisha 
 answered in the language of our text, "Let a double 
 portion of thy spirit fall upon me;" and it was promised 
 him if he should see him when he was taken up, which 
 he did, and received the promised blessing. 
 
 Let us note from this lesson a few things that may help 
 us, and we must, in discussing the subject, remember these 
 men were no ordinary men, but both prophets. How r 
 that Elijah could make such a promise, and how Elisha 
 could reasonably ask such a favor, must be read in the 
 light of their high character as prophets of God. I 
 think the question was the result of the Holy Ghost, as 
 was also the promise or permission to ask. And the 
 fulfilling and the method of manifestation can not be 
 measured by any ordinary rules. Indeed, the whole af- 
 fair takes us out of the ordinary. At first it seems that 
 there is little in the lesson that can in any practical way 
 help us; but when we look into it as one of the lessons 
 of Scripture that is given by inspiration of God, and is 
 profitable for correction and instruction in righteousness, 
 and is recorded for our use, we are encouraged to follow 
 the Spirit's leading in its interpretation and application. 
 At all events, they were men as we are. They had to 
 do with the Spirit of God as we may; and if God had 
 something good for them, it may be He has also for us. 
 So let us go back to the first we know of these men. 
 
 1. note the: promise that elisha had. 
 
 "Man never is, but always to be blest," the poet has 
 said. This is pre-eminently true of the religious man. 
 The psalmist said, "God is a Sun and Shield ; the Lord 
 will give grace and glory, and no good thing will he 
 withhold from them that walk uprightly." And Jesus 
 
132 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 said, "Ask and ye shall receive," etc. And again He 
 said, "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name; 
 ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." 
 Elijah told Elisha to ask what he would. If some mill- 
 ionaire should tell me that, how we would make him 
 wince for the work of the Lord! Jesus tells us to ask 
 that our joy might be full. If some bank had said the 
 same to us, how we would endanger that bank! How 
 we would draw till it would pinch! I know we would. 
 But God has offered to favor our check for any amount, 
 that our joy might be full; and w r e still go mourning. 
 God has been trying for six thousand years to get a 
 run on the bank of heaven without success. God tells 
 us to ask — not for wealth, riches, nor honor of earth. 
 God loves His children too much to give them such 
 sharp instruments to cut themselves with. Elijah did 
 not tell Elisha to ask for a farm. That would have been 
 his ruin perhaps. Elijah knew what Elisha would ask 
 for, if anything. Many promises in the Bible are so 
 broad that the ungodly fall over them because they are 
 not answered in their way. 
 
 Elijah told Elisha to ask anything, and it would be 
 done, if he complied with the condition of receiving. 
 Christ told His disciples to tarry in Jerusalem until they 
 be endued with power from on high; for He would send 
 the promise of the Father upon them. Glory! And 
 after the baptism of Pentecost, Peter, in his defense of 
 the outpouring of the Spirit, said, "The promise is unto 
 you and your children, and to them that are afar off, 
 and even to as many as the Lord your God shall call." 
 So that the promise comes to us this morning just as 
 much as it did to the disciples. And the other promise 
 of fullness of joy is to us to-day just the same as to 
 
Elisha, or the Double Portion. 133 
 
 them, if we are in Christ. Elijah's promise was large, 
 but not larger than the promise of the Savior to us. 
 Elijah said, "Ask what I shall do for thee;" Jesus says, 
 "I will send the promise of power upon you;" "Ask, 
 and your joy shall be full," and "I will not leave you 
 comfortless." Praise the Lord for these promises! If 
 no one ever had received them, it would be grand as 
 an incentive, but great numbers have received them to 
 to the joy of their hearts. And the way is open to-day 
 for every child of God to come to the fountain, and 
 drink and be satisfied. 
 
 Do you have a craving in your heart that is not 
 satisfied? Do you have temptations too great to bear? 
 Do you get overcome of the evil one? Do you long 
 for the joy of the Lord that was once your strength? 
 Do you want power for service and duty? Why not 
 ask for it ? and you shall have it. If you are in the way, 
 and are children of God, remember that nothing is too 
 good for you. Bless the Lord! The Elijah of our soul 
 tells us to ask. "And whatever ye ask in My name, 
 that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the 
 Son." 
 
 There are three things that Christ specified that He 
 would give us; so we need not be at a loss to know 
 what we may ask for. 
 
 The first is power. O that Divine attribute in the 
 souls and lives of men! 
 
 He has promised us joy — fullness of joy — the pledge 
 of Divine presence in our souls, joy that makes life 
 worth living, joy for which kings seek and seek in vain, 
 because they seek amiss. 
 
 Comfort and the Comforter, to solace our grief, to 
 calm our fears, to sustain our toil, to inspire our hearts, 
 
134 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 and to give us a little heaven to go to heaven in. O, 
 the joy of the Lord is for you, my brethren! 
 
 O my brethren! Is all this worth asking for? Is 
 there anything in all this wide world that is not included 
 in these promises ? I think not. 
 
 Let us note, in the next place, 
 
 II. THE PETITION THAT EUSHA MADE. 
 
 He had the opportunity, and he availed himself of 
 it. Elijah told him to ask what he would, and he did 
 it. O, that we were as wise! He said, "Give a double 
 portion of thy spirit." Elijah said, "Thou hast asked 
 a hard thing." Elijah was a good man, but Elisha 
 wanted to be a better one if possible. Far too many 
 of us are too easily satisfied with a low state of grace. 
 We want to prosper in business, and have scarcely any 
 patience with those who have no business capacity. We 
 want to get on and do well in the lines of life that are 
 embraced in the temporal sphere of being. But O, how 
 easily are we to be satisfied in the realm of the grace 
 of God! But not so with Elisha. He said, "Give me 
 a double portion;" and Elijah said: "Thou hast asked 
 a hard thing. Nevertheless, if thou see me when I am 
 taken up, it shall be unto thee even as thou hast asked." 
 But it is a hard thing, however. 
 
 What was it that made Elijah say it was a hard 
 thing that Elisha had asked? Was it hard on the side 
 of duty? Was it hard on the side of life? Was it hard 
 on the side of the Almighty? What was that he had 
 in his mind? Could Elijah think, as so many do, that 
 it would be hard for Elisha to live the life that a double 
 portion of the spirit would necessitate? Now, we know 
 there are not a few that seem to think that the nearer 
 
Elisha, or the Double Portion. 135 
 
 we live to God, the harder it is to be good. I once 
 asked a minister — and, withal, a goodly man — if he was 
 living in the enjoyment of holiness, to which he replied, 
 with a sigh, "I once did, but do not now." And we know 
 Alfred Cookman, one of the best of men, lost his experi- 
 ence of holiness talking foolishly with some brethren in the 
 ministry, and it was ten years before he ever again re- 
 ceived the blessing. Was it because it is hard to live 
 holy? Is it easier to live in a low Christian experience 
 than to live up to our privileges? Let us see. Religion 
 is spoken of as health. Is half-sick the ideal state? 
 Religion is spoken of as a possession. Is poverty the 
 ideal condition? Religion is spoken of as freedom. Is 
 slavery in part the coveted situation of life? O no, of 
 course not, you say. Then, how can we say that it is 
 easier to live in a low Christian experience, and to be satis- 
 fied to remain in that condition ? If this was the thought 
 that was in the mind of the prophet, it would be strange 
 and unlike him, we all say. But that others think the 
 same, we are not sure; so the thought must be con- 
 sidered. Sin is death. To be satisfied with death argues 
 a dead man. At least it does to me. Having tried 
 both ways, I can testify that the only way to live for 
 Jesus is to be all, ever, only for Him. We look upon 
 religion as a something to keep ; and, of course, the more 
 we have to keep, the greater the undertaking. Or we 
 look upon it as a duty, which, the more we have, the 
 greater the tax. But, indeed, the contrary is the truth. 
 Religious life, health, and happiness, finding expression 
 in the acts we call religion. 
 
 Could Elijah have in his mind the thought of serv- 
 ice that would be imposed upon Elisha if he had a 
 double portion of his spirit? I think not; though we 
 
136 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 often do. And we seem to think those that work so 
 much for God have certainly a hard time. But is it so? 
 
 no; for all duty becomes a delight, and all labor a 
 luxury. The boy full of life loves to play. The man 
 of health enjoys his exercise. The life that courses 
 through us makes it the law of our being to work. And 
 no man can keep religion so easily, or can be kept by 
 religion as easily as the man that is busy about the 
 work of the Lord. Some one asked Mr. Moody if he 
 was ever troubled with doubts, to which he replied that 
 he never had time to doubt. And when we are right 
 with the Lord, we will love to work. But to those 
 who do not want to work; those who want to slight 
 the work of the Lord, and would be gtad to get to 
 heaven by the skin of their teeth; those who endeavor 
 to do as little as possible for the Lord — that is, the luke- 
 warm — I greatly fear for them. It will be hard for 
 them when they come to the gate and find it closed. 
 
 Could he mean hard to be good in the sense of 
 pure affections and even tempers? Was he thinking 
 of the difficulty of loving the unlovable, of being pa- 
 tient in trials, of overcoming evil with good in every 
 case? And would this be hard to do? If a man did it 
 half the time, and he desired to have a double portion 
 of God's Spirit to do it all the time, would that be hard? 
 
 1 think not. For we all, from experience in Divine things, 
 know that we love and have patience because the love 
 and patience are put into us. We often hear sermons 
 on patience and love, that all fall to the ground with- 
 out avail, because we are exhorted to overcome when 
 the overcome is not put into us. Love being put in, 
 it is no trouble to work out. The hard part of religion 
 with us all is the habitual neglect of Divine aid. We 
 
Elisha, or the Double Portion. 137 
 
 pray, but do not expect to get anything; so we get 
 nothing. So we neglect prayer as a sort of superfluous 
 rite that is all right if we have plenty of time ; but for us 
 busy folks it is almost as impossible as it is impractical. 
 God help us to get out of prayer the help the Lord has 
 designed it to be to us in our daily lives! A day opened 
 by prayer that touches God is half well spent; but a 
 day that is lived in our own strength is a failure through- 
 out. It is not hard to be good when the good is in us 
 and can come out naturally when we need it. 
 
 Could the prophet mean it was hard for the Al- 
 mighty? You all say at once, No; and I will say it 
 with you in the day we live in. But the days of Cal- 
 vary had not yet come. Sinai was the furthest the race 
 had run; and Calvary and Pentecost existed only in 
 promise. The Holy Ghost was not yet given, because 
 Christ was not yet glorified. Elijah seemed to live up 
 to the highest stage of Old Testament piety. And 
 Elisha asking for the double portion of the Spirit took 
 him beyond into the realm of another dispensation. 
 Perhaps in this the prophet saw it was a hard saying. 
 The Old Testament saints had the Spirit for service 
 only. When God wanted a prophet, He put His Spirit 
 upon him, and sent him out to do his work; and when 
 the work was done, the Spirit seemed to be withdrawn, 
 and the man left to himself. This is, I think, why our 
 Savior laid so much stress upon the fact that the Spirit 
 of truth should come to abide; for it had never been so. 
 This is why, no doubt, that when the prophet had his 
 work done he was as weak as other men. He was a 
 host on Carmel, but a wreck and failure when he had 
 done his work, and was running from Jezebel. My 
 friends, how bold you were when you were first con- 
 
138 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 verted! How you could tell the world how much you 
 loved Jesus, and then, when we lost our joy and the 
 sheen of our experience, we had nothing to say out of 
 sheer fear. But this is all our fault; for God in this day 
 will abide with us forever. Glory! It may be the re- 
 quest was meant to provide double power or double 
 constancy. At all events, he certainly seemed to get 
 both. 
 
 Elijah said, "If thou seest me when I am taken up, 
 it shall be done to thee even as thou hast asked." And 
 as they both went across the Jordan, a whirlwind came 
 along and took the man of God up; and, I think, as 
 the dust rose around the head of Elisha as Elijah was 
 going up, he brushed the dust out of his eyes, and cried 
 out: "My father, my father! The chariot of Israel and 
 the horsemen thereof!" He wanted Elijah to know he 
 had seen him go up. And as the mantle fell to the earth, 
 Elisha picked it up, and went on his way. He complied 
 with the condition, and received the inheritance. Jesus 
 tells us He will send the promise of the Father upon us 
 if we tarry in Jerusalem ; and O, that we would obey His 
 word ! 
 
 We look upon Elijah running before Jezebel, and 
 we wonder how he ever was such a coward. But he 
 had the Spirit only for service, and then the Spirit was 
 gone. And some of us have abused poor Elijah in 
 times past by criticising him for his cowardice, when 
 the truth is, he was only a man when left to himself. But 
 we can have the Spirit — the double portion of it — all the 
 time; and yet, because we do not wait for it, we go 
 a-running from duty, and compromise our high calling 
 every day. I believe George Fox was a braver man 
 than ever Elijah was; for he never denied the Lord 
 
Elisha, or the Double Portion. 139 
 
 once, and men and devils all failed to make him run 
 from duty. I believe John Knox, John Wesley, Jon- 
 athan Edwards, Charles Finney, and the hosts of the 
 Lord of to-day, are away ahead of all the Old Testa- 
 ment saints, because they have the abiding of the Holy 
 One continually. O that we could aspire and obtain it 
 this day! Millions waited to see the day in which we 
 live, and saw it not; looked for the coming of the Holy 
 One that would abide with them, and He came not; but 
 to us, we have Him with us, and He wants to come 
 into our hearts to abide, as the double-portion power 
 for service and anchorage, for the day of trouble and 
 hour of trial. This makes the difference between the 
 one man and the other in the service of God, in the 
 mission-field, in the home. Yes, we can not live the 
 life of the Christian without the abiding of the double 
 portion of God's Spirit. 
 
 So let us consider, in the next place: 
 
 in. the: possession that elisha held. 
 
 God had given something to Elisha to do, and as 
 soon as he seemed to have picked up the mantle of 
 Elisha, he went on his way, which took him back over 
 the Jordan toward Jericho. 
 
 I do not suppose he felt anything of a particular 
 change in his condition after he got hold of the mantle. 
 Elijah said he should have the power with the mantle, 
 so he had the power in the possession of the mantle; 
 for it was the promise. How often have you come to 
 the blessed Lord, and asked for the power, and gave all 
 into His hand; and did the best you knew how, giving 
 all you knew, and all you did not know, to be the 
 Lord's forever; gave yourself into His hand, body, soul, 
 
140 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 and spirit, time, talent, and earthly store; but because 
 you did not feel some great change go on in your heart 
 at the time, you thought certainly the Lord had not 
 done what He said He would do. It is not a little 
 amusing to see how incredulous we are, when we think 
 that God has promised us the Holy Spirit, and it does 
 not impoverish Him to give, nor enrich Him to with- 
 hold, and that He is in earnest about our holiness — to 
 come to Him and ask Him to fill us with the Spirit, 
 and then go away and not put it into practice for fear 
 we will not have it. O how often have we all done it! 
 It was a hard thing for Elisha to get the double portion 
 in his day; for Christ was not yet glorified. But we, 
 living in the full blaze of gospel truth, and the end of 
 the world is upon us, and God has done all for the race 
 that He can till we get to glory, and yet some of us liv- 
 ing without the Spirit; living in the willful neglect of 
 the plain command to be filled with the Spirit. I am 
 afraid, my friends, 'Elisha will rise up in that great day, 
 and put us to shame for unbelief or worldliness, or 
 whatever keeps us from the fullness of the blessing of 
 the Holy Ghost baptism. 
 
 Then, my friends, see what it did for Elisha. We can 
 not think of Elijah, that great man of God — who could 
 stand before kings and issue the mandates of Almighty 
 God; that could confront all the prophets of Baal; that 
 could refuse obedience to regiments of men who came 
 to apprehend him — without admiration. His majestic 
 form and character seem to tower above all around 
 him, and he seems to have but one aim, and that the 
 glory of God. And yet, how humiliating to see the 
 same mighty man of God run like a scared deer before 
 that cruel, godless Jezebel! Like Peter before the 
 
Elisha, or the Double Portion. 141 
 
 Pentecost, denying the the Lord before a little damsel 
 that asked him a plain question. O, the weakness of 
 humanity without God to re-enforce! But the double 
 portion of God's Spirit was sufficient for all and every- 
 thing that Elisha had to go through. Glory! Elisha 
 could be true to God under all circumstances when filled 
 with the Spirit; and throughout his long life of dealings 
 with saints and sinners, kings and subjects, no one 
 was ever able to make him run or draw back. And in 
 this he again resembles Peter after Pentecost — moves 
 like an army of warriors, and stands like a tower of 
 strength. O my friends! How man)' of us have de- 
 nied our Savior in trying scenes! How many of us 
 have sat at the table of those who knew not the Lord, 
 and heard our Lord's name spoken of in a disrespectful 
 manner, and never owned Him as our Savior, nor said 
 a word of rebuke to the good of those that so much 
 needed it! How many times have we sat silently when 
 we should have spoken, or spoken when we should have 
 held our peace! O, how much we need the double por- 
 tion expressed in the Pentecost! We may receive it 
 to-day if we would. God's Spirit did much for Elisha, 
 but will do as much for us. It helped him to stand 
 when the storms beat upon him ; to be faithful when oth- 
 ers were faithless; to work when others were lying 
 around, wishing to die, or something worse. O, it did 
 much for him! And it did as much for the world as it 
 did for Elisha. For all that we are, in turn we are able 
 to be to the world that so much needs us and our lives 
 of trust. Elisha walked up to the Jordan, and smote 
 the waters, saying, "Where is the Lord God of Elijah?" 
 as much as to say, "In the name of the Lord God of 
 Elijah, I tell thee to part." Of course, the waters obeyed. 
 
142 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 Glory! And the sons of the prophets saw him do the 
 mighty deed in the name of Jehovah, and they gave 
 him a job to sweeten the water and make it good; for 
 it was not healthy. He salted the water in the name 
 of the Lord God, and it, and the land through which 
 it flowed, were cured and made healthy. 
 
 He pursued the even tenor of his way — raising the 
 dead, multiplying oil, feeding kingdoms — until his end. 
 He asked for a double portion of God's Spirit; and if you 
 will count, you will find he just did double the miracles 
 that Elijah did. And when he comes down to die, we see 
 the king of Israel bending over him with streaming eyes, 
 asking for instruction in the preparation of war and the 
 management of his kingdom. And almost with his 
 latest breath he rebuked the king for not being in earnest 
 to put down the enemies of God. A blessing in his 
 life, a blessing in his death, he went to be with the God 
 that had done so much for him, went to get the reward 
 of the righteous. Glory! 
 
 My friends, will we get the double portion of the 
 Spirit? 
 
 Christ has promised it to us. Will we seek and 
 get and live it to His glory and the world's good? 
 
 Do we not want to be able to please God at all times, 
 to be ready for His coming? O, I know you do! 
 
 Are we as good as God ever made any one in our 
 day? If not, why not? We owe it to our Church, to 
 our children, to the age, and to the world. 
 
 How Mrs. Booth blessed the world by her devoted 
 life! Her nine children all in the ministry of the Lord. 
 What a testimony, what a monument to her honor! 
 How is it with our children? God help us! 
 
 Christ told us to ask the same as Elijah told Elisha 
 
Elisha, or the Double Portion. 143 
 
 to ask. Are we doing it? A friend asked King James 
 for a large sum of money, and he granted him the re- 
 quest. The money was counted out by the treasurer; 
 and King James went into the bank, or vault, and, see- 
 ing the money on the floor, asked the treasurer what all 
 this money meant; and he said, "It is the money you 
 are going to give that man." He said, "All this?" And 
 the treasurer told him it was. "Why," said he, "I will 
 not give him all that money. Put it back in the vault, 
 and give him just so much," cutting it down to about 
 one two-hundredth part. But Christ does not so do. 
 He tells us to ask, and He will most assuredly give; for 
 it does not impoverish Him. Neither is He fickle as 
 the king. Will we this day present our claims? O do! 
 for the sake of all concerned — your soul, your Church, 
 your family, and your God — and it will be yours for- 
 ever. Some one will say, "I am so unworthy;" but 
 Christ is worthy. And God knows there is not one in 
 this house so unworthy as I have been — the chief of 
 sinners, a wandering prodigal — and yet God did not de- 
 spise me when I came to Him, and I know He will not 
 you. Come, and find the promised filling; and I know 
 you will not upbraid the speaker for his plea. May 
 God bless and keep you, for His name's sake, pure unto 
 His coming! 
 
XIV. 
 GOD'S WORD LEARNED, LIVED, AND LOVED. 
 
 "Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not 
 sin against Thee." (Ps. cxix, n.) 
 
 JWI ANY tributes have been paid to the Word of God 
 * * by the great of earth. Sir Walter Scott said, 
 when dying, "There is no other book." Samuel Johnson 
 told a young man that if he had the Bible, and no other 
 book, he would have a good library. Matthew Arnold, 
 the renowned critic, said he regretted that so many so- 
 called literary men knew nothing of the Bible, and told 
 Charles Read, that whatever other book he slighted, to be 
 sure to read the Bible. Read did so, and was converted 
 by so doing. It was the Bible that converted the poet 
 Cowper, and the noted lecturer and writer, General Lewis 
 Wallace. But to the child of God it has a far higher 
 and different value than a mere literary production, merit- 
 ing the veneration and esteem of the literary faculty. 
 It is the man of his counsel, the armory of his spiritual 
 weapons, and the shield that protects and saves his faith. 
 It has ever been the mark of piety to love the Bible, 
 and to know it has been the pride and joy of some of 
 the greatest and best men the world has ever had. Alex- 
 ander Duff, the devoted missionary of India, was on the 
 way to his field of mission work around the Cape of 
 Good Hope, and on the much-dreaded, fatal sand-bar 
 that stretches out to sea some fifty miles from the shore, 
 the Lady Holland, on which he had taken passage, ran 
 
 144 
 
God's Word Learned, Lived, and Loved. 145 
 
 aground on the rocks. Duff had with him about eight 
 hundred books in his library, which were all lost. After 
 the passengers and sailors had taken shelter in some tem- 
 porary sheds, a sailor walking along the shore found, 
 high and dry, a Bible and a Scotch hymnal, with the 
 name of Duff distinctly written on the pages, which 
 were turned over to the owner; but all his other books 
 were sunk or reduced to pulp. Mr. Duff felt it a hint 
 from the Almighty that what the world wants is not 
 classic lore, but the Bible, and he ever acted upon the 
 suggestion, and made the Bible the one Book of his 
 heart. David over and over again praises God's Word, 
 and said it was sweeter than honey and the honeycomb. 
 There are other books that are more or less valuable, 
 but the Bible is the Word of God. Many eagles there 
 are that soar the heavens: some fly rather low to the 
 earth, others fly much higher, yet in sight of man, while 
 others fly, seemingly, up to the very sun, out of sight 
 of man and earth. So with books as compared with the 
 Bible: some soar higher than others, but the Bible goes 
 up to the very throne of the Eternal God. And while 
 the Bible we have is but a translation of the original 
 manuscripts, it is so nearly perfect as a copy that only 
 about one text in sixty is essentially different, or differs 
 from the various manuscripts extant; so that we have 
 a rule of life and conduct that is Divine, and every wise, 
 loyal child of God should know the Bible. As a seaman 
 must know his compass in order to sail the high seas, 
 as a traveler must know his maps to follow the right 
 course in the trackless wilderness, so the believing heart 
 must know the Bible, to be able at all times to be 
 steady, and have a "Thus saith the Lord" for the course 
 he is taking. 
 10 
 
146 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 And if the God of all grace should arrange to make 
 known His will to His children through forty different 
 inspired souls; if over a space of nearly two thousand 
 years He gave His mind to the world in installments, 
 seen in the different books of the Bible, from Genesis 
 to Revelations; if God all down the ages has cared for 
 and protected it from oblivion and destruction; if to-day 
 it stands high above all the so-called sacred books of 
 the world, — surely the child of God that wishes to be right, 
 and to walk safely, will give time to read and under- 
 stand, and will obey this priceless treasure. And while 
 it would take many volumes to write or say all one could 
 say about the words of God as revealed in the Bible, yet 
 I feel laid on my heart to emphasize just a few points 
 that I trust will not be without interest and help. 
 
 Then please note: 
 
 1. LET god's word be learned. 
 
 Spirit. We want to read it to understand its spirit 
 or import or inner life. While its authorship covers so 
 many centuries; while so many hands have moved the 
 pen by the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit; 
 while it is replete with history, prophecy, poetry, and 
 precept, — yet in all there is just one thought overtopping 
 and surrounding all, and that is the redemption in Christ 
 Jesus, the Son of God, the Second Adam, sacrificed for 
 man. And in all our reading, both in the Old and the 
 New Testaments, Jesus should be the first obj ect of 
 search. He exists there in symbol and type, He is seen 
 in shadow and prophecy, and there is not a book in the 
 Volume that does not directly point to the Savior of men 
 when we get to understand it. Jesus can be seen in 
 Eden, in the ark, in the tabernacle and the temple. He 
 
God's Word Learned, Lived, and Loved. 147 
 
 is seen in the fiery visions of Isaiah, in the tears of Jere- 
 miah, and in the mystery of the Prophet Ezekiel. Christ 
 is foretold in the Pentateuch; sings the songs of heaven 
 and heart in the Psalms; typified in the historical books; 
 His work and way described in the prophecies; suffers 
 in the Gospels; controls life in the Acts; is enthroned as 
 Lord in the Epistles; and foretold, as the Coming One, 
 in the Revelations. Yes, Christ is the burden of the 
 entire Bible. 
 
 Its aim. Now that the Bible is not a work on science 
 merely is very plain, for it merely alludes to the items 
 of scientific investigation, without even hinting at some 
 of the things that men to-day rack their brain in trying 
 to find out. And while nowhere is it scientifically wrong 
 when understood, yet its theme is not science. The bur- 
 den .of the Bible is distinctive and definite. A work on 
 astronomy, or geology, or any other branch of science, 
 is no more special than the aim of the Bible. It gives 
 an account of the march of time down the ages, with 
 the rise and fall of powers, the failure of men, the apos- 
 tasy of God's children, God's sovereignty in using indi- 
 viduals for His purpose and glory, yet in all He is work- 
 ing but the one line, and that the salvation of those who 
 will trust Him and serve Him. There is not a story, an 
 incident, an event, an individual, an age, in all the Bible 
 that does not in some way represent a phase or phases 
 of the great scheme of redemption as regards the Divine 
 or human side. All the Bible is significant to the be- 
 liever. The ark represents the exclusiveness of salvation; 
 the temple its grandeur; the sacrifices its vicariousness ; 
 the organized nation of Israel the necesasry separate con- 
 dition of the child of God from the world. All is sig- 
 nificant and helpful when read with understanding, and 
 
148 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 all mean and have reference to the one specific work of 
 the reconstruction of the race fallen and lost in Adam. 
 Now when the Bible is read in this light, there is not a 
 single page, scrarcely, that need be dry or unprofitable; 
 all is big with instruction. The reconstruction of man 
 is the burden the Bible ever bears upon its very heart, so 
 to speak, and we may get the greatest lessons out of the 
 parts seemingly the less important. 
 
 Its method. As the Bible has a definite theme, so 
 has it a definite way or method of executing its object. 
 There are many books on the interpretation of the Bible, 
 commentaries and dictionaries, and helps innumerable, 
 that are of more or less, often less, value ; but, altogether, 
 they can be of but little service unless we get the idea 
 of the Bible method of instruction; and I am not sure 
 that the one who has this idea ever in mind in reading 
 the Bible, may not get on almost as well without the 
 so-called helps as to waste time and burden his hours 
 with helps that ignore the essential feature of God's 
 method of instruction. In how many of the helps the 
 Holy Spirit is not even so much as hinted at as the In- 
 terpreter of the truth of God in the Bible! Some do 
 honor the Spirit, and those I am disposed to honor, 
 but one can wade through page and volumes innumer- 
 able with but little light and help; but God's method is 
 invariable and supreme. Does God speak through the 
 Bible to His children? All who know the Lord and His 
 Word can testify that sometimes the text of a passage 
 seems to fairly start from the page to meet our scrutiny, 
 and with an assurance born of conviction have been com- 
 pelled to say, "That is God's word to me." How many 
 times has the troubled, perplexed child of God turned 
 to the word of Scripture, and found the thing that above 
 
God's Word Learned, Lived, and Loved. 149 
 
 all else just suited his case, and made the way plain for 
 his faltering feet! So we must infer that if God inspired 
 and still continues to instruct through the pages of the 
 Bible, to read it as in the presence of God, and looking 
 to God's Spirit to explain and make plain, no one will 
 ever read the Bible in vain. The Holy Spirit is the In- 
 terpreter of the truth of God to man's soul; then honor 
 the Spirit in reading. Expect the Spirit to reveal God 
 and His will to our soul, and we will never be disap- 
 pointed. But to go one step further, the revelation of 
 God to the soul is the scheme of Christianity through- 
 out. God in the Bible to the reverent reader; God in 
 the heart to the worshipful soul; God in the life of the 
 obedient servant and fellow-worker is the method of the 
 Bible and religion in this and in all times. Paul summed 
 up Christianity in one short sentence, "Christ in me the 
 hope of glory." The presence of God, superintending 
 and directing and overruling and guiding and interpret- 
 ing and saving, is the Bible method. Realize God when 
 you study the Bible, when you pray, when you work for 
 souls, when you fight the enemy of all good, and He 
 will never fail you. This is a lesson to learn that it may 
 be some of us have not yet fully compassed. 
 
 Its realm. With the above thought in our mind, and 
 the text before us, it has left one other lesson to learn, 
 and that is, the realm in which the Bible is to hold sway. 
 The psalmist makes it plain in one bold stroke, when 
 he says, "I have hid Thy Word in my heart." How 
 many seeming contradictions are explained and difficul- 
 ties removed when we let the heart read the Bible in- 
 stead of the head! I can understand how God can be 
 just and the justifier of them that believe in Jesus. This 
 truth is the way of my life. I have enthroned it in my 
 
150 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 heart; but to make it perfectly plain to a cold intellect, 
 I may not be able. How that God has made all men free, 
 and yet has fated all events, I may not be able to com- 
 prehend or explain, yet I have that enthroned in my heart 
 as a fact that I can not doubt. Many other items in the 
 words of God to me that I can not comprehend, and 
 yet I have not the least difficulty in disposing of them 
 or adjusting them to the place they should fill. Now 
 this suggests the place that the Bible must occupy in 
 my being. The head can not contain; the heart can 
 contain all things, for it is infinite as God and His Word 
 are infinite ; so the heart is the faculty with which to read 
 the Divine words of God; and thus read, they will ever 
 be the lamp to our feet and the light to our pathway 
 that God meant they should be. What is God? Who 
 can define to the intellect? But to the heart the Bible 
 has said He is love. Love — my heart knows what that 
 is, though my head does not ; so I will let the heart have 
 the whole Bible, and it is plain to me at least. 
 
 One other point in this connection I would empha- 
 size, and that is its fullness. There are many lines of study 
 for the specialist and the scholar that I will not mention, 
 but just to take the one line of biographical study, the 
 Bible contains so much that is invaluable to the one that 
 would live right, that it is a marvel that any one should 
 waste time on the little books of the earth to the neglect 
 of the Bible. 
 
 How, in running over the roll-call of Holy Writ, we 
 see the spirit of victory made so plain that no one can 
 doubt the cause of success or failure in the divine life! 
 A present God is the keynote to the lives of all the 
 worthies. Abraham walked before God in faith, and be- 
 came the friend of the Eternal ■ Moses endured as seeing 
 
God's Word Learned, Lived, and Loved. 151 
 
 the invisible God, who was ever with him in power and 
 pillar and wisdom and guidance; Daniel, David, Joseph, 
 and Joshua all served and lived with a present, personal 
 God who interposed on their behalf; while the Holy 
 Ghost with the disciples, the very God in Spirit was with 
 them ever in power and much joy and assurance. This 
 is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith in a 
 personal, present Christ. This insures humility, gentle- 
 ness, goodness, temperance, and faith, as well as an ener- 
 getic effort. Then from the lives of the Bible worthies 
 we can see how God assuredly knows how to deliver 
 the godly out of trouble and temptation. The Scrip- 
 tures assure us that the good have many troubles, but 
 also that God delivers them out of them all. David was 
 persecuted as well as Daniel, yet God enthroned the one, 
 and made the other a princely ruler. The dart of Saul 
 flew past David, as did the lions walk by Daniel. Joseph 
 in prison, and Job in poverty and pain, alike proved that 
 God never forsakes His own loved ones. While John 
 and Paul and Polycarp were spared to preach the gospel 
 amid Christ-haters till Paul was called the aged, John 
 was over ninety, and Polycarp ninety-six; and then, 
 after assailing the stronghold of the enemy, were per- 
 mitted to die the death of martyrs. God saved them for 
 Himself all those long, turbulent years of labor unharmed 
 and unhurt. Glory! God has proved to all men that a 
 sort of poetic justice runs through all His dealings with 
 the sons of men. The selfish Lot robbed Abraham of 
 the good pastures to which God had led him, and Lot 
 lost all in Sodom. Saul tried to take the life of God's 
 anointed David, and lost his own life, by his own 
 hand, on Gilboa. Adonibezek (Judges i, 17) said, "As 
 I have done, so the Lord hath requited me." Yes, all 
 
152 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 can say that. How this explains the many strange things 
 that come into the lives of old that we can not fathom! 
 Sowing and reaping are seen all the way through the 
 Word of God. You can not get away from sin and God. 
 Note, too, that God has shown us the wickedness of all 
 men, so that we all should walk cautiously. The sin of 
 Adam lost him Eden; sins of men brought the flood, 
 burnt the cities of the plains, subverted the kingdoms 
 of Judah and Israel, and has cursed the world all down 
 the ages. O, how the man who knows the Bible hates 
 sin and selfishness! A man once said to me, "I tell you, 
 David, a man that sins must expect God to deal with. 
 Look at the Old Testament saints and sinners," said he; 
 "not one escaped that did wrong." Ah, that is true! 
 O, what lessons the biographies of the Bible have to 
 teach the one that has a mind and heart to read! These 
 are some of the things that the Bible has in store for us 
 who know God. I have never known a strong Christian 
 that did not love the Bible and enjoy it, whether he could 
 read or not. Some of those who know the Bible the 
 best can not read themselves, but remember what they 
 hear, and treasure it up in their hearts. 
 
 Nowhere in literature do we find a perfect life but in 
 the Christ of the Bible. Shakespeare never tried to por- 
 tray a perfect man. 
 
 11. i/et god's word be: loved. 
 
 The taunt is often in the mouths of the indifferent and 
 the higher critics that we are Bible idolaters — that is, 
 Bible worshipers — because we love the words our Lord 
 hath spoken. Now if any one can separate the utter- 
 ances from the one uttering, so that they in effect can not 
 
God's Word Learned, Lived, and Loved. 153 
 
 be regaded as the same spirit and mind, then I will not 
 love the Bible; but as long as the speaker and the word 
 spoken are an expression of the heart within, so long will 
 I love the Bible as the expression of the Spirit and heart 
 of God. If we love the Speaker we will love the mes- 
 sage. 
 
 Then, again, there is no real safe, steady experience 
 aside from the teachings of the Bible. Our experience is 
 and must be builded upon the teaching of the Bible. Not 
 that God does not speak to His children to-day, but He 
 has spoken, and He saves in keeping with the Word re- 
 vealed. Where do we get a knowledge of God's will for sin 
 and salvation but in the text of Scripture? Not that God 
 can not save and convert without reading it, but that it is 
 His will for it to be read; for He commanded the in- 
 spired writers to write, and if they were to write, some 
 one was to read, and that one is the man or woman that 
 would live godly in Christ Jesus. So, as I love my soul 
 and appreciate my salvation, I love the Bible. No won- 
 der that Mr. Dwight L. Moody will not allow any book to 
 lie upon his Bible, and his is read so much that it is a 
 fair literary curiosity. 
 
 Then in the Bible alone we have the record of the 
 death of the Son of God. It is a love-letter to the world 
 of sinners from the One who loves them with the love 
 that took Him to the cross to die for our sins. 
 
 Then it is the only Word on earth as to the future 
 of the man of God and the man of sin. Heaven, with 
 all its hope and helpfulness, depends upon the Bible for 
 its place in the minds of men. 
 
 Nowhere but in the Bible do we find the character 
 of God. The world, by wisdom, sought to find out God, 
 
154 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 but failed. But the Bible makes it all plain and precious, 
 for it assures us, "God is love." O, do I love? Then I 
 will love His photograph as shown us in the Bible. 
 
 Lastly, there is one more thing that I will mention: 
 
 III. mT THE BIBI^E BE IvOVED. 
 
 The Bible reaches its purpose only as we reproduce 
 it in our lives. After we are converted, the world will 
 expect to see us walking Bibles, or at least representa- 
 tives of its teachings, and O, how sad to see so many fail 
 right here at the important point! 
 
 If God has given His Spirit to the Church, and we 
 are in the Church, we should be inspired men and women; 
 that is, live with an inspiration born of the Spirit* 
 
 If God has given the Spirit to change the hearts of 
 men, and we have given our hearts to Him, then we 
 should be transformed men and women, changed by the 
 power of an endless life. 
 
 If God has given His Spirit to the Church, and all 
 must be holy to meet God in peace, we will be working 
 Christians, if we live the Bible in our lives. 
 
 If God has prepared a home for the godly in the 
 next world, a house of many mansions ; if we are to have 
 all that heaven will ever mean to any one when this life 
 is over, we should anticipate, taste before, some of its 
 sweets by joyful expectancy. O, if we live the Bible, 
 it will spoil us for a lot of things that now mar and dis- 
 figure the children of God. 
 
XV. 
 GLIMPSES OF EARLY EVANGELISM. 
 
 "If others be partakers of this power over you, are 
 not we rather? Nevertheless, we have not used this 
 power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the 
 gospel of Christ." (i Cor. ix, 12.) 
 
 HP HE apostle Paul is giving, not only a reason for the 
 * hope that is in him, but also for the basis of his 
 apostolate. And he seems to think it necessary to give 
 a rather full expression of his method in the ministry, 
 and also his manner of life, as well as an account of his 
 own personal piety as pertains to self-control. And one 
 can scarcely read this account without seeing the in- 
 tensity of that great man's soul. He was all earnest- 
 ness; he had but one aim, as he elsewhere states, and to 
 carry this out absorbed all his great soul, so that he 
 can speak advisedly and helpfully to us in the words 
 of the text, as he has by his whole history. 
 
 In this text he lays the foundation for ministerial 
 support, not salary-getting, but to enable them to live, 
 and yet shows why he does not receive help from those 
 to whom he had ministered, giving as his reason that 
 he was willing to suffer all things in order that the 
 gospel be not hindered. And he assures us that it was 
 not an accident, but a deliberate plan, that he did so. 
 Now as our religion is a religion of self-denial, and we 
 have such an illustrious example in one of the chief 
 apostles, as well as in all the others — for to live for God 
 
 i55 
 
156 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 in the early Church meant that much — so if what may 
 be evolved out of this text enforces somewhat of self- 
 denial, I trust, at least, you will give your prayerful at- 
 tention and sympathy, having, as I do, such a good basis 
 for such remarks. 
 
 My subject is large enough to take in almost the 
 whole of practical Christianity, but I shall try to limit it 
 to a practicable discussion of one or two leading thoughts 
 of the text. So I ask you to note, first, that in early 
 evangelism, 
 
 I. A LOVE OF THE) GOSPEL WAS A CONTROLLING passion. 
 
 To the apostle that penned these words the gospel 
 was a something glorious, for he calls it the "glorious 
 gospel," for the gain of which he assures us he counted 
 all things but dross or filth, and in which he glorified 
 to the exclusion of everything else. The gospel was the 
 power of God unto salvation, was worthy of all accepta- 
 tion, and was God's unspeakable gift to man. In the 
 gospel he saw the unsetting sun of Isaiah's vision; the 
 springing water in the wilderness; the fair lily and the 
 fragrant rose. Yes, Paul saw all the Old Testament 
 shadows and types fulfilled in the gospel committed to 
 him. 
 
 But more than mere beauty, he found in it the solace 
 of all sin-sorrowing souls. The law was but a school- 
 master to lead or drive; the ordinances were only a 
 guarantee that Christ should take away the sins of his 
 people. In the gospel all men were eligible to be God's 
 sons, and it was able to save to the uttermost all that 
 came. The gospel was the end of the law. 
 
 And again, in the gospel the apostle saw the last 
 effort of the Almighty to bring man to Himself. It is 
 the final salvation revealed in the last times. Men had 
 
Glimpses of Early Evangelism. 157 
 
 longed, hoped, and waited for it, many passed away 
 vainly waiting its appearance; but now it had come, the 
 promise of God to the race, and his whole soul was 
 absorbed with its importance. The apostle, in many of 
 the passages of his epistles, seemed to be on an eminence 
 that commanded the entire view of the long past, from 
 Abel to the last prophet; he seems to have seen all the 
 struggles of the souls of honest seekers for help and 
 liberty from bondage of self-imposed systems of wor- 
 ship; he seems to recall all the heart-longing of the best 
 of the heathen philosophers, who, as a last extremity, 
 worshiped the "Unknown God;" and realizing the ful- 
 fillment of all cravings of the race in the gospel, his 
 soul went in a grateful and whole-hearted consecration 
 to God, to be used in taking the gospel to the whole 
 world to whom it was sent, and that, whether or not it 
 was perishing for its life and power. 
 
 This leads us up to the next point I wish to make; and 
 that is, early evangelism, manifested 
 
 II. IN THE SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL, A CONSTANT 
 PRIVATION. 
 
 The gospel was dependent on the labors of the dis- 
 ciple co-operating with the Holy Spirit in bringing the 
 saving truth to the homes and hearts of the unsaved. 
 God had not appointed angels, but men, to do this work, 
 and one who had received the taste of the heavenly bread 
 was to invite the next to him to the gospel feast. All 
 who had slaked their thirst at the Fountain of Life, were 
 to lead others to its sparkling waters ; all who had basked 
 in its golden beams of shining righteousness, were to 
 seek those in the darkness and shadow of death, and 
 conduct them to the rays of the unsetting sun of gospel 
 grace and glory. This stirred the hearts of the early 
 
158 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 Church to its very depths, and Paul, and indeed all the 
 faithful, took their lives and all they held as dear, and 
 went abroad spreading the truth. 
 
 The gospel was dependent, so they conferred not with 
 flesh and blood, but went everywhere, preaching that 
 which had saved their souls. And as God has not guar- 
 anteed them a stated salary, nor a large support, nor 
 even exemption from persecution and perils of all sorts, 
 they went forth to do God's bidding regardless of what 
 it meant to them. Paul tarried not even for a salary, or 
 even a support. He made tents with his hands — and I 
 sometimes wish I could be as independent — and paid the 
 price in self-denial that his devotion demanded among 
 those who cared for none of these things. 
 
 The gospel was unknown, and the work to introduce 
 it was the work of a master of patience and long-suffer- 
 ing. Who was Jesus? why should we believe on Him? 
 and what good will it do us? were questions coming up 
 in the minds of his hearers, to whom, very many at least, 
 the change of religion was not only a crime, but utter 
 folly, as one was just as good as another if it were yours. 
 And so to get the ears of the people to the new religion 
 imposed long, earnest work, and often very small re- 
 sults, as at Mars' Hill and many other places. But on 
 they went, incurring the quizzings and scoffs of those 
 ignorant of the power that earnest man had in his soul, 
 till at last, by persistent effort, he succeeded in getting 
 men to taste and see that God was good, many of whom, 
 as he had done once, persecuted the Church, but now 
 turned to its defense and support. 
 
 Then the gospel is revolutionary, and men were 
 prejudiced. To accept it, on the part of the men of that 
 time, enforced upon them a complete change of life. 
 Many of them had situated themselves socially and com- 
 
Glimpses of Early Evangelism. 159 
 
 mercially in such a plight that to become a Christian 
 was to revolutionize their whole lives, which filled them 
 with prejudice against it; so that while they heard with 
 the outward ear, the hearing of the soul was so blunted 
 by prejudice that no word of life could find way to their 
 souls to save. Why should they give up all to be dis- 
 ciples of One who was crucified, and that allowed His 
 most faithful to be persecuted, and even put to death, 
 without interfering, while they, in worshiping the em- 
 peror and the galaxy of gods, had the guarantee of Roman 
 protection? And while they felt a hunger in their souls 
 that the new religion offered to satisfy, it would be 
 purchased at too great a cost; so for the present they 
 would put off the matter, and wait for a more convenient 
 season. So the apostles were put off to endure unpro- 
 tected and unsupported, to wander about in the search 
 of some more hopeful and willing, or, what was often the 
 case, arrested and thrown into prison, etc., and hard- 
 ships of which we will never know in our favored con- 
 dition. This was a matter of daily experience with them, 
 and yet they embraced it all joyfully, and went about 
 with a shining face, making disciples at any cost to their 
 own personal convenience and physical well-being; and 
 the one great care they manifested, that the gospel de- 
 pendent on them for a place in the earth was not hurt by 
 their lack of piety or wisdom. This brings me to the 
 last thought of the text I shall enforce, and that is : 
 
 III. THE DEFEAT OF THE GOSPEL A CONCEDED POS- 
 SIBILITY. 
 
 Paul actually says he suffered all things lest he should 
 hinder the gospel. He had primary reference to endur- 
 ing poverty and hardship in the ministry, but he also 
 says he kept his body under, lest, after preaching the 
 
160 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 gospel to others, he himself should be a castaway. Which, 
 I am sure, will suggest to every inquiring mind the 
 thought, How is the gospel hindered, and am I in danger 
 of doing it? — feeling that to hinder the gospel is of all 
 crimes the greatest. The man that robs me of my purse, 
 steals trash; the man that robs me of my life, takes only 
 what I must soon give up; but he who robs me of the 
 gospel has done me an injury that can only be measured 
 by the length of eternity and the glory of heaven that I 
 have lost. So it might be well to inquire as to what can 
 and does hinder the gospel, that is preventable on the 
 part of God's children. 
 
 A wrong estimate of God's moral law as regards its 
 value. It is a fact that in some communities and in 
 Churches I need not mention, morals are not esteemed 
 very highly. There seems to be a sort of ground, in- 
 deed, for antinomianism in the Bible reading of some. 
 For does not the Bible say we are saved by faith, and not 
 by works, and not by deeds of righteousness? And 
 did n't Martin Luther, in his eagerness to get away from 
 the Roman ceremonies, call the Epistle of James a 
 book of straw. We are saved by faith, walk by faith, 
 worship in faith, not works. Then how natural for some 
 to conclude works are of little importance. But Christ 
 said, "Let your light so shine!" Paul, "Be careful to 
 maintain good works;" and James said, "Faith without 
 works is dead;" and again, John, "He that doeth right- 
 eousness is born of God." And yet the Lord's work has 
 been terribly hindered by those who profess to love Him 
 without keeping His commandments. Hence, we find 
 those in the Church that will go in the back door of the 
 saloon; will wear good clothes, and not pay their debts; 
 will drive a close bargain, when they know the godless will 
 
Glimpses of Early Evangelism. i6j 
 
 censure Christianity for it. These people may have a 
 sort of head religion, but not the spirit or mind of Christ, 
 who went about doing good. Doing good! How I love 
 those words! Great God, how many of Thy children do 
 but little good without it pays, and have an eye to bus- 
 iness in every transaction, even when the gospel is hin- 
 dered by it! Allow me here to say that any one profess- 
 ing to be God's child that does not live a more conscien- 
 tious life than a moral infidel, is one of the greatest hin- 
 drances to Christianity that the devil has ever devised. 
 
 A wrong estimate of the world's darkness. Men 
 need light, not authority. The world don't know God 
 (i John ii, 3-4), and God has sent out His children to 
 give them the light by evidences, and good works, and 
 testimony of our love, and a Bible, etc. 
 
 By a wrong estimate of Christ's example. Christ 
 was positive, authoritative, cogent, and why may not we 
 be too? is the question in some minds. Christ was in- 
 fallible with God's Spirit in Him, why may not we be 
 too? Here bigots, zealots, popes, Conventions, and hu- 
 man creeds. But Christ came down. We 'd be climbing 
 up. Who can claim Divinity because Spirit-baptized? 
 Christ showed His Divinity by His miracles. Who of us 
 are to raise the dead, and ask for belief on the ground 
 of our miraculous works? Christ uttered nothing but 
 wisdom, to the confounding of all, and who of us could 
 talk an hour without saying some things that were weak 
 and almost foolish? And yet some want to imitate Christ 
 this way. If you want to get down low, make yourself 
 of no reputation, get down to publicans and sinners, etc. 
 O, the blood and the blotches caused by the above folly! 
 
 A wrong estimate of the aims of evangelism. Ask 
 some why they preach. If honest, they answer, "To help 
 11 
 
1 62 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 my salary;" others, "To enlarge my denomination;" oth- 
 ers, "Because it is popular to be busy;" and some for 
 Paul and some for Apollos. So denominationalism has 
 crushed the life and power of the Church until, to-day, 
 if you 'd ask some people what they are, instead of say- 
 ing, "Christians," would answer, "We are Quakers," 
 "Methodists," "Baptists," etc., any one of which they can 
 be and be good for nothing; for I know whole crowds of 
 them that never did a soul-saving act in all their lives, and, 
 though they have been in the Church for years, not only 
 could not say they had led a soul to the Savior, but 
 in truth would be compelled to say they had never hon- 
 estly labored for one month to that end. 
 
 A wrong estimate of the value of revivals and all 
 special efforts. If a revival is in progress, and it is no 
 particular trouble, they will attend; but it is not a battle 
 they have promised to fight; it is not a campaign they 
 have espoused to its victory; it is not the great thing 
 that burdens their hearts when on their knees; it is sel- 
 dom on their mind when awake. I have talked to people 
 that would pose as good enough Church members, that 
 talked of special efforts for souls with a frigidness that 
 froze the very soul, when, at the same time, some of 
 their own family were going to eternal death as fast as 
 time rolls. But the earthly evangelism was not incidental, 
 as something extra or periodical, as something for a short 
 period to be endured, but it was their very Church and 
 religious life to be on the alert for souls. 
 
 A wrong estimate of the spirit of discipleship. What 
 is the spirit of the true disciple? Is it to look well after 
 number one? Is it to see that you always get the best 
 end of a trade? Is it to see that no one imposes on you, 
 but that you always get your rights? Is it to build your- 
 
Glimpses of Early Evangelism. 163 
 
 self a reputation, a fortune, a habitation, a bank stock 
 here on earth, where the Son of God wandered homeless 
 and friendless and comfortless to redeem us, and to set 
 an example how to win the world and to live above its 
 wiles and power? Ah no, verily! And yet the mass of 
 professors live just this sort of lives. Is it not so? Then, 
 is there any wonder that so few profess to love Christ 
 out of the vast majority of the world's teeming millions? 
 Is it any wonder that so many revivals never come, though 
 ministers labor to the border of death to bring about? 
 Look at Paul's testimony, "We suffer all things," etc. 
 God gives us all a good chance to testify to Him if we 
 will. 
 
 That dear, untiring laborer, Uncle John Vassar, was 
 a man of this type. His habit was never to meet an 
 individual without learning their spiritual condition al- 
 most immediately. During the war he was captured by 
 the Southern troops. Questioned by the general, who 
 suspected him as a spy, he said: "I am a colporteur of the 
 American Tract Society, trying to save the souls of the 
 dear boys that fall round me daily. General, do you 
 love Jesus?" The general parried the question with, "I 
 know that good old Tract Society, and have no fear of 
 its emissaries." "But, my dear General, do you love 
 Jesus?" An officer standing by said, "General, take the 
 man's promise that he will not tell our whereabouts, and 
 let him out, or we shall have a prayer-meeting from here 
 to Richmond." When Uncle John went to call on the 
 President of the United States, he paid the respects due 
 to his office, but did not let go of his hand until he had 
 spoken to him of the Lord Jesus, and put to him, most 
 courteously, the question that was ever on his lips. In- 
 troduced to Brigham Young, in his Salt Lake City home, 
 
164 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 he made the same appeal, and pressed the same search- 
 ing inquiry on his soul. It mattered not if a man were 
 rich or poor. It was his soul John Vassar loved. Once, 
 seeing a young man chopping wood, he stepped up to 
 the fence, and opened a conversation. Soon they were 
 both on their knees, one on one side of the fence and 
 the other on the other. The result was the young man's 
 conversion. A Negro in the army once said of him, "I 
 just tell you what I think of Uncle John ; he is a real 
 Christianity.' , 
 
 May God grant the Church may have more repre- 
 sentatives of real Christianity! 
 
XVI. 
 
 THOUGHTS ON THE THIEF'S CONVERSION. 
 
 "And Jesus said unto him, Verily, I say unto thee, 
 To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise." (L,uke 
 xxiii, 43.) 
 
 'T'HIS is one of the most precious stories of all the 
 * New Testament. (Luke xxiii, 42, 43.) And it 
 shows us very forcibly how one can differ from all 
 about him for good. There the three crosses stand. On 
 one is the Son of God, and the other two hold the 
 thieves. The thieves are divided by the cross of 
 Christ. The cross divides the world to-day, as then. 
 But how singular that, with the same chance, one man 
 will oppose God, while the other will accept His offer 
 and defend His cause ! 
 
 It is exceedingly sad to see the one thief to the 
 last minute of his life fighting against good. But our 
 thought is not directed to him to-night. We feel more 
 concerned with the one that did the right thing, and 
 turned to God, just as we should all do, and, I pray, 
 may before we go out of this house. One thing meets 
 us at the very threshold of this narrative that is most 
 gracious; and that is, God is ever on hand where the 
 soul is ready to surrender. No one ever cried long to 
 God for deliverance, when they really meant it, without 
 finding God at hand to help and save. Praise His name ! 
 Now, for our instruction, I ask your attention to this 
 165 
 
1 66 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 lesson as illustrating some aspects of salvation. So let 
 us note, first: 
 
 i. god's mercy in salvation. 
 
 This poor fellow was one of the wickedest of men, 
 and yet he had a chance and took it. God saved him, 
 even though he was so bad. Now, some people hate 
 thieves especially, and, perhaps, rightly; but when we 
 consider God's demands and rights, we have all been 
 thieves. At any rate, God says we have robbed Him. 
 But this was a thief among men, robbed his fellows, and 
 was shut up for safe-keeping. Yet God saved him and 
 pardoned him. 
 
 Not only that he had nothing to give God; no, not 
 anything; not even a few hours' service. He had ab- 
 solutely, like the prodigal, lost all, and was destitute 
 of good and time and life in a few moments. Yet God 
 did not turn him away. Can any of us say we have no 
 hope of salvation because we have nothing to give God ? 
 He had nothing, and was saved. Glory! 
 
 But he, too, had, with his fellow-thief, railed on his 
 Divine Master. He had added insult to sin, and it 
 seemed that with his last breath he 'd injure his Divine 
 Friend; but something in the voice, words, or looks, or 
 spirit of the blessed Christ touched his heart, and he took 
 the place of the penitent, and began to pray. O, the 
 matchless love of the blessed Lord! Can any one de- 
 spair? 
 
 II. GOD'S MIGHT IN SALVATION. 
 
 You notice, the poor fellow had to be saved then 
 and there, if ever. And no one and nothing could have 
 any hand in helping him. If God was not able to save him 
 
Thoughts on the Thief's Conversion. 167 
 
 there and then, without the aid of other men or means, 
 the poor man had to be lost. His end was rapidly draw- 
 ing nigh, and what was done had to be done at once. 
 Shall God fail or ask the performance of something that 
 is beyond the means of a dying thief already transfixed 
 to the murderous cross? Shall he hope or call in vain? 
 No, never did man that called with all his heart. God 
 there and then saved him by the power of an endless 
 life. There and then he was pardoned for all the 
 crimes that he had committed, and for which he found 
 no pardon with men. God did not demand anything 
 or enjoin anything, only an honest desire to be right 
 and be remembered in the eternal kingdom. God saved 
 him without water, altar, preacher or priest, strait-coat, 
 a hired pew, or anything else. He just saved him by 
 His own power, and he was safe forever. Changed in 
 one minute. But, say some, Can a man be changed so 
 soon? Do not men have to change themselves? How 
 long, my friends, does it take a man to change his mind 
 from committing some daring crime? The murderer, 
 entering the house and behind the curtain, heard "Home, 
 Sweet Home," and came out, confessed his intended 
 crime, and went away a changed man. We change in a 
 minute; that is, we can. So can God convert a man 
 as soon as the man changes his mind. Glory! 
 
 III. GOD'S METHOD IN SALVATION. 
 
 We see there is a definite condition to be met before 
 God can save, or all would be saved. If it were not so, 
 God himself were responsible for all who are not saved. 
 The condition is marked and most important. It is so 
 important that God can not save any one till it is com- 
 plied with. And while it is so important, even a dying 
 
1 68 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 thief can comply and render to God all that makes it 
 right and proper for God to save; and that is, an honest 
 desire and strict confession. The thief confessed Christ 
 as the Son of God, and confessed himself as the thief 
 and worthy of punishment. He simply owned up, and 
 that is all there is to it. How simple! How fair! All 
 can render it that have a heart right or wish to get 
 right. And this is the hardest thing for some to do. 
 Not that they can not, but won't. Now, if I have made 
 this too strong on any line, I can not see it yet. It is 
 not the can'ts, but the won'ts, that keep us out of the 
 eternal kingdom. As long as the blessed old Bible 
 stands, with this most blessed story of the salvation of 
 the dying thief, no one can ever say they can not com- 
 ply with all God's requirements. The thief saw the 
 real Christ, saw his sins, saw his opportunity, seized it, 
 and was saved. O how grand ! 
 
 iv. god's motive: in salvation. 
 
 Nowhere do man's opinions differ more from God's 
 than in the reason God saves men. Some say, because 
 of the torment of hell. There is a hell. And when men 
 are saved, they are saved from hell and all its horrors ; 
 but that is not the reason God saves men. Some say, 
 that men may have a home in heaven. Grand as that is, 
 I think it falls far short of the real cause of salvation. 
 And 'mid all these opinions we come to the text, and 
 find in it the words of Jesus, where He told the thief 
 they should be together in paradise that day. Com- 
 panionship with God is the idea of salvation. Praise 
 God it is so! No mere insurance policy to screen from 
 the flames of the pit. Neither is it a deed to a better 
 place in glory, appealing to a mere selfish passion for 
 
Thoughts on the Thief's Conversion. 169 
 
 the pleasant and profitable, but to be a companion and 
 fellow wkh Jesus in the glory world. Jesus speaks 
 much of being with His disciples, of never leaving nor 
 forsaking them ; and again, when leaving this world, 
 He says, "Where I am, there shall ye be also." Fel- 
 lowship with Christ is the Divine idea, whether in life, 
 death, or eternity. If men surrender to God here and now, 
 He will go through life with them, will sweeten all 
 their bitter cups, lighten their heavy loads, make 
 straight their crooked ways, and gladden their saddened 
 hearts. He will inspire them in the fight of life; He 
 will console them in the hours and agony of death, and 
 will go with them into the eternal world right up to 
 the throne of the Judge of all the universe. 
 
 " O what a Friend we have in Jesus — 
 All our sins and grief to bear," 
 
 and our sorrows to share, all our miles to travel with 
 us, all our work to aid us in! Now, the thief had lost 
 all the comfort and consolation of Christ in life, but 
 Jesus said he should be with Him in the glory world. 
 Praise His name! 
 
 v. god's majesty in salvation. 
 
 That God saved this man and gave him the assur- 
 ance of companionship with Jesus, sometimes leads us 
 to irreverent views of God and His majesty. We seem 
 to think that all there was in this case was mercy — 
 pure, unmixed mercy — and that mercy is a sort of care- 
 less indifference to sins committed. But, friends, mercy 
 always means justice. Always. For where there is no 
 justice, there can be no mercy. Mercy is the exact 
 measure of the justice in the mind of the law enforcing 
 
170 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 penalty, and that is set aside by mercy. That this man's 
 salvation was all of mercy, no one, I think, will ques- 
 tion; but that justice was in it, I think, is equally plain, 
 if we think about it for a moment. 
 
 God sits in each individual case that comes before 
 Him for salvation. He knows all the past, as well as 
 the present. He remembers what we have forgotten. 
 He knows what has made us what we are. He 
 knows how much real sin we have committed. He 
 means to give all a chance; and when the thief cried 
 for mercy, God knew whether he had ever, had an op- 
 portunity to be saved before the day of his death or 
 not. God knew all about his unhappy life, the things 
 that had hindered him from being a man in years past. 
 God knew if he had gone through life without a knowl- 
 edge of the gospel. O yes, God knows all about it, 
 and saw he was still on mercy's side of the judgment- 
 bar. So the first call he made brought salvation. 
 
 When we call, God will know all about us. He 
 knows where we were reared ; and when we come down 
 to the end — do n't be afraid ! — we will have justice ad- 
 ministered. But can we be saved at the end if we have 
 justice ? How many times have we refused the gospel ! 
 How many times has Jesus called us to His side, and we 
 refused to go to Him! He asked for our company; 
 He asked for our heart and hand — and have we not 
 said, No? Can God, on a death-bed, do with us in 
 justice as He did with the poor thief that had never 
 heard the story of the Savior's love ? O friends ! God 
 is good and merciful ; but we are not ignorant, as the 
 dying thief was, and if we hope for mercy, will we not 
 just to-night call on God for salvation, and never stop 
 till we get the assurance of pardon? If we ask, God 
 
Thoughts on the Thief's Conversion. 171 
 
 will forgive, and will whisper in our inner ear, Thou 
 shalt be with me in paradise. Friends, is not that 
 worth all the world besides? 
 
 The cross is now dividing the world as on that dark, 
 sad day, when the Son of God died for the sins of a 
 lost world. On which side will you be? Will it be 
 with the thief who confessed, and asked pardon, and 
 found it, or will you be on the side of the one who, 
 knowing he had done wrong, railed on Jesus, and ended 
 his sad, sinful life in opposition to the only One that 
 could save him from an eternal death? 
 
 Friends, I implore, I entreat you, do not despise 
 your Savior to-night. He will be with you all along 
 life's wearisome way, and at last give you a home in 
 the realm of bliss, where the wicked cease from troub- 
 ling and the weary are at rest. 
 
XVII. 
 INTELLIGENT GOODNESS 
 
 BACCALAUREATE ADDRESS, DELIVERED AT WHITTIER COLLEGE, 
 WHITTIER, CALIFORNIA, TO THE CLASS OF '98, JUNE 5TH. 
 
 "Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and 
 he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man re- 
 membered that same poor man." (Eccl. ix, 15.) 
 
 AS a preacher I have chosen a text, and not an- 
 ■^ nounced merely a subject. And while my object 
 is to address the class, I shall endeavor to not lose 
 sight of the congregation. And as time is the stuff 
 life is made of, I shall not trifle with yours, but aim at 
 being as practicable as possible. And as even a sermon 
 is sometimes tedious, I shall endeavor to be brief, re- 
 membering a remark of a sister of mine, who, being 
 asked how she enjoyed the pastor's sermons, when as 
 yet she had but little interest in religion, answered that, 
 "There is always one thing in them that I enjoy ;" and, 
 being pressed to tell what it was, replied, " 'In conclu- 
 sion, brethren/ " So I shall try not to belate that one 
 interesting item of my discourse, but close duly. 
 
 The wisdom of the text suggests efficiency as op- 
 posed to quackery. It is a word oft recurring in the 
 writings of Solomon, blending the idea of goodness 
 and sense. That sort of thing that will prompt a 
 farmer to carry corn to the mill in both ends of the 
 sack, instead of corn in one end and a stone in the other, 
 even if his neighbors do call it an innovation, while 
 
 172 
 
Intelligent Goodness. 173 
 
 quackery would be content to go through life with a 
 stone in one end and corn in the other. A quack in 
 medicine will make great pretensions to knowledge and 
 an extensive practice; and, should he cut off the wrong 
 leg, or prescribe the wrong drug, and death fol- 
 low, he will contrive to keep it quiet, and say, "The 
 man would have died anyhow." A quack lawyer will 
 hang the wrong man with perfect calmness. The quack 
 politician will vote for Andrew Jackson every election, 
 and knows only the politics of years ago ; while the 
 quack reverend will burn a cat for catching - a mouse 
 on Sunday, turn a man out of meeting for wearing some 
 new article of dress (as suspenders were a half century 
 ago), will occupy his time preaching on the non-essen- 
 tials of his creed, then go to the polls, and vote for 
 license (high). But efficiency, the wisdom of the text, 
 will seek the best, and perform it in the best way. 
 
 The wisdom of the text seems to suggest the idea 
 of mind to apprehend a thing. And that might rest 
 under a dust-covered hat, or be sheltered in a thatched 
 roof, or possessed by a person of unsightly form. Once, 
 when Sir Walter Scott was taking a meal in a restaurant, 
 he was pointed out to some one as the great author, 
 who remarked, "What, that little fellow !" and the poet, 
 hearing it, replied : 
 
 "Were I so tall to reach the pole, 
 And in my hand the ocean span, 
 I must be measured by my soul — 
 
 The mind 's the standard of the man." 
 
 So it is true to-day, and ever shall be, that a mind 
 to comprehend a thing is one of the essentials of all 
 goodness ; hence our schools and text-books. 
 
 Another element in the wisdom of the text is pur- 
 
174 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 pose. It has something to do, and does it. A tramp 
 arraigned before a police court was asked what was 
 his occupation. He answered, "I am a builder." The 
 judge, eyeing him from head to foot, to behold, to see 
 nothing but rags and dirt, retorted: "A builder! Pray, 
 tell the court what you build." The tramp replied, 
 "Air-castles, your honor!" He was sent up for thirty 
 days, as many more might be who have no more sub- 
 stantial work than his. A lazy man that sits around 
 waiting for something easy to turn up always turns 
 up in jail or in the asylum. A lazy man is of no earthly 
 use, no more than a dead man, and he takes up a great 
 deal more room. Wisdom has a purpose in life. 
 
 Another element of this wisdom, allow me to re- 
 mark, is skill in execution. It is at home in some 
 one line of work. In this busy age, to be without 
 some one thing we can do, and do well, seems to be 
 especially sad. The man knew how to deliver the city. 
 And just how to get into the place we can best fill, and 
 to get at the work we can best do, is often a grave 
 query; and lack of thought here often links a life to 
 an unsuited calling for its entire length. And it is no 
 wonder, when we consider how lightly this is often 
 regarded, and the careless manner in which it is so 
 often settled. A Scotchman had a little boy of several 
 summers he was anxious to settle in the right calling 
 early in life. So he took an apple, a book, and a piece 
 of money, and put them in a room; then got the 
 little fellow, and put him in near them, at the same 
 time saying, "If he takes the apple, I shall make a 
 farmer out of him; if he takes the money, he shall be 
 a merchant ; but if he takes the book, he must be a 
 preacher. Leaving the little fellow to himself for 
 
Intelligent Goodness. 175 
 
 awhile, then returning, he found him sitting on the 
 book, with the money in his pocket, and the apple 
 nearly half eaten, to which the father said, "Ah, sonny, 
 it is plain enough; you must be a lawyer." A mother 
 who had three sons, of which she was justly very proud, 
 was telling a visitor one day how she was meaning to 
 allot their calling in life. She said : "Now, there is 
 James, that bright-eyed, curly-headed boy with the rosy 
 cheeks and high forehead. He is so bright, I shall make 
 an effort to get him into business. He is very capable. 
 And his brother with the red hair and the big nose, 
 who is all the time smiling, I am going to get him into 
 politics. He makes friends of every one, and will get 
 along anywhere. And then you see that little fellow, 
 small for his years, sitting behind the stove, Willie by 
 name? Well, he is the quietest boy in all the world; 
 has n't much ambition. He do n't seem to care for any- 
 thing, and takes but little interest in any kind of work. 
 Well, I am going to make a preacher of him ; for he is 
 good for nothing practical." And so it goes. Parents 
 choose, necessity seems to drive, or w T hims decide, re- 
 gardless of fitness, the places of so many. Hence so 
 many failures in life. There is a work for every one, and 
 to find it and master it is part of wisdom. 
 
 We have viewed the meaning of the term wisdom. 
 Now let us come a little closer to the subject of the 
 text, Intelligent Goodness; and then we will note: 
 
 I. INTELLIGENT GOODNESS IS THE HANDMAID OF 
 PROGRESS. 
 
 Because it is practical. It is engaged in something 
 or other, and that calling is the pledge of its success. 
 It does not sit in idle reverie, and wish for the gold of 
 
176 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 the mine ; but it goes into the earth and gets it out. It 
 does not behold with idle wonder the power of the 
 chained lightning crossing the vaulted sky, and con- 
 tent to wish it captured for use; but it runs up its 
 kite, and brings down the potent fire, subduing it to 
 wear harness for the service of men. It stands not in 
 vacant thought beholding the power of steam that can 
 lift a teapot lid, but solves the problem of using it to 
 drive an engine and turn a wheel. It believes in work, 
 and has work to do, and does it; and as the wind fills 
 the spread sails, and the steam turns the adjusted 
 wheel, so intelligent goodness is favored with oppor- 
 tunities unknown to the purposeless. 
 
 The drone lies around the hive, consuming the al- 
 ready gathered honey, complaining that flowers do not 
 bloom as they once did. The cur lies on the porch 
 rug, lazily, in the sun, fretting that dogs are not ap- 
 preciated nowadays since game has all been caught, 
 while the setter has work for every day in the woods 
 and the lake. The cockle-bur mule declares that 
 no one cares to ride nowadays and all the coaches are 
 standing idle, while the roadster is on the road and in 
 the park with a carriage full daily. 
 
 Just so it is with the unwise in the useful arts and 
 trades, or callings, of life. The man that declares that 
 there is nothing now to do, and that all the trades are 
 full, forgets that the millions need clothes, food, houses, 
 comforts, and luxuries the same as ever; and while 
 changes have occurred, and still occur, that alter the 
 aspect of things commercial and mechanical, yet, as 
 long as children grow, seasons change, and time lasts, 
 there will be room for every honest workman. So let 
 no one of us fret about our lot in the world, or idly sit 
 
Intelligent Goodness. 177 
 
 for something to turn up, complaining that in these 
 days there are no rails to split, as in the days of Lin- 
 coln; or that no longer can men get jobs on canals, as 
 did Garfield; or even study with pine torches, as did 
 General Clinton B. Fisk ; or saw wood in cellars, as did 
 many other men in the early days of abundant timber 
 and wood-fires. No, intelligent goodness will have 
 something to do — pounding the anvil or the last, driv- 
 ing the ship or the train, weaving at the loom, or writ- 
 ing at the desk — for in all these and a thousand other 
 useful callings, you can serve the age you live in, and 
 be a blessing to men. Madam de Stael, who filled all 
 Europe with her fame as a lecturer and writer in the 
 last century, was one day busy with her papers and 
 musical instruments, when a man came in and saw the 
 multiplied things about her, and asked if she could 
 perform on all these instruments. She answered : "O 
 yes. But that is nothing, most any one could do that; 
 but the thing I am proud of is that I have sixteen 
 trades, any of which I could make a living at if I 
 wished to." If she had fifteen less, she could get 
 along, but the person without one useful thing he 
 can do is certainly an object of pity and of little use 
 in this world that asks every man to be of some serv- 
 ice. There are three professions that offer a wide field 
 for the industrious, which shall ever exist, and in which 
 there is ever room — law, ministry, and medicine. 
 These three have to do with the sins of the race very 
 largely, and so shall ever be in vogue. There shall 
 ever be fusses for lawyers to settle, diseases for doctors 
 to treat, and the multiplied sins of the world calling 
 for ministers to combat; and it would take almost a 
 genius to fail in either of these professions if he has 
 
178 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 a mind to work. And as all three are now open to 
 women as well as men, no soul need repine for an op- 
 portunity to serve the race in a useful manner. 
 
 Intelligent goodness will do something well. This 
 is where the distinction lies, more than in the line of 
 work chosen. To do something well is the secret of 
 success of most every victor in the race of life. When 
 Daniel Webster was starting for Boston, to engage in 
 the practice of law. some one gravely informed him 
 that the legal profession was crowded already, to which 
 young Webster replied, "There is plenty of room at 
 the top." The first case he got was in a railroad liti- 
 gation. He grappled with the subject, and studied six 
 months, and received only a few dollars ; but he had 
 the knowledge, and a little later he had an opportunity 
 to use that same knowledge for another road, and won 
 the suit, receiving five hundred dollars for his services. 
 Garfield, when in school, could not take a full college 
 course owing to his lack of money; and among the studies 
 omitted was chemistry. He entered law as a profes- 
 sion, and almost the first case he had involved the 
 knowledge of chemistry. He bought some text-books 
 on that subject and went to work to master the science ; 
 and by the time his case was ready for trial he was 
 one of the best chemists in the Union. He went into 
 law to succeed, and whatever that involved he grappled 
 with and mastered. Franklin Fairbanks, the Standard 
 Scale man, learned the ins and outs of his business till 
 he could take the place of any man in his vast shops, 
 except the blacksmiths. So could Orange Judd, the 
 great farm-implement man. William H. Webb, of the 
 Webb Shipyards, of New York, was the son of a man 
 who had made success in the ship-building line, and he 
 
Intelligent Goodness. 179 
 
 wanted his son to learn an easier way of making a liv- 
 ing; but young William wanted to learn the trade of 
 his father. So he entered the shop, and began at the 
 bottom, rising from one branch to another till he had 
 mastered the whole science of building ships. He got 
 control of the yard; and when he had one hundred and 
 fifty ships, all of his own designing, sailing the high 
 seas, there was not a man in his yards that could handle 
 tools more efficiently than he could. The best black- 
 smith is not the man that succeeds at the anvil, then 
 goes into the grocery business or some other form of 
 commercial life; but the best blacksmith, and the one 
 the world is waiting for, is the man that can shoe any 
 horse, and do it right, and, when he can no longer do 
 the work himself, teach others how to do it as well. 
 The best doctor is not the one that rises in his profes- 
 sion into prominence, till he attracts attention, then 
 goes into politics, and runs for Congress, to practice 
 medicine no more. No, the best doctor is the man or 
 woman that will solve the great problems of disease 
 and remedy, and use his great art to alleviate the suffer- 
 ings of humanity. The greatest preacher is not the 
 one that will master books, then quit the pulpit for 
 the professor's chair,, or any other chair, but will en- 
 deavor to present God's great, ever-living truth in a 
 way to appeal to the sense and heart of the world of 
 sinners lost. "Shoemaker, stick to your last," is a senti- 
 ment that applies well to any line of calling if you are 
 good in it. 
 
 Intelligent goodness does something honorably. 
 There is a false sentiment crept into the world some time 
 since Adam left Eden (it must have been since, for Adam 
 was a workingman and dressed the garden), that it is 
 
180 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 not nice to work for a living. Girls are ashamed of the 
 blue apron of the kitchen when her best fellow comes 
 around, and usually he is ashamed of her biscuits after 
 the question has been settled. People of the sort who 
 are ashamed of work, keep boarders just for company, 
 keep shop to study character, work on the farm for 
 their health, or do some other sort of work from some 
 other sort of motive other than the truth that they are 
 common folks, and need to work, as God meant all to 
 do. When civilization will have civilized the world 
 above such false pride, and makes it a disgrace for any 
 sound person to be without an honest calling, by which 
 they could make their own living, a long step will have 
 been taken to close the almshouses, hospitals, asylums, 
 and jails, and will lengthen out lives to an extent be- 
 yond the fondest hopes of the most enthusiastic life- 
 insurance agent. When the silly, filthy Oscar Wilde 
 was in this country, flourishing a sunflower on his breast, 
 he met, one evening, the mayor of Philadelphia at a 
 banquet. Little Oscar began to complain of the diffi- 
 culty of getting good gloves in this country, and 
 showed his well-gloved hand. The mayor of that large 
 city simply said, "I know nothing about your griev- 
 ances, as those hands [raising one of his hands into 
 view] never wore a pair of kids." Governor Briggs, 
 of Massachusetts, never wore a collar, in order to help 
 some one else to leave a more harmful indulgence. 
 God give you and me a purpose in life, that will for- 
 ever spoil us for anything like false shame as to the 
 work in life best suited to us! And if we farm the soil, 
 pound the iron on the anvil, weave cloth in the mill, 
 or drive the engine on land, or ship on the sea, we will 
 do it with a spirit of true conquest, rejoice in our call- 
 ing, and endeavor to do our work well. 
 
Intelligent Goodness. 181 
 
 II. INTELLIGENT GOODNESS IS THE CHILD OE INDUSTRY. 
 
 Where did this poor man get his wisdom, by which 
 he delivered the city? A man may be born with talent, 
 but not with wisdom. Wisdom comes by the exercise 
 of genius. And genius, more often than anything else, 
 is only another name for a capacity for work. Most 
 every one — and I take it for granted you each have an 
 ideal in life that you hope to attain, — and if I could 
 but see the thing as it comes to you in your best mo- 
 ments, when you apprehend it the most clearly, it involves 
 these three things : Self-conquest, perseverance to success, 
 and promotion; all of which imply toil. 
 
 i. Self-conquest. Shakespeare says, "Some are 
 born great;" but I find in reading the history of suc- 
 cessful men and women, those born great are simply 
 born great workers. And in no field of effort is the 
 task more arduous than in self-conquest ; and no man 
 ever takes a greater city than the dimensions of his 
 own soul. We are too often afflicted with an indispo- 
 sition to hard work. We do not like to work, and 
 this is one of the elements we must school out of our 
 very being. Indolence, that finds expression in lying 
 in bed late of mornings, reclining long after dinners, 
 and working none after suppers, must be overcome if 
 we would win success. 
 
 "The heights by great men reached and kept 
 Were not attained by sudden flight; 
 But they, while their companions slept, 
 Were toiling upwards in the night." 
 
 This holds good in all lines of life. If we 'd win, 
 we must work. And your worth in any craft or pro- 
 fession is about the exact measure of your self-con- 
 quest. To be the victim of appetites, passions, or per- 
 
1 82 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 nicious habits of sloth; to allow yourselves to drift into 
 a sort of a careless, lazy, ease-loving life, either before 
 you win success or afterward, will be the hand that 
 sooner or later will ring the death-knell of your fond- 
 est hopes. 
 
 2. Perseverance is another element you feel must 
 enter into your life, in order to realize your fond 
 dreams of success — a sort of "stick-to-it-iveness." The 
 first visit does not win the girl; the first blow does not 
 complete the shoe; the first stroke of the brush does 
 not finish the picture; but a repetition of one after an- 
 other is ever necessary, which means perseverance. The 
 ancients portrayed Success standing on a pedestal, with 
 her feet stuck fast in pitch, and to-day we have no bet- 
 ter conception or illustration. Steadfastness of purpose, 
 that will not waver in the dark day of discouragement 
 and trial; a purpose to stand by the task in hand till 
 it is accomplished, is ever the secret of achievement. 
 Just here some very brilliant people fail. Often we are 
 tempted to comparisons with others that seem to go 
 faster than we do, and as often unjustly underestimate 
 our abilities to measure arms with them ; and, growing 
 disheartened, the race is given up, and failure is the 
 record we make. Suppose we run on the track with 
 some one that can make a little better time than we 
 can. If we keep on running, we will get there just the 
 same. The plug may be passed by the swifter runner 
 in a ten-mile race, but if the plug keeps plugging away, 
 he will as surely get there by and by, and may be in 
 better shape than the racer. Many of the great 
 seemed to be dull and slow to master their tasks, but 
 they had on hand a purpose that sustained them; and 
 the illustrious who were once regarded as fools, be- 
 
Intelligent Goodness. 183 
 
 cause they were of the slow pace, would make a very 
 respectable catalogue of worthies that shine in the 
 galaxy of the world's great men and women. Notable 
 among them were Grant, Wellington, and Napoleon. 
 
 Have a purpose on hand that is great enough to 
 command respect and compel effort. Shut your ears 
 to all the voices that would call you from your task; 
 persevere, and the end can not be doubtful. Classic 
 mythology gives us an illustration suited to this thought 
 that will enforce it. We are told that when Ulysses, 
 after the destruction of Troy, was making some of his 
 extensive trips on sea, he was sailing along the west 
 coast of Italy, near the musical but dread islands of 
 the Sirens, the demi-gods of sweet song. The story 
 says the Sirens sang so sweetly that those passing near 
 the shore, in the mad endeavors to reach the singers, 
 would abandon the ship and plunge themselves into 
 the waves, to either find a watery grave or to perish 
 after reaching the shore. So Ulysses stopped the ears 
 of his sailors with wax, that they might not hear; and, 
 making himself fast to the masts with ropes, he sailed 
 by the fatal shores. The music was unheard by the 
 sailors, and self-imposed restraints, that he vainly tried 
 to break, took them by the singers in safety. But Jason, 
 in his Argonautic expeditions, passing the same way, 
 took on board with him the famed Orpheus, at the 
 strains of whose music, we are told, even the trees 
 of the woods would bow in admiration. So, sailing 
 along near the Siren shore, the sweet music came float- 
 ing over the waves the same as ever, but it fell on list- 
 less ears ; for they had better music on board, furnished 
 them by Orpheus. So we want on board of life's voy- 
 age an Orpheus of purpose that will hold us fast when 
 
1 84 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 we might be tempted to abandon the chosen calling of 
 life. I have a book on my library shelves, "How a 
 Hundred Ministers Switched Off;" but I would not 
 like to be compelled to read all the books that would 
 record the history of those who have switched off from 
 some useful trade or profession, in hours of weariness 
 or weakness of purpose, as they passed the shores of 
 some sweet-singing phantom of deception. 
 
 3. Practical instinct is another thing I would note in 
 passing. This is that trait of character that will avail 
 itself of any advantage in any way that presents itself. 
 It is a willingness to rise, as when Lincoln left the back- 
 woods for the law-office, or Garfield left the towpath for 
 the school-path. It will open the door of advancement, 
 and ever work the best thing it is able. It shows the 
 possessor that if a man can make watches, he need not 
 plow; if he can plead at the bar, he need not push the 
 plane at the bench. In fine, it will prompt him to do the 
 best thing that he can do, and ever be ready to rise from 
 good to better till the best is reached. 
 
 It will use every hint and help within reach to com- 
 pass success; and how small things offer great sugges- 
 tions and advantage is seen in a review of the history of 
 invention and discovery. Thales, of Miletus, twenty- 
 five hundred years ago, in rubbing a piece of amber, 
 saw that it would attract light substances. Galvani, two 
 thousand years later, noticed that pieces of copper and 
 zinc, placed near some frog legs that he had gotten 
 for his table use, caused their muscles to contract, and 
 the thought expanded till it went through all the differ- 
 ent phases of electric apparatus up to the trolley car and 
 electric engine. A soap-maker noticed that the sea- 
 weeds he used in boiling his soap deposited a sediment 
 
Intelligent Goodness. 185 
 
 in the pot, and iodine was the result of his attention. 
 A spark fell in a mortar in a chemical laboratory, causing 
 a miniature explosion, and suggested the idea of gun- 
 powder. A thoughtful man, one morning out in the 
 field, saw a strand of a spider's web, stretched by the 
 cunning spider, and he caught the idea of the suspension 
 bridge that now spans so many rivers. Watts saw the 
 steam in the teapot raise the lid, and the steam engine 
 and locomotive were the result. Newton saw an apple 
 fall, while out in his father's orchard, and he followed up 
 his thought till the law of attraction and gravitation be- 
 came a fact of scientific record. Galileo saw a lamp 
 swing in a church while at worship, and from it he got 
 the idea of the pendulum to measure time. A farmer, 
 snake-bitten, writhes in agony, while the dead rattle- 
 snake lay near by. The doctor was busy administering 
 remedies, but the man all the while grew worse. An 
 innocent farmer neighbor, standing by, picked up the 
 snake that had done the terrible deed, opened its mouth 
 and examined its teeth, and found that they had a fine 
 little hole in the end, through which the snake poured out 
 the poison to kill its victim. The farmer stepped up to the 
 doctor, and asked him why he did not administer a remedy 
 for the poison through the skin as the snake had poisoned 
 the man. The doctor laughed at his rustic simplicity 
 in thinking of such a thing, yet to-day a doctor without 
 his snake-tooth in the way of a hypodermic syringe, 
 bottle of morphine and atropia in his pocket, would feel 
 himself disgraced for all time. The doctor and the world 
 might have had the advantage of the hypodermic syringe 
 many years sooner if the doctor had a little more of this 
 practical instinct that sees the advantage in little things. 
 Again, this trait will demand the highest standard. 
 
186 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 Some noted person has said that to improve present 
 methods is one of the sure ways of success. This prac- 
 tical instinct will not sit down, content to use imperfect 
 tools, or to follow imperfect ways of doing things, but 
 will seek out the very best possible manner and ever 
 make new ones. For while we owe reverence to the 
 ages and the great that have gone before, to slavishly 
 follow any one or any thing is to commit the sin of poor, 
 moss-covered China, that, nationally, is rapidly becom- 
 ing a byword for all that is slow and incompetent. Slavery 
 to the past has left its impress for evil on many institu- 
 tions and practices. The great Galen held back the 
 medical profession for hundreds of years because men 
 feared to dissent from. the teaching of one in his day so 
 prominent and competent. Galen himself had to cope 
 with the prejudice and hatred of the bigoted devotees 
 of the past. He had been solicited to deliver a series of 
 lectures in the imperial city on anatomy that subverted 
 the learning, or lack of learning, of earlier masters and 
 less-enlightened days, and he was compelled to leave the 
 rostrum and flee the city to save his life. And when 
 Vesalius, in the sixteenth century, laid the foundation of 
 the splendid system of medicine now in vogue, by sweep- 
 ing away the long-cherished dogmas of an unproved 
 series of theories, he brought upon himself a perfect flood 
 of virulent reproach from the most distinguished of his 
 illustrious contemporaries. Theology has fared no bet- 
 ter. The immortal John Calvin, with all his faults of 
 severity of character, was one of the greatest men that 
 has written in the interest of true religion. And yet, his 
 very excellence hindered the Church for years. He did 
 his work so well — so clearly and forcibly did he expand 
 the doctrines of the Bible he held, that for hundreds of 
 
Intelligent Goodness. 187 
 
 years no man was found that had courage to reconstruct 
 his particular views of Divine truth. Intelligent Meth- 
 odists say that John Wesley's death was as providential 
 as his birth, for, had he not died, there would never have 
 been a Methodist Church, he being contented and de- 
 termined to remain in the fold of the old State Church. 
 What shall I say about George Fox and other religious 
 worthies, before whose imperfect, partial statements of 
 truth the Church has bowed with slavish reverence, fear- 
 ing to go to the Word of God for itself? And there are 
 teachers of partial truth to-day for whom we are in danger 
 of holding a sort of hero worship. Respect the hard- 
 working man in any line of any age, but test all their 
 work and service to humanity by that high standard that 
 you find issuing a protest in your breasts against all the 
 imperfections and limitations that you note in the craft 
 or profession you have chosen for your life's work. The 
 great inventors have not been more successful than those 
 who follow in their wake and perfect the invention 
 brought to their hand. Elias Howe, it is accorded, in- 
 vented the sewing-machine; yet the Singer patents and 
 improvements have outgrown the original Howe till to- 
 day the Singer sings in a million homes. So do n't be 
 afraid to dissent from the past, and ever be on the alert 
 to improve the things of the present, and failure will be 
 made more impossible. 
 Note again: 
 
 III. INTELLIGENT GOODNESS IS THE PARENT OF 
 OPPORTUNITY. 
 
 The ancients portrayed Opportunity as a goddess on 
 a pedestal with a veiled face. You did not see her coun- 
 tenance, and did not recognize her till she had passed. 
 
1S8 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 How true the conception to the fact of life and experi- 
 ence! The trades, professions, and callings are ever de- 
 manding new recruits to fill up their dissolving ranks, 
 and the world always pays a premium on the competent. 
 A young lad went into a cotton-mill in a town of an 
 Eastern State, and, beginning at the very bottom, went 
 through all the different parts of the manufacture of 
 cotton cloth. He was a careful student and close ob- 
 server of all the intricate parts of the different processes; 
 and when he had learned any part, he had mastered it 
 till he felt he knew all about it; and when he reached the 
 top of the trade, there was no part that he was ignorant 
 of, and he could take the place of any man in the factory, 
 and do the work well. He finally became foreman, and 
 the mill went on nicely. His first salary was $1,500 per 
 annum. One of the large mills in Fall River was falling 
 behind annually, and the corporation was losing money. 
 They consulted a merchant in Boston that was familiar 
 with all the ins and outs of the cotton manufacture, and 
 inquired if he knew of any one that could take charge 
 of the mill and make it pay. The merchant said, "Yes, 
 I believe I know a young man that can do it; but you 
 will have to pay him $6,000 a year." "O!" said the 
 manufacturer, "that is more than we have ever paid for 
 a manager!" "Well," said the merchant, "and the re- 
 sults show the failure. I think you can get the young 
 man for $6,000, and I will not advise him to accept for 
 any less." The bargain was made, and the first year he 
 saved them forty per cent of the cost of making cloth, 
 and gave them a clear gain. Another larger mill came 
 and offered him $10,000 a year for five years if he would 
 run their mill. He accepted, and, after being there one 
 year, another great milling establishment offered him 
 
Intelligent Goodness. 189 
 
 $15,000 a year; but he refused, saying he would not 
 leave and break his engagement for even $5,000 a year 
 more salary. You see, he had character as well as skill. 
 
 A person may, and individuals often have, failed in 
 certain lines of work, even when they seemed to have 
 fitted themselves for it by long years of apprenticeship 
 and study. A young lady, of whom the lecturer DeMott 
 speaks, had thoroughly educated herself for the pro- 
 fession of a teacher. She was still in the normal when 
 a request came for a competent teacher to take charge 
 of a considerable department in a school of good stand- 
 ing. The principal of the normal school so highly recom- 
 mended her that she was taken, on his recommendation, 
 without even a trial trip. She was a good scholar, a dili- 
 gent student, and for two years she worked hard to make 
 her teaching a success, but, at every point, failure stared 
 her in the face. She confessed her failure. They tried 
 to encourage her, but she insisted she was no good as 
 a teacher. She asked permission to rest for a term. It 
 was granted; and while she was resting in a small town, 
 studying what she w r ould do, one of the bookkeepers in 
 a lumber-office quit, and left the place, and she was asked 
 to take the place as assistant bookkeeper for awhile dur- 
 ing her vacation. She accepted, and soon found she was 
 in her element. She became very efficient, and manifested 
 a marked capacity for business. The head bookkeeper 
 sickened and died, and she was promoted to that im- 
 portant place and a very good salary. She soon became 
 indispensable to the welfare of the firm, and erelong she 
 formed a matrimonial partnership with its principal, and 
 is still doing well. 
 
 If one is efficient, their service will be sought; and 
 if failure ensues in any one line attempted, their very 
 
I go Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 efficiency will find an open door in some more congenial 
 and better-suited occupation. The world is full of bun- 
 glers who hope for success more from fickle luck than 
 certain pluck, resulting, so often, in failure on their part; 
 yet abundant open doors remain for those who have 
 learned to work and wait. 
 
 This truth is so patent that, with this passing word, 
 I shall proceed to my last thought; namely, 
 
 IV. INTELLIGENT GOODNESS THE PENSIONER OF 
 HEAVEN. 
 
 A man or woman that will never do anything unless 
 they are appreciated or well paid will often present them- 
 selves as a sad picture indeed, for not a few of the world's 
 worthies have lived much of their lives unappreciated, 
 and some have even had to die before their worth was 
 realized. So that a man needs look higher than earth 
 for a certain appreciation and reward. It would be sad 
 indeed to note the reasons why so many are not ap- 
 preciated, if this life and world were all. But when we 
 can look above, with a feeling that there is one Eye that 
 sees, and one Hand that will reward, it unnerves us for 
 life's contest, and makes any calling the more attractive 
 and noble. Allow me to note a few reasons why the 
 world sometimes fails to award merit where merit is due: 
 
 i. If you are honored to do a grand work, you shall 
 very likely live on through life, pressing a lonely path, 
 but to be lamented and canonized when dead. Was the 
 inventor of window-glass honored and rewarded? Who 
 can tell? for even his name has not come down to us. 
 Who devised the arch for buildings, or chimneys for 
 houses? Their names have perished. Who invented the 
 blacksmith's forge, the weaver's shuttle, without which 
 
Intelligent Goodness. 191 
 
 our clothes to-day would be very different? Who made 
 the first plow to till the soil? His memory has faded 
 from the mind of men. Who invented the mariners's com- 
 pass, keels for ships, and geometry, is not a matter of 
 historic record. Who invented the alphabet that makes 
 printing a possibility? Who constructed the first lyre, 
 that has, down the ages, cheered so many with its sweet 
 strains? No one can tell. The name of the farmer that 
 saw first in the snake's tooth the method of the hypo- 
 dermic syringe, and the name of the lad that gave the 
 Savior the loaves and fishes in order to feed the multi- 
 tude, have alike failed to come down to us. But in that 
 great day when all the deeds of men shall be weighed 
 in a true balance, these all, who served the race with a 
 pure motive, will be honored and rewarded. This con- 
 solation we all need who would feel brave amid the ob- 
 scurity. 
 
 2. Again, you may live ahead of your time, and be 
 compelled to take all your comfort and reward from a 
 Christian's hope, if comfort or reward is to be certain. 
 
 Poor Columbus discovered a continent, and lan- 
 guished, in poverty, in a comfortless prison. But he took 
 the continent in the name of his God, and heaven's re- 
 ward would be certain had the tardy world never come 
 to honor him in chiseled monument and printed page. 
 The world's greatest benefactors have been unfortunate 
 in living so far ahead of their time, that suspicion, op- 
 position, and even persecution were their sole compensa- 
 tion through years fraught with hard toil and sore tem- 
 poral trial. Howe, the inventor of the sewing-machine, 
 saw his wife languish and die without being able to give 
 her the sustenance that her impaired health demanded. 
 Robert Fulton and his projected steamboat were the 
 
192 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 laughing-stock of the scientific world till, at last, it was 
 launched, and success was accorded. George Stephen- 
 son, the inventor of the railroad locomotive, was harassed 
 and abused and opposed in private and public, in the Par- 
 liament and on the street, just because he was ahead of 
 his time. Professor Morse, the father of the electric tele- 
 graph, fared no better from the citizens of America and 
 from the Congress of the United States. 
 
 3. Finally, should you be called to lead in reforms, 
 the world may treat you coldly, if not cruelly. Remem- 
 ber, dear one, that while honor surely awaits the faithful 
 servant of the race here or hereafter, we are living and 
 laboring in a world that banished Aristides, the just, 
 murdered Caesar, compelled Seneca to suicide, poisoned 
 Socrates, beheaded the apostle Paul, and crucified the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, and foolish indeed is the man that 
 depends on this world only for his reward. So, my young 
 friends, allow me to counsel you to not expect too much 
 from this world, or to make it your all, lest disappoint- 
 ment may greet you here, and certain loss in the world 
 above. But go to your life's work with a will and 
 purpose to do your best, and win success; avail your- 
 selves of all honorable means of self-help and advance- 
 ment; master your calling, and in whatever craft, pro- 
 fession, or calling your lot is cast, trust in God, aim at 
 high perfection, and happy usefulness will reward you 
 here, and eternal bliss will crown you up there. 
 
 John Ruskin, in closing a lecture on art before a 
 large, cultured audience in London, said, to conclude, 
 he would mention but one name, and pronounced the 
 name of Michael Angelo. So, to-night, in closing this 
 talk on the value and aims of life, I will close by offering 
 the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, though rich, 
 
Intelligent Goodness. 193 
 
 for our sakes became poor, that we, through His pov- 
 erty, might become rich. He sacrificed every personal 
 interest to accomplish his purpose; He gave Himself, with- 
 out reserve, to the welfare of the race He, by humility, had 
 become a part of; He confronted the prejudice and op- 
 position of the masses who misunderstood and hated Him; 
 He assailed all the foes of the interests of the better man, 
 and, though conscious of the inevitable end awaiting 
 Him, he never swerved from the path of duty till He 
 hanged, as a condemned man, between two thieves, on 
 the Roman cross. Now, if you will take Him as your 
 example of consecration and devotion to the worthy ob- 
 ject of life you shall espouse, allow me to suggest to you 
 
 a motto: 
 
 "Perish trickery and cunning; 
 Perish all that fears the light; 
 Whether winning, whether losing, 
 Trust in God, and do the right. 
 
 Some will love you, some will hate you ; 
 
 Some will flatter, some will slight; 
 Cease from man, and look above you, — 
 
 Trust in God, and do the right." 
 13 
 
XVIII. 
 DAVID'S SPIRIT OF LOYALTY. 
 
 'Thou shalt not build a house for My name, because 
 thou hast been a man of war, and hast shed blood." 
 (i Chron. xxviii, 3.) 
 
 HTHE character of David is many-sided. He was a 
 * fierce warrior, a great poet, a worthy historian, a 
 great sinner, and a notable saint. After saying all this, 
 there is yet something more to say with regard to his 
 manifested character, and that is seen in his loyalty to 
 the powers and appointments that be. 
 
 David was one of the most noted of all Old Testa- 
 ment heroes. Called from an humble shepherd boy to 
 be a hero in one of the most important encounters, he 
 manifested no pride; called from the same humble pur- 
 suit to be a king, he accepted the throne without vanity; 
 was pursued by the cruel hand of Saul, yet would not 
 put forth his hand to slay him when in his power; cursed 
 by Shimei, yet allowed no one to injure him. With great 
 courage and success in battle, he trusted in God alone 
 for all; and with a fixed purpose to build the temple for 
 the ark of God and worship, was supplanted by his own 
 son, Solomon, without a murmur. This is the character 
 we now come to contemplate. So let us note: 
 
 I. HIS SPIRIT OF LOYALTY TO WORSHIP. 
 
 He spoke to Nathan, the prophet, in 2 Sam. vii, 2, 
 saying, "I dwell in a good house, and the ark of the 
 Lord dwelleth in a tent." He was not satisfied to see 
 
 194 
 
David's Spirit of Loyalty. 195 
 
 the ark of God, or anything pertaining to the worship of 
 God, faring poorly, nor could he, with good conscience, 
 enjoy the rest and prosperity that was his, and the Lord's 
 worship languish. What a grand loyalty is seen in this 
 spirit! He might have said, "Well, I wish the Lord's 
 ark was in a better place, but I have done so much al- 
 ready for Israel, that I will leave that job for some one 
 else." Not he. No, he wanted to see the ark in as good 
 condition as it had been, and a thousand times better, if 
 possible. 
 
 This suggests the necessity of men being interested 
 in the public worship of the Lord. We have come-outers 
 in these days that say, "I can as well worship the Lord 
 at home as at church." So you will find them advo- 
 cating no Church, no ministry, and they themselves 
 hasten on to no religion. David believed the public wor- 
 ship of the Lord was necessary; so did Paul; and, for 
 one, I have but little use for any one that does not. Of 
 course a man can worship God at home, and if he does 
 not worship God at home, he will not at meeting. But the 
 man who wants to worship God at home to the neglect 
 of the Church is a selfish soul, I care not who he may 
 be. The world needs the Church, and so long as the 
 world of sinners need instruction, the Church is a neces- 
 sity. How much the world needs the Church can be 
 seen, if we could, this morning, go where there is no 
 Church, in the Dark Continent! And it can be seen from 
 the fact that, just as soon as the Word of life is pro- 
 claimed in any given territory, a church-foundation is 
 the first thing that is laid. The Church is not religion, 
 nor worship; but it is a tree of life from which fall the 
 leaves for the healing of the nations. It is not the water 
 of life, but it is the channel through which this precious 
 
196 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 commodity is borne to the regions beyond, and makes 
 glad the city of God. 
 
 The Church is a school of Divine instruction, and 
 all converts are learners. How much the convert has 
 to learn can be appreciated when we look into the past 
 of our lives and see how many, how very many lessons 
 we have learned in the house of God. And the same 
 loyal spirit that David manifested in wanting to build 
 a house for God's ark, will see well to it that the truth 
 of God is taught, and not some advanced nonsense under 
 the name of higher criticism, nor any other ism or isms. 
 The spirit that will plan the perpetuity of the Church, 
 will see that it keeps to the Bible. When men get care- 
 less about one line, they will grow so about others. Now, 
 much in these days is preached that is not the Scriptures. 
 Men take their text from John, and preach from the 
 writings of Hawthorne, Thackeray, George Eliot, and a 
 whole array of others of no more importance, and as little 
 inspired. If a man likes to read those sort of authors, and 
 they are not devoid of some profit, let him leave them 
 in the study, and take the Word of God into the pulpit. 
 Men in the world get enough of business and science 
 and literature and art; if they do not, they get all they 
 can profit by; and when they come to Church they need 
 something from the words of God that will instruct them 
 in Divine things. As a minister, talking on the "Folly 
 of Plain Dress" in the morning, and in the evening on 
 "The Wilson Bill," and that, too, just before I went there 
 to hold a revival-meeting. Science, literature and art, his- 
 tory, romance, and poetry, may all do to point an arrow 
 if we know how to use them, but the staple must be the 
 eternal words of the ever-blessed God. This is one way 
 the pew can help the pulpit. If the pew will run after the 
 
David's Spirit of Loyalty. 197 
 
 novelties of the popular pulpit orator who deals in dreams, 
 it is a temptation to a would-be good preacher to diverge 
 a little. Ask the plain truth of the minister, and insist 
 on getting it, and the cause of truth will grow. 
 
 And, too, the man that wants the public worship of 
 the Lord to prosper, can do a great deal in inviting people 
 to meeting. The building is a sort of necessity in this 
 climate so variable, but the building is not the Church. 
 The Church is the beating hearts that look to God for 
 His blessing. So a building, as good as it is, is not the 
 all of the concern of the loyal spirit to-day; we must reach 
 the masses if we would have a Church. I say the masses. 
 Some are very select about those who they invite to 
 Church. If a rich man comes to town, a committee waits 
 upon him to ask him to worship with them. But let a 
 poor family come to town, especially if the children are 
 poorly clad, no committee calls; no card is left; no one 
 seems to care. And yet, in that very home there may 
 be seven or more children to be a blessing to the Church, 
 when, in the house of wealth and luxury, possibly one, 
 or none. We want the masses for the sake of the Church, 
 for the sake of their souls, for the sake of the dying Re- 
 deemer who bought them with His own blood. In this 
 work the preacher can not do it all, and, indeed, he can 
 not do the greater part; for, if he asks to meeting those 
 who are poor and sinful, and, when they come, the 
 Church gives them a cold shoulder, or shakes hands with 
 them as though their fingers were sacks of sawdust, the 
 preacher can plead in vain. But if the membership that 
 sits with the masses in the pew will say, "Come and share 
 my seat, use my hymn-book, get under my umbrella, 
 ride in my carriage," then the Church will fill up. Spur- 
 geon said his lay members filled his temple for him. O, 
 
198 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 what a host that loyal spirit would be if in the whole 
 Church of God to-day! Would not this answer the two 
 greatest questions before the Church to-day; namely, 
 How can we reach the masses? and its twin sister, How 
 can we win men from secret societies and clubs? Make 
 the Church a happy social gathering, and the men of 
 the world that ever have an eye to the good things of earth 
 will eventually find a place among the children of God. 
 
 But one more thing I wish to emphasize in this con- 
 nection with regard to the spirit of loyalty in worship. 
 It is a fact that no one can gainsay, that our standard 
 of Christianity in these days seems to be short of the 
 standard of the early days, and in no way more than in 
 the purpose for which we meet together in meetings of 
 worship. If one studies the testimonies given after a 
 sermon, the thought will be found to be very common 
 that we met together in the Church of God to be fed 
 more than to worship. Feeding too often means noth- 
 ing more than to hear some new thing about the words 
 of God. Now, such are very impatient of the simple 
 .truth that is so necessary for the young convert. I often 
 meet those among the young people who say they never 
 understand the sermons of their minister. I met a little 
 girl who said she read her Bible through in the public 
 meeting for worship on Sundays. I asked her why she 
 did it. "O," said she, "I never understand what the 
 preacher talks about, so that is the only way I can keep 
 awake." Now that there is a tendency on the part of 
 the carnal in worship to ask, yea, demand, that some 
 great sermon be preached, or some new truth be enun- 
 ciated each time that the meeting gathers, is patent to 
 those who see and hear as they go through the world. 
 Notice, I am not saying anything about the doctrine 
 
David's Spirit of Loyalty. 199 
 
 preached. A man can preach the doctrine of holiness 
 as simply as repentance or faith. And I have no sym- 
 pathy with a certain sort of ministry who say that only 
 those especially called to preach holiness should do it; 
 for I believe God has called all ministry on that line, and 
 a man that would ask to preach anything lower than 
 holiness must have queer thoughts when he raises 
 his voice in prayer to a holy heaven and a holy God. 
 I believe in preaching holiness in every sermon in some 
 of its bearings. But the tendency to have a doctrine put 
 in some novel, essay form, in rounded periods of glitter- 
 ing rhetoric, or they can not enjoy it, lacks the spirit of 
 loyalty to the public worship, than which nothing can 
 be more hurtful short of downright sin. Public worship 
 has its laws and methods that the good, earnest man will 
 be glad to observe. A simple parable expounded, a simple 
 story to illustrate, told wisely, a simple sermon, on some 
 plain subject, may do more good to the average hearer 
 than the finest-threaded logic that was ever spun. 
 
 II. THE SPIRIT OF LOYALTY TO LIFF/s WORK. 
 
 David had done great, grand work, but that very 
 work, as a warrior, unfit him for other callings. He had 
 done good service in driving the enemies of God into 
 a lifelong retreat. He had done good service in giving 
 to the children of Israel rest from virulent foes; but when 
 he came to do for the Lord and the nation what he found 
 in his heart to do, God told him that he was unfit, as he 
 had been a man of blood. Now mind, God did not say 
 he had done wrong, but simply he was disqualified to 
 build the temple, as he had been a man of battles, sug- 
 gesting the idea that a work Divinely acknowledged may 
 disqualify us for many things we could wish to do and 
 
200 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 be. And yet David never went back on the Providence 
 that put him in the field to fight, nor railed because he 
 was, for life, unfit for work he wished to perform. There 
 is a wonderful lesson here for me, and I trust God will 
 bless it to the good of all. 
 
 Now some would say that David was disappointed 
 by this proscription. But I think not. I think the best 
 way to put it, he was Divinely controlled. He had done 
 his service, in his own line, for the welfare of the nation, 
 and without which they could not have had the safety 
 to put up the temple; but the actual work of erecting 
 this wonderful structure was reserved for one who knew 
 nothing of the experience of the battle-field. Yet he saw 
 he had done well, and his work was not to be condemned 
 nor faulted because it hindered him from doing things 
 he wished to accomplish. How sad to hear those that 
 profess to believe in God's leading complain that their 
 lives have been a failure or a mistake! For if God leads 
 us, and we believe in His providences, let us not go 
 back on it, and say that we might have been. Might 
 have been will do for a Whittier's poem of Maud Muller, 
 but it will not do for those who believe and trust in God's 
 providences. 
 
 For instance, many are called to work with their 
 hands or their heads to make money for the spread of 
 the gospel, so they are, in a great measure, cut off from 
 the delight of standing in the pulpit and of talking the 
 Word of life to men from the public desk. How many 
 feel this keenly, I need not say. But that many do, I 
 am quite sure. How many think that, after all, it is 
 beneath them to work for a living in the furrow, or at 
 the bench, or in the rolling-mill, or on a steamboat, or 
 any other of the many crafts and callings that divide the 
 
David's Spirit of Loyalty. 201 
 
 brawn and brain of the workingmen. They feel they are 
 prevented from building the temple. But not so. You 
 may not do the part that you find it in your heart to do, 
 but you surely help as verily as David did by subduing 
 the enemies of Israel. Now, I would not mention this 
 only for the fact that there is room for much regret along 
 this line on the part of the one who indulges the thought. 
 But the man that can earn a dollar for the service of the 
 Lord has no need to regret he can not be a minister or 
 missionary. The two callings are indispensable. And 
 while I have no doubt that there are men in the field or 
 mill that should be in the pulpit, and I have as little 
 doubt that there are men in the pulpit that should be 
 in the furrow or the mill, yet, if we have been obeying 
 God, and have been true to Him, let us not complain, 
 but be true to the place we fill, and fill it to the best of 
 our ability. For, after all, it is work, and not the kind 
 of work, that is the sacred thing of life. Noah could not 
 have been a Moses, and still have built the ark. Moses 
 could not have been a Paul, and still lead Israel out of 
 bondage. Paul could not have been an Abraham, and 
 still be the apostle to the Gentiles. Just so in our lives, 
 we can not be something if we are something else. But 
 if God has called us, and guides us, and we have obeyed, 
 rejoice and be glad, for our reward is the same, and not 
 sit and sigh because we are not called or permitted to 
 do the thing that we might think suits us best. 
 
 Then, this discontent gets into the ministry as well 
 as in the pew. Many a minister, hard-worked and pov- 
 erty-pressed, as he picks up a book to refresh his mind 
 and warm his heart, is tempted to think and say, "Well, 
 after all, may be my life is not going to be the success I 
 could hope it to be, for I. by my work, am prevented 
 
202 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 from being a writer of books that seem to be so necessary, 
 and that, alone, can give me a sort of earthly immor- 
 tality." Here I have fought the devil in the front ranks, 
 and yet I can not write a book. Some one else will do 
 that, and yet I find it in my heart to do it. Now, if God 
 lives and reigns, and He has placed us in a position to 
 declare His truth to living men and women, and He al- 
 lows or calls others to write books that will give them 
 a name among men, do n't let us complain and fret, 
 thinking we can not be what we could wish to, or we 
 can not do what we find in our hearts to do. Do n't go 
 back on your calling. If God has called you to preach, 
 preach with all your might from your pulpits, as though 
 they were thrones of ivory, and God will be satisfied, and 
 you will be loyal to the work you are doing. How can 
 a man work for God in a given place if he thinks he is 
 belittling himself in the work he does? A discontented 
 spirit that quarrels with his lot and labor is a hot axle 
 without grease, that has to go without the comfort of 
 ease. Be easy and happy in your calling. Magnify the 
 work God has given you, and, if it is to plow, plow well, 
 or if to preach, preach well, and be happy and contented. 
 Others, who are in the mission-field, or even in the 
 work of writing books, are often plagued by the enemy 
 because they can not be scholars. How little Satan will 
 make the work of simply publishing a book, or editing 
 a paper, or delivering a sermon appear when he brings 
 his glasses to bear upon them! If you look through a 
 field or opera glass at either end, the object observed will 
 be distorted. If in the regular order, it will appear too 
 large to be true. But if inverted, O my, how little it will 
 look! So that those who would be true to themselves 
 and their calling, had better not look too much at their 
 
David's Spirit of Loyalty. 203 
 
 own work in any way. But if God has given you a place 
 in the Church doing anything for Him, in the name of 
 Him who for your sakes became poor, do not fret and 
 vex your souls because you can not do all that is to be 
 done. If you are sort of first man, and must clear the 
 ground for another Solomon to come after to do the 
 building, rejoice and be glad, for in that your consecra- 
 tion lies. 
 
 Just one other thing in this place about work, and 
 that is, keep in the place that God has given you. Many 
 a good layman is spoiled to make a poor minister. Many 
 a good preacher is spoiled to make a poor editor; and 
 many a good editor is spoiled to make a poor scholar, 
 just because God is not leading that way. If God leads, 
 follow, no matter where that may be. I love to hear a 
 young man or woman preach, even if they do it very 
 poorly, and right here I would say, that the poorest ser- 
 mon ever preached in the name of Jesus is better than 
 the best criticism ever made upon it. And any ordinary 
 sermon is good enough for the folks of this or any other 
 day, for not more than half the truth that is proclaimed 
 is ever obeyed at best. So do n't let us fall up-stairs ; 
 but let us work the field God has given us with a happy 
 heart, and let others do the thing that we are not called 
 upon to do without feeling that we are in some sense 
 slighted or neglected by the great Head of the Church, 
 or that we have been kept down, and others have been 
 advanced faster than we. I have often been tempted on 
 that line. How often has the enemy come to me and 
 suggested that if I only had a little help from those 
 above me in the Church, how much good it would have 
 done! How fast I could have grown! How much bet- 
 ter I could have served the Church! But just the con- 
 
204 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 trary is the truth. I have had all the help that God dared 
 give me, I have no doubt. The spirit that will complain 
 will be proud if allowed to get up in some other per- 
 son's corner. And, after all, all the work, the particular 
 work that any one of us is doing, is as necessary as any 
 that any one else does. The wars had to be fought 
 as well as the walls built. The one that did the one 
 may be disqualified for the work of the other, as one 
 work does disqualify us for another sort, but all is alike 
 important in the eyes of Him who will reward in that 
 great day. What does it matter to me if by my revival 
 work a thousand books have gone unread, if by doing 
 my little work the great cause of truth has been served 
 and souls have been saved? 
 
 A mother may feel that she is doing nothing in 
 nursing her babe. The father may think he is doing 
 nothing in supporting that little home. The farmer may 
 feel that he is of but little consequence when he works 
 all week, and goes to meeting on Sunday and midweek 
 only, and all the mission-field out before him. But 
 mark you well, God has placed us in our lots; and the part 
 of loyalty is not in getting out, but working in the place 
 that God has allotted us. I venture that any man in 
 any place that God has placed him (let that place be 
 what it may) is as happy as any man in the world if he 
 is contented. And the man that is out of place (no 
 matter whether the digression be up or down), he is an 
 unhappy man. Happiness is found in doing and be- 
 ing and suffering the will of a good God. 
 
 III. TH£ SPIRIT OP LOYAI/TY TO THE DIVINE WORD. 
 
 God spoke, and that was enough for David, no mat- 
 ter how much it conflicted with his likes or dislikes. 
 God's Word was a lever that turned David any way 
 
David's Spirit of Loyalty. 
 
 205 
 
 the Divine will wished. He did not cavil nor try to 
 wrest it from its true meaning, as did the old woman 
 who believed in lot and cast her cane in the forks of 
 the road. No; he had God's Word, and he stood by 
 it if it did pinch him. This suggests several thoughts 
 practical to-day. 
 
 Men to-day do not like the authority of the Divine 
 Word. This is seen wherever men preach as though 
 they believed the words of God. How many will say, Well, 
 I think thus and so, when they know God's Word has 
 uttered the Divine mind on the subject! And believers 
 too! Now, if God has spoken, it is wise and kind and 
 safe and right to obey that Word. Now, of course, in 
 these later days, higher critics have succeeded in under- 
 mining the faith of many in the Word of God; but, 
 after all, they have not attacked the more practical 
 writings of the New Testament, and as yet they stand 
 firm. But the spirit of disloyalty to the teaching of 
 the Scriptures is held in very light esteem by many, 
 even of those who believe in them. Now, for one, I 
 do not care for all the Ingersolls and Briggses that ever 
 w r ere born, if believers only allow the Word of God 
 to color their lives. If ye will live out the teaching of 
 the Word of God, as David obeyed it, even when it 
 runs counter to our preconceived notion and ancient 
 practices and carnal habits, men will see the power of 
 a holy life, and feel its sanctity too, to an extent that 
 no cavil can undo. But when the children of God will 
 pare down the truth of God, or put upon it a private 
 interpretation, or live in constant violation of these 
 plain meanings and commands, then the progress must 
 be hindered, and defeat of the individual believer will be 
 sure. 
 
 Now, God must be expected to say things that we 
 
206 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 do not see clearly, else He would be nothing more than 
 we are. He must be expected to say things that will 
 intercept our manner of life and our purpose of living, 
 else He would be writing to those who were all right. 
 He must be expected to say things that drive us in 
 prayer to Him for help from the Holy Spirit, else the 
 Comforter would have never been offered. Now, all 
 this is patent to me, and I see David's loyalty to the 
 truth as one of the best things in his notable life. He 
 might have said, "Well, surely God will not be angry 
 if I build Him a temple;" but if he had tried, his ene- 
 mies whom he had whipped might have come, been 
 turned loose upon him, and his work ended. But 
 whether or not I can understand what might have hap- 
 pened to David if he had disobeyed, is not the question. 
 The fact that God had forbidden him was enough, and 
 he believed that too. 
 
 God speaks to us to-day about things that often run 
 into our plans. We w<ould like to make money, and He 
 tells us to evangelize the nations. Some few hear, and 
 others just look at the Word as though God did not 
 mean what He said. We want to do something else. 
 God tells a man to go and preach. But he has some 
 business scheme on hand, and he will not prepare him- 
 self to do the work, and so lives, excusing himself, 
 when all the time God knows all about it, and knows 
 he could preach if he would. God tells some one to 
 go and visit families, and do some home-missionary 
 work that may inconvenience them, or drive them into 
 homes where it is not the most pleasant; and they just 
 say they can't. But God knows they mean they won't. 
 God tells some one to give a little more money this 
 time than formerly; and they do not think others are 
 
David's Spirit of Loyalty. 
 
 207 
 
 giving all they should, and they refuse, and God is dis- 
 honored, and their souls are robbed of the blessing. 
 
 Then the Lord sees something wrong in the past 
 life of some one that prevents them building in the 
 temple as they might. He tells them to go and make 
 it all right ; but they do n't like to do those humbling 
 things; they see no' use in stirring up old scores or in 
 making a fuss over some little thing that concerns them 
 so little; and the hardness continues, and the work is 
 hindered. May be they have driven some sharp bar- 
 gains with some one; and when they pray the sky 
 seems brass, and they seem to be against a wall in their 
 prayers. God has the remedy in the adjustment. They 
 will not obey, and live in leanness and die in the dark- 
 ness and lost at last. It may be a confession to a wife, 
 a husband, a child, a neighbor. It may be to do some 
 duty that they have shunned, or offer some service that 
 they have withheld. But when the Word comes, be- 
 cause it hurts the plans, smashes the arrangement, or 
 crosses the pride, or thwarts the will in some secret 
 things, they say, No! to their great loss. How much 
 is wrong in the Church of Christ I will not presume to 
 divine, much less state; but one thing is sure: if all the 
 Church of God brought all its tithes into the store- 
 house, there would not be room to receive all that the 
 Lord would pour out of His Spirit upon Zion. How 
 many revivals are practically things of vapor, soon to 
 blow away! How many revivals are things of straw, 
 that will not stand the fire! How many revivals are 
 naught because the poor minister has been discouraged 
 by being permitted to do all the work himself or being 
 picked to pieces by an over-critical Church! Now, God 
 has adjusted all this in His Word; and if we but seek 
 
208 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 the light, and then walk in it, we should never mourn 
 dry and barren lands, nor withered, blighted fruits. God 
 would cause the oil and wine to increase, and all the 
 enemies should be driven in the desert. O that God 
 had those who would obey His Word in all things to 
 his own glory and Zion's eternal good! 
 
 Then, again, I can imagine how David had been 
 saying he was going to build that temple; and now, the 
 word of the Lord arresting it, put him in a bad light. 
 Satan would appeal to his pride; but God had spoken, 
 and he was loyal. Do you know there are things in 
 God's Word that, if we obey, they will put us in a bad 
 light in the eyes of the world? Yes, even the Church 
 will not endure all the things of the Eternal Word put 
 into practice. Now, if Paul could come back to earth 
 and deliver his sermon on the Second Coming that he 
 delivered to the Thessalonians, do not you think he 
 would get into trouble? Do not you think that if he 
 would anoint and pray with the sick, or wish to testify 
 on that line, some of the wiseacres in the Church would 
 raise a howl of fanaticism? O yes. If James went 
 into some pulpits to-day and asked them that were sick 
 to call for the elders of the Church, and be anointed 
 for healing, a storm of unkindly criticism, if not a storm 
 of something more substantial and hurtful, would be 
 poured out upon his holy head. Many ministers do 
 not preach the whole truth because it puts them in a 
 bad light. Bless God, David is not without a following 
 even in these Laodicean days of temporizing and luke- 
 warmness. But O that the Church had the loyalty to 
 God's Word that would bring them into conflict with 
 sin and selfishness to the extent that one more perse- 
 cution would be the expression of the world's need of 
 
David's Spirit of Loyalty. 209 
 
 regeneration! If God has spoken, is not that enough? 
 It was for David, even when it put him in a bad light 
 in the eyes of his fellow-men. God's Word is supreme, 
 as the Spirit makes it plain. And above those table- 
 lands of low faith and devotion are sunlit peaks 
 that would delight the soul of the saint that has the 
 courage to climb. Beneath the surface-rock of hard 
 verbal criticism flows a fountain of the sweetest water 
 that was ever quaffed. Above the dark cloud of pinch- 
 ing command shines the eternal Sun of righteousness. 
 And when the breakers are dashing in mad fury against 
 the coast, there is perfect calm in mid-sea. O dear 
 ones! Dare to obey God's Word; and though we do 
 not understand the limitation, it will all come out right 
 at last. So it did with David. Solomon built a temple 
 that was a credit to his dear departed father. 
 
 But one other thought comes before us for con- 
 sideration; and that is: 
 
 IV. HIS LOYALTY TO THE) DIVINELY WORTHY. 
 
 Now, humanly speaking, if any merit can be 
 claimed by any of the servants of the Lord; if any one 
 could expect to be, by labors performed, entitled to build 
 that temple of old, it surely was the man David, who 
 had endured so much hardness and fought so bravely 
 the battles of the new kingdom. But alas! no one can 
 be worthy, as all have sinned as David did. So, no 
 one being worthy naturally, and the Lord sovereign 
 of the universe, He is the one to choose who shall per- 
 form a given piece of work. And if God knows the 
 end from the beginning, He surely did not choose Solo- 
 mon because he was more pious than his father David. 
 But the one thing that seemed to disqualify David was 
 14 
 
210 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 that he was a man of blood. Perhaps if he had built 
 the temple, his enemies would hold it in perpetual ab- 
 horrence as a monument of their defeat, and so never 
 cease to endeavor to destroy it; while Solomon, who 
 was young and had not been a victor over them in 
 battle, could build it without incurring a suspicion that 
 it was a monument to commemorate the defeat of the 
 enemy, but indeed a house of worship to the true God. 
 However, David was, for the reason of his wars, pre- 
 vented building, and his inexperienced, youthful son was 
 appointed in his stead. But David did not rail or go 
 out and pout, but acted the man, and gave way to 
 the younger and the chosen one. 
 
 Note, here was an opportunity to complain of unfair 
 treatment; but not one word escapes the lips of the 
 man of God. Who was Solomon that he should be 
 advanced to build a temple that was to stand all those 
 centuries? Why does not God reward with earthly 
 emolument those who have fought His battles for Him? 
 What reason is it in being laid aside when he could as 
 well do it as not? Now, all these and a thousand 
 questions might be suggested as presented to David 
 by the enemy, to tempt him to discontent; but whether 
 they were or not, David stood firm, and acquiesced in 
 the will of the Lord. 
 
 Neither did David get jealous of Solomon because 
 he was taking his place, though no doubt Satan did 
 his part to suggest that sin. How common it is for 
 those who are succeeded by younger servants to give 
 way to hard feelings and bitterness! Satan will say, 
 "Well, they are putting themselves forward too fast;" 
 or, "They are ambitious to be seen, and make a show 
 of themselves." And whether or not we know it, many 
 
David's Spirit of Loyalty. 211 
 
 young people are kept back by this sort of thing. 
 Now, if nothing of this kind exists, it sweetens the face 
 of the seemingly supplanted, it tightens their grasp of 
 the hand, and it gives a tone of encouragement to the 
 words they utter in the ears of the young temple-build- 
 ers that will go far to make the work a pleasant 
 thing. Of course, Solomon might have acted ugly in 
 his new position, but with that David had nothing to 
 do. God was dealing with David, and so He is with 
 us; so we will stick to our text, and see where the 
 Lord will lead us. O how grinding and embittering 
 a little discontent along this line will make a man! And 
 as the one must grow and the other decrease in some 
 sense, how needful it is to see that none of this spirit 
 gets into the heart of the ones seemingly laid aside! I 
 could wish to preach a sermon on how Solomon 
 should treat David, but not at this time. David's loy- 
 alty seems to eclipse all else in this lesson. 
 
 David might have become jealous and refused to 
 aid in the building of the temple. It takes no stretch 
 of imagination to see how it would have fettered the 
 work if he had got ugly on their hands. It takes but 
 little to see how it would have embarrassed Solomon 
 and all the friends of both. It can readily be seen how it 
 might have grown into enmity to Solomon; for jealousy 
 is not only cruel as the grave, but is no respecter of 
 persons, and will, if stirred or planted, work disaster 
 to all; for a child of God has no right to have such 
 a plant or fire in his soul. If Satan had succeeded in 
 planting the thing, who can imagine to what extent it 
 might have grown! And O, to grow old ugly, or to 
 advance toward God in rebellion against Him, is too 
 sad to contemplate! 
 
212 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 But no. David stood by the work with all his 
 heart. He gave his means most liberally; and though 
 Solomon built the temple, no one can ever think of the 
 temple or its building without thinking of the noble 
 spirit and cheerful liberality of his father. 
 
 But this and other vipers of the brood of sin are 
 not confined to any one class. The man who is called 
 to preach, or write a book, or do some other work 
 that the world must notice, is often the object of jeal- 
 ousy. It is very much like being jealous of the man 
 up in the steeple, who is chiming the bells so melo- 
 diously, and envying him his nearness to the music or 
 the superior advantage he has to most ordinary mor- 
 tals. But go a little closer, look well before you de- 
 cide; and how the thing is changed! See him there 
 as he clutches the keys, that, withal, do not move so 
 easily. See him as he sits there, with the lines 
 of care on his face; see the perspiration trickle down 
 his face, and his whole body convulsed with the 
 effort, and then ask where the music is the sweet- 
 est, in the steeple, at the keys, or at a distance? 
 Just so with many a man who is the object of envy. 
 If you could see how the man whom God has called 
 to build has to plan, has to lie awake at night while 
 others sleep; how he slights rest and food and all the 
 luxuries of life to do his work, you would not envy 
 him. You would not load him with the added care and 
 responsibility of nursing you. No, after all, while Solo- 
 mon had the pleasure of building the temple, it might 
 have been that David was not unfortunate in missing 
 it. And yet there is a kind of philosophy that will 
 argue these hateful feelings out of the heart, but, thank 
 God! the Holy Ghost can make it as easy to be all 
 
David's Spirit of Loyalty. 213 
 
 right in this as it was for David. O what an admirable 
 feeling of satisfaction it is to see others go on and 
 do work that we shall never be able to do, and yet 
 keep sweet and pure in heart! For my own part, I 
 had rather have the measles, small-pox, gout, rheuma- 
 tism, and a whole lot of other physical ailments, than 
 to have one of these spiritual diseases in my soul. 
 
 But David's loyalty culminates in his evident de- 
 light that his son was succeeding him, and that he was 
 to do the work. How sad it would be if all the 
 work done had to be done by some one of us to the 
 exclusion of others! Suppose there were no succession 
 in the work of the Lord, and after one was too old or 
 something else to be of much service, the work had to 
 stop, would it not be a matter of sorrow? Then let us 
 rejoice in those that do work we can not do. Let us 
 thank God for all that are raised up to take our place. 
 We often see the workers change, but the work is the 
 same, and goes on to the end. Now, I think the man 
 filled with the Holy Ghost will ever be delighted to see 
 others go on with work he either can not do or is pre- 
 vented from doing. If some one writes a good book 
 that brings fame, and perhaps wealth, don't think it 
 should have been you; for not half the books published 
 amount to anything; and if this one is a success, and 
 is owned and blessed of the Lord, I find it in my heart 
 to pray for its circulation. And really I am glad that 
 God did not lay all the work of the Church upon me; 
 for I now have all I can do, and more than I can do 
 as I could wish. O how nice it is to be able to say to all 
 those that labor for the Lord, "God bless thee, and use 
 thee abundantly!" When in Chicago, I met an editor 
 of books who has grown rich by his pen and publica- 
 
214 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 tions; and when I knelt and prayed for him as though 
 I really meant it, he actually seemed surprised that any 
 one could so wish his prosperity. I did not know at the 
 time that he was rich or had means, but I just wanted 
 God to help him to do good, and it broke him all to 
 pieces. Why not? All those that work for Jesus have 
 abundant room. I am not like Thomas Dixon, who 
 thinks there are too many preachers. No, friends, 
 there are not half enough. I wish there were so many 
 good ones that I would never need to go out of my 
 little corner. I could wish to stay in one place, and 
 work for Jesus with all my might, and, when the end 
 came, get into the chariot, and go off to glory, leaving 
 my little place to some other servant of Christ, if the 
 Lord tarries. 
 
 Sir Humphrey Davy, on being asked what was his 
 greatest discovery, said, with evident satisfaction, 
 "Michael Faraday." This is the spirit of loyalty to 
 science. He wanted to see the work of the laboratory 
 go on, and he was delighted that some one was going 
 to take his place. Now, I suppose Davy did all he 
 could to prepare Faraday for the work of the sanctum, 
 and did all in his power to make him a success, taught 
 him the deep things of chemistry and all that pertained 
 to the work doing. I suppose David told Solomon 
 all he knew, and was glad to be perpetuated in his son 
 as king. So the man or woman who takes hold of 
 the young and rising, and gives them a helping hand 
 to rise, imparting all the knowledge they possess that 
 will enable them to the better do their work, they will 
 live on in the ministry of the next generations. O there 
 is so much an experienced minister can teach out of his 
 stock of knowledge and experience that would further 
 
David's Spirit of Loyalty-. 215 
 
 on the way the young, and give the next generation a 
 better chance than they themselves have had. Just so 
 with all classes of believers when in contact with young 
 converts. How much we might say that will help 
 them to be better Christians! But it applies more 
 especially to the ministry and those in position in the 
 Church, that have lore that will lighten the load of 
 the next one to bear the burden. 
 
 What a nice sight that must be to high heaven to 
 see an old soldier of the Cross firing the hearts of the 
 young for the battle against Satan and sin, and teach- 
 ing them all the best points of holy warfare, that they 
 may the better serve their mutual King! I think all 
 heaven must rejoice in that sight. This means loyalty 
 to the worthy. 
 
 Many a soldier has died on the battle-field without 
 the credit that was his due. Many a brave man has 
 lived in neglect and want. Many a man that has 
 plodded and worked hard for the invention of some 
 machine or appliance of some sort to make life easier 
 for some one else, has died without his reward. Many 
 a statesman and teacher and educator and scholar has 
 died in poverty and want, unhonored and unsung, be- 
 cause unknown or unappreciated; but, thank God! all 
 those who are loyal to Him shall find and never fail of 
 their reward. We write in the roll of honor the val- 
 iant and brave that have served their country. So 
 God writes in the Lamb's Book of Life all those who 
 are true to Him in this wicked world. Those that 
 serve Him in loyalty shall have their names engraven 
 on His hand. Glory! 
 
 My dear ones! Let not the sun set on a day ill 
 spent, on an evil temper entertained, on any feeling of 
 
216 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 jealousy or envy or selfishness, or any other thing that 
 will be unpleasant to meet in the great day. Be true 
 to God; and if your great plans for life must remain in 
 your hearts undeveloped, and if some one else fills the 
 place that you thought you were worthy to fill, if the 
 enemy tempts you by saying that you have not had 
 your due consideration, just be loyal to the standard of 
 the Son of God, our Savior, "who, though He was rich, 
 yet for your sakes became poor, that ye through His 
 poverty might become rich." Consider Him "who 
 made Himself of no reputation, and became obedient 
 unto death, even the death of the cross," that we might 
 be saved; and so the God of peace shall work out in 
 you to will and to do of His own good pleasure, to whom 
 be glory for ever and ever. 
 
XIX. 
 GIDEON. 
 
 "And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and 
 said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man 
 of valor." (Judges vi, 12.) 
 
 HP HIS period of Jewish history is very interesting to 
 * those loving adventure and exploit. Disorganiza- 
 tion and misorganization everywhere prevailed. Apos- 
 tasy on the part of Israel separated them from God, to 
 their subversion and ruin. Then, here and there, a 
 trustworthy soul would come to the front, shining out 
 like a star in the night of misrule and anarchy, and by 
 God's guidance would again enforce law, and put to 
 flight the forces of the enemy. In this time and age, 
 Gideon lived and judged Israel. 
 
 During this period of Israel's history, during the 
 five hundred years that judges reigned, many defeats 
 were experienced. God raised up for deliverance very 
 peculiar means, many interesting characters, but no one 
 more instructive and interesting than Gideon. So let us 
 
 note: 
 
 I. HIS CAIX. 
 
 God called Gideon by a heavenly messenger. God 
 had seen the sad condition of His people, and just as 
 soon as some one could be used, He gave the call to 
 deliver Israel. We often think when things go all wrong, 
 that somehow God has forsaken or lost His interest in 
 His people, when the truth is, God is only waiting for 
 
 217 
 
218 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 some one He can call to co-operate with Him. There 
 is never a day goes by that God is not watching for 
 those who will work for Him. 
 
 I believe, when we look close into the life of Gideon, 
 we can see some of the conditions of usefulness the 
 Lord waits for us to manifest. 
 
 He was accustomed to labor. God has ever mani- 
 fested a preference for the busy. Many think, O they 
 can't do anything for God because they are so busy; 
 but if history proves anything in the way of throwing 
 light on God's selection of workers, it surely confirms 
 the view that God prefers to call the busy. 
 
 He called David when he was in the field with the 
 sheep, Saul when he was hunting the asses, Elisha 
 when he was plowing, and the disciples when they were 
 mending their nets, or Matthew when busy receiving 
 the taxes; and Judas was the only one I can recall that 
 had nothing to do, and he betrayed his Master for 
 money that he was too lazy to work for. Paul made 
 tents; Luther was busy fasting and praying when God 
 gave him his life's work. George Fox was a cobbler, 
 and John Wesley was a busy student at Oxford. Work- 
 ing for God means work, means fatigue; and God can 
 use best those who are accustomed to work and weari- 
 ness. Gideon was threshing wheat as a common laborer, 
 and he was the man of all Israel God wanted. 
 
 As no doubt there were other workingmen in Israel 
 as well as Gideon, we must look for other traits God 
 seeks in His workers. We see he was humble. He 
 said, "My family is poor, and I am the least in my fa- 
 ther's house." Never mind, Gideon, God can use poor 
 people. Poverty is no barrier to service for Jesus, but, 
 on the contrary, often a very desirable qualification. 
 
Gideon. 
 
 219 
 
 If he had a lot of cattle, houses, or land, it might have 
 been a little harder to get him to hear the call; but, 
 being poor, he was disembarrassed of encumbering 
 wealth, and was that much easier to start. The rich young 
 ruler was not the only one God ever called that refused 
 because he had money. Then, sometimes wealth fosters 
 a fastidious taste that is incompatible with service for 
 God. God nowhere promises luxuries to his servants, 
 but only necessities. How many a man runs aground 
 on some reef or other by trying to live as the world- 
 ling lives! O, it is an immense advantage to be poor, 
 sometimes, though it is hard to make ourselves be- 
 lieve it. 
 
 Then, too, he had a knowledge of God's dealing 
 with men. How pathetically he cites the history of the 
 past that he had heard from his father. Not that he 
 had been to some theological seminary or college, nor 
 that he was a walking cyclopedia of current lore, but he 
 knew something about God. The Lord nowhere lays 
 a premium on ignorance, nor can any ever have too 
 much knowledge if properly consecrated; but the 
 knowledge that God can use is a knowledge of what 
 He is, and of what He can and will do, as well as what 
 He has done. 
 
 History repeats itself, says the critic; and I say, 
 God's dealings, too, repeat themselves. Has God ever 
 interposed on behalf of man? If so, He will again. 
 Has God ever called men to work for Him, to co-oper- 
 ate with Him? He will again. If He has risen for the 
 help of His people in the past, we can expect Him to 
 do so in the future. Has He baptized with the Holy 
 Ghost in the past? Has He anointed for service with 
 an unction that abideth in the past? He will again. Has 
 
220 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 He healed in the past? He surely will now. This is 
 the knowledge that He wants His children to possess. 
 This knowledge Gideon did have, and God called him. 
 
 Once more, let us note that Gideon not only had 
 this in his mind, but the sad condition of Israel, occa- 
 sioned by the absence of God's interposition, burdened 
 and oppressed his heart. He felt something as did John 
 Knox, when he cried, "Lord, give me Scotland, or I 
 die." He felt as did Paul when he, with tears, pleaded 
 with the people to be reconciled to God. He felt as 
 did the early Methodists and Quakers when they cried 
 night and day to God for His blessing. O how unfeel- 
 ing about God's work so many are! How few, indeed, 
 seem to feel the force of the world's encroachment 
 upon the Church ! 
 
 Have we anything to make us feel to-day? Is the 
 Church all it should be? A thousand "Noes" come to 
 us from all quarters. Can not God deliver us to-day 
 as well as in the days of Gideon? "Yes," comes to 
 us from all down the ages. Then why not feel about the 
 matter? But how can a man feel when he does not? 
 Think, brother, what the Church is, and what she should 
 be; and if you do not feel, it is because you are 
 Head and past feeling. If you feel, and feel intelli- 
 gently, God will come to your deliverance. But we 
 must not follow this too far. Although the call is so 
 important, we can never stop here, for that is the mis- 
 take that multitudes make when called; they do not 
 go on. So note: 
 
 II. HIS CAREFULNESS. 
 
 He did not rush right into what he now believed 
 was his duty, but was careful to be sure that he was 
 not mistaken. Now, carefulness is no bad trait of 
 
Gideon. 221 
 
 character in a servant of God. There is a vast chasm 
 between carefulness and fear. Gideon knew no fear, 
 yet he was careful. Bishop Simpson said the man 
 called of God to preach, never is the man that seeks 
 for the place, and the man unfit for a position is ever 
 the man that wants to* rush into a place. Gideon was 
 wanting to be sure, and in all his hesitancy, God no- 
 where upbraids him for lack of fidelity. 
 
 He would not let the angel messenger go till he 
 had shown a sign to confirm his words or commission. 
 So Gideon brought an offering, and the angel attested 
 his supernatural personage, greatly to Gideon's comfort. 
 
 Then again, he built an altar by night, as the people 
 were Baal worshipers, and made an offering to the Lord, 
 no doubt for the same purpose. 
 
 Then he tried the fleece, both dry and wet, so that 
 there may be no doubt in his mind. He asked that 
 the fleece he had placed for the purpose should be wet 
 with the dew, and all the rest of the ground dry, and 
 it was so. And once more did he wish to> prove his 
 commission. He said unto the Lord God, "Let not 
 Thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but 
 this once." He asked God to let the fleece be dry, and all 
 the ground wet, and it was so. Then he went on to 
 form his army. 
 
 Yet after all, he went to the Lord, because nearly 
 all his army was rejected of God, and asked for an- 
 other sign; and God granted it by sending him to spy 
 out the camp and overhear the enemy, which last was 
 so convincing that he said no more, but did all God told 
 him, and was faithful. 
 
 Now, in all this carefulness, in which he was not 
 censured, he manifested, I think, his great appreciation 
 of God's cause. The man that will go to meeting with- 
 
222 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 out any care to get his heart ready is not a good soldier. 
 No more is the minister that has no thought about the 
 great duties resting upon him when he ministers to 
 immortal spirits. God has a right to the respect that 
 carefulness bespeaks. 
 
 Now, those called of God to work or worship need 
 to know the mind of the Lord just as much as Gideon, and, 
 if careful in this way, God will never find fault with them, I 
 am sure. But strange as the position may seem, this is 
 one of the greatest lacks of our day. Men are so busy 
 in their merchandise, their society gatherings, in their 
 amusements, and in reading all the news of the world 
 of crime and fashion and folly, that to be careful about 
 Divine things is out of the question. 
 
 Were men careful about God's work, careful as they 
 should be, think you that the pope could hoodwink 
 people into believing that a little bit of bread in the 
 hands of a priest is transformed into God, or a little 
 wine in a glass turned into the very blood of Christ? 
 No, he could not. Do you think, if men were careful 
 about their soul's salvation and the prosperity of Zion, 
 less than one cent per head would be given annually to 
 the glorious work of foreign missions? I do not believe 
 it. Or think you, if men were careful about Divine 
 things, they would be satisfied with the truth gotten 
 in a sermon once or twice a week, and live in habitual 
 neglect of the Bible? O no. These things would not 
 be if men were careful to know God's will. 
 
 If men paid as little attention and careful thought 
 to their other interests as they do to religion, I am afraid 
 they all would be bankrupt erelong. No, they have time 
 for all and everything; can bestow care upon all and 
 anything else but religion; but religion, that with which 
 
Gideon. 223 
 
 they shall have to do when all the suns and stars have 
 grown old and cold, is crowded off into the little corner 
 of a few moments, at best a few hours a week. Is there 
 any wonder there are so many infidels? No, it can not 
 be otherwise. If we are not careful to know the truth, if 
 we do not take time to be intelligent Christians, we can 
 not feel; and if we do not feel, we can not make others 
 feel; and if the world can not be made to feel, it will go 
 to hell sure. No, Gideon was not wrong to thus care- 
 fully test his call and commission. Once more note: 
 
 III. HIS COMPANY. 
 
 He had been in earnest, and raised a large army; of 
 course, not so many as his enemies had; but God's chil- 
 dren, to be victorious, need not be so numerous — "one 
 chase a thousand." And yet, while he had less than the 
 enemy, God said, "Gideon, the people that are with thee 
 are too many." And God tells Gideon why. This sug- 
 gests why God can not use some people. 
 
 He said they would boast they had done it them- 
 selves, and that could not be allowed. So, we see, boast- 
 ers can not be among those who will be effective in the 
 Lord's work. The boasting had to stop by cutting down 
 all hope of success by natural means or talents. So, right 
 in conection with this, God told Gideon all the fearful had 
 to go home, as much as to say that, while it would cut 
 down the number, it would also remove all the boasters. 
 Is it possible that the fearful and cowardly are the most 
 likely to boast? Is it not actually so, that the courageous 
 man is a man of few words? 
 
 However, all the fearful ones had to go home. And 
 what was poor Gideon's feelings when he saw twenty-two 
 thousand of them go home, and forsake the cause? I 
 
224 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 think he must have thought the outlook was not very 
 flattering if there were so many cowards in Israel. And 
 that cowardly lot did not end the rank and file of the 
 fearful. How many to-day will not serve in His way 
 because they are afraid? Form unholy alliances with the 
 ungodly because they can not stand alone? Resort to all 
 sort of craft to get advantage for fear of want, or some- 
 thing else? Carry revolvers, knives, all for fear of some- 
 thing? Ministers afraid, Church trustees afraid, men 
 afraid, women afraid, and the children afraid. Afraid of 
 want, of war, of criticism, of persecution, of poverty. 
 Lord God, drive out the fear from Thy army to-day ! 
 
 Still the army was too large, for some would boast 
 that were not fearful. So God said to Gideon, "The 
 people are yet too many; bring them down to the water, 
 and I will try them for thee there." So Gideon led them 
 down to drink, and God said, "All that lap water as a 
 dog shall go; but the rest, that bow down, shall not go." 
 Now, this seems strange to us; but when we remember 
 that no one could bow down to drink without loosing 
 their armor, we see the point. So they all went down, 
 and only three hundred lapped water out of their hands, 
 because they had their armor on tight; but the nine 
 thousand seven hundred loosed their armor, and so got 
 down and drank, which disqualified them for war, since 
 they were not watchful and cautious. Watchfulness was as 
 as much and is as much a fitness for fighting as courage. 
 Jesus said, "Watch and pray." Every good general 
 knows the importance of watching, even after the enemy 
 seems to be utterly defeated. You all, perhaps, remember 
 the story of Napoleon's guard shooting the dog as he 
 tried to crawl through the lines after Napoleon had 
 given orders to allow nothing to pass. Yet the dog was 
 
Gideon. 225 
 
 only a skin with a man in it. God wants men to-day that 
 will watch for Him as well as fight. 
 
 How many a revival has been killed, after God had 
 given great victory, by the Church settling down and 
 going fast to sleep, and the devil came in, and takes the 
 w T hole camp an easy prey! 
 
 We see how very few the Lord has whom He can 
 trust. The whole of Gideon's army were good soldiers 
 except 31,700; that left three hundred good fighting 
 men. Would the proportion be larger to-day, think you? 
 So many talk about trusting God, and never once think 
 that God can not trust them. O, what a lesson this is 
 on the condition of the Church of Christ! 
 
 How did poor Gideon feel when he saw only three 
 hundred out of all that mighty host of thousands? I 
 suppose he grew desperate, and simply said, "Well, God 
 has promised, and that ends it." But God allows him to 
 go to the camp, and overhear the words of the hosts 
 encamped against them, which were all encouraging, and 
 on he went to victory. 
 
 VI. HIS CONQUEST. 
 
 The victory was all supernatural. God gave them 
 instructions to have horns, and pitchers in which were 
 lamps secreted, and march down to the encampment — 
 there they divided into three companies, each of one 
 hundred men — and to surround the camp, blow their 
 horns, break the pitchers to let the light shine. They 
 i did so, and when the Midian host saw the light, and heard 
 the horns of triumph blow, they all began to make good 
 their escape. And in their haste and confusion of flight, 
 they fell to killing one another, thinking they were ene- 
 mies, and, by their own hands, were completely routed. 
 15 
 
226 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 God's methods are often beyond our conception of 
 sufficiency, or, rather, not up to what we naturally think 
 the occasion demands. Now, the army was very weak. 
 The weapons were not of a sort to flatter with much suc- 
 cess. If it had been to-day, no little fuss would be ex- 
 perienced in trying to get the Church to receive and use 
 things so novel. Afraid of anything new, and a fight for 
 the old, is the only piety some profess to have, or, at 
 least, manifest. 
 
 I suppose higher critics have a time trying to make 
 this square with their rules and canons. But God does 
 just this way. Look at the reformers, the evangelists, 
 the apostles, all insufficient in the eyes of the world. But 
 God works supernaturally; that is how we can dare to 
 fight against odds. Praise the Lord! 
 
 If God wants to use some new means to-day, can He 
 have the privilege? Will we allow Him the right of way? 
 Can we trust Him if He trusts us? God help us to be 
 odd enough to be of some use in the service of the 
 Master! 
 
XX. 
 
 THE LAMB OF GOD. 
 
 "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin 
 of the world!" (John i, 29.) 
 
 '"THESE are the words of the forerunner of Christ, and 
 * all down the ages they have greeted the ears of men as 
 the voice of a guide in the desert. John the Baptist was 
 anointed to introduce Christ into the world, and this 
 is his word. 
 
 Now, this text was spoken in the accents of triumph. 
 Who would not greet and welcome the boon of a clean 
 record? How the multitudes had crowded to the water 
 of Jordan to John's baptism for the remission of sins 
 through the virtue of the One to come! How, upon all 
 the Judean altars, the lambs and oxen had bled and burnt 
 fifteen hundred years! How the nations, the world over, 
 and all down the ages, have tried, by charms and offer- 
 ings and sacrifices, to produce a sense of safety from the 
 conscious guilt of sin! Who can read the plaintive pleas 
 of the fifty-first Psalm without feeling the priceless worth 
 of Divine pardon? And I care not where it may be, in 
 Judea, on the Nile, Amazon, Congo, or Orinoco, the sons 
 of men have ever cried for the pardon of sins. 
 
 All this is perfectly consistent too. For you can not 
 run away from sin. Go where you please, your sin will 
 accompany you. Climb the heights or descend the 
 depths, sin will be your first visitant. Pursue the track- 
 less ocean the globe round, sin will welcome you to the 
 
 227 
 
228 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 haven you reach. Yes, go into the world of shades, and 
 sin will be your everlasting associate and tormentor. Nor 
 can peace be had while we are in such a condition. But 
 what impresses me most is, the thought that no remedy 
 can be found in ourselves or self-efforts. The seclusion 
 of the monastery; the flagellations of the fanatics; the 
 animal excitations of the dancing Dervishes; the body- 
 destroying pilgrimages of the mediaeval saints; nor the 
 pennance and fasting of the modern pagans in the folds 
 of Catholicism; no, not one, nor all of these, can atone 
 for the sins of a man's soul, nor secure him peace of 
 heart and life by changing the affections. Nowhere is 
 it said that one of these things can save, but in the mind 
 of the unenlightened and uninspired followers of carnal 
 thoughts. But here, in the very face of all the sinful 
 world, the blessed word comes to us, that to look to the 
 Son of God for pardon, to cast one look of faith to the 
 Lamb slain for man, he may become as free from sin as 
 though he never sinned in all his life. Glory! 
 
 We have walked around the text somewhat, now let 
 us look into its very heart, if possible, and get at its 
 deepest and best meaning, though its teachings lie, after 
 all, very near the surface. So note, Christ is 
 
 I. THE SOLITARY REMEDY FOR SIN. 
 
 Notice, the word is the Lamb, not lambs. One soli- 
 tary offering for sin is the whole tenor of the Word of 
 God. All the Old Testament types, all the Old Testament 
 offerings, services, and ceremonies, point to the one Lamb 
 of the text. And the New Testament plainly says there 
 is no other name under heaven given by which men can 
 be saved than in the name of Jesus. 
 
 It does not say Christ and the worshiper shall be able 
 
The Lamb of God. 229 
 
 to cleanse from sin. This seems to be the thought of 
 the papacy. If man suffers, if he pays pennance, if he 
 do a certain number of fastings and washings, he may 
 have a sort of hope, which, after all, is not complete 
 till after death has driven him through purgatory, and 
 the money of the living has got him out. Now this is 
 not one whit better than heathenism. It surely is not 
 Christianity. For Christianity offers complete pardon 
 for all sins here, and, bless God! no purgatory. Pur- 
 gatory is not once mentioned in the Bible. No, not 
 once. 
 
 There are just four ways by which men try to get rid of 
 sin, and when we reduce it to so few, we can take time 
 to look for a moment at each method. The first is trust- 
 ing in one's self. No one but an unbeliever ever thinks 
 this. The so-called moralist, often not too moral either — 
 he thinks he can save himself by good works or by his 
 correct living without any help from God. Now the folly 
 of this is so manifest, that I need only say that, if this 
 were the truth, or even possible, as a method of salvation, 
 Christ died in vain, the Bible has been written in vain, 
 the Church is kept up in vain, all men pray in vain, and 
 Christ's entire mission, from heaven to the cross, to the 
 tomb, and back to glory, were all vain and useless. If 
 there is a God who wrote this Bible, or had it written, 
 if there is a heaven for the holy at God's right hand, then 
 the moralist — the man trusting in his own goodness — 
 will be found wanting in that great day. So we will 
 leave him behind to his fate if he will not recognize the 
 Son of God as his Savior. 
 
 The next class are those who trust in Christ and 
 themselves. They work away from salvation, and just 
 throw Christ into the balance for good weight. Of 
 
230 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 course, they see no need of repentance, faith, and con- 
 version, for all they need is a little help from Christ, and 
 they can do the rest. They say they believe the Bible, 
 they accept Christ as their Savior, and hope for a home 
 in heaven; and yet all their life long they never have 
 peace, because God has but the one way, the one offer- 
 ing, the one salvation, and that is Christ. If you speak 
 to them about their souls, they will say they pay their 
 debts, and try to be kind and good, and do not deny 
 the Scriptures, and think well of Christ, and yet never 
 able to say they have passed from darkness to light, nor 
 the power of Satan unto God. Now, if they would just 
 throw overboard the whole of self and self-effort, and 
 come to God and ask for salvation in the name of Jesus, 
 they would rejoice all their days. Glory! 
 
 Another class still goes a little further, and to their 
 own good works and Christ, they add the good works of 
 others to the store of piety they hope to have at the 
 great day. The latter class were as though when Noah 
 asked his hearers to trust in the ark, they would not, 
 but hitch another canoe behind the ark, and go floating 
 off behind. They did not need the rig, nor were they 
 safe in the ark when trusting to the support of the canoe. 
 But this class add another craft, a second canoe, and 
 string it on behind the canoe behind the ark, that will 
 mean but little trust, still less trust in the blessed old ark. 
 For the more you have beside Christ, the farther away 
 from Him you get. That is sure. Thank God you do n't 
 need any other craft than the Old Ship Zion! It has out- 
 ridden the fiercest storms, the wildest gales, and has 
 never lost a soul. And how many are there who hitch 
 to their own efforts and Christ's salvation the good works 
 of some one else! They trust in the preacher or the 
 priest; in the Church or the sacraments; in the saints of 
 
The Lame of God. 
 
 231 
 
 other ages, that had all they could do to get to heaven 
 themselves; or in the water of baptism; in the prayers 
 of some one, or the intercession of Mary; yes, a thousand 
 things and persons are brought in to secure the favor of 
 God and assure salvation at last; and yet, with all this 
 superabundant effort of themselves and others, they never 
 can say they know it is all well with their souls. For 
 nowhere does God say that the goodness and good works 
 of others will help us, but directly cuts off all such hope 
 by telling the Church that, after we have done our very 
 best, we are to say we are unprofitable servants. And 
 I believe the most godly in whom some trust would say, 
 Do n't put any trust in me, for I am nothing but a lost 
 sinner, but for the grace of God. O, how many un- 
 happy souls there are who trust in some one or some- 
 thing besides Christ! A minister will trust in his 
 preaching, a benevolent man in his benevolence, a for- 
 malist in his forms. 
 
 And again, we have another class who trust in Christ 
 alone. Paul says, "I count all this but loss, or filth, that 
 I may win Christ." And again he says, "God forbid I 
 should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. " 
 And Peter said there is salvation in no other name but 
 Jesus; while John said faith in Christ alone is enough 
 to overcome the world; and John the Baptist said He, 
 Christ, taketh away the sins of the world. What more 
 do we want than that? Glory! Richard Baxter said, 
 when dying, he might be sent to hell for the best thing 
 he ever did. 
 
 II. CHRIST IS THE: SUFFICIENT REMEDY FOR SIN. 
 
 Now, if this is true, we need no other nor any addi- 
 tional help. Let us look, for a few minutes, at the Divine 
 Redeemer! We could not trust to any one that was not 
 
232 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 in some degree what we thought a good man should 
 be. How does Jesus measure up in purity? 
 
 He was holy. He never prayed for Himself, as did 
 St. Patrick, who was a Scotch lad stolen by pirates, and 
 taken into Ireland, where, as a swine herder, he wrestled 
 and prayed till he knew God as his Father and Christ 
 as his Savior. He never wanted to call fire down from 
 heaven to consume His enemies as did St. John. He 
 was free from that persecuting spirit that rankled in the 
 breast of Paul when he put to death the Christians and 
 gave his voice against poor young Stephen. Neither did 
 He curse and swear as did Peter when he denied the 
 Lord of life and glory before the court. As I study 
 the lives of the so-called saints, the best of earth's sons, 
 all down the ages, I find none that had not been sinners, 
 and that did not cry to God for mercy. But here stands 
 Jesus, that never sinned, never asked pardon, that was 
 pure in thought, word, and deed, living as God among 
 men, and who pardoned the sins of all that came to Him. 
 When He offers Himself to be my Savior, I can trust 
 Him, for He did no sin, and had no sin of His own to 
 atone for, but came for no other purpose than to atone 
 for our sins, so was able to atone for mine, if any one 
 could, if there was to be an atonement anywhere. 
 
 Then He was omnipotent in His purity. He never 
 failed to do as He tried. He had power to heal the sick, 
 to feed the hungry, to still the storms on the sea, He 
 raised the dead, and nowhere did His power fail Him. 
 Many there are who have the mind to do good, but have 
 not the power; but the Son of God was almighty, and 
 could do as well as desire. He invaded the dread do- 
 minion of death, and was the only one that ever tri- 
 umphed. He attacked the deadly maladies of the most 
 
The Lamb of God. 233 
 
 degraded, and cured them all. He overcame the desert 
 poverty and limitation, and fed thousands out of a few 
 loaves and fishes. He offered life to all that would come 
 to Him — life eternal. How men have traveled for the 
 fountain of life, -for the fabled elixirs of life somewhere 
 to be found, and, at last, dying in despair! But Jesus 
 offered life to all, and showed He was able by emptying 
 the grave. 
 
 He went the lengths of service possible to any being 
 on earth, and died for His cause, the salvation of men. 
 O, can't you trust Him, when He spared not His own 
 life, but gave it a ransom for all? If Christ had done 
 less than to die, we might question His sincerity. But 
 He went the length of the deepest consecration, and died 
 for the faithful. This is why soldiers and martyrs, no 
 matter what we may think of the principles they upheld, 
 are so dear to the sons of men. They did all they could, 
 they died for their cause. And that He died for us is made 
 plain in all the Word of God. All the types and offerings 
 of the Old Testament worship were but so many promises 
 that, in the fullness of time, One should come who would 
 die for our sins. That, Paul tells us, was according to 
 Scripture. It is faith in the death, the blood, the sacrifice 
 of Jesus that is the hope of pardon. God commends His 
 love toward us in that, while we were sinners, Christ 
 died for us. Now, some people seem to think this is 
 most unreasonable, but I thank God for the death of 
 Christ. We must rely on the Bible for all our spiritual 
 knowledge, and the Bible says Christ died for us. This 
 means the utmost of love, the highest expression of de- 
 votion, the most sacred of all offerings. If a man so 
 loved me, he would die for me. Some might say it, and 
 then wouldn't do it; but if a man loved me so much he 
 
234 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 would die for me, all that the man had, his love would 
 give me. All that he could do, would be done for me 
 too. But if he actually did die for me, then I would be 
 the meanest of men if I doubted his love and goodness. 
 And when Omnipotence went into the grave for me, 
 can I doubt Him any further? 
 
 Yet, if Christ had lain in the grave, we might, after 
 all, think, "Well, He was a good man, and one that had 
 more power than any other man. But then, how do we 
 know He was more than man, since He, in common 
 with all men, died, and we saw Him no more?" If Christ 
 had not risen, we would be filled with doubts, as was 
 Thomas before he had seen the resurrected Christ. But 
 there is nothing better attested in all the Word of God 
 than that Jesus rose from the grave on the third day. 
 Before His death He said He would, and because of this 
 His remains were put into a sealed tomb, and a com- 
 pany of guards placed around it. But soldiers could not 
 keep the Son of God in a tomb. And on the first day 
 of the week, the third day from His death, the grave 
 opened, and the Son of God came forth, and disappeared. 
 The soldiers said He had been stolen while they slept. 
 But Jesus showed Himself to His followers many times 
 during the forty days He was on earth after the resur- 
 rection, and was seen of about five hundred at one time. 
 He rose to prove Himself the Mighty God, able to save 
 to the uttermost. All other men were bound by death; 
 but the Son of God rose for our salvation. The lambs 
 on the Judean altars were not able to be more than a 
 type of the death of Christ, for, once dead and consumed, 
 they never more walked with the flocks from which they 
 were taken. But Jesus arose from the ashes of the sacri- 
 ficial altar, and walked among the sons of men, and, bid- 
 
The Lamb of God. 235 
 
 ding them adieu, He went back to the Father above, to 
 make intercession, at the capital of the universe, for 
 His followers. Can you not trust Him? You need noth- 
 ing more than the Son of God for a sin-offering, do you? 
 O, He was and is a pure, almighty, devoted, ever-living 
 Savior, whom my whole soul not only trusts, but exults 
 in! And, with Paul, I would say, God forbid that I 
 should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ! 
 Finally, note that 
 
 III. CHRIST IS THE SANCTIFYING REMEDY FOR SIN. 
 
 So many have religion without salvation. Many re- 
 ligions offer no salvation from sin. Now, sin is the one 
 thing that unfits man for heaven. It nowhere says igno- 
 rance, weakness, lack of genius; but only sin. Sin is 
 missing the mark. To be dead, is not to live. No one 
 can be alive and dead too. So sin is death, and to be 
 left in sin, and hope for heaven, is to hope you live while 
 death is feasting on you and claiming you for its own. 
 Christ comes to destroy death in the soul by taking away 
 sin. It is not sins, but sin, the sin-principle in the soul, 
 that Christ removes and destroys. Glory! Men differ 
 in their outward sins. One drinks, another swears, an- 
 other lies, another is cruel, and another has some other 
 form of the myriad-shaped sin, but no one says they 
 are better because they do not all sin alike. All recog- 
 nize the fact that sin is sin, no matter what form it as- 
 sumes. So Jesus came to take the very kernel of the 
 thing away from the heart, and, as Paul tells us, Christ 
 came to destroy sin in the flesh. In our heart the work 
 is done, so that no matter what the sin of the victim of 
 Satan might have been, it gives way to a new heart; so 
 that the appetite for rum is condemned and estranged, 
 
236 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 just as the love of cards and the dance. God saves us all 
 alike, just in the same way, by beginning the work on 
 the inside. The pride of the moral man, and the red 
 nose of the drunkard, all go together. I seemed to repre- 
 sent nearly the whole round of sin, and yet I declare to 
 you, the whole brood of sins went when God gave me 
 the new nature. Now, the Bible offers us no other sal- 
 vation than one from sin. Where can that be found ex- 
 cept in Jesus Christ? How the world has vainly tried 
 to work up a salvation of some sort! The Mexican sacri- 
 fice, the Ganges horrors, the fires of Moloch, have burned 
 in many lands. The fastings of good and well-meaning 
 men have alike failed. Nowhere can the power of sin 
 be broken but at the foot of the Cross. Here the thief 
 was set free; here the fallen woman was made right with 
 God; here Paul was made a saint and apostle; here the 
 swear was taken out of Peter ; here the venom was taken 
 out of a million hearts. It has never failed. Will you, 
 too, trust the cross of Christ? Yes, trust the Lamb of 
 God, and all your sin shall go forever. 
 
 Do not try to help the Son of God to save you by 
 adding something else to the cross. It would be like 
 hitching a horse to the fast express to help it on; or to 
 tie a kite to the eagle's wings to help it to soar; or to 
 hang a lantern on the sun to aid it to give light. To 
 paint the lily or perfume the rose are much easier justified 
 than one single act of righteousness added to grace to 
 help save the soul. O, the Mighty Christ is able to save 
 now all who come to God by Him! He was offered up 
 once for all men, and His offering was perfect and ac- 
 ceptable to God. Will it be so to you? 
 
 O, dear ones, neglect the sun, and live in the dark, 
 damp air of a cave if you please; neglect food and raiment, 
 
The Lamb of God. 237 
 
 and hope to live and be well, if you choose; shut the 
 fresh air out of your lungs, and the light out of your 
 dwellings, and the bread from your board; but do not 
 shut your eyes to the Lamb of God, but behold Him! 
 O, He stands waiting to be an eternal Friend to you ! Will 
 you welcome Him? He is waiting to save you from your 
 sins. Will you look to Him, and be clean and pure in 
 heart? He is at God's right hand to give you life. Will 
 you but accept His offer, and behold Him as your Sacri- 
 fice for sin? 
 
 No one ever regretted bestowing a look at the Lamb 
 of God, and neither will you, 
 
XXL 
 UNITY OF THE BIBLE. 
 
 DELIVERED AT I,ONG BEACH, DECEMBER 4. 1898. 
 
 "Forever, O Lord, Thy Word is settled in heaven." 
 (Ps. cxix, 89.) 
 
 I SHALL deliver this address to all present for general 
 helpfulness, but more especially to the class of normal 
 Bible students of the town. I can not get out to the 
 evening class, and, in looking over the Manual, I see 
 room is left for some outside talk on the evidences of 
 the Bible as God's Word, so I avail myself of this oppor- 
 tunity to say a few things about the Bible that have very 
 much interested me in proof of its Divine origin. 
 
 The Bible is the Great Text-book of all teaching on 
 moral and spiritual subjects, and we do well to at least 
 satisfy ourselves that it rests on a solid foundation. Not 
 that men would not worship if the Bible were destroyed, 
 for they would, as they have ever worshiped, because it 
 is in man to worship. But does the Bible really merit 
 the place accorded to it by its friends and the world in 
 general? We know that though it has enemies that assail 
 its Divine claims, and though it has many friends that 
 have no other ground for the reverence for it than tra- 
 dition and family respect, who do not know the precious 
 treasures of wisdom and knowledge it contains, yet there 
 are more Bibles read to-day than any other book in the 
 realm of literature, and it has found a place in more 
 languages. Still, all this alone would not be sufficient 
 to give it the place it claims in my heart and mind. 
 
 238 
 
Unity of the Bible. 239 
 
 And while to-night my subject is the Unity of the 
 Bible, and I shall not be able to handle more than this, 
 and, indeed, this only fragmentary, there are many other 
 questions concerning the Bible that are of equal impor- 
 tance, among which I might mention "Its Inspiration," 
 "Its Necessity," "Its Greatness," and "Its Helpfulness" 
 to mankind; but these may be considered at some other 
 time, the Lord willing. When it is said that the Bible 
 is read by more people, prized above all competing vol- 
 umes, translated into more different languages, and by 
 critics exalted to a place above every other book as the 
 Book of God's revealed will to man, it certainly rests on 
 a basis broad enough to convince or deceive the world's 
 best minds. So I invite your attention to my subject, in 
 consideration of which, as the first point of evidence for 
 its Divine claims, I will mention the fact of 
 
 I. ITS STRUCTURAL UNITY. 
 
 We must remember, in the outset, that the Bible con- 
 tains over sixty different pamphlets, or smaller books, 
 written, over a space of about fifteen hundred years, by 
 forty different hands, in many different lands, and under 
 many different circumstances, and yet it has a linked one- 
 ness that makes it one Book. There is a cathedral in 
 Milan, Italy, that has been five hundred years in build- 
 ing, yet all its parts contribute to its completeness, use- 
 fulness, and symmetry, and only one answer can be given 
 for the phenomena, and that is, that it was planned, at 
 the first, by one mind. Just so with the Bible, with its 
 variant writers and different lands and ages, it is one 
 Book because planned by one Author. And under this 
 head, I w T ill mention, as some marks of its structural 
 unity: From Genesis to Revelation it is a Book of 
 
240 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 miracles for the benefit of mankind in general, and the 
 Jews in particular. Eighty-two miracles in the Old Tes- 
 tament, thirty-six or thirty-seven in the New Testament, 
 all show it is on the same plan of the supernatural. 
 
 The general divisions of the Old and New Testaments 
 are identical. Each begins with history, succeeded by 
 doctrine, and concludes with prophecy. Each division 
 instructs the head, warms the heart, and nerves the hand. 
 
 The aim of the Book is one in both Testaments, being 
 that of the moral elevation of the race. No matter where 
 you study the Bible, this question is ever uppermost and 
 in the front of all others. It never loses sight of its theme, 
 and however it seems to any mind, it only proves that 
 the eye has not been accustomed to the varied beauties 
 of the wonderful Volume. 
 
 Once more, it, in all its parts, is adapted to the race 
 of man the world over, and, though it has been written 
 in the Orient, its pages are plain and precious in the 
 Occident, and from pole to pole its truth has a practical 
 value. This is surely strange, if not so designed. And 
 whether it be Genesis or Revelation, or any book between, 
 the young and the old, the rich and the poor, the great 
 and the small, can all find comfort and instruction in its 
 precious pages. And while some of it is so old, and none 
 young like the last fashionable novel of society, yet it 
 is ever modern, and appeals to all the better in man. 
 
 Sir Walter Scott, when about to die, said, "Bring me 
 the Book." "What book?" asked Lockhart. "The 
 Book — the Bible — there is but one Book." 
 
 The longest telegraph message ever sent over the 
 wires was the part of the New Testament from Matthew 
 to Romans, a message of one hundred and eighteen 
 thousand words. 
 
Unity of the Bible. 241 
 
 II. ITS HISTORIC UNITY. 
 
 The Jew is the central figure of all revelation. His 
 origin, development, apostasy, God's discipline, his in- 
 grafting at last, and his final salvation, are the burden of 
 the history of the whole Bible. This one theme runs in 
 every book, and while the Gentiles are saved and the 
 children of God, the Jew was the foundation of all theo- 
 cratic government and Divine worship, and through the 
 Jews we have the Bible and the Redeemer, and the world 
 will finally have the gospel. 
 
 III. ITS DISPKNSATIONAL. UNITY IS APPARENT. 
 
 The Lord has given the world seven dispensations in 
 order to reclaim man from the effect of the fall into which 
 sin has precipitated him. The first was the golden age 
 in Eden, when the garden of the Lord was fitted up for 
 the habitation of the first man and woman; no good 
 thing was denied them, all their wants were supplied, 
 and they had the proprietorship of the whole creation if 
 they needed it. It was a time and age when God did for 
 man all that was in His great, loving heart. The next 
 dispensation was the antediluvian, or man outside of 
 Eden, with his tears wiped away, as we read in Milton's 
 dream, because God had promised them something worth 
 living for. They multiplied and increased, and became 
 a great people; and while little in the Bible is said about 
 the dealings of God with man during this period, yet, 
 from the fact of men increasing their religious zeal, as 
 seen in the story of Enoch, there is a strong probability 
 that God did hold communion with man, and gave him 
 much to be grateful for. The next dispensation was that 
 of the Noachian, when God appeared to him in much 
 16 
 
242 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 mercy, and saved his life and that of his family. The 
 next was the Abrahamic, when God called Abraham out 
 of the Ur of the Chaldees to be a father of a great nation. 
 The next was when God called Moses to found a great 
 nation, and gave them the law and the tabernacle, etc. 
 The next was the dispensation of the Son, and we are in, 
 at this time, the dispensation of the Spirit. Now the 
 unity of the Bible is seen in the fact that, though there 
 have been so many efforts on the part of God for man, 
 yet they all began, progressed, and ended in the very 
 same way. In the opening, we note the interposition of 
 God and the gift of added light, except in Eden, where 
 it was all given for the first time; then followed a season 
 of prosperity and a wide civilization, indifference to Di- 
 vine obligation; then apostasy, and, finally, a wreck and 
 utter failure. All the dispensations have thus commenced 
 and concluded except this one, that is yet incomplete, 
 and in all points like the others, except the end and ruin. 
 Now, this is very remarkable when we consider that six 
 thousand years have glided by since the first in Eden. 
 No set of men could have been found that would or could 
 write history with the uniformity and precision that we 
 see in these facts. Sure, God ordered all the dispensa- 
 tions and superintended the record of them in this blessed 
 Book. 
 
 IV. THE NEXT THING IS PROPHETIC UNITY. 
 
 All prophecy points to one thing, and that is the gov- 
 ernment of this world under a kingdom with a godly 
 King. This was God's idea in Adam. He failed. Then 
 came the first prophecy of the seed of the woman bruising 
 the serpent's head. And from that first prophecy to the 
 last in Revelation, the entire scope of prophecy points 
 to the one thing, the Divine Ideal. 
 
Unity of the Bible. 
 
 243 
 
 Christ was to come as a King, and so He claimed, 
 and was so crucified. David's, or the theocratic reign of 
 Jehovah, of which David was the first representative, 
 was to be perpetual and absolute. The kingdom was to 
 be universal. And who, living at the time when the 
 prophecies were made, could for a moment imagine that 
 the little stone cut out of the mountain without hands, 
 would fill the whole earth, especially when we remember 
 that the four greatest world powers had to give way to 
 make it a possibility? The Babylonian, the Medo-Persian, 
 Grecian, and the Roman were all to come to an end. The 
 Tigris was to overflow, and the Euphrates was to dry 
 up to accomplish the purpose of God, and these things — 
 two wonderful events — actually took place, and reached 
 the end of prophecy. And once more, from Genesis to 
 Revelation the hope of the world is set forth in a Coming 
 One, so that the unity is seen in 
 
 V. THE MESSIANIC UNITY. 
 
 Christ, the Anointed, is the spirit and kernel of 
 prophecy. It is not law, nor culture, nor development, 
 nor evolution, nor philosophy, but the coming of the Son 
 of God that is seen from the beginning to the end of the 
 Bible. And in these many prophecies, six hundred and 
 sixty-six (666), three hundred and thirty-three refer to 
 the blessed Jesus. From His birth to His burial and 
 resurrection, not one thing in His life has failed the 
 prophetic ken, even to the dividing of His garments and 
 casting lots for His woven vesture. 
 
 And it is a significant fact that they all, three hun- 
 dred and thirty-three, harmonize in presenting Him in 
 the light of a complete Redeemer. 
 
 The supernatural and Divine show on every lineament 
 
244 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 of the prophetic photograph of the Wonderful Man. of 
 redemption power. 
 
 A Universal Man, that would be alike loved in every 
 land by every nation as their own loving Savior, be- 
 cause He was universal. Luther was German; Calvin, 
 French; Knox, Scotch; Edwards, American; but Christ 
 was to be the world's Man, at home in every land, in the 
 heart of the worshiper. 
 
 He was to draw all nations to Him, as against the 
 old Jewish exclusiveness, and be the Universal Monarch. 
 
 He was to be despised, and a Man of sorrows, and 
 the occasion of great commotions in the earth. Now, 
 how strange that, in all the writing of the Bible, they 
 perfectly dovetail to draw the photo of the Messiah! 
 
 VI. THE UNITY IS SCIENTIFIC. 
 
 It pursues the one invariable method in all the refer- 
 ences to subjects scientific from beginning to end. As 
 to its scientific language, it is popular and elastic. As 
 to its conceptions, they are practical and correct when 
 known. As to its importance, it is relegated to a second- 
 ary place. God, in a few short chapters, tells all the 
 story of the creation, but takes all the others, more or 
 less entirely, to tell of redemption through the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. And yet in science, when facts are removed from 
 the realm of conjecture, not one scientific fact disproves 
 the inerrant claims of the Bible. And, indeed, when we 
 study the Bible with reference to science, we marvel 
 how it ever presents so much scientific truth in a simple 
 way, in popular language, when it does not profess to 
 teach science. 
 
 How grand and accurate is the statement of creation 
 into periods that in number correspond with the most 
 advanced cosmogonies! 
 
Unity of the Bible. 
 
 245 
 
 How the order of creation, from fish up, corresponds 
 to what has been proven facts by experience! The brain's 
 ratio to the spinal cord is in exact harmony with God's 
 order of creation: Fish, 2 of brain to 1 of spinal cord; 
 reptiles, 2 to y 2 ; birds, 3 to 1 ; mammals, 4 to 1 ; and man, 
 33 to I. Is not this marvelous? 
 
 The world was said, by old philosophers, to rest on 
 great columns, or on the back of a great turtle that, in 
 turn, rested on a great serpent, or to rest on the backs 
 of elephants, the shaking of whose heads caused the 
 terrible earthquakes. But Job, one of the oldest books, 
 says that God has hung the world on nothing. And 
 Moses, in speaking of the sky, called it by the name of 
 a Hebrew word, the exact rendering of which is expanse. 
 How significant, when the ancients called the heavens 
 a solid expanse! 
 
 Then, many of the old astronomers estimated the 
 stars as a thousand, twelve thousand, or fourteen thou- 
 sand, but Moses said they were more than can be num- 
 bered; just what modern astronomy says about it as 
 revealed by the telescope. 
 
 Plato, and many others of the ancient wise, said the 
 world was a spirit; the stars, vapor of fire, that was ex- 
 tinguished by day; and gave many estimates of the sum 
 and substance of the sun and moon. Why do n't Moses 
 and the other Bible writers? Who kept them from it? 
 Moses was learned in all the learning of the Egyptians, 
 yet he never expresses those fanatical guesses in the Bible. 
 
 Then, with regard to government. Where did the 
 lawgiver get that old law in the Ten Commandments, 
 that, to this day, is the substance of all that Blackstone, 
 Kent, Story, and all the whole array of legal worthies 
 have written on this all-important subject? How is it 
 that the Romans, who idealized law, and wrote their 
 
246 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 laws at a much later date, and, no doubt, borrowed from 
 nations about them, had their law changed by the in- 
 herent power of the laws of our Bible? How is it that 
 England, and every other great, prosperous nation, as- 
 cribe their success to the laws of God in this Book, as 
 Queen Victoria told the African princess? Why, be- 
 cause it is Divine. 
 
 In architecture, John Ruskin, the greatest authority 
 on the subject, has said that the Temple of Solomon on 
 Moriah was the parent and antitype of all Grecian art, 
 w T hile the primitive colors mentioned in the Bible are the 
 basis of all colors. 
 
 But with regard to the care of the body in sickness 
 and health, the greatest wisdom and unity are seen. No 
 experiments with the lance in blood-letting, as doctors 
 have done for hundreds of years, that killed George 
 Washington, James Sherwood, and a whole array of 
 others, for the Bible says the blood is the life, and now, 
 at last, doctors have found it so, and no more bleeding, 
 but they try to make blood. And Solomon said, Out of 
 the heart are the issues of life; and twenty-five hundred 
 years before Harvey pointed out the circulation of the 
 blood, Solomon, in Ecclesiastes, called the heart the wheel 
 at the cistern. How did they all so agree so far in advance 
 of their time? And yet, the Bible is no text-book on 
 science. Just one answer: It has had one Author, who 
 wrote it all, and knew all about what He was writing. 
 Amen and Amen! But before I leave this subject, allow 
 me to point out one or two other items of interest on this 
 same line. After more than two thousand years, the 
 world has learned to treat leprosy just as Moses did at 
 the first, by isolation. And then, after six thousand years, 
 the medical profession has learned how to put men to 
 
Unity of the Bible. 247 
 
 sleep for surgical operation, as God did Adam away back 
 there in Eden. How did Moses dare to say Adam could 
 sleep while God took a rib out of his side, for that would 
 wake most men? Why, because God said it, and Moses 
 simply recorded the fact. But now all the doctors are 
 on the same line. Wonderful old Book, this! And yet 
 it does not essay to teach the minor things. 
 
 VII. THK SYMBOLIC UNITY OF THE BIBLE. 
 
 Its colors are ever mentioned in connection with the 
 same ideas: White is ever holiness, purity. Lustrous 
 white — Glory! Red, sin and atonement; blue, devotion 
 and loyalty; purle, divinity; black, guilt and judgment; 
 while pale ever portrays death. Now, where colors are 
 used as symbols, this is the invariable significance at- 
 tached to them. 
 
 Then, numbers have their significance: 1 is ever 
 unity; 2 represents co-operation and decision; 3 is di- 
 vinity; 4 represents man and the world; 7 represents the 
 sum of God and man in redemption; 10 is completeness; 
 12, the product of 3 and 4, the Divine interpreting the 
 human; 3^ is tribulation; 6 is conflict; while 8, the other 
 side of redemption number, represents victory. Now, 
 the fact that these numbers are ever used, from first to 
 last in the Bible for the same idea, shows the origin of 
 the symbol to be One Mind. 
 
 VIII. ITS DIDACTIC UNITY, OR DOCTRINAL UNITY. 
 
 A few words on this line will suffice. The Bible ever 
 represents man as an habitual sinner, prone to evil as 
 the sparks fly upwards ; and ever shows sin to be a great 
 crime against God. It shows holiness as something grand 
 and imperative in its demand on sinful man. And the 
 
248 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 atonement, that the Bible on its many hundred pages sets 
 forth over against sin, is complete, sufficient, obligatory, 
 and vicarious. Now, these lines of thought, the kernel 
 of all practical theology, never vary in any place or page 
 of all the Bible. Theories of schools may change, philos- 
 ophies change, but the Bible is the same. 
 
 IX. THE UNITY IS ORGANIC, OR CONSTITUTIONAL. 
 
 We have a whole Bible for a whole heart, for a whole 
 race, for a whole salvation, for a whole eternity. And 
 while it contains so much history, philosophy, economics, 
 science, and general culture as auxiliary to the great 
 theme of salvation, it all harmonizes and dovetails to- 
 gether to form a compact whole that no part can be left 
 out without doing the Volume violence. 
 
 Then, what is the inevitable conclusion? That it has 
 but one Author, who knows all the truth; and but one 
 aim, that must be finally realized ; and but one use, to be 
 loved and read, that no one can slight and be innocent. 
 Thank God for the Bible, for the whole Bible, for my 
 Bible! 
 
 It is said that a gentleman, in conversation with a 
 lady upon the subject of certain of the utterances of the 
 poet Browning, insisted that his interpretation of the 
 poet was correct, because he was a friend of Browning 
 and enjoyed his personal acquaintance. Afterward, he 
 chaffed the lady for her faith in the Scriptures, which he 
 said were childish and unmeaning. "But you forget," 
 was the reply, "that I am acquainted with the Author." 
 It is this acquaintance with God that makes His Word 
 so true, so precious, so comforting, to the devout be- 
 liever. If we know God, we shall surely recognize His 
 Word. 
 
XXII. 
 PERFECT LOVE. 
 
 "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have 
 boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are 
 we in this world." (i John iv, 17.) 
 
 ~F HE writer of these words is called the loving disciple. 
 And if we notice the plea he makes for love, we shall 
 see nothing but love to all men as the object of his ex- 
 hortation. Love is to do us good, to befriend us, to meet 
 a great want, so he, the loving disciple, can exhort us 
 to love very consistently. 
 
 In no literature in the world is the word love so prom- 
 inent as in the Bible. Nor is there any such picture of 
 love given in the world's great literature as we find in the 
 First Epistle to the Corinthians. And I think it equally 
 true, that in no literature can there be found so many 
 examples of love as in the Scriptures. I have also ob- 
 served that the Bible gives love the first place of all the 
 good qualities of character. Lastly, I am sure I can say 
 that in no book but the Bible is a way pointed out to all 
 by which they may have this great heaven-born emotion. 
 Christianity is a religion of love. The Bible not only 
 assures us of the greatness of love, but also makes it 
 equally emphatic that we may all obtain it. It not only 
 lauds it, but goes a step further, and positively informs 
 all that, regardless of their other excellencies, if they lack 
 love, they lack all. And though one could render the 
 highest service of toil ; or could contribute immense sums 
 
 249 
 
250 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 of wealth ; or had the greatest gifts in the Church, if they 
 had not love, they would be as nothing. Now we have 
 anthems sung in praise of wisdom, beauty, and might; 
 devoted to power, to eloquence, culture, and art ; we even 
 have religions that exalt various traits as the ideal that 
 are only of a worldly character; but the religion of Jesus 
 is a religion of love. 
 
 God is a God of love. When the Holy Spirit wanted 
 to give the final name to the Father of all, He not only 
 called Him Father, but He is called Love. How many 
 have tried to determine what God is ! The different 
 notions of God, so coarse and conflicting, all fall infinitely 
 short of the definition given in the Bible. The Bible 
 does not say that God is an Influence, or that God is a 
 Power, or that God is Wisdom, or that He is Beauty, 
 though He possesses all these attributes ; but it says God 
 is Love. Glory! As an exhortation, nothing can be 
 stronger than that very statement. If God is love, all 
 who would do well and live right will aspire also to be 
 possessed of this grace. 
 
 And once again, allow me to say that not only is love 
 the theme of the Bible, but God in all His dealings with 
 man endeavors to develop this indispensable trait of the 
 holy life in all His children. When leading Israel out of 
 Egypt, He brought them up to the Red Sea, and there, 
 walled in on all sides by rocks, a surging sea, and in the 
 rear by the most bloodthirsty army that ever sought the 
 life of mortal man, and at that juncture, when all hope was 
 cut off, the loving God interposed in their behalf, and, 
 parting the sea, sent them to their new home dry-shod. 
 And as He led them into Canaan by His fiery pillar of 
 cloud, providing them manna and quail, splitting the flinty 
 rock for their drink, though they rebelled against Him 
 
Perfect Love. 251 
 
 the long forty years, He gave them His care and love. 
 When He crowned Sinai with His presence, and so ter- 
 rible was the presence that nothing could live and touch 
 the mount, He gave them the best code of morals the 
 world has ever seen upon tables of stone. He gave them 
 the grandest system of worship, and the most magnificent 
 temple the world has ever seen. He gave them a gov- 
 ernment that was of His own ordering, all to foster their 
 love. Yes, He commanded them to love Him with all 
 their hearts. Finally gave the lesson of the Cross, that 
 speaks in strains of eloquence no tongue can imitate. 
 What does all this mean but that He seeks to perfect us 
 in love more than in any other thing? If He simply 
 wanted to rule over a great nation that would serve Him 
 in some sense less than love, He might have made re- 
 ligion so invariably accompanied with temporal blessing, 
 and the reverse so invariably followed by a curse, that all 
 would fear to live other than a religious life. But not so. 
 He made religion to hinge on love and free-will, and He 
 asks for the whole heart of men, which means love to 
 Him and all His creatures. So allow me to ask your 
 attention to this highest grace in several of its aspects. 
 
 1. note: its force. 
 
 This is the foe of all fear. We all know what fear 
 is to the sinner by a sad experience, for we have all, to 
 some extent, walked in the ways of sin enough to know 
 the shadow of fear that ever follows the sinner's wake. 
 He is afraid of himself. He sees character weakening, 
 and the inroads sin is making in his life. He fears the 
 wiles of the devil, not knowing to what length he may 
 yet be led. Not all sinners so feel. But many do, and 
 have expressed themselves to me as trembling with a 
 
252 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 sense of danger that ever seems imminent. He is afraid 
 of the judgment of righteousness. He knows, or at least 
 fears, all his sins, long since committed, and many of 
 them forgotten, will find him then, and the awful thought 
 that he can't there get away from them. He is afraid of 
 God. Instead of being comforted with the thought of 
 an Almighty Being, all-seeing and all-knowing, he fears 
 nothing so much as he does the Eternal God. So some 
 believers, or those who have believed to the forgiveness 
 of sins, if becoming careless and have failed to go on 
 to this happy goal of perfect love, have some of these 
 fears; of course, not so sharp and harrowing as when 
 impenitent; but the fear, after all, that they have not 
 done their whole duty, and they fear the record and the 
 judgment. They also have fears of this life. They fear, 
 after all, that they may yet fall away ; that they may yet 
 forget their God ; that they may be tempted beyond their 
 power to endure ; that they may not be greeted with the 
 "Well done" of infinite importance and moment. O, how 
 fearful are many dear hearts ! Fear of the providences of 
 God, fearful of the truth of God, and often run away from 
 plain preaching and piercing truth; fearful of standing 
 with God, so much so that their prayers are ever one 
 continual petition for help and rest, instead of praising 
 God for victory and deliverance. 
 
 Now, the text assures us that love casts all this fear 
 and fearfulness out, and we have peace with God through 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, and the peace of God reigns and 
 rules in our souls. When we have the conscious love of 
 God in our hearts ; when we have His presence, so sweet 
 and comforting, as a perennial spring, welling up in our 
 hearts, we can not fear Him. All fear of Him is gone, 
 and we look to Him with a warmth of heart that is not 
 
Perfect Love. 
 
 253 
 
 to be compared to any earthly love. He is now our 
 Father, and cares for His child; He is now our Ishi, 
 Lover, and is all the world to us ; he is now our Husband 
 and Protector, and we care not what any shall do unto 
 us. There is a love in Christianity that makes God so 
 real and precious, that men and women have gladly gone 
 to the stake, rather than say or do anything that would 
 mar its presence in the soul. This relation of love to God 
 makes the judgment a thing of the past. If God deigns 
 to dwell in our hearts, if the Almighty now lives with us 
 consciously by faith in Christ; if we can hear His voice 
 speaking to us in comforting tones, we do not fear the 
 judgment, as it is already past, since God now has wel- 
 comed us to Himself. We then do not fear the provi- 
 dences, or duties, or difficulties of life, for if He that 
 stilled the storm on the Sea of Galilee, if he who fed the 
 thousands of hungry with a little bread and fish; if He 
 that anointed the disciples with the Holy Ghost on the 
 day of Pentecost, abides with us, we know we shall not 
 lack any good thing. So we sing as we go, "Here I '11 
 raise my Ebenezer." The plain truths have already done 
 so much for us in giving us such a blessed experience, 
 we covet to know the whole will of God, whatever that 
 may be. Glory ! 
 
 Its force is seen in adjusting us rightly to our fellow- 
 men. We are not afraid of them. It does not always 
 affect them, and the devil is still unconverted, so that 
 he will behave very much as he did, if not worse; but 
 we are changed with this love in our hearts, and all that 
 man can do will but draw a prayer from us for his souFs 
 good. We will not fear man's overreaching tendency in 
 business. We will be honest — honest! — and we will leave 
 the other fellow in the hands of the blessed Lord, who 
 
254 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 somehow will manage him. Well, suppose he will kill 
 all your chickens, or allow his chickens to overrun your 
 garden and destroy all your summer's work; or suppose 
 he will go to a neighbor and tell a lie about you? We '11 
 leave him with the Lord, and we will treat him nice, for 
 there is no hate or malice in our hearts toward him or 
 any one. And besides, we gave up all this world to get 
 saved, and now if we can get him saved by losing a little 
 of the things that we are merely using while on our way 
 to glory, we will gladly do it. Just settle down to love all 
 our enemies to death. It can be done. However, if some 
 seem to have the fabled nine lives, and in spite of our 
 love, live on in hatefulness and wickedness, we have been 
 fortified with the love that Jesus bore to the crucifiers, 
 and we just ask the Lord to forgive them. O, there is a 
 place we can inhabit, where all the little vexations and 
 trials of life amount to nothing but mists ! Mists they 
 may be, and for a time seem to hide the heavens over our 
 head ; but as mist they are brushed away by the faintest 
 breath of prayer, and once more the unclouded sun is 
 shining on us, as he has been ever shining above us. We 
 do not fear man; we now love him and are willing to 
 endure something that he might be saved. Once a man 
 in a revival-meeting hit me with his fist. The officer 
 wanted to arrest him. I said : "No, let us love him to 
 death;" and we did. The meeting closed, and all went 
 home. The next night came ; he was on hand ; I shook 
 hands with him, and said nothing to him about his fist. 
 The meeting opened and the altar service came, and to 
 the joy of all he was among the penitents at the altar, or 
 in the front of the meeting. Glory! Since that time I 
 am never afraid of violence ; but have sometimes hoped 
 I could stir up people to show what was in their hearts, 
 
Perfect Love. 255 
 
 believing if they could see it in an act they would find a 
 place to pray. 
 
 We have no fear about the work God asks us to do. 
 We may be timid and our hearts may throb a little ; but 
 "fear we can not know." We know He that has called 
 us will give us the grace and anointing for the service, 
 and hail all effort with pleasure. Before we get perfect 
 love, all pride and all self-seeking are cast overboard, and 
 we are willing to be nothing, that Christ may be all. So 
 when service is presented, we are not fearful of failing; 
 for if failure will be more to the glory of the Lord, we 
 want to fail. My sister spoke to me when I began my 
 ministry, that if God did n't want me to preach, I would 
 just fail ; then I could come home. But the thought of 
 failing was so harrowing to my proud heart that I re- 
 belled. What ! me fail? Why, the thought of it ! How 
 ridiculous ! Now I often say : Lord, if I can serve Thee 
 best by failing, let me fail ; for to serve Thee I am minded, 
 and no matter how it is done. And measured by earthly 
 standards, my own at least, I am so accustomed to fail- 
 ing that it is now no cross, and becomes just one more of 
 the all things that are sure to work together for good. 
 Glory! Not that a man will want any low standard of 
 ministerial efficiency, not at all ; but after having done his 
 best to pray and think and study a text to know the 
 truth of it or its inner meaning, if he then is called upon 
 to preach, and after all does it poorly, it is all well, thank 
 God! for this possible experience. Some preach their 
 sermons three times — a long time before in getting ready ; 
 all the time they are at it, instead of letting the Holy 
 Ghost do it ; and ever after in fretting, because it was not 
 better. So you see them ever like a hot axle without oil, 
 grinding and hot, and sometimes casting up a great deal 
 
256 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 of smoke. Sad case ! The sermon or the testimony is 
 not now the end of speaking ; but the good that God can 
 do with it. And right here let me say, as I might be 
 speaking to some who are called to preach, that if your 
 motives are pure, and you are filled with love, perfect 
 love — and, of course, you wish to preach for God's glory 
 only — you can not put too much work on your sermons ; 
 the more, the better. If you hope God to use the effort 
 you are to make, and you are willing to put all you have 
 and are into it, do not think the Lord will be grieved if 
 you study on the text with reference to preaching it. 
 But remember if, after you have studied for a week or 
 even a month on a text, and you get on your feet to use 
 it, and the Lord takes it all away and gives you another, 
 that is His wise way of doing. I find that the motive 
 with the Lord is much more than the method. Perfect 
 love will not fret when a sermon is prepared, if the Lord 
 shelves it for a time ; neither will it complain if, after all 
 time and labor spent on it, it is never delivered. But be 
 sure, other things being equal, the more time honestly 
 spent on a subject, the better will it be when its time 
 comes. But success never puffs up the man of perfect 
 love; neither will the reverse puff him down, so fear of 
 vanity and failure is alike cut off. 
 
 Perfect love adjusts us rightly to the world about 
 us. How many are justly afraid of the hold the world 
 has on them ! The world is on hand, and often in the 
 heart too; and the query often — O how often! — comes, 
 "How far can I safely go in this or that pursuit? How 
 can I do business, and yet keep clean ? How can I com- 
 mingle with the people I daily meet, and yet be all the 
 Lord wants me to be?" These perplexing questions and 
 problems meet us, and will not down; and the man 
 
Perfect Love. 
 
 257 
 
 or woman who has never had these things to confront 
 knows but little of Divine things. But the experience 
 of perfect love coming into our hearts helps mightily 
 to solve all this difficulty, and makes it altogether a mat- 
 ter of cloud above our head or dust under our feet — 
 its weight is all gone. As the magnet, passed through 
 a pan of particles of metals, naturally attracts to itself 
 all thing of affinity, to the exclusion of the dirt, so 
 the love in our hearts so constantly inclines us to the 
 eternal things above, that we find these things sticking, 
 while the dust and dirt of earth as naturally fall away. 
 Or, to use another figure : The love of God in our souls 
 seems to insulate or disenchant us from earth's toys and 
 treasures, so that while we pass through the world, we 
 find our Savior's prayer has been answered for us ; and, 
 indeed, though in the world, we are not of the world, 
 and pass through it as the electric current does along 
 the wires, free from all outside influences; so that we 
 are as safe in the world as a fish in the water or a bird 
 in the air. Glory! Or, again, it is as an anchor to the 
 soul if the winds and storms of earth's tendencies beat 
 upon us. "We seem very much as others about us; but 
 deep down and out of sight, and beneath the surface, 
 we have an anchor that holds to the throne of the In- 
 finite; that, while others drift here and there, and once 
 in awhile lose their bearing, we are steady; and, though 
 the waves roll and the breakers roar, we remain stead- 
 fastly anchored to our Rock of Ages, and can sing, — 
 
 " No storm can shake our inmost calm 
 While to the Refuge clinging." 
 
 And whether it is a David Livingstone in Africa among 
 the darkened heathen ; or Paul at Ephesus, fighting with 
 17 
 
258 Word and AVork of David J. Lewis. 
 
 the beasts ; or dear old John on Patmos ; or some martyr 
 dying, like Hugh Latimer, for the gospel, we are more 
 than conquerors. Yes, bless God, this love is a life in 
 us, a shield on us, and an anchor to us to our eternal 
 safety. "No fear," that is the key-note. God calls us to 
 live for Him in this world, and has given us a salva- 
 tion adapted to all the needs of the soul, and when we 
 get in possession of it, and keep it in good repair, or keep 
 it rilled — for, as water, there is a constant evaporation 
 going on — we can laugh at all imps and claim immunity. 
 Yes, the apex is reached in the words, "As He is in the 
 world, so are we." Christ was victor in all things, so are 
 we. Was Christ able for all things? So are we. Did 
 Christ do the will of the Father? So can we. Did He 
 prove a blessing to the world? So shall we. Did He 
 endure unto the end ? So shall we. As He is, so are we, 
 praise the Lord! O, what a sentence! and all that it 
 means to any one, it can mean to you, my brother. 
 
 11. note: the: fountain. 
 
 In the preceding verse we read, "He that dwelleth in 
 love, God dwelleth in him." This links love and God in 
 oneness in the soul. God is love, and all love comes from 
 Him. Perfect love is God enthroned in the heart without 
 a rival. This answers all our fears of being able, for 
 where God is, there He is in all His divinity. God is not 
 divided into pieces ; but is a unit ; and while God does 
 come so close to us that the influence of His presence 
 is manifestly felt, and does for us all that we will permit 
 Him to do, yet He can come into the soul in all His 
 wonderful fullness. This is holy ground ; this should not 
 be spoken only with reverence. This is the very atmos- 
 phere of heaven, the breath and being of Him whose 
 
Perfect Love. 
 
 259 
 
 name is too sacred to mention. He it is that is the Foun- 
 tain of the perfect love in our souls. 
 
 As a fountain, He is inexhaustible. King James of 
 England promised more money than he found he was 
 able to bestow. Napoleon promised more to his soldiers 
 than he was able to fulfill. Our love is ever betraying us 
 into obligations to loved ones, if only in desire, that we 
 find we can not make good; but the Almighty has no 
 limit to His resources. We have a limit to our conception 
 of His wealth. I know something of what the cattle on a 
 thousand hills mean; but really, I know nothing of what 
 the fullness of the earth expresses, though that, too, is 
 the Lord's. But what is His riches in glory, what is His 
 "all things," or what some other expressions of His riches 
 mean, I can not conceive; but I do know that He pos- 
 sesses all things, and in Christ those all things are mine. 
 Now, there is no limit to His power to bestow on us the 
 priceless blessing of love. The sun will run itself into 
 night some day for the want of fuel; the mighty ocean 
 and sea shall dry up some day for the want of moisture, as 
 other planets have done ; the very heaven shall roll up as 
 a scroll and be done away; but the Lord's provision of 
 love is abiding. 
 
 Now, we need love for the unlovable ; can God sup- 
 ply? I see Jesus the Son of God enduring all that any 
 man can ever be expected to go through, and His love 
 never failed Him. Look at Him outside of Jerusalem, 
 knowing they were going to reject and crucify Him, 
 knowing they were then, at that very moment, thirsting 
 for His heart's blood ; yet hear His plaintive words, "O 
 Jerusalem! Jerusalem! how often would I have gathered 
 you as a hen doth her brood! but ye would not," while 
 the tears coursed down His pale cheeks. And, again, 
 
260 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 when He was on the cruel sticks of the cross, and the 
 executioners were doing their cruel work of piercing His 
 hands and feet with spikes, He said, "Father, forgive 
 them, they know not what they do." Then let us look at 
 Stephen, who, when he was stoned to death by the cruel 
 mob, prayed for their pardon. Look at Paul, laboring 
 for those that had nothing but curses and chains for 
 him; and, indeed, all the apostles' work for the many 
 who suspected and even hated them, yet they worked 
 on, caring for nothing but to impart to them the same 
 love that had never failed them. How could this be 
 possible? Simply because God's love is inexhaustible. 
 You can not bail the ocean with a bucket; you can not 
 exhaust the air with your lungs ; you can not peer beyond 
 the domain of the Almighty as you lift your eyes to 
 heaven ; neither can you ever exhaust the love that God, 
 the Infinite God, has to place in your heart. There is no 
 limit to it. Bless the Lord ! 
 
 Then the Lord is omnipresent. He is at hand in the 
 time of temptation. In the time of need, He is ever pres- 
 ent. You can not get away from the atmosphere if you 
 stay on top of the earth; and as the mighty oceans lave 
 every shore, as the atmosphere girdles every land, so the 
 Almighty is ever present to fill and comfort those who 
 have fled for refuge to lay hold of eternal life and love. 
 He is just the same in the workshop as in the prayer- 
 meeting; He is as near the cook-stove as the meeting- 
 house register ; He is with those who trust Him with the 
 fidelity that followed the Israelites through the wilder- 
 ness. His pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night 
 failed them never. He was with them when they waked 
 and when they slept. The Lord was called Israel's un- 
 slumbering Shepherd by those who knew Him and His 
 
Perfect Love. 261 
 
 power to save. For He never leaves the sheep of His 
 fold, even when they are all asleep. Now, if the Lord 
 was confined to any particular place; if He was excluded 
 by any physical limitation from small corners of life, then 
 we might fear that after all His great store, we might 
 come short. No, brother, He is in your heart the Ever- 
 blessed, Allwise, Almighty God that has undertaken 
 for you. 
 
 This suggests another attribute of the Lord. He 
 knows all about us, and every want to Him is as open 
 as a book. He knows all we know about ourselves, and 
 then all we do not know. He knows our weak points, 
 He makes them strong. He knows where we fail the 
 easiest, and right there He sets up special provisions. 
 He knows the temptations that come to us before we do, 
 and He undertakes to supply our need. He knows the 
 world of men ; He knows the world of work ; He knows 
 the world of worries ; He knows all, and He will supply 
 all our needs. 
 
 Ah ! yes ; we shall be in our souls as a watered garden. 
 The fountain ever flowing, and the garden ever green. 
 While others fail in their love because of the limitations 
 of an empty heart, we shall flourish like the palm-tree 
 in this priceless character of love. What does love ac- 
 complish where it is in its native element? What will a 
 mother's love do for a child? a bridegroom for his bride? 
 We all know that there is no limit to the efforts of this 
 true love. Now, God puts His Divine love in our souls 
 by His own presence, so that it will be as natural for us 
 to love all mankind as for a mother to love her child. 
 God in us, for us, fills us with the same love He manifests 
 flowing out to all His creatures. It is no effort to love ; 
 no warfare to keep down hate ; no reluctance in showing 
 
262 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 people we love them. No, now love is the nature of our 
 lives. What is in, comes out, is a law experienced by all. 
 When hate is in, it comes out; if not in word, in look. 
 When envy is in, it comes out in some way or other, 
 even though the victim of this loathsome disease may 
 not be conscious of it. When love of gain is in, it comes 
 out in wishing for good bargains, big profits, and guile- 
 less patrons or liberal gifts. The greed of the heart finds 
 expression because it is there ; so when God has brought 
 love into our hearts, it comes out in our lives. 
 
 III. ITS FULLNESS. 
 
 It is the only perfection we shall ever know. In the 
 Sermon on the Mount, when our Lord exhorted the dis- 
 ciples to perfection, it was the perfection of love. Many 
 seek the perfection of learning, perfection of the head 
 instead of the heart. Many would like to be perfect in 
 judgment and in a thousand other things. But nowhere 
 in the Bible is there a promise for any such perfection. 
 Nor is there anywhere in the Bible a demand for a per- 
 fection of the head. No ; but we are commanded to be 
 perfect in love. Now, if this is the only perfection we 
 may ever know here below, how important it is that we 
 each seek to be thus made perfect! 
 
 Its standpoint is the highest expression of life. Even 
 evolutionists from their standpoint say that love was the 
 last evolved. But I do not believe in evolution; at all 
 events, it has not brought forth the proof that my mind 
 asks in order to give the free assent of my judgment. 
 But love is put the highest by science and revelation. 
 Paul says the greatest of all is love. Power has been the 
 god of more men than any other thing or attribute. How 
 men crave power! How kings have shed blood of mill- 
 
Perfect Love. 263 
 
 ions for its possession! Many men have coveted wealth, 
 and almost all things unmentionable, in preference to this 
 priceless boon, just because they did neither understand 
 nor appreciate it. But if love were taken out of the 
 Church ; if love could be blotted from the history of the 
 past, with all its deeds, who would have wished to have 
 lived in the past? Go to the records of any race, and it 
 has ever been the love element that figured as the highest 
 expression of their worth. But this love is Divine, re- 
 moving it as much above the natural love as Divinity is 
 above humanity. 
 
 It is great, because it fulfills the law and is the bond 
 of perfectness. That is why it is Divine. Natural love 
 will love the lovable and those who love us; but this love 
 loves the unkind, the unthankful, the ungrateful, the re- 
 vengeful, the injurious enemy. As God loved the world 
 and gave His Son for it, this will love the world and give 
 its services for it. It can forgive an injury that is not 
 confessed and atoned for. It can be kind to those who 
 in every way have forfeited a claim upon our love. It 
 never faileth. It worketh no ill to its neighbor, but ever 
 works good. As God has given his sun to warm the 
 field of the wicked, and caused His rain to fall upon the 
 seed of the sinful, so we will be good in our way, and 
 hold no grudge against any one that lives. It fulfills 
 the whole law. If we can not preach, we can love. If 
 we can not go to India or Africa, we can love the be- 
 nighted. If we can not give a million, we can give what 
 we can, and that, the love of a heart full of love. O, 
 what a world this would be if love dominated the lives 
 of all men! How it would close the courts of law! How 
 it would empty the prisons of criminals! How it would 
 feed the hungry and clothe the naked! How it would 
 
264 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 begin heaven here below! God says it is the end of the 
 law. Now, how comforting to know that we have, in 
 our own hearts, that which gives us the character that 
 will never know the judgment-bar of a criminal! 
 
 It gives us full assurance. John said we "know we 
 have passed from death unto life because we love the 
 brethren." Not because we know our creed, nor because 
 we can preach, nor because we are in the Church. No; 
 but because we love. Now this is the assurance of the 
 soul that gives it boldness in the day of judgment. The 
 man that loves, helps those he can. He forgives, and 
 God forgives him. He has been merciful, and shall ob- 
 tain mercy. He has been a peacemaker, and shall have 
 eternal peace. He has labored for the welfare of his 
 fellow-men, and shall enter into the finished labor of 
 the Divine Redeemer of souls. He has Christ enthroned 
 in his soul, and, at the end of life, he simply goes to be 
 with the Occupant of his own heart. He takes heaven with 
 him where he goes, and as he goes to the eternal world, 
 he has heaven at hand all the way. Now, am I over- 
 drawing this? I think not, for the apostle says we shall 
 have boldness in the day of judgment. He is ready for 
 heaven at any time, since he has lived the life of heaven 
 here below. He knows no hate, nor envy, nor jealousy, 
 nor ease-loving. O, how it takes the self-love and self- 
 life and self-longing out of our hearts, and gives us the 
 sweet calm of heaven in our souls, that makes it a luxury 
 to do and dare for the sake of Him who died for us! 
 
 It is magnifying the center of existence. It is mak- 
 ing soul-capacity for ourselves. The heart, or love, is 
 the man; all else is but the supplement of the heart. God 
 asks for the heart, not head, not hands. He asks for the 
 heart — the love — for that is the man. All we are is but 
 
Perfect Love. 265 
 
 the shadow which our hearts cast. God comes, in love, 
 to give us more heart, more being. As love is the cen- 
 ter of all God's dealings, and of all His laws; as love is 
 the center of the Bible, the heart of Christianity, the 
 character of God, the man that has love has the elements 
 of all that is holy and Divine and great in his own heart. 
 And this perfected is the ideal man that God has in mind 
 for the eternal home at His own right hand. If you go 
 to the center of the universe, you will find heaven; go 
 to the center of heaven, and you will find God; go to 
 the center of God — I say it reverently — and you find, not 
 power, nor wisdom, but love. And love in heaven, in 
 God, and in you are all the one thing, the bond of per- 
 fection. Get all the learning of the schools, and one 
 minute in heaven will teach you more than it all. Get 
 all the wealth of earth, and the first glimpse you get of 
 heaven will have more wealth in it than all the wealth 
 of the world together. Get love, and that is the substance 
 heaven is made of, and it will be but an increase of love 
 to our souls. And the more love we have here, the more 
 heaven we shall have there. 
 
 It is usually the last thing that comes to the believing 
 heart. Faith, hope, and all the other graces come before 
 this. The Apostle Paul very logically puts it last. It 
 comes last, and, alas! too often not at all. If men have 
 some reasonable hope, how often they rest satisfied, and 
 go no further! If they have faith in God to the extent 
 that they do get answers to their prayers, and can trust 
 Him for salvation, how often they can be detained there 
 by the enemy of all good! Multitudes have a faith and 
 a hope that are worth all the world to them, and with 
 which they would not part for a million of worlds like 
 this; and yet, these same dear souls get but little com- 
 
266 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 fort out of their religion; they have a sort of rest, but 
 little comfort in Christ. Love is an absent factor in 
 their experiences. Now, God wants them, wants all, to 
 go on to this perfection of love that is the heritage of 
 all the children of God. And this is precisely where so 
 many disobey God, and break His will, made in love 
 for them. A man or woman can preach without perfect 
 love; can, of course, testify; can give money to the 
 heathen; can deny themselves; yes, can do all that the 
 Christian life demands, but love as they should. Of course, 
 they do not preach as they would, and their testimonies 
 and gifts are not blessed as they might be, still they are 
 Christians, but weak and disobedient, and, in so far as 
 they know their duty, they are not under condemnation. 
 O, that God might give us this day a baptism of love! 
 How easy it will make things that now are hard! How 
 it will settle all strife in the heart and in the Church, and 
 in the community too! Bless the Lord! When He 
 has the right of way, things move sweetly and smoothly 
 all around. 
 
 Once more, I wish to observe that perfect love is 
 the only inheritance of experience that we shall take into 
 the next world with us. Faith we will leave behind, for 
 there we shall see and know as we are seen and known. 
 No, all efforts of faith will be past forever when we reach 
 the golden shore. Hope, also, will be outgrown there. 
 We are saved by hope here and now; but there, hope will 
 give place to possession and enjoyment, and it will be 
 placed on the shelf, with many other text-books, in the 
 school of the eternal life. But love, sweet, Divine love, 
 its very element is glory, and we will take it with us, and 
 it will be the breath we breathe, the life we live, the 
 work we do, the rest we enjoy, and the inheritance we 
 
Perfect Love. 267 
 
 shall hold while eternal ages roll. God is love; God is 
 immortal; so love can never die. The old sun will burn 
 itself out some day; the planets of immensity are every 
 one doomed to grow old; the stars will blaze their last 
 some day; yes, all nature shall crumble and decay; but 
 the love of God, and those who enjoy it by doing His will, 
 shall abide forever. Glory for evermore! 
 
 Look at that man working for money; look at that 
 officer or politician planning for fame; look at that 
 student working Sundays for knowledge, and can't go 
 to Church; look at that man seeking pleasure; and yet, 
 none of these things will stand the fire in the last day. 
 But the gold of Divine love can not be destroyed, but 
 will endure the wreck of matter and the crush of worlds. 
 O, how I thank God for one thing that is abiding and 
 can not be destroyed! Love, sweet love, sweet love of 
 God — a sun that never sets, a fountain that never fails, 
 a treasure that never depreciates, a pleasure that never 
 cloys — though child of the skies, lives in this heart of 
 mine forever. 
 
 This love is a river of life, full and flowing, and free 
 to all. Have you this love, dear hearts? If not, in the 
 name of the Eternal God of love, get it to-day and now, 
 and whatever else you have or have not, this is a treasure 
 that will never fail nor forsake you, but shall be the 
 sparkling gem in your diadem while endless ages roll. 
 
XXIII. 
 
 THE TRANSFORMING VISION. 
 
 "But we all, with open face, beholding as in a glass 
 the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image 
 from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of our God." 
 (2 Cor. iii, 18.) 
 
 HP HE Apostle Paul is contrasting the law and the 
 * gospel, and shows the superiority of the gospel in 
 its great ideal. Every normal man in his best moments, 
 if not continuously, has an ideal. Every man makes 
 himself better or worse according to his ideal cherished. 
 Every man should have the best ideal possible if he 
 respects himself as a molding creature. Every man must 
 confess the grandeur of the Christ-ideal. Noted men 
 have ever had their ideals: Alexander the Great slept 
 with Homer's Illiad under his head, and confessed the 
 heroes there recorded made him what he became. Caesar 
 and Charles XII, both men of blood, were made so by 
 taking Alexander as an ideal. The murderer of Lord 
 John Russell cherished, as his best book, the infamous 
 Jack Shepard, which was then a new novel. And he 
 confessed he read it over and over till he nerved himself 
 for the monstrous deed. But, thank God, we are build- 
 ing another way, and have another Ideal ! 
 
 We have no photo of the Lord Jesus. The Bible 
 gives us no idea of His appearance. So the glory spoken 
 of in the text is not that of features, but character; so, also, 
 the transforming of the beholder is not that of the out- 
 
 268 
 
The Transforming Vision. 269 
 
 ward features, though religion helps the countenance to 
 a sweetness not in it before, still, it is true, the change is 
 that of character. And graciously, for the outward man 
 must perish; but the character, which Paul calls the in- 
 ward man, will live and last forever. 
 
 In Christ, God has hung an Ideal in the mental sky 
 of all worshipers that is ever an inspiration. The world 
 has tried to paint the face of the Savior, and some of the 
 most impressive pictures of the world's great galleries are 
 the Benignant Face, the Last Supper, the Trial, and the 
 Crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. Yet, after all the artist 
 can do, the saint has a better portrait of his Savior, more 
 stimulating and transforming, when he thinks of Him 
 by the bed of the sick, soothing a fever; by the side of 
 the sad, administering comfort; by the open sepulcher, 
 calling the lamented back to life. 
 
 While not one word in the Bible describes the out- 
 ward appearance of Jesus, the four Gospels are written 
 that we might behold His glory, see His loveliness, and 
 be changed thereby. Matthew wrote his Gospel from the 
 standpoint of a Jew, and in this first Gospel He is shown 
 as a King, noble, grand, independent, and omnipotent. 
 The King and kingdom are the key-words of the first 
 Gospel. Mark wrote to the Romans, and in it he gives 
 the Lord as the Servant of the race, condescending, help- 
 ful, devoted, self-forgetting, ever-serving. Luke, the 
 doctor and scholar, wrote his Gospel for the Greeks, and 
 he dwells on the Savior as the Friend of sinners and the 
 Author of the Parable of the Good Samaritan and the 
 Prodigal Son, loving, kind, forgiving, charitable, and a 
 Universal Savior; while John shows the Lord to be the 
 Son of God from heaven, that was in the beginning, and 
 the glory of the Father, divine and eternal. Now, under 
 
270 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 these four representations, without anything further, we 
 can see the glory of the Redeemer. But as we draw 
 nearer, and see with our own eyes, as it were, the Com- 
 paniable Christ, going about doing good to all alike, 
 healing the sick, comforting the sorrowing, feeding the 
 hungry, teaching the ignorant, defending the widows 
 and orphans against the piety-pretending Pharisees, for- 
 giving the penitent, and raising the dead, we see His 
 glory shine forth in a way that dazzles and almost con- 
 fuses with the effulgence. But when we see Him sitting 
 and eating with sinners, weeping with the mourner at the 
 grave, praying for those who drove the nails in His feet, 
 and, at last, dying without a complaint, we see glory 
 that is sweet as a flower and mellow as the morning light. 
 
 Now, as an Ideal, this picture melts its image into our 
 very soul, if we but contemplate it. Men are made for 
 ideals, as they are creatures of imitation, assimilation, 
 and transformation. It is the most natural thing in the 
 world for a child to imitate a man, some one loved and 
 honored, and we, as children of larger growth, do the 
 same, perhaps more unconsciously than a child does. 
 But we do imitate. Bishop Hedding, a bishop much 
 loved and honored, had a habit of carrying his head a 
 little to one side, and all the young ministers in the Con- 
 ference became affected by the same habit. And all the 
 young doctors in a certain city got to lisping in imita- 
 tion of one much loved and very successful who had that 
 defect in speech. Then as we imitate, we assimilate, get 
 to be so, in some measure, and some way; that has been 
 seen all down history — men become like their heroes; 
 lastly transformation takes place, when the changed 
 character becomes complete and permanent. 
 
 Imitation is seen in our composition. When we pass a 
 
The Transforming Vision. 271 
 
 soldier, erect and stately in his carriage, how instinctively 
 do we straighten up and put on a dignified bearing of 
 imitation, and, if it is in us to be proper, it will come out 
 at these times. Of course all will not so be affected, but 
 the live man will. A magnet will pick up the metal out 
 of a pan of earth, while a piece of wood will gather none, 
 though the pan were full of metallic particles. So some 
 natures might behold the lovely, and yet be unaffected. 
 But God, in the text, speaks to those who have it in 
 their hearts to imitate the good seen. 
 
 Assimilation is another item in man that comes in 
 for a thought here. It is one step further than imita- 
 tion. A man associating with a good-natured friend 
 might, for the moment, imitate him, and put on a smile 
 that is seldom worn at home. That is imitation. But when 
 he assimilates this good friend's happy way of living, he 
 will have in him some of the same sweetness to become 
 natural to him; that is, he has become like his friend in 
 some degree. A man can walk in a flower-garden from 
 one end to the other, and go out of it, and never have 
 the least smell of sweet odor on his garments, though 
 he admired them all; but if he stopped and plucked some 
 of them, and especially worked with them for hours, he 
 will smell of their sweets, he has assimilated some of the 
 flower. 
 
 But transformation is still a step further, and further 
 than which, when perfect, men do not go. He be- 
 comes like the thing assimilated. He can not be trans- 
 formed into a rose, but he can be into the character of 
 his good-natured friend, so that it is perfectly natural 
 for him to ever be so from the depth of his own char- 
 acter. It now is more natural for him to act like his friend 
 than to act like his former self. He is transformed. 
 
272 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 This is a word used in the Bible to express the meaning 
 of the word of the text, "changed." Now, all three of 
 these elements are perfectly natural in the normal man. 
 He can and does imitate, he will assimilate; and trans- 
 formation is only the same thing developed or grafted 
 in and allowed to grow. 
 Could write no more. 
 
 [His strength failed, and he was literally trans- 
 formed — yes, translated — before he finished telling us 
 about it. But I considered it too good to omit, even 
 if it is incomplete. — Ei<IyA.] 
 
XXIV. 
 
 CHRISTIANITY VS. INFIDELITY: 
 THE ACCORDED PRE-EMINENCE OF CHRIS- 
 TIANITY. 
 
 "For their rock is not as our Rock, even our ene- 
 mies themselves being judges." (Deut. xxxii, 31.) 
 
 JWl OSES, the servant of God, has been encouraging 
 * * Israel with an account of the goodness and great- 
 ness of God. He spoke of God as the Father of his 
 people, who were God's peculiar treasure. He reminded 
 them of their distressed condition when God found them. 
 He reminds them how God, Parent-like, has stirred them 
 up to make something, using the figure of the eagle. 
 He told them of the good things that God had given 
 them. He spoke of their victories over their enemies, and 
 exhorted them to be wise and obey God, and, as if he 
 would make the words as strong as possible, made a 
 climax in the words of my text. 
 
 This lesson falls, naturally, into New Testament 
 teaching from the similarity of our position with theirs. 
 Christ is the Rock of our salvation, and we have enemies 
 that have passed judgment on our hope in Christ as 
 a foundation for life, death, and eternity; so that we can 
 study some of the testimonies given by non-professors 
 to Christianity's reasonableness with, I trust, a marked 
 advantage. However, we shall not confine ourselves 
 exclusively to the words of our enemies, but fill in a 
 little with the words of those who knew and loved God. 
 18 273 
 
274 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 So, this evening, we will discuss three points, in which 
 Christianity is superior to its rivals. The first is: 
 
 I. ITS SUPERIOR CREED. 
 
 The being of a God is an item of our creed we all 
 accord. Now, if we would turn to nature, to study 
 atheism, it would be interesting indeed. In a world 
 without God, things just happened to be so. In com- 
 ing by law, the law just happened to be in matter, not 
 put there, but just happened to be there. The seasons 
 just happen to come about regularly. The wheat 
 planted just happens to produce wheat instead of bar- 
 ley. Night just happens to follow day. The spider's 
 eye and marvelous body are mere accidents. Man walks 
 upright, can control matter, and direct business, all 
 without special adaptation by creation for that. Yes, 
 the stars shine, the earth rolls on its axis, the seasons 
 come and go, and the years pass away, all without any 
 plan or design. Yes, our enemies would have us live 
 and die without a Father above to care for us or to 
 help us when in need. 
 
 Better to begin in a different way. We have a God, 
 loving, kind, and tender. He loves us, hears our pray- 
 ers, directs our steps, and wills our good. Atheism 
 would set us loose in a world as above — only picture 
 vividly as a vast world-clod of clay and chaos whirling 
 in space, with a lot of parasites on it, without any design. 
 Christianity says the crimes of the world are sins 
 against God; that the man who kills, and steals, and 
 ruins the innocent, and oppresses the poor, and runs red- 
 handed riot over the earth for selfish advantage, is a sin- 
 ner; that the poor, oppressed, honest man is, after all, 
 the equal of any, if right in his life and living. The atheist 
 
Christianity versus Infidelity. 275 
 
 says that what we call sin is only a natural tendency, 
 that is as natural as any appetite we possess or that 
 possesses us; that we simply act naturally when we do 
 wrong. We are responsible to no one, and none has a 
 right to threaten us with judgment; so that we are just 
 turned loose to prey upon the weak, might being right; 
 that, if one can, he may, and that is all to it; turning 
 us loose in a world surrounded by demons incarnate, 
 against whom no one can protest, as they simply do 
 what is natural in them to do. 
 
 Christianity offers to the right-living world a sure 
 heaven of joy when life is over. No matter what the 
 ills of life may be, heaven will more than make amends. 
 How the thought of heaven comes to the weary with 
 a solace and comfort that nerves for all trials and per- 
 plexities! How the poor, with their privations, endure 
 the all of human woes with a resolution often a wonder 
 to the worldling! How the conscious child of God 
 works unrewarded, and dies, like a Wesley or Ed- 
 wards, penniless! How the missionary gives up all 
 home comforts for a life in heathen darkness, 'mid dis- 
 ease and death, leaning on the hope set before them of 
 at last resting their weary forms in the haven of eternal 
 bliss! But atheism says all there is before you is a hole 
 in the ground. Eat and drink and be merry if you can, 
 for this is all of life, and death ends all. The atheist 
 goes to my dear old father, and your loving mother, 
 saying, as they draw near, "There is no hope for aught 
 beyond the grave." Suffer the best you can. If poor, 
 endure it. If oppressed, disregard it, and go on to the 
 inevitable grave that ends all, alike for the bad and the 
 good. 
 
 Christianity says we have redemption in Jesus; that, 
 
276 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 while we are conscious of sin and moral weakness ; while 
 we are conscious of moral demerit; that while we have 
 often failed to do the right, or to shun the wrong, we 
 have help and support, grace and pardon, in the 
 Son of God, who, on the cross, died that we might 
 live, gave His life a ransom for all; that while we broke 
 the law, He, the Son of God, came and made atonement 
 for the broken law, and imparted power to keep the 
 new law to all who are willing to live godly lives. 
 Atheism says it is all bosh. If you are a drunkard, and 
 are breaking the heart of your wife, beggaring your 
 children, polluting your body, mind, and soul, go on, 
 or try your will, and if that will not do, there is no 
 help. If on a dying-bed, and conscience troubles you, 
 shut your eyes till death gives relief; no hope for a 
 man's soul. 
 
 II. ITS SUPERIOR CHARACTER. 
 
 Fortitude. Infidelity is a cheap way out of duty. 
 Life is real, and life is earnest, and, as Joseph Cook 
 says, "No joke to the grave." Christianity says, "If life 
 is hard, press hard at the task." Infidelity says, "If 
 life is hard, run away from it by suicide." All this, 
 woven into character, shows up in the grand total of hu- 
 man life. There is nothing you must needs be to be an 
 infidel; there is nothing you must needs believe to be 
 an infidel. Drift with the stream, go with the crowd, 
 live as you list, and you are a good infidel. To be a 
 Christian, you must "fight if you would reign," that is 
 sure. Effort always develops character. A zigzag 
 around the earth has made all the great men. In coun- 
 tries and conditions where man can live without labor, 
 no great men are found. Put a man to fight the ele- 
 
Christianity versus Infidelity. 277 
 
 ments, to work for food, to encounter foes, to struggle 
 to keep up with the march of his fellows, and you will 
 find great men, manhood at its best. Such character 
 Christianity always fosters. It means an effort to rise 
 to the world above. Grit and grace are near kin. In- 
 fidelity and ease are cousins. 
 
 Self-denial is a trait of character, without which one 
 can not be a Christian. Indulgence and grace can not 
 long live in the same heart. There are ever things that 
 meet and greet the believer that he must forego to be 
 the best man. Drink can be indulged or denied. 
 Amusements that destroy virtue, and life in some, must 
 be denied by all that follow the blessed Christ. It is 
 not so much a matter whether or not I can dance and 
 be pure, as whether others can, and all be pure. It is 
 not so much the question whether I can go to theaters 
 and circuses, and keep balanced in my affections, as 
 whether others can all do it, and keep right with God. 
 If any one is injured by my example, as a Christian, I 
 will forego that pleasure or pursuit. It is not so much 
 what it is, as to the result of my doing it, and thus in- 
 fluencing others to do so too. This trait of character 
 in a negative aspect is, I think, grand; but the positive 
 side of it is the seed and ground of all great progress in 
 the history of the world. 
 
 John Howard, the great-hearted man, who trans- 
 formed the den and cages where men and women rotted 
 as prisoners in the past century for trivial crimes, prac- 
 ticed the greatest self-denial. The priest who put an 
 end to the gladiatorial combats in the blood-stained 
 arena was in the habit of self-denial, so that when he 
 confronted the two men killing each other for the enter- 
 tainment of the uncultured, godless spectators, he ran 
 
278 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 in between them, losing his own life, but forever ending 
 the gladiatorial shows. Who can go into the home where 
 the mother and father, God-fearing and man-loving, en- 
 dure hardness for the welfare of a son or daughter that 
 they have consecrated to the service of the welfare of 
 men, without admiring the stuff those lives are made of? 
 This sort of thing is germane to Christianity. Unless 
 we take up our cross and deny ourselves daily, we can 
 not be His disciples. Carry this out in life wherever 
 man is found, and you will see the grandeur of the Chris- 
 tian character. 
 
 Purity is a trait of Christian character. And while 
 we all know by the blood in our own veins the benefit of 
 purity in the homes from which we come forth, and 
 while we all see what it would be to throw down all the 
 protection to the sanctity of the purity of homes, infidel- 
 ity, in the creed of Hume and in the character of Rous- 
 seau, has violated all the hallowed influences of this 
 necessary grace. Hume's teaching on this subject and 
 Rousseau's practice are at once so vile and indecent that 
 I forbear to mention or proclaim them in the face of 
 this respectable company. No man would say he 
 wanted his daughter to be treated as Hume advocates. 
 No mother would submit her child to the treatment 
 Rousseau inculcates by practice. But all men and women, 
 regardless of creed or character, unless the most veritable 
 demons incarnate, could wish their sons and daughters 
 to live as the Christian religion has ever imposed upon 
 its followers. 
 
 Honesty is a trait of Christian character, without 
 which no business can be carried on successfully. Talley- 
 rand, the liberal-minded Frenchman, who said that lan- 
 guage was given for man to hide his thoughts, took thir- 
 
Christianity versus Infidelity. 
 
 279 
 
 teen (13) different oaths of fidelity to all and any that 
 rose in power — to the pope, to the king, to the em- 
 peror — all alike untrue. James Parton, the infidel bi- 
 ographer of the infidel Voltaire, says, "Voltaire was the 
 most unconscionable liar that ever lived." 
 
 Simplicity, a trait of Christian character, is surely 
 much to be preferred to the profanity of the modern in- 
 fidel. Mr. Ingersoll, in one of his speeches, takes the 
 pains to intersperse a little profanity for the sake of 
 emphasis. What mother would bring her child up for 
 good company — I care not what her belief may be — 
 would wish her boy to acquire the senseless, vile habit 
 of profanity? And yet the American infidel in cold blood 
 would emphasize his thought by profanity. Christianity 
 says, "Thou shalt not;" and I like it, don't you? O the 
 Christian character has all the advantage of decency, 
 utility, and safety on its side. 
 
 This leads me up to the next point I would make, 
 that: 
 
 III. IT IS SUPERIOR IN ITS CLAIMS. 
 
 I will confine my remarks to three items of universal 
 interest, upon which to base my remarks. The effects 
 of a thing are often the best criteria by which to judge 
 of the nature of the thing itself. I think it is true of 
 the question before us. At all events, the criteria are as 
 good for one side as the other, so that the decision ren- 
 dered will be impartial. So let us note the men each 
 side has produced. 
 
 Luther and Voltaire, enemies of the Church, though 
 the former lived in a day when the light was less bright 
 and the cost of reform was the greater. Yet he lived 
 a pure, unselfish life, against which even his enemies 
 can not find food for their hate. He labored without 
 
280 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 reward, often friendless and penniless. He established 
 the greatest movement of the modern world, and gave 
 the Bible in the vernacular to his country and his age. 
 Through a long life of toil he sought the favor of God 
 alone, and at last died in poverty after refusing to write 
 books for money. 
 
 Voltaire, the talented idol of his worldly followers, 
 though an able writer, confessed he wrote for money 
 only. He lived a life of luxury on the support of the 
 means he gained for abusing the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and was called the most unconscionable liar that ever 
 lived. Luther left a treasure of rich literature to the 
 Church and the world, that will be read and enjoyed 
 while a pure Christianity finds a home on earth. Vol- 
 taire left a host of books, that are no longer read, and 
 are absolutely worthless. 
 
 Let us come a little closer home, and select two 
 men from our country's history, and compare them. 
 Washington and Thomas Paine were both friends and 
 champions of American liberty. Let us compare them. 
 
 At the very outset you are prepossessed in the favor 
 of the former. Why? Is it because the latter had less 
 intellect? No one would dare to say that. Was it be- 
 cause he had less opportunity to show his powers and 
 worth? No one would say that. Well, why is it that 
 we all universally honor Washington, who, at home and 
 abroad, is regarded as one of the greatest of earth's 
 sons and the astute champion of United States liberty, 
 while the name of Paine is seldom heard out of the 
 very small circle of a few infidels? One lived the glory 
 of his nation, and, when dead, is monumented in the 
 hearts, literature, and edifices of a grateful people — the 
 greatest nation of earth. The other lived an irregular 
 life, left a few books, some of which he himself said 
 
Christianity versus Infidelity. 281 
 
 he could wish were burned — and all might, and no one 
 would suffer loss — and himself buried in the tomb of 
 oblivion. One was a Christian, and the other an infidel. 
 In your mind, journey with me till within the period 
 of the present century, and find two men, representatives 
 of the respective thought we are discussing. Take Aaron 
 Burr, that assassin of Alexander Hamilton, and Abra- 
 ham Lincoln. Would you have patience with me while 
 I compare them? No; it is useless. The fact is, you 
 would not bear with me. Let us come a little nearer, 
 and arrange, side by side, Garfield and his contemporary 
 Ingersoll. The latter had the advantage in his birth 
 and early surroundings. Ingersoll never drove a canal 
 mule, as did his contemporary. He knew nothing of 
 the pinch of poverty and limitations of being the son 
 of a widow, as did Garfield. Yet they both grew to 
 manhood, and entered the late war, the odds decidedly 
 in favor of the infidel. Garfield, with faith in God and 
 a Bible in his pocket, won his spurs, and came out of 
 the service one of the most useful, trusted officers among 
 the servants of the Union. The infidel ran into a cow- 
 pen, and surrendered up his sword to a boy of sixteen, 
 and came home. Garfield rose in the esteem of his 
 country, till its highest honor, the Chief Magistracy, 
 was its grateful expression. And as President he 
 showed the stuff Christianity fosters, and died for what 
 he thought was right; while the latter has done nothing 
 but abuse the blessed, brave, loving, Divine Lord Jesus 
 Christ, because it pays him five hundred dollars a night 
 to do so. Honor be to the dust of our lamented Presi- 
 dent! Give what you please to the infidel. I have noth- 
 ing to offer him but shame. Such are some few of the 
 men that might be compared. 
 
 As the result of Christianity we claim all the great 
 
282 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 charitable institutions of the world — the hospital for the 
 sick, the alms for the poor, the asylum for the blind 
 and imbecile, the more humane prisons for the criminal 
 and the vicious — not one of which can the infidel claim. 
 But we must hasten. 
 
 As the result of Christianity we claim the great in- 
 ventions of the world. The printing-press, man's great- 
 est friend, was given to the world by the Christian Gu- 
 tenberg. Watts, the Scotch Christian, gave the world 
 the steam engine, without which our great West to this 
 day would be but a sparsely-settled wilderness, and com- 
 merce would be dragging along its weary lengths a few 
 miles an hour. Wilberforce, the Christian Englishman, 
 and our own praying Lincoln, liberated the slaves of the 
 two greatest nations of earth, and have shown to the 
 world what is the spirit of Christianity. Bacon gave to 
 the world the inductive philosophy that has transformed 
 the life and living of civilization; while Howard, the 
 Christian philanthropist, gave the world organized 
 charities, to alleviate the distress and want of unfortunate 
 men, women, and children. 
 
 Over against this put down the one single thing the 
 infidel has given the world, and I will accord. O no; 
 good things do n't grow on such soil. These, my friends, 
 are some of the claims of the Christian faith. We might 
 add: arbitration instead of war; temperance instead of 
 universal debauchery; freedom for all men instead of 
 slavery. Yes, Christianity has done more. I mean 
 Protestant Christianity. It has said every man has the 
 right to pursue culture, happiness, and freedom of con- 
 science, based on the Bible, and to aspire for a home 
 in heaven; and, taken as a whole, Christianity has so 
 far won the world over to the great truth that Christian 
 
Christianity versus Infidelity. 283 
 
 life is the noblest and happiest and highest ideal, that 
 even those who laid no claims to being Christian, when 
 dead, their biographers have gone to untold lengths to 
 prove they had faith in Christ and were Christians. So 
 they spoke of Jefferson and Webster, both of whom may 
 have had profound respect for the truth, though they 
 made no pretensions of being such men as Christianity 
 naturally enforces. 
 
 Is it any wonder that we read such remarkable testi- 
 monies from the worldling and skeptic, as we find in their 
 writings? Is it any wonder that men who have habit- 
 ually lived at variance with the teachings of the Chris- 
 tian faith, should at their last end lament their lack of 
 purpose in having failed to live for Christ and heaven? 
 Is it any wonder that such men as have led the world's 
 thought have exhausted their vocabulary in eulogizing 
 the Bible, Christ, and Christianity? Is it any wonder 
 that men like Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, and Patrick 
 Henry should put into their wills for their heirs a testi- 
 mony to Christianity? Patrick Henry's will has these 
 words: "My dear children! If I could give you all 
 the world, without the religion of Jesus Christ, you 
 would be poor; but if I could give you the religion of 
 Christ, without a cent, you would be rich." Does that 
 mean anything to the children of other Americans that 
 have a right to the best God has for man? See to it 
 you neglect it not. Charles Dickens had put into his 
 will tkese words: "I commit to the mercy of God, through 
 our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and exhort my dear 
 children humbly to try to guide themselves by the teach- 
 ing of the New Testament." In the will of the immortal 
 bard, Shakespeare, "I commend my soul into the hands 
 of God, my Creator, hoping and assuredly believing, 
 
284 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 through the mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, 
 to be made partaker of everlasting life." 
 
 In conclusion, I would say that the world to-day 
 is no longer divided between Christianity and other 
 faiths, but has come to the final point of Christianity 
 or no religion that is superhuman. The wicked have laid 
 down the arms of opposition to Christianity, and have 
 embraced their Savior. The skeptical — the greatest 
 among them, such as Byron, Renan, Rousseau, Huxley, 
 Napoleon, and a whole array of the class — have piled 
 up eulogy and praise upon the fair brow of Christianity, 
 until nothing more is remaining to be said, except the 
 words of the Doubting Thomas, "My Lord and my 
 God;" while the believers have endured hardness and 
 privation, to advance their beloved faith; have plowed 
 the high seas to foreign fields, and there, among sunken 
 savagery and distressing discomfort, have proclaimed the 
 good news of the Savior born. Yea, go back a little in 
 history, recall the massacres, butcheries, and barbarities 
 inflicted on the faithful for no other crime than that 
 they loved the Son of God and worshiped Him; and see 
 how, 'mid flames' burning heat, exposure's chilling cold, 
 the tortures of the rack, the damp darkness of the dun- 
 geon, and the pangs of the most terrible death, and see 
 what Christianity is to the world of hearts that have fled 
 to take shelter under its benignant wing. 
 
 If to-day we could see all the happiness, the comfort, 
 the hope, the repose, the purity, generated and fostered 
 by the faith of the Son of God; if we could see how 
 many are braved to fight life's battles against the great- 
 est odds, how many endure patiently the hardships of 
 privations and poverty; yes, if we could see how many 
 are fitted for heaven and led thither by the Hand ex- 
 
Christianity versus Infidelity. 285 
 
 tended to help and lead, I have the charity to hope 
 many among you would have the goodness to give your 
 hearts to God, and this night go on your way rejoicing 
 in your new-found Lord. Dear ones! All this is true, 
 whether or not you will ever see it. How many have 
 died for Christ! How many wicked, on their dying-bed, 
 have asked an interest in Christ! How many infidels 
 have in death recanted and professed faith in the Son 
 of God! And never one — no, not one — on a death-bed 
 has ever given up Christianity for sin or infidelity. I say, 
 take from me all the world calls good and great, but 
 leave me Christianity. Heap upon me all the world 
 calls evil and hard, but do n't bring to my door or heart 
 godless unbelief. I want Christianity to help me fight 
 life's battles while I live, to combat death when I die, 
 to guide me to glory when this world is no more. The 
 Old Ship of Zion is lifting anchor! Room for all! Get 
 on board, and do it now ! 
 
XXV. 
 
 THE NEW MAN. 
 
 "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new 
 creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things 
 are become new." (2 Cor. v, 17.) 
 
 THE apostle has been giving a statement in vindication 
 of his ministry and apostleship. He, like many other 
 good men, was not without detractors; but he vindicated 
 himself by assuring the cavilers and all interested that 
 he was Divinely appointed. It was in the spirit as against 
 the letter, as of labor against luxury, of sincerity as 
 against show, of service as against selfishness, and, 
 finally, of God as against mere men's appointment. 
 
 To make manifest the wisdom of such a ministry, 
 Paul marshals the great verities of the Christian relig- 
 ion as not only warranting, but impelling it. He speaks 
 of the unseen, eternal world of hope; of the sure judg- 
 ment of all, where each will receive his own chosen end 
 of life; and, finally, of the great love of God that con- 
 strained men to so live and labor. Yes, he goes one 
 step further, and shows how perfectly natural it is for all 
 true believers to so do, since they are new creatures; 
 shows how the earth has lost its master hold on the soul ; 
 how the distant heaven has bowed to cheer and welcome 
 him, and that to the new creature the unknown, hidden 
 God has become a bosom Friend. 
 
 This manifested life has been accorded by those of 
 all creeds and in every clime, though the conception of 
 
 286 
 
The New Man. 287 
 
 the truth, and, of course, its statement, has been, and 
 still is, a subject on which opinions are most various and 
 divergent. For example, in our own Church, inner light 
 has been made to do duty to express and explain the 
 whole process of the transformation of man — a truth that 
 none can gainsay, since it has a Scripture basis. But as 
 covering the whole ground of conversion is only half a 
 truth, which, like all half-truths in the creeds of many, 
 must become a falsehood, just as the foreknowledge of 
 God — a truth of Scripture — under the extreme delinea- 
 tion of Calvinism, became a revolting lie; or as God's 
 universal love and, of course, his universal salvation — 
 a sentiment inseparably connected with the Fatherhood 
 of God — under the heresy of nineteenth-century Uni- 
 versalism, opening wide the door of heaven to the god- 
 less and impenitent, were alike revolting and untrue, — so, 
 with this evident abuse of truth in the hands of men, 
 a recurrence to the Bible for a basis of belief becomes 
 equally necessary and precious. 
 
 So let us note the Scripture ground, nature, and re- 
 sult of grace on the hearts of men; or, let us note the 
 Bible character of personal Christianity. 
 
 I. THE CHRISTIAN HAS A NEW LIFE. 
 
 The words used to express this are several. To 
 Nicodemus, Jesus represented it as a new birth. This 
 was a hard saying for poor Nicodemus to comprehend. 
 He, like us, could not see the way. And around this 
 truth the great reformation in the Church has ever re- 
 volved. Men lose this simple, though mysterious truth, 
 and then resort to some outward rite or process more 
 or less plausible, hoping thereby to make themselves 
 new. 
 
288 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 The washings of the Pharisees in the time of Christ 
 and the Jews to-day are some of its aspects. The multi- 
 plied superstitions and ceremonies of mediaeval piety 
 were another, while the new sociology and outward re- 
 form movement of our day are the last and modern ex- 
 pressions of the same tendency. 
 
 But let the age and the language be what it will, 
 the meaning is ever the same, and when known, as it may 
 be, invariably proclaims a religion without a God. This 
 is very manifest when we consider that none but God 
 can give life. And in giving religion to the soul of man, 
 God meets all the figures of Christ's teachings, when He 
 said, "Make the tree good, and the fruit will be good 
 also." And in its suddenness, as when the wind "blow- 
 eth where it listeth." 
 
 Under the figure of birth, God shows the transforma- 
 tion of man is at once instantaneous, supernatural, and 
 mysterious. Who has not noted these three aspects in 
 the lives of those who profess a change in a revival? 
 
 Then, again, it is creation, as the apostle says. 
 "Created anew unto good works" suggests the idea of 
 adapting the change to the end it is to conserve. As 
 fish are made to swim the waters, birds to fly in the air, 
 so the new man is made for a special purpose, and that 
 to live a godly life in this wicked world. 
 
 Or under the figure of restoration the same 
 truth is enforced. Man's powers under sin have 
 become perverted and destroyed; so when God 
 "restores his soul," as the psalmist puts it, he 
 is brought back to the condition of man as God 
 wants him to be, with, of course, the limitation peculiar 
 to our dwarfed intellects and emotions. But as Adam 
 could trust without harrowing doubts, hope without de- 
 
The New Man. 289 
 
 spair, and love without hate or enmity, so the restoration 
 of man brings him into conformity to* the will of God 
 in that he is a child born of the new Adam from heaven. 
 Not that the new creation, birth, or restoration will 
 pinion wings to his back, or enable him to live without 
 eating or working, but it will enable him to live right 
 in this present evil world. 
 
 II. THE CHRISTIAN HAS ~A ~N^w" PROWKSS. 
 
 Conscious relationship. How a convert trusts God! 
 Not the pasteboard convert of a pasteboard revival, but 
 the soul that really sorrows for sin, and, by drawing 
 near to God for pardon, feels the thrill of the new life. 
 How he stands, confident of a Father's care and love, 
 when looking up to God! This made Luther a re- 
 former. This sent Carey to the mission-field. This 
 cheered a David Livingstone in Africa. And by this con- 
 fident relationship, Paul cared for nothing in this world 
 but to do his duty, seeming to see the hand of God ever 
 stretched out to help and support him. 
 
 Joy is ever an element of strength; but religious 
 joy, so sweet and inspiring, can raise the soul above 
 all the traps and trifles of this life, and enable him to 
 say, with Habakkuk: "Although the fig-tree shall not 
 blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of 
 the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the 
 flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no 
 herd in the stalls; yet will I rejoice in the Lord, and joy 
 in the God of my salvation." And the disciples could 
 break their bread from house to house with joy and 
 gladness, while Paul, tormented and mistreated, and 
 driven from city to city, was not only joyful himself, 
 but exhorted the Church to rejoice always. 
 19 
 
290 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 Enthusiasm. Christ puts the everlasting "go" in us. 
 What enthusiasm the disciples manifested in spreading 
 the truth in the world — Paul! John! Bishop Taylor, 
 laid on the shelf by the Church, but as enthusiastic as 
 ever in his God-appointed mission work. 
 
 Then love, the greatest power in the world, as well 
 as the greatest thing in the world, will enable the believer 
 to endure cheerfully all this world has to inflict or the 
 other world to command. Love of country in Switzer- 
 land has studded the country's history with examples of 
 heroism that will last while the chivalrous and brave 
 appeal to our hearts. Look into the terrible pen of 
 Andersonville, where love for comrades prompted the 
 greatest sacrifice! Look at Moses, crying out to God, 
 "Blot my name out if — only spare Israel!" Paul said 
 love constrained him to live as we know he did. Glory! 
 It will conquer all and ever. For these attributes are 
 Spirit-born in the soul, which is nothing more than the 
 life of God in man, which, partaking of the nature or 
 source of Divine life, is at once universal, omnipotent, 
 and eternal. That is, it is not like the rivers of Judah 
 or Egypt, or the good well on the Western prairie, frozen 
 in winter and dry in summer. No, it is a perennial spring. 
 Glory to God for the prowess of the new life! 
 
 Again, let us note: 
 
 in. the christian has a new purpose. 
 
 Not only an adaptation, but an actual desire and de- 
 termination to do something peculiar to the new life. 
 In the first place, I think the first impulse of the new- 
 born child of God is to conquer earth. You can get 
 away from the devil by resisting him, but the earth is 
 on hand to stay. I mean by earth the appetites, passions, 
 
The New Man. 291 
 
 notions, habits, and temptations of earthly things. But 
 the Bible triumphantly says that "he that is born of 
 God overcomes the world." We all have a whole earth 
 to conquer. Alexander conquered the organized polit- 
 ical world, but left himself out, and died a slave to his 
 own weakness and debauchery at last, and fell dead 
 in a fit of intemperance. Every soul has a Waterloo, an 
 Austerlitz, a Gettysburg, to fight, and the new-born soul 
 goes in with the assurance of victory. 
 
 Affiliate with heaven. I often say that I want to live 
 as long as I can. But do n't let this impress any one as 
 though I would not rather be in heaven if my life's work 
 were done. Richard Hooker, when dying, said, "I am 
 going to a world of order," and rejoiced. That is 
 why it is not mean nor cowardly to hope for heaven. 
 Heaven represents an ideal with which we have a born 
 sympathy. No sin will be there, nor any sorrow. There 
 we will meet our loved ones once again. There we will 
 meet and be greeted by our Savior. There shall be no 
 more fear, sickness, sorrow, pain, or death. Ah yes, 
 brother, heaven has so many things for the new life and 
 love that to be homesick for heaven is quite natural, es- 
 pecially for those who have most all of their loved ones 
 on the other side. 
 
 He aims at idealizing God in his soul. The Holy 
 Ghost. The only Christianity we dare embrace or would 
 know is the fullness of the Spirit. When the Holy Ghost 
 comes upon us, we not only have the promised power, 
 but the presence of God is as real as His power is real. 
 We must put forth an effort, sometimes, to realize an 
 absent friend. We do this sometimes effectually, with 
 comfort. But then, if we really desire, above all else be- 
 sides, the presence of the Spirit, He will come and take 
 
292 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 up His abode in our heart as real as the food we eat or 
 the clothes we wear. Praise the Lord! 
 
 And lastly, we will purposely or inadvertently in- 
 fluence men and women to attempt a home in heaven 
 by serving God on earth. 
 
 Here, then, is the new man. Have you not seen those 
 who answered this description, at least so far as to be 
 recognized? Yea, have not you, yourselves, felt and 
 acted so at some time since your conversion? 
 
 Ah yes, my friends, I am persuaded that few, if any, 
 in this house are entirely ignorant of such knowledge. 
 And so, while I have been drawing a few of the out- 
 lining features of the new man, in your hearts you have 
 said, "Yes, that is so, I know that is a fact." But, friend, 
 allow me, please, to ask, Is this the life you are living? 
 Do you have the victory all the time and all along the 
 line of life's varied experiences? If so, thank God, and 
 go on. But if not, if you must say this life is real, 
 and you know it, but do not enjoy it, allow me to exhort 
 you, this morning, to tarry no longer, but at once ad- 
 dress yourself to God in earnest prayer, and never leave 
 this room till you have told Him from this out you will 
 live the life of the new man by having the new life come 
 into your soul. Remember, God wants to remake every 
 one of us. The moment we make to ourselves the right 
 motive, set up in our own heart the earnest desire to be 
 all God would have us be; the instant we can from our 
 heart say that we would rather be a new man in Christ 
 Jesus than live the old life of sin, that moment we can 
 take Jesus as our Savior, and go on our way rejoicing, 
 knowing surely our God will fulfill His promise, that 
 those who hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be 
 filled. 
 
XXVI. 
 
 HARMONIES ANNOUNCED AT THE ADVENT 
 OF CHRIST. 
 
 A CHRISTMAS SERMON. 
 
 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, 
 good will toward men." (Luke ii, 14.) 
 
 HP HIS day is one of joyfulness over the Christian 
 -*• world. Not that the day is chronologically correctly 
 settled; for no one knows just the date of the Savior's 
 birth, and for three hundred years no day was kept, and 
 not until the time of Charles the Great — in about the 
 beginning of the ninth century — did Christmas become 
 an established thing; and even then it was held by some 
 on the 6th of January, and by others on this date; so 
 that it is not the day we wish to observe, but the facts 
 that have come into the world with the blessed Lord, 
 in whose honor the day is kept. 
 
 I have stated the above from the fact that there is a 
 tendency in man to make idols of times and seasons, in- 
 stitutions and individuals. In the Catholic Church they 
 had so many saints' days that there were not enough 
 days in the year to give each a day, so the Church ap- 
 pointed the first of November as "All-Saints' Day," 
 and gave them all the same day; while in the Episcopal 
 Church calendar this tendency to set aside days as a 
 little more holy grew to such an extent that the calendar 
 has become a dead letter, one, indeed, to be read, but 
 not obeyed, as obedience to it would be practically im- 
 
 293 
 
294 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 possible, since there are 31 feast days and 95 fast days, 
 besides the 52 Sundays, which, altogether, takes up 178 
 days, so that only 187 remain out of the 365 for life 
 and business. So we as thinking people, that would 
 avoid all hurtful superstition, must not regard the day 
 as of itself important, but the things that the day an- 
 nounces. 
 
 Now, the character or the religious import of 
 Christmas-day makes it a season of all the year the 
 most joyous; for unto man a Savior is born. If there 
 is any spontaneous happiness in the heart of man, it 
 should find expression somehow on this day; and, as 
 God gave us, the world, such a Present, it is most natural 
 for man to give and receive presents, heart-cheering and 
 life-inspiring, on this day. As the angels sang joy- 
 fully, so should we, and Christians should be the most 
 light-hearted and happy. But in all this giving, receiv- 
 ing, and rejoicing, we must remember it is a day of 
 religious memories, and should not be spent, as so many 
 spend it, as though it was kept in honor of Venus or 
 Bacchus, or some patron saint of iniquity, by drinking 
 and dancing and gambling. Many set this sacred day 
 apart for a spree, cock-fight, a dance, or season of spe- 
 cial gambling. How man will pervert all that is good 
 to his own harm! But we are not so minded; but in 
 the spirit of religious triumph we shall rejoice as be- 
 cometh saints. 
 
 And while the great minds among the heathen nations 
 have, from time to time — as in the teachings of Socrates, 
 the dialogues of Plato, and the eclogues of Virgil — 
 spoken of a hope that a hero or demi-god would mani- 
 fest himself in the world for the good of man, and the 
 whole of the Jewish nation had, through prophecy, re- 
 
Harmonies Announced at the Advent. 295 
 
 ceived from God the same expectancy, yet, in the minds 
 of men, everywhere the hope was held, it was so vague 
 and ill-determined that a sort of fear rather than joy 
 had rested upon the souls of the thoughtful as they 
 contemplated the possible Coming One. And is it any 
 wonder that this should be the feeling, when we con- 
 sider the sinfulness, cruelty, and oppression of the weak 
 that everywhere abounded? How cruel, revengeful, and 
 bloodthirsty man has been! Worse than the wolves of 
 the woods; for wolves will not war with themselves, 
 but attack an unlike foe. But man has spent his strength 
 and ingenuity to destroy his own fellow-creatures, made 
 in the image of God, so that man feared man more than 
 the savage beast. This guilt of conscience or conscious 
 unworthiness of man had filled his mind with his mis- 
 givings as to the attitude of the Almighty. Does not 
 this account for the manner and order of matter in 
 the announcement? Note how cautiously, seemingly, 
 the announcement was made. By one angel only, at first 
 to the shepherds, and a word of consolation not to 
 fear, for it was a message of joy to all people, not the 
 great only, but all the world; then, afterward, 
 there was a choir of angels singing and shout- 
 ing, and the message expanded into a revelation 
 of duty and attitude toward God and man. But 
 first the single voice and the word of joy. O, how 
 good and kind God is! And now, as we think of how 
 unworthy all the world had been in the four thousand 
 years, how little man really cared to know or do his 
 duty to God and his fellow, but still the message of 
 high heaven to earth is one of tenderness and love. 
 Who would have expected it? No sane man. But the 
 word of redemption was the message, and all the world 
 
296 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 is called upon to rejoice in a universal Savior to all that 
 will believe and receive. 
 
 Note, too, as a final introductory thought, how im- 
 portant it was that God should first approach man. Man 
 had severed himself bv the fall from God and the an- 
 gels, and the gate of approach was barred and lost in 
 the darkness and mist, and if God had not first come 
 to man, he must needs have remained in ignorance of 
 the real attitude heaven maintained toward him. But 
 God never fails to do His part, and to do it divinely; so 
 that joy, unclouded joy, should be the nature of every 
 mortal man as he raises his eyes toward the Infinite. So 
 note, as the first strain announced in the redemptive 
 message by the angels: 
 
 I. THE HARMONY OF HEAVEN WITH EARTH. 
 
 All down the ages, here and there, on earth, has a 
 song arisen to heaven, but never since the stars sang to- 
 gether on the morn of creation has heaven sung over 
 earth, till the first Christmas morning. But earth has 
 now, under the the birth of the Redeemer, become the 
 subject of heavenly song. At first, earth and heaven 
 were in accord, but sin created a rupture, and a separa- 
 tion followed. How much joy did the angels feel in 
 making the announcement! 
 
 At the first, angels were constant and frequent visit- 
 ors in Eden to our first parents; then, after the expul- 
 sion, they became few and far between. But now they 
 are about us, to minister to us as we become, by faith 
 and obedience, the heirs of salvation. How near now 
 the eternal world is can be witnessed to by the joy filling 
 our souls, as we think God's thoughts and worship Him, 
 after being, for awhile, lost in earth's enterprises. 
 
 For much of the time past, to most of mankind, the 
 
Harmonies Announced at the Advent. 297 
 
 heavens have seemed to be brass, and the ears of the Al- 
 mighty dull of hearing; but now, instead of man seeking 
 God, God is seeking and saving man. And no longer pen- 
 ances and genuflections occupy the hearts and hands 
 of the pious, but an open heaven invites all to approach; 
 for God has first approached and visited us. Glory! 
 
 Glory to God is the cardinal truth of the whole 
 heavenly interference; not a weak matter of according 
 a superstitious fear to the Almighty, but a reverence and 
 honor due to His character and nature and work for 
 the race. All that glory to God means will take too 
 much time, but we can suggest some few thoughts. 
 
 Honor, reverence — not Revs, and D. D.'s — but har- 
 monize with, obey, and submit; to covet in our souls 
 His Spirit; allow in our lives His law; make in our hearts 
 His temples; reflect in our manner His gentleness; make 
 Him the Pattern and Ideal of our lives. Remember, we 
 are sons. The Prince forgets not His approach to man 
 in the incarnation. 
 
 God and heaven are more interested in redemption 
 than creation, and redemption is God's greatest work for 
 man in time or eternity. The manner in which re- 
 demption is proclaimed pleases the angels, is approved 
 by the high and heavenly intelligences, and should be 
 ever regarded as the work of Heaven — the Spirit — and 
 not of the earth — man's efforts. 
 
 II. THE MESSAGE ANNOUNCES MAN'S HARMONY WITH 
 HIMSELF. 
 
 Joy is the one word that expresses it all. Joy is soul- 
 harmony. Man has been at war with himself for four 
 thousand years; now harmony can be secured. Intellect, 
 sensibility, and will, all at war with one another. He 
 has made an enemy of his own conscience by sinning; 
 
298 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 he has weakened his will, and needed a motive strong 
 and great; he has chained himself with galling fetters of 
 habit; he has been enslaved by a false standard, and work 
 seems a disgrace; he has been weakened, and was with- 
 out strength ; he has vainly thought and sought for a way 
 of life, and has failed. But now joy is announced to the 
 very poor, the slave, the toiler; to the expectant; to the 
 philosopher and thinker; to the young, aspiring; to the 
 old, retiring; to the sinful, as having hope and the Al- 
 mighty revealing Himself. Joy always and ever at the 
 birth of Christ. 
 
 III. HARMONY OF THE WHOI,E RACE. 
 
 God has made of one blood all nations of men, Paul 
 assures us, and yet how unlike this has been the conduct 
 of one brother toward another! How hatred abounded 
 between Jews and Samaritans, Greeks and barbarians, 
 white and black, rich and poor, strong and weak, even 
 old and young! Hatred of others is written on every 
 page of history for four thousand years. Some will 
 say, If we are one and redeemed by one Savior, 
 why do so many nations fail to receive the gospel? 
 Is it any wonder that the North American Indian 
 has failed to see much in the gospel? Is it any 
 wonder that the Indians of India have refused so 
 persistently the gospel, when we consider the English 
 policy, even in their religion? Is it any wonder that 
 China has refused the gospel so long, when we remember 
 how opium was forced into her ports at the cannon's 
 mouth? Is it any wonder that the masses of Africa have 
 failed to rejoice in the gospel as a good word to them, 
 when we consider the slave-trade? Is it any wonder that 
 so many working poor in our own land refuse the gospel, 
 
Harmonies Announced at the Advent. 299 
 
 when the rich have so systematically oppressed them? 
 Is it any wonder that so many of all classes are still un- 
 saved, when we consider the savage treatment of Inquisi- 
 tions, Christian wars, etc.? Yet peace for the race exists. 
 
 Men now, as the love of the Redeemer comes into 
 their hearts, live for the whole race of man. Men now, 
 having received the type of heaven's love, love one an- 
 other as never before. 
 
 But though all earth fail, yet man, poor, oppressed, 
 despised, afflicted man, can ever lift his eyes to heaven 
 and find a smiling Face beaming on him, and no matter 
 how slow it may be in coming, the time will come when 
 peace on earth will be as universal as the race of man. 
 We are elected to this priceless boon. 
 
 Then rejoice in the nearness of heaven, and its atti- 
 tude toward us. Have victory in your own soul, and the 
 harmony of love eternal. Have in your souls the peace 
 toward man universal that the text teaches, and the 
 Christmas will occur to you as a day of joy and rejoicing 
 three hundred and sixty-five days in the year, a perennial 
 Christmas of present giving and receiving of the greatest 
 of all goods — the riches of grace that add no care nor 
 sorrow. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 LIFE AGGRANDIZED BY GRACE. 
 
 "For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring 
 silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will 
 also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteous- 
 ness." (Isaiah lx, 17.) 
 
 T" 1 HIS text primarily speaks of the coming age of god- 
 * liness, though it as forcibly argues the result of grace 
 on the individual life. In this last sense, I shall consider 
 the individual life. In this last sense, I shall consider 
 it for this morning hour. That grace elevates the believer 
 leaves no room for controversy. The pleading of biog- 
 raphers for their heroes, the solicitude of friends for the 
 departed, the inscriptions on the grave-stone, alike all 
 show how highly the godly life is held in esteem. But 
 just in what sense, in what way, all the good of grace is 
 manifested, may not be so clear, nor so well established. 
 
 If this figure of the text means anything, surely it 
 will repay a careful study. The highest standard is here 
 used, and in a worldly sense no one would think it be- 
 neath their notice and attention to receive gold for silver, 
 even if he were as good a bimetallist as any one of Bryan's 
 men. But in things that are eternal, every believer in 
 Christ will, of course, prize it above all earthly good. It 
 is claimed that some one in the chemical laboratory has 
 invented a process by which silver can be changed into 
 gold, and the announcement has caused no little excite- 
 ment and uneasiness in some circles — not in our home 
 
 300 
 
Life Aggrandized by Grace. 301 
 
 circle, however, thanks to small store! Now, if this is 
 true, and I doubt it not, they say the only way to keep 
 it from doing vast harm is to keep it a secret; for the 
 further it goes, the greater loss will it occasion. But not 
 so with the conversion of baser to higher values as cited 
 in the text. For the good spoken of by the prophet will 
 enrich all that accept it, while it impoverishes no one. 
 Let me illustrate this in one word. Who is not enriched 
 when he gives his heart to God? Who among us would 
 sell his hope of heaven for all the world? Or who among 
 us would not rather have the victory in his soul, if a 
 child of God, than have all the world besides? Yet it 
 harms and hurts no one. Grace is all good and injury 
 never. Churchianity may persecute, and it does; but 
 Christianity does good only and ever to every one. Glory! 
 The first point I would have you note in the development 
 of the truth of the text is, 
 
 I. GRACE AGGRANDIZES LIFE'S MOTIVE. 
 
 Too much importance can not be attached to a man's 
 motive. This is the New Testament standard of virtue, 
 "As a man thinketh in his heart so is he." What a vast 
 expanse between the brute and man, between man and 
 God! The three lives — of the brute, man, and Divinity — 
 all have a different motive. Now, to raise the motive of 
 life will affect the whole being. Grace does this. For 
 the material ends of life it substitutes the moral. How 
 vast the difference! Give a mother a million, or the 
 good name and character of her boy. Who can com- 
 pare them to her? The mother would say the moral is 
 above all. The moral motive that raises the souls out 
 of the mud of earth to the high land of heavenly living 
 is common to all true faith. Illustration: Honest ver- 
 
302 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 diets ever honor the moral motive. How mean is the 
 miser, the greedy, a Boss Tweed, as compared to Lin- 
 coln, Shaftesbury, and other like characters; or these lat- 
 ter as compared to the moral monsters of political courts, 
 as Cardinal Wolsey, Richelieu, and Charles IX! 
 
 Another aspect of the exalted motive of the saint is 
 seen if we go to history. Who have gladdened the world 
 with blessings of intellect and heart, who have trans- 
 formed society, who have left the heart-cheering im- 
 pressions on the ages, who have endeared themselves to 
 the race and all time, but the souls who have sunk self 
 at the altar of the Infinite, the souls who have kept their 
 eyes on the Infinite and endured as seeing Him who is 
 invisible? The man with a real God in his motive is 
 a man that will ever lift the age in which he lives. Eter- 
 nity above time, spirit above matter, soul above body, 
 are an aggrandizement that can not be overestimated. 
 How the brutish man is debased! The man living for 
 the eternal world can be seen in the lives of thousands 
 and will be a fact while ages roll, ever emphasizing itself 
 in the world to come. The man that digs the mud versus 
 the man that walks the skies. The exalted motive of 
 Christianity is seen if we compare the facts stated in this 
 way: Moral over material, God over self, and, finally, 
 eternity over time; Daniel versus Nebuchadnezzar, 
 O'Connor versus Parnell, Miiller versus Rothschild. 
 
 II. grace: aggrandizes ufe's might. 
 
 Brute force is the world's best. Grace gives mental 
 and spiritual force — the force, or might, of deep con- 
 viction; the might of living faith in God; the might of 
 holy enthusiasm, where heroes are found; the might of 
 Divine love in the soul; the might of self-sacrifice. David 
 said God's gentleness made him great. Contrast the life 
 
Life Aggrandized by Grace. 303 
 
 of Saul with that of Samuel; that of Paul with Judas or 
 Julian. What has not love done, and done it in a way- 
 alike praiseworthy and effectual! 
 
 [This second division is not amplified; but the con- 
 densed thoughts may be helpful. — Ella.] 
 
 III. GRACE AGGRANDIZES UFE'S MAJESTY. 
 
 In fact, no one is a real and full man till he knows 
 God's grace in his soul. It colors and beautifies his very 
 being. It brings out all his wondrous powers. It likens 
 him to the ever-increasing army of the faithful. It en- 
 thrones him among the world's best. It fits him for 
 heaven's best and brightest. It restores the image of 
 God in his being. Not face, that is not meant. It em- 
 ploys all his powers and faculties. It takes away fear, 
 and substitutes love. Takes away the slavery of sin for 
 the freedom of grace. For life, it gives the more abundant 
 life. It banishes death, and robs the grave of all sting. 
 It lowers heaven to the level of his daily life. It makes 
 him a benefactor of the race, if only a child, or poor or 
 unknown. 
 
 IV. HOW THE MAJESTY OF MAN IS* EXAI/TED BY GRACE. 
 
 Illustration: Abraham exalted from being a mere 
 nomadic chief to a friend of God and the advocate of 
 men. See him, when informed that Sodom should be 
 destroyed, talking with God, and pleading for the lives 
 of the doomed city. Not that God had new thoughts 
 suggested to Him by Abraham, but that man should 
 hold such intimate converse with his Maker, and receive 
 instructions as to coming events, and be permitted 
 to help in fulfilling the Infinite Mind, is an honor most 
 exalted. 
 
 Behold Moses! Co-operating with the Almighty to 
 
304 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 purge the earth and save the worthy is a spectacle that 
 ever challenges the wonder and admiration of men. Noah, 
 building away at his ark amid skepticism and hate; for 
 a man that brings news such as that inevitably associated 
 with the coming doom, will not likely escape the hate 
 and malice of men. Yet sublimely and patiently he 
 plodded on till the work was done. God's time arrived, 
 the rain fell, and the floods arose; the old ark began to 
 float off its moorings, inclosing the only man of all the 
 earth God could confide in and save. And as that old 
 ark moved off, I think Noah reigned within, in majesty 
 and greatness, as the special favorite of Heaven, as the 
 grandest man that this world ever saw. Exalted from 
 lowliness to be a savior of man. 
 
 Let us note, too, the humble shepherd of a few sheep 
 in the back of the desert, a man of slow speech and 
 humblest origin, even a castaway in an Eyptian swamp, 
 with no family of kin to exalt him, left to battle alone, 
 called and aggrandized of God to be one of the most 
 conspicuous figures of history; called to emancipate the 
 greatest nation the sun has ever shone upon — a marvel 
 to-day; called to be the giver of the greatest law, 
 and prime-mover in the grandest system of ritual wor- 
 ship this world has ever beheld; called to live on down 
 the ages as the meekest and mightiest of men, from being 
 one of the lowliest, most unpromising, most obscure of 
 men that the world's history records. Grand, is it not? 
 O, how God raises a faithful follower! 
 
 To cite David, the illustrious king of Israel, who, 
 rising from obscurity to a throne, and the author of a 
 manual of devotion, in comparison with which all the 
 later books are the meanest pretensions or the merest 
 imitation. Or to hesitate a moment at the Babylonian 
 
Life Aggrandized by Grace. 305 
 
 palace, and see a Daniel enthrone God's name and honor 
 amid the idolatry and wickedness of the impious court; 
 and, though just a lad and a stranger in a strange land, 
 after establishing the Jehovah above all gods, to be 
 crowned and honored as the greatest prince and most im- 
 portant prophet of Holy Writ, whose rare, deep utter- 
 ances are studied more to-day than any other of the 
 prophets, — shows how all whom God calls are honored 
 and exalted above their fellows. And to hesitate long 
 enough to mark Saul, the murderous persecutor, going 
 about as a theological policeman — the meanest calling 
 of all associated with the sad history of the strife of good 
 for supremacy in earth's dark domain — called, I say, from 
 the low life of a persecutor to be an apostle, and exalted 
 to be the ablest exponent of the world's great and only 
 true religion, a religion that has transformed the earth 
 and transfigured man, has peopled heaven with hosts that 
 have lived and loved and labored for the Redeemer of 
 men — an honor to be had in reverence by angels; called, 
 from being a poor, miserable Jewish hater of Christ, to 
 be a lover of all men; called and exalted from bigotry to 
 become the most liberal soul; from being the chief of 
 sinners to be the most noted saint, whose noble example 
 and ennobling impulses live and throb in the hearts of 
 all who really love Jesus Christ. Time will not suffice 
 me to recount the ennobled lives of Luther, Fox, Knox, 
 Wesley, Edwards, Finney, Knapp, and a whole array of 
 the men God has called and honored, and who to-day, 
 though dead, speak and live in grateful remembrance, 
 and who shall brighten the pages of Church history while 
 time lasts. They were converted into the pure metal of 
 the kingdom, as are all who do God's will. 
 
 My friends, allow a word of application. If God so 
 20 
 
306 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 exalts man, if He has made known His will so that we 
 can do it and be so exalted, is there one here this morn- 
 ing that does not find it in his heart to say, "Lord, here 
 am I, for all Thy will, for time and eternity?" O friends, 
 to do God's will is sure exaltation; to refuse, is sure de- 
 basement and final ruin; and yet, does any one hesitate 
 to commit himself to all the will of God? I hope not. 
 
 Now, this morning, I am glad to say that all are 
 eligible for this mart of exchange, and if you would be 
 wdse and rich in that which alone is yours — namely, the 
 soul-character that shall exist with you while endless 
 ages roll — down with the baser metals of earth's good, 
 down with all that is antagonistic to God's will in your 
 soul, down with all your godless schemes of earthly am- 
 bition for self-exaltation, down with thy all, — and God, 
 as true as He lives, will exalt you and all you give Him. 
 
 God grant that you and I, from this day, may be no 
 more enrolled with those lower in the scale of transforma- 
 tion than those who are pure gold, shining as the bright- 
 ness of the firmament and as the stars, destined to shine 
 for ever and ever. 
 
XXVIII. 
 
 THE GLORIOUS HOPE. 
 
 "Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious ap- 
 pearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ." 
 (Titus ii, 13.) 
 
 "THE Apostle Paul is giving a system of doctrine to 
 1 Titus. If he ever was careful to be inspired, it is 
 on an occasion like this. His words to Titus were not 
 only the truth, but the truth that he regarded important 
 to teach. Now, I am convinced that all who believe the 
 Bible will take Paul for a standard on doctrine. There 
 are some to-day that seem to act as though we had more 
 opportunity to know the whole truth than did Paul, so 
 we constantly hear of the "New Theology," as though 
 God did not give the best thought to His disciples through 
 Christ, but left the world eighteen centuries to find it 
 out. Now, if we compare the life and labors of the 
 Apostle Paul with the ordinary ministerial life to-day, 
 we would all say it were well to go back to the former 
 times and manner of preaching. However, we accept 
 the words of the Bible as the highest wisdom, and the 
 will of God to men, which will disembarrass us of all 
 conjectures, and give us a firm foundation on which to 
 stand. 
 
 One other thought, by way of introduction, as to 
 the thing itself of which the text speaks. The aspect of 
 the event spoken of suggests the marvelous and extra- 
 ordinary, which is a source of annoyance to many, even 
 
 307 
 
308 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 those who have a hope of salvation through Christ. Now, 
 I would only say that, as I look into the heavens that 
 glow with splendor, emanating from its myriad lumina- 
 ries; as we consider the greatness and number of the 
 heavenly bodies; as we consider the marvel, that though 
 they are so many times greater than our earth, yet they 
 are hung on nothing, and go moving through space with 
 the precision that enables eclipses and other phenomena 
 to be calculated years ahead with mathematical accuracy ; 
 when we consider the wonders of the world under our 
 feet, can we for a moment doubt God's power to bring 
 about whatever He has recorded in His Word, though 
 it be beyond our comprehension? I think not. Since 
 God has changed some of us,, and given us hearts to 
 love and serve Him, who have been so wicked and 
 worldly, I could no more doubt God's power to work 
 wonders than I could doubt His power to send a clear 
 or a cloudy day to-morrow. So let us note a few things 
 that the texts suggests as items in the glorious hope: 
 
 i. a hops of 4 the Messiah's triumph. 
 
 The Apostle Paul, after telling us that all knees shall 
 bow, and every tongue shall confess, and all things put 
 under His feet, yet pathetically breaks in with the ob- 
 servation that "we see not all things put under Him 
 as yet." How much of this world is not subject to Christ! 
 Yea, how much of it is postively at variance with Him! 
 How often is the trite expression heard, "It takes all 
 kinds of people to make a world." But it is a falsehood. 
 A thousand things in this world are unnecessary. A 
 thousand things about us we could get on without; yea, 
 a thousand things we see daily are positively pernicious, 
 and the sooner sunk in oblivion the better, 
 
The Glorious Hope. 309 
 
 God indeed has in His mind the plan to get this old 
 world cleaned up some day, and rid it of the hurtful and 
 the vicious. Jesus died for a special end; God created 
 this world for a special end; and the old world rolls on 
 for that very purpose, and that is the triumph of Jesus. 
 
 When God created man, He gave him the right and 
 might to have dominion over this world. But Adam fell 
 under the dominion of appetite. God has not changed His 
 mind to have this world ruled and inhabited with mankind 
 that shall have dominion over all things. So, when Adam 
 fell and lost his place and power, the world rolled on 
 till the Second Adam from heaven should come to reign. 
 So Christ came to redeem a race; when multiplied, He 
 will come back to earth in regal power, and take up 
 His reign as the King of saints on this very earth. This 
 is part of the hope we are to hold till it is realized. What 
 misery and oppression, what sadness and sorrow, what 
 torrents of blood and continents of death, has not this 
 world seen in its sad conflict with sin? When I think 
 of the sin and woe, the misery and shame, and deathless 
 hate to God and good, I marvel at the long-suffering of 
 God in waiting so long. But of all the hate this world 
 has ever manifested toward the good, the greatest fell 
 on the head of the Son of God. But now, the time is 
 coming when it will be changed. O, what a contrast 
 will it be when Jesus is again on earth ! 
 
 He was humiliated, and in His humiliation no man 
 was more lowly. With no family of fame, homeless and 
 a wanderer, did He press the soil of earth. We often 
 speak of the very poor. Jesus had no place to lay His 
 head. But when He returns, He will come as the King 
 of glory, Kings of kings and Lord of lords, to have domin- 
 ion from pole to pole. Men have dreamed of universal 
 
310 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 empire ; rivers of blood have been shed by ambitious men 
 to get the mastery of the continents. They fought, bled, 
 failed, and died. But Christ is to reign "where'er the sun 
 does his successive journeys run." The great continents 
 of earth shall join with the islands in one glad anthem of 
 praise to our conquering King. Christ had all heaven, 
 and left it to live as the poorest of earth to win a world 
 back to God. And O, what a glad day it will be when 
 He comes to take possession! 
 
 He was lonely when on earth. The prophet says, 
 "He walked the wine-press alone, and of the people there 
 was none with Him." He gathered up twelve men, to 
 be taught by His wisdom, to fellowship Him in His 
 loneliness, but in an hour when all the horrors of lone- 
 liness had vested themselves with the garb of sorrow, 
 they all forsook Him and fled. Not one stood by Him 
 and shared His sad hours. But when He comes again, 
 myriads of happy souls will welcome Him as their con- 
 quering King. The prophets seen on the Mount of Trans- 
 figuration will be there. Daniel and Elisha and Elijah 
 will welcome Him. The martyrs and the fathers, and all 
 the faithful of every age, will conspire to swell the coro- 
 nation song in the happy day of His advent. Millions 
 of those who died for Christ, who lived and died for Him 
 in sorrow and solitude, will be there to praise Him, whose 
 right it is to rule and reign. 
 
 He was defeated then in the eyes of the world. But 
 when He comes in the clouds of glory, it will be as a 
 triumphant Prince, victorious over all. He told His dis- 
 ciples they should do greater works than He did, and 
 it was fulfilled. He said His Word should be preached 
 to all nations for a witness, and it has been done. He 
 said if He were lifted up, He would draw all men unto 
 Him. It was done, with the promised results. The moral 
 
The Glorious Hope. 311 
 
 and the immoral, the cultured and ignorant, the civilized 
 and savage, have all been drawn to Him, and to-day 
 the sun shines on no land in which the Son of God does 
 not have faithful followers. Napoleon said "millions 
 would die for Christ," and it has been swelled to greater 
 numbers. He stood before the Jews as an unknown 
 Galilean, but to-day thousands of Jews call Him their 
 Messiah, and all will in that day. And in the day He 
 comes, every knee shall bow and every tongue shall con- 
 fess that He is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And 
 the enemies that would not confess His name, nor live 
 as He taught, shall then flee from His presence with 
 shame and confusion. Do you want to see that day? 
 
 He was persecuted when on earth; but He is coming 
 to be worshiped. At how many hands has Christ re- 
 ceived a crown of thorns! How many have heaped 
 ignominy and shame upon His head! How many of us, 
 like Saul, persecuted Him ignorantly, and, like Saul, have 
 had our eyes opened to know Him as the Lord of all! 
 In how many lands has His name been cast out as evil! 
 His own nation, the Jews, hated and handed Him over 
 to be crucified, and, with the most virulent hate, would 
 not even allow Him to die in peace. But He is coming 
 again, to receive the worship and heart-homage of the 
 untold, teeming myriad of earth that have laid down their 
 arms of rebellion, and consecrated their lives to His 
 service, and worship Him with all their heart. Jesus was 
 lonely, defeated, persecuted, and crucified when here be- 
 fore; now He comes to be admired and adored. Do you 
 want to see that day? Would you hasten it if you could? 
 Can you say, with dear old John, "Come, Lord Jesus, 
 come quickly?" 
 
 But some will say the world is not ready for Christ 
 to come in judgment. No, and they never will be. Well, 
 
312 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 then, is the gospel to fail and they to be lost? No, the 
 gospel is no failure; it is man that is, and ever has been, 
 the failure. God was not a failure in Eden, and yet man 
 had to be cast out for failing. The law was not a failure. 
 Paul says it is holy, just, and good, and yet man failed 
 under law. So, while man has failed, and is now failing 
 under gospel love and power, it is man, and not the 
 gospel, that is the failure. If a man living on the bank 
 of the lake should build a good, seaworthy life-boat, and 
 would some day see a man overboard, drifting in the 
 struggles of death, and would go out and offer to help 
 him into the boat, and take him ashore, and the man 
 should refuse, and would not allow the boat to get near 
 him, and willfully sank beneath the waves, when the man 
 returned to shore, would the people say his boat was a 
 failure because the man willfully drowned? Of course 
 not. They would praise the man for his effort, and say, 
 truly, that the man just simply and merely suicided. So 
 is it with the gospel. Millions have got aboard, and no 
 one is excluded, so that, if men will go down unsaved, 
 it is all their own fault. And Christ shall be praised and 
 worshiped for His effort, even in the case of the lost 
 ones. And, methinks, the time is coming that, even in 
 hell itself, men will blame themselves and exalt Christ 
 for the effort lost upon them. And shall we not on earth 
 who have an opportunity to yet be saved? How much 
 more we who are saved! Glory! Christ is coming soon 
 to reign, and all the world, saved and damned, will say 
 it is right! O, my whole soul cries out, "Come, Lord 
 Jesus," when I think what it will mean in this wicked 
 world. 
 
 II. A HOPD OF MORAL TRIUMPH. 
 
 How little this world thinks of the godly can be read 
 in the death of the Son of God, in the lives of those who 
 
The Glorious Hope. 313 
 
 have lived the most unselfish lives, and in the disrelish 
 and the disregard most men have for piety. A man filled 
 with the Holy Ghost, and reproducing the life of Jesus, 
 is almost as odd as a blooming rose in the desert, or a 
 tropical plant at the North Pole. What a history it would 
 be to record all the abuse good men have received just 
 because they were godly. Men stoned Wesley, refused 
 to sell Fox food, imprisoned Luther, and killed Paul, all 
 and only because they. did right. A "Life of Finney" was 
 taken to the Cleveland jail for the prisoners to read. One 
 read it, and put a note in it that said, "Well, this man 
 was a lunatic, anyway." Yes, good men are often re- 
 garded crazy, vicious, while the timeserver, going to hell 
 with the crowd, is called a good fellow. But this all will 
 be changed when the Son of God comes back to earth 
 and sin shall be destroyed. 
 
 The saloon shall go forever. Then shall we have our 
 fond dreams realized. O, how long and hard have a few, 
 yes, only a few, it is true, tried to banish the saloon ! But 
 the saloon men laugh at the weeping wife and the starv- 
 ing child. The brewer and the distiller, growing rich 
 on the heart's blood of childhood and helpless woman- 
 hood ! Go out to this little cemetery, and count the graves 
 of those who have died from the curse of the cup. Count 
 the graves of those whose death was hastened and life 
 burdened by the gin-mills of this little town, and you 
 have a sketch of the great picture in every land and clime. 
 We pray and we plead, and we work and circulate peti- 
 tions, and I mean to keep right on too; but how little 
 can we do! But when the feet of the Son of God press 
 this world again, every saloon will close forever, and, in 
 its stead, something in keeping with the needs of the new 
 creation shall succeed it. 
 
 The governments of the world have ever been a 
 
314 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 menace to godliness. It is true, the first American Con- 
 gress passed a bill to make an appropriation of two thou- 
 sand dollars to give the Word of God to the poor of the 
 land. But alas! would it be done to-day? No, the Bible 
 can't even be read in many of the schools of the land 
 to-day. Does Congress work in the line of God's Word? 
 No, or they would not legalize the liquor-traffic, they 
 would not have gone into office-seeking and office-hold- 
 ing, forgetting the oaths they took when going into office. 
 If Congress was right, would we temperance people be 
 troubled to ask the senators to remove the saloons from 
 the Capital? If Congress and the Government were right 
 with God, would the poor Indian be lied out of his ground 
 and living? O no. My hope is that Christ will soon 
 come and put an end to the whole thing. 
 
 When Christ comes, government will be in the 
 hands of the godly, not in the Tammany Ring or any 
 other ring. The Turks will no more water the earth 
 with the blood of Armenian worshipers, and no one 
 to raise a voice — an official voice — against it. Christ 
 will change the governments of the world. Right will 
 then rule and reign. It will be easy for boys to live 
 without the danger of saloon-keepers winking them into 
 the den to drink. I do not know how it will be all done, 
 but Christ is going to reign. Glory! He shall banish 
 all the wicked into oblivion, and, with this earth cleaned 
 and garnished, He will set up His kingdom. 
 
 The institutions of earth will be in the hands of the 
 Son of God. 
 
 The art of the earth will be under tribute to the new 
 kingdom. 
 
 The Church will no more plague the good with 
 persecution and inquisition. 
 
The Glorious Hope. 315 
 
 The asylums will give place to health of body and 
 mind. Praise the Lord! 
 
 The criminal classes shall be a thing of the past. 
 
 The Christless rich and Godless poor shall be no 
 more here to menace. No, the Son of God shall make 
 the earth's morals what God has ever wanted them to be. 
 Hasten the day, Lord! 
 
 Slavery and bigotry and persecution and wars shall 
 all be forgotten. The spear shall be beaten into a prun- 
 ing-hook. 
 
 III. A HOPE) OF MATERIAL; TRIUMPH. 
 
 Jesus said the meek shall inherit the earth. None 
 now hold it long. But the meek shall inherit it. To-day 
 it is too often the crafty, the cunning, the worldly pru- 
 dent. How many of the hardest-worked the world has 
 ever seen, the most worthy of men, that would rightly 
 use all they could get, live and die with scarce enough 
 to eat! In the new earth it is all to be changed. In 
 the Parable of the Talents we have the conditions of 
 title. The one that made ten other talents should rule 
 over ten cities. Glory! Now, I am not glad that some 
 who are now rich will change their condition; but I 
 am glad that so many that have died as they lived — 
 most destitute — shall then be rich. Wesley had but 
 one silver spoon. Luther had nothing to show for a 
 life of the hardest toil. Edwards, the immortal thinker, 
 died without a dollar; while a thousand millionaires of 
 earth, past and present, shall be found with their talent 
 wrapped up in a napkin, to their eternal beggary. 
 
 God made this earth good for a good man and a 
 good race, but sin has perverted the whole, and has 
 violated every law of the universe, as first created by the 
 
316 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 Almighty. Over and over the Lord has promised this 
 world to the godly, and nowhere has it been fulfilled 
 more than to secure them from want as they daily 
 prayed for bread. These promises are just as sacred 
 as any God ever gave man, and they will all be fulfilled 
 too. Glory! 
 
 The earth itself shall be a world of law and order. 
 God made it so at the first, and called it all good. Did 
 God ever pronounce a sickness good? Did God ever 
 make a tooth to ache, a joint to swell, an eye to grow 
 dim, and back to bend? No, God made happiness the 
 law of all being, I am sure, or He should not have pro- 
 nounced it good. So the new earth will come back to 
 law and regularity again. 
 
 Sickness is the work of the devil, so Jesus said; and 
 nowhere in the Bible does it say the contrary. When 
 Jesus healed the sick woman on the Sabbath, did He 
 not say that Satan had bound her, lo! these many years? 
 Did God ever call a cancer, consumption, rheumatism, 
 gout, lameness, good? No, He has never; but has said 
 they are the effects of the curse of sin. Then, in the 
 new earth that will be given us at the coming of Jesus, 
 sickness will all go. Praise the Lord! It will go now 
 from the bodies that have faith for healing. Even if I 
 am sick, I will say it. Horace Mann said, "God could 
 never have made man as he now is." That is a truth 
 of Scriptures. All hail the day when the works of the 
 devil shall all be destroyed, and forever! 
 
 In keeping with the above, the climate will be 
 changed in the new earth. Order being heaven's first 
 law next to holiness, the disorder of storm and extremes 
 of cold and heat must be supplanted. The storms of the 
 summer sky are the body — nature — disturbed with an 
 
The Glorious Hope. 317 
 
 ague, a chill, a bilious attack. No cyclones in Eden. O, 
 the sunstrokes ; floods of China, that sweep in death-deal- 
 ing surges down upon the unprotected people; the life- 
 destroying famine of India, now raging, claiming its 
 victims by the thousands; the terrible blizzard of the 
 Northwest — are all marks of the absence of the order 
 of the first creation. Earthquakes have heaved and 
 tossed this old earth; floods have swept it of its inhabit- 
 ants; famines have enfeebled and impoverished whole 
 nations and generations; pestilence and plagues have 
 wasted. But this shall give place to the perfect order 
 of God's ideal world. But some will, no doubt, think 
 this is too good to be true. So might the man think 
 who had never been well, if offered good health. This 
 means a great change, some will say. Yes, there will 
 be a great change if the meek only are to inhabit the 
 earth; if all the wicked shall be banished from the face 
 of the earth, as we read in Thessalonians. But that 
 means but little to God. He that made the worlds can 
 change one, no doubt. And, then, changes have taken 
 place. All that is wrong now has come into it since 
 God turned it from His hand, saying, "It is good;" and 
 if the devil could change it thus, surely God can change 
 it back again. But God will change us in the twinkle 
 of an eye; so will He, with like speed, alter the earth. 
 However, it shall be done when Jesus comes. 
 
 The earth is changing now from hot to cold. In 
 the days of Zoroaster, an earthquake so changed the 
 climate that critics think it had a saddening effect on 
 his spirits. But when Jesus comes and brings back the 
 Edenic state to the earth, how grand it will be! 
 
 Besides, it is not unthinkable to have things as we 
 picture. We now have good seasons of several days' 
 
318 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 duration without storms. Why not have them extended 
 to ages? We now have seasons of perfect temperature. 
 Why not protract them to ages? There was a time 
 when no storms, no pestilence, no famine, no floods, no 
 disease or death, weeded or wasted the earth. We shall 
 have this Eden-state again for a thousand years. Glory! 
 Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly! 
 
 O, this world will then be fit for the glorified Christ 
 and the heavenly inhabitants that shall come with Him! 
 
 Then this world shall be w r ell peopled. The untold 
 millions of faithful shall be there or here. All those who 
 have gone before, that loved God, and served Him in 
 spirit and in truth, shall be here. But, best of all, this 
 earth shall be an Eden, with the Almighty dwelling 
 among men. O, how shall my heart rejoice! 
 
 God may swing this planet higher in the heavens, 
 environ it with a better, a grander sky; for it is to be 
 new too. A thousands suns may flash their commin- 
 gling rays together to gladden and lighten this home 
 of the faithful. A myriad of moons may be evoked to 
 do duty at evening, so that a sable ray shall not fall 
 on our planet for a thousand years. The perfect atmos- 
 phere of the higher state of earth shall minister to all 
 the conditions of health. The noble associations of the 
 new earth shall contribute to fill our cup of joy to the 
 full. The unclouded presence of God, brought near by 
 perfect adjustment, shall satisfy the longing of our 
 hungry hearts; while, methinks, the angel bands, now 
 dwelling in obscurity, shall render music that will rival 
 the thousand choirs of earth; and the smiles of a lov- 
 ing God shall fill every cup with joy. 
 
 Yes, the earth shall be filled with men and women 
 that love the right, and do it; that worship God and 
 
The Glorious Hope. 319 
 
 know Him. When all bigotry and persecution and ec- 
 clesiastic hate and tyranny shall be as much a stranger 
 here as grace is now to the bigot's heart. No more will 
 a Wickliff or a Huss be called to burn for their faith by 
 those who had no faith. No more will the jails groan 
 with the best of earth's fair sons and daughters. No 
 more will the graveyards be peopled by the untimely 
 death of the overworked saints. No more shall Christ's 
 name be cast out as evil; but 'mid joy and rejoicing, 
 the saint from Africa's burning sands shall strike glad 
 hands with the worshiper from Iceland's frigid snows. 
 Then the wronged Indian of America and the oppressed 
 slave of India shall together walk to worship their God, 
 while the continents and islands of the seas shall all join 
 to swell the angelic chorus to crown Jesus Christ Lord 
 of all. 
 
 This world now is beautiful, but it has its dark cor- 
 ners. Homes are now happy, but they have their clos- 
 eted skeletons. Fields now are fair, but they have their 
 droughts and famines. Valleys are fertile and flowery- 
 grassed, but they have their floods. Health now men 
 have, but there is ever-menacing sickness. Summer 
 now we have, but it is terminated by biting frosts. Hap- 
 piness we now have, but every hour is threatened with 
 a surprise of sorrow. Prosperity now we have, but death 
 stands defiant in our way, to cut short all triumph. 
 Knowledge now we have, but a vast continent just be- 
 gins to open to our view when we are closing our life's 
 work. But, then, we are to have a thousand years to 
 grow in knowledge, in a world where sin and sorrow, 
 pain and death, shall never come. 
 
 Now, ths is the hope, the blessed hope, yea, the glori- 
 ous hope of the text. Not that I have exhausted the sub- 
 
320 Word and Work of David J. Lewis. 
 
 ject, or even done it justice, but in some faint degree this 
 will be the earth we hope for. For this hope, God asks us 
 to hold, as mere stewards, the riches of this weak, wicked, 
 worrisome world. He asks us to spend and be spent, to 
 get men ready for the coming new conditions. He tells 
 us this is an objective point, to which we are ever to 
 travel. For this hope we are to endure, as His trusty 
 servants, all the ills of life. He tells us if we endure 
 now, we shall then reign. Not that it is a sin to have 
 the good things of the low-conditioned life, but that we 
 must forego a slavery to them for the higher mastery 
 of the Son of God. All sin, by this hope, is crowded 
 out. Selfishness can no more dominate our motives. 
 We care but little for the crumb of comfort now extracted 
 from the stingy elements about us, when we shall soon 
 have the whole realm of a rejuvenated earth to enjoy 
 But the crowning hope is: We shall be ourselves trans- 
 formed into new beings. "Like Christ" is the pattern 
 the Bible gives us. A new earth and a new race! Can 
 God do this? This is my hope, founded on the sure 
 Word of God. To doubt it, I put myself with the in- 
 fidel. To refuse to allow it to influence my life is to 
 become a sinner once more; but, yielding to it, and 
 hoping for it, and rejoicing in it, is the spirit that over- 
 comes this world. 
 
 Shall we share it together? By God's grace we may. 
 By God's grace I shall. So, pitching my tent toward 
 the sunrise of that grand day, I shall wait and watch and 
 work till my soul is ravished with the vision of the glo- 
 rious appearing of Him whose right it is to rule and 
 reign. 
 
THE REVIVALIST. 
 
 A FULL SALVATION JOURNAL, 
 
 Published WEEKLY in the interest of 
 
 THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. 
 
 FREE PROM QUESTIONABLE ADVERTISEMENTS, 
 
 Pentecostal. Missionary. 
 
 Loyal Evangelical. 
 
 "In essentials, unity; in non-esientials, liberty; in all 
 things, charity." 
 
 GOD, WHOM WE SERVE, - Proprietor, 
 
 M. W. KNAPP, ---••- Editor. 
 SETH C. REES, • * • • Associate, 
 
 W. N. HIRST, - • • • Book Department* 
 BYRON J. REES, - - - Review Editor* 
 
 W. B. GODBEY, Sunday-school and Question Drawer* 
 MRS. M. W. KNAPP, Young People's Department. 
 
 OBJECT. 
 
 To promote deep spirituality among all believers* 
 
 To magnify the New Testament standard of piety and 
 doctrine, especially emphasizing Scriptural Regeneration 
 for sinners and the Baptism with the Holy Ghost for ail of 
 God's children. 
 
 To help spread the Gospel of Bible Holiness over "all 
 the world." 
 
 To oppose the formality, worldliness and ecclesiastical 
 usurpation which threaten the very life of the believer. 
 
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 all matters not sinfuL 
 
 By God's grace wr hope to make it one of TJQB BIST 
 PAPERS ISSUED. 
 
 PRICE, $1.00 PER YEAR. 
 83^* Agents wanted everywhere. 
 m. W. KNAPP, Publisher, - - Cincinnati, OMo, 
 
The Ideal Pentecostal Church, 
 
 By SETH C. REES. 
 
 Quaker Minister and Evangbust. 
 
 Like the Bible and life of Jesus, It 
 combines the characteristics of the LAMB 
 and the LION, the LILY and the LIGHT* 
 XING. 
 
 Contents : Chapter I. Opening Words. II. The Ideal 
 Pentecostal Church is Composed of Regenerated Souls. III. 
 A Clean Church. IV. A Powerful Church. V. A Powerful 
 Church— Continued. VI. A Witnessing Church. VII. With- 
 out Distinction as to Sex. VIII. A Liberal Church. IX. A 
 Demonstrative Church. X. An Attractive Church — Draws the 
 People Together. XI. Puts People Under Conviction. XII. 
 Will Have Healthy Converts. *XIII. A Joyful Church. XIV 
 A Unit XV. The Power of the Lord is Present to Heal the 
 Sick. XVI. A Missionary Church. XVII. Out of Bondage. 
 XVIII. Entering into Canaan. XIX. The Land and Its Re- 
 sources. XX Samson. XXI. Power Above the Power of 
 the Enemy. XXII. Compromise and its Evil Effects. XXIII. 
 Sermon. XXIV. The Author's Experience. 
 
 The following are a few sample drops from the 
 CURRENT OF COMMENDATIONS: 
 
 Dr. Carradlne.—" As for Brother Rees, I know of no man in the Holiness 
 ranks to-day who preaches more convincingly and unctiously than himself. 
 I do most heartily commend him and his wife to my friends and brethren, 
 North and South, who desire a man filled with the Holy Ghost, and one 
 who is as good a leader as he is a preacher.' 
 
 W. B. Godbey.— " The Pentecostal Church, by Rev. Seth C. Rees, the 
 fire-baptized Quaker, is a Niagara from beginning to end. It is orthodox 
 and full of experimental truth and Holy Ghost fire. You can not afford to 
 do without it. I guarantee you will be delighted and electrified from 
 Heaven's batteries." 
 
 Christian Standard.—" It is safe, sound and evangelical, uncontroversial 
 and admirably adapted to circulation among all believers." 
 
 Michigan Christian Advocate.—*' He writes in a sweet and attractive spirit. 
 We could wish it a wide circulation." 
 
 Religious Telescope.—" It is written in clear, nervous English and glows 
 throughout with the evangelical fervor of its author." 
 
 Rev. George Hughes, Editor of the Guide to Holiness.—" I like it; it is square 
 out, and that suits me. It ought to have a good sale." 
 
 Rev. John M. Pike, Editor of Way and Faith.—" The book glows and burns 
 with Holy Ghost fire, and has stirred our spiritual being to its very depths." 
 
 It is well printed on good paper, and is neatly bound. It 
 contains 134 pages, making a beautiful and very cheap book. 
 Price, 50 cts.; 4 copies, postpaid, $1.50. Agents wanted 
 everywhere. Special rates to publishers, ministers and for free 
 distribution by the quantity. < Address, 
 
GODBEY'S 
 
 NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 VOL. I. Revelation Price, $1 . 00 
 
 VOL. II. Hebrews (Perfection), James (Practice), 
 Peter (Fire), John (Love), Jude 
 (Lightning). 434 pages. Price, post- 
 paid I .25 
 
 VOL. III. Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, I. 
 and II. Thessalonians, I. and II. 
 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. Pres- 
 ent Price 1 . 00 
 
 VOL. IV. Corinthians to Galatians. Over 500 
 
 pages. Price 1.50 
 
 VOL. V. Acts and Romans, over 500 pages. 
 
 Price 1 .50 
 
 20 per cent, discount to all who order the whole set, paying 
 for each Yolunie as issued. 
 
 NOTICE. 
 
 1. It is condensed. It omits all passages which need 
 no explaining, and deals thoroughly with the difficult 
 ones, thus giving the reader the greatest possible value 
 for his money. 2. It throws floods of new light upon 
 many important passages. 3. It shows the proper trans- 
 lation of the New Testament, and sweeps sophistical ar- 
 guments against holiness triumphantly from the field. 
 4. It will doubtless be the great Holiness Commentary on 
 the New Testament for coming years, as it is written 
 from a holiness standpoint by one of the ablest evangel- 
 istic Greek New Testament translators of any age. 
 
 THE GENERAL VERDICT 
 
 Of many of its readers is voiced in the following notices 
 of Vol. I.: "Of intense interest."— The Methodist. 
 "Practical, spiritual, interesting and instructive."— Be- 
 ligious Telescope. "A remarkable book, worth much tc 
 thoughtful people. "—Pastor T. E. B. Anderson. "A 
 graphic and powerful representation of the author's in- 
 terpretation. "—Michigan Christian Advocate. "It is by 
 a vigorous thinker and pungent writer. It is worthy a 
 thoughtful and prayerful perusal."— Guide to Holiness." 
 
 OTHER BOOKS BY THIS AUTHOR. 
 
 Victory 25c. Spiritual Gifts and 
 
 Holy Land 40c. Graces 25c. 
 
 Sanctiflcation 25c. Christian Perfection. . . . 26c. 
 
 Holiness or Hell 30c . The Woman Preacher . . lie. 
 
 FOUR COPIES OF ANY SET FOE THE PRICE 
 OF ONLY THREE. 
 
* * dolportage * * 
 Molineee Booklets. 
 
 pentecostaL 
 Jloral. 6vangelicaL 
 
 Salvation Papers. S. A. Keen. 10c. 
 
 The Better Way . Abridged. B. Carradine. IOo. 
 
 The Double Cure. M. W . Knapp. 10c. 
 
 Gifts and Graces. W. B. Godbey. 10c. 
 
 Victory. W. B. GODBEY. 10c. 
 
 Sins Versus Infirmities. B. S. Taylor. 10c. 
 
 Canaanltes. B. S. Taylor. 10c. 
 
 Salvation Melodies. From " Tears and Triumphs." IOo. 
 
 Pentecostal Sanctlfication. S. A. Keen. 10c. 
 
 Holy Land. W. B. Godbey. 10c. 
 
 Pentecostal Church. Abridged. S. C. Ree3. 10c. 
 
 Pentecostal Preachers. From " Bolts." M. W. Knapp. 10c. 
 
 Sanctified Life. Abridged. B. Carradine. 10c. 
 
 Pentecostal Light. A. M. Hills. 10c. 
 
 Romanism to Pentecost. J.S.Dempster. 10c. 
 
 Types of the Spirit. G. D. Watson. 10c. 
 
 Spirit of Jesus. E. H. Dashiell. 10c. 
 
 Pentecostal Wine from *« Bible Grapes." By Carradine, Bees, and 
 
 others. 140 pp. 20c. 
 Impressions. M. W. Knapp. 140 pp.- 20c. 
 Life of Madam Guyon. Introduction by Abbie C. Morrow. 20c. 
 
 River of Death. M. W. Knapp. (For the young.) 15c. 
 
 Morning Glories. Abbie C. Morrow. (For the Young.) 20c. 
 
 Plashes from Lightning Bolts. M. W. Knapp. 15c. 
 
 Burning Coals. From Fire from Heaven. Seth C. Rees. 10c. 
 
 Joy and Rejoicing. Pentecostal Bible Readings. Abbie C. Morrow 
 and C. W. moCrossan. 10c. 
 
 The Heart-Cry of Jesus. Byron J. Rees. 10c. 
 
 Pentecostal Messengers. Seth C. Rees, B. Carradine, W. B. God- 
 bey, A. M. Hills, and others. 10c. 
 
 Sparks from Revival Kindlings. M. W. Knapp. 10c. 
 
 Light and Shadow. Christian Science Exposed. Forrest W. Beers. 
 15c. 
 
 Jesus Only. Year Book. By Godbey, Carradine, Rees, and oth- 
 ers. 25c. 
 
 Pentecostal Aggressiveness. M. W. Knapp. 10c. 
 
 Paul to the Thessalonians. W. B. Godbey. 10c. 
 
 Out of Egypt Into Canaan. (Reprint.) M. W. Knapp. 25c. 
 
 Food for Lambs. Abridged. A.M. Hills. 10c. 
 
 Pentecostal Kernels. D. B. Updegraff. 10c. 
 
 The Holy Nation. R. L. Selle. 10c. 
 
 Whosoever Gospel. A. M. Hills. 10c. 
 
 Trumpet Calls to the Unconverted. Byron J. Rees. 20c. 
 
 Electric Shocks from Pentecostal Batteries. Food and Fire from Sal- 
 vation Park Camp-meeting. 20c. 
 
 The Return of Jesus. W. B. Godbey and Seth C. Rees. 10c. 
 
 Soul Laws in Sexual, Social, and Spiritual Life. F. S. Heath. IOo. 
 
 Life of Faith Through Geo. Muller. Abbie C. Morrow. 20c. 
 
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