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T H E
THE
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LFZIZI'?  _                     L?__I i Z'_  
COMPILED BY WILLIAM T. SMITHSON.
THIRD EDITION.
WASHINGTON, D. C.
PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM T. SMITHSON,
FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH SOUTH,
IN THE CITY OF WASHINGTON.
1859. 
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C ONTENTS.
PAGE
HEAVENLY TREASURES CONTRASTED WITH EARTHLY........ 9
By Rev. W. M. WIGHTMAN, D. D., President of Wofford College.
LABOR AND REST....................................... 21
By Rev. Jos. CROSS, D. D., South Carolina Conference.
THE DIVINITY OF THE CHURCH...........................39
By Rev. C. B. PARSONS, D. D., St. Louis Conference.
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST............................... 57
By Rev. G. F. PIERCE, D. D., Bishop of the X. E. Church South.
ANGELIC STUDY................................... 79
By Rev. JOHN W. HANNER, D. D., Tennessee Conference.
GOD AND MAN CO-VORKERS IN THE SALVATION OF THE SOUL.  93
By Rev. EDWARD WADSWORTII, D. D., Alabamca Conference.
GOD IN CHRIST JESUS.................................. 109
By Rev. A. MEAN-S, D. D., Georgia Conference.
MAN SUBJECTED TO THE LAW OF SUFFERING................ 129
By Rev. WHITEFOORD SMITHI, D. D., South aro,iina Co?nference.
THE OBJECTS OF ANGELIC CURIOSITY........................ 139
By Rev. THOMAS 0. SUMMERS, D. D., Alabama Conference.
THE PERFECT LAW OP LIBERTY......................         155
By JOSHUA SOULE, D. D., Senior Bishop of the MA. B. Church, South. 
4                         CONTENTS.
SALVATION IN ITS INDIVIDUAL RELATIONS...................   217
By Rev. THOMAS BOSWELL, D. D., Memphis Conference.
CHARACTERISTICS OF ABRAHAM'S FAITH.................. 237
By Rev. L. D. HUSTON, D. D., Kentucky Conference.
RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD........................... 249
By Rev. S. G. STARKS, A. M., Pres't Tennessee Femnale College.
SIN AND PUNISHMENT OF SELFISH WEALT           H..............275
By Rev. LEROY M. LEE, D.D., Virginia Conference.
RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLE.............................289
By Rev. JOSEPHiUS ANDERSON, A. M., Florida Conference.
ALL THINGS WORK FOR GOOD.....................*!. 303
By Rev. JOHN C. GRANBERY, Virginia Conference.
C3RIST AND PILATE...................................      319
By Rev. D. S. DOGGETT, D. D., Virginia Conference.
LABOR: THE LAW OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESS............... 329
By Rev. JOHN E. EDWARDS, A. M., Virginia Uovferene.
THE WORD OF GOD: THE ONLY SAFEGUARD'.............347
By Rev. E. E. WILEY, D. D:, Holston Conference.
THE GOSPEL: ITS CHARACTER, REQUIREMENTS AND BLESSINGS 357
By Rev. NELSON HEAD, Virginia Conference.
STATE OF THE SOUL BETWEEN DEATH AND RESURRECTION... 373
By Rev. H. N. M' TYEIRE, D. D., Louisiana Conference.
GLORYING IN THE CROSS................................ 389
By Rev. N. F. REID, A. M., North Carolina Conference.
MINISTERIAL SOLICITUDE...........................399
By Rev. E. M. MARVIN, St. Louis Conference.
TE HOLY SCRIPTURES.............................. 413 
PREFAOE.
I cheerfully comply with the request of Mr. SHITHSON, to whose enterprise this volume is due, that I would introduce it to the public, and solicit
in its favor a friendly criticism and a liberal patronage. Though the original motive of its publication was his zeal in behalf of a particular society of
Methodists, or rather of Southern Methodism, as her interests are involved
in the Church which represents her at the Federal Metropolis, it has been
his ambition to make it a gem of art and a treasury of sacred eloquence
worthy to adorn the centre-table of every parlor, to rank in the library
with other models of pulpit oratory, and to descend to succeeding ages in
just honor to the faithful ministry of our day. He is free to confess that
he has not perfectly succeeded in realizing the harmony and completeness
of his design; and he pleads as his apology for any defect, the haste in
which it was necessarily got up, and his inexperience in book-making.  He
had expected the volume to be of larger size; and he greatly regrets that
every Conference in our connection has not been represented, and that in
a few instances he has not secured engravings of the authors. But I have
all confidence that there will be no dissent among its generous patrons from
the estimate I set upon it, in pronouncing it to be worth far more than it
costs, and to reflect credit both on him and on the whole Church. The
number and style of the engravings enhance greatly the expense of the book
to him, and its value to the subscriber. A considerable circulation will be
required to cover that single item.  The sermons, with a few exceptions, 
6                               PREFACE.
Mr. SMIITHSON for reproducing in a permanent form the sermon of our venerable father, BISHOP SOULE, which had such celebrity more than a quarter
of a century ago. We had fondly hoped to obtain from him, though by
the pen of an amanuensis, a legacy of counsel and encouragement to the
Church he has so long served, and from whom he must soon separate: by
the infirmities of disease, added to those of age, denied us the boon. It is
a timely work to present to the public now an accurate engraving of that
majestic but benignant face, on which the vast majority of us cannot hereafter look, and a discourse, the product of his prime and the admiration of
our fathers, by which, even when dead, he will yet speak. There will also
be an unanimous approval of the perpetuation of the noble discourse
preached by BISHOP PIERCE on the death of BISHOP CAPERS, as a tribute
to one whose saintly spirit, silvery eloquence, and abundant labors will not
soon be forgotten, and as a masterpiece of a living orator who deserved to
be his associate in the high office of the Episcopacy. With the exception
of the writer, who owes his place among the great men of our Israel to the
accident of his present pastoral relation to the Church for whose benefit
this work was projected, the contributors have been chosen because of their
eminence in their respective sections, and far beyond. Their names are
"familiar as household words" throughout the South, and guaranty the
amplest success to the volume. Their sermons, aided by the most correct
and elegant likenesses which art could produce, will bring before the minds
of vast numbers who have listened with delight and profit to their preaching, the living men and the living voices. Those who know them only by
the fame of their virtues, their talents and labors, will rejoice to see their
faces in these faithful engravings, and to read at leisure the printed words
which, as they came from the lips and the warm heart, were clothed with
so much spiritual power. The next generation will gladly learn in these
pages something more about the men whose praise was a favorite theme
with their fathers.
The name of WILLIAM T. SMITHSON has been prominently before the 
PREFACE.                                   7
then he was at liberty to indulge the modest, quiet, and retiring disposition
so characteristic of him, without detriment to the cause of Christ, which
was then, as it still is, dear to his heart.  Since his removal to this  city,
peculiar circumstances have called forth more remarkable displays of wholesouled generosity and untiring energy, in behalf of the church to which he
has ever shown himself a true son. His zeal has been no partizan heat
against any body of Christians, but a pure affection for the church with
which he is identified by every tie of birth, education, faith, and communion. Here had been planted, in a soil and climate which seemed ungenial,
a feeble society in connection with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
He and others of like spirit have watched with solicitude and nursed with
care this little slip, struggling doubtfully for existence. He saw that if a
neat, commodious, and accessible place of worship could be procured, it
would attract in future the numerous Methodists who should move to the
Metropolis from all parts of the South-a class who had been heretofore lost
to us, either by joining the societies under the jurisdiction of the Baltimore
Conference, or by straggling off from their mother to other denominations,
or by relapsing into the world —a course to which alas! strangers moving
to this city of fashion and dissipation are too prone. The chief obstacle to
the realization of this bright vision has been the smallness and poverty of
our membership, and the consequent lack of funds to place themselves in a
condition which would not only keep them alive, but attract to them the
attention of the public interested in their welfare, during the period necessary for the operation of the causes already indicated. A debt has been
incurred in the partial fulfilment of this object; and I am happy to state,
as I can with certainty, that the increase in members, congregation, and
all other elements of success which had been anticipated, has already begun and progressed to a cheering degree. I may call the present year one
of prosperity in numbers, finances, and usefulness. The fragile slip lives,
grows, is destined to flourish and be fruitful. This volume is one of a
series of efforts to raise the money which the members really have not the 
~~~~8    ~PREFACE.
hither with their families to fill various offices, from clerkships in the different departments of Government, to seats in the Cabinet, the Senate and
House of Representatives, and it may be to the Chief Magistracy of the
Union.
JOHN C. GRANBERY.
WASHINGTON, November, 1858.  
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SERMONS.
HEAVENLY TREASURES CONTRASTED WITH EARTHLY.
BY WM. M. WIGHTMAN, D. D.,
PRESIDENT OF WOF.FORD COLLEGE.
' Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth
corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where
thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will
your heart be also."-Matt. vi, 19-21.
This passage is taken from our  Lord's sermon on the mounta sermon of important texts, as it has been happily described-a sermon, of which the preacher is the Word and Wisdom of God; every
sentiment of which is as practical and adapted to daily life, as it is
weights and clad with the authority of a teacher sent directly from
God. The subject which is thus brought to our attention contains
the highest wisdom, and involves the duty and happiness of time, the
destiny of eternity.
The text presents a contrat between earthly treasures and heavenly;  it presses an earnest warning against the seductions of the one,
and an equally earnest direction to secure the other.  The spirit of
the passage is, that spiritual and heavenly things are, and ought to
be considered, the great objects of pursuit to man, since they alone
are imperishable, satisfying, and worthy of the ambition of an immortal mind.
The terms in which the great lesson of the text is delivered, are 
10                   IHEAVENLY AND EAI,TIILY
'ulture wants-against all accumulation of property, with whatever
.ntention; but the expression means, according to the hiebrew idiom,
that we should prefer heavenly to earthly treasures-should seek
them first and foremost-as of a v4lue and importance infinitely higher.
Thus, further on, the great Teacher bids us take no thought for the
morrow; evidently, from the whole scope of the discourse, meaning
no anxious thought-the precept lying not against forethought altogether, (one of the noblest attributes of human intelligence)-but
against all such carking care for the morrow as a distrust of the Divine
Providence would beget, and which would be fatal to settled peace
of mind.
It is undeniable that the present life has its claims-subordinate,
certainly, to the higher claims of the life to come, yet in their measure real and substantial, and demanding our serious regard. Nay,
these subordinate interests are themselves included in the covenant
grant of the gospel, and made matters of specific promise   "Seek
ye- first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these
things shall be added unto you." Whilst therefore the injunction of
the text does not oppose a proper attention to the temporary interests of human life, it may be understood to lie against the hoarding
up of useless wealth. Absurd as such a procedure is, it often happens that money is accumulated solely for its own sake, and without
any respect to its uses and advantages. The insane passion of the
mniser who starves in his wretched garret that he may add to his gains,
is only an extreme illustration of a tendency too often witnessed.
Even large wealth may be so held as to confer no benefit upon its
possessor or the world. Instead of being regarded as an important
talent committed to us to be wisely ant generously used, it may be
looked upon as absolutely our own, and hoarded up as though God
and the world had no right to demand at our hands a religious employment of it-no poor man may be relieved, no benevolent institution fostered, no religious interest served by it. Riches may become
not our servants, but our masters. We may surrender ourselves to
the domination of the sordid lust of gain, sacrifice conscience and
duty to God in this wretched servitude, and glory in the gilded badges
of our slavery.  Obviously, " no man can serve God and Mammon."
Furthermore, the spirit of the precept here delivered by our Lord
implies that the acquisition of property is not to be matter of anxiety
to us, so as to prevent our contentment with the lot in life in which 
TREASURES CONTRASTED.                         1 l
Providence has placed us, or our constant dependence on God.   We
hold that it is every man's privilege to endeavor to better his circumstances. This may be attempted in a spirit of discontent, of murmuring and repining at our present condition; or it may be done in
a far different spirit, and ini due submission to the Divine will. While
the latter is both lawful and commendable, the former course is interdicted, and carries its condemnation in its face.
We hardly need to add, that the precept before us prohibits the
accumulation of property for unworthy and sinful ends. Whenever it
is an object of ardent desire and eager pursuit, that it may foster our
pride, pamper luxurious tastes, minister to sinful pleasures, encourage effeminacy, or dissolve our energies in indolent repose, then at
once the motive desecrates the pursuit. Sought for such ends, wealth
becomes an unmitigated curse to the soul.
The lesson taught us in the text is the vast superiority of heavenly
treasures over earthly; and the emphatic exhortation given us is to
lay up the former rather than the latter. This superiority is exhibited in the following particulars: 1. Their incorruptibility; 2. Their
security; 3. Their suitableness to the spiritual, immortal nature of
man.  Then the exhortation is enforced by the considerations 1. Of
the susceptibility of augmentation in the case of heavenly treasures
and, 2. Of the invariable connection between our affections and our
treasures.
In general terms, treasure may be defined as provision for the
future.  What instinct supplies to the bee and the ant, reason and
experience teach man. The fact that our necessities require daily
supplies, suggests the propriety of anticipating to-day the wants of
to-morrow, and providing to meet them as they come. Even in a
state of semi-savageism, the Indian of the prairies learns that winter
will come, when his supplies from the chase must cease, and that corn
should be planted in the spring to furnish him with food, when other
resources fail. Earthly treasures, particularly among ancient Oriental nations, consisted of stores of corn, wine, and oil; of ample
wardrobes of rich and costly garments; of numerous flocks and herds;
of gems and precious stones; of silver and golden vessels. In modern times, earthly treasures are composed of landed estates, splendid
mansions, elegant furniture, galleries of art, cellars stocked with winess
stables filled with horses, ample revenues from fixed capital, and the
like. 
12                   HEAVENLY AND EARTHLY
"Heavenly treasures" is an expression meant to mark and set
forth the resources and reversionary interests of an immortal spirit,
brought into possession of the favor of God, created anew in the
Divine image, and made graciously an heir of the promises of the
gospel'in Christ Jesus. These may be summed up in the riches of
grace for the life that now is, and the riches of glory in the life
which is to come. They are, of course, spiritual, satisfying, immortal.
These two are contrasted in the text.  The superiority of heavenly
treasures is seen, first, in their incorruptibility. Earthly treasures,
in their ancient form, were emphatically corruptible.  The stores of
corn, wine, and oil, were perishable. Their rich wardrobes, their
costly fabrics of silk and wool, were proverbially the prey of the
moth and mildew. The corrosions of rust affected their precious
metals. If modern treasures seem to claim an exemption from the
rapid processes of natural decay, they nevertheless are subject in
the long run to the same law of decay. The towered castle, which
a few generations ago seemed to stand in monumental grandeur, defying the tooth of time, falls ultimately into ruin; the lichens and
ivy grow in the widening crevices of its walls; the gradual inroads
of heat and moisture, of wind and rain, are all the while corroding
battlemented turrets, iron-ribbed gates, granite foundations. A few
hundred years will suffice to lay low the proudest structures of wealth
and ambition.
How stands the case with heavenly treasures? They are intellectual, consequently of the essence of mind itself; spiritual, and resist the law of decay which attaches to material substances; immortal
and eternal as the God whose favor, attributes, glory, and heaven,
constitute part and parcel of them. War, famine, fire, sword, revolution, and whatever else may be found to alienate earthly possessions,
cannot touch these heavenly treasures. They enter into the constitution of the mind itself, and defy the point of the sword, the engines
of torture, the inquisitor's faggot, the executioner's axe, the decay
of the body, the very grave itself. So far, then, as corruptibility is
concerned, there may be contrast,-there can be no comparison.
Or  secndy  if we loo  at teeciyofec,  the sam  conclu 
TREASURES CONTRASTED.                        13
field; but some unlooked-for civil commotion may pluck it from
our hands, and turn us out of its possession. Lightning may rend
ancestral halls; the incendiary's fires may leave the palace a blackened
ruin. Or, if we overlook fortuitous visitations of calamity; if we
suppose that no commercial convulsions shall shake the securities on
which we lean,-no popular tumult overturn the established foundations of property, and send us adrift upon a sea covered with the
wrecks of fortune; yet at least, it is the inevitable doom that we
must ourselves, ere long, leave all earthly possessions behind. Let
the man of wealth multiply his precautions. I care not if he be a
monarch, and can post an army around his palace. Disease laughs
at the glittering array of his guards; walks with unceremonious front
along his corridors, across his portals, into his embroidered chamber,
indifferent to its robes of state, and'its Arabian perfumes. Death,
who cannot be bribed by the gold of an empire, challenges his victim. Like the meanest serf, the throned king must heed, must obey
that summons. Every man that lives and breathes must reckon on
such a visitation.  Then where is the rich man's wealth?  Can he
carry his millions into the eternal state?  Will his bonds and stocks,
his landed property, his merchant-ships with Eastern  cargoes- will
any of these be available to him in that dread futurity which is his
eternal lot? So far as earthly treasures are concerned, what is the
difference between the soul of a rich man and of a beggar, a moment
after death? Can you tell, as each takes its flight to its eternal destination, which was fortune's favorite, and which has just left its garret and its rags? Tell me not, then, of treasures held by so frail a
tenure, and which, sooner or later, by an inevitable destiny, will
desert us!
Contemplate, on the other hand, heavenly treasures, especially in
connection with the close of life. Down to the meeting-place between
eternity and time, the treasures of earth may follow us; but there
they fail us. A winding-sheet and six feet of earth is all that remains of hoarded millions. How different is the case in respect to
the treasures of the soul!   Death shall sooner quench the dimless
ray of intellect, and dissolve the indestructible essence of mind, and
annihilate the grave-defying soul of man, than touch the inward
peace, the calm serenity, the assured faith in the Redeemer, the
mounting hope, the heaven-kindled love, the far-flying joy, in which
are found the true treasures of the gracious soul. Let the body dieI' 
14                   HEAVENLY AND EARTHLY
Let the last expiring struggle give the signal of sorrow to those who
have hung with speechless anxiety over the couch of sickness. Carry
to the grave, and to cold oblivion, the frail vehicle in which the
spirit has passed its earthly sojourn.  Death but sets the spirit free;
and with its indestructible treasures that spirit hastens to its endless
home in the heavenly country, in the eternal city of God!
Thirdly. We may try the case by considering the relative suitableness of earthly and heavenly treasures to the wants of man. And
here it is admitted that earthly treasures, to some extent, do minister
to the necessities of the present life. Man lives, in part at least, by
bread. So long as his daily labor suffices to procure what is necessary to sustain life and give vigor to health, he is to a large extent
independent of wealth. Nevertheless, sickness may wither the muscular arm and bend the stout frame. It is desirable that some provision should be made for age, infirmity, the education of children,
and general usefulness in the world.   Be it so.  Yet, after all, it
remains true that
"Man wants but little here below,
Nor wants that little long."
Over and beyond the amount of property needful for this, and
leaving out of consideration a christian use of riches, it is maintained
that wealth in itself has no property to satisfy the inner cravings of
the soul. The rich man thinks he can afford to keep a luxurious
table. Be it so. Let the. ends of the earth be put under contribution to minister to his palate.  After all, he can eat but three times
a day-at most, four; and each time only a given quantity; if he
goes beyond that, dyspepsia and gout are the penalty. His cellar
may be stocked with the wines of Italy, Spain, and the Rhine: he
can drink but his single bottle at his dinner. His hard-working
neighbor goes to his homely fare with an edge of appetite vastly
keener, and enjoys his frugal meal with a relish as exquisite as the
millionaire.  Hunger is the best sauce, and a good digestion obviates
all necessity for a French cook. The poor man sits at his humble
board with his little family; the rich gourmand invites company-in 
TREASURES CONTRASTED.                        15
dollars for his night's dissipation, and tells you he has enjoyed himself; the other pays nothing, and enjoys himself fully as much, without the fuming and flurry of spirits beforehand, and perchance the
vexation, headache, and touches of remorse, afterwards. How is the
one any better off, so far as satisfaction is concerned, than the other?
The case would be different, we admit, if wealth could buy peace
of mind, genius, beauty, learning, wit, or even love. But none of
these are marketable qualities; they are not to be commanded by
money. No, nor even exemption from sickness, much less the approach of death. The man of wealth may change his locality at.will.
He may cross seas, scale mountains, visit watering-places;  but he
cannot get away from himself; he cannot escape the tedium of a
listless mind, the weariness of a sated palate, and a heart ill at ease.
And for the rest, he breathes nothing better than  the common air
which expands the lungs of the meanest slave; he cannot appropriate
to himself heaven's sunshine-free to all; the very same sky expands
over the poor; its "majestical canopy fretted with golden fire," its
sunset draperies, its gorgeous cloud-pictures, are spread out to the
eye of the poor and the rich alike.
But behold, how deep, how vast, are the real wants of a soul immaterial. That man was emphatically a fool, who said to his soul"Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine
ease, eat, drink, and be merry!"  Can any of the combinations of
material, gross, outward things satisfy the pinings of a spirit made in
the image of God, and fill the abysmal depths of its capacities? It
must occasionally speculate upon its origin and destiny. It must
ever and anon revolve the awful problems of life and death, of time
and eternity, moral probation and endless retribution. In quest of
an adequate and self-satisfying enjoyment, it must often ask the question, "Who will show us any good?" Conscious of guilt, it must inquire, "How can a man be just with God?"  What the soul wants is
knowledge truth, especially of a moral and spiritual kind. Its
vigor comes from an enlightened, well-working conscience.   Its
wealth is not that vulgar thing which is reckoned in pounds sterling.
Its property is cultivated moral sentiment, purified affections, high
and holy communion with God and goodness. To make it rich, you
must make it partaker of the provisions of mercy and grace in. the
gospel. It must find an interest in the favor of God through faith
in the sacrifice of the redeeming Son. It must have a well-grounded 
16                   HEAVENLY AND EARTHLY
and clearly ascertained consciousness of this favor. Then it possesses
the peace which passeth understanding.   Its satisfactions are all
from within, and therefore independent of outward circumstances.
Its joy is the exultant glow of a spirit in vital communion with the
Supreme goodness, truth, and holiness; and it moves ou in a path of
brightening improvement-of jubilant progress-towards an endless
home  in Heaven, the glorious goal of its aspirations and efforts.
These are the treasures which the gracious soul finds in the gospel,
and finding is satisfied, and rejoices and is glad all the days of its
earthly pilgrimage. 
But, besides: the soul is immortal. Its conscious existence outruns the brief limits of its probationary term on earth; survives the
stroke of death which dissolves the body; and sweeps onward around
the orbit of a measureless eteinity.
" The spirit shall return to Him
Who gave the heavenly spark;
-   Yet think not, Sun, it shall be dim,
When thou thyself art dark."
Long after the transitory things of earth are passed away and
forgotten, it shall remain young, fresh, hale, in the earlier stages of
its immortal career. Nothing deserves the name of treasure-provision for the future-which does not embrace immortality, and take
in, as the main element of its reckoning, the eternal destination of
the soul.  How strikingly does St. Peter describe, though in negative terms, the reversionary wealth of those who  are "begotten
again"-as" an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth
not away, reserved in the heavens."  Their crown is "a crown of
life;" their glory, "a far, more, exceeding and  eternal weight of
glory."  Earthly treasures, on the other hand, considered not in the
light of talents to be used for the glory of God and the good of man
-rested in as sources of enjoyment,-trusted to as a means of meeting future necessities,-fail, as a matter of course, to answer the wants
of our immortal nature. They are of the earth, earthy; they perish
in the using; or we fly away and leave them forever.  "I have seen
minute-glasses," says one of the old men eloquent of the 17th century,-" glasses so short-lived. If I were to preach upon this text,
to such a glass, it were enough for half the sermon; enough to show
the worldly man his treasure and the object of his heart, to call his
eye to that minute-glass, and to tell him, there flows, there flies your 
TREASURES CONTRASTED.                       17
treasure, and your heart with it. But if I had a secular glass, a
glass that would run an age: if the two hemispheres of the world
were composed in the form of such a glass, and all the world cal cined and burnt to ashes, and all the ashes and sands and atoms of
the world put into that glass, it would not be enough to tell the good
man what his treasure and the object of his heart is."
"Lay up for yourselves treasure in Heaven."  There is, finally,
an exhortation addressed to us on the basis of the foregoing consid erations, to lay up heavenly treasures. And how strong is the appeal
when the incorruptibility, security, and satisfying nature of these are
considered. It is worth our while to make accumulations, if these
may be depended on. We spend not our strength for nought. We
labor with animating encouragement when we are sure that our labor
tells with certain effect upon ultimate success. There is a strong
instinct in the human bosom which prompts us to acquisition; which
seeks for property; which goes out after a possession we can call our
own; Which can be added to and increased by daily or yearly accumulations.  This instinct is most commonly  turned into earthly
channels, and expends its energies upon earthly objects. Christianity comes to refine, expand, ennoble it. It shows us durable
riches:
"Riches ablove what earth can give,
And lasting as the mind."
We are exhorted to add; to give all diligence to add. Abundance
is attainable. Ampler wealth, vaster resources, enlarged opulence,
incite our ambition and stir our laggard pulses.
Is it of the nature of treasure to multiply? Then lay up treasures
in heaven. He that had received five talents went and traded with
them, and made them five talents more.  "Lay up," by visiting the
sick, and ministering to the wants of the destitute.  "Lay up," by
taking God's cause to heart. "Lay up," by taking God's cause
in hand.   "Lay  up," by resisting a temptation, by acquiring or
strengthening a virtue. Do you possess earthly treasures.?, Tremble
at your danger; for " how hardly shall they that have riches enter
into the kingdom of heaven." Avert that danger by taking heed
to the Apostolic injunction: "Charge them that are rich in this
world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches,
but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy: that
they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute,
2 
18                   HEAVENLY AND EARTHLY
willing to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good
foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life." Are you poor? "Godliness with contentment is great
gain."  What is time to eternity?  "If a son, then an heir; an heir
of God, and a joint-heir with Christ." Well may you be content,
with such a destiny before you. Be rich in faith. Cherish the
patience of hope. Your earthly capital may be small, and your
accumulations  may correspond.  It matters little: your spiritual
capital-your soul-treasure, is the main thing. Industry, activity,
consecration to God-what accumulations will they not secure!  Let
shame flush our cheek when we see men of the world in pursuit of
gold: toiling by day, scheming by night, diverted from their object
by no obstacle, alarmed by no danger, periling health, reputation,
life itself, that they may lay up earthly treasures.   We profess to put
a right estimate upon these, in contrast with heavenly treasures
and yet how is our lagging zeal put to the blush, our feeble endeavors shamed, by the example.   Lay up, lay up heavenly treasures!
Dwarf not your expectations to the mean ambition of merely escaping hell-of reaching Heaven, so to speak, by shipwreck. Go for
an ovation; more still, for a conqueror's triumph! Covet an abundant entrance. Aspire to a crown. Win a palace. All Heaven
smiles on aspirations like these.  Jesus himself bids you lay up.
Build your accumulations higher, and higher still. Shine out, 0,
City of God, with jeweled gates and golden walls  and streets
Attract us by the vision of thy loveliness, win us by the melody of
thine anthems!  Thou art our true and proper home; where else
should be our treasures
The exhortation of our Lord, in the text, finds its closing consideration in the fact, that where our treasure is there will our heart be
also. Now, nothing is more certain than that God claims our heart.
The first and great commandment is, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, and with all thy mind, and with all thy
strength." This law is paramount. It lies against that subtle idolatry which is so o(ften paid to wealth.   No shrine may be set up; no
pageantry of outward worship may mark the devotee.  He may not
hi *s heart; and ye  th  hoag  Ema   be prfon  as t   dets of 
TREASURES CONTRASTED.                       19
grosser forms of idolatry; and yet wealth may as effectually dethrone
the supreme God, usurp the ascendency over us, and constitute for us
the great good of life, as though we considered the exchange a temple of worship, our ledgers sacred books written in cabalistic letters,
and the various investments of money the household gods to which
the homage of profound trust and daily devotion was due. Our attention, our delight, our confidence, may all be transferred from the
Creator, blessed forever, to the creature. Satisfied with the stream
we may forget the fountain;  engrossed with the augmentation of
worldly resources, we may become blind to the primary, originating
source of whatever is desirable on earth. Thus, to love the world so
as to make it practically our great good, to trust in riches, is to deny
the God that is above. Hlere then we are brought to a solemn pause.
We must choose the one or the other; God or the world; heavenly
or earthly treasures.
Oh, for that faith which is the evidence of things unseen!-which,
passing through the shadowy phantoms of the present and the visible,
grasps the eternal substance. That alone which is solid, substantial,
abiding, is worthy of the heart of man; fills its ideas and its hopes'
realizes its expectations, and exhausts its capacities of enjoyment.
"Now, unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
to the only wise God, our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion
and power, both now and ever."  Amen.   
~~~~~M
~~~~~;i
~;;~\\~~~~i~       ~~ ~ ~:
~ > ~~~~          ~~ 
LABOR AND REST.
BY JOS. CROSS, D. D.,
OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA CONFERENCE.
"For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God,
fell on sleep, and was laid unito his fathers, and saw corruption. "-Acts xiii, 36.
" God seeth not as man seeth, nor judgeth as man judgeth." Very
different, often, from ours, is his estimate, even of the same persons and
the same actions.  The reason is, that "man judgeth according to the
appearance, but God  looketh upon the heart."  He sees through
what is outward and accidental, and discerns clearly what is inward
and essential. He disregards mere external forms and aspects, and
values all things according to their real and intrinsic qualities.  Men
judge the motive by the act; God judges the aot by the motive.
It is our true wisdom, to unlearn our own method, and learn the
method of God. But this is a wisdom which we are little inclined to
seek. Naturally, we are averse to it; and if by grace we ever acquire
it, it is ordinarily with great difficulty, and by slow degrees. It is no
easy task to climb the mountain, whence we may look down upon the
world, with all that it contains, and behold it as it is.  Death, however, will place us instantly upon the summit; and the panorama of
all terrestrial things, in all their relations and influences, will lie
around and beneath us.  Then the cloud will be lifted from the landscape, the veil will be rent that intercepts our vision, and all false
lights will be extinguished, and all distorting media will be removed,
and gold will cease to charm, and fame will cease to allure, and the
vain pomp and unsubstantial pageantry of earth will lose their bewildering splendors, and we shall see things as God sees them, and estimate
them by the same perfect standard.  Even now-such is the wise and
gracious arrangement of our HIeavenly Father-every season of affliction, every disappointment of our hopes, every sickness which brings
us near the verge of life, every bereavement which throws over us the
shadow of death, forces us to anticipate that judgment and those feelings which the last great change shall fix unalterably and forever. 
LABOR AD REST.
Oh! it is a dreadful thing, to learn too late the true aim and issue of
our being. Let us endeavor to learn it now, while repentance is
hopeful, and Mercy waits for Wisdom. Let us compare our own
erring views with the revealed views of God, and correct the former
by the latter; and live not for the shadow, but for the substancenot for the transitory, but for the eternal.  So shall the morning
mists of delusion melt away before the risen sun of truth and righteousness; and the great day of trial shall develop in us, however
regarded now by the ignorant and ungodly, a wisdom as much superior to the wisdom of this world, as heaven is to earth, or immortality
to time.
The text remarkably exemplifies the difference of which we have
spoken-the difference between God's view and man's view, both of
life and of death.  It is God's account of the life and the death of
David-the true object of the one, the real nature of the other.
How different would have been man's account of both. Man's account
of David's life would have spoken of his heroism, his magnanimity,
his poetic genius, and his royal policy; and man's account of David's
death would have treated of the state in which he left his family and
his kingdom, the profound grief of his children and his subjects, the
pomp of his funereal pageant, and the immortal fame'of his virtues.
On  the contrary, God's account of his servant's life develops the
inward motive and principle of his conduct-the two great elements
of charity and piety which formed his noble character-he "served
his own generation by the will of God;" and God's account of his
servant's death relates only to what is real and personal in that
event-the saint's release from labor, the man's return to dust,-he
" fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption."
Here is the true aim of life; and here is the proper view of death.
May we learn to estimate both by this divine standard; and may the
testimony hereafter be borne of us, which is thus borne of David.
This, substantially, must be the record, or the contrary must be the
record-either, that we lived a useful life, and died a peaceful death;
or, that we lived solely to ourselves, and died utterly without hope.
There is no medium character; there is no medium destiny; nor can
the idler in the market hope to share with the laborer in the vineyard. Let us carry this thought along with us, while wye proceed
to consider, 
LABOR AND REST                          23
I. The True Him of Life.
Man's natural view of it, as we have already remarked, is very
different from God's. He regards himself as sent hither to grasp
and to enjoy as much as he can of the world-as much as he can of
its riches, as much as he can of its pleasures, as much as he can of
its honors, as much as he can of its science; and if anything compels
him to remember that these things are uncertain and transitory, he
only pursues them the more eagerly, or clings to them the more tenaciously, for the conviction; making the most of the short and fleeting
hour for acquiring them, and in the hurry of its occupation forgetting
the deceitful and unsatisfying nature of the acquisition. Many live
as if this world were made merely for themselves-as if it were the
only world, and they its only occupants; and all the discipline of
Providence-the winds of adverse fortune, the thwarted plans and
blighted hopes, which make up the experience of worldly men-can
never induce them to act upon any other view of the great end of
life.  It may make them modify their plans, or change the particular
objects of pursuit, or despair of finding satisfaction in any attainment;
but it will never alter the selfishness of their motives, and the sensuousness of their aims-it will never hinder them from looking to
themselves, and to the world around them, and to their own personal
command of a portion of what the world contains, as the chief source
of their happiness. There is something in man, stronger than reason,
and stronger than prudence, and stronger than conscienee, which will
make us live for ourselves-for the poor joys and petty interests of
earth and time-regardless of heaven and eternity-till God visits
the soul with the powerful illuminations of his truth, and the gracious
influence of his Holy Spirit.  Then, in this new light which beams
upon the understanding, this new life which quickens the slumbering
conscience, this incipient renovation of the moral man, we begin to
see the present as God sees it-in its relation to the everlasting
future, and enter into his own estimate of the true aim of life.  Then
we learn to look upon the chief object of our being as consisting, not
in seeking our own interests, or gratifying our own inclinations, or
building the monuments of our own fame, or furnishingour own intellectual capacities; but simply in serving our own generation by the
will of God-reflecting, as mirrors, the light which has been shed
upon our souls-dispensing, as almoners, the bounty which has been
placed in our hands-distributing to a suffering and famishing race 
24                       LABOR AND REST.
the living bread rained upon us from heaven, and the living water
gushing for us from the smitten rock; nor daring, upon the peril of
our immortality, to monopolize the manna, or seal up the fountain.
Then we learn to regard ourselves, not as isolated and independent
existences, without any responsible relations to the universe or its
Author;  but as members of the great human family, all mankind
our brethren, and God the father of us all. Then we learn to -appreciate the position and the work assigned us for the benefit of those whose
nature we partake and whose redemption we share.  Then we learn
to "look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the
things of others."  Then we learn to "seek not our own profit, but
the profit of many, that they may be saved."  Then we learn to "do
good as we have opportunity unto all men, especially to them that
are of the household of faith." Then we learn to trace his blessed
footsteps, of whom, as our example-the incarnation of virtue-it is
recorded, that he "went about doing good."
-Such are the promptings of grace. And they are seconded by the
voice of nature.  Does anything in the universe exist solely for itself t
Why shines the sun, or beams the star? Why blows the wind, or
falls the rain?  Why blooms the rose, or waves the corn. Why
spreads the meadow, or towers the forest? Why glides the river, or
heaves the ocean? Why trills the mellow-throated thrush his anthem,
or sings the morning lark his merry roundelay? Why travels the
globe in its eternal circuit, or envelops its broad convexity the allpervading atmosphere? Why wings the angel his luminous way down
the empyrean, -or tabernacles among us, in suffering flesh, the very
God of.angels? It is all for the benefit of others-for the benefit of
man-to sustain and bless his being, render him a blessing to his
race, and conduct him to blessedness eternal. And shall man, thus
ministered to by all the creation-, and by the very Lord of creationslhall man, wrapped up in himself, and all unmindful of his brethrenbe the solitary exception-an anomaly in the universe?
And does not our social constitution corroborate the preaching of
universal nature? What mean these mutual attractions and interests-these relations. of sympathy and dependence -which prevail
among mankind? Why are we constituted social beings,' endowed
with social faculties and affections? Why are we s~o made as to be
necessary to one another's happiness-even to one another's subsistence? Why have we the power of speech, and the gift of reason, 
LABOR AND REST.                          25
and such means of influence, and such facilities of persuasion?  Why
are we linked together in families and communities, instead of being
dispersed in cold isolation and desolate solitariness over the face of
the earth?  Why were we not created incapable of communicating
our thoughts and feelings one to another, or without any of those
sweet drawings of the heart which we experience toward our kindred
and our kind?  Is not the whole social arrangement an ordinance of
God, and does it not indicate his will that we should serve our own
generation?
And this view of the proper aim of life is confirmed by our continuance on earth after our preparation for heaven. Are we justified
and regenerate? In our justification we received a gracious title to
heaven, and in our regeneration we received an incipient meetness for
heaven. - Why were we not immediately removed to the celestial
mansions?  Does not our Heavenly Father love us enough to desire
the completion of our happiness? Is it not the end of his whole gracious economy to "bring many sons to glory?"  Why, then, does he
leave us in the world, when we are not of it  when we are in danger
from it; when we are despised and hated by it; when our entire
sojourn amid its changeful scenes can be nothing better than a pilgrimage of tribulation and of tears?  "Poor wanderers of a stormy
day!" why does he not transfer you at once to a place of perfect
security and blessedness?  Look around you for an answer.   What
see you?  Ignorance to be instructed, errors to be corrected, vices
to be reformed, virtues to be confirmed, sorrows to be soothed, burdens to be lightened, broken hearts to be healed, suffering saints to
be comforted, and sinners to be led to the Lamb of God. This is
your appropriate work; and you are left on earth for a season, (though
God would have you in heaven, and intends ultimately to bring you
thither,) that you may serve your own generation.
But this service of charity is to be qualified by a motive of.iety.
We are not to lose ourselves in vague conjectures of duty, or selfish
views of benevolence. The standard is erected; the method is prescribed-it is " the will of God." The work is neither self-chosen
nor self-regulated; it is subject to the Divine appointment and the 
26                       LABOR AND REST.
And God has different work for his several servants —different
spheres of action and of influence. In the church, some are to serve
in the ministry of the Word, and others in inferior offices; some to
feed the flock of God, and others to supply the temporal needs of the
shepherd; some (like Moses) to pray upon the mountain, and others
(like Aaron and Hur) to hold up the suppliant's hands; this one
being " set for the defence of the gospel," and that one for the government of the church; this for the edification of saints, and that for
the admonition of sinners; this for binding up the broken heart of
penitence, and that for cheering the departing soul "through the
valley of the shadow of death." Others are to operate in far different spheres and relations-in civil and municipal affairs, and the
common business of life: one as the advocate, another as the judge;
one as the physician, another as the teacher; one as the mechanic,
another as the merchant; one as the philosopher, another as the
laborer; one as the tiller of the soil, another as the plower of the
seas; one as the pioneer of discovery, another as the oracle of state;
one as the guardian of our liberties, another as the administrator
of our laws. But in these several positions and activities we are to
be governed by a supreme regard for the will of God. We may not
choose our own calling without reference to the Divine designation,
nor direct ourselves in its prosecution without seeking the guidance
of a Heavenly Wisdom. And in all our relations we are to "c let our
light shine before men, so.that they may see our good works, and
glorify our Father who is in heaven." By a consistent and holy
example we are to be constant witnesses for God-our lives a perpetual testimony to the truth, a hymn of praise to the Redeemer, a reproof
to the ungodly, an encouragement to the pious, and a source of
instruction to all.
And perhaps we are often as useful in suffering as in laboring.
Christ accomplished no less for the good of others and the glory of
God when he was led up into the wilderness to be tempted of the
devil, than when he traversed the hills and plains of Judea destroying the works of the devil; no less when he delivered himself up as a 
LABOR AND REST.                         27
seem to be only suffering His will; and doing or suffering, they are
serving their own generation by the will of God.
This, then, is the rule-the motive-of all benevolent action-a
supreme regard for the will of God. We are to do the work assigned
us, not because it is easy or pleasant, not because it is profitable or
honorable, nor primarily because it is essential to our salvation; but
chiefly, if not simply, because it is the will of God.   A sufficient
impulse should be our respect for His sovereign authority; but- this
impulse is strengthened by gratitude and love; and we know that
God's will is always just and right-the highest wisdom and the
purest goodness; and that in all His requirements He consults the
largest and most lasting interest of His rational and immortal creatures. Influenced by these considerations and sentiments, we merge
our wills in God's; and God's will becomes our law; and His commandments are not grievous; but His yoke is easy, and His burden
is light; and toil, and hardship, and danger, and sacrifice, are not
only alleviated, but rendered positively delightful; and the pleasantness of the work is scarcely transcended by the hope of the reward;
and all anxiety about the length of the service is lost in the zest of
the pursuit; and though we "' desire to depart and be with Christ,"
we are content to remain and serve our own generation by the will
of God.
Such, my brethren, is the true aim of life. Let us keep it in
memory, while we go on to consider,
II. The Proper View of Death.
There is an intimate connection. Life is the way; death is the
end. Life is the race; death is the goal. Life is the pilgrimage;
death is the terminus. Life is the day for toil; death is the night
for repose. Life is the vineyard and the harvest; death is the
laborer's sweet release. Life is the dusty march and the stormy
battle; death is the warrior's welcome home. When, like David,
we shall have served our own generation by the will of God, like
David, we shall fall on sleep, and be laid unto our fathers, and see 
28                      LABOR AND REST.
different is it to the saint and the sinner-very different in its aspects
-very different in its issues. In the remarks which follow, we refer
only to the death of those who serve their own generation by the
will of God, for to such only comes the last great change with the
calmness and security of a sleep.
God's view of death does not teach us to regard it as the end of
our existence.  He who sleeps still lives.  There is a suspension of
his voluntary activities, but no cessation of the vital functions. It
is only the body that sleeps; the soul is ever wakeful. The body
sleeps because it is weary, and needs refreshment; the soul knows
no fatigue, and demands no repose.  We say the mind flags, or the
spirit faints; but we speak unphilosophically.  The material organism, through which the soul acts upon the external world, may tire
and halt; the soul itself, not subject to physical laws, remains always
vigorous and active. Sleep, then, is only the state of the outer
man; who can say that death is anything more-that it affects the
thinking, conscious soul-that it produces any change, except in the
mere mode and circumstances of our being?
True, we see not the unbodied soul. What then? There are a
thousand other things that we have never seen, though we readily
admit their existence.  Some of these are the most pervading and
the most powerful agencies in nature. What say you of air, caloric,
electricity? Do you doubt their existence because you do not see
them? And why doubt the, continued existence of the soul because,
separate from the body, it is invisible? It is invisible now, in conneetion with the body; and if you infer its future non-existence
because it is then invisible, you should infer its present non-existence
because it is now invisible.  The argument against its future existence bears equally against its present existence. There is as much
evidence of the continued being of man, separate from the material
organism, as of a thousand other existences that are never questioned.
Say not that what we call the soul is the result of a wondrous
organization, and must cease with the dissolution of the body.  That
organized bodies can possess no powers which are not inherent in the
elements of which they are composed, is an important axiom in philosophy; that the elements of the human frame are incapable of
intelligence, consciousness, volition, is a proposition of which no proof
will be demanded; and that mere organization can never originate
mental phenomena, is the obvious and inevitable conclusion. Nay, 
LABOR AND REST.                          29
" there is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth
him understanding." This curious frame is only the tenement of the
rational soul, and that soul is doubtless immortal. Destined by its
Creator to perish, He would probably have revealed that destiny;
but He has given us no such information —has nowhere intimated
such an issue.                   *
To establish the proposition that the soul dies with the body, infidelity must furnish proof, and that proof must be clear and ample;
but infidelity has no proof to offer-infidelity is nothing better than
a negation without a reason-a mere blind conjecture. The doctrine,
at best, is only an opinion of my heighbor; why is not my opinion
worth as much as his? Nay, is it not more rational and philosophical? I now exist; and, in the absence of any proof to-the contrary,
the presumption is just, that I shall continue to exist forever.   Nature utters no negative to my hope. All analogy is in favor of my
perpetual being. Change is constant, and manifold, and universal;
annihilation is an event unknown in nature.
The very constitution of man —his interior consciousness, his sense
of responsibility, his self-upbraiding for guilty deeds, his apprehension of a righteous retribution, his capability of indefinite improvement, his natural dread of annihilation, and his strong aspirations
after a higher destiny-all give evidence of the life to come.
Say, whence this pleasing hope, this fond desire,
This longing after immortality?
Or whence this secret dread, and inward horror,
Of falling into nought? Why shrinks the soul
Back on herself, and startles at destruction?
'Tis the Divinity that stirs within us
'Tis Heaven itself, that points out an hereafter,
And intimates eternity to man!"
Nay, is not the soul naturally immortal?  Is not immortality an
element of its very constitution?  The  body is composed of parts,
and these parts may be divided and dissolved; the soul is a simple
substance, indivisible and indissoluble, and can perish only by the
fiat of its Creator. The body is constantly changing —constantly
increasing or decreasing; the soul remains the same under all the
diversified phenomena of its manifestation-maintains an uninterrupted consciousness of its identity, through all the stages of its
progress, and amidst all the accidents and vicissitudes of its outer 
30                      LABOR AND REST.
life. Its conscious identity proves its spirituality, and its spirituality
is the basis of its immortality. It can be destroyed only by the
Power that made it. And why should He destroy the noblest of His
creations? Did He not make it for an important end? And shall
He thwart His own purpose, or leave His design unfinished? Who
can say that man, like the moth, ttains his end in this brief period
of existence? And if not-if he is capable of moving in a larger
and loftier sphere-if, having learned all that this world can teach
him, he still longs and struggles for vaster acquisitions of knowledge
-another life is necessary, for the development of his powers, and
the completion of the Almighty's plan; and, if there is no future
being, man is an abortion-" a monster in the eternal order," and
there is no discoverable wisdom or goodness in his Creator's economy.
Thus, we establish a very strong presumption of human immortality.  This presumption is corroborated by the general sense of mankind. Whence the prevalent opinion, in all nations, in all ages —an
opinion to which all worships, all poesies, all traditions, bear witness
that the soul lives when the body dies? Either it is an original
impression, or it is a deduction of reason, or it is a revelation from
God.  There is no other assignable source of the idea.  In either
case the argument is conclusive. If it is an original impression,
God himself must have given that impression, inweaving the sentiment of immortality with our very constitution, and that sentiment
cannot be false. If it is a deduction of reason, there must be sufficient evidence to warrant that deduction by the great mass of mankind, and, in the face of such evidence, it must be highly irrational
to reject the doctrine. If it is a revelation from God, that revelation
has been sufficient to satisfy the world for nearly six thousand years,
and there is now no room for controversy, nor excuse for unbelief.
So that, whichever hypothesis you adopt, this always and everywhere
prevalent opinion of mankind constitutes an irrefutable argument for
the immortality of the soul; and in connection with  the present
manifest incompleteness of the Divine retribution, the unequal distribution of good and ill, and the decisive testimony of Scripture,
forbids our regarding death as the terminus of our being.
Neither does God's account of death represent it as a state of unconsciousness. Consciousness continues in sleep, and sleep often but
intensifies consciousness. The doctrine that death is a suspension or
a cessation of consciousness was invented to accommodate the material 
LABOR AND REST.'31
istic philosophy, which attributes all mental phenomena to organiza tion. It has no warrant in scripture, but is contrary to the express
declarations of the Word of God.  "This day shalt thou be with me
in paradise."  "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."  "I
have a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better."
"We  are willing, rather, to be absent from the body, and  to be
present with the Lord."  How do these, and similar passages, com port with the view in question?  Is paradise a state of unconscious ness?  Is being with Christ-being with the Lord-a state of uncon sciousness?  Is Christ, then-is the Lord, then-in a state of uncon sciousness?  Is a state of unconsciousness either desirable or gainful
to the good-better than to remain in the flesh, serving so good a
Master, sharing so rich a bounty, expectant of so vast a reward?
The doctrine is wholly unscriptural.
Is it not equally unphilosophical?  The intelligence of the soul
proves its immateriality; but if the soul is immaterial, it is independent of its connection with matter, and its severance from matter cannot affect its consciousness.  Consciousness, indeed, is the necessary
condition of its being. An unconscious soul were an impossible conception. It were better to speak of an immaterial body. It were
mnore rational to suppose an utter extinction of being.  If the soul
exists at all, it must exist in a state of consciousness. Unconsciousness were inanition.  The present dullness of our consciousness-its
frequent partial interruptions-result from the encumbrance of the
soul's physical environments-the infirmities of the outer man.
When " this mortal coil" is "shuffled off," consciousness will  be
vivid and perfect far beyond all present experience. The last long
sleep attaches only to the body; the soul must continue to think and
feel, rejoice or suffer, when these now so active forms are cold and
decaying in their tombs.
Nor is death to be regarded as the final condition of the material
organism.  Sleep is nature's method of recuperation.  He that sleeps
shall awake with renewed vigor. The body is not to lie forever in
the dust. The fallen and shattered tabernacle is to be reconstructed,
glorious as the forms of angels, and imperishable as the tenant that
has forsaken it for a season, to return to it forever. Must I argue
'this point?  "Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you,
that God should raise the dead?" Does nature furnish no analogies?
Heaven and earth are full of them 
~~32    ~         LABOR AND REST.
"All bloom is fruit of death;
All being, effort for a future germ.
Creation's soul is thrivance from decay;
And nature feeds on ruin. The big earth
Summers in rot, and harvests through the frost,
To fructify the world. The mortal Now
Is pregnant with the spring-flowers of To-come,
And death is seed-time for eternity."
In the final recovery of the body from the wreck and ruin of the grave
a greater achievement than the constant reproduction from decay of
animal and vegetable life around us?  Is it a more wonderful thing
than the creation of the worlds-than its own original construction?
Whatever the difficulty to human apprehension, nothing is difficult to
Infinite Wisdom and Power.   Who is it that saith —" I will redeem
them from death, I will ransom them from the power of the grave?"
It is he at whose word the teeming spheres rolled forth from the inane,
and order arose singing out of chaos.   Nay, it is he who promised  to
raise his own body, and did so, demonstrating his power to raise the
bodies of his people.  "aThe captain of our salvation," he has conquered the king of terrors, and led our captivity captive.  He has
"' abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through
the gospel."  The sleepers of a long night shall awake to an eternal
day.
The proper view of death-the death of God's servants, for we
speak of no other-is that.of retirement from labor, and of sweet and
secure repose.  David, having finished his work, "fell on sleep;" and
all the faithful departed are spoken of as "sleeping in Jesus;" and
the angel of the Apocalypse saith to the beloved John-" Write,
from henceforth, blessed are the dead that die in the Lord; even so,
saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labors, and their Works do
follow them."  There is nothing here to be deprecated or dreaded.
We lie down unfearing at night, expecting to rise refreshed in the
morning.  How welcome is rest to the weary husbandman, to the
toilworn traveller, to the mariner after the storm, to the warrior after
the battle.  And what is there to fear in death  Guilt, indeed, may
fear; for there is a dread hereafter of retribution. But what has the
pardoned sinner to fear?. What has the sanctified believer to fear?
To him, dying is only falling asleep, and the grave is the bed in
which he reposes after the toils of the day. 
LABOR AND REST.                           33
"How blest the righteous when he dies!
When sinks the weary soul to rest,
How mildly beam the closing eyes!
How gently heaves the expiring breast!
So fades the summer cloud away;
So sinks the gale when storms are o'er
So gently shuts the eye of day;
So dies a wave along the shore.
L,]ife's duty done, as sinks the clay,
Light from its load the spirit flies
While heaven and earth combine to say,
How blest the righteous when he dies!"
See! friends stand weeping around him.  The beaded drops of death
are gathering on his brow. What heavenly smiles play over his pallid
features!  What joyful whispers issue from his quivering lips!  He
has nothing to dread, but everything to hope. The blood of atonement is on his conscience.  The spirit of adoption is speaking in his
heart.  He sees the last enemy approaching; but he is spoiled and
vanquished. Hle walks in the dark valley; but he hears the voice of
his-Shepherd, and grasps trustfully the staff and the rod. He hears
the roaring of the flood; but bright forms are beckoning, and sweet
voices are calling, from beyond. Hie treads the chilling waters; but
he feels the rock beneath his feet, while ministering angels haste to
meet him, and sainted spirits " compass him about with songs of
deliverance." O! the transition is only a passage to paradise, a birth
into a better world, an introduction to a noble life
" When the soul, from sorrow freed,
Hastens homeward to return,
Mortals cry-A man is dead!
Angels sing-A child is born!"
The work is finished, and the laborer retires to his rest. The journey
is ended, and the traveller enters his home. The voyage is over, and
the seaman leaps upon his native shore. The warfare is accomplished,
and the victor goes singing to his reward.  It is the racer grasping
his well-earned garland; it is the heir receiving his long-hoped-for
inheritance; it is the king going forth to the festival of his coronation.
Death is presented to us here as the common lot of our kind.
David "was laid unto his fathers." We travel no unfrequented
path.  It is " the way of all the earth."  Adam himself returned.to
his dust; and all his posterity constitutes but one long funereal train,
ever marching to its own burial Every tick of the clock opens a
3 
34                       LABOR AND REST.
new sepulchre.  One human body sinks into the earth every second,
sixty every minute, nearly four thousand every hour, nearly ninety
thousand every day, more than six hundred thousand every Week,
more than two millions every month, about thirty millions every year,
about three billions every century; and not less than a hundred and
fifty billions —perhaps a hundred and seventy-five billions-a multitude which no mind can grasp —have disappeared in that all-devouring vortex since the first funeral was celebrated in sight of the gate
of Paradise. Some forty or fifty have fallen asleep since we began
this enumeration; and in thirty years more, a number equal to the
entire present population of the globe, (amounting to ten hundred
millions,) will have mingled with the dust. We shall not rest alone
in the sepulchre. All the great and good of earth await us theresharers of the same mortality, expectants of the same resurrection.
There is Abel, lying in his blood beneath his altar; and Noah, resting where they placed him, in the renovated earth, fresh from its diluvian baptism; and Abraham with his cherished Sarah; and Isaac
with his beloved Rebecca; and Jacob, brought up from Egypt to be
laid beside his Leah-all reposing in the cave of Macpelah, before
Maunire; and the pilgrim bones of Joseph in Shechem; and Aaron
in Mount Hor; and Moses in Mount Nebo; and Joshua in Mount
Ephraim; and Samuel in his house at Ramah; and the life-giving
skeleton of Elisha, mingling with common dust. And the tombs of
the prophets are filled with holy forms; and the sepulchres of the
kings boast their royal tenantry; and the mangled corse of Stephen
seeps tranquilly; and the shattered head of James the Just is fearless of the fuller's club. And there, among the blessed sleepers, is
Paul from the block; and Peter from the cross; and Polycarp from
the stake; and Luther, safe from the rage of Rome  and hell; and
the heroic victims of the Inquisition; and the noble martyrs of Smithfield; and the Wesleys, the Fletchers, the Whitefields, the Summerfields, who have filled the world with their fanime; and the Paysons,
the Bascoms, the Olins, the Newtons, whose virtues still survive them,
like the odors of flowers fresh fallen; and many a dear companion,
with whom we have walked hand in hand along the rugged path of
life, and stood side by side in its fierce battles; and eyes that looked
on us so lovingly, closed in their long sleep; and tongues that made
the music of our households, hushed till the resurrection; and ears 
LABOR  AND REST.                          35
that drank in the charm of our discourse, insensible till they thrill to
the trump of God; and hearts that beat in unison with ours, still
and cold, till they quicken with the pulse of immortality!  All these
have gone before us, and we haste to join them in the narrow house
of hope.   Our times are in God's hand;  we know not when  he
may call us from the field, but we know that he will not call us too
soon, nor leave us too long.  "The graves are ready for us "-God
prepare us for our graves!
Death comes to us as a very humiliating event.  David "saw corruption;" so must we.  These tabernacles must be dissolved.  These
curious frames are destined to decay. The worms will one day feast
upon their fair and delicate proportions, and revel amid the ruins of
the soul's deserted tenement. The beaming eye, the blooming cheek,
the sinewy arm, the vigorous constitution, the most athletic specimens of physical humanity, must bow to the inevitable decree —" Dust
thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."  But not forever!  "For
I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter
day upon the earth; and though, after my skin, worms destroy this
body, yet in my flesh shall I see God; whom I shall see for myself,
and mine eyes shall behold, and not another, though my reins be consumed within me."  "If a man die, shall he live again?  All the
days of my appointed time [in the tomb] will I wait, till my change
come-  [my change from corruption to incorruption.]   He shall
appoint me a set time, [for waking,] and remember me.   He shall
call, [from above,] and I will answer him [from beneath.] He will
have a desire to the work of his hands." God will not forget his
saints, nor leave them in the sepulchre. At the summons of the
archangel's trump, " his banished ones" shall return to the joys of
a blessed resurrection.  "For we are dead, and our life is hid with
Christ in God; when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall
we also appear with him in glory."  Our hope of a resurrection is
founded chiefly upon the fact of his resurrection.   lie rose as our
leader, and "became the first-fruits of them that slept."  His resurrection was the resurrection of our nature, and a pledge of the
resurrection of the race. He is "c the head of the body," of which 
36.      LABOR AND RE ST.
the champion of our redemption, he travelled into the dominions of
Death and Hades, spoiling principalities and powers; and when he
returned from their demolished thrones, he brou,ght with him the keys
of all their prisons; and in due time he shall descend to unlock
every dungeon, and set at liberty them that are bound, and swallow
up death in victory.  "Them that sleep in Jesus will God bring with
him;" and 0 what rapturous greetings - -what shouts of celestial
welcome-when all the angels shall descend with songs of jubilee, and
the disembodied souls of all the saints that have passed into paradise
shall come down from their blessed abodes,
" Again to visit their cold cells of clay,
Charmed with perennial sweets, and smniling at decay."
Hlere, beloved brethren, is your incentive to labor, and your encouragement to hope.  Merely to witness such a scene, would be a thousandfold reward for all the service you can ever render your generation
by the will of God.  To stand off on some neighboring planet, and
behold with immortal eyes the mighty procession and the magnificent
coronation, were an ample indemnification for all the toil, and pain,
and sorrow, and sickness, and weariness, and anxiety, and  temptation, and persecution, and" disappointment,  and  bereavement, and
thousand-fold affliction, that all the faithful of every nation and every
age have endured, even if all were wrung into the cup of a solitary
servant of God.   But 0! you are not to be uninterested spectators —
you are to join the host and swell the triumph.  It is for you " the
Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, and with the
voice of the archangel, and with the  trump of God;" it is to gather
your precious dust he shall send forth his angels to explore the cemeteries and sound the seas; and you, with all the subjects of the first
resurrection, "shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and
so shall you ever be with the Lord."
in view of such an issue, with what holy zest and fervor should
we devote ourselves to the service of our generation by the will of
God!  Our vocations may differ; our aims should be identical.   We
are here to benefit our race and glorify our Creator.  He who  does
neither, by no means answers the end of his existence. He defrauds
both God and man, and God and man will hold him to a stern responsibility for the perversion of his powers and privileges..0, Heaven'
what wasted talents are treasured up for judgment! and who can
bear the fiercencss of Thine anger, augmented by the curses of ruined 
LABOR AND REST.                          37
souls, undone through his delinquency! The indolent and the vicious
shall never be able to estimate the evil of their influence, till they
awake in hell; and the wailing voices of eternity shall be ever
preaching to them the infinite desert of their misdoing, and the infinite calamity of their loss!
"cBut, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things
which accompany salvation, though we thus speak."  Some of you,
at least-would that I could say a1ll!-have formed a proper
estimate of life and its aims, of death and its issues.  You have
fixed your standard for time, and cast your fortune for eternity.
You, especially, my beloved brethren, who minister at the altars of
God, must often have felt a solemn significance in these mutual relations of life and death.   Yours is a holy and blessed work.  It shall
sanctify your talents, ennoble your virtues, and give you a record
with the man after God's own heart. There is a dignity in it which
immeasurably transcends all earthly engagements. You are servants,
but you are servants of God. You are shepherds, but you are shepherds of His flock. You are stewards, but you are stewards of His
household, You are builders, but you are builders of His temple.
You are workers, but you are workers together with Him. You are
messengers, but your message was brought from heaven upon the
wings of a thousand seraphim.   You are detained awhile froml paradise to seek the aliens over a blasted world; but fidelity to your
high commission will prove  your surest passport within the cherubguarded portal. A life of toil is before you, but there is an eternity
of bliss beyond. Your path, amid the briar and the thorn, leads to
the delectable mountains.  "They that sow in tears shall reap in
joy; and he that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed,
shall doubtless come again rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."
Among ministers, especially, " no man liveth to himself, and nb
man dieth to hiiuself."  Heaven  and earth have claims upon us.
The present and the future are alike interested in our labors.  Men
demand  our energies-the blessing of our sanctified influence-in
their behalf; while the eyes of witnessing angels range over our
solemn assemblies, and departed friends from paradise stoop to listen
to our vows. Let us magnify our office! Let us conceive worthily
of our sublime vocation! Let us study to approve ourselves, both
to God and to man, as workmen that need not be ashamed!
And O! to die after having done faithfully a work so great and 
38                      LABOR AND REST.
holy-to pass from the well-occupied pulpit to paradise-is it not
stepping from the mountain-top, radiant already with the glory of
God, into the Tishbite's chariot of fire? It is exchanging the throne
of a petty province for that of an empire   It is graduating from a
lower heaven to a higher! I have heard of men expiring in the
pulpit, and I have desired such an end for my own. One moment
to be standing so near to God, and the next to awake in his presence
-one moment to be delivering his message to men, and the next to
receive his welcome to my mansion-one moment to be pointing poor
sinners to "the Lamb for sinners slain," and the next to grasp Him
as my own eternal portion-one moment to be talking of the goldand-crystal city, and the thunder-chant of its teeming minstrelsy,
and the next to enter the gates and join in the song-O, crucified
Master! this were too much for such a sinful worm to hope for, but
that nothing is too great for Thy infinite love to grant!
Finally, my brethren, remember that in serving your own generation you serve also the generations to come.   The seed sown in the
present will bloom and bear fruit in the future, and propagate itself
in successive harvests forever.  Your influence will outlive  you
your work will remain when you are gone; and the good you shall
have done will flourish over your tombs.   David" served his own
generation by the will of God," in the character of a poet, as well as
of a prophet and a king; and this day a thousand temples are ringing with the voice of his psalmody, and millions of worshippers are
melting to the strain of his penitence, and soaring on the wings of
his piety; and through the coming centuries, the saints shall still
make these sacred compositions their songs in the house of their
pilgrimage; and "the harp the monarch minstrel swept" shall still
soothe the troubled soul, and heal the broken heart, and breathe its
angel melodies over the bed of death, and around the tomb of the
departed; and " the sacramental host of God's elect " shall march
to its music in the last great battle for the faith; and its living
numbers shall modulate the movement of the resurrection anther!
Like David may you labor!  With David may you rest!  
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THE  DIVINITY OF THE CHURCH. 
THE DIVINITY OF THE CHURCH.*
BY C. B. PARSONS, D. D.
"And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her; and the
highest himself shall establish her. "-Psalms, ]xxxvii, 5.
The great and distinguishing event in the history of time, is doubtless the founding among men of the Church of God; the setting up
in the world, in accordance with the prediction of the prophet, the
kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.  "And in the days of these kings,
shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never  be
destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but
it shall break in pieces and consume all other kingdoms, and it
shall stand forever."t  To this kingdom, whose identity  is to be
recognised in the Church  of Christ-  to its assurances,  its purposes and its powers-the world is largely indebted  for every excellence of enjoyment, both of present possession and of future hope.
Like the material sun in the heavens, which lends from itself the
beams of light that we see reflected from every lower and lesser orb,
while in kingly radiance it presides over the whole, the Church is the
centre power of a sublime moral ystem whose  divine illumination is
ultimately to fill the whole earth: "For the earth shall be filled
with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover
the sea.")t   From  this centre, which  shows  us  God, proceed
forth all those rays of moral and intellectual brilliancy. as well
as spiritual effect, that are reflected upon the glassy surface of the sea
of time, and are gathered into the many circling eddies of earthly
worth.  All these are obedient unto their parent cause, in whose
divinity is the sovereign rule.  For as "the head of every  man
is Christ,....    and  the  head of Christ  is  God,"II this
also is of Christ and from God-  "for God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believethn him
t1 Dai1] ii, *4: Ucakx   i, 14 __  __  Cor xit 3.n, ml     Joh.  lb'. 
40               THE DIVINITY OF THE CHUROCH.
torious gift of God to man was the procuring cause of human redemption, the instrumental demonstration and sublime result of which appear in the institutions of the Church of Christ. They are divine;
hence it is written, " The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than
all the dwellings of Jacob."* And "the Lord shall count, when he
writeth up the people, that this (and that) mtan was born there."t
I. The Divinity of the Church, considered from its origin.
"The highest himself shall establish her."
If the origin of the Christian religion cannot be clearly traced to a
Divine authorship, then must infidelity be right, and the pledges of
faith in Christ the most stupendous fraud ever practiced upon a deluded world. But if, on the contrary, the tracery of the system be
distinctly clear, and direct from God, through Christ, then, instead
of "a cunningly-devised fable," it will appear to all (what it really is)
the most magnificent truth ever revealed from heaven to man-a Daguerrean impress of God in his nature, made with infallible exactitude by the Holy Ghost, and conveyed by the lights of peace and
purity to the tables of the human heart. While it is written, therefore, that "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered
into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them
that love him,"T (that is, the gloriousrealities which, as results of the
system, shall be inherited by the Christian in the future world,) it is
also said that "God hath revealed them unto us by his Holy Spirit:
for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, even the deep things of God."[[
1. The conception of theplan of salvation, of which the Church is
the visible instrumentality, was first in heaven, and not on the earth,
and was of God, and not by man.
In the beginning God created all things, and pronounced them
perfect-not only good, but "very good."  The world, antecedent
to the fall of man, presents to the mind a glorious vision of beauty,
grace, and power. Wrapped in the sublime foldings of eternity past,
God looked out from himself upon the mighty void, and said, "Let
there be light." In obedience to the Divine fiat, the earth rose majestically into gracefulness of form and being; the heavenly bodies
wheeled into their courses; and the sun, putting aside the veil from
off his golden face, as the eye of Deity, looked forth upon the scenewhen, it is said, " The morning stars sang together, and all the sons
* Psalms lxxxvii, 2.    t Verse 6.: 1 Cor. ii, 6.  11 Verse 10. 
THE DIVINITY OF THE CHURCH.                    41
of God shouted for joy." Such a scene, we should think, would
be, in the nature of things, abundantly sufficient to produce such a
result.  And yet, far more sublime was the birth of man.  In his
case, a Council of Deity seems to have been called; -for "God said,
Let us make man in OUR image."@   And so man  was  created
(whatever may be his condition now) in the image of God. How long
this state of perfect being might have continued, or what would have
been the result, is not for this present inquiry. He did not so continue.  But; instead of resisting the temptation-of casting from him
the forbidden fruit-and so, in a second triumph over Lucifer, calling the heavenly hierarchies to shout around the new-born victorious son of earth, he yielded-he tasted-and he died. With his own
rash hand, he plucked away the keystone from the symmetric arch of
human immortality, and the whole fabric sunk in ruins.  The earth
felt the blow, and shuddered; the elements labored, and breathed out
their low lament; while heaven stood still, astonished (as it would
seem, if not aghast) at the dreadful scene.  To this point may be
traced the first inception of the plan of salvation, whose promise was
primarily revealed in heaven, and then applied upon earth.  In the
vision of St. John, (which may be considered in some degree a figure
of the past, as well as a mirror of the future,) a mysterious book is
made to appear, "which no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither
under the earth, was able to open."t And, as it is declared, the
prophet wept, because no man was found worthy to open and to
read the book.  But presently his tears are checked, and his sorrow is turned to joy, for a champion appears!-he comes in the
panoply of the Highest, and shows himself to be the Lord of his own
presence! Clothed with the omnipotence of power Divine, he lays
his hand upon the book, which instantly unclasps itself beneath his
touch, as the heavenly annunciation sounds, "Behold, the Lion of
the Tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the
book! "T  What was the book?  Was it a symbol of the Biblethe book of mercy to man-the book of salvation to the world.  So
it would seem; for, as an immediate consequence of the opening of
the volume, the Lion has turned to a Lamb, which, as an object of
high worship, stands in the midst of the throne, robed in sacrifice, as it
had been slain from the beginning of the world. It was the "'Lamb
* Gen. i,'o;.    t Rev v, 2.: Verse j. 
42               THE- DIVINITY OF THE CHURCH.
of God," presented in sacrificial pledge, to " take away the sin of
the world;" which pledge was afterwards redeemed on Calvary,
when the universal altar smoked with the blood of a God! It was
the book of human privilege-the charter of redemption in Jesus
Christ-which, as a transcript of the heavenly mind, was destined to
be, and is, the constitution of the Church; and, by grace, " the power
of God unto salvation to every one that believeth."
Herein we discover, that the campaign of the world's restoration
was drawn and plotted in the court of heaven. There it originated,
and thence cometh all its power. With the promulgation of its plan,
came forth the divine firman for the organization of its earthly forces,
which, from the first till now, led on by "the captain of our salvation," have'demonstrated to the world, and to listening heaven, the
divinity of the organic cause. From the heavenly throne, the golden
chain of divine truth, consecrated in the blood of the Lamb, and
borne by the hand of free-grace, descended to man, and, encircling
the whole body of time with its "link-work" of blessed promises,
was borne back by an ascending Saviour, and joined to its counter extremity again in heaven;-thus, with its ample powers, it embraces
and sustains the whole world, while it freely-offers itself, by-the Holy
Spirit, to lift every individual of the human race, up to the seat- of
its divinity who will place their trust in it.
2. The Divinity of the Church is seen in the manner of its conmunication, which was FROM heaven IN Christ.
The long period of spiritual and moral darkness which preceded
the coming of Messiah, presents upon the pages of the past a no less
striking thansolemn contrast with the glowing scene that witnessed
his descent to earth.:For centuries, the kingdom of Judah had been
in a state of progressive decline.  The prophecies concerning the
Jews, according to Rabinical construction, had been mainly fulfilled,
at least those whose fulfilment was located antecedent to the advent
of Messiah, save one, in the promise of whose prediction they continue to rest their once bright, but now almost expiring hope. This
was the prophecy of Jacob, made in the hour of his death-c" The
sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his
feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the peopie be."*  Year after year of anxious hope came and went, as the
* Ger. xlix, 10. 
THE DIVINITY OF THE CHUROICH.                 43
sun of the Jewish polity descended, slowly, the western heavens; and
yet Shiloh came not. The flight of the Roman Eagle was already in
the land, and forming his circles above the devoted city-awaiting,
as it would seem, but the time appointed, to descend upon his quarry.*
The question now began to be started, What shall the end of these
things be I  "Has God forgotten to be gracious?"  " Is his mercy
clean gone forever " If not, where is the prophecy of Jacob, Where
is Shiloh?  Already the decree of the Emperor has gone forth:
Judah has been gathered together, and with the dawn of the morning,
the enrolment of taxation, which was to wrest the " sceptre" and
remove the lawgiver, would commence. The last day of Judean
empire had came, and the last night of their Theocratic existence was
preparing to spread its dark mantle, as a funeral pall, over their dead
hope. But it is truly said, that man's extremity is God's opportunity;
so it proved in this case.  A  band of pious shepherds were on this
momentous night watching their flocks on Bethlehem's plains, which
lay near to Jerusalem;-as they kept their sleepless vigil, it is likely
their thoughts turned upon their national condition, and their minds
communed with God.  How solemn the scene! and presently too,
how exciting! Just as the climbing night, in darkness wrapt, was
about to strike upon the bell of time the turning hour, and tell to
the city and the plains that the new day was born, a sun-like glory
leaped from the heavens above, and lighted up the scene. The shepherds stood entranced.  What was it ~. Not the morning, nor yet the
meridian sun, but God in the fulfilment of his promise.  For "Lo the
angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone
round about them."t In the midst of the glory, as in a chariot of
descending light, a holy company now appear, for, "suddenly there
was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God."t
It was Liberty's natal anthem; the liberty of the world from the
bondage of sin and death; sung by the synod of God.   Shiloh had
come  "for unto you," said the sacred messenger, "is born this
day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."lI  It
was the coming of the king into his kingdom, the head unto the
Church, to impress, with his own presence, his own divinity upon the
institution he had set up. Loud from the heavens rung the chorus
of his advent, which still reverberates through the world —"Glory to
Matt. xxiv, 23.   $ Luke 1, 9.: verse 13.  11 Verse 11. 
4                 THE DIVINITY OF THE CHURCH.
God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will toward man."*
Let the "epithalamic"  harmony roll on, and roll forever, until
the " glory of the Lord shall fill the whole earth, even as the waters
cover the sea."
"The highest himself shall establish her."
3. In the character of its progress in the world, is seen the di.
vinity of the cause, and, by consequence, also, the divinity of the institution of the Church.
This progress was symbolized by the rolling stone of Daniel, seen
of the king of Babylon in his night vision, which is interpreted
to refer to the power and expansion of the kingdom of Christ.
High amidst the mountains of the Lord, a stone, cut out without
hands, commenced to roll down upon the earth.  The great image,
representing the idolatries as well as the kingdoms of the world,
was crushed beneath it; the hills were leveled, and the valleys
were raised, until, in its vast expansion, it filled the whole earth.
This was Christianity, which, being of God, and not of man, was literally ".without hands." A divine impulsion from the heavenly
throne, culminating in power and expanding in purpose, extending
itself, by the forces of an inherent Omnipotence, over countries and
kingdoms, and embracing in its ample arms the whole world.  For
even as Jesus Christ " tasted death for every man,"I the time shall
certainly come when, in the language of the prophet, " they shall
teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother,
saying Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of
them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord." I The varied-history, the struggles, fortunes, persecutions, and proscriptions of the
Church, through all which it has been so triumphantly conducted,
attests also the divinity of the cause. To no other power but to that
of the direct inspiration and presence of Almighty God, can be attributed the wondrous manner of the Church's preservation, when  assailed, as it has been, by the political combinations of governments,
and the settled hatred of the world. If it had been simply human
in its nature, it is plain to see that with the crumbling dynasties And
chngn kigoso  h   ol,i  ol   aecae  oeitcnu 
THE DIVINITY-OF THE CHURCH.                     45
it would have been to have classed it with its kindred rubbish of
antique obsoletism-with the' "myths" and "marvels" of ancient
days.  But instead of this, it has grown mightily in the midst of
death, and expanded in power and. possession most where proscriptions and persecutions have been loudest and most violent against
it. The secret of the invincibility of its progress is contained in the
fact that God is with it.  The promise to Moses, "My presence
shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest,"  has been verified
in every step and period of its eventful history, from the first persecution at Jerusalem to the last proscript of Rome. The war,
the poison, the steel, the axe, the flame, the gibbet, and the cord,
have done their bloody work, and swelled the martyr list to tens of
thousands; but even in this the divinity has overruled, and "the
wrath of man has been made to praise God." Millions have risen
into the places of the thousands lost, and God has magnified his cause
above all the earth. Like a great seamark, or-lofty tower of light,
set to guide the endangered mariner over the angry deep, the Church
stands amidst the billowy ocean of Time, the invulnerable "Pharos"
of spiritual light and safety.  May we not say, too, that it is also the
great tower of strength, which holds together the structure of things?
If not, what did Christ mean when he said to his disciples, "Ye are
the salt of the earth"? The great characteristic of salt is that it
preserves. The Church as an institution, and Christianity as a principle, operate to preserve the world for a time from that certain dissolution which, but for this divine interposition, would irremediably
and irresistibly be its fate; for' unto this end sin hath wrought in the
earth. It might be said, then, of the Church and the world, as it
was once said of Rome and the Colisseum, "While the Church stands,
the world stands; but when the Church falls, the world falls." That
is, while the Church holds its present associated  relationship to the
world of mankind, the earth will stand; but when the divinity of the
cause has carried to its close the progress of the design-when from
the circumference to the centre shall come upon the laden wires the
travelled word of triumph, that the "battle of life is fought and
won, and the last sinner converted to God"-  then, casting  the
earth from it into the destruction prepared for its doom, the Church,
in heavenly procession, will rise to glory and to God, inspired and
* Exodus xxxi, 14. 
46                THE DIVINITY OF THE CHURCH.
sanctified and made eternally joyful, by that same divinity, which is
now, and ever has been, the spirit and power of its resistless progression.  "For the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come  to
Zion, with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall
obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."*
There
" The saints in his presence receive
Their great and eternal reward,
In Jesus, in heaven they live             They reign in the smile of the Lord."
II. The Divinity of the Church demonstrated in the purposes
of its foundation   "This and that man was born in her."
" Marvel not," said the Saviour to Nicodemus,t "that I said unto
thee, Ye must be born again."
Holiness to the Lord, through the sanctification of the Spirit
which, as a principle, is the life of the soul, and without which " no
man shall see God,". —is the corner stone of hope, in the christian
structure.
1. Holy Living.  This is the first fruitage of the system, and is
the early demonstration, both to the individual himself in its practice,
and to the world at large in its profession, of what the ttue purposes of the Church are,- of its designs in reference to the human
taii].y, and its mission  to convince mankind of its instrumental
divinity, and to mark this effect upon all " who will," with the presence and power of the Holy Ghost. While Christ, therefore, says
to his followers, in order to the inspiration of their confidence in
Him, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world," I
that the testimony of the cause might be more complete and perfect, the inner witness is also called, and joined with the outer, in the
Divine attestation that "the Spirit itself beareth witness with our
spirit that we are the children of God."~ No greater paradox could
be invented, than is contained in the idea of an unholy christian;
and no greater mistake committed than to attempt the ascent to
heaven by any other way than holiness. Of this, Isaiah, in his vision
of the Christian Church, says, "An highway shall be there, and it
s Isaa xv 10.,- Joh i,..: e. xi 14.  II Mi. x.ii 2.. Ro. vi,1. 
THE  DIVINITY OF THE CHURCH.                    47
The holy living, or holiness of heart and life, which is " the way"
of the christian, is necessarily therefore in Christ, and cannot be
anywhere else. Hence the Apostle says,' We walk by faith, not
by sight."* To be in Christ, where the Church is, and where the
Church, by the Spirit given, invites the world to come, involves two
things which stand in necessary sequence to each other,-holiness
and happiness. These principles, which are properties of the christian faith, in whichever way they may be logically placed, will be
found to sustain to each other the relation of cause and effect.  The
.oly man is the happy man, and the happy man is the holy man. These
are sequences of greater infallibility than that ascribed to the chair
of St. Peter. The philosophy of this principle is contained in the
fact that christians are, by faith, in Jesus Christ, who is the fountain
of holiness; and from him, as " the branch in the vine," they draw
the aliment of their moral and religious being. Consequently, if the
relationship be perfect, they must be like him  and show as reflectors
of His divinity. Less than this would be less than the measure
made by Christ himself.  He  says of the relationship, "I am the
vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the
same bringeth forth much fruit."]  This the Apostle declares to be
"fruit unto holiness," the end or result of which is "everlasting
life." Holiness of life, then, is the great gospel mirror that shapes
to the world the divinity of the cause-the divinity of the Church.
2. Happy Dying.  This is the natural result of holy living,-for
he who commences to be happy in Christ, by a holy profession of the
christian faith, and continues therein until the end comes, makes
assurance doubly sure to this effect. He takes a bond, by faith, for
its accomplishment,-not of fate, but of grace, written by the Divine
hand, and sealed in the blood of the Cross, whose pledge "is a crown
of life," and whose security is the oath of God.  "For wherein,"
says the Apostle, "God willing more abundantly to show unto the
heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel confirmed it by an
OATH, that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for
God to lie, we might have a strong consolation who have fled for
refuge, to lay hold upon the hope set before us "t  That to die in
peace is the greatest desideratum and hope of life, is too evident a
proposition to need an argument.   The sinner, as well as the saint,
*2 Cor. v, 7-.    John xv,&     $Heb. vi, 17, 18. 
48               THE DIVINITY OF THE CHURCI.
will admit this. There is no difference between the Church and the
world, with regard to the desirable end; both wish to be safe-both
wish to be happy. The difference lies in the manner and labor of
attaining unto that end.   In this they are wide apart; with what
wisdom God, and the final destiny of all things, will ultimately set
forth.  But that "happy dying" is the immutable consequence of
holy living,-" Christ formed the hope of glory," is as well the witness as the cause. A triumphant death, or separation from the world,
to the superficial observer, might be looked upon, perhaps, as enthusiastic, if not miraculous. But upon examination, it will show to be
neither the one nor the other. It is perfectly within the range of
philosophical exposition, and is as susceptible of demonstration as a
problem in mathematics.  Nay, more thania this, it is just as impossible, if the Word of God be a verity, for.a 1holy  christian to die
otherwise than happy, as it is for figures, truthfully calculated, to
exhibit an erroneous result. "For so an entrance SHALL BE ministered unto you abundantly, into the everlasting kingdom of our
Lord and Saviour, Jesus Chbrist.'*.  If a certain change, then, from
poverty to riches, from gloom/to gladness, and from death to lifea life of never-ending joy, and wrought out, through the faithfulness
of the christian, by the: direct agency of the Holy Ghost,-God himself being pledged to this end- be sufficient to inspire a rapture at
the parting from sin and!misery and pain in the world, then the
result is irresistible, and not,:only; irresistible, but natural and philosophic.   For God says "Be th6u faithful unto death, and I will give
thee a crown of life."t  In view of this, St. Paul  exclaimed with
holy joy, as he stood upon the confines of time, and gazed into eternity-his departure being at hand-" I am now ready to be offered."
c" Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which
the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day; and not to
me only, but unto all them also that love HIis appearing."I  "0,
death, where is thy sting " O0, grave, where is thy victory."....
"Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ."l This happiness in death hath its producing cause
in the "new birth," which plants Christ in us; and which,'as the accomplishment of one of Zion's purposes in the world, as set forth in
the text, is another witness of the Divinity of the Church.' Under
*2 Pet. i, 2.  f Rev. ii, 10.  $ 2Tim. iv, 8.    Il Cor. xv, 55. 
THE DIVINITY OF THE CHURCH.                     49
its influence the latter day reformers have manifested the same spirit.
Fletcher shouted for joy in the hour of dissolution; Wesley said,
" The best of all is, God is with us;' McKendree exclaimed, "All is
well;" while myriads of others, sustained by the same Power and filled with the same Spirit, have gone up to glory and to God, where,
with the holy martyrs as a cloud of witnesses, they wait beneath the
altar to attest the mighty truth. They will receive their reward in
the great day of the Lord.*  Then, we say with the Poet,
" Let sickness blast, let death devour,
If heaven must recompense our pains;
Perish the grass, and fade the flower,
If firm the word of God remains."
"For this is the promise that He hath promised us, even eternal
lif..t"
III. The Divinity of the Church, as manifested in the necessity
that the manner of its acts, as well as their substance or oonsequences, should be immortal.
The apostle to the Romans says, "Where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound,"I which grace he sets forth to the Church at
Ephesus  as the great principle of salvation in Christ.  "For by
grace (says he) are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves:
it is the gift of God."Il This being the case, the deduction is clear,
that the emancipated soul, in its departure from the world, must
carry with it, in active exercise, all-those properties and powers which
belonged to it in the days of the flesh. And these must be perfect
and infallible, without which the judgment-seat would be liable to
impeachment, and the doctrine of rewards and punishments become
a simple absurdity.  The necessity of this will sufficiently appear by
reference to one faculty alone-that of memory. To make God just,
memory must remain, and in absolute perfection. The least delinquency in this property of the mind or spirit to retrospect the past,
and call up from the circles of time the procuring causes of reward or
punishment, would invalidate the whole structure of justice, and mke
of reward simply a gift, and of punishment a mere affliction.  The
Re.- vi _,0 _1 t   t 1_!_ h ii _  1_ As Rm V_,   1   I, Ep.Li' 
50                THE DIVINITY OF THE C.UITCH.
understanding on the part of the sufferer for what he suffered-the
object would be defeated, and the end lost; so also with regard to
rewards. The same necessity exists in order that God may be glorified
in the son, as "the author and finisher" of the christian faith; that
faith, which being baptized in the blood of the Lamb, bringeth salvation to man.  Take from memory the scenes of Calvary and Gethsemane, and what would constitute the basis of heavenly praise for
either time or eternity? There could be no such thing, because in that
event there would be no sufficient cause of inspiration. In addition
to this necessity, which the philosophy of the — subject so  plainly
teaches, the Divine Word has also declared, by inference at least, the
same thing.  "Unto  himn  that loved us, (said an angel voice,) and
washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and
priests unto God and his Father: to him be glory and dominion for
ever and ever."* In this communication to John, the heavenly
messenger refers to antecedent acts on earth as the inspiring cause
of eternal glorification in heaven. If the triumphant war of redemption, then, be remembered, whose short but mighty campaign was
from "Gethsemane" to "Gabbatha," and from " Gabbatha" to " Golgotha,'  so, by construction, of everything else.  This answers a very
interesting if not important question that is frequently asked, "Shall
we know our friends again when we meet them in the other world?"
If the testimony of necessity and the declaration of the word of God
be considered, the answer'is, we shall; and not only shall we know
our friends, but everything else also, from the days of Adam to the
end of time.  Knowledge, to this extent, must be intuitive, else
the plan is imperfect.  An example of this truth is presented by the
record of the "transfiguration," in the intuitive recognition of Moses
and Elias by the disciples. The same thing is declared by St. Paul,
in his first letter to the Corinthians: "For now we see through a
glass darkly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then
shall I know even as also I am known."t   If we shall know other
things as God knows us, which seems to be the idea of the apostle,
then will knowledge be perfect, and if perfect, intuitive.
There needs no elaboration off this thought to show the amazing
perfection and goodness of God, as exhibited in the scheme of human
* Rev. i, 5'         1 Cor. xiii, 12. 
THE DIVINITY OF THE CHURCH.                    5
redemption; the very idea is laden with glory and crowned with hope.
Not to a land of strangers will the christian go when dismissed from
earth, but to a long-sought home-a home in the heavenly mansions
of bliss,
-   Where friends shall meet again."
There long-severed families shall be brought together, and be reconstituted one in Jesus Christ; there the old warrior of the cross,
rejuvenate in the light of the Lamb, shall tell his battles o'er again,
while  the heavenly arches re-echo with the songof the Apocalypsethat song which no man could learn, "save the hundred and forty
an    d         four thousand which were redeemed from the earth."b   Of that
perfect number, which represents all the saved of mankind, is the
Christian         Church a component part.  It once bore the Cross, but
now    it wears the Crown; it was once a traveller in gloom, but now
it is an inhabitant of glory. The pilgrim reaches home. Sustained by
th    e           divinity of its cause, it hath passed, with its acts, through the
purifying crucible of truth and grace, and now enters "through the
gates into the city," midst the imperial shoutings of "Alleluia, Alleluia!" "And I heard a great voice, of much people in heaven, saying,
Alleluia, salvation and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord
our God."t It was the redeemed Church of Christ in the glory-land.
Then in prelibation let the divine ecstasy of hope in celestial numbers
rol l.        On earth let the saints begin the endless song               "Cry aloud, inp heavenly lays —
Glory doth to God belong;
God, the glorious Saviour, praise."
IV.-The relation which the Church sustains to the World, politically-and especially in this country-shows its Divinity.
"Put on thy strength, 0 Zion; put on thy beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem."$
Much fear has been expressed by politicians in this country, and
some alarm has been excited also in weak minds~ lest the-Church should
in some way become interested and associated in the administration of
the Government,  This has been carried so fr in some of the States,
* Re..iv 3*   t e,xi.    -           la li. 
~52   ~      THE DIVINITY OF THE CHURC H.
pie. Whether this be right or wrong, belongs not to this present
oeccasion to declare. It is "prima facie" evidence, however, that
a fear has sprung up with the powers that be, that there is another
King than Ccsar, and that the Prince of this World is not safe from
the influences of righteousness, when brought into association with
the children of God. In this proscription and fear, the world itself
bears testimony to the Divinity of the Church or Kingdom of Jesus
Christ; of whose head and governor it is said, " He must reign till
he hath put all enemies under his feet."* The relation of the Church
to the world may be likened to the relation of the heart to the human
system; it is the organ of vitality-the seat of life. Particularly is
this the case in the American States, whose origin was in the Church,
which was divinely led by the spirit of its own inspiration, to that
home in the "'wilderness where (in the language of the Bible) she
hath a place prepared of God;"t and whose protection and defence,
in the nation's growth to empire and to power, have so manifestly
been of heaven. It was Washington, at midnight, in the grove of
prayer, more than Washington in the battle-field, that wrought out
the liberties of the Republic. His prowess became invincible, because the shield of God was about him, for God's own great purposethe restoration of the world to liberty from the oppressions of despotism, and the redemption of the family of man to the hope of
immortality and eternal life, from the bondage of sin and death.  It
was this that edged the hero's sword and nerved the hero's arm; and
to this end is the American Republic a two-fold missionary to the
nations of the earth. As a political Colossus, in the first instance, it
plants its foot upon either land, and holds out to all people the light
of liberty and equality; while evangelism, in the second, as a diamond
set in gold, sparkles in the illumination, and sanctifies the blessed gift.
As the tide of glory rolls on, from the West to the East-from-the
New to the Old World-crowns sit loosely upon their wearers' heads,
and thrones begin to crumble: "For the people which sat in darkness saw great light, and to them which sat in the region and shadow
of death, light is sprung up."I
Let it not be thought that a union of Church and State, however,
is referred to or desired in the utterance of these sentiments and
views-that is, in any greater degree than such union now exists —
* 1 Cor. xv, W.    Rev. xii, 6.    -   Matt. iv, 16. 
THE DIVINITY-OF THE CHURCH.                    53
a union of spirit, fraternity, and design, which constitute the natural
relationship of antecedents in common-referring to the same parent age. The Church in this country (unlike that of any other) is the
elder born of the same parentage with the Government.   Both are
from God, and have shared alike his heavenly protection.  Both have
their offices to fill, for which they are mutually dependent upon each
other, even as both are dependent upon him who is the source of all
power. In united division, then we may say, (if such a seeming paradox may be used,) let the star of Bethlehem and the stripes of Confederation wave forever over the descending hosts of God's chosen
people, as in their march they go down the pathway of time-the
political and the spiritual insignia of the kingdom of Christ upon earth.
And when arrived at the end of the campaign, then let them, side
by side, pass gloriously together to the promised land, where each,
sanctified by the spirit and intent of the other, in the appr6ving smile
of heaven, shall become consolidate, and remain one forever in the
Paradise of God.  "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first
resurrection-[who have part in Christ, who was the first to rise from
the dead]-on such the second death hath no power; but they shall
be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand
years."*  In this view, the Altar of Liberty becomes also the Altar
of Christianity, and the Temple of Freedom converts to the Temple
of God.
CONCLUDING REMARKs.-The acceptance of gifted privileges, conferred by a superior power, whether upon communities or individuals,
involves (by construction) the performance of duties, both conditional
and personal; and upon the faithful discharge of those duties, orditarily, depends all the hoped-for benefits to be enjoyed.
Among the first of those duties is to be recognised, the obligation
to make ready the house of the Lord-to prepare the place, and
arrange the circumstances of Divine Worship. A nation or community that should neglect this would readily be pronounced heathen,
and would be listed in the condemnation of those that forget God.
shr  of the. Re   Se   an in vie  of IsraLela.s redmto.h_e s1 
54.       THE DIVINITY OF THE CHRURCH.
become my salvation; he is my God, and I will prepare him an HABITATION-my father's God, and I will exalt him."  Scarcely had the
echoes of that anthem of joy died away midst the mountain peaks of
the "pass" that led down to the deep, ere the tabernacle was
planted.  The altar (though a rude one) was owned and blessed of
Jehovah; the people were honored; and the wilderness of" Shur"
became henceforth, for forty years, the place of God's encampment
-upon earth. But when Jerusalem was builded, then the temple was
also demanded.  While Jacob dwelt in tents, God, in his tabernacle-making manifest his presence by the pillar of cloud and fire
dwelt with them. But when Jacob went up from the desert.to dwell
in palaces, a palace for Jehovah was also required; and Solomon
the king, who was deputed its builder, received both the plan and the
direction for its accomplishment from God himself. When the temple was finished, the " Shekinah" of acceptation, which filled the
place, attested the Divinity of the cause and the high approval of
heaven. In this the Jews performed a solemn obligation which rested
upon them.  The same obligation now rests upon all people-that is,
to make the house of God to correspond, both in elegance of strumture and beauty of adorning, with those in which they dwell themselves.  There can be no better guide to what s/ould constitute a
right standard of Christian beneficence-no better rule to be observed
in reference to what God requires for the appointments of his service,
as regards "the Church he has purchased with his own blood" —
than to make the proportionate measure, according to the allowances
made for private and domestic uses.  This was the graduating scale
among the Jews, who were required to give one-tenth of all their gains
to the service of the altar.  The same law-the law of tithes-exists
in some countries still.  But a tenth part is not now required to
meet the demand-a far less proportion would be sufficient; nay, a
tithe of the tithe, if promptly paid in, and faithfully administered,
would do away with the inconvenience of poor church houses, and
drive indigence from the doors of every respectable congregation. And
yet the rule should be the same.  If God requires less from the
gra  merc.  **A plasn  ilstrto  (an   rftal  alo  of.t*i*s 
TIE DIVINITY OF THE CHURCH.                     55
presented in the history of this society, and the erection of this beau tiful house. When Methodism was small in the city and the town,
and few of the wealthy and the great of the land honored its altars
with their gifts, or its pales with their presence, then the former
house-the Tabernacles-was all that was required to supply the
need.  God then and there honored his name and his cause in the
conversion of many souls; some of whom yet linger upon the shores
of time, as ancient waymarks in the pathway to heaven-connecting
links betwixt the past and the future, and unto whom the present
finger of historic observation points, and says, " This and that man
were born there." But when numbers and wealth increased; when
Methodism, no longer puny and despised, laid off her ancient and
distinctive garb, (how great the pity!) and the Nicodemuses of the
world, and of kindred " Sanhedrims," came in to inquire of " the
better way," not only in night, but also in the broad day; then
this "latter house" (the Templet) was demanded to be built.  In obedience to the requirement, and by the liberal interference of onet
who was the original benefactor of the former house, and whose name
is almost a synonym for active benevolence, in every direction both
of public and private philanthrophy, the structure rose, which now
stands alike an honor to progressive Methodism, and an ornament to
the City of the West.
But shall "the glory of this latter house be in truth greater than
that of the former," and will the God of Jacob here give peace?IIt So
may it be. Religion, it is true, does not consist in fashions and in
forms, but in the demonstration of the spirit and the power of God.
There may be no specific Christianity in an humble house, a close
bonnet, or a straight-breasted coat, it is likely; and yet the association which they had with deep piety and fervent zeal for God, in the
days of our fathers and our mothers, makes them pleasant to the eye
of the mind, when memory is busy in its filial retrospect. The modern
heart, hidden in the midst of fleecy clouds of lace, and overwhelmed
with billowy folds of "crinoline," MAYfeel, and the arm robed in silks
and satins may be strong, as if clothed in humble garb; and yet it will
require an effort, when (through faith) such ones stand by t/ke manger
at the inn, and look upon the babe of Bethlehem, or by the cross, or by
the sepulchre, to forget their costly and proud attire. Better leave itoff.
* The old 4th street Church.    t First M. E. Church South.  IHsagg. ii, 2.
$ Col. John O'Fallon, Who gave the ground. 
56               THE DIVINITY OF THE CHURCH.
There was an untrammeled freedom — a power-in the simplicity of
original Methodism, which it is to be feared has not gained by its alliance
with the too fashionable world.  "Watch and pray, then-oh, watch
and pray-that ye enter not into temptation." Let not the grandeur
of your house, nor the splendor of your equipage, nor the costliness
of your attire, steal away your affections from the cross of Christ;
but be humble and be faithful, as in the days of your former house.
Then peace will be given here, to you and to your children;  "and of
Zion it shall be said that this and that man was born in her." May
it so come to pass! Here, in after years, when the scenes of the
present, and their actors, have passed away from the memories of the
living, may shouts of gladness rise from new-born souls, in the midst
of this sacred altar, which is now consecrated, in perpetual sacrifice,
to the service of the living God. And may the Divinity of the cause
and place be the constant inspiration of both the progress and the
result. Then, if those who go hence are permitted to know what is
passing here, there will be joy in heaven, not only with the angels of
God, because of the conversion of-sinners, but with the saints of the
Most High, also, in their blessed retreat.  And thus joy will necessarily be increased by the knowledge of the pious benefits received
by their posterity, from the works which they did while they were
yet upon the earth.  "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.
..... For they rest from their labors, and their works do follow
them."*  Reader, HAVE FAITH IN GOD!
* Rev. xiv, 13.  
LM 
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.*
BY REV. BISHOP PIERCE.
For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether
we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord:
whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. "-Romans xiv, 7, 8.
The spirit of Christianity is essentially a public spirit. It ignores
all selfishness. It is benevolence embodied and alive, full of plans
for the benefit of the world, and actively at work to make them
effective. Catholic, generous, expansive, it repudiates all the boundaries prescribed by names, and sects, and parties, and "stretches its
line into the regions beyond," even to the uttermost parts of the
earth. The world is its parish. Its wishes are commensurate with
the moral wants of mankind; and the will of God, who gave His Son
to die for us sinners and our salvation, is the authority for its labors
and the pledge of its triumphs.
It is the policy of every form of infidelity and speculative unbelief,
and of every false religion, to depreciate and undervalue the nature
of man.  They despoil him of his true glory by their chilling, preposterous theories, even while they affect to magnify him by fulsome
eulogy of his intellect and its capacious powers. By false notions
of personal independence, they isolate him from his kind, and the
sensibilities which Heaven intended should flow out free as the gushing spring, they contract and stagnate, till the heart grows rank and
putrid with its own corruptions. But while our holy religion exalts
man as made in the image of God, the head and chief of the system
to which he belongs, and thus invests the individual with dignity and
value vast and incalculable, far, far beyond "worlds on worlds arrayed," it yet liniks him in closest fellowship with the kindred of his
str  bea   in _be_u1y! _he1_i_d___lao_,!the w!a_e_s_run.  1atb  air1 
58                   DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.
but not for him alone.  No matter what his rank, power, influence,
he but shares the bounties which have been provided, in the munificence of Heaven, as the common inheritance of all his fellows.  No
matter what his personal rights and interests, he is but a part of a
great whole. He belongs to a system. No choice of his own, no
social caste, no civil distinctions, can detach him from it. Linked
with the world around him by a law of his nature and the decree of
his Maker, every plan of isolation is abortive; and the very effort at
separation and exclusiveness brands him as a miser, a misanthrope,
a selfish, heartless wretch, without natural affection or any redeeming principle. A brute in human form-a demon, with the lineaments of man-he is under the outlawry of a world itself, alas! but
too ignorant of the law of love and the noble aims and ends of this
mortal life.
Bound together, as we are, by the ties of a common nature and of
mutual dependence, every man is a fountain of influence, good or
bad, conservative or destructive. Whether he will or not, he is an
example. His language, spirit, actions, habits, his very manners, all
tell-forming the taste, moulding the character, and shaping the
course of others, to the end of time. N)o man liveth to himself.
Hle can not. Apparently he may, but really he does not. His plans
and his aspirations may all revolve around himself as a common centre, but within and without their orbits will be concentric circles,
enclosing other agents and other interests. He may rear walls
around his possessions, call his lands by his own name, and his inward thought may be, as the world phrase it, to take care of himself
and his dependents  but he can neither limit the effect of his plans,
nor forecast the inheritance of his estate. Another enters even into
his labors. Disruptive changes abolish his best-concerted schemes,
and scatter to the winds all the securities by which he sought to fence
and individualize his own peculiar interest.
But while all this is true, and constitutes the basis of a fearful
responsibility, it is not exactly the idea in our text. In the declaration before us, the Apostle does not affirm a principle as predicable
of our nature and its social relations, nor merely state a fact as resulting from an immutable law of our being; but he presents a moral
rule, and erects it into a standard for the adjudication of character.
He defines the rights of Jesus Christ our Lord, and the obligations
of those who claim to be His disciples and representatives. 
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.                       59
A dispute has arisen in the Church concerning meats and dayswhat was allowable and consistent in the one ease, and what was required and binding upon the other. It was a question of privilege —
of Christian liberty. Assuming that the parties were equally sincere,
the apostle did not seek to quell the agitation by a temporary expedient, a dubious unreliable compromise; but took occasion to declare
a principle of universal authority and application. He lays down a
rule by which we are to judge others as well as to measure ourselves.
What one may regard as a ceremony and a superstition, is not to be
charged upon another, whose opinion is different, as proof that his
profession is a mask or his piety insincere. Nor is the latter to denounce the former as a time-serve- a man-pleaser, turning the grace
of God into licentiousness.  "He that regardeth the day, regardeth
it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he
doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth
God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and
giveth God thanks."
Conceding the right of private judgment-frankly confessing imperfect knowledge-let both judge, charitably. The kingdom of God
is not meat and drink-but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy
Ghost.  There may be, there is, unity in the greatprinciples of Christian morality, and yet a difference of judgment and practice in little
things. WVe are not to despise one another because of this diversity,
nor, though fully persuaded in our own minds, harass a brother by
the vexatious obtrusion of our peculiar notions. His liberty is not
to be bounded by our prejudice, nor his conscience regulated by our
superstition. The law of love not only requires good will, benevolent affection towards all men, but stretches its authority over our
opinions, our moral judgments, our estimate of character. We are not
to perplex the weak with doubtful disputations, nor incur the risk of
imbittering our own feelings by urging our ultraisms as essential to
salvation. Life is too short to be wasted in frivolous disputes, even
about matters of conscience. Christianity is too precious and noble
and vast to be scandalized by contentions in the Church about meats
and drinks —the tithing of mint and anise and cummin. As Christians, we are public men. We live for our race. The Lord is our
judge.  Great principles are to be avowed-maintained-diffusedestablished. God and our generation are to be served —the one to
be glorified, and the other to be saved. "For none of us liveth to him 
60                    DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.
self, and no man dieth to himself. Whether we live, we live unto
the Lord  and whether we die, we die unto the Lord; whether we live,
therefore, or die, we are the Lord's."
The text is a comprehensive description of a Christian's life-a
decisive test of character. It is the language of one who well knew
what Christianity is, and who himself exemplified its principles and
spirit.
Avoiding minute details, we proceed to fix the meaning of the
terms living unto the Lord, and dying unto the Lord.
Living unto the Lord may be considered as implying that we
distinctly recognize the will of God as the rule of life.
If I may so express it —as the natural subjects of the Almighty,
we are bound to serve him to the full extent of the powers He hath
given us   He has an unquestionable right to our obedience.   This
results from our relation as creatures.  He made us, and He preserves us. This original obligation, instead of being relaxed and
imnpaired, is confirmed and intensified by purchase and redemption.
The will of God is to be sought in the statute-law of the gospelthe plain and express decrees which define and regulate our duty.
It is important to notice and to remember that the service we are to
perform is not left to our choice. We have no rights of legislation
in the premises. Our task is assigned us, divinely appointed. Lord,
what wilt Thou have me  to do? ought to be the inquiry of every
human spirit. The word of God gives the answer: " Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy mind, with all thy soul,
and with all thy strength, and thy neighbor as thyself." This is the
law and the prophets-the true philosophy of life-the first  and
second commandments. On these hang all the subordinate' requirements of" judgment, mercy, and faith."  The precepts of Christianity are so wisely and graciously adapted to promote the private
interests of individuals and the general welfare of human society,
that many who are disaffected towards the divine government, will,
for their own sakes, choose to do many things which are just, and
kind, and beneficent. These things are comely, reputable, of. good
reor  a~og  llme;an   ama   cnnt  hreor  srv  hmsl 
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.                       61
monstrous individual crime, and while nations wrought into fury
sometimes quench their hate in blood, yet commonly the social
instinct, and the love of ease, and the fear of retribution, prevail
over what is hostile and malignant in our nature. In the absence of
injury or provocation, men generally wish others well, and are even
disposed to do them good. To some of the duties of Christianity
there is therefore no natural aversion-no active repugnance. And
it is greatly to be feared that many are basing their hopes of heaven
upon their exemption from the vices that corrupt and embroil society,
upon their amiable feelings and kind relations-upon neighborly
offices and charitable expenditures. But those virtues which are
merely human-educational-conventional-cannot save.    In this
world they have their origin, their use, and their reward. The great
element of piety is wanting. There is no reference to God. And
here is a marked difference between the man who lives for himself,
and the. man who lives unto the Lord. The one obeys a constitutionaliimpulse perhaps-consults his reputation, his business, his influe-ce; or, it may be, rising a little higher, he may rightly estimate
his responsibilities as a father or as a citizen, and so is honorable,
moral, refined. But he is without God in the world. Oh, the loneliness and destitution of such a spirit!  Atheism is his religion, if not
his creed; or at best he is an idolater-himself the idol. The other
realizes the divine authority, and obeys because God commands.
The relative duties of life are'performed not to gratify a native
generosity, or eke out a dubious popularity, but as a part of the
service and homage due his Maker. Over the whole circumference
of his engagements-in the bosom of his family, the busy marts of
trade, the retirement of the closet, the worship of the sanctuary,
the citizenship of the world —there presides a solemn recognition of
the Divine presence, his being and his empire, and every step is taken in reference to Him as a witness and a judge. I know that
many profess and seem to be religious on lower principles.  Public
opinion, consistency, ease of conscience to shun hell, to gain heaven,
all operate, and they supersede and dethrone the higher law in the 
62                   DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.
hensive, embracing all lower endsharmonizes all, yet subordinates
them all to its own sovereign sway.  Like a conqueror at the head
of his battalions, it marches forth to subdue the insurgent elements
that would dispute its dominion. It is the " stronger man" keeping
his goods in peace. Without it, there can be no consecration, and
with it, no compromise of duty. The failure to recognize and adopt
this great principle of morality, has fearfuilly diluted the experience
of the Church, and embarrassed every department of Christian service.  " I will run in the way of thy commandments, when Thou shalt
enlarge my heart," said the Psalmist. No man can rise above the
constraining considerations which spring from interest, feeling, safety,
pleasure, in reference to all minor questions of duty, save as he resolves religion into some great general principles and purposes, from
the decision of which there is no appeal. These principles, wisely
adopted and well understood, will marshal all the chances and
changes of life, all its untoward events, all its interfering agencies,
so that they shall fall into ranks like well-trained soldiers under the
command of a superior officer. They simplify religion, disentangle
it from all purely selfish influences, from the bias of worldly interests,
from the guile of passion, and leave a man free to glorify God according to the Scriptures.  How simple and sublime the character deriving its greatness and worth from God and duty! How grandly
independent is he who knows no fear but the fear of God, who seeks
no favor but the smile of Jesus, and whose single eye scans all things,
great and small, in the light which no shadow can eclipse! His life
regulated by one great pervading law and purposes he escapes all the
trials by which feebler and less decided Christians are tormented and
impeded. His heart, consecrated in all its plans and purposes, falters not at sacrifice, or peril, or suffering. Difficulties and doubts he
has none.  His religion is to him a law that never changes.   His
heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.  His plan of life settled scripturally, advisedly, and in the fear of God, he is not to be bought or
bribed, frightened or defeated. Turning neither to the right nor left,
he moves right on.  If along his pathway the den of lions opens,
he lies down and lodges for the night, and in the morning tells how
the angel kept him. If the furnace be kindled to test or to destroy
him, he walks unburnt in the flame, and comes forth without the
smell of fire upon his garments. Escaped from the shallows and the
breakers where so many toil with unavailing oar, he has launched on 
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.                       63
the deep, and, favored by wind and tide, looks with lively hope for
an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ.
But the principle I am discussing, considered as a test of character, and a rule by which to adjudicate our Christian claims, is worthy
of enlargement. Living unto the Lord implies that we make the
approbation of God our governing aim —that we study to please Him,
and that, whatever we do, we do all to His glory.
Religion, to be saving, must be supreme: "My son, give me  thy
heart."  "He  that loveth father or mother more than me, is not
werthy of me." God claims the body and the spirit. He will not
divide the empire, which is his by right, with invaders and usurpers.
Unless, therefore, His  approval is the predominant motive, we not
only base our Christianity upon mistaken apprehensions of the
Divine claims, but we repudiate the only principle which can subjugate the rebellious elements and passions of our fallen nature.   Before conversion, we form attachments and allow indulgences wholly
inconsistent with a life of devotion.  To do well, we must first cease
to do evil. The flesh, with its affections and lusts, must be crucified.
Self-denial is the first law of discipleship. Who would submit to
have the right hand cut off, the right eye plucked out-much less
perform the operation upon himself —-unless by the expulsive power
of a new and holy affection, these enemies which eneamped within
his heart shell be routed and taken captive.  There must be the ascendency of another and a higher principle than any which is merely
human, to break down the dominion of appetite, and passion, and
habit.  Flesh and blood are sad counselors in the work of God.   To
consult them is to betray our spiritual interests.  The  multitude
do evil-we must dare to be singular.  But who will come out from
the world-brave its scorn-defy its persecution-disdain its blandishments, and rebuke its ungodliness by declining its fellowship t.
None but those who feel that God's smile amply remunerates for the
world's contempt, and that the testimony that we please Him outweighs all earthly treasure, and outshines all earthly glory.
To live for Christ, and to live for ourselves, is utterly impractica
ble.  The union is a moral impossibility.  We  love a good name;
but they that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
Me  are rich; but the command is, "Sell all that thou hast, and give
to the poor, and come follow me."  We love home and friends; but 
64                   DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.
Christ calls to absence, and labor, and sacrifice. Religion is popular
-you embrace it: the Church is fashionable-you join it.  The people shout Hosanna, and Jesus is escorted by a worshipping multitude;
you say, "Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest."  The
Master replies: " The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have
nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head." What
will you do now?- Go away sorrowful? or, having counted the cost,
go on to build? " Choose ye this day whom ye will serve;" or have
you settled this question long ago in favor of duty and heaven?
Are you living unto the Lord.  You are making a fortune; is it that
you may do more good? You are rising in the world, seeking title,
and honor, and influence; is it that you may enlarge your sphere of
usefulness?  O brother, if the carnal affection grows along with the
carnal interest, thy prosperity may destroy thee. Or if thou art
seeking thy own pleasure, gratification, and advancement, thou hast
fallen from grace. Even Christ pleased not himself. Paul obeyed
the heavenly vision immediately, conferring not with flesh and blood.
And every man who would fulfil the great purposes of his creation
and redemption, must make God's approving judgment the motive of
all his actions, and the goal of all his efforts. Oh, how the saints of the
Bible luxuriated in this element of devotion! " One thing have I
desired of the Lord; that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the
house of the Lord all the days of my life: to behold the beauty of
th(i.rd and to inquire in his temple."  "I count all things but loss,
for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord."
These exemplars illustrate our subject.  They lived unto the Lord.
In His favor was life.  " A  day in His courts was better than a
thousand." The world's parade and pomp paled before the glory of
the sanctuary.   The festal charms, the music, and the mirth of the
tents of wickedness, were despised, and the lowest place in the house
of God preferred. They felt that they did not live at all except as
they lived unto the Lord.
This is the spirit of the text. Life is not to be measured by days
and months and years, but by a succession of services to Him that
tie of an etra  state thn evn lie' mos  serios enggemnt 
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.                      65
will all seem as vacancies, like the hours passed in sleep, and the
pleasures of the world like the vagaries of sleep itself. Go, buy, sell,
get, gain, build a name, rear houses, add field to field, project
public improvements, locate railroads, plan empires: this is all labor
and travail-vanity and vexation of spirit.
This is to breathe, not to live-to work, not to enjoy.  " All flesh
is grass, and the glory of man as the flower of the grass;" " but he
that doeth the will of God, liveth and abideth for ever." To love
God, this is joy: to know Christ, this is gain: to do good, this is life.
Mortal man'. child of the dust! this vain life which we spend as a
shadow is but the vestibule of being. Here we die while we live:
the cradle rocks us to the tomb.  We spend our strength for naught.
Riches fledge and fly away.  Honor is but a dew-drop, glittering in
the morning ray, exhaled by the very beam that makes it shine.
Love and friendship-the heart's blest affections-wounded, pine;
or, bereaved, they dwell among the dead, like Mary weeping there.
Oh! where is the bloom without the blight? the sun without the
cloud? Lord Jesus, thou wilt show me the path of life; in thy
presence, though dimnly seen, is unutterable joy, and where thou art
in glory visible, is heaven.
" Whether we die, we die unto the Lord."  This is an important
declaration, " wholesome and full of comfort." "Precious in the sight
of the Lord is the death of His saints." The death of a good man is
of too much import to happen by chance. It is an important instru ment in God's plans of mnercy and judgment. The event is big'
instruction.  Not to lay it to heart when the righteous perbh, is crimi nal insensibility-a wicked indifference to the dispenSai6 ns of hea ven.  Such a death is a public calamity.  It is not a sparrow falling
to the ground, a flower fading in the field, " the sere and yellow lea"'
afloat upon the autumnal gale, and then descending to the earth,
where its mates of the forest lie hueless and dead. A light is
quenched, and the darkness grows deeper. The world is bereaved
f a conservative influence.  The prayers he would have offered are
X lost; and if "c the fervent effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth
m    uch," how great the             loss' The      family l oses a guide and guardian, 
66                  DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.
portant man who projects your laws, marshals your parties, and leads
in politics; but he who, by faith, and prayer, and power with God,
averts the wrath our sins provoke.  David did more for Judah when
he bought Araunah's threshing-floor, built an altar, offered sacrifice,
and stayed the pestilence, than when, with kingly authority, he despatched Joab to quell the rebellion of Absalom. The intercession
of Moses, when, with holy boldness, with daring confidence, he rushed
between the offending Israelites and the Almighty, girded for battle
and extermination, and prevailed for their salvation, wrought a
greater wonder than when, obedient to his magic rod, the parted
waters returned in vengeance upon Pharaoh's pursuing host. Elijah
was the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof-the bulwark of
the nation. The clouds of heaven hung their keys at his girdle, and
the widow's meal and oil multiplied beneath His blessing. A good
man!  Oh, ye men of royal birth, ye sages, statesmen, heroes, ye
glimmer faintly beside the saint shining in the image of God. His
- wisdom is divine, his lineage heavenly, and greater than he who taketh
a city, for he hath conquered himself. I admire architecture, painting, sculpture, the wonders of the chisel and the pencil. I love nature in her mountain majesty, the rolling ocean and the woodland
vales-all that is lovely and sublime; but God is witness I would go
farther to see a good man, to hear him talk of Jesus, enter into his
communion, feel the moral grandeur of his destiny, than to behold
any achievement of art or sceneof nature.  These change and perish:
he is immortal. He thinks, he feels, he loves. His body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, and his spirit is bathed in the glory of the
Shekinah-the symbol of the presence and worship of God.  The
departure of such a man is a token of displeasure. It is the voice
of Heaven in judgment.  But, though the family is afflicted, the
Church in mourning, and the nation smitten, he" dies unto the Lord"
and "in the Lord."  With him "it is well."
Or the text may find its fulfilment in that God hides him from the
evil to come. I knew a good man who, in dying, said, "My God is hous ing me from a storm;" and the declaration was prophetic.  Soon evils
that would have broken his heart and brought him in sorrow to the 
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.                       67
elements brewing; and, while yet the cloud is as a man's hand, and
the winds are murmuring afar off, He transfers his faithful servant
to the repose of the blest.  "In his hand are all my ways." Delightful thought! He directs my steps, hears my sighs, chooses my allotments, numbers the hairs of my head, is about my bed and my path,
and knoweth how and when  to deliver. "Whether we die, we die
unto the Lord."
But it may be asked, Why, if the righteous are so dear to Christ
and so valuable to the world, are they doomed to death at all?  Why
does not religion, which saves us from a thousand other evils, release
us from this law of mortality? In answer, I remark: The reasons
are obvious on reflection. Exemption from death, as a reward of piety,
would appeal so strongly to the love of life —the quickest, the most
enduring instinct of our being-as to override the freedom of choice,
and thus make rational, voluntary piety impossible. We should adopt
it as a starving man would clutch offered bread, or the man dying of
thirst would seize the cup of cold water. And besides the violence
done to our nature in making the propensities decide a question belonging-under the present economy and in the proper fitness and
adaptation of things-to the intellect, the heart, the will, the incongruity would follow of proposing a carnal, earthly motive for a spiritual life. On such a plan, Christianity must approve what she now
repudiates; and the holy considerations by which she now seeks to
win us from error to wisdom, from earth to heaven, would all be
neutralized and lost, and the world to come be doomed to borrow the
forces of time to achieve its noblest victories.
The evil of sin cannot be shown but by its punishment. This conelusion is legitimate from what is revealed of the divine administration,
and from what we know of the processes of conviction in the mind of
man. God hates sin. It is a blot upon his dominions. But he has
not left the world to learn the fact even from the awful denunciations
of his word, but he has written it in the catastrophe of nations. The
deluge, famine, pestilence, fire and brimstone from heavens have been
the messengers of his wrath and the instruments of retribution. And
_utc  an  hs ininto  *gis  sin, tha  in th  dyn  agnis of. 
68                   DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.
"the spirit is life because of righteousness."  But death, with all its
antecedents and consequents-the mournful harbingers of its approach
and its power —the loathsome desolations of its victory and its reign,
to the saint of God is no longer death. It is but dissolution-a departure.  Sad in its aspects and accompaniments, it is nevertheless a
release. A pillar of cloud and fire, its shadows all fall on this side
the grave; beyond, all is light, and life, and glory. We die unto
the Lord,-and may I not add for the Lord.  The death of the good
preaches terror to the wicked. "'If the righteous scarcely be saved,
where shall the sinner and the ungodly appear?"  Oh! we ask not
"Enoch's rapturous flight, nor Elijah's fiery steeds" to bear us away,
if by dying we may help to convince the world of sin and judgment.
We would do good even in death. As we wish to live to serve him
"who loved us," so would; we die to make his glory known-" tht
justice and the grace."
-" Mark the perfect man and behold the upright, for the end of that
man is peace."  "The chamber where the good man meets his fate
is a scene of glory. See his patience under suffering; the calm sub
mission, and often the joy unutterable. Is this human fortitude; the
stoicism of a blind philosophy; the outflashings of sentiment and
fancy? No, no. It is the fulfilment of promise; grace abounds. It
is the conviction that the judge of all the earth will do right.
"Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." It is the knowledge
of the Redeemer in his pardoning mercy, his purifying spirit, and in
the glory soon to be revealed in its fullness and its eternity.  It is
an argument for religion, that it ends well.  " Let me die the death
of the righteous, and let mly last end be like his."  The prophet's
prayer finds an echo in every heart not lost to hope and heaven.
Who that looks upon a dying scene, where Christianity wreathes the
pale face with smiles of rapture, and inspires the failing tongue to
utter its last articulations in the dialect of heaven, does not breathe
from the inmost soul the wish-even so may I meet the last enemy?
In life, being strong in faith, we give glory to God; so in the final
struggle He is glorified in us and by us. "These all died in faith."'
immortal record! epitaph of the good, and interpreter of their doom.
Living and dying, "we are the Lord's "-His property-absolutely,
in every change, walking upon the earth and sleeping upon its bosom.
lie made us, and He loves us. He is "not ashamed to be called" our
God. Life, probation, and death, are all ministers employed by Him 
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.                       69
to do us good.  If He prolong our days, it is that we may serve Him
and our generation by the will of God.  If He afflicts us, it is "for
our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness. If He call uos
hence, it is that we may " see Iim as He is, and be like him forever."
Our bodies may inhabit the house appointed for all the living, and
our very name perish from the records of time, but He looks down
and " watches all our dust till Hle shall bidit rise."  We are the
Lord's-the jewels of his kingdom, and the travail of his soul.  Ile
hath said it, and it shall stand fast-" They shall be mine"-"Because
I live, they shall live also."  "We are the Lord's."  Let us rejoice
in our relationship, and walk worthy of our high descent and our im mortal destiny.
The principle and spirit of the text were beautifully exemplified in
the life and death of our beloved brother, Bishop Capers. I have
never known a man of more simple, single-hearted,  uncalculating
devotion. Born of God while yet a youth, his life was consecrated
unreservedly to the service of Christ and his Church.  Through all
the changes of his career, youth, maturity and age; single, married,
and surrounded by sons and daughters; on circuits, stations and districts; a deacon, an elder and a bishop; he exhibited the same steady,
onward  devotion; a man of God, of faith, of zeal.   Ilis steadfast
purpose never faltered; no change of fortune modified the entireness
of his dedication:, no accumulation of cares relaxed his efforts to do
good. He lived unto the Lord. Absence from home might entail
loss, afflict feeling, tax affection; no matter, he had set his heart
within him to finish his course with joy, and the ministry which he
had received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of
God. On more than one occasion he might have secured to his family
a home rich in comforts, and to himself honors and emoluments, by
separating himself from the itinerancy he loved, and consenting to
serve a people who proved their esteem by the largeness of their
offered liberality. But attached to our Church and its economy by
conviction and choice, salary was no temptation to leave it, or even
to modify his relation to it; and, in the face of all the sacrifices and privations and labors of a travelling Methodist preacher, he declined a
city home and a well-filled purse.
My acquaintance with our dear departed brother (I ought to call
him father) began while I was but a boy, and he was in the meridian
of his strength, and the blaze of a renown such as few attain. The 
70                   DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.
impressions made upon me then by his humble manner, his sanctified
conversation, and his unwearied labors, were fully justified by the
familiarity of intercourse in after years. He seemed to me to be dead
to the world, its gains and honors, and alive only to the glory of God
and the salvation of souls. While his name was upon every tongue,
and crowds were rushing from appointment to appointment, and the
whole country was in a fever of curiosity and admiration, he seemed
to shrink from fame; and the exultation by which a common mind and
a common heart would have been lifted up, in his case was lost in
an overwhelming sense of the responsibility his position entailed.
He was one of the very few men I have known who was not injured
in his piety and preaching by great popularity. To seek popularity
as an object, in a minister is a crime-to bear it meekly when it comes
unsought, is a virtue of rarest value.
This virtue characterized, distinguished Wim. Capers in the freshness of his youth, the glory of his noon, and in the mellow ripeness
of his sanctified old age. He was clothed with humility. It was his
beauty and his strength. The praise even of the lowly oppressed
himrn. Courted and caressed by the rich, the great, the mighty in the
land, he shrunk from their embrace, lest he might seem to others to
be seeking great things for himself. His faith was never hindered by
seeking the honor of men; his fidelity never compromised by the
adulation of the Church or the world. Who ever heard him tell of
the mighty works he had done; the great sermons he had preached
the wondrous revivals he had carried on? Who ever saw in his air
the conceit of success, or detected in his language the self-gratulation
of a praiseworthy deed?  He was not the hero of his narratives, nor
did he talk to make the simple wonder, or the great admire. Like
Paul, whose visit to the third heaven was kept a secret for fourteen
years, and revealed at last only to vindicate his apostleship, he said
but little of his own experience, save in the retirement of private life,
to the ear of intimate companionship. Astonishingly fluent, he talked
much, but always well. He never forfeited in private the reputation
he had made in public. Cheerful without levity, and easy without 
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.                       71
that wept. In his family, gentle without weakness, and fond without
improper indulgence. His wife, herself a model woman, revered
while she loved, and honored while she served. His children, feeling
themselves favored of Heaven in the virtues of such a father, obeyed
his commands, consulted his wishes, and felt his smile to be a meed
and a recompense. No man loved his children more. He regretted
in the last hour that so few of them were present, and yet rejoiced
that he had seen them so recently. Lovely family-children honored
in their parents, and parents honored in their children. God's best
blessing continue with them to the latest generation!
It is not amiss to say that Bishop Capers was in manners a gentleman, bland, courtly, refined. In him the polish of the courtier and
the simplicity of the saint beautifully blended. His politeness did not
consist in the formalities and ceremonies which, in certain circles, are
dignified as the insignia of the well-bred and the fashionable; but it
was the outgushing of a heart which knew no rule but the promptings
of its own benevolence.  It was the outward expression of an inward
disposition; a mode of action which a loving spirit instinctively prescribed; the free, untaught, unconstrained operation of Christian
courtesy. In the parlor and the pulpit, the street and the sanctuary,
he was minutely regardful of the proprieties of life; and while the
simplest rustic found no affectation, the fastidious critic discovered no
fault.
I must not omit to mention his. excellence in prayer. Whether
we consider his power as a gift or a grace, he surpassed most men.
In his devotions there was so much of the evangelical element, that a
heathen man might have learned the plan of salvation from any one
of his public exercises. On his knees he knew nothing but Christ.
The cross was his all-prevailing plea. He urged it with fervor,
affection, and faith. He was himself an intercessor, filled with yearning sympathies for his fellow-men. And sometimes his power with God
would remind us of Jacob and the Angel-of Israel and his blessing.
To describe him as a preacher belongs rather to his biographer than
to the sketch of a funeral discourse. He was a scribe well instructed in
the kingdom of God; an able minister of the New Testament. He brought
forth out of his treasure things new and old. Rich in thought, fertile
in matter, there was no sameness in his discourses, even when he
preached from the same text-which he often did. I never heard him
use the same  illustration twice, or falter for a word.  Copious in 
72                   DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.
language, apt in selection, and inexhaustible in variety, he was always
ready and always new. It is difficult to classify his style as a preacher.
His sermons were not essays nor expositions, nor were they narratives
with reflections interspersed, nor yet topical exactly; still, all these,
except the first, were sometimes mingled by him. Perhaps the word
textual will fit his..manner best. His sermons grew out of his texts,
not by formal divisions, but by an artistic development, a verbal evolution of their meaning. Under his peculiar management, many a verse
or passage to the untrained eye dark, or at least obscure, became instructive, beautiful, most interesting. Gifted with wonderful versatility and readiness, he excelled all I ever knew in adapting his text
and discourse, on a sudden call, to all that was peculiar on the
occasion. He often awakened attention by the announcement of a
verse which none but he would ever have chosen. In this, however,
he was not fanciful or eccentric, but simply obeyed the impulse of a
mind unique in its conceptions and modes of thought. In thought,
language, style, he was original, yet without eccentricity; called no
man master, and yet violated no rule of the books; always accurate,
always simple, but elegant in his simplicity. His sermons were often
ornate; but there was no florid coloring; no exuberance; no glare.
There was a delightful propriety, a minute beauty, a neat, chaste,
graceful arrangement of every part. His flowers were not artificial;
they all had roots, and they were redolent with the morning dew;
fresh and fragrant as a vernal garden in the early day.
It is but just to say that his pulpit efforts were very unequal; yet
in his driest, darkest moods, he was William Capers-all the mental
characteristics of the man stood forth; a familiar acquaintance could
not fail to recognize them. He possessed the singular faculty of
speaking with fluency, grace, and propriety, when his mind was barren and empty, and his hearers listened well pleased, even when they
got nothing to carry away. But at other times he was transfigured
-his very form dilated-his eye beamed with celestial beauty, soft
with the light of love, yet radiant with the joy of his rapt and ravished spirit, and his voice, mellowed by emotion, spell-bound while it
was upo  hi-we  th  ane  toce  hi lis wth a colfo1h 
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.                      73
song upon the shepherds of Bethlehem. Anon I have seen him
clothe himself with terrible majesty, as when a prophet proclaimed
the vengeance of the Almighty, and then the thunder of the violated
law pealed from his lips like the trump of doom, and the pallid, awestruck assembly told that the preacher had power with God and prevailed with men.  For the mourner in Zion, the grief-stricken, the
bowed, the desolate, he had the tongue of the learned and the heart
of a seraph. Oh! the pathes of his sympathy-how touching and
tender! It was a healing oil, a soothing balsam: beneath its magic
charm, desolation bloomed and tears were turned to rapture.   Many
a wayworn pilgrim, weary with life's heavy burdens, faint, yet pursuing with faltering steps, felt his hopes revive and his courage grow
strong while this " old man eloquent" discoursed of providence, and
grace, and heaven-of the cross, the mercy-seat, and the crown of
life. These were the themes on which he loved to dwell: they were
the rejoicing of his heart, and the staple of his ministry. But the
harp is broken, and all its music gone. The pleasant voice is hushed,
and he who played so well upon that wondrous instrument, the human
tongue, lies low in cold obstruction and dumb forgetfulness. Bishop
Capers is no more. His place at the council-board of,he Church he
loved is empty.  The pulpit shall know him no more for ever.  The
grave's dark eclipse rests upon that beaming face, and that venerable
form, that moved among us but a little while ago-shrouded, coffined,
buried, sleeps in death-thank.God, in Jesus too-awaiting the
descent of the judgment angel and the revelation of the Son of man.
The circumstances of his decease have been so widely publishedare so generally known-that I need not detail them now.  Suffice it
to say, that having finished his last episcopal tour, visited his children,
he returned to his quiet home, to rest for a season in the bosom of his
family.  Oh' the sober bliss, the grateful joy, of such a meeting!  It
was a mercy that allowed him this last interview. Death found the
soldier in his tent, recruiting for another campaign.  At midnight
the spoiler came. The sleeping household were roused by the trembling cry of the wife, the mother, in the agony of her alarm.   They
rushed to the good man's chamber, and found him sitting up, but
writhing in pain.  "Make my blood circulate," he said.  They
essayed the task, but failed.  Seeing their alarm, and feeling that
his end was nigh, he said, " I am already cold, and now, my precious
children, give me up to God. Oh that more of you were here! but 
74                   DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.
I bless God that I have so lately seen you all." But see how principle, and duty, and devotion to the Church, worked at the last and
to the last. Bathed in the dew of mortality, enduring unt(d agony,
longing for the faces of those he loved, gasping in death, he said,
" Mary, I want you to finish my minutes to-morrow, and send them
off." Duty was his law in life-his watchword at the gate of death.
Partially relieved by the physician's skill and the power of medicine,
he asked the hour.  When told, he exclaimed, "What! only three
hours since I have been suffering such torture!  Only three hours!
What must be the voice of the bird that cries Eternity! Eternity!
Three hours have taken away all but my religion."  Health gone,
strength gone, hope gone, life almost gone; but religion abides steadfast and stronger. Retreating from the shore where stand wife,
children, and friends, waving their last adieu, but my religion goes
with me. All the foundations of earth are failing me, but my religion still towers amid the general wreck, securely firm, indissolubly
sure. Glory to God for such a testimony from such a man!
For a little while nature seemed to rally-the king of terrors to
relent. His children retired to rest at his urgent entreaty. On the
morning of the 29th of January, he proposed to rise and dress himself, and insisted that his devoted wife should seek repose. She
reminded him of the doctor's prescription, and besought him to keep
his bed.  He took the medicine, drank freely of water, pillowed his
head upon his arm, and breathed his last.
"So fades a summer cloud away,
So sinks the gale when storms are o'er,
So gently shuts the eye of day,
So dies a wave along the shore.
Life's duty done, as sinks the clay,
Light from its load, the spirit flies,
While heaven and earth combine to say,
How blessed the righteous when he dies!"
In the history of our honored, beloved brother, there is no vice to
deplore and no error to lament. I say not that he was perfect; but
I do say, a wo1rl  of suc  me  would liken eat  to heaen   I say 
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.                       75
onstration of the power and truth of Christianity; being dead, he yet
speaketh, proclaiming to all that God is faithful.  He left all and
followed Christ, but never lacked any good thing. Counting all
things but loss that he might win Christ, God gave him friends and
fame, honor and usefulness A messenger of God, his visits were
blessings. The country admired him, and the Church loved him.
His death fell like a shadow upon many a hearthstone, and his native
State became a valley of weeping. Cities struggled for the honor
of his burial, and Methodism, in mourning, repeats his funeral, to
prolong her grief and consecrate his memory. Oh, brethren! we
have lost a friend, a brother, an advocate, an example, a benefactor.
Earth is growing poorer. There is now less faith, less zeal, less love
in the world. The righteous are perishing; the good are taken away.
Oh, ye venerable fathers of the Church, contemporaries and fellowlaborers of the ascended Capers, your ranks are broken. The friends
of your youth are gone, and, relics of a generation well-nigh past,
ye still linger among us. God bless you: we love you much, but we
cannot keep you much longer. Your sands are running low, your
change is at hand. You, venerable sir,* are almost the only bond
that binds the preacher and his congregation to the pioneers of
Methodism in this broad country. That bond, fretted and worn by
more than threescore years and ten, is well-nigh threadless, attenuated, and ready to break.  But God is with you.  The raven hair,
the ruddy cheek, the vigorous arm, the enduring strength, are gone
-all gone; but your religion, too, thank God, is left you. Leaning upon that staff, you are waiting your summons. Heaven bless
you with a smiling sunset, a pleasing night, and a glorious morn.
And you, hoary veterans of the cross-one and all-heroes of a glorious strife, remnants of an army slain and yet victorious, if we survive when ye are gone, how bereaved and solitary our lot!  But ye
are going: the wrinkled brow, the furrowed cheek, the halting step
respond, Yes, we are going. Pray for us while you live, and bless
us when you die.
And you, brethren, middle-aged and young, let us imitate the ex
th.nin  An  th  nego   l  shrd hscuslhilaos. hs 
76                   DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.
sympathy, and his prayers.  The white fields are yet ungathered, and
the strongest reapers are falling.  The mournful event we commiemorate cries, Go work to-day in the Lord's vineyard. This is our duty,
and ought to be our only business. We are here) as officers and
ministers of our branch of the Church, to inaugurate our great missionary and publishing interests under new auspices. But the cold
shadow of death falls darkly upon our council-chamber. Its presence
is a warning. We have home-interests we may not live to supervise;
there are plans of usefulness we may not help to execute; for we too
are passing away. What we do must be done quickly. Let us live
unto the Lord; let us live unto the Lord more than ever; let us be
more prompt, self-denying and laborious. Let us be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as we
know that our labor is not in vain in the Lord. What we lay out he
will repay. Amid our toil, inconveniences, and trials, be this our
consolation —" We are the Lord's." If we live till our physical powers
decay, the dim eye may still read our title clear; on Jesus? bosom
we may lean the hoary head, and in death's sad struggle feel our kind
Preserver near.  God will not love us less because "the strong men
bow themselves," and "the keepers of the house tremble."  His
love endureth forever. His claim is undeniable-his title indisputable.  The grave's effacing fingers cannot mutilate the handwriting.
Time's ponderous wheel, as it grinds the world to dust on its march
to judgment, cannot destroy the record. "A book of remembrance
is written before Him" safe beyond the desolations of earth, and the
triumphs of the sepulchre. Heeding, then, the solemn providence
which bids us weep a brother deceased, let us go forth bearing precious seed, sowing beside all waters,-we shall rest, and stand in our
lot at the end of the days.  "Whether we live, therefore, or die, we
are the Lord's." Living and dying, dead and buried, we are HisHis when we rise, His when heaven and earth are fled and gone, His
in the New Jerusalem, for ever and forever.
Servant of God, well done!
Rest from thy loved employ;
The battle fought, the vict'ry won,
Enter thy Master's joy."
The voice at midnight came:
He started up to hear:
A mortal arrow pierced his frame,
He fell,-but felt no fear. 
DEVOTEDNESS TO CHRIST.
Tranquil amid alarms,
It found him on the field,
A vet'ran slumb'ring on his arms,
Beneath his red-cross shield.
His sword was in his hand,
Still warm with recent fight,
Ready that moment, at command,
Through rock and steel to smite.
At midnight came the cry,
"To meet thy God prepare!"
He woke,-and caught his Captain's eye;
Then, strong in faith and prayer,
His spirit, with a bound,
Left its encumb'ring clay:
His tent, at sunrise, on the ground,
A darkened ruin lay.
The pains of death are past,
Labor and sorrow cease;
And life's long warfare closed at last,
His soul is found in peace.
Soldier of Christ, well done!
Praise be thy new employ;
And while eternal ages run,
Rest in thy Saviour's joy.   
:.
~~~~~~~                             i::
::X'                                                                        -               ii
an00~fffX~=r2 ~ i~~-~~~7=   ~ -.|n  ff: 
ANGELIC STUDY.
BY JOHN W. HANNER, D. D.,
OF THE TENNESSEE CONFEENCL
Which things the angels desire to look into."-1 Peter i, 12.
There are no gaps or chasms in the creation of God. All its parts
are admirably connected together, making up one universal, harmonious whole. There is a chain of beings, from the lowest to the
highest point-from a sand-grain to an archangel. This scale of being advances not by leaps, but by smooth and gentle degrees. Although we may not be able to note accurately the degrees by which
this scale is graduated, yet in a gross and general way we may begin
with inorganical particles of water and earth, and ascend, through
minerals, vegetables, insects, beasts, and men, to angels. Of angels,
however, we know nothing but by divine revelation. The crude
notion which ancient heathens had of this order of intelligences was
doubtless derived from tradition-bent and broken rays of light from
God's original communications to man-scattered over the world.
This order of being they placed between God and man. The Greeks
called them demons-that is, knowing ones; the Romans named
them genii and lares. Socrates had his good demon, or angel, that
gave him notice in the morning of any evil which would befall him
during the day. On the day he was condemned to drink the hemlock, he says: "My demon did not give me notice this morning of
any evil that was to befall me to-day; therefore I cannot regard as
any evil my'being condemned to die."  There is in this scrap of profane history a strange and deep spirituality, that must be interesting
to a reflecting mind. It is one of the most earnest and wonderful
sayings of uninspired man. Who but an angel of God could have
bee  th  *n     n  on  tha reeae  beeica  secet  to th.g.e.. 
80                       ANGELIC STUDY.
for doctrine and instruction." It is one of the excellence of this
revelation, that it supplies us with information concerning those
things and rational beings which our eyes have not seen, nor our ears
heard. Among these revelations the existence of angels is not the
least important. Although the Bible may not reveal enough on this
subject to gratify our insatiable curiosity, yet it reveals enough for
our faith, enough for our comfort. Does it teach us their existence?
It teaches, also, that the burden of their song is praise to God, and
that they are ministering spirits to the heirs of salvation, battling under the clouds of earth and time.
As to the nature of angels, they are spirits, not clogged with flesh
and blood as we are Their bodies, if they have any, are not earthly,
gross, and gravitating like ours; but of finer substance, etherealresembling flame more than any object of which we have knowledge.
This is probably intimated by the Psalmist: "Who mnaketh his angels
spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire." They either have bodies,
or power to condense the atmosphere, to collect vapor around them,
or in some other way make themselves visible to mortals; for they
have been seen of men. They are indued with understanding, will,
affections, and liberty. These attributes are essential to the existence of spirit, if indeed they do not constitute its essence. What
are we to think of the understanding of an angel? Who can conceive the extent of his knowledge? What should hinder one from
seeing the very thoughts as they rise in our hearts? Not the thin
veil of flesh and blood can intercept the view of an angel. Massive
walls are no obstruction to his piercing glance, no more than unopposing space of open air. Can we read a man's thoughts in his face?
Far more easily can an angel read them in our minds, forasmuch as
they can see the spirit more clearly than we can see the body.  MIuch
of the past and present they doubtless comprehend, but the future
sets limits to the extent of their knowledge. They know not the
day nor the hour of Christ's second coming. Notwithstanding this
limit, the extent of their knowledge, the degree of their wisdom is
inconceivable. HIow amazing must have been its increase during the
last five thousand years, resulting from an employment of their
mighty understanding and the lofty faculties with which they were
originally endowed, in surveying the ways and hearts of men through
successive generations, and by observing and studying the works of 
ANGELIC STUDY.'                          81
God, creation, providence, rederption!  And, above all," beholding
the face of their Father!"
The strength of angels-how astonishing is this! One of them,
and a fallen one, could raise a whirlwind to level Job's house with
the dust, and destroy all his children at once. A single angel passed
through the Syrian camp, and slew one hundred and eighty-five
thousand soldiers in a night-perhaps in an hour, a moment.  The
strength of an angel, implied in the slaughter of the first-born of
man and beast in the populous and fruitful land of Egypt, is prodi gious. Nor is his speed less so. The four angels of the Revelation,
one standing at each "corner of the earth," had power  to hold in
check and confine the winds of heaven.
Their number is indefinite, countless. There are myriads upon
myriads of them, peopling heaven and ranging the wide realms of
their Creator's universe. They are the model patterns of our obedience: " Thy will be done on earth as in heaven." As fellowstudents, they desire to look into the things of our salvation.
1. What thingsform thle subject of dngelic Study?
The subject itself is the grace of God to man, in the world's redemption through Jesus Christ.  Peter divides this subject into two
parts, " the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow."
It was long a subject of prophetical investigation, employing the
minds of men under the inspiration of the spirit of Christ, and demanding the closest and most diligent research from those who bore
witness to it. Clearly impressed with its superiority over every thing
in their dispensation, they inquired of one another, and searched the
sacred writings as men would search for gold hid in the sand or embedded in rocks deep down in the earth, that they might ascertain
the nature, time and manner of this wonderful display of God's love
to man.
"God, at sundry times and in divers manners, spake unto the fathers by the prophets;" and though the superiority of our privilege
is undoubted and incalculable, yet we have not lost our interest in
n.  hav  anel  los their.   Thr   is a  hamn iu  concto.b1e-    __ 
82                        ANGELIC  STUDY.
world in due time by his Son.  In the mean time, types, sacrifices,
priests, kings, and a succession of prophets to strike the harp of sacred  song with inspired impulse, in hymning the advent, sufferings,
and subsequent glory of the Saviour, were employed to awaken and
keep awake the attention of men and the expectation of the world
till Jesus himself appeared. Thus the faith of good men was upheld and maintained, and their desires thrown forward to future ages,
when the better things for which they hoped should be made mnanifest. 0, with what intensity were these things studied! It was
thus they were "c searching what, or what time, the Spirit of Christ
which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow."
It may be the prophets themselves, in many instances, did not understand their own predictions.  They had a general view of God's
design, but may have studied particular details in their own prophetic
declarations. They describe the sufferings of Christ as a man of sorrows, under circumstances that leave them no paralel in the history of
humanr wo; suffering as a SUBSTITUTE, not for himself or his friends,
but for a world of enemies. They also foretold that these sufferings
should be a remedy wide as the posterity of Adam  and deep  as the
corruption of human nature. And finally, that they should bear to
the faithful in every age an absolute efficacy in pardoning and cleans.
ing from sin. " The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."
The iniquity of us all was made to meet in him, as all the rivers meet
in the sea. The punishment due to us all was laid on Him. This is
the first division of the great subject of angelic study. The next is
the glory that should follow upon or rise out of the sufferings of
Christ.
Not the glory of an earthly conquerer, built upon the carcasses of
the slain, coming fresh from the field of carnage, reeking with the
blood of his fellows, sending forth his heralds to trumpet his praise
as he rides in a triumphal chariot amid( the shouts of a venal soldiery; but the glory of a deliverer, an almighty hero, who shed his
own blood for the salvation of his enemies, coming from a field of
strife piled with the ruins of death, hell, and the grave, lauded by the
choral anthems of angelic hosts. The glory of saving men's souls.
Not the glory of his resurrection and ascension only, but of his fol lowers and  companions.  Like branches from a parent stock, and
streams from a fountain, partaking of the nature of the stock and 
ANGELIC STUDY.                          83
fountain, so they partake of the nature of Christ, and conform them selves in heart and life to his glory.
The glory also of the ministry of reconciliation, established and
perpetuated by Him. Neither the light of nature nor the law of Sinai could teach the doctrine of pardon, but in Jesus justice and mercy meet together.
Here the whole Deity is known,
Nor dares a creature guess
Which of the glories brighter shone                   The justice or the grace."
God is just; man is guilty.  God is pure; man is polluted.   God is
love; "the carnal mind is enmity against God."  How can they be
reconciled? Nature and law only stir up the opposition, and put the
parties farther asunder.   Jesus came to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, and to publish the glorious doctrine that "God is in
Christ, reconciling the world unto himself." Whether young or hoaryheaded, rich or poor, sick or in health, we may now be reconciled
to God, and saved.
The glory of regenerating the human heart and human character
Man is a sinner; not only guilty as an inexcusable violator of divine
law, but depraved in his moral nature, bereft of the divine image.
le is earthly, sensual, devilish; in body a brute, in mind a ruined
demon. This may sound harsh in your ears, for the reason that you
have seen human nature in its best.estate only.  Could you see it in
its homely, uneducated condition, roaming through the forest, thirsting for blood, dancing on the enchanted ground, practicing witchcraft,
or revelling in a pagan bacchanal, the strongest terms would seem too
weak to depict fully its degradation. What makes you to differ
from others of your race?  The gospel of Christ.   But for this you
would have been the same that they are. That there is a regenerating power for man, a spiritual resurrection to spiritual life, is a
truth at which Jews wonder and Gentiles too. This regeneration is
radical and thorough, and if preserved and perfected will issue in
lifting up and making immortal and blessed our entire humanity. 
84                        ANGELIC STUDY.
more will follow to swell the song in heaven, " Unto Him that loved
us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, to him be glory."
As yet the world does not glorify God. The glory due to his name
is given to idols and vanities, to men and their works, to wealth and
ease and pleasure. The idea of glorifying God never enters the
minds of besotted and imbruted thousands, and even the mind of
multitudes professing religion. Worship is paid and songs are sung
in the dark and evil land, but neither is offered to God nor designed
to glorify Him. Where the gospel mission is accomplished, the
work of divine religion done, the scene is different. God will then
be glorified in the mighty moral change which shall be presented by
a regenerated world on its way to heaven; in the exaltation and universal dominion of Jesus over the nations; in the spread and triumph of his truth, and in all nature.  God's glory will be seen in
all-in every shower that falls, in every plant  that grows, in every
in all objects by which his regenerated human worshippers are surrounded.  The great plan is at work.   God is init; men areemployed it; angels are interested in it; it is moving, advancing to
completion-constantly bringing new glory to God, new blessings to
man; all is intense anxiety, spirit-piercing interest; and when all
shall be accomplished according to the promise of Omnipotence, both
men and angels will be inspired and thrilled with eternal admiration
and love.
2. What is implied in the desire of angels to look into these
things?
First.-Profound attention.  P a r a k up s a i, "stooping down
to," represents them in the posture of those who are earnestly
intent on finding out a thing. For example, a difficult and mrysterious writing: bending, "poring" over it. The same word is
used to describe the attitude of the disciples at the sepulchre:
"stooping down, they looked in."
The allusion here is to the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of
Holies, with its lid of gold, or "mercy seat," and cherubim bending 
ANGELIC STUDY.                          85
host, and between their outstretched wings shadowing the propitiatory was the visible glory of Jehovah. The design of bringing together all these different objects into one great symbol must have
been to teach us that there are important relations between the administration of grace to man on earth and the heavenly world, and
that there is a close connection between all the dispensations and arrangements of the great plan of redemption. The very forms under
which some scriptures represent the cherubim, are the symbols of intelligence, strength, courage, endurance and activity, "the face of a
man, a lion, ox, eagle." But here they are brought before us as fixing their intent gaze upon the "THRONE OF  GRACE," desiring to
comprehend the things represented by thie Ark of the Covenant, the
approach of guilty man to God seated upon the throne of mercy,
that man may obtain mercy and find grace to help him in time of
need.
Angels are beings of astonishing intelligence.   Over the vast
fields of science, where man proceeds with much difficulty so tardily,
and he has never traveled at all, they fly with ease. To them nature is an open space; they can wing their way from one world to
another, and sweep over the wide domain of universal creation. They
are permitted to watch the changes of earth and its scenes, and to
note the entire progress of the vast schemes of Providence, a part of
which, "a little part alone, we scan."  But over whatever other
sights their view ranges, there is one that fixes their gaze. There
they stay their flight, and bending down with profound attention,.
they look into the peculiarities of the gospel, which worldly wisdom
accounts foolishness. Nearly two thousand years have rolled away
since Jesus suffered, and still they "desire to look into these things,'
not having yet comprehended them.  When I permit my imagination
to wander away from the naked facts of the record, I seem to see
them profoundly studying, with bending gaze and knit brow, these
high mysteries for a thousand years, and then they lift up their heads
a moment and then add another thousand years of study, and lifting
up their heads again, exclaim, "0 the depths both of the wisdom and 
86                       ANGELIC STUDY.
the study of thousands of years, without the interruption of sleep
or languor, gathered from a survey of God's works and ways without
the fogs of earth and sin and clogs of flesh and blood? Yours is
nothing but elements, shreds and scraps gleaned from fictions and
newspapers; and you will not believe the mysteries of redemption
because you cannot comprehend them! Instead of cavilling, we should,
with angels, believe, love, obey.
Secondly.-Their desire implies adoring wonder.  Not only the
head bowed in profound attention, but the sidelong glance over the
lid of the ark seems to say: Stupendous gift of God to man! "Though
he was rich, yet for their sakes he became poor, that they through
his poverty might be rich."  And then, " He hath given them exceeding great and precious promises whereby they might be partakers
of the divine nature."
Angels had seen their fallen companions "passed by," their fellows who had sinned cast down from God and heaven, and no Christ
was promised to them; no gospel proclaimed peace in hell and g-Jod
will to devils, and fearful to them did the evil of sin appear.   lust
they not wonder and adore over the scheme of man's redemption;
over the mysterious agony of the garden and the cross; over the suffering of the Great Victim, who died to put away sin and bring myriads upon myriads of souls to glory?
They also, doubtless, wonder at the opposition this system encounters in the world. The race of man is fallen; the whole race has
been redeemed. All are diseased; there is one remedy, and but one,
for all.  The rejection of this remedy is ruin-utter and irremedial
ruin-and but few are disposed to avail themselves of it, while multitudes resist the grace of God. When will this foul reproach be
washed away from all the world, and salvation be its common heritage 2
3. The Probable JMotives of dngelic Study.
These can only be conjectured from their nature and relations.
They delight in knowledge.   Being pure spirits, unencumbered
with flesh and blood, the salvation of man must be to them a subject
of intellectual interest. Every new display of Divine wisdom
and glory must give them a new pleasure. The advent of the
Saviour was their joy; they sang it in strains of heavenly music.
His resurrection and ascension added fresh anthems to their praise. 
ANGELIC STUDY.                            87
The progress and development of the whole plan of salvation have
added new stores to their knowledge.  "UInto me," says Paul, "the
least of all saints, is this grace given, that I might preach among the
Gentiles the unsearchlable riches of Christ; to the intent that now,
unto principalities and powers, in heavenly places, might be known,
by the Church, the manifold wisdom of God."  There is in this passage a collateral reference to the knowledge of angels; and  the
knowledge thus acquired surely ministers to their happiness as well
as to their holiness.   Of all other knowledge it seems best fitted to
do so.  It would seem that their bright lamps burn brighter when
fed by oil fromn Christianity. They are called "seraphim "-that is,
burners.  They are compared to a flame of fire.  They not only shine
with light, but burn with zeal.  The gospel reveals God to man;
they love it-delight in its study; it brings glory to God-they glory
in it. They praise God, and love to praise God.
Another nmotive may be, the large moral benefit accruing to them
fiom this study.
That they need no redemption we know, for they have not fallen;
and if any moral benefit flow to them from this scheme, it is not in
the way of direct redemption. Yet it is easy to see, that if to any
being already pure, brighter views of God and higher degrees of moral
knowledge be communicated, such  communication must always be
an instrument of increase both of holiness and felicity. And it is as:
easy to show that there are great subjects connected with the history
of our redemption, with which angels can become better acquainted
than they ever could have been had there been no redemption.  They
were deeply impressed with God's power when  they witnessed the
wonders of creation-when nothing heard the voice of God, and was
substantiated into the goodly fabric of the universe. Then they
shouted for joy. But here was nothing to resist-all was passive.
"'Twas great to speak a world from nought,
'Twas greater to redeem."
In redemption they have seen bad principles subdued and eradicated, alien and resisting hearts won back to God, and sin and
uncleanness washed away by the blood of the cross. They had seen
the virtue of holiness in each other, and knew what it was in the
abstract; but this was a ray of brightness in the element of light.  By
the power of grace in man they had seen the virtue of holiness exhibited and maintained in a corrupt world —a beam of light shining inr 
88                         ANGELIC STUDY.
a dark place. Here they see virtue in action, which they had before
contemplated only in the abstract. They had witnessed bright and
vast displays of the love of God; but they had never beheld love so
embodied and realized as in the gift of the Son of God for man's salvation-love teaching, travailing, toiling, suffering, dying, rising,
ascending, but to return in teeming showers of richest blessing on
man, that he might not perish; and the triumphs of victorious grace
in men, subduing their own nature, resisting temptation, bearing up
under crosses, forgiving injuries, sustaining afflictions with patience,
and believing against hope. They have witnessed prisoners for Christ's
sake rejoicing in bonds, and singing at midnight the praise of God;
they have looked upon the meekness of the martyr, and listened as
he prayed for his murderers; they have admired his constancy in
torments, and the cheerfulness and triumph with which he hailed
reproach and welcomed the cross of Christ. And can they behold
such scenes and hear such sounds (which they never could have seen
and heard but for redemption) without moral benefit?
A third motive may be their benevolence toward us. They wish
us well, and delight to attend the heirs of salvation. Benevolent
beings are angels. How much they are interested for us, and what
they are able and willing to do, we learn fromn the Bible. God has
always employed them in the affairs of his government over this
world. I know this infidel and jovial age scoffs at the doctrine of
supernatural interposition, as far below the wisdom of human philosophy, while in fact it is far above it.
When God expelled man from Eden, an angel guarded the gateway to the Tree of Life   When Jacob committed himself and his
interests to God in prayer, angels descended and ascended his ladder
of vision reaching from earth to heaven-binding the footstool to the
throne. When Egypt's first-born must be smitten, an angel's hand
gives the blow.  When Daniel was to be preserved among the lions,
an angel is there to shut their mouths. When Herod would destroy
the infant Jesus, an angel puts Joseph on his flight to a place of
safety.  When Jesus agonized in the Garden of Gethsemane, an angel 
ANGELIC STUDY.                           89
the light of immortality for the human body when first it flashed forth
from the vacated tomb of the risen Jesus. Angels were with him on
the mount of ascension, lingered awhile in the shining wake of his
passage to heaven, and returned to the gazing men of Galilee, with
intelligence of what took place beyond the cloud which had veiled
him from their vision, and with assurances of his coming again, in like
manner.
God's cause and God's people are still in the world. Angels take
an interest in these. When a missionary was called to go out with
the word of the Lord, he inquired, "Who shall go with me!"  "An
angel," was the Divine answer. They were with Moses, with the
prophets, and apostles; they are with all pious souls in strife. Is a
preacher in prison?-angels are there. They delivered Peter, Paul,
and John. Is the preacher discouraged?-do his hands hang down?
An angel touches his lips with a live coal from off the altar, and
strengthens his hands. Is he successful?-angels are present; and
when the word of God takes effect, intelligence is conveyed to heaven
with more than telegraphic despatch, and "there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."1 Not all
the joys of heaven can supersede the shout;  its thundering volume
fills the palace of their King.
Perhaps every christian has a guardian angel. It may be that there
is one angel to every christian, or a score of them; or one may have
charge of a score of christians.  Some of the ancient fathers believed that every city had a guardian angel, while others assigned
one to every house and every man.  None of us know how much we
are indebted to angels for our deliverance from imminent peril, disease, and malicious plots of men and devils.  Where  the pious die,
angels are to carry the soul to heaven, though it be the soul of a
Lazarus.
Finally. —Angels are witnessing the whole history of our world in
its connection with the administration of grace and Providence, and
are studying it with reference to the final issue, for their instruction
and our good, as in the end they and the redemed from the earth are
to be associated in the kingdom of glory. Long has there been a
grand struggle between light and darkness, truth and error, holiness
and sin. It commenced in the case of " angels who kept not their
first estate." In that case, however, I suppose the struggle was
short, and the punishment of transgression summary and sudden; 
90                       ANGELIC STUDY.
.
for, though we may take our poetry, we are not to take our theology
from Milton.  We must not think there was a long war between the
disaffected and the faithful in heaven. Where no grace is, sin is followed
by immediate punishment; long-suffering belongs not to law-and
but for the covenant of mercy with man, the present struggle would
have terminated in the very day of transgression. The sinner, under the stroke of divine vengeance, would have sunk at once into the
abodes of perdition, but through mercy the stroke was prolonged,
and still continues. As it goes on important principles are established,
truth receives fresh evidence every year, achieves new victories every
day, and its entire history goes to show the folly and wickedness of
rebellion against God, and the wisdom and piety of submission to
Him. Hlis service is the wisdom, duty, and interest of his creatures;
and as no creature can so clearly perceive the force of truth in the
abstract as when exhibited in action, probably angels feel all these
truths more forcibly in consequence of seeing them and their practical results on the grand theatre of our world.   We  ourselves may
learn much from the awful contest if we watch it faithfully, standing
in the light of the Lord-much that will be highly instructive and of
moral benefit.>, But our faculties are too weak; our range of view
too limited; our opportunities and space of observation too few and
brief, to allow us to study and comprehend the lessons presented as
they are studied and comprehended by angels. When we join their
assembly we shall share their advantages. They are watching the
progress of the struggle with growing interest. The plans of Providence, like Ezekiel's wheels, are involved in perplexity and seeming
counter movements; the clouds gather and break; alternate floods of
light and shadows of darkness are poured upon the scene, and still
they gaze on as the scheme is gradually and more clearly developed
and the catastrophe nearer and nearer approaches. And what shall
be theii final song when the consummation arrives, and they part from
the scene wiser and holier and happier?  What their crowning joy
but the outburst of that long repressed and high-wrought feeling
which has struggled in toir vast minds for so many ages, " Hallelujah! the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth!"
By reason of sin there is a repulsion between heaven and earth,
angels and men.  The death of Christ was designed to remove this
and reconcile all, making them one in Jesus and heaven. Not only
to reconcile God and his worshippers, but to reconcile the worshippers 
ANGELIC STUDY.                          91
with each other.  Under this arrangement men are employed to assist men, that by mutual good offices they may endear themselves to
each other in timue and in cternity; and for the same reason angels
are employed to assist men and have given to them a charge over us,
to endear us and them together that our final and lmutual joy maybe
the fuller and sweeter when we meet in our Father's kingdom.  hlow
delightful is the communion of saints on earth!  It heightens the
idea when we connect saints below with saints above, and recollect
that to us all there is one God and Father. I-e is the Lord of Hosts.
He has a host in the innumerable company of angels; a host in the
company of redeemed men.  " Part of the host have  crossed the
flood and part are crossing now;' and part are traveling through the
wilderness, nearing every day the banks of the Jordan-the borders
of the land of promise, but they are one sacramental host, going up
by companies till they all appear in Zion before God. And this
feeling of union with saints glorified, not only those we have known
and loved on earth, and those whose triumph over death we witnessed,
but all who have gone from the world; this feeling of union with them
is heightened when we connect them with the angels of God.  They are
all one in Christ, so that in heaven all are our friends.   And when
we shall be dying in the Lord, kind angels will bend over our couch
of suffering to fan with their loving wings our pale brow, and through
the darkness sweetly smile upon our souls, as with them we rise into
light, and from this world of strifb ascend to a better, a brighter,
and go into a friendly heaven, there to find our God, our family, our
home.
Learn the infinite worth of the gospel. It is not a fable that fixes
the attention of angels —" to the Greeks it was foolishness, to the
Jews a stumbling.-block; but to those that believe, it is the wisdom
of God and the power of God."  Jesus took not on him the nature
of angels, but our nature, that through suffering he might bring us
to glory.  "Which things the angels desire to look into."
"My heart awake!-to feel is to be fired,
And to believe, Lorenzo, is to feel."  
I 
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GOD AND MAN ARE CO-WORKERS IN THE SALVATION
OF THE SOUL.
BY EDWARD WADSWORTH, D. D).,
O)F THE ALABAMA CONFERENCE.
"But we all, with open,face beholding as in a glass the gloryof the Lord,
are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit
of the Lord."-2 Cor. iii, 18.
In apprehending this declaration of Paul we must see the meaning
of the phrases as they occur in regular order.  "We  all with open
face," means with a face that is unveiled or uncovered, so that the
rays of light may pass unobstructed and unchanged to the eyes.
" Beholding as in a glass," means looking as one looks in a mirror.
The gospel which contains the narration of the life of Jesus Christ
the Lord, is, by a beautiful simile, represented as a well-made lookingglass, on whose even surface there is no crack or indentation, causing
the rays of light to make an untrue figure or image of the object put
before it.  The vision here is clear and distinct.  "The glory of the
Lord" means the life of Christ, as developing infinite goodness, immaculate purity, consummate wisdom, perfect humility, and also the
excellent doctrines taught by his ministry. These all present such
beauty, and they are so perfectly shown in and by him, that they are
appropriately called "the glory of the Lord."   " Are changed into
the same image," means the renewing of our minds  by the Spirit of
the Lord, for the same Spirit which dwelt in Christ now applies the
truths of the gospel to human hearts, and changes our moral nature,
and makes it like the nature of Jesus Christ. "From glory to glory,"
means that the change which is wrought in our conversion, by which
we become "partakers of the divine nature," continues to advance
from one degree to another, until the soul or spirit shall be fitted for
translation to Heaven.  The change wrought in us may be sudden,
and perfect enough to cause our adoption into the family of God,
because we are "born from above;" yet after this, there must be progression from infancy to the maturity of Christian manhood.
In this text we have a good representation of the work necessary 
94                 GOD AND MAN CO-WORKERS IN
for salvation, because we see the part which the sinner has to do, ard
the part which the Holy Spirit has to do. Right discrimination between man's work in performing conditions and using means, and
God's work in applying his grace arnd exerting his power, will help us
much in working out our salvation. As we see men acting in the
pursuits of agriculture, so we should act in the pursuit of salvation.
The planter confines himself to his appropriate work in the use of
natural means, and acts according to rule; and nature furnishes the
seed, the soil, the rain, the sun's light,and heat, and the atmosphere;
and there results a valuable product. In seeking salvation, we must
restrain our efforts within prescribed limits, and do our work according to rule, and then wait for and expect the Holy Spirit to do his
work in "renewing us in the spirit of our minds."  Our work is to
perform conditions and use means, and to do so with faitzli and hope.
This work has no merit, yet it is necessary. for we must "work out our
own salvation."
- In this exposition we propose to show,
I. What men have to do in order that they may be saved. This
is expressed in the text thus: "But we all, with open face, beholding
as in a glass the glory of the Lord."
First, as a man who looks at an image in a glass can study its form,
color, symmetry, and so forth; and as a man who reads a book can
study its contents; so the inquirer or seeker must study the record
made in the gospel respecting Jesus Christ and the doctrines taught
by his ministry. This must precede all true repentance and saving
faith. In this study we learn our condition, our responsibility, our
remedy, and the way in which we may use this remedy.
On this subject we have instruction in the parable of the sower.
Of this parable we have three versions,* and we have also an interpretation of its doctrines by the great Teacher.   It is designed to
show us the right way of hearing the gospel, and it does this by classifying the hearers.  There is a class of hearers who are represented
by the way-side, which receives seed, but because it is trodden by
men and has no fence around it, the seed do not take root, and are
devoured by birds of the air. These are they who hear the word of
the Kingdom and understand it not; then the devil cometh, immediately after they have heard, and taketh the seed'out of their hearts,
lest they should believe and be saved. Another class are represen                      * Matt. xiii, Mark iv, Luke viii 
THE SALVATION OF THrE SOUL.                      95
ted by the stony ground which was planted and showed signs of
fruitfulness, but the sun arose in his strength and sent down his hot
rays on the growing corn and burned it, because there was but little
soil and no moisture. These are they who hear the word with joy
and hold it for a season, but when temptation assails them and tribulation befalls them because of the word, they having no root in themselves become faithless and hopeless, and fall away and bring no fruit
to perfection. A third class are represented by the ground which
had in it the roots of thorns, and the seed fell among the thorns, and
the thorns grew up with it and choked it.   These are they who hear
the word, and when they have heard go forth and "suffer the care
of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of other
things, to enter in and choke the word," and makle them unfruitfiul.
A fourth class are represented by the good ground in which the seed
sprang up and increased and brought forth fruit, some thirty fold,
some sixty, and some an hundred fold. This class hear, understand,
and receive the word in honest and good hearts, keep it with patience,
and bear fruit.  Let us mark the characteristics or the practice of
these hearers.  They hear the word, they understand it, they keep it
in honest and good hearts. and they are fruitful.  These are the
hearers who will be saved; all others will be lost.  These open their
ears that they may hear, exercise their minds that they umay understand, use  their memories that they may hold fast, and arouse their
hearts that they may believe what God hath revealed concerning his
Son. The result is fruitjilness, in some thirty fold, and in others
sixty, and in others an hundred fold. We have reason to expect this
fruitfulness from all who hear the word in the way taught in this
parable.  " Take heed how you hear," " take heed what you hear,"
are the admonitions of him who "taught as one having authority."
We may form our opinion of the importance of this study of the
facts and doctrines taught in the Bible, by the institutions which are
operating around us. The command of Christ to his ministers to "go
into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature;" the
organization of the Church by the Apostles, in which we see all the
appliances for instruction in those things which make men wise unto 
96                GOD AND MAN CO-WORKERS IN
I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of
Christ Jesus my Lord;" the assurance he gives us of his faith, his
safety, his humility, in these words,  "Nevertheless, I am  not
ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded he
is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that
day;" and the view of the greatness of the work he had to do in this:
"None of these things move  me, neither count I my life dear unto
myself, so that I may finish my course with joy, and the ministry
which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the
grace of God;" all these indicate the work of instructing men in the
things which contribute to their assimilation to the image of Jesus
Christ,
As in the study of science and literature we are dependent on, and
are accustomed to use, competent teachers; so in this study we should
employ ministers of the gospel. In the Levitical dispensation of
religion, God set apart the tribe of Levi for the work of teaching
a.nd ministering in holy things. In the dispensation which we now
enjoy, men of religious experience and capacity to teach are called
by the Holy Spirit and employed in the labor of preaching. The
necessity and the value of their work, and the way of sending
them, are taught in Matthew ix, 36, 38: " WVhen he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they
fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd:
then He said unto His disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous,
but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the
harvest, that He will send forth more laborers into His harvest."
Consider the figure used by Christ. Here is a field of wheat that
has ripened and is ready for the reaper. Its green color has changed
into a rich brown. The planter looks over his productive field, and
his experienced eye marks the ripeness of the crop, and his judgment
tells him that the harvest must be gathered promptly, or all the labor
and money already spent on that field will be wasted. All other
work must be stopped, sooner than the saving what has matured.
Every laborer that is needed must be put in that field. The other
products of the plantation which are growing must be left to the
*t*at grete waes  if the  b    e neesay  wil be pai fr i.  This 
THE SALVATION OF THE SOUL.                       97
indicate the work of the preacher. Men engaged in other professions
and trades are useful members of society; but the preacher of the
gospel is the most useful.  All the labor and expense attendant on
educating men, and furnishing them with the conveniences of life,
and defending them in their rights and privileges, will fail utterly in
the production of happiness, unless their souls are brought under the
power of the truth. They must know Jesus Christ as their Redeemer
and Intercessor.  They must "with open face behol;1, is in a glass,
the glory of the Lord." They must approve His plan of saving
sinners, and they must admire the beauty of His character until
they desire earnestly to be changed into His image. These desires
must be supreme in their minds, so as to make them willing to use
all the means, and perform all the conditions of salvation. To pro duce this is the work of the preacher. He must preach Christ;
Christ crucified; Christ raised from the dead; Christ in all, His
offices, all His doctrines, all His labors.   The  same  Holy Spirit
which dwelt in Christ's human body, has indited the narration con tained in the gospel, has inspired the men who wrote the epistles,
and now calls the preacher, and applies the truth which he preaches.
The man who willingly, eagerly, penitently, prayerfully, opens his
ears to hear, and applies his intellect to understand, shall behold, as
in a glass, the glory of the Lord. Beholding, he will admire the
glory of the Lord; admiring, he will desire to be changed into the
same image; desiring, he will conquer himself and be willing to per
form the conditions of salvation; willing, he will apply himself to
the work of faith and obedience.
Secondly, as a man who looks at an image in a glass, and reads an
instructive and truthful book, believes in the reality and truth of
what he sees and reads, so the inquirer, who with open face beholds
the glory of the Lord, must believe in Him whose glory he beholds.
The justification of every sinner depends on his personal faith in
Jesus Christ. The faith he exercises must influence his life, and this
influence will be seen in case the believer shall admit into his heart
the truthful doctrines taught by Jesus Christ.
The common mirror is a very wonderful instrument.   Few instru
ments used by men are more wonderful. When it is made according
to the rules which science of optics develops, and is adjusted in a
room, it will create a perfect image of every person and article in
that room.  One who looks on its smooth surface may occupy a plaeo 
98                 GOD AND MAN CO-WORKERS IN
from which he can see nothing in the room but the mirror, and yet
he may describe, with accuracy, every object reflected. Now the
beholder sees nothing other than the images created by the mirror,
yet he  believes these images represent real objects.   His faith
amounts to assurance, and he knows the objects reflected have real
existence. So we must believe that the events recorded in the gospel are facts; and that the doctrines taught in the gospel are truths;
and as facts and truths are apprehended as things which have reality
and intrinsic power, so we must apprehend the facts and doctrines in
the gospel. Thus believing, we know that Jesus Christ is a real
person, that heaven and hell are real places, that sin is really offensive to God, that the guilty will really be damned, and that the converted sinner will really be saved.  This view of faith accords with
the definition given us in Hebrews xi, 1: " Now faith is the substance
of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen," andi also with
the representations in the Bible of the influence of faith.   The man
who is full of faith has insight into the truths of the Bible which the
unbeliever never attains until he renounces the sin of unbelief.
"The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."
The careful reader of the eleventh chapter of Hebrews will note
what is said of the faith of Abraham, and Joseph, and Moses, and
will see that their believing was accompanied by spiritual vision, and
amounted to assurance. Hie will see in 2d Cor. iv, 17, 18, that the
wonderful power of "these light afflictions" in working for us "a far
more exceeding and eternal weight of glory," depends on the faith of
the afflicted one, and this is thus stated: "While we  look not at the
things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the
things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not
seen are eternal."
The inhabitants of the world at the time of the deluge saw no
danger, because they had no faith in the declarations of those who
were sent to warn them; but Noah saw signs of danger, and knew the
flood was coming, hence "he prepared an ark for the saving of his 
THE SALVATION OF THE SOUL.                      99
the conversation between the rich man, in the torments of hell, and
Abraham, in heaven, that the rich man believed not what Moses and
the prophets wrote concerning eternal things, and that his five broth ers, whom he had left in the world, were unbelievers; and hence he
requests that the testimony of a dead man may be added to that of
these inspired writers. The rich man believed not while he lived,
but the conviction of his fatal error was produced by the realization
of the horrid pangs of damnation. Lazarus believed, and his faith
caused him to trust in God, and to use the means which are necessary
to salvation; and this led to the attainment of holiness and heaven.*
So it is now; some men are blinded by the god of this world, and do
not believe in Jesus Christ, and these are led captive by Satan at
his will; others have freed themselves from prejudice, have penitently, prayerfully, and believingly looked into the gospel; thus they
have obtained help from the Holy Spirit, and have felt the power of
the truth in changing them into the image of Him in whom they have
trusted.
That hearing what is contained in the gospel may lead us to the
knowledge which will produce salvation, has been demonstrated in
thousands of cases. A hearer may give attention to a series of historical lectures on the life of Washington. The lecturer may convince the hearer that Washington lived, and exercised his mental and
moral faculties so as to become a successful warrior, a consummate
statesman, a model patriot. Ile may present a picture of this great
man's achievements on the battle fields and in the council chambers
of our country, and of his virtues in the private walks of domestic
life, which, by its vividness, may be compared to the images seen in
a looking-glass. The hearer may listen until his imagination becomes
excited, and he beholds the image of the great man, and he may gaze
on this image until his desire to be like Washington may become
supreme; and if hope of attaining to this likeness shall be strong in
his mind, he will have his own consent to make any sacrifice and use
any means requisite for the attainment of so desirable an end.   A
man being convinced of his sinful and lost condition, may hear the
preaching of the Word until he shall see the glorious  character of
our Lord Jesus Christ.  He may learn that the whole life of Christ
was spent in the labors which were necessary to complete the plan of
'Luke x, vi.                        X a h 
100               GOD ANDf),MAN CO-WORKERS IN
redemption.  That "He endured the cross, despising the shame, and
is now seated at the right hand of God the Father." That all this
work of redeeming and interceding is for the salvation of sinners. The
hearer knows that he himself is a sinner, hears now that he has a
Saviour, and that the Holy Spirit is at work to bring sinners to Christ.
He admires the glory of the Lord; he desires to be made like Christ;
he has his own consent to sacrifice all that the gospel condemns, and
to use all the means that the gospel recommends. These desires are
excited in him by the Holy Spirit, and they lead him to pray with
faith and hope.  He embraces Christ as his Redeemer, he trusts in
Him as his Saviour, and commits himself to Him as one who is able
to save him from all sin. Thus embracing, trusting, committing
himself, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, he will believe with all his
heart. This is his part of the work. In this way he "works out
his own salvation with fear and trembling."  One may admire the
character of the great patriot mentioned in the first part of this paragraph, and may desire to be like him, and yet make no effort to
attain this likeness, and have no hope of attaining it, because nature
has not endowed him as she did Washinagton, and the times are not
favorable to the performance of such achievements as he performed.
It is a law in our constitution that we will never labor to obtain any
object, unless we are persuaded that it is valuable and attainable.
One who beholds with open face, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord,
is encouraged to hope for likeness to the same image, because God
has promised that he who by faith embraces Christ as his prophet,
priest, and king, shall be changed into the same image by the same
Spirit which animated Christ's human soul and inspired holy men to
write the gospel. And all may perform the condition on which this
promise depends.  Let "the heart turn to the Lord, and the veil
shall be taken away;"* the inquirer shall see the glory of the Lord,
and shall be changed into the same image.
We now propose to show   II. What God has to do for us in order that we may be saved.
This is expressed in the text thus: " We are changed into the same
image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."
The apostle in this expression asserts that the spirit will change
~   *                        * 2 Cor. iiiT 1{; 
THE SALVATION OF THE SOUL.                    101
the believer; he gives us the model to which he will be assimilated,
and t.e teaches that this shall progress towards a perfect likeness.
First. A  change shall take place.  This is asserted in the lan guage used by Paul, by a word which intimates the nature of the
change. This word has been introduced into the English language
without any change in its form when we use the noun metamorphosis,
and with a slight alteration when we use the verb melamorphosed.
"We are metamorphosed into the same image."   The word suggests
illustrations taken from natural history, by which we may seethe thor oughness of the transformation. In the class of insects we have an
order called Lepidoptera, in which there is a family called Papilioni dae. From an egg is hatched an insect which in its growth devel ops a larva of very loathsome form and groveling appetites.   We
instinctively shrink from its touch. We despise it, because its sole
employment is to devour food. We fear it, because we imagine a
creature so loathsome and destructive must be armed with teeth and
poison. - We turn away from it with irrepressible disgust, because its
aspect is hideous.  We crush it with pleasure, because we judge that
it is unworthy of life. After this filthy, hated, loathsome creature
has attained its maturity, it seeks a place of concealment, ceases to
take any food, and yields itself up to a power by which the larva is
changed into the chrysalis, and from the chrysalid there comes an insect wholly unlike the caterpillar. In its habits we see cleanliness,
in its body we see beauty, on its wings we see the gorgeous colors of
the rainbow. It is pursued by playtul children, handled by delicate
maidens, gazed on with delight by tasteful men, and preserved with
carefulness in the cabinets of naturalists. This is a met(amorpho.sw..
The caterpillar is metamorphosed into the butterfly.  Without experience, who would believe that this beautiful insect, adorned with
wings, furnished with a long spiral proboscis or tongue, and standing
on six legs, canme from a hated, hairy caterpillar, having jaws and
teeth, and fourteen feet?
There stands before me a creature whose mind  is earthly, whose
nature is sensual, whose spirit is devilish. He lives to gratify his appetites and to indulge his propensities. In these he is groveling, and
in his habits he is loathsome.  He opens his mouth to blaspheme his
Maker, to deride his Saviour, to defy his Judge, to slander his neighbor. He cultivates no virtue, he restrains himself from no vice.
lie boasts of his independence, he glories in his degradation, he 
102                GOD AND MAN CO-WORKERS IN
strives to be contented with his condition, and he charges God with
the evil that is in him. To the eye of purity this creature is a mass
of loathsome corruption. There is no faculty in him which has not been
prostituted to the service of the devil, and corrupted by sin. He is
a fallen being, a polluted creature, a lost sinner. He does not look into
his own heart; he dares not look into eternity. He drives on, heedless of the admonitions of his friends, imagines himself as good as his
neighbors, and judges the whole system of religion a falsehood. This
wicked man has a soul in his body-an immortal soul. This makes
him the subject of christian solicitude, and impels some one to mention his name in prayer, and to pursue him with the voice of love and
entreaty. He is induced to go to the house of God. He opens his
ears to hear the preacher. He looks into the mirror which the Holy
Spirit has made.  His own image is therein presented in all its offensive features and horrid deformity, and appears exceedingly vile by
contrast with the image of Jesus Christ. The glory of the latter
blinds him, but its loveliness stirs his insensible soul, and its look of
affection astonishes hila   Can it be possible that Christ can love so
vile a being? Will ha save one so deeply fallen, so perfectly depraved? Hearing produces thought; thought merges into reflection; reflection creates fear; fear urges the question, " What shall I
do?" The way is open for instruction. The preacher brings out of
his treasury things new and old.  HIe shows  him his sinfulness and
guilt and danger, and his heart breaks; his spirit becomes contrite;
he renounces his sins, he consecrates himself to God. The gospel
glass is kept before him. He beholds the image of Christ hanging
on the cross, buried in the sepulchre, arising from the tomb, ascending into heaven, interceding with God. He apprehends these events
as facts.  The doctrine.s are explained, the promises are read.   He
embraces these as realities and truths.   By some power working in
him, to which he submits, he is able to see that all the provision of
the gospel is adapted to his wants, and by faith he appropriates it to
himself and claims it as his own.   In this act he commits himself to
Jesus Christ, as perfectly as the sick man commits himself to the
physician.  In that instant he is changed-yes, changed into the image of Christ-metamorphosed by the power of God into a new man
This is the work of God. It is the beginning of salvation in this
life. No man can change himself. If he is changed at all, God
wra'sh So it 
THE SALVATION OF THE SOUL.                     103
This change is spoken of in the Bible, and different terms are used
to represent it.  It is called "born again," or "born from above,"
in Christ's sermon to Nicodemus-hence, we get the term "new
birth." And that no man may mistake about this matter, the evangelist tells us that all who receive Christ," are born not of blood, nor
of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."   This
conveys to our minds the same idea as that expressed by James,in
these words: "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth,
that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures," with the
addition of the instrument which God uses. The Holy Spirit uses
the truth contained in the gospel in changing men from nature to
grace.  So, also, Paul admonishes us thus, "Be not conformed to
this world, but be ye transformed (metamorphosed) by the renewing
of your minds;" and "Put off the old man, which is corrupt, and be
renewed in the spirit of your minds; and that ye put on the new
man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."
This is the work of regeneration, and is experienced by all who believe in Christ with hearts unto righteousness; for God hath "given
us exceding great and precious promises, that by these we might be
partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that
is in the world." This change is called in our theology conversion,
and we get the term from the Bible.  T',e Psalmist says, "The law
of the Lord is perfect, converting [the ma.'gin has it restoring] the
soul." Our Lord said to his disciples, "k1 cept ye be converted,
and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of
heaven."  And James says, "Brethren, if any of you do err from
the truth, and one convert him, let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death,
and shall hide a multitude of sins." From these we learn that conversion restores men to the image of God; makes them like little
children in humility, affection, and docility; brings them under the
operation of the truth, relieves them from the guilt of a multitude of
sins, and saves their souls from death. All who experience this "are
in Christ Jesus," and "are new creatures, old things having passed
away, and all things having become new."
The model character to which this change assimilates men, is that
of our Lord —"We are changed into the same i~aoge." We may
search the records of history, and we find no one whose nature was so
perfect, and whose example was so lovely as Christ;  lence, there is 
104                 (,OD AND  IAN CO-WORKERS.
no one who can be followed with so much safety. During his life he
was pursued by malignant men who commanded civil and ecclesiastical forces, and these were held under fretful restraint by their
incapacity to find out anything which they could use against him.
His private character was irreproachable, his labors were disinterested,
his whole time was consumed in doing good. When he was arraigned
and charged with blasphemy, the specification did not sustain the
charge, though the high priest with hypocritical zeal gave judgment
against him. When he was carried before Pilate, and charged with
rebellion, the specification could not be proved. And when the multitude called for his crucifixion, the judge after much perplexity and
thorough examination, said, "Take  him and crucify him, for I find
no fault in him."  No man has passed through more searching scrutiny, and yet his reputation for piety, zeal, purity, wisdom, and all
the graces which ennoble man and perfect the christian, stands this
day unquestioned. The truths which he taught are embraced by all
who believe in him. These are planted in them by the Holy Spirit,
and they become the principles by which they are controlled and
sustained.  The love which was in him "is shed abroad in their hearts
by the Holy Ghost given unto them," and this impels them to do his
will. The grace which sustained him in all his labors and trials is
given to them, and may be had in quantity equal to their wants.
Converting grace puts the believer in this state of assimilation to
Christ, that is to say, it begins this assimilation. There may be in
the heart of the converted man much that is evil, but the truth is
opposing, and the grace of God is eradicating this evil; and in case
this grace is not frustrated by unbelief, and truth is not choked by
the cares of this world, or the deceitfulness of riches, or the lust of
other things, then the likeness shall be perfect enough to insure a
title to the inheritance of heaven. "c Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus," is the admonition of Paul.
Secondly.  This change shall go on towards perfection-" We are
changed into the same image from glory to glory." The work of
conversion is always sudden, and it may be attended by such eviden 
THE SALVATION OF THE SOUL.                   105
be done at once. The evidence of it however may not satisfy the
mind of the young convert at first. He may pass through hours and
days doubting and fearing, until the production of the fruits of the
Spirit shall convince him that God has converted him.  Right instruction concerning the effect of conversion, and careful self-examination,
will enable any man to find out whether he is a converted man. Let
this change be wrought by the Hloly Spirit, and then let the "babe
in Christ" be fed with what St. Paul calls "the sincere milk of the
word," and there will be growth in the knowledge and grace of Christ.
The believer will progress into a state in which he may be fed with
what the same apostle calls "strong meat."*   Let this strong meat
be eaten and digested, and he who was a babe will pass rapidly through
the state of childhood and youth into the maturity of christian
character. He must walk by the same faith he exercised when the
Holy Spirit changed him;  he must continue in the use of the same
means; "he must, with open face, behold the glory of the Lord" in
the Gospel, as he did at first, and the work of grace will go on assimilating him to the image of Christ, from glory to glory.
This is set before us clearly by the apostle in these words: "And
besides this, (that is being made partakers of the divine nature) giving
all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and
to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience, and to patience
godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity; for if these things be in you, and abound, they make
you that ye shall be neither barren [the margin has it idle, which is
the right word] nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus
Christ:... for if ye do these things ye shall never fall; for so an
entrance shallbe ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting
kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."t Herein we see the
faith of the converted man urging him to the exercise of courage,
the nse of study, the practice of obedience, and God carries on his
gracious work in the production of the fruit which he values highly,
and promises to own and approve in eternity.
At the same time the believer is applying himself to the use of the
means of grace, the Holy Spirit is imparting the "wisdom which cometh down from above, which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy
to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and
*Heb. v, 12. t 2 Peters ii, 5-11. 
106                GOD AND MIAN CO-WORKERS IN
without hypocrisy."* He is shedding abroad in his heart the love
of God; He is fixing in his soul the kingdom of God, which is
"righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost;" and He is so
mingling the influences of His grace and providence as to cause tribulations to produce patience, and patience to produce experience, and
experience to produce hope of eternal life. " And every man who has
this hope in himt purifies himself, even as he (i. e. Christ) is pure."
In all this work, man and God are co-workers. The former is performing the conditions and using the means, and the latter is applying his truth, is increasing the measure of his grace, and augmenting
the power of his love. Here we have faith working, love laboring,
and hope patiently enduring the whole of God's will.i And the fruit
which results therefrom consists of the virtues which ennoble human
character, the graces of true religion, the qualities which Jesus Christ
cultivated, and the purity or holiness which is necessary for residence in heaven.
In conclusion we state  1. We are taught by moral philosophy that the moral quality of an
action resides in the motive or the intention; and we are taught by
observation that there is connection between principles and conduct.
Hence there is need for knowledge of truth, faith in truth, and
realization of the power of truth. No man cultivates right motives
and has sound moral principles unless he receives into his mind and
believes with his heart what God has revealed concerning his Son.
This will produce sound experience, and Christian experience consists
in the love of God in the heart; and he who has this in full measure
is changed into the image of Christ. All who desire to obey God
must have their hearts renewed by grace; and this will always accompany genuine faith.  " Do we make void the law through faith? God
forbid! Yea, we establish the law."
2. Capacity to see and understand the truth depends on the state
of our minds and hearts. If the former be full of prejudice, and the
latter be estranged from God, there wiil result darkness, and ignorance, and sin.  "When the heart shall turn to the Lord, the veil
shall be taken away," is the declaration of Paul. " If thine eye be
single, thy whole body shall be full of light," is the promisecof Christ.
* James iii, 17.    t 1 Thess. i, 8. 
THE SALVA-TION OF THIE SOUL.                 107
3. The readers of this discourse will desire to see cases of men who
have been changed into the image of Christ, and have continued to
make progress from glory to glory. Cases are numerous wherever
the gospel is preached and received, yet many men may not see
them. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, the people who heard his
sermons and saw his miracles did not know what a model of benevolence, piety, wisdom, and truthfulness, they had in their midst.
When Paul was preaching Christ to his cotemporaries, his hearers
did not know the purity of his heart, the burning zeal of the apostle,
and the joy of the Christian. When Wesley, Fletcher, and Whitfield, were at work in England, the people abused them, and the
clergy persecuted them. Man sees the outward form, God sees the
heart. Man judges of motives by actions; God looks first at the motives, and then judges the action. Every sinner who gives his heart
to God is changed into the image of Christ  and every one who keeps
the precious grace in his heart, and does not frustrate it, is advancing
towards perfection. Cases of this kind are around us, though we
may not see them.  Reader, strive to be like your Lord.  When you
have the inclination to judge your neighbor, repress it by looking
into your own heart.
4. Preparation for heaven must be begun and finished in this world.
The body presents no insuperable obstacle to the holiness of the soul.
The hour of death has no more power to aid the sinner in seeking the
grace of salvation than may be secured and experienced by any penitent in the enjoyment of health and life.  The image of Christ may
be stamped on our souls in this life; and it must be done in this life,
or exclusion from heaven and imprisonment in hell will be the result.
When we pass through death and enter eternity, the angel of God
will say, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he that is
filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be
righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still."*
*Rev. xxii, ii.    
GOD IN CHRIST JESUS.
BY A. MEANS, D. D., LL. D.,
)F THE GEORGIA CONFERENCE.
Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a
highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain
and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the
rough places plain: And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all
flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."-Isaiah
xl, 3, 4, 5.
In the impressive language of the great historian of the reformation, "Jesus Christ is the purpose of God in history."  Whereas,
imfortunately for the world, the religion of the Messiah has been too
often degradingly regarded as a mere appendage to the embodiment
of divine truth-a convenient- supplement to a reigning system-designed perhaps to embellish or explain it, or at best to furnish mankind, in the character of its great founder, with a lively impersonation of inimitable virtue.
Our views, however, of this grand system of world-reforming and
world-saving power, derived from the inspired volume, authorize and
require us to announce its claims as coeval with the guilt of Paradise, and constituting a part and parcel of the stupendous economy of
the moral and intellectual universe; and like the brilliant rings of
Saturn, which adorn his evening skies, engirdling our sin-doomed
world, and spanning the moral heavens with a zone of living light,
which reveals at once the dignity and the destiny of our race, and
solves the otherwise inexplicable problem of human existence. In
short, God in Christ Jesus, "reconciling the world unto himself," is
the great truth which illumines Revelation's page from the Pentateuch to the Apocalypse. Such a religion, then, rises into augustness
and grandeur in human contemplation, as it challenges the attention and
demands the confidence of mankind. But to accomplish its sublime
designs it must come with the badges of divinity upon its brow, and
the overpowering displays of Omnipotence in its train. Proposing
to redeem the world from the curse of ages, and to herald the way to
a happy eternity, it must antecedently prepare the human mind for 
110                   GOD IN CHRIST JESUS.
the gradual development of its wonderful truths, and then propitiously begin the extension of its divine sway, which is only to be
consummated when the ransomed nations, from the Arctic circles to
the line, shall exult in the universality of its millennial reign.
The religion we reverence, then, is not the ephemeral offspring of
finite intelligence, much less the surviving spawn of an exploded philosophy. As the sun of heaven was the physical center upon which
hung the vast revolutions of all the planetary worlds that circle
around him-no less during the first three demiurgic days of the Mosaic
cosmogony than after he had assumed, upon  thefourth, his more
brilliant phase and became the measurer of our days and the lightgiver to the universe-so the "Sun of Righteousness," the greatcenter of the moral heavens, was no less essentially and efficiently present when "the morning stars sang together, and all the suns of God
shouted for joy," than after four thousand years had rolled away,
when, robed in the full-orbed light of his glory, he rose upon the
world from the crimson horizon of Calvary.  Yea, the "Rock of
Ages" was no less the stable foundation of christian faith when the
authorities of the synagogue, surrounded by the dim outlines of a
vague theology, proclaimed "An  eye for an eye and a tooth for a
tooth," than when, under the noon-day effulgence of the cross, those
God-like doctrines were so benevolently inculcated-" Love your enemies; bless them that curse you  do good to them that hate you,
and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you."
Thus we are to regard christianity as an integrant portion of the
moral organization of the world, and inseparable from its history and
destiny; blending its issues with the physical condition and final catastrophe of our planet; and yet for the wisest of purposes, and in
accordance with an eternal law of heaven, the beauty and symmetry
and majesty of its mighty proportions have been reserved for the gradual evolution of succesive centuries
Nor are all its exalted truths yet illustrated, nor its noblest triumphs yet achieved.  Its grand consummation is yet to be effected
amid the splendors of the resurrection morning and the glories of the
descending throne; when earth's returning millions, over-spanned by
"new heavens," and standing upon "a new earth, wherein dwelleth
righteousness," clad in the courtly costume of a higher. dominion,
shall set out afresh upon the diuturnally ascending scale of progress 
GOD IN CHRIST JESUS.                     111
ive intellect for a still more exalted goal, nearer, and still nearer the
transcendent light of the throne!
Progress towards perfection marks the order of the divine economy in every department of its reign. An approximation to higher
from lower conditions characterizes the movements of the physical,
mental, and moral universe. Nature to her profoundest depths felt
and obeyed this impulse from her God long before the inspired dictum, " Let us go on to perfection," fell upon the moral world from
the lips of the gifted Apostle of the Gentiles.
The gray dawn and the rosy tints of twilight must gently train the
delicate retina to meet the bolder blaze of the rising sun and the meridian brightness of the perfect day. The swelling bud and the opening flower must be evoked from the torpid sleep of winter; the genial breath of spring start once more the bounding pulse of forest
life; and then, and not till then, will earth's green glories and her
golden harvests vindicate the perfection of the vegetable kingdom.
Nay, this law of physical progression is traceable in its action from
the elementary atom up to the highest combinations in the inorganic
world-from the microscopic cellule which nurses the germ of vegetable and animal life, up to the gorgeous organization of planets
and suns in the profound depths of space. Geology, from her venerable records graven with the stylus of passing centuries upon her
eternal tablets of rock, convincingly establishes its prevalence and
power, and by a striking and unpremeditated harmony of testimony,
from the deep subterranean tombs of the Fauna and Flora of a preAdamic world, substantially confirms the ascending order of creation,
as in the cosmical details of the Mosaic history. There was a time,
according to the annunciations of both, when the elements of our
planet constituted but a diffuse, nebulous, chaotic mass, "without
form and void," and when " darkness was upon the face of the deep:"
a time when, in the magnificent oriental phrase of inspiration, it had
but just "issued out of the womb," and when "the cloud was made
the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it."@
This, however, was but its elementary condition. " Let there be 
112                   GOD IN CHRIST JESUS
treat of oceans and seas into their cavernous beds, and the upheaval
of islands, continents, and mountain ranges above the retiring floods.
Passing by the Algoe of the seas, next come the first manifestations
of terrestrial vegetation, beginning in the upper Silurian system, and
advancing in the geologic scale, through the old red sandstone, the
Permian and Triassic systems, up to the Tertiary. From the flower less, leafless, and stemless Thallogeus, at the base of the scale, to the
Monocotyledons, Polycotyledons, and lastly the Dicotyledons of our
orchards and forests-a wonderful paleontological series, almost ex actly corresponding with the modern botanical arrangement of the
distinguished Lindley, and still more strangely harmonizing with the
simple but clear order of creation reported by Moses, and divided by
that sacred cosmologist into "grass, the herb yielding seed, and the
fruit tree, yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself," as the
apple, peach, plum, pear, &c.
Then in the upward grade of organic life, revealed in this geologic
series, and in still more remarkable parallelism with the classification of (Cuvier, the greatest zoologist of modern times, appear the inhabitants of the animal kingdom, from the star-like type of the seaurchins in the Silurian zone, through the regularly expanding line of
fishes, reptiles, birds, and mammals, in the various superincumbent
strata, up to the grand consummation of organic being upon earth,
in the Tertiary formation, the incomparable microcosm of MAN himself, the last crowning work of this sublunary creation, as announced
by the God of the Bible, and confirmed by the imperishable records
of the rocky world. So that we may appropriately exclaim with
Dryden:
" From harmony, from heavenly harmony,
This universal frame began
From harmony to harmony,
Through all the compass of the notes it ran,
The diapason closing full in man."
But mind too, must reach its climax by progressive development.
Yon pale and puling infant, which now lies in unconscious dependence
upon the bosom of its mother, and dozes its monotonous days away, 
GOD IN CHRIST JESUS.                      113
derful Corsican, whose mighty intellect, like the heavings of an ocean
in a storm, sports with the noblest fabrics of other minds, and proudly
rolls the tide of its triumphs over a trembling continent: or  may
dwell with admiration and delight upon that peerless model of a man,
who, unfurling the stainless flag of freedom over the shouting millions
of the American people, and sweeping the circle of their dominion
over half a hemisphere-wins from their filial hearts the endearing
appellation of "The Father of his Country."
Surely, then, the interests of the moral world, which stir man's
noblest ambition, inspire his loftiest hopes, and embrace within their
awful range the dooms of eternity, cannot be governed by a less wise,
comprehensive, and patient policy. No, verily, for the stupendous
plan which was elaborated in heaven for the enlargement, elevation,
and SALVATION of human nature, contemplated that nature in its
earliest and worst phases, and has continued, through successive centuries, to follow and control the destinies of mankind, and to uncover
its splendors and widen the horizon of its light, as their mental and
moral disfranchisement seemed to require. Even now, its grand
movements are seen but "in transitu."  We have only beheld "the
beginning of the end." The transcendent triumphs of christianity
are yet in the distance, when the resources of the social, commercial,
scientific, and religious worlds —multiplied a hundred fold-shall
pour in their spontaneous contributions, to swell the tide of the Divine glory, and complete the bliss of. the nations.
She occupies, as we have seen, an integral, luminous, and commanding position in the great prolific scheme of the existing universe,
and is inseparably associated with its history and destiny. No lapse
of ages subdues her energies; no past successes limit her conquests,
and no geographical boundaries circumscribe her dominions. The
circumference of the globe alone is the sphere of her extension, and
the ultimate purification of the nations the laudable object of her
toils. And in-anticipation of these world-wide moral victories, the
herald-notes of the coming jubilee are already sounded from the
thousand pulpits of the land; and Faith, smiling as she looks from
her exalted stand-point, over the christian schools, and colleges, and 
114                    GOD IN CHRIST JESUS.
Maintaining the truth, then, under the beautiful imagery adopted
by Isaiah, we are authorized to consider  1st. The long-standing purpose of Heaven, that a "high-way"
should be opened up through the moral world for the entrance and
triumphant progress of its reigning King.
2d. To mark the character of the preparation required for this
extended visit of the royal guest through His earthly dominion.
3d. To contemplate the promised results of His reign.
To consider the first proposition, then: Man has lost his original
position in the scale of creation. He was once a temple filled with
God,-the light of Divine glory streaming through all its aisles and
arches, and revealing the virgin beauty of its lovely interior. But,
alas! a wasting hurricane has swept over the spot, and now its architectural magnificence, like the crumbling columns of Palmyra, lies
in fragmentary ruins, while Contemplation broods in melancholy
reverie over the moral desolation of the scene. It is good that man
should hold communication with the past, and learn to check the pride
and arrogance of an easily inflated mind, by humiliating reminiscences
of its ancestral fall, and the consequent conviction of its entailed
helplessness and present guilt.
The first representative of our race, then, was the fit companion of
angels and the favorite of the skies. Inhaling the pure atmosphere
of his innocent home, he stood in the dignity of his noble manhood,
with the earth around him blooming in the freshness of its green
beauty-the heavens above him radiant with the Creator's smile-no
ominous cloud to darken the back-ground of his young history, and
a wide vision of coming bliss stretching out in long perspective before him.  He stood, too, in the undimmed lustre of priceless purity
-the richest crown jewel in the kingdom of God.   Hell's vindictive
monarch, big with hate to Him who booned it, and guided to his task
by a deadly strategy, approached, and praised, and stirred amibition's
fires, and then bartered for the gem. Knowledge, (0, Heaven!)
knowledge-when authorized and hallowed, the patrimony of angels;
but when forbidden and profound the curse of archangels ruined,knowledge was lyingly tendered as the tempting equivalent of its
worth!  The guile was deep and damning.   The fiendish swindler
triumphed, and a beggared, blasted, and expatriated race lived to date
their crime and their curse from Paradise. But mercy still lingered
over the doom of the rebel, and taxed the resources of Almighty 
GOD IN CHRIST JESUS.                      115
Goodness to avert his final fate, despoil the infernal monster of his
prey, and let immortality, once more restored to her primeval honors,
claim her perennial bliss in the smile of Heaven.
But no unseemly haste was necessary to perfect the execution of
the Divine plans.  "One day is with the LORD as a thousand years,
and a thousand years as one day." As one hundred and twenty
years must slowly wear away before Noah's floating palace was ready
for the floods; so one hundred and twenty generations must find
their way to the tomb, before its great antitype-the place of refuge
for the dying nations-is ready for their full reception. A straggling
beam of light, it is true, had fallen upon the devious path of the
exiles from Paradise, as a voice from Heaven whispered in mysterious
purport, "The seed of the woman  shall bruise the serpent's head."
But still darkness brooded over their doom.  Time rolled heavily
on. Their posterity increased, and the coming of some great event,
which was deeply to affect its destiny, hung portentously upon the
heart of the world. Patriarchs lived, and longed, and died, with a
limited horizon and a star-lit path.  Next, in the order of Heaven,
followed a long line of consecrated men, burning with inspiration's
fires, kindled at the upper temple. Ascending, in deliberate succession, the mount of prophesy, they flung the light of hope far down
the vista of future ages. The princely son of Amoz, the loftiest of
their rank, seemed laden with the excess of a boundless revelation,
and rolled from his sounding harp the coming glories of the "golden
age," and the royal reign of Heaven. And to arouse into activity
the moral languor of a forgetful world, his monitory tones have for
more than twenty-five hundred years rung upon its ear from the
heights of prophecy, in the exhilarating accents of the text,-" Prepare ye the way of the LORD: make straight in the desert a high-way
for our GOD," &C. Malachi caught the glowing theme, and following
in the train, sang, swan-like, his last and sweetest notes: " Behold I
will send you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and
dreadful day of the LORD."
But the last sounds of prophetic minstrelsy died away in the dis 
116                    GOD IN CHRIST JESUS.
destined hour arrives, and the "King of Glory comes." But alas!r how
widely different from human expectation is the manner of his advent!
How mortifying to the arrogance of rabbinical learning!   How
humiliating to the pride and vanity of the world!
It is midnight.  Jerusalem's thousands are wrapped in slumber.
The little village of Bethlehem, nestling in its quiet seclusion like
some land-locked bay away from the storms of the deep, has nursed
its busy population to rest. All is still. One sound only occasionally
disturbs the drowsy air.  It must be-it is-the wail of an infant
from a neighboring manger. It clings to the bosom of its outcast
mother, as her circling arms, its only cradle, rock it to its rest.
Merciful Heaven! What means this supernatural scene? A queenly
star, unseen before, stands sentinel over the spot. An angelic legion
are out upon the wing, and the skies resound with a new anthem from
heaven: "Glory to GOD in the highest, and on earth peace, good
will towards men; for unto you is born this day, in the city of David,
a Saviour, who is CHRIST the LORD."
The mystery is now solved.  I understand  ts lofty import.  The
infant JMessiah breathes!  The incipient jyd incarnate enters upon
his mission of mercy to the world;   ae that wail- ithat plaintive and
thrilling wail, was the seal of the fleshly tie that binds him to our
suffering nature. The great event is proclaimed. Wonders in earth
and heaven attend his bright career, encircle his divinity upon the
CQross, and herald him home from the conquered tomb to the welcoming skies. The promised redemption has come. The pulse of immor'tality now beats fully and freely under the winding-sheet, and a dead
world, Lazarus-like, leaps from its grave, to enjoy the light of an
everlasting day. But earth is not yet ready for her higher destiny of
innocence and purity, and for ages to come, the mandatory message
of Isaiah, reiterated by the harbinger of Christ: "Prepare ye the
way of the LORD," &c., must still be thundered upon the ear of the
nations from the high places of Zion.
We are to consider, secondly  "The character of the preparation required for this extended visit
of the royal guest through his earthly dominions."
Christianity contemplates a progressive and thorough reformation
of the world. Her heavenly efficiency, and her benevolent and sublime purpose, will compromise for no less noble results. The loathsomeness of vice must be transformed into the loveliness of virtue, or 
SOD IN CHRIST JESUS.                      117
fly before her reign and meet the bolt that dooms it. Earth must be
purified from her blood, and robed in her beauty, to shout the welcome advent of the "latter day glory."  But for the consummation
of this high destiny, no single instrumentality from earth or heaven
has been exclusively consecrated.   The universe of means is under
her control, and a thousand auxiliaries may be legitimately taxed
for the accomplishment of the grand event.  The mammoth obstacles
which have heretofore obstructed her career of glory must be broken
down by powerful appliances, commensurate with the majesty of her
designs. When the claims of Divinity are to be vindicated, Omnipotence must signalize itself by an outlay of God-like power, independently of human aid, and above and beyond all human resources.
Obsequious nature must suspend her laws in allegiance to her Lord,
and earth and air, and sea, and sky, pour their voiceless tribute at
his feet. At his word the green fig tree must wither to its'roots, as if
smitten with the volcano's breath. The wild hurricane, lashed on by
the lightning's thong to make battle with the angry seas, must sink
apoplectic upon its mission of wrath, while the lulled waves softly
ripple the lullaby of peace to rescued and rejoicing nature; and
even the unaccustomed grave disgorge at his fiat its sheeted dead,
in triumphant proof of a coming resurrection.
But when miracles have proclaimed and sustained the origin of our
religion, and her effective machinery is manifestly in motion, under a
Divine momentum, every subordinate agency within the range of her
action may be fitly employed in the spread and enforcement of her
soul-saving truths, as each succeeding. age affords its own peculiar
supply. Hence, in the outset of the apostolic mission, a diversity of
talents characterized the leading disciples, each being suited to his
appropriate sphere. There was the mild, meek, aud faithful JOHN,
the very impersonation of gentleness and love, and emotionally constituted to woo, and to win.  With the warm gush of christian sympathy in his heart, and the persuasive eloquence of paternal affection
upon his tongue, how touchingly he pleads: "Little children, love
one another." There, too, was the bold, frank, and fearless PETER,
to confound the circumcision, and charge home the murder of his
immortal master upon the cowering Jews, whose hands yet reeked
with the blood of the crucifixion. Amid this galaxy of primeval
worth, stood the kind, cultivated, and eloquent Apollos, to still the
noise of the heaving multitudes by the sweetness of his tones, and 
118                   GOD IN CHRIST JESUS.
charm the subdued heart by the pathos of his sanctified rhetoric.
And last, but not least, the learned, magnanimous, and powerful disciple of Gamaliel-rich in historical, mythological, and rabbinical
lore; whose steel-like logic fell with the keenness of a Damascus
blade upon the cloven helmets and sinking forms of the stupid philosphy and arrogant religionism of the day.
In accordance with the order of Divine Providence, therefore, it
has been reserved for learning, science, and the arts, in the latter
ages of the church, to furnish new instrumentalities for the diffusion
and defence of moral truth.
The Butlers and Paleys; the Watsons and Clarks; the Chalmerses
and Keiths, who have stood upon the walls and labored for the glory
of Jerusalem, have " wrought in the work" with one hand, while the
other has " held a weapon" whose trenchant blade told fearfully upon
the intruding ranks of infidelity. Indeed some of the most signal
and startling repulses with which skepticism has met, in modern years,
have been from the strongholds of learning-even unconsecrated by
piety.  It was the profound knowledge of La Place, and the cultivated discernment of De Lambre, each in search of solely scientific
truth, and both the avowed friends and patrons of infidelity, that exploded the ingenious and alarming treatise of M. Bailey, upon the
celebrated Hindoo Tables, which in the close of the last century,
under the powerful prestige of Professor Playfair's name, threatened
to subvert the whole Mosaic cosmogony.   And, later still, it was the
deep archeological lore of the younger Champolioii of France, in 1801,
which scattered to the winds the gossamer texture of the famous
Zodiacal system of infidelity, by solving the mysterious hieroglyphics
found upon the Egyptian planispheres, in the temples of Esne and
Dendera.
But the Sciences too, we have said, have entered the field in defence
of Revelation.
dstronomy, the noblest of the sisterhood, came first to do homage
to the babe of Bethlehem.  A strange and lonely star-the virgin
creation of his natal hour, or summoned, it may be, from some far-off
home in immensity, as if at once the commissioned herald and lustrous symbol of his future reign-graced the brow of our firmament,
and culminated over the manger cradle, where the Prince of Peace
reposed. Astronomy, too, when his benevolent mission was closed,
stood last at his cross, and contributed her solemnly-sublime testi 
GOD IN CHRIST JESUS.                      119
monies to the farewell agonies of her incarnate God. The sun of
heaven quenched his beams in the blood of the crucifixion, and turned
noon into midnight, over an astonished world-leaving outraged conscience, for three dark, dismal hours, to lash his miurderers with the
memory of their guilt!
Chemistry instantaneously suspended her universal law of gravitation, that the Deity incarnate might walk upon the seas; and again,
at his high behest, sent back her revivifying oxygen into the collapsed
lungs of Jairus' daughter.
While Geology (the youngest of the group, and scarcely yet known
to the scientific world) confessed the presence of his power by the
rupture of her rocky strata under the cries of Calvary; and in the
apostolic age proclaimed her unbroken allegiance to his authority, by
the earthquake throes which shook Philippi to its foundation, when
imprisoned piety prayed.
But why need we supply further illustration? It is enough briefly
to say, that under the liberal and humanizing spirit of the age, Scienee, which has long stooped in degrading vassalage to the arrogant
exactions of her infidel task-masters, and been tortured into the support of atheistical dogmas and a hopeless materialism; is now rejoicing
in the freedom of a boundless research; and from her tour of exploration through the natural universe, returns ever and anon laden
with the triumphs of her toils, to pour them in adoring gratitude at
the foot of the cross. Nor will her.generous labors ever cease, until
the entire physical universe, with its profound laws and wonderful
phenomena, shall be found to harmonize with the high moral truths
and grand revelations made in the Christian Scriptures.
The prophetic prenunciation contained in the language of Isaiah,
viz: ", Every valley shall be exalted, every mountain and hill shall
be made low, the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough
places plain," seems even now to be in the process of an almost literal
fulfilment, under the formative and directive forces of Science and
the Arts, as the rising valleys are shouldering the tonnage of the seas,
and cloven mountains are disemboweled for the passage of the flying
locomotive and its thundering train, bearing far away into the heart
of continents the light of intelligence and the faith of Christendom;
while mind, mounted upon its straight iron pathway, and sped on ward by the lightning's breath, outstrips the eagle upon the wing of
the storm, and leaves the booming tempest itself in the rear; or anon, 
120                    GOD IN CHRIST JESUS.
defying the world-wide commotion of the angry main, which strains a
hundred strong crafts to their laboring keels, shoots with the speed
of light along its wiry thoroughfare, through the bowels of the seas,
far below the briny bed where the sea-serpent sleeps, and rises upon
a distant continent on its mission of light, interlocking whole nations
in the bonds of brotherhood; and under the powerful plea of interest
and prosperity, subduing the belligerent spirit of mankind, and opening the way for the reign of millennial peace, when "the sword shall
be turned into the plowshare, and the spear into the pruning-hook."
But the language of the prophet, in the verse just referred to, is
perhaps to be regarded mainly figurative, and warranting an ulterior
and higher application than the mere literal import of its terms
would indicate. The various obstacles to the spread of the Redeemer's kingdom, and their complete removal, in the progress of years,
by the prevalent and powerful religion of the cross, seem here to be
triumphantly contemplated.   The spirit of Christianity exalts  the
7lowly and Iumb7es the proud; strikes a common level from earth to
heaven; and against the philosophy of the past and the selfishness of
the present, bears prince and peasant, priest and people, along the
same graded thoroughfare, to the kingdom of God.
The covert intrigues and tortuous windings of corrupt human
policy, as well as the "crooked" outline of ungodly creeds, are all
to be abandoned for the "straight " path of duty and the plainness
of sanctifying truth. And, lastly, the great barriers to the spread of
Christianity shall be broken down; the power of her enemies neutralized and destroyed; the roughness of human nature polished and
refined by its spirit; and the trials and misfortunes of life overcome
and subordinated by its gracious internal reign.
The  "signs of the times" are ominous of the approaching advent
of a halcyon age, whose rosy twilight already tinges the moral horizon,
and strongly forecasts the coming accomplishment of these prophetic
dicta. Among the leading indications of a brighter future we cannot overlook the educational enterprises which, under the sanction of
Christianity, are spreading fair and wide through both continents. 
GOD IN CHRIST JESUS.                      121
ceeded by Intelligence and Piety-a noble union-crowned from the
skies, and chartered with unlimited dominion, for the elevation and
happiness of the whole human race.
At no remote day in the history of the past, had the envenomed
shafts of Hume and Voltaire been true to their aim, Christianity
might have received her death-blow, and not a college nor academy
in the land have felt the shock of her dissolution. But how happily
different the aspect which our own great country now presents!
The BIBLE, has been enthroned in the eyes of the nation.  Its lofty
morals have become the standard and touchstone of public and private virtue, while its sacred counsels daily resound through the halls
and chapels of our seminaries of learning-hallowing the labors of
professional instruction, and purifying the very well-springs of human
knowledge.  The ample provisions now made under its holy sanctions for the higher cultivation and refinement of woman, constitute
a distinctive feature in our modern educational plans, and characterize the present as an interesting era in the history of our country.
The high schools and colleges of the day, already in successful operation, are destined to give a literary maternity to hundreds of our
lovely daughters. And although it is neither expected nor desired
that they shall all turn poets, or painters, or musicians, or authors,
and enter upon a vexatious career for fame, yet, under the chastening and ameliorating influence of these ministers of piety and learning, they are but the better prepared to become amiable sisters,
enlightened and affectionate wives, and cultivated mothers-throwing the charms of taste and intelligence around the public heart, as
well as the domestic circle-restraining vice, promoting virtue, and
training up a hopeful progeny, around whose parental knees the young
Washingtons, and Welbys  and  Websters, of a coming age, shall
gather the elements of their future greatness. And yet, aroused and
sprung by these educational appliances, why should not female genius
plume her wing for a bolder flight? Who shall say that in some
future day our Wesleys and Sigourneys may not be multiplied and
improved, and that the emerald mountains and orange groves, the
flowing rivers and golden sunsets of our native land, as well as the
high themes of Revelation and the charms of virtue, may not be woven
into still more persuasory and enrapturing verse by many of our
gifted daughters, who shall stand as "corner stones" in the fabric of
society, "polished after the similitude of a palace s" That other 
122                   GOD IN CHRIST JESUS.
Hannah Mores, arising from the common ranks of life, and supplied
from the depositories of knowledge-rich in thought, pure in morals,
and vigorous in style-may not issue from their prolific pens whole
volumes of pertinent truth to warn the wealthy and gladden the poor.
Or that other Miss Somervilles, expanding into fuller intellectual
proportions under an American sky, may not measure the flight of
newly-discovered worlds, or solve the apparent difficulties of retrograde cometary motion  and thus unitedly aid in elevating and refining human nature, to prepare it for its more exalted sphere.
Another characteristic of the times, which indicates the approaching consummation of long-standing prophecy, is the strong tendency
of the enlightened public mind to ascend to first principles-to discover and to control elementary forces-leaving in the rear the rude,
the palpable, and the material, and advancing to the region of the
refined, the impalpable, and the imnazteri[al. An emancipation from the
blind dominion of Nature, and from the rigid exactions of her autocratic laws, has already been largely effected, after the patient progress of nearly sixty centuries. Her embarrassing resistance has
been over-mastered by signal disclosures from her own arcana, and
her exhaustless resources made tributary to the highest phase of
advancing civilization.
Progressive development, we say, has marked the general history
of the world; and although heretofore temporarily arrested or obstructed by impassable geographical boundaries, or paralyzing religious creeds, is certainly destined by the elastic and aggressive spirit
of the age, and the liberalizing and diffusive character of our holy
religion, yet to penetrate and arouse the heart of the most stolid and
stationary nations, and send its reformatory impulse over the plains
of northern Europe, the inhospitable steppes of Asia, and even through
the sparsely-populated jungles of Hisdostan.
In the earlier ages of mankind, and among savage tribes, muscular
effort was the sole dependence for personal supplies. Observation
and reflection, however, soon suggested the use of the horse, the ox,
and the ass, in substitution for human labor. Next were called into
requisition the mechanicalforces of the inorganic world; and the rolling river and plunging cataract were made subservient to the authority of advancing mind. The aid of a still more mobile fluid was then
commanded, and the obedient winds turned machinery and filled the
sails of commerce. But after the lapse of ages, clearer perceptions 
GOD IN CHRIST JESUS.                      123
and a wider horizon led to the discovery of a yet more elastic and
powerful agent; and in the happy adaptation of steam to the play of
machinery anid the laws of locomotion, our American Fulton has
inaugurated a new era in the history of civilization, and revolutionized the entire commercial world.
This brings us to the present century, when the whole heaven of
intellect begins to glow with unaccustomed light, and has already
disclosed to the wondering nations the secret storehouses of a still
more ethereal and boundless power, whose fiery flights, dynamic feats,
and limitless reign, vindicate our postulate -establish the pre.
eminence of intangible and imponderable forces over the grosser
forms of matter, and herald the advent of a brighter age. And yet
the mysterious profounds of electricity are unsounded, and her utmost
capabilities untaxed.  Her incipient achievements, it is true, belong
to the present, but her unrevealed glories are, perhaps, providentially
reserved for the sublimer intellectuality of afuture age.
So too, by beautiful parallelism, in the moral world.  When  the
catastrophe of Paradise had grown dim upon the memory of a degenerate and polluted race, and the tradition of the deed had faded into
twilight, their conceptions of a Deity became vague and degrading,
the sensuous nature ruled in the ascendant, and wealth paid ample
tribute at the imposing shrines of idolatry. Hence the artistic splendor of polytheistic Athens, with her thirty thousand gods, and the
architectural magnificence of paganf Rome, with her one hundred and
twenty gorgeous temples, even at the period when the learning and
philosophy of the ancient world had reached its zenith. The soul
was still in fetters, and the reigning God unknown.  All religion
was reduced to the visible, the tangible, and the audible, while sordidness and selfishness, sensuality and pollution, were consecrated at
the altars and incorporated with the showy but scandalous mysteries
of the ritual
Nay, such was the slowness of the human mind to perceive spiritual
truth, that even within the pale of Revelation the sublime symbolic
ceremonies of the Temple service were addressed by the Divine condescension to the exterior senses. But generations passed away,
intelligence ripened, and the insignia of old dispensations gave place
to the simplicity and spirituality of the Messiah's opening reign.
And yet, in after centuries, many of the cumbrous forms and pompous rites of pagan superstition, were found clinging around the altars 
124                   GOD IN CHRIST JESUS.
of Christian worship, when another grand phase of human progression burst upon the world from the sound and sanctified intellect of
the immortal monk of Erfurt. Since the days of the Reformation,
emancipated mind has been advancing to a higher level, and sweeping a broader horizon.
As in the physical, so in the psychological world, the most stupendous results follow from the play of invisible and intangible elements.
This is emphatically the age of ethereal and impalpable forces, and
christianity is but harmonizing in her grand, world-wide movements,
with the significant and subordinate powers of nature, when her simple, elemental FAITii-the radical grace of the lovely train-is
spreading its electric impulses far and wide, and stirring the masses
of the moral world, over the length and breadth of a continent.
Such is the vast revival influence which has signalized this year of
physical, mental, and moral wonders,-left its ballowing impress
upon the public heart, and imposed its salutary restraints upon public morals throughout the States of this Union.
Christian faith, because invisible and incomprehensible in its modes
of action, and incapable of demonstration by the microscope, the
scalpel, or the crucible, has long been the subject of libertine taunt
and skeptical inuendo, and has often provoked the fires of pagan persecution, and even the tortures of inquisitorial vengeance. But the
very violence and oppression of the past have but served to unlimber
her celestial artillery and unmask her strongest batteries.
Nature's ethereal forces-the most powerful which she wieldsmanifest their boldest phenomena when temporarily restrained and
held in abeyance.  How quiet and harmless the escape of steam
from the matron's tea-kettle.  But generate and confine it in iron
cylinders, and huge masses of ponderous machinery start into motion, and impetuous keels scour the pathless deep, between distant
kingdoms!  How silent and invisible the ascent of liberated gases in
the open air. But when evolved by the heat of the earth's central
fires, and pent up by its superincumbent strata, whole continents rock
under its elastic recoil, volcanoes heave, and mountains spring from
the bottom of the seas.
The electric fluid too, whose ubiquity, dominion, and brilliant phenomena seem but to fore-type the universality and brightness of the
reign of faith,-is noiseless and unseen, until, when insulated and
confined upon the floating storm-cloud, it collects its latent energies, 
GOD IN CHRIST JESUS.                       125
and leaps with blinding blaze and startling crash, through the rent
and yielding air, splintering masts and firing forests in its resistless
course.
Such is the order of Heaven in the exhibitions of its spiritutl
power. Would you prove the inherent might and operative energies
of the faith of Revelation, surround her by mountain ranges upon
the right and left, intercept her onward passage by the Red sea, and
press her in the rear by the countless chariots and horsemen of the
Egyptian king, and then, at the signal from the Mosaic trident, the
cloven waves shall stand like walls of adamant, as she leads the
exultant hosts of Israel through the yawning chasm, and the returning floods submerge the enemies of God. Or, again; let barbarian
thousands assail her armed legions, when the honor of Heaven is involved, and, obedient to her powerful impulses, the sun shall stand
still over the beleaguered heights of Gibeon, and the moon over the
valley of Ajalon, until the arrogant heathen are swept from the earth,
and the sovereignty of Jehovah sublimely vindicated. Then, let no
faithless fears overshadow the vision of her pledged and princely
future conquests. Her fair escutcheon, emblazoned by the deeds of
apostolic days, and rich with the graven memories of martyrdom,
shall never be tarnished by the records of an ignominious retreat in
the campaign against "principalities, against powers, against the
rulers of the darkness of this world; against spiritual wickedness in
high places." Her spirit leads the great aggressive movements of
Zion in the present age, and, less and less trammeled by the sensual
clogs and unmeaning ceremonies which once so seriously impeded her
progress, she goes " forth, conquering and to conquer," promising a
bright and blissful future to the sons of men. And even now, the
hybernating and masked infidelities of the day are shocked and paralyzed by the breadth of her empire and the silent successes of her
arms. But our limits forbid us at present to trace these interesting
parallelisms farther, and we desist.
Thirdly and lastly, then.
We  propose briefly "to contemplate the promised results of His 
~12~6            GOD IN CHRIST JESUS
an earthly nature, and she must await the disfranchiscment and enlargement of the immortal mind, amid the sinless scenes of Heaven,
to unroll the wide wonders of her plan. There alone shall be sounded
the fathomless deeps of the Divine mercy, in its incomprehensible
affiliation with humble manhood, and its conquering struggle amid
the death groans of the crucifixion. There, too, and there alone,
shall the " glory of the LORD" be displayed, in unfolding to the enraptured eyes of his saints, the wisdomn and the benevolence of that
mysterious Providence which guided them to their rest. Yet even
before her terrestrial mission is closed, when the broad charities of
her heart shall have poured themselves out upon the whole earth,
and the repentant and redeemed nations shall have tasted "the powers of the world to come,"-even then "the glory of the LORD shall
be revealed" so that " all flesh shall see it together," as the grand
presage to its higher exhibition in the light of eternity."
When  a few more generations shall have passed away, the world
shall witness the unearthly pageant of the second advent, when God's
annointed comes in the clouds of heaven, attended by the retinue of
the skies. Up, then, ye sons and daughters of godly sires, crowned
with the light of knowledge and robed with the loveliness of virtue.
Up and away upon your heavenly mission, and with the warm blood
of a christian ancestry in your veins, seek to " prepare the way of
the Lord," and to " make  straight in the desert a highway for our
God." For ye are destined to be the honored bearers of an undying faith to our waiting posterity.
The venerable and the loved who, for nearly half a century, have
stood in the van of your coming hosts, shall soon have closed their
humble career and have gone to the rest of their fathers. Sinking
under the weight of years and of toils, but still glowing with the
ardors of parental love, and kindling into rapture under the inspiring visions of the text, their longing hopes delight to linger about
your footsteps, and point your young ambition to the spiritual conqueror's crown.
Upon the prowess of your right arms, then, sustained by Jeshurun's
God, must rest the future honors of Zion; and with their dying bless 
GOD IN CHRIST JESUS.                       127
brightening evolutions of Bible prophesy, and in the maintenance of
tle mighty scheme of human salvation?  Move fearlessly and faithfully onwards, then, ye rising thousands of the young, to greet the
glorious future. The high carnival of the assembling nations approaches. Let your children's children, through successive generations, swell the gorgeous procession which comes down the path of
ages to hail the millennial grandeur of God-the Messiah's reign;
gaze with the redeemed and purified millions upon the "glory of the
Lord," revealed in earth and air and ocean, and join with the sacramental host in the long, loud acclaim which rolls with the tremors of
an earthquake through the arches of the echoing skies, " Hallelujah!
the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth!   
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MAN SUBJECTED TO THE LAW OF SUFFERING.
BY WHITEFOORD SMITH, D). D.,
OF SOUTH CAROLINA
" Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from
death, and was heard in that he feared; though he were a Son, yet learned
he obedience by the things which he suffered; and being made perfect, he
became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him."-Hebrews v, 7, 8, 9.
Every one who has been observant of what takes place around and
within him, has, no doubt, often been perplexed by what he has witnessed and experienced. Perhaps in reference to no class of subjects is this more common than to that which relates to the sufferings
of men.  The exclamation is frequently heard,  "What a mysterious
dispensation of Providence!"  If any one is overtaken by adversity,
and reduced from a comfortable estate to comparative poverty, it is
regarded by many as something strange; though such occurrences
are by no means rare. If one is found laboring under a chronic disease, or some bodily infirmity, or if a sudden death is announced, it
is often remarked, "How extraordinary  "   If a husband and father
is taken away from a dependent family, and a wife is made a widow
and her children fatherless, or if a statesman dies in the midst of
s,imne imtpo taut public business, or in some critical period of his
count r.y's history, it is declared to be a most mysterious dispensation
It might thus be supposed that such events but very seldom occurred,
and that their infrequency made them startle us, and that they were
utterly inexplicable upon any principles of reason or religion. But
if we will take the trouble to remember and to reflect, we shall find
neither the one nor the other of these suppositions to be correct.  If
mien were left entirely to the light of their own unassisted reason,
they might be at a loss to discover the design of many of the evils
which they witness in the world, and of many of which themselves are
the subjects. But it has pleased God in his infinite goodness, to reveal
to us his will, and much of the darkness and mystery which shrouded
9 
130       MAN SUBJECTED TO THE LAW OF SUFFERING.
his plans of operation has been removed, and they have been made
easy of comprehension by the light of revelation. The patient and
prayerful study of this subject will often convince us that our opinions have been erroneous and our judgments sadly at fault in the
views we have taken and the conclusions we have formed touching
the divine administration. Despite all the evils which we see around
us in the world, despite all the pains and sorrows we have felt ourselves, the pious inquirer will join in the declaration of Scripture"The Lord is good to all; and his tender mercies are over all his
works."
The text suggests two propositions:
1. That in our present condition the law of suffering is a great
universal law of our nature.
2. That the discipline of suffering is necessary to perfect us in all
holy obedience to the will of God.
I. In our present condition the law of suffering is a great tniversal law of our nature. The history of the world is the record of this
truth. The consciousness of every man is its inward attestation.
From the day of the first transgression until now the family of man
has become subject to this law.  The first utterances of humanity
are cries of suffering-its last expressions are groans and sighs.  No
favored spot of earth has been found, no matter how salubrious its
climate-how grand and gorgeous its scenery-how clear its crystal
waters-how brave and generous its people-where the wail of the
sufferer is not heard. The generations of men as they successively
followed each other have uttered the same lamentations over the mis
cries of life, and patriarch and sage and philosopher have all wept
over its disappointments and vanity. So uniform in this respect has
been the experience of men that they have united in designating the
scene of mortal life a  vale of tears."
If we confine our views of suffering merely to the physical evils
which men endure, we shall form a very inadequate idea of its true
extent.  But there are sufferings vastly greater than the burning fe 
MAN SUBJECTED TO TiHE LAW OP SUFFERING.                131
the cries of infancy, and the tears of helpless womanhood, and the
wretchedness of disappointed manhood, and the despair of old age dying in sin-from the cabin, and the hall, and the palace, and the battie-field-what an aggregate of suffering does humanity exhibit! And
yet all is not known, for the artificial caprice of society seeks to hide
its sorrows from the gaze of the world, and many a face which is
wreathed with smiles would be a false index to the aching heart.
Nor let it be supposed that the assertion that humanity exists under an universal law of suffering is rebutted by the numerous joys
which vary the scene of life. Neither the existence nor the universality of suffering depends upon its constant continuance. The very
constitution of our nature is such that were man all the time subjected to pain, it would become his fixed habit; and custom renders
agreeable what was originally unpleasant, and even suffering, if constant, would cease to be suffering. So, many who for long years have
suffered under a painful and incurable disease, become so accustomed
to it as to cease to complain, and bear with comparative indifference
what to others would be torture. The great design of God in placing
us under the law of suffering is best accomplished by an occasional
exemption from the severity of its pangs. Yet, while it is admitted
that the sky of human life is not always black with lowering clouds,.
that ever and again some bright and beauteous ray beams upon the
pilgrim's path, how much of truth is there in the Poet's words:
Poor wand'rers of a'stormy day,
From wave to wave we're driven I
And fancy's flash, and reason's ray,
Serve but to light the troubled way;
There's nothing true but Heaven."
But the most striking proof of the truth of the position that humanity exists under a great universal law of suffering, is found in:
the fact brought so forcibly to view in the text, that even our blessed
Redeemer, while He condescended to wear our nature, was not exempt from its severest application. Surely it might seem to our
weak apprehension, that a voluntary divesture of His glory for a
season, and the assumption of our nature apart from its pains and
sorrows, would have been a sufficient humiliation, and an unspeakable
manifestation of His love. But not so thought the Infinite wisdom.
When He took our nature, He took it with all its liabilities to ill. It
was deemed a necessary part of His education for the great office He
was to fill for us, that He should learn by painful experience what 
132       MAN SUBJECTED TO THE LAW OF SUFFERING.
are the temptations and sorrows of humanity. He was to drink of
our cup with all its bitterness. He was to be poor, and slighted and
spurned by the great, betrayed and deserted. He was to feel all the
intensity of agony of which our nature is susceptible, and that fear
by which for ages it had been haunted. He was to know our infirmity, to feel our weakness, to utter the cries for help which we utter,
to mingle his tears with ours, to shudder, shrink, and fear to die.
The language of the Apostle in the text seems almost extravagantly
bold when he speaks of Jesus offering up prayers and supplications,
with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save him
from death. But, daring as the words appear, they are borne out
by the record of His life and death. To His agony in the garden,
doubtless, the Apostle referred. Amazing scene! baffling all attempt at description; awakening wonder that can never be satisfied.
The Son of God, the first-born and the only begotten of His Father,
the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person,
bearing the form of a man, and approaching the crisis of His human
fate, struggling with the fear of death- and crying to be delivered
from it, saying, "If it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt." Need we wonder, then, at
the terror which death has awakened in the frail children of our
race?  If He, the mighty conqueror, who even  now was about to
vanquish the foe, trembled and sweat great drops of blood as the
hour of conflict drew near,'oh! need we wonder, if
" The pains, the groans, the dying strife,
Fright our approaching souls away;
And we shrink back again to life,
Fond of our prison and our clay?"
To all the sufferings appointed to man, Christ himself was made
subject. This " fairest flower that ever bloomed upon the stalk of
humanity," thris Rose of Sharon, this Lily of the Valleys, was not
exempted from the fury of that dread storm which had long been
'beating upon the less honored plants in the garden of life. And,
surely, if He enjoyed no exemption, we  have no right to expect a
suspension of this law on our behalf; "for the disciple is-not above 
MAN SUBJECTED TO THE LAW  OF SUFFERING.                 133
the Lord as the reason why I-Ie was heard; or, which is perhaps
better, that He was heard in respect to that thing which lie feared;
that is, death; the declaration still remains the same, He was heard"
His prayers and supplications were not offered up in vain; His strong
crying and tears were not unanswered. And if the arm of the Almighty
was adequate to the deliverance of the Captain of our Salvation in
the greatest emergency ever known to man, how strong the assurance
given to every trembling saint that the divine grace shall be found
all-sufficient in his sorest need.  Thus may He be our example, not
only as a sufferer, but also as a sufferer delivered.
The other general position proposed in the text, is --
II. That the discipline of suffering is necessary to perfect us in all
holy obedience to the will of God.
If this proposition were not true, it might be considered an objection to the first that it was inconsistent with the character and administration- of God as infinitely good and loving, that He should place
man under a law of suffering. But it must be borne in mind that
the sufferings of the present time are not merely nor chiefly penal,.
but disciplinary and corrective.  Cases there have been  and are, inl
which, even here, the Almighty vindicates His insulted throne, ancd
visitations of suffering are sent in judgment upon the ungodly. And
it is, doubtless, wisely ordained that in the present life suffering should
often be the consequence of sin, that men may learn how ultimately,
certain is the connection between them. But we find suffering now;
not confined to the wicked, but the wise and the virtuous  and the
good are alike subject to this general law. If these, in common with
others, are visitcd with affliction and pain, we must turn to the Word
of God for the explication of what would seem inconsistent alike with
His justice and His goodness. The text solves the mystery of suffer-:
ing virtue when it declares of Christ himself,  that  "though He
were a Son, yet learned Hie obedience  by the things which He suf-,
fered."   Or, as the same Apostle expresses it in the second chapter
of this epistle, "For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by,
whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make  the
Captain of their Salvation perfect through sufferings." No position
can be more evident than this, that if the Lord Jesus Christ, as ~
man, could only be fitted by sufferings for the great design He had
come into the world to accomplish, if sufferings were necessary to the 
134        MAN SUBJECTED TO THE LAW OF SUFFERING.
completeness and perfection of His character, much  more must the
like discipline of suffering be necessary to fit us for all the will of
God concerning us.
Broadly has this great principle been stamped upon the history of
the world and the characters of men. Who have attained to the
high ends of even a worldly ambition without toil and sorrow? What
prices of human suffering have not been paid for the acquisition of
a desired good?  What enterprise of true grandeur has been achieved
without privation and sacrifice? Some useful invention has cost the
discoverer years of patient toil and self-denial and voluntary poverty,
perchance more, the loss of health or even life. For the attainment
of an enviable fame, weariness and solicitude and mortification have
been cheerfully endured. The liberties of a country have been won
or preserved by the noble sacrifice of fortune and of life on the part
of its sons. In every age of the world, and under every dispensation of religion, the good have attained their goodness by self-abnegation and suffering. True nobility of character is not to be reached
by the idle or the frivolous. It is the exercise of the heroic mind
in encountering and overcoming difficulties, in bearing trials and enduring sorrows, that raises it to that great superiority where it becomes
the object of admiration to generations.
So, too, in christianity. It has its appointed labors, its crosses,
its sufferings, for every votary who would reach the heights of its
glory. Was it not this conviction of the necessity of suffering to a
perfect obedience to the will of God, that prompted that strong aspiration of St. Paul in his epistle to the Philippians, " That I may
know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of
His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death: if by any
means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." Was it
not this which enabled Him to set a proper estimate upon the sufferings of the present time when He reckoned them " not worthy to be
compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us?" Was it
not this which dictated those noble words, "What, mean ye to weep
and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but
also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus."'
From the beginning of the gospel this truth has been openly proclaimed. Christianity has not sought to gain disciples by any promised exemption from suffering; but, on the contrary, it has made a
readiness to endure affliction for Christ's sake a necessary antecedent 
MAN SUBJECTED TO TIHE LAW OF SUFFERING.                135
to its profession.  "I came not to send peace on earth, but a sword."
" If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his
cross, and follow me." "If the world hate you, ye know that it
hated me before it hated you."
If in the early periods of the Christian Church many of its members exhibited perhaps too great a desire for the crown of martyrdom, and longed for this full conformity to Christ, it is to be feared
that in our own time there is too great a tendency in the opposite
direction-an unwillingness to suffer-an impatience under the discipline by which we may be made perfect. We complain of sufferings which, compared with those of former times, are not worthy to
be mentioned. Ilow different is the view we take of our trials, from
that which the apostles took of them!  "Count it all joy when ye fall
into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith
worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye
may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." Instead of considering our sufferings as indications of our sonship to our Heavenly
Father, and as means he employs to prepare us for his kingdom and
glory, we too often regard them as signs of his displeasure, and ask,
What have we done that God should afflict us thus?  "If ye endure
chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons: for what son is he
whom the father chasteneth not?"  Rather let us "consider him
who endured such contradiction of sinners against himself."
The sufferings of Christ are represented as having been necessary
to his qualification for the work he undertook.' I-le was to be the
ever-living Hligh Priest of our guilty race. To fulfil the duties of
this office. it was all-important that he should be able to enter into
the tenderest sympathy with all our temptations and sufferings. And
that he might be able to feel this sympathy, it was indispensable that
he should take our nature, and be "in all points tempted like as we are,
yet without sin." It was only by becoming a link in the great chain
of humanity that he could feel the electric influence of human sympathy. Very happily does St. Paul apply this same principle to the
sufferings of the Apostles and all christian ministers. It is not for
themselves alone that they sometimes suffer., but for the benefit of
those to whom they minister. Their afflictions are often necessary
that they may know how to enter with a genuine sympathy into the
afflictions of others.  "Whether we be afflicted it is for your conso 
136      M3AN SUBJECTED TO THE LAW OF SUFFERING.
lation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same
sufferings which we also suffer."
And what hinders that the same principle should find its application also to all christians i The pre-eminent law of the gospel dispensation is the law of Charity or Love. For the fulfilment of this
law, in its high and broad signification, it is essential that the ties of
sympathy should bind us together. It is not enough that we are of
the same race-it is not enough that we are of the same country or
district or town-it is not enough that we are even of the same family
-it is important that we are partakers of the same infirmities and
sufferings. No one who has not himself suffered understands well
how to enter into the feelings of a sufferer. The children of a family
who have stood together around the grave of a parent feel that the
sorrow of which they are sharers in common, constitutes an additional
bond to their mutual affection. The husband and the wife whose
lives may have before passed on in comfort, perhaps in affluence and
luxury, when overtaken by adversity, realize more fully the sacredness and closeness of their relation, and find that the fiery trial is the
means of welding together their hearts in perfect unity. In the
prosperous seasons of a community, every one seems engrossed in his
own pursuits, busy with his own schemes, intent upon his own aggrandizement. The sordid selfishness of our nature is in the ascendant, and no one has time to consider his neighbor's interest. But
when the "pestilence that' walketh in darkness and the destruction
that wasteth at noon-day" are abroad in the city, when the voices of
lamentation are heard in every street, and sorrow sits brooding in
every house; oh! then, how are the tears of sympathy poured out,
and the hands of charity opened and the hearts that were hard are
softcned, and the men who had been as strangers remember that they
are neighbors and brethren.  And all this is the effect of sufferings
which they have shared in common. With what joy does an aged
veteran meet his old companion in arms, and call to mind the privations and dangers they have experienced in a long campaign. The
pauper has been known to divide the alms he had received with a
co-partner in miey  and th lam  haebe.se.otrigt h 
MAN SUBJECTED TO THE LAW  OF SUFFERING.                 137
sense of pain or bereavement, and they think such tears are indications of a rebellious spirit. But such is not always a correct judgment. A stoical indifference is not christian resignation. If we did
notfeel, we would not suffer; and it is the suffering which is to teach
us obedience. Nor is it the evidence of a want of submission to the
Divine will when we ask relief fromn pain, or ease for a troubled
mind, or deliverance from doubt and fear. The example of our Lord
in the text is strikingly in proof of this. lie, in the days of His
flesh, offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears
unto Him that was able to save Him from death.
This subject suggests three reflections, each of which is very full
of comfort.
1, Our sufferings here are not accidental, but are either appointed
or permitted in the providence of God. "Although affliction comneth
not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;
yet man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward."   How  appropriately did the Psalmist rebuke the rising murmur,  "I was
dumb, I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it." To see and
recognise God's hand in our afflictions is the privilege of every
christian. And how greatly is the pain assuaged when we view it as
coming from our Heavenly Father. Our comfort, too, is still increased when we remember  2. That all our sufferings here are designed for our profit, and are
working out our good. Infinite wisdom sees thenm necessary, and infinite goodness adapts them to our strength. Fathers of our flesh
" for a few days chastened us after their pleasure, but he for our
profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness." Precious thought!
rhe chastenings  of his children are not in anger but in love; not
destructive but corrective.  And though  "no chastening foi the
present seenmeth to be joyous, but grievous  nevertheless afterward
it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are
exercised thereby."
To these let one other reflection be added  3. In all our sufferings we have  the tender sympathies of our
Great High Priest and Redeemer. For it behooved him to be made
like unto his brethren for this very purpose, that he might" be
touched with the feeling of our infirmities." We are not left to bear 
138       MAN SUBJECTED TO THE LAW OF SUFFERING.
our sorrows in solitude and desolation, without pity and without sympathy. If cut off from human relationships, and shut out from the
communion of kindred hearts, there is ONE whose ubiquity assures us
of his presence, whose love secures our hope, whose sufferings are
our warrant of his sympathy.
"In every pang that rends the heart,
The Man of Sorrows had a part
He sympathises in our grief,
And to the suff'rer sends relief."
To him, in the unity of the Father and the Holy Ghost, be all
honor and glory. Amen.  
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THE OBJECTS OF ANGELIC CURIOSITY.
BY THOS. O. SUMMERS, D. D.,
OF THE ALABAMA CONFERENCE.
' Which things the angels desire to look into. "-1 Peter i, 12.
A strong desire to find out something unknown, either by research
or inquiry, is characteristic of a great mind. It is predicated by the
apostle of the ancient prophets.  Those wonderful men, influenced by
Divine inspiration, uttered predictions concerning the mysteries of
redemption, which were astounding to themselves as well as to others.
A holy curiosity was excited in their niinds, and they "inquired and
searched diligently " into the hidden meaning of their sublime announcements. They endeavored to find out the nature of the salvation they predicted, and the time of its accomplishment. Nor were
they singular in this; the angels themselves evinced a similar curiosity.
Indeed, they evince it still-they manifest a constant "desire to look
into the mysterious things" of our salvation.
There is a kind of curiosity which is contemptible. It consists in
a pragmatical disposition of the mind, an incontinent inclination to
pry into matters, whether lofty or low, which are entirely beyond one's
province-a quest of information about things which do not concern
us at all.   Thousands who manifest no avidity in pursuit of "the
knowledge fit for man to know," let no opportunity escape to approach
the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and pluck its forbidden fruit.
Curiosity is laudable only when its objects are proper. The things
which the angels desire to look into are worthy of their highest and
most intense concern, as they combine novelty, grandeur, and importance, on the largest scale 
140           TiHE OBJECTS OF ANGELIC CURIOSITY.
also of benevolence, of which, in a thousand modifications, they were
the happy subjects.  These perfections of the Deity were variously
and gloriously manifested in the origination, maintenance, and government of all the worlds that had been called into existence. And there
had been also a display of the severer attributes of the Divine Majesty. Angels had fallen from their pride of place. Wheel they fell,
and how they fell, we know not. From an incidental expression of
the apostle, we may suppose that pride or ambition was the sin which
occasioned their overthrow.  It could scarcely have been a meaner
crime than that which has been poetically and paganizingly defined,
" the glorious fault of angels and of gods." Certain it is, they
"kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation."  They
fell-self-tempted of course, and this perhaps was the reason that no
redemption was provided for them. They were hurled at once from
the battlements of heaven, shut up in the prison-house of hell, and
bound with chains of darkness, as culprits under a terrible sentence
and waiting its execution. What a development of inexorable justice
and vindictive wrath! This the holy angels witnessed; but they had
never witnessed any expression of mercy and compassion-the former
requiring sin for its elicitation, and the latter connoting misery, neither
of which had any place in heaven or any relief in hell.
But when, through the envy, mialice, and subtlety of the devil, man
had fallen, the Divine benevolence received a new modification, developing itself in forms adapted to the character and condition of
lapsed humanity. The sin and misery of man drew forth the mercy
and compassion of God. These lovely qualities of the Divine nature
mingled harmoniously with all the other attributes of the Most High,
and produced the plan of redemption, which is the mystery of the
universe and the problemn of eternity. No sooner did the mighty and
merciful design beam forth froIn the countenance of tile Godhead,
than angelic curiosity was excited to comprehend it.
There was the gracious purpose of God-they were eager to unfold
it. There was the primordial promise-they reverently caSt an inqui-,
sitive glance towards the Only-begotten of the Father, as if they
would know from himself whether it were possible that He should become the seed of the women to bruise the serpent's head. There was the
stellar light of patriarchal revelations-through this medium they
sought to penetrate the mystery in which the wonderful arrangements
were involved. There was the lunar light of the Mosaic dispensa 
THE OBJECTS OF ANGELIC CURIOSITY.                   141
tion-they strained their vision to avail themselves of its aid. And,
finally, the solar light burst forth in its effulgence upon our world;
and, though dazzled with its splendor, they gazed with interest still
more intense upon the wonders it revealed.
It cannot be doubted, that, by the constant application of their
powerful minds to the all-absorbing subject, they acquired considerable knowledge of the principles, as well as the facts, constituting the
great mystery of our redemption. The information thus gained, bears,
however, but a small proportion to the wonders yet to be revealed,
and serves to sharpen their appetite and increase their thirst for
evangelical knowledge. They learned more of the Divine nature in
watching the openings of the scheme of redemption, than they could
have learned in millions of ages through any other medium.
"Part of thy name divinely stands,
On all thy creatures writ;
They show the labor of thy hands,
-    Or impress of thy feet;
But when we view thy strange design
To save rebellious worms,
Where vengeance and compassion join
In their divinest forms,
Our thoughts are lost in reverent awe,
We love and we adore;
The first archangel never saw
So much of God before."
No wonder, therefore, that the angels are ever ready to leave their
ancient seats, singing still, or suspending their songs, wending their
way to earth, the favored theatre of Divine mercy and compassion,
impelled by an irrepressible desire to look into these unexampled and
astounding things.
LET US GLANCE FOR A MOMENT AT THEIR GRANDEUR:
Those developments of grace are made on a most magnificent scale.
Look at the extensive preparatory arrangements of the gospel.
These could not fail to attract the attention of the angels, who must
have seen, from the vast and towering scaffolding of the earlier dis..saios  tha an edific of wondru  mantd  was to be erete. 
14q,          THIE OBJECTS OF ANGELIC CURIOSITY.
In priest and victim, altar and sanctuary-in the multifarious ceremonies and services of the Levitical religion-they did not fail to note
the preparatory, adumbrative character of the whole. The mysteries
typified were those things which the angels desire to look into. Indeed,
this is intimated by the term used in the text.  It means to stoop. or
bend over, this being the posture of one who desires to look into a
thing attentively; and the reference seems to be to the cherubim
over the mercy-seat in the most holy place. They were represented
as bending over the ark of the covenant, which, with its sacred contents and mystic associations, was typical of the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus. The covering of the ark, inparticular, was styled
the mercy-seat, or throne of grace, in reference to the " propitiation "
which in due time was to be set forth, to declare the righteousness of
God, "that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth
in Jesus." Once a year, on the day of expiation, the blood of atonement was sprinklled by the high priest upon the mercy-seat, over
which was the symbol of the Divine presence.
In the ark were the tables of the law-an indication that the holiness they enjoin can be realized only in connection with the scheme
of redemption by virtue of the atoning blood. There, too, was
Aaron's rod that budded and blossomed and brought forth almonds,
determining by this miracle the sacerdotal prerogatives of the Levitical tribe. It was laid up in the ark, not only as a memento of
the fact, but also as a type of the unchangeable and everlasting
priesthood of the Son of God, and of the subordinate priestly prerog
atives of all his people.  The golden censer, from which ascended a
sweet-smelling savor, was emblematical of the prevalent intercessions
of our great High Priest, and also of " the prayers of all saints,"
which, through his mediations, go up with acceptance before God.
The manna, too, laid up in the ark in the most  holy place, not only
commemorated the miraculous support of Israel in the wilderness,
but also typified the bread of life, of which if a man eat he shall live
forever.  Into these mysteries-integral portions as they were of a
great symbolical system-the angels are represented as desiring to 
THE OBJECTS OF ANGELIC CURIOSITY.                 143
but when the grand scheme is unfolded, and the connections are
traced in the light of fulfilment, we find that " the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." There was not one of the ancient oracles but had reference, direct or indirect, to the Redeemer that was
to come out of Zion. This the prophets knew, even though they
could not comprehend the full import of their own predictions. The
angels also were advised of this, although their information was vague
and general, like that of the prophets   But there was too much
pomp and circumstance-too much heraldic form and ceremony-.
too much system and solemnity in these oracular announcements, to
allow of their being considered fugitive in their interest and temporary in their issues. They were not given all at once, though they were
given in great profusion. They stretched along an extended line,
having for its termini the promise in Eden and the benedictus of
Zacharias. Systemize the prediction., which, without the appearance
and affectation of system, are scattered munificently along the line of
the past, and you have the anticipated history of our redemption.
What a work, my brethren, for angelic minds to gather those evangelic elements, arranging and combining them, thereby enlarging their
information concerning those things which they desire to look into.
There is, moreover, a concatenation of providential arrangements
having reference to the great salvation. The general history of the
ancient world presents to our contemplation little more than a
desert waste; yet there is a verdant stripe which, however narrow at
some places, extends entirely through it, cheering the eye of the beholder.  We trace it from Simeon and Anna to the Maccabees; then
to l/lachi, Isaiah, Elijah, David, and Samuel; then to Joshua and
his renowned predecessor;  then to the father of the faithful; then
to the second father of the world; then to Enoch, Seth, righteous
Abel, and the progenitors of our race. Without excluding from
the regards.of heaven all who did not belong to "the chosen seed,"for Job and his three friends, and millions beside of other nations,
were in favor with God-what a series of miracles and marvels do we
discover marking and making illustrious the path of Providence over 
144           THE OBJECTS OF ANGELIC CURIOSITY.
ascending and descending the mystic ladder-acting as couriers between heaven and earth, being engaged in ministering for them who
were to be the heirs of salvation. Sometimes they were sent forth with
some special message to the chosen servants of God-sometimes to
pitch their tents around the dwelling place of the righteous, or to
bear them up in their hands to secure them from harm-sometimes to
deal out summary retribution upon the foes of God and his saints.
Myriads of them were with Jehovah "in Sinai, in the holy place,"
for the law was given " by the disposition of angels."' How desirous must they have been to find out the full spiritual import of the
communications of which they were the channel of conveyance, and
to comprehend the ulterior design, the evangelical bearing, of the
services which they were constantly rendering to the church under
the patriarchal and Mosaic dispensations.  They longed for the fulness of time to come, when " the Lion of the tribe of Judah should
prevail to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof."
They knew well enough that this was his prerogative. They had
seen him many a time assume a vehicle like that in which they inyested their own spiritual essence, in order to execute such functions
among men as were not proper, perhaps not possible, to be executed
by any angel except the angel of the covenant. And as they were
frequently privileged to accompany him in his pre-advent missions to
our earth, with what interest would they mark all his movements, and
wonder at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. They
-knew that the Jehovah of the Old Testament was to be the Jesus of
the New; and by marking his revelations in the former character,
they would be able to divine somewhat concerning those that were to
take place in the latter.  Our adorable Redeemer was " seen of angels," and that, too, on earth as well as in heaven, long before " the
Word was made flesh and dwelt among us."  How must this have inflamed their desire to look into the mysteries of our redemption!
But the grandeur of those things increases on our view.  The developments take place on a more magnificent scale.  "For unto us
a child is born; unto us a Son is given."  All heaven is in a holy
commotion-the seraphic choirs are transported with jubilation and
wonder. There is not an angel that does not want to vacate his throne
and come down to earth? " to learn new mysteries" in the contemplation and study of this stupendous event. Gabriel has already been
employed in preparatory ministrations in reference to its accomplish 
THE OBJECTS OF ANGELIC CURIOSITY.                 145
ment; and not all the harps of heaven can keep him from earth,
when the virgin mother brings forth her Son. With what surpassing
beauty is the scene portrayed by the pencil of inspiration: "And
there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And lo! the angel of the Lord
came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them,
and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not
for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to
all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a
Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." He had not been an unobservant,
unreflecting agent-a mere mechanical channel of communication between God and man-he had studied well every message he had been
honored to convey, and had penetrated to the utmost possibility the
design of every movement in which he had been concerned. Nor
was he singular in this. For " suddenly there was with the angel a
multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, Glory
to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will toward men."
By this time they had acquired so much knowledge of christian
theology that they could push their inquiries, and pursue their investigations, with greater facility and more satisfactory results than before. For good and sufficient reasons, inspiration is well-nigh silent
concerning  the boyhood of the holy child Jesus.  But we hazard
nothing in affirming that the angels were ceaselessly crowding around
Him, holding Him in constant survey. They were, doubtless, rapt
in admiration when they saw Him in the temple, sitting in the midst
of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions; and
they were astonished, as well as others that heard Him, at His understanding and answers. They came and ministered unto Him, when,
on His entrance upon His ministry, He had so terrible an encounter
with the prince of darkness. In short               In all His toils and conflicts here
Their Sovereign they attend,
And pause, and wonder how, at last,
This scene of love will end." 
14b           THE OBJECTS OF ANGELIC CURIOSITY.
He drank the bitter cup; but they could not find out the ingredients
of that mysterious draught. They were poised upon their pinions
over the Cross, while
"Amazed they saw that awful sight,
The Lord of Glory die."
There was not an angel in heaven whose eyes were not fixed upon
Calvary. And when it was finished they accompanied His spirit in
silence to paradise, and detailed a guard to linger around His sacred
tomb, waiting the moment to arrive when His soul should remain no
longer in the separate state, and His flesh, not seeing corruption,
should awake from the dust of death. How ready were they to roll
away the stone from the sepulchre, and sing their rising God!
" Their anthems say, Jesus who bled
. Hath left the dead, He rose to-day!
And when the time arrived that the heavens must receive Him,
"They brought His chariot from the skies,
To bear Him to His throne,
Clapped their triumphant wings, and cried,
The glorious work is done!"
But all this did not satisfy their curiosity. Their desire to look
into those things was indeed gratified by the discoveries they had
made, but it was rather excited than satiated. All the angels of
God worshipped the ascending Conqueror, and tendered their fealty
to the King of Saints.'With what readiness did they offer their
services! With what alacrity did they execute their functions in
promoting the interests of Messiah's kingdom!  With what exultation did they mark the triumphs of the gospel-making common
cause with their junior brethren on the earth, rejoicing with them
over the repentance of even a single sinner, because every such event
weakens the powers of darkness and strengthens the sacramental
host, prepares for the colonization of heaven, and the filling of the
thrones made vacant by the fallen angels, and thereby illustrates and
magnifies the Divine perfections!
And as the magnificent scheme of redemption embraces the entire 
THE OBJECTS OF ANGELIC CURIOSITY.                  147
ardent and unquenchable passion. They are now looking forward
with intense interest to the fulfilment of the glorious predictions concerning the overthrow of all anti-christian powers, and the universal
diffusion of truth and righteousness; their harps already tuned to
send forth the response of heaven to earth, "Hallelujah! for the
Lord God omnipotent reigneth!" And if they are so joyful to bear
the ransomed spirits of all ages to Abraham's bosom, what will be
their joy when sent forth to gather together God's elect from the
four winds, to escort them, body and soul, to heaven, heralding them
in their ascension and triumphant entry into the metropolis of the
universe, the city of the great King-their own bright and everlasting home!  This, in fact, is with them the great and absorbing event.
They look forward to it with the deepest interest. They know that
then the great scheme of Providence will be unfolded and explained:
God will justify His ways to men. They will listen to the songs of
saints, and thunder forth the rapturous chorus, Worthy the Lamb!
Such, my brethren, is the grandeur of those things which the angels desire to look into-this is the magnificent scale of their development. We marvel not at the excitement of angelic curiosity in
reference to mysteries so sublime.
LET US BRIEFLY NOTICE THEIR IMPORTANCE.
They were developed for great ends. The designs had in view in
the mystery of redemption involve the eternal destiny of our world.
But for the great salvation which was projected before the ages of
time, man would not have been created with a liability to fall through
the voluntary perverse exercise of his moral powers; or, having
fallen, he would have received in his own person the penalty of his
own fault. He would have died the threatened death, without being
permitted to propagate his species to partake his corrupt nature and
heir his ruined fortunes. They never would have had any other than
a seminal, potential existence-which amounts to no existence at all.
This is the certain and satisfactory conclusion of reason, revelation
being silent on the subject, as it is on all similar negations.
But in viwoth  grat reepor  scee   a  is crea_ted; And].   
148            THE OBJECTS OF ANGELIC CURIOSITY.
plenish the earth." And, as the provident father of a young and
increasing family, the Most High has made all necessary arrangements for their support and happiness.  As he "'hath made of one
blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth," so
He c hath not left Himself without witness, in that He is continually
doing them good, giving them rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons,
filling their hearts with food and gladness." These temporal bestowments of the universal Father are identified with the great system of
redemption, and reach us through mediatorial channels.  There is no
intercourse of any sort whatever between  heaven and earth, except
through the intervention of the Son of God.
It is not possible, my brethren, to exclude the things of earth
and time from the arrangements of the great plan of salvation, as
earth and time sustain an introductory and probationary relation to
the eternal state. A moral character, therefore, attaches to our most
secular concerns; and the legitimate use or the abuse of this world,
contemptible as it may be in our estimation, will most certainly affect
our whole eternity.
If these inferior things are of so high concernment, who can estimate the importance of those things which constitute the spirit and
essence of the great mystery of salvation? How momentous the
questions: "What must I do to be saved?" " How shall man be just
with God?" " What good thing must I do that I may inherit eternal
life?"   And, without  controversy, the infallible and satisfactory
solution of the problem they propose can be furnished alone by the
oracle of inspiration. The gospel alone contains the religion of salvation, and that is the only religion adapted to man. The principles
which it reveals, and the facts it unfolds, and these alone, can subserve the interests of man's eternity. We do not, indeed, affirm that
none can be saved without becoming acquainted with the gospel and
comprehending its character; but we do affirm that none can be saved
except upon the basis which it exhibits-the redemption which is in
Christ Jesus. We still further affirm, that none to whom the gospel
is proclaimed can be saved, if they neglect the great salvation which
it proposes. It is thus a mighty agent, either for salvation or destruction. And in this respect the ministers of the gospel are a savor of
death unto death, or of life unto life, according as their. message is
rejected or embraced by those to whom it is offered. With what im 
THE OBJECTS OF ANGELIC CURIOSITY.                 149
portanee does this invest the mysteries of revelation!  No wonder the
angels desire to look into them!  It is true,
Never did angels taste above
Redeeming grace and dying love;"
so that they cannot tell, by their utmost penetration, what transports
fill the souls of the ransomed, pardoned, and sanctified children of
earth-what ecstacies they realize when, free from mortality, they
triumph over death and the grave  or what glories await them in their
consummation of bliss around the throne. Yet they know that through
the mysterious connection of Divinity with humanity in the incarnate
Word, and the almost equally mysterious connection of humanity with
Divinity in the case of every believer-for every believer is made a
partaker of the Divine nature —such a dignity is stamped upon man,
who was made a little lower than themselves, that he is ultimately
exalted above them-such a variety and affluence of heavenly and
beatific objects are subjected to his control, and introduced to his experience, that the inheritance of the saints in light is more eligible
than that of the first-born sons of God.
Indeed, the developments of the plan of redemption, so far as
we can discover, involve the destinies of the universe. Whether
or not the multiplied millions of worlds that revolve in immensity are
inhabited with intellectual and moral beings-if so, whether or not
any of them have fallen, like our own-if they have, whether or not
they have been redeemed-these, and other questions equally curious,
we have no means of answering. By a course of analogical reasoning, many philosophers have conducted themselves to the conclusion
that those worlds are inhabited. If tihey be, it is not reasonable to
suppose that their inhabitants will never be made acquainted with
man and his fortunes.  If they be unfallen, their intercourse with the
universal Parent and Sovereign, and especially their final beatification, will put them in possession of the astounding facts which belong
to the history of our planet. Besides, every creature-every intellectual being in the universe-has received his existence from the
Saviour of our race, and owes him eternal allegiance. And we are
assured that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of those who
are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth-that is, throughout
the universe-and every tongue shall confess that he is Lord, to the
glory of God the Father. A knowledge of his mediatorial character
seems to be implied in the homage thus rendered; and this involves 
150            THE OBJECTS OF ANGELIC CURIOSITY
the mysteries of redemption. What influence and effect this knowledge will exert and produce upon those distant inhabitants of the
universe, we cannot tell; but so far as the angels are concerned, it is
generally believed that although the Redeemer of man did not take
upon him their nature, so that the fallen angels are not redeemed by
his merits, yet the holy angels are confirmed thereby in a state of
purity and bliss. Dr. Donne does not scruple to say: "Lest this
world should not afford him sins enough, he took upon him the sins of
heaven itself; not their sins who were fallen from heaven, and fallen
into an absolute incapacity of reconciliation, but their sins which remained in heaven; those sins which the angels that stood would fall
into if they had not received a confirmation given them in contemplation of the death and merits of Christ-Christ took upon him; for all
things in heaven, and earth tool were reconciled to God by him." The
doctrine which is thus somewhat boldly stated, was generally received
by the scholastic divines, and it is hypothetically set forth by one of
our own poets, who thus apostrophizes these glorious intelligences:
" Angels, rejoice in Jesus' grace,
And vie with man's more favored race;
The blood that did for us atone
Conferred on you some gift unknown
Your joy through Jesus' pains abounds,
Ye triumph by his glorious wounds.
Or,'stablished and confirmed by him
Who did our lower world redeem,
Secure you kept your blest estate
Firm on an everlasting seat;
Or raised above yourselves, aspire,
In bliss improved, in glory higher.
Him ye beheld, our conquering God,
Returned in garments rolled in blood!
Ye saw and kindled at the sight,
And filled with shouts the realms of light,
WVith loudest hallelujahs met,
And fell, and kissed his bleeding feet.
Ye saw him in the courts above
With all his recent prints of love,
The wounds! the blood! ye heard its voice
Tb"~s unteAbl h+A   1V-appinss,  net 
THE OBJECTs OF ANGELIC CURIOSITY.                  151
Nor human hearts can e'er conceive
The bliss wherein through Christ ye live;
But all your heaven, ye glorious powers,
And all your God, is doubly ours!"
The language of the Apostle, to say the least, seems to give
countenance to this belief: "For by Him were all things created
that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers;
all things were created by Him and for Him; and He is before all
things, and by Him all things consist. And He is the Head of the
body, the Church, who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead,
that in all things He might have the pre-eminence. For it pleased
the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell.  And having made
peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things
unto himself: by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things
in heaven." The fall of man alienated him, not only from his God,
but also from all the unfallen subjects of the universal King. To
countenance the rebel would have been constructive rebellion.  By
the purity of their nature, and their fealty to their Sovereign, angels
were, therefore, bound to set their faces against this revolted province. And though this may have involved no real abatement of their
bliss, and though the dire contagion of man's revolt might not have
extended to their happy abodes, yet the fall of man prevented that
accession to their happiness which would result from intercommuni cation with a holy and happy race, and threatened, at least, their
own stability. They were necessitated to enforce a rigid quarantine,
which must have been eternal but for the plan of redemption and its
glorious issues. Through Christ man is not only reconciled to his
God, but also to the holy angels. They descend to earth again, with
songs more joyous and triumphant than those which they sung at the
birth of creation. And the mysteries of redemption, involving the
tragedy of the Cross, constitute a moral lesson for the universe,
which may prove an effective means of preventing another revolt
among the armies of heaven. It will not only confirm their virtue,
but also augment their happiness-it does augment it now,,while they
ar lokn  int ths  thng  an  ministering" fo,,r  them _   h  shl be__ _1   
152           THE OBJECTS OF ANGELIC CURIOSITY.
knowledge will be indefinitely increased and their bliss proportion ally enlarged. "to the principalities and powers in heavenly places
shall be made known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God."
It requires no effort to show that the glory of God is involved in
the great issues of human redemption. As the plan is unfolded,
what light is cast upon that wisdom which devised it; which so arranged all its parts, so adjusted all its provisions, as to secure the
greatest possible good to the greatest possible number of intellectual,
moral, and immortal agents-the salvation of millions of our rebel
race, without compromising the justice and judgment of His throne
or hazarding the fealty of other intelligences!
What a triumph of benevolence, that where sin abounded grace
should much more abound, and yet that grace be so displayed, as that
those who are the subjects as well as those who are the spectators of its
manifestation, should derive from it no encouragement to sin, but
rather be held thereby in willing captivity to the obedience of Christ'
What an exaltation of Divine power, which controls all the agencies of earth and time, of heaven and hell-which so overrules everything in the universe as to defeat the designs and subvert the usurped
authority of the devil, causing " all things to work together for good
to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His
purpose!"
The glory of God in redemption, where  He  shines forth in His
"whole round of rays complete," will constitute the theme of everlasting admiration for angels as well as men.   The ceaseless investigations of their inquisitive and powerful minds will constantly add to
their knowledge of the Most High, and furnish the subject-matter of
the new, eternal song.
What a reflection onus, my brethren, if we are unconcerned about
those things which the angels desire to look into.
They are not so bound on the score of duty and interest to look
into them as we are. Bound, indeed, they are, by both considerations, but their obligations in the premises are but secondary to ours.
They are but remotely, we are directly, interested in these things.
It was not for angels, but for us men, and for our salvation, that "God
was maifs  in the flsh  ju*stifie  in th  Spiit  see  of angels, 
THE OBJECTS OF ANGELIC CURIOSITY.                  153
to become partakers of his nature, in the glorious and mysterious
manner in which we realize communion with him, and therefore they
are not so favorably circumstanced as we are to look into those
things. And yet, beloved, how indifferent are we in regard to them,
while angels are always prying into them. And is it so that nothing
but obscurity and distance can lend enchantment to the view of those
scenes whose novelty, grandeur, and importance throw everything
else in the universe into the shade?
What a reproach on us, my brethren, that we are disposed to look
into other things, and neglect those which the angels desire to look
into.
The current things of earth that engage our attention perish with
their using, and are unworthy of our solicitude. And yet how so licitous are we about them. Trifles light as air loom up before our
eyes with infinite importance, and all our energies of body and soul
are summoned to their pursuit.  Heaven be merciful! What fatuity!
The noblest subjects which engage our attention and absorb our
interest are not equal to those within the range of angelic minds, and
yet these are scarcely noticed by the angels when the mysteries of
redemption are brought to view. To what knowledge can we attain,
in nature and philosophy, in science and art, that angels cannot attain in thousand fold measures? so much greater is their intellectual
strength than ours, and so much more favorably circumstanced for
.such discoveries are angels than men. And yet the wonders of creation are subordinated in their estimation to the greater mysteries of
redemption; and although they never cease to inquire into the tormer,
their interest in them is proportioned to the relation which they sustain to the latter. In this respect, my brethren, what a contrast do
we present to the angels. A Herschell or a Rosse shall be immortalized for the resolution of the nebulae or the discovery of a planet,
while Gabriel turns aside from millions of suns and multiplied sys
tems of worlds to range through the moral heavens and strain his
eye to look at "the bright and morning star!"
Alas! for us, my dear brethren, we are an enigma to the angels.
They see us toiling, and panting, and sweating in the pursuit of the
unsatisfying pleasures, the contemptible honors, the perishing goods
of earth, instead of stretching every nerve and taxing every muscle
to secure the joys of God's salvation-nobly and resolutely refusing 
154            ltiE OBJECTS OF ANGELIC CURIOSITY.
to glory save in the cross, and pouring contempt on every treasure
except the unsearchable riches of Christ.
" Michael has fought our battles, Raphael sung
Our triumphs, Gabriel on our errands flown,
Sent by the Sovereign; and are these, 0, man,
Thy friends, thy warm allies-? and thou (shame burn
Thy cheek to cinder) rival to the brute!"
My brethren, if, as children of the resurrection, we expect to be
made like unto the angels, let us imitate them in their desire to look
into those things which to us are of so vast importance. Would to
God you could every one exclaim with the noble-minded apostle,
"Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of
the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord."  
~-~~~~~~-i~>; ~~j;ij-jtj;~;i ~
j(ygi&~j~ flfML
~;~ 
THE PERFECT LAW OF LIBERTY.*
BY JOSHUA SOULE, D. D.,
]NOW SENEOR BISHOP OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTHE.
"But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein,
he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be
blessed in his deed."-James i, 25.
A superficial attention to the gospel of Christ, both as it is recorded
in the sacred writings, and proclaimed by its appointed ministers, may
justly be considered among the principal causes of its partial success,
either in regard to its influence over the heart and life of man as an
individual, or its spread and establishment among the nations of the
earth. Our Lord has sufficiently admonished us of the different effects
which the ministry of his word would produce, according to the manner in which men received it, in the memorable parable of the sower
and the seed.  Four different classes  "hear  the word," but it is
finally successful only in one. Hence that important caution, " Take
heed how ye hear!"  A large proportion of those who' hear the "word
preached," or read it in the "lively oracles," regard it rather as a
matter of theory, or abstract science, than as a subject of experience
and a rule of practice.  Hence the best sermons, while they have been
approved, admired, and applauded, have neither changed the hearts
nor reformed the lives of the hearers. -If at any time the light of
truth has forced its way to the conscience, so as to disclose the deformity and the consequence of sin, like a man who beholds his natural
face in the glass, they have gone away, and soon forgotten what manner of persons they were
Of the importance and necessity of apractical application of the
truths of the gospel, on the part of those who hear them, our blessed 
156              TIHE PERFECT LAW  OP LIBERTY.
(nd doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house
upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the
winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was
founded on a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine,
and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built
his house upon the sand:  And the rain descended, and the floods
came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell; and
great was the fall of it."
In this most striking representation, both the characters described
are hearers of the sayings of Jesus Christ. The fearful difference
therefore in the final issue is, the result of doing or not doing the
things they heard. If the preaching of the word is unprofitable, it is
because it is not mixed with faith-even that faith which is unto obedience-in them that hear it. It might be supposed that the pretensions of the gospel were sufficient to induce all men to a careful examination of the evidence on which its claims are founded; but more
especially that the admission of its truth could not fail to produce a
deep and lively interest in it.  But, alas! what multitudes who profess to believe it to be a revelation from God, hear it, not as the
gospel of their salvation-not as the only way of their reconciliation
and eternal life-but rather as a subject with which they have little
or no personal concern.  To all who hear the sayings of Jesus Christ
in this manner, the gospel will be a " savor of death unto death."
"But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth
therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this
man shall be blessed in his deed."
In the improvement to be made of this subject, we will  1. Consider the character which the apostle has given of the gospel
of Christ; and,
2. The c oncern we have with it. And may the Holy Spirit, on
whose agency the success of our efforts depends, enable us to speak
and hear the word to profit-that we may obey from the heart the
"form of doctrine" delivered to us, and know the truth that the
truth may make us free. 
THE PERFECT LAW  OF LIBERTY.                   157
vealed and made known by Christ and his inspired apostles. This
grand system of human salvation has frequently been considered
merely as a development of the divine benevolence, or a display of
the abundant mercy of God to sinners, without due regard to the
great designs of moral government, in the establishment and preservation of order among men, as intelligent beings and accountable
agents.
There is indeed no correct view which we can take of the "gospel
of the grace of God," in which it does not appear to be "glad tidings of great joy;" but if it has any one attribute which excels
another, as a ground of joy and gladness, it is that which provides
for and enjoins obedience to the will of God, and requires holiness
on earth as necessary to happiness in heaven. Such, we conceive, is
the character which St. James has drawn of the "glorious gospel."
It is a law-a law of liberty-a perfect law of liberty.
First. The gospel of Jesus Christ possesses the properties of law.
It makes known the true character of God as our divine lawgiver.
The works of creation, and the order established in the kingdom of
nature, display the perfections of the Creator, and on this account
may be called a law. "cThe heavens declare the glory of the Lord,
and the firmament showeth his handiwork."  "For  the invisible
things of Himn, from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and
Godhead'so that they are without. excuse."  But the revelation of
Jesus Christ makes manifest all the attributes of the divine natureall the moral as well as the natural perfections of him: whose habitation is eternity. It clearly declares the unity of God, and the harmony of all his glorious attributes in the moral government  of the
world.
The gospel imposes obligations from God. It teaches us the relations existing between God and us, and the obligations founded in
those relations. He is our creator, and we are his creatures, his
workmanship.  He is our preserver, and we the subjects of his constant and efficient agency.  " In him we live and move and have our
He is our redeemer, and we ar  hi pucae  ineitne   He is. 
158              THE PERFECT LAW OF LIBERTY.
made known by the gospel revelation, arises an obligation to acknowledge God-to reverence and worship him-to love and obey him.
But obligations are still more strongly imposed by a clear declaration
of the will of God concerning man, in the form of positive commands.
The gospel "commands all men everywhere to repent"- to love God
with all our heart, and our neighbor as ourselves; to love our ene
rmies; to do to others what we would have others do to us. Hence,
according to the constitution of the economy of salvation by grace,
we are obligated by the express commands of God to the performance
of duties clearly pointed out. This we conceive to be a distinguishing attribute of law. Our views of the gospel, in its legal character,
will be further improved when we consider it as prescribing a rule of
obedience. All the precepts of Jesus Christ sustain this character
All his instructions relative to the government of our hearts and
lives; in a word, all which he has taught us to do, must be considerec
in this light. It is only necessary to examine with due care the sermon on the mount, that grand constitution of God's kingdom among
men, to be fully convinced that he who is our "'wisdom and right.
eousness" has taught and enjoined a system of moral rectitude far
more explicit and extensive than the decalogue itself-even extending to the most secret " thoughts and intents of the heart."
But if the gospel furnishes precepts for the direction and government of human actions, those precepts are attended with the most
authoritative sanctions. Promised rewards and threatened punishments accompany every rule of life prescribed in the new covenant. The rewards of the kingdom of grace upon earth, and of the
kingdom of glory in heaven, are promised to those  who obey the
truth. But to the workers of iniquity the most fearful punishments are
threatened, even everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord,
and the glory of his power. On this important point in our subject we
desire to be distinctly understood. The penal sanctions, the terrible denunciations against the impenitent, unbelieving and disobedient, belong as really to the gospel, as the promises of pardon to the repenting sinner, or of eternal life to the persevering believer. It is 
THE PERFECT LAW OF LIBERTY.                    159
therefore, no occasion to borrow the " terrors" by which they enforce
their message from Mount Sinai. The Mount of Olives will furnish
them with more efficient motives. If they would move men by fear,
they should point them to the "judgment seat of Christ," where
they may "know the terrors of the Lord.
We have only to add that the gospel of Christ will be the rule of
judgment in the last day. This is inseparable from the view we have
taken in the previous observations. For the precepts of Christ,
being the rule of obedience, must govern the process of judgment
in the final issue.  "So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be
judged by the law of liberty." Our Lord has established this point
in the most indubitable manner, in His description of this grand event,
recorded in the gospel by St. Mathew. The Son of Man sitting on
the throne of His glory is the judge-all nations are gathered together before him-He divides them as a shepherd divides his sheep
from tho goats-the sheep are set on his right hand, and the goats on
his left.  "Then shall He say to those on His right hand, Come, ye
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me
meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink * I was a stranger, and
ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited
me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall He say also
unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me  no
drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye
clothed me not: sick and in prison, and ye visited me not. These
shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into
life eternal." No comment of ours can enlighten this scene. If any
thing further is necessary to heighten the awful majesty and grandeur
of the gospel in its character of law, the apostle to the Gentiles will
supply this lack.  "The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven
with His mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them
that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Chis.   Th  conclusio  is, tatE as the gospel reveals th  harate 
160              THE PERFECT LAW  OF LIBERTY.
Second. The gospel is the law of liberty. It has released man from
his original relations to the law given to Adam in a state ofinnocence
He is no longer held obliged to the performance of the righteousness
of that law, as a condition of life, and consequentlyis not condemned
by it. This is a point of so much importance in the scheme of salvation, that the character of the gospel dispensation can never be
clearly apprehended without it. Man, with all his obligations, and
with all his responsibilities, is transferred from the Adamic covenant,
the law of works, to the covenant of grace, the law of liberty; and
this change of his relation is by virtue of the redemption of Christ.
Being"bought  off from law," he has become obligated to Christ,
whose law he is bound to obey.
The gospel is the law of liberty as distinguished from the law of
Moses, and as it frees men from the obligations of that economy.  Of
the whole MJosaic dispensation, the apostle St. Peter says, "It is a
yoke which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear."  It bound
those who were under it to the observance of a legal and ceremonial
righteousness, which could never remove the guilt, or the pollution
of sin.  The most that could be said, even of that which was "written and engraven in stones" was that it was a  "ministration of condetnation and death," and served as a "schoolmaster to Christ."
But when the righteousness of faith was fully come, in the dispensation of Christ, there was no farther need of a schoolmaster.  All
the offices of the law ceased, when Christ came as our perfect teacher,
priest, and ruler. The yoke of the law is removed, and the easy yoke
of our gracious  Mediator is only obligatory on us.  All men being
brought under the obligations of the gospel covenant, and thereby
delivered from the law as given to our first parents in the garden,
and to the Jewish legislator at Sinai, are the proper subjects of
Christ's government. They are free to choose Christ as the captain
of their salvation - to become subject to the laws of His kingdom,
and enjoy all the privileges and immunities of the children of God.
Were we to contemplate the gospel of Jesus Christ, as effecting the
liberty of sinful man, in no other view than that we have just taken, 
THE PERFECT LAW  OF LIBERTY.                    161
claims liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison doors to
them.that are bound." By a mighty energy it subdues the reigning
power of sin, and brings into captivity those enemies which had cap tivated our souls before. Sin is represented as a powerful tyrant,
strengthened by the force of the law, holding his vassals in chains,
while the wages of his service are death. From this dungeon of sin
and death, the miserable captive is heard to groan,." Oh, wretched
man that I am! who shall deliver me?" The gospel, my brethren,
answers to this unutterable groan.  The gospel binds this " strong
muan'  this "man of sin," thus armed, and sets his prisoner free.
The gospel delivers men from the guilt and condemnation of sin, in
the act of pardon.  It frees them from the power and dominion of
sin by the grace and strength which it supplies. It delivers them
from the slavery of their passions and lusts, and restores the domin ion of reason and conscience in their minds.
Man is "subject to bondage through fear."'  Conscious of his accountability, his sinfulness and guilt; and knowing that it is appointed to him once to die, and after death to appear in judgment, he
trembles at the thought of his approaching dissolution, and fears to
appear in the presence of his judge. Reason affords him but a feeble support in the hour of his alarm and trial. Her lights are but
dim through the dark valley he has to pass, and she casts but a " glimmering ray" on the scenes of eternity which lie before him. What
shall dispel his doubts, remove his fears, support his trembling spirit,
and illuminate his pathway? What shall fortify him against the
terrors of these tremendous events? The gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ, through which "life and immorta]ity are brought to light."
"The gospel of the grace of God," the fountain of pardon and purification in the grand atonement.  TLe foundation of a steadfast and
' lively hope" in its exceeding great and precious promises.
Finally.  The gospel is the law of liberty, because it provides for,
and will effect the deliverance of our bodies from the "bondage of
corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God." Death
must be swallowed up in victory, and its empire demolished. The
grave must deliver up its prisoners, and be spoiled of its dominion;
and mortality be swallowed up of life, under the reign of God's Messiah. Oh, what a" glorious liberty" indeed will be the portion of the'
children of the first resurrection, over whom the second death shall
have no power, when the grand end of the mediation of the Son of
11. 
162              THE PERFECT LAW  OF LIBERTY.
God shall be accomplished in the fulfilment of that saying, "Behold
I create all things new."
Third. The gospel is the perfect law of liberty. It is perfect in
itself. There is no obscurity, no weakness, no deficiency, in any part
of it. As a system of doctrine, it contains every truth necessary to
be known in order to salvation. Is it necessary that man should know
God? The gospel has revealed Him. It declares the nature of the
Divine essence: "God is a Spirit."  It asserts His unity: "c To us
there is but one God-God is one." It proclaims His omnipresence
and eternity-His omniscience, infinite wisdom, and almighty power
-His righteousness, justice and truth. It makes known the will of
God concerning His creatures, both with regard to action and end.
It declares His goodness, tender mercy, patience, long-suffering, and
loving kindness in a thousand varied and endearing forms. In this
grand manifestation of God there is no darkness, no veil; but all is
light-perfect light. Here we behold the Divineglory beaming forth
with transcendant brightness. Is it necessary that man should know
himself  The gospel teaches his origin and end-his fall and recovery-his obligation and accountability   It settles with infallible
certainty the immortality of the human  soul, and a future state of
being. Is it necessary for man, fallen and guilty man, to understand
how he may regain the favor of God? how he may be introduced to
communion and fellowship with his Creator, and finally obtain everlasting life in heaven? The gospel revelation is a perfect directory.
The way to the kingdom of heaven is drawn in sunbeams. Neithei
clouds nor darkness rest upon it. He that runs may read. Who
that examines with due attention the records of Jesus Christ and His
inspired apostles, can say, " I know not the way to heaven"?
Nor shall we find the gospel less complete, if we examine it in re gard to the evidence of its divine origin, the proofs (f its authenticity.
Its truth is attested by the light of its doctrines-by the extent and
purity of its morality; by the benevolence of its designs; by the
fulfilment of ancient predictions; and by the life, miracles, death,
and resurrection of its author. What assurance has the christian,
fro  thi bod  of evdne  tha  he has no  beiee  a "cunningl 
THE PERFECT LAW  OP LIBERTY.        163
sry to the present and eternal salvation of sinful man.  It needs no
aid from the Adamic or Mosaic law; but is the end of both for right.
eousness. The doctrine, therefore) that sinners are under the law,
as distinguished from the gospel, is both erroneous and dangerous.
There is no act in the entire scheme of mediation by Jesus Christ,
which affects the relation of a sinner to law, thus distinguished, but
the act of redemption by His death.  This is not a continued act.
It was "finished" in the one offering of the body of Christ on  the
cross. Consequently, if sinners are under any law, except the law
of liberty, the law of the Mediator, there is no provision for their
deliverance. Offences under the second covenant are put away by
pardon. But those under the law require atonement, because no
provision was made for their remission. We have no occasion then
to employ the law to bring men to Christ- to use the terrors of the
first covenant, to introduce sinners to the blessings of the second.
It is enough that we " preach Christ" in all his offices, pointing all
men to " one la-giver and one judge, who is able to save and to
destroy."
The  gospel possesses a peculiar perfection in the nature, extent,
and efficacy of the grand atonement.   Here  all its excellences
centre. This is the foundation of the entire and perfect building.
The nature of the atonement made by Christ cannot be apprehended
aright, unless it be considered with direct reference to the law of God
given to man in a state of innocence, and to'sin as the transgression
of that law. The plain scriptural doctrine is, that the sacrifice of
atonement is a perfect satisfaction of the demands of that law against
man as a transgressor; that its threatened penalties were borne by
Jesus, as man's surety. By this sin offering, Christ has not only
expiated the guilt of original transgression, and delivered the whole
human race from the curse, or punishment of eternal death, which
the law annexed to sin: but also "bought man off' from the law itself, as a rule of justifying righteousness, and restored him to a new
trial, under the gracious dispensation of the gospel, where obedience
to the righteousness of faith is required to justification and eternal 
164              THE PERFECT LAW  OF LIBERfTY.
but in part. Divine justice, with regard to the original transgression,
is satisfied but in part. Those who are not redeemed are under the
righteousness of the Adamic law, as the only rule of justification,
and consequently subject, by inevitable necessity, to all its terrible
punishments. Redemption by the death of Christ, alone, places man
within the possibility of salvation. It is not possible, therefore, that
any should be saved for whom his blood was not shed. To all such,
if such there were, invitations to look to Christ, to believe on him, to
be saved by him, would be but a mockery of their impotence and their
misery.  But, blessed be God, it is as broad as the transgression, and
as deep as the guilt of man. It extends to every human soul, to every
fallen child of Adam. As certain as all have sinned, so certain is it
that Jesus has died for all.  For all who were under the "curse of
the law," Christ has given himself a ransom.  "For God sent forth
his Son to redeem them that were under the law;" having concluded
all in unbelief, or shut them up for disobedience, that he might have
mercy upon all, in his unspeakable gift.  The atonement then is universal in its extent, all men being redeemed by the death of Jesus.
But the expiatory sacrifice of our divine Redeemer is as perfect in
its efficacy, as universal in its extent.  It was not possible, indeed,
that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sin; either its
guilt or its pollution.  But "the blood of the everlasting covenant"'
can purify the conscience from both, and make us "perfect in every
good work." The fountain of redeeming grace is deeper than the
" troubled sea" of our corruption. Where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound. The doctrine, therefore, that sin must cleave to
the soul of man, till death dissolves the union between the body and
spirit, is not only repugnant to the plain testimony of the divine
oracles, but also an undervaluing of the efficacwy of that precious blood
which "cleansethfrom all sin." Here, perhaps, it may be supposed we
might safely close-our observations on the perfection of the gospel
system, and leave our hearers to infer from the premises a thousand
traits of fitness in detail. But there is one more view of the gospel,
as alaw of liberty, which we deem of the utmost importance.  We
mean its perfect agreement or suitableness to the condition of man as
he is-a fallen, weak, and guilty creature; in a word, as a sinner.
if we examine the law of God, even as given to Adam, or. Moses, we
shall find it perfect, and without defect, considered in itself. For
verily, "the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, and just, and 
THE PERFECT LAW OF LIBERTY.                     165
good."  Proceeding from God, the fountain of holiness, justice, and
goodness, it must necessarily possess these attributes. It may, therefore, be justly called a "transcript of his nature."  Nevertheless,
there was a relative imperfection in the law. There was something in
the condition of a sinner, to which it was not suitable; something
which he could not do, being weak through the flesh. And on account
of this weakness it,was unprofitable, it made nothing perfect.
The law was unsuitable to the condition of a sinner, in regard to
salvation; first, because it knew no repentance of the offender, as a
condition of justification and life; second, because it made no provision for the putting away of sin, either by pardon or purification;
third, because it required a righteousness which a sinner could not
perform; and, fourth, because the penalty of death was annexed to
transgression. The law, therefore, could not give life; but was a
", ministration of death."  It could only " work wrath;" so that by
the deeds of the law no flesh could be saved.   In all these respects
The law had no glory, by reason of the glory that excelleth.  For the
taw made nothing perfect; but the bringing in of a better hope did,
by which we draw nigh unto God. For through Jesus, our Mediator,
we have ccess to God; the middle wall of partition which the law
interposed being removed out of the way.   If, in examining the
relative character of the gospel system, we shall detect any point- in
which it is unsuitable to the state of man as a fallen creature; if he is
not brought completely within the province of its operations: if it
should be found to require any thing of man, as necessary to salvation, which he is not furnished with ability or power to perform; then,
indeed, may it be said of the gospel, as it is said of the law, "It is
weak through the flesh." It makes nothing perfect. Establish man's
inability to perform the conditions of the gospel covenant, and you
tarnish the glory of the covenant itself; because you prove it to be
relatively defective. Indeed, for aught we can see to the contrary,
you make salvation a. impossible to man, under the gospel, as under
the law; unless it be presumed that God will dispense with the performance of the terms of the covenant. It is of no conceivable im  otac  in wha  thi i.blt cosss or by wht nam  it i. called 
166               THE PERFECT LW OF LIBERTY.
ence as regards his salvation. We are not unapprised of those modern
metaphysical refinements, by which attempts have been made to remove this difficulty, by magnifying what is called man's natural powers, and resolving his entire inability into the will.  Hence it is said,
a sinner cannot obey the commands of the gospel, merely because he
will not. Were we to admit the truth of this curious theory, which
is equally repugnant to the philosophy of the human mind, the oracles
of God, and the dictates of common sense; were we, I say, to admit
the truth of this theory, the great difficulty remains untouched.
There still remains somethi?kng in the condition of a sinner, to which
the gospel is not suitable-for which it has not provided, and this
discrepancy stamps it with imperfection. It is weak, relatively weak,
if there is any circumstance of weakness in our nature, to which it
does not extend efficient aid-'any disease for which it does not provide
an all-sufficient remedy. But who can comprehend the strange theory?
Does it not involve this obvious absurdity, that moral ability consists
in something different from a power or capacity to perform moral
actions? This, it is confessed, man possesses. For he has naturalpower
to repent, believe, and obey the will of God   all which are moral
actions.  The sum of this doctrine, then, is, that man has all natural
power to perform all moral actions; but is destitute of all moral power.
We think it must require something widely different from the natural
sense of man, to understand this. The truth is, that by nature, sinful
man has no power to turn, and prepare himself to faith and calling
upon God.   The power to do good works pleasing and acceptable to
God, is not natural, but by the grace of God preventing us, that we
may have a good will, and working with us when we have that good
will. Nor does God withhold this grace from any human soul.
The scheme of the gospel, in its terms of justification and life, is
suited, not to innocent and holy creatures, such as man was when he
came from the creating hand of God; but to beings guilty and potlluted, such as man is in his state of transgression. These terms are,
repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ; both
of which necessarily involve sin and guilt. For repentance belongs
no  to sneseig.   Jeu  cam  not to cal  th  riheu. bu 
TiE PERFECT LAW  OF LIBERTY.                     167
as cur surety; his blood as an atoning sacriice for the remission of
s.n; his death as the price of our redemption, and the efficient cause
of pardon.  It lays hold on Christ for "wisdom, rightteousness, sanctiifcation, and redemption."   But in none of these senses could faith
be the exercise of a creature who had not sinned. The grand conditions of salvation, therefore, are suitable to sinners, and none others.
It is in vain, then, to urge that man cannot obey the requisitions of
the gospel because he is a sinful creature. The truth is, if he were
not a sinner, he could not obey those requisitions, because they would
be entirely unsuitable to his condition. How could man.n his pristine innocence, or angels who have not sinned, obey these commands
of the gospel? Sinners can obey them, and sinners only. But there
is a further perfection of fitness in the gracious aid which the gospel
affords to sinners.  The grace of God which bringeth salvation has
not only appeared to all men, but its manifestation is in perfect adaptation to the circumstances of those to whom it is made. Has sin darkened the' understanding, perverted the judgment, and blinded the
conscience of man?  Is he ignorant of God and himself?  The gospel
is light-unsullied light —a light shining into this darkness —" the
true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world." Neither Christian, Jew, nor Heathen, is excluded from this divine illumination. The manifestation of the truth commends itself in every man's
conscience. The spirit reproves the world of sin, of righteousness,
and of judgment. There is no language in which his voice is not
heard.  Is man far gone from original righteousness, and of his own
will inclined to evil? Has sin debilitated all his faculties, so as to
render him utterly incapable of delivering himself?  Has he become
weak, so as to be able of himself to do nothing? Is he " without
strength?"  The grace of the gospel comes down to his lowest condition of weakness and helplessness. It comes to bring him help and
strength-not only to open his eyes that he may see his sin and his
danger, but to enable him to turn away from it, and lay hold on
eternal life.  Imperfect indeed would be the gospel system, if, while
it proclaimed the impotency and misery of sinners, it brought no
strength to their weakness no relief to their misery.   Jesus never
invi Zte 7eps an  pei n  sol to co*  to him  whe  he doe.s no 
168              THE  PERFECT LAW OF LIBERTY.
shall only employ it as an occasion more abundantly to magnify the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and still proclaim, with joyful exultation, where weakness abounded, through sin, there strength does
much more abound through grace. Has the gospel invited all men to
come to Christ, as their all-sufficient Saviour?  That invitation is
proof-ample proof-that all men have, through grace, ability to come
to Christ, in obedience to the invitation. It is then the peculiar
glory and excellence of the gospel, that it " helps our infirmities," as
well as convinces us of them.  Have all men sinned and come short
of the glory of God; and is it therefore necessary that all men should
repent? The gospel provides for it. Jesus is exalted at the right
hand of God, a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance. This is the
very ground of the divine command.   "The times of ignorance God
winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent." The
grace of the gospel supplies the means and the ability to repent, and
to do works meet for repentance.
Are men by nature strangers and aliens -at a distance from
God, far-off by wicked works, without hope and without God in the
world.?  The gospel has opened a way for their return-taken down
the separating wall, and brought in a better hope, by which we draw
nigh unto God. It is the ministry of reconciliation, under which
" strangers and foreigners" become fellow citizens with the saints,
and of the household of God. Here we have free access to the mercy
seat. No flaming sword is set to guard the throne; no terrible
voices and thunderings to drive us from the presence of Him that sits
upon it. The voice which is heard issuing from the divine presence
is the voice of invitation and of promise -" Look unto me and be ye
saved, all ye ends of the earth. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool."
Is man dead-spiritually dead-utterly. destitute of the life of
God?  Dead, even in trespasses and in sins?  The gospel is life,
spiritual, eternal life.  It is the law of the spirit of life in Christ
Jesus, delivering us from sin and death. The gospel, therefore, posseses! peuiarrltiv pefcin  It brings_T lih to ou  da- 1,e, s 
THE PERFECT LAW  OF LIBERTY.                   169
vation! 0, what amazing wisdom in its adaptation I What power
in its agency! What grace in its fulness! Grace abounding to the
chief of sinners. 0, that we could all unite, this saving grace to
prove! If the views we have taken of the perfect law of liberty are
agreeable to truth-if the gospel is indeed such a scheme of salvation as we have endeavored to represent it to be, it follows that every
human soul has a deep and eternal interest in it.  Let us, then, consider
II. The concern we have in it.
Having occupied so much of the time allotted for this service on
the former part of the subject, it becomes necessary that we be very
brief on the latter. Indeed we can do little more than bring it into
view and leave it for the improvement of our hearers. We have a
two-fold concern with the gospel; a concern of duty or obligation;
and a concern of interest or privilege. As a concern of duty or obligation, we are required to examine it attenitely and carefully. The
gospel addresses itself to our understanding. It is a grand harmonious system. It professes to be a revelation from heaven, and to support its claims by the authority of God himself, having the present
and eternal salvation of man as its object. Whatever right of government or control the Deity might claim over his sinful creatures, it
has pleased him in this most merciful economy to stoop down to our
low condition- to instruct us, to reason with us, and to invite us to
reason with him. It becomes us, therefore, to listen attentively to
his instructions, and to examine carefully the message he has sent
us.  This is the import of the emphatical words in the passage before us: "But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty."  This
looking into the gospel, is opposed to hearing in such a superficial
way as to leave no deep and lasting impressions on the memory; as
to produce no settled resolutions of the mind in regard to practice. It
is very justly supposed that our apostle has reference in this expression to the inclining andfixedposture of the cherubims, with their
faces towards the mercy seat. The evangelist has used the same 
170             THE PERFECT LAW OF LIBERTY.
author of life, and on whose resurrection all their hopes depended, so
should we, with fixed attention, with intense application, examine the
gospel of our salvation. Examine carefully the evidences of its authenticity, that you may arrive to a full conviction that it is the truth
of God. Look narrowly into all its characters of fitness and perfection, that you may apprehend what it requires of you, and what
help it affords you. Be careful in your examinations not to overlook
its preceptivepurity in the splendor of its promises. Consider it in the
analogy, proportion, and harmony of all its parts, and in the suitableness of the whole to the grand end it proposes to accomplish. Remember that this business requires time and labor. It is not the
work of the hour you spend in the house of God, in hearing the word of
the gospel from the lips of his ministers. Stated periods should be
devoted to this important employment. Nor is it to be supposed
that any considerable improvement will be made till we settle it in
our minds that our religious concerns are paramount to all others.
When this conviction is "deep rooted" in the soul, complaints of the
want of time will cease.
The mind must be disciplined to meditation upon these things.
Habits of indolence are to be overcome. Our indisposition to thinking
must be subdued. But it is not enough that we look narrowly and
diligently into the perfect law of liberty in the way of examination.
We have a far more extensive concern of duty and obligation with it.
It is the rule of our obedience.  It is Christ's yoke which we are
obligated to take upon us. In vain do we hear the sayings of Jesus
Christ, and with our lips call him Lord, Lord, if we do not the things
which he has commanded.  "Be ye, therefore, doers of the word, and
not hearers only, deceiving your own selves."  Whether we hear the
word preached, or read the lively oracles-whether we visit the house
of worship, or meditate upon the revelation of God at our own houses,
aUll should be done with a special reference to practice; with a fixed
resolution to do what we learn to be the will of God concerning us.
'Patient continuance" in this great work, both of acquiring the
knowledge of the gospel, and of obeying from the heart its sacred
prcps  is of inipnal  olgto. Muttue  hav  commnce 
THE PERFECT LAW  OP  LIBERTY.                   171
But we have a concern of interest, of privilege, in the gospel  and
our interest in it is designed as a powerful motive to action. It is
emphatically, the gospel of our salvation. It provides aud makes
known the way, the only way of salvation. There is no other ground
of hope-no other means of access to God-no other ministry of reconciliation-no other law of liberty-no other fountain of pardon,
peace, and life. If we fail of being saved by the gospel, we are lostinevitably andforever lost. What an interest have we, then, in this
scheme of salvation. Add to this the blessedness of those who look
into the gospel, and continue steadfast in sincere and humble obedience
to its holy commandments. The blessings of pardon, peace, and holiness, are their inheritance on earth, and a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory, their portion in heaven.
To conclude: Let us examine ourselves closely in regard to the
improvement we have made of the blessed gospel of God our Saviour.
We have heard it, perhaps, from our childhood. We were early
taught to read the sacred writings which contain the doctrine, and
precepts, and promises, and threatenings of Jesus Christ. We have
professed to believe these writings as of divine authority - to receive
them as the records of eternal truth. But how have we heard the
gospel proclamation? How have we read the, divinely inspired pages?
What estimation have we made of the revelation given us from heaven?
What experimental, what practical, uses have we made of those
truths we have heard, and which we profess to believe? Are we not,
even to this day, hearers of the word only, and not doers; deceiving
our own selves? - What influence has the gospel had on the state of
our hearts, or the actions of our lives?   Have  we been awakened,
justified, regenerated, through the ministry of the law of the spirit of
life in Christ Jesus? Have we been made free by the law of liberty.?
Free from the guilt, power, and pollution of sin? Free from the dominion of our passions and lusts? Free from the bondage of fear
fear of death and of judgment?  Alas! are we not, even while we
hear the proclamation of liberty to the captives, and the opening of
the prison to them that are bound, under captivity to the law of sin 
172             THE PERFECT LAW  OF LIBERTY.
without repentance and conversion.  Let us immediately awake out
of sleep, and receive the truth, that the truth may make us free. 0,
let us look into the law of liberty with deep and interested attention.
Has Jesus Christ declared that except ye repent, ye shall all likewise
perish? that except ye be converted and become as little children,
ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven? that except
a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And can
we hear these weighty and solemn declarations of the Son of God,
without reflection-without a direct application to ourselves-without
laying our hands on our hearts and proposing to ourselves these serious questions!  Has the work of repentance ever been wrought in
this heart of mine i Have I ever been converted to God? Have I
ever been born again? Has this great moral change ever been effected
in this fallen soul of mine?
Is it possible that we can hear from the lips of Jesus Christ the
certainty and strictness of a future judgment, and not enter into the
interests of that awful transaction?  Is it possible that we can read
on the pages of that revelation which bears the seal and signature of
Jehovah himself, that they who have done good shall come forth to
the resurrection of life, and they who have done evil, to the resurrection of damnation; that the wicked shall go away into everlasting
punishment, but the righteous into life eternal-is it possible, I say,
that we can read these sayings of the truth of God, without a pause,
a solemn pause, succeeded by an inquiry of all others the most
important  How shall I leave my tomb? with triumph or regret?
On which hand of the eternal Judge shall I stand? What will be
my doom?  Shall I hear it said to me, Come ye blessed, or, Depart
ye cursed? Terrible thoughtindeed! What! to hear the voice of
my once gracious and most merciful Redeemer pronounce the dreadful word, "Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the
devil and his angels!" 0 Jesus, thou whose arms were once extended on the cross, cast those arms of bleeding mercy around the
speaker and his hearers. Other refuge have we none; hang our
helpless souls on thee. May we not hope that the gospel will, 
THE PERFECT LAW  OP LIBERTY.                  173
has sounded in the ears of this people? To thy name be all thepraise.
0 for a trumpet voice, on all the world to call. 0 that I could point
this whole assembly to the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of
the world. Those arms of love that compass me, would compass all
mankind. May the Son make us free that we may be free indeed!
AMEN. 
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CHRISTIANITY REASONABLE IN ITS DOCTRINES AND
DEMANDS.
BY REV. JOHN C. GRANBERY, A. M.,
OF THE VIRGINIA CO.NFERENCE.
"Then he which had received the one talent came, and said, Lord, I knew
thee that thou art a hard man, reaping where thouhast not sown, and gathering
where thou hast not strewed: And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent
in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine."-Mat. xxv, 24, 25.
I do not purpose to comment on the crime and punishment of the
servant who buried his talent. There was little committed to his
trust-a single talent; he is charged not with throwing it away or
spending it sinfully, but merely with failure to improve and inorease
it: Nevertheless, he is condemned as wicked and slothful; the one
talent is taken away, and he is cast into outer darkness, where there
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Fearful warning to every
unprofitable servant! Friend, have you received the grace of God
in vain, or are you growing therein? Are you doing anything with
your talents, five, two, one; or lie they idle?  God grant that you
may be a good and faithful servant- commended and rewarded as
such in the day of reckoning!
But I will not now pursue that line of thought. I quote the servant's vindication of his own conduct as substantially agreeing with
the excuse you often make for the neglect of duty, viz: the severity
tre by Hi  wor  an  fon watig  yo  ma  no be so _b    P.    os old an 1 
176              CHRISTIANITY REASONABLE IN
entertain such reflections in their naked impiety: and yet, in the secret
chambers of the heart, unsearched save by His all-piercing and allcomprehensive gaze, lurks there not the thought, unexpressed, scarce
acknowledged to yourself, that His demands are austere and unreasonable? Is not that the true rendering of many disguised arguments with which you repel the personal appeals of the preacher or
other christian friend? Whether you sneer at the hypocrisy and
inconsistency of the Church in general; or select some individual
member for your censure; or complain that there are so many mysteries in the Bible, deep, dark, incomprehensible, so that you know
not what to believe or what to do; or rail at the clashing creeds and
fierce contests of christian sects among whom you cannot tell where
you shall find the safest guide, and whose endless diversities leave
little chance for falling on the one true faith-whatever special form
your reasoning may assume, yet, inasmuch as you are held to responsibility by God and not by man; inasmuch as no conduct of your
fellows, who are equally with yourself His subjects, can release you
from obligation to His service or screen you frdm His judgment, is
not the simple amount of all these pleas an attempt to clear yourself
by charging God? Do you not virtually affirm that you are required
to pursue a path which you are uDable to discover, and to perform
duties which exceed your utmost strength; that it will not be right
in your Judge to punish you for the lack of a religion you can neither
understand nor practice?
Suppose I were to admit your assumption thus far, that the dread
Being with whom we have to deal does exact a difficult service at
our hands, and seems, both in the measure of His requirements and
in the terror of His retributive justice, to have little respect to human
infirmities and the disadvantages of our condition, may I not turn:
your argument against yourself? May I not say, as the Lord said to
His servant, " Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked
servant?" Let all you say be true about the hard commands and the
harsh judgments of God, yet as you are in His power, impotent to
break His grasp or bear His wrath, the very austerity of His character, the very rigor of His law, should make you the more careful
and diligent and untiring in doing the work assigned you; for if you
be idle and negligent, if you make no effort to do what you can for
Him, how unfit you are to be measured by so strict a rule, and how 
ITS DOCTRINES AND DEMANDS.                    177
heavy must be the penalty affixed by so stern a Judge?  0, think
what it is to be weighed in a balance so exact!  0, tremble before
God who holds a rod of iron! You sometimes seek to content and
comfort yourself in a course of sin and neglect of religion, by the
idea that large allowance will be made for the frailty of your nature
and the violence of temptation, by Him who remembereth our frame,
who knoweth that we are dust, whose mercies endure forever; but
I warn you against lowering that high standard of holiness which His
law contains, and offending that stainless purity which cannot look
upon sin, and insulting that inexorable justice which will by no means
clear the guilty, and despising that rich goodness which seeks to bring
you to repentance, but failing there will surely bring you to eternal
remorse. The blazing glory of infinite holiness is to the sinner a
consuming, quenchless fire: the majestic arm of His avenging justice wields a whetted sword that spares not a victim and misses not
an aim. If God shall prove to you a hard Master, 0 sinner, what
must be your fate!
But I would address myself at present to a more pleasing and not
less profitable task: I would refute your assumption so far as it
charges God with undue severity, and vindicate the claims of the
gospel as not only allowed, but demanded, by wisdom, righteousness,
and love.
One might, at first glance, question whether it is consistent with a
becoming modesty and reverence in God's servant to examine the
objections of the caviller against the Divine government, and enter
upon an argument in vindication of his ways at the bar of human
judgment. The august name of the Infinite is ever on the lip of
fools to point a jest or strengthen an imprecation; but far be it from
his servant to speak or think it without deep abasement and solemn
awe. When we would approach, though to adore, a voice speaks
forth from the flaming glory, "Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes
from off thy feet; for the place whereon thou standest is holy
ground."  We enter the holiest with appeasing blood, and the shekinal splendor, though resting on the mercy-seat, dazzles and overpowers us; in silence and in fear we fall and worship. The angels
before His throne cover their faces with their wings, as they cry,
"Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts:" reverently restraining
within due bounds their desire to look into the mysteries of the gospel, that they may understand the strange sufferings of Christ and
12 
178                ChIRISTIANITY REASONABLE  IN
the glory which should follow, they wait their orders, and fly forth as
servants to herald salvation and minister to its heirs, though the
wondrous plan has not been unrolled to their vision or fathomed by
their reason. How shall we, impressed with the sublime majesty
and effulgent holiness of the Most High, discuss with foolish, sinful
men the wisdom of His law and the equity of His judgments? Yet
we are warranted in so doing by inspired examples. Does not God
expostulate with men on their folly, refute their objections to His
acts, and appeal to their own reason against themselves and in His
favor? "And now, 0 inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah,"
we hear Him say, "judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.
What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not
done in it? wherefore, when 1 looked that it should bring forth
grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?"  "Yet saith the house of
Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. 0 house of Israel, are
not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal?" Astounding and
affecting spectacle! We see the God of grandeur and of glory, dwelling in the unapproachable splendor of His own uncreated and unbounded perfection, filling with  His  presence all space and all
duration; the faint straggling of whose brightness, through the manyfolded veil of clouds which surround Him, is the illumination of
heaven, so intense as scarce to be endured by the strength of angelic
vision; whose homage and praise, when not awe-struck dumbness as
of death, is the thunder-shout of all their hosts, and song deep as the
ocean swell; the glance of whose eye is the flash of the lightning,
and the step of His foot the tread of the tornado, the breath of His
mouth volcanic fire, and the shake of His hand the rocking earthquake; at whose voice of grace in the beginning the universe sprang
into being and beauty, at whose voice of terror in the end, it shall
dissolve into its primitive abyss of nothing-we see this God stretching forth His hands with crying all day long to a rebellious people;
we see Him in Christ, shedding tears for Jerusalem and blood for the
world; we see him in his Spirit, striving to win man from ruin; we see
him in his servants, warning sinners, pleading with them, stooping to 
ITS DOCTRINES AND DEMANDS.                      179
fore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon
him, saith the Lord." And this God of tender mercy and long suffering you call a hard Master! Be sure that his condescending
grace, which is so full of forbearance, unless it shall happily win you
to obedience, will break your heart, now hardened against gratitude,
with aggravated anguish, and your doom shall be the more terrible
because the sentence of the Judge must be sanctioned by the conscience of the criminal. Laying aside, therefore, in accommodation
to your folly, that unquestioning loyalty and speechless homage
which I would have as the unbroken habit of my own mind, I meet
your impious assertions, and maintain that the claims of God in their
height and breadth are both right and reasonable.
I. God does not require of youfrith, without ample evidence and
light.
It is not a matter of slight moment what your creed may be- It
is of binding obligation and essential importance that you learn and
believe the truth as it is in Jesus.   "Sanctify them through thy
truth; thy word is truth." By faith in the true gospel we must be
saved; without it we are lost. It is idle to affirm that a man should
not be held responsible for his belief. Suppose that he refuses to
seek light, is he not criminal therein? Suppose he blinds his mind,
perverts his moral judgment by a long course of sin, or by direct efforts to reason himself into opinions which license and stimulate his
lusts, until he loses all perception of the excellence of virtue, and
approves the most horrid crimes-is not this sufficient evidence to convict him of guilt and deep depravity, though not an act of wickedness, in accordance with his black creed, be charged against him?
Gifted as you are with intelligence and freedom, the necessary conditions of responsibility and moral character, you cannot demand
that truth should burst upon your view in full-orbed splendor  and
irresistible conviction, like the the morning sun upon our globe, without any effort of your own to discover or capacity to dispute it.
It is enough, that to the honest, earnest, patient searcher, there 
180               CHRISTIANITY REASONABLE IN
truth, it has been accompanied by works so far removed from human
power, and brought within such distinct cognizance of the senses, as
to attest the divinity of the message. These miracles have been witnessed to other lands and times by vast multitudes of spectators, whose
general character compels respect, whose sincerity is proved by mnartyr devotion to their doctrine, and whose concurrence would be more
than miraculous if it were not accounted for by the truth of their
testimony.  I refer not only to those who have recorded the facts,
but to the great numbers who, during their lifetime, were appealed
to as having observed them, and whose faith and walk from the date
of their occurrence were regulated by them: for instance, to the people of Israel who yearly celebrated the feast of the passover in commemoration of that night when the destroying angel spared their
homes, but slew the first-born of Egypt; to the five hundred who saw
at once the risen Saviour; and to the church at Jerusalem, in whose
.midst the resurrection was declared to have happened, according to
public prophecy, and in spite of an armed guard set to watch his
tomb-an event which was the basis of their religion, essentially
connected with their whole system of doctrines, and shown forth in
their most sacred institutes, indirectly in the sacramental supper, and
directly in the holy day of the Lord. If it should still be thought
that those before whose eyes those things were wrought, occupy a vantage ground in comparison with us of remoter times to whom they have
descended by testimony-though that testimony is no vague tradition,
enfeebled in authority by the ages through which it has been transmitted, but is a written record of undoubted authenticity, and published amid the very scenes and days of miarcles, and is embodied in
the uniform ordinances of the church from her first foundation-there
is the cumulative evidence of propiecy, a light undimmed by the
lapse of centuries; yea, blazing with increasing brilliancy, as history
develops event after event of its predictions, like torches that are
kindled on earth, or stars that come out in heaven, points of brightness and centres of illumination amid the darkness which covers human destiny, and which will not be fully scattered until the dawn of
immortality. On these evidences the wisest have reposed with unshaken confidence; many, like West and Littleton, have examined to
refute, but ended in belief; and avowed enemies, distinguished for
the perverted might of their minds and the impotent malice of their
opposition, have argued, and quibbled, and scoffed, and raged, blind 
ITS DOCTRINES AND DEMANDS.                     181
ming their eyes to find spots in the sun, and straining their arms to
shoot arrows at the sky.
I leave these two great branches of external evidence-granite
foundations of the faith, miracles and prophecy-to glance at a more
favorite theme with me: the intrinsic force of conviction which helongs to the cardinal doctrines of christianity-doctrines so simple
that the untutored African can receive them, so sublime that the
loftiest archangel cannot soar up to their height, whose evident reason attests their truth, whose evident grandeur attests their divinity.
I affirm boldly that they require no long siege sustained by historical
researches and subtle reasonings, but they storm your intellect; yea,
rather the heart irresistibly opens to receive them, as the morning
glories unfold to receive the sun, and the thirsty herbs rejoice to
receive the dews of night. Hlave they not become the faith of the
enlightened world, not held as speculations, to be sifted and weighed,
but as established facts and known truths, by which all theories
must be tried-the standard and touchstone of truth? I assert that
you- do believe; I defy you to doubt.   The  God of the Bible, with)ut cause, date, or place, whose faculties have no limit and whose attributes have no blemish, creator of matter and of spirit, ruler and
judge of the universe, sole object of worship-do you not believe
in him?  The immortality  of the soul- dare  you question it?
Say, if you can, that with the last shut of this eye the light
of mind is quenched, and with the rot of this flesh the sensibility of
the soul perishes, and with the rigidity of this arm the force of will
is struck with fatal paralysis-in the very utterance your own reason will give you the lie, and a sense of self-degradation will be your
punishment. Not more surely does the instinct of the eaglet lift
him in ambition, ere yet his growing pinions can lift him in attaininent, to the empyrcan heights, than do the spontaneous longings and
conscious capacities of the enlightened spirit bear her towards an immnortality from which she is still restrained by physical shackles.
I know not whether Divine Omniscience has seen fit to give the
crawling caterpillar one intimation of the change that awaits him, of
the beauty and the grace which shall adorn his loathsome and cumbrous body, the free air in which he shall sport, and the finer food in
which he shall feed  but I do know that in us there dwells the resistless conviction of a temporary disability, keeping us from the
sphere for which we were formed, and spiritual tastes and cravings 
182               CHRISTIANITY REASONABLE  IN
already begin to foreshow the coming change which shall adapt us
to a less sensual and an immortal life. The inborn and universal
corruption of human nature-can you look into your own heart without learning it from consciousness, or look around you at babe or
man, at individuals or society, without finding proofs beyond number?
Nor would I exempt from this scrutiny of reason the grand doctrine
of the cross, which is so emphatically the stumbling-block of the
skeptic and the ridicule of the scoffer. I affirm that the only possible solution of the confused condition of our race, in whose heart and
lot evil and good, justice and mercy, fear and hope, strangely mingle,
showing that they are neither acquitted of crime nor abandoned to
woe, is the remedial scheme of the gospel- that reign of grace,
through the substitution of God's own Son, in human form assumed
for the purpose, as the victim of a righteous retribution for our sins,
under which an opportunity is afforded the guilty sinner to secure
justification from the charges of the broken law  and I further  affirm, that the longer and the more deeply one reflects on the difficulties
involved in his moral state, and the provision in Christ to meet the
exigency of the case, the more filled will he be with admiration and
delight at the wisdom, the justice, the mercy of the plan, as a perfect and the only conceivable reconciliation of the stern demands of
righteousness with the salvation of the sin-cursed world. In close
connection with this redemption by Christ, stands the doctrine of the
shedding forth of the Holy. Ghost, which is necessary to explain the
glimpses of truth, the softenings of a hard heart, and the drawings
of a stubborn will towards right and purity, realized by us all; and
for a much stronger reason, necessary to recover man from the dominion of sin in his soul, and to invest him with a new, holy nature,
as the medium of friendly communion with God, and the fountain of
true happiness. Did I not fear to weary you, I would bring before
you, also, judgment, heaven, hell. I ask, what say conscience, hope,
fear, justice to these things? What say the disorder, the trampled
virtue, the unequal lot, of our world? Is there no tribunal before
which you must appear-no reckoning that you should dread?
So much on the evidence which demands your faith in the Bible as
God's own word. Do you complain that you cannot understand its
revelations? Go to the child of seven summers in the Sabbath school;
go to the pious old negro at your father's home, and ask them to explain it. Those things are hid from none except those foolishly wise 
ITS DOCTRINES AND DEMANDS.                     183
in their own conceit, or wilfully resolved to exclude the light, or
wickedly careless about instruction-; they are revealed unto babes.
Search the scriptures with an honest heart, in order to find out, and
embrace, and live by the truth-it will disclose itself in a brighter
effulgence, and a richer beauty, and a more convincing evidence, as
you proceed, by giving new discernment to your spiritual understanding, and new activity to your spiritual tastes. Do you object that
there are so many mysteries into which you cannot pierce?   And
what are you, born of yesterday, and to-morrow doomed to die, that
you should understand all mysteries? I cannot tell whether I should
fall to laughing or to crying, as some young man who has just learned
to distinguish his right hand from his left, whose eye is beginning to
open to what exists and operates around him, but not to its essence,
end, or cause, who scarce knows how to steady his steps, and does not
know whither to direct them-as such an one comes to me complaining
that he went forth to explore immensity, and got lost; that he searched
after the bounds of eternity, and was only bewildered for his pains; that
he attempted to dive down into the deepest problems of divine wisdom,
and could not touch bottom; that he aimed to comprehend the Infinite,
and his inflated mind still stretched not to sufficient capacity for the
vast idea; that to him this wide universe seems sadly out of sorts, its
affairs involved beyond possibility of disentanglement, and conducted
without intelligible plan!  But you reply, perhaps, that this sarcasm
cannot satisfy you: you admit that in the counsels of Jehovah there
must be many things which he has not chosen to explain, or you have
not capacity to comprehend; but doctrines, you say, are taught by
christian churches which are clearly and irreconcilably opposed to the
most elementary and universal principles of righteousness, and which
your reason compels you to reject. Well, let us look at this matter.
Select, for instance, the Calvinistic creed. What is the difficulty?
God is just, man responsible, sin avoidable, virtue voluntary, by the
undoubted testimony of the Bible, as well as of reason; none but fools
and wretches dispute these truths. Our Calvinistic brethren affirm
them as strongly as ourselves. The question in controversy between
them and us is not whether these be so, but whether their scheme of
predestination is consistent with them; if it be, your objection is ob viated; if not, by unanimous consent it is false. Your accountability
and God's justice are solid rock; theories of the human will and divine 
184               CIIAISTIANITY REASONABLE IN
decrees are fluctuating waters which may break against, but cannot
shake it.
I reach this conclusion: God's truth is sanctioned by man's reason.
II. God has published a law which you know to be just and good.
You cannot complain against this law, because it requires of you
only that holiness which your reason recognizes as the highest excellence, that rectitude which your conscience recognizes as of the highest obligation. To omit one of its traits from your character would mar
its beauty: to omit one of its precepts from your duty would license sin.
I have spoken of christianity as a system of doctrines, and we have seen
it to contain unmixed and lofty truth; I speak of it now as a system
of morals, and pronounce it the perfect law. No other creed will
bear comparison with the christian's faith; neither will any other code
with the christian's law. I declare it, with a painful consciousness
of my own unworthiness, which is more than lip deep, and costs me
more heavily than mere word confession, that however this law may
condemn and abase me, I would not lower it by one line from the
height of its commands, or subtract one tittle from their breadthno, not for the universe. Let me be pronounced guilty, but thatjustice remain unwarped; let me be shown vile, but that purity remain
unstained. I will stand afar off, and smite my breast, and cry unclean;
but shut not from my sight that beauty which I love, that majesty which
I adore, with a devotion surpassing my weak fondness for all my treasure, and all my joy beside-the ravishing beauty, the sublime majesty
of the holy law. There may be particular precepts of a positive
nature, the design and benefit of which are not obvious to our minds:
though these are few, if any, in the new and simple covenant under
which we live. But for the most part, its institutions carry with them
the evidence of their own wisdom and benevolence; and without an
exception, its principles must be acknowledged by friend and foe,
believer and infidel, so perfect that no flaw can be detected, so complete that no addition can be suggested, so authoritative that none
can dispute their obligation. It realizes the perfect ideal of goodness;
and yet it is no mere abstraction, but a light to guide us, and a rule
to tr us _ i_n _1 all th sitaton an  patiulr  of lie i   n   ac an  spiri. 
ITS DOCTRINES AND DEMANDS..185
thought of it, that this law cannot be set aside without renouncing
your conscience and reason? That it harmonizes with, and is the
embodiment of all those grand principles of justice and goodness by
which you, by which the civilized world, test character and conduct?
That man must become hopelessly blind, irrecoverably lost, the very
recognition of virtue and all her charms gone, before he can deny
this law to be holy, and just, and good? That whatever you may say
about the book, you could as soon sully a sunbeam as connect impurity with the law that book contains; you could no more doubt its
divinity than that God built the sky? Let these statutes be graven
on stone, or written in a book, or published by voice, or in any other
way brought before the mind, conscience shall approve them, and
they shall carry with them all the authority of God, and the transgressor shall be self-reproached and tremble through fear of righteous
retribution, and reason shall pronounce that only by conformity to
them, whether they be the essential principles of right which must
enter into'the law of every order of intelligent beings, or the applications of these principles to the special relations of man, can the character be purified and ennobled, inward peace secured, government
sustained, and the interests of society promoted.  It would be more
rational to expect physical strength and enjoyment where every organ
was diseased, and every function deranged, than spiritual happiness
in a heart whose dispositions and acts vary from this rule of moral
health and order.
If I had space, I would not shrink from the task of subjecting this
position to the severest investigation. I would call up, one by one,
those virtues which have direct relation to God, supreme love, resignation, patience, gratitude, reverence, faith, obedience; then those
which rather rest in ourselves, temperance, chastity, modesty, humility; then those which respect our fellow-men, truth, honesty, meekness, charity: I would ask which one is wrong, unworthy, unnecessary; which one could you blot out; which one lacks the impress of
truth and divinity; which one lacks majesty and grace. I would defy
you to add to the list, to take from the list, to amend or abate. The
sun is not so bright; heaven's dome is not so broad, and high, and
regular; there reigns not amid the systems and motions of the stars a
harmony so complete, as is this perfection of all that is beautiful,
and lovely, and proportioned, and noble, and sublime, most worthy 
iso6   ~      CHRISTIANITY REASONABLE IN
to be revered and loved as the image of God's own wisdom and will,
muost worthy to be embraced and practiced as man's true dignity and
good. I will select one command; it shall be the most difficult to be
obeyed-that from which our fallen nature recoils with the most stubborn hostility, that which is directly in the teeth of the old philosophy and of the world's code of honor-the duty of forgiveness, of
love and kindness to our enemies. I ask a fair trial at the bar of
your own reason. I appreciate the disadvantage underwhich I labor;
the passions of your heart are against this precept: your own life is
condemned by it, and to sanction it is heavily to accuse yourself; it
is sneered at and scouted by the great world. Nevertheless, I appeal
to you in the quiet hour when prejudice and passion are in a measure
stilled, and am willing that your understanding, sadly darkened as it is
in spiritual things-your conscience, sadly stupefied as it has become
by neglect of religion, shall decide the question. It is weak and unmanly not to revenge insult and injury, is the heathen doctrine; it
is noble, godlike, is the christian. I place before you a man of scrupulous honesty, of unblemished purity, of generous friendship. He
has been deeply injured, wantonly insulted, in his person, property,
reputation, family, by one whom he had treated with uniform kindness. Now every other feeling is swallowed up in the foaming passion of revenge; he plans, he pursues that he may inflict terrific punishment; he loathes, scorns, hates, with cruel hatred, his enemy; he
would waste his possessions, lacerate his tenderest affections, rend him
limb from limb. There stands before you the hero of heathen admiration-of human philosophy. And now I present to you another who
shall resemble the former in every other feature, but differ in the
triumph of holy love.  He shall not lack courage; christianity disdains cowardice. He shall not be of so easy and sluggish a spirit
that he would not stir to maintain his rights; christianity gives hardihood and earnestness. Hle shall not be protected from the pain of
that wound which the hand of his familiar friend has given by an obtuse nature-his shall be keen sensibility; for christianity refines,
instead of blunting the feelings. He shall have a warm indignation
against all injustice and meanness; and pity shall not enfeeble principle, but he shall be prompt to strike the blow of judgment at the
demand of duty.  And yet, he shall spare his foe, shall forgive from
the heart his foe, shall feel sorrow for his crime, shall pray for his
amendment and pardon, shall retrench his own expenses that he may 
ITS DOCTRINES AND DEMANDS.                   187
minister to his wants, and risk the most imminent peril to save his life.
Such is the hero of christianity. What say you? Who is the greater?
Who is right? Answer: "The hero of heathendom," and I carry
you to Calvary, and dare you despise the cry of the crucified: "Father
forgive them." I carry you to the great white throne, and dare you
invoke justice without mercy, wrath without forgiveness.
You cannot find fault with God's law if you would
III. God offers you justification on terms which are simple, just,
and eminently merciful.
It argues gross presumption and folly in the criminal to except to
any method by which he may be acquitted; for his acquittal must
proceed from mere grace, and deserve the warmest gratitude. How
% sinner can be cleared in the Divine court where his crime is proved,
where the law pronounces every one accursed who continueth not in
all things therein written, where a justice presides which metes out
due retribution without the chance of mistake or partiality-how he
can go forth at freedom and in honor as a righteous person, and resume his rank among heaven's loyal subjects, is a problem so difficult that it must have been judged insoluble by the highest finite
intelligence before the revelation of the gospel.  "He justifieth the
ungodly:" there is the good news of a mercy in God and a happiness
for man which were incredible on any less assurance than the Divine
proclamation, but being found true should melt the heart of stone,
and fill with more than angelic rapture earth's despairing wretches;
it does raise in the presence of God a shout of joy which had never
sounded forth over the safety of the unfallen. And while the great
heart of God is yearning with compassion towards the guilty, and the
eternal Son is looking with delight to see the travail of his soul, and
all the bright spirits around the throne are praising the love that
abounded over sin, and rejoicing with new songs in sympathy with
the ransomed captives of earth, shall the transgressor proudly lift
the head which had deserved to bow in perpetual degradation beneath
the wrath of his Judge, and quarrel with the conditions on which his
pardon is offered, and fling back, as into the very face of God, that 
~188         CHRISTIANITY REASONABLE  IN
to the sIlame and bitterness of repentance?  Surely, the pain of a
penitence which is comforted amid its very tears by assurances of the
divine readiness to forgive, is an easy exchange for the blackness of
despair and the gnawings of remorse and the endurance of vengeance
through ages without end; and the cries of a suppliant at the mercyseat, where God's own Son is the advocate, are far better than prayers
in hell, to which comes through eternity no answer save laughter and
mockery, and wailings over a ruin from which there is no recovery.
God takes no pleasure in your sorrow except as it is necessary to
your amendment, but he hastes to bind up the bruised heart and
pour into it a healing balm. The gospel contains no weak compromise by which a partial suffering of the penalty is substituted for its
eternal and unmitigated severity; it teaches neither penance during
life nor purgatory hereafter. Evangelical repentance is neither in
whole nor in part an atonement for sin; and the grief it implies has
no other use and no further extent, either in time or poignancy, than
to induce the hating and abandonment of sin, and an earnest turning
unto God. When that point has been reached, there soon follows a
sweet peace through the witness of a full pardon.
But the great, the peculiar condition on which justification is offered, is faith in Christ. And what possible objection can be urged
against this, unless it be such an one as Naaman presented when he
was told to dip himself seven times in Jordan for the cure of his
leprosy-viz: that he had expected a more difficult task and a more
magnificent apparatus? Men wonder and stumble at the doctrine of
salvation by faith, because to believe seems so small a thing. It demands neither toil nor suffering, neither ceremony nor waiting, neither
learning nor morality: it is as easy and instantaneous as looking to
the brazen serpent on the pole, or touching the hem of Christ's robe;
its efficacy is no more restricted by the previous character and life
than was the virtue which went forth from Jesus by the nature or
extent of the disease. Faith is the denial of all merit, righteousness
and works in the believer. It flings away the worthless dross of our
own deeds, with which we had vainly dreamed to purchase heaven,
and bows before God a beggar and a debtor: it silences the tongue
which had been flippant with self-excuse and self-praise, and is dumb
at the Divine reproof: it tears off every bandage from our wounds,
and probes them through the skin which had deceitfully closed over
them to their very depth, exposing the festered, loathsome corrup 
ITS DOCTRINES AND DEMANDS.                    189
tion: it goeth not about to establish our own righteousness, but
stands still with self-despair. Such is faith simply doing nothing,
ceasing to work, ceasing to go about, ceasing to boast, naked, speechless, wounded, dying. But what else shall I say of faith? It looks,
it listens, it receives. With reverent boldness it draws nearer to
Jesus in Gethsemane than the stone's cast which separated his favored disciples, and with anxious vigilance sleeps not one moment of
those dark hours which he spends in prostrate prayer, but hearkens
to every cry of anguish which breaks the silence of the night, and
watches every drop of sweat which falls like blood to the earth; for
well does it understand that the cup of bitterness so intense as to
sicken unto death the soul of the shrinking, yet submissive sufferer,
must be drunk to the dregs, or else to the sinner's lips shall be pressed
forever the exhaustless potion of God's wrath, without one drop of
water to allay its burning heat. It follows Jesus, but not afar off as
did Peter, to the high priest's palace, and Pilate's judgment-seat;
it witnesses all the mockery and all the pain which he endures from
Jewish council, Roman governor, rude soldiers, and excited rabble;
it lingers with his mother and the beloved disciple near his cross,
until he cries, "It is finished," and yields the ghost: it beholds
another victim than the mere man for whose blood the crowd thirsted,
and another judge than unjust Pilate, who gave up to death one he
had himself pronounced faultless, and another charge than that of
treason against Cosar for which he is condemned-the Son of God,
adjudged by the Father who delighted in him to an anguish exceeding human appreciation, in expiation of the united sins of the whole
world. It is earlier at the sepulchre on the third morning than Mary
Magdalene with her needless spices, and freely weeps, but not like
her, with grief; for it is in time to see the first triumph of the Redeemer over death-God's witness to the love with which he accepts
the satisfaction offered his offended justice in the voluntary sacrifice
of his Son, and God's pledge to save through its merit every believing sinner. It is at Bethany on the day of the ascension, but the cloud
in which Jesus is folded hides him not from its more piercing gaze,
as it did from the eleven; for it sees the grand triumphal procession
of heaven's hosts hasting forth through the everlasting doors to hail
the King of glory, and the crown of universal empire, outshining the
sun, with which the Father binds upon the throne the brow so lately
torn by thorns upon the cross. It abides in that most holy presence 
190               CHRISTIANITY REASONABLE IN
of God, where blazes a splendor beyond the shekinah, and a mercyseat of purer gold than the lid of the ark is sprinkled with more
precious blood than ever flowed beneath the knife of Levitical priest
it hears our great High Priest, with infinite majesty, with boundless
compassion, pleading for our sakes the value of his own vicarious
suffering and death. And through this wonderful plan of mediation,
it receives, it is gifted with blessings beyond all price, save that of
the blood of God's own Son. Jesus Christ is made unto us of God
wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. A
righteousness not of the law, but of grace, is found, whose surpassing
excellence causes us to count all things else but loss. The debtor
is discharged from his obligation; the beggar is enriched with treasures beyond computation; the sick unto death is restored to soundness by a kind physician; the criminal is absolved from guilt; the
dead is alive, and the lost is found.
Oh sinner! here is a burden, but it presses not on you. Here is
the exaction of your debt unto the last farthing, but it is paid by
another. Here is rigor, the unsparing rigor of law and justice, but
God's beloved Son is held to the account, and feels the keen edge of
the sword. For him there is severity, for you there is grace alone.
Over his sufferings the sun blackens, and the earth quakes; but towards you is displayed
" Amazing pity, grace unknown,
And love beyond degree!"
IV. God has made a gracious provision for the renewal of yourfallen nature after his own image in holiness.
Man, in the pride of his heart, would gladly think well of himself
if he could. And such is the blindness which sin brings over his
moral judgment, and such are the delusions which he practices upon
himself to conceal an unpleasant truth. that he has but a faint conception of his own depravity, and sometimes feels a positive complacency in his own character. Yet he meets with but a partial success
in his earnest effort to hide from himself the true state of his heart, 
ITS DOCTRINES AND DEMANDS.                     191
heart tempers of such violence as not to be overlooked, and of such
fiendishness or brutality as not to be excused. He would shrink
with abject shame from the disclosure to his fellows of thoughts and
principles and motives which work within his secret soul; he cannot
be reconciled with himself, but is mortified and pained at his own
weakness in yielding to temptation, and his own lusts which crave unhallowed indulgence; he would shrink with terror at the idea of appearing before the judgment seat of God, and being revealed in all
his poliution amid the effulgence of the divine perfections. Loud as
are the laudations of man with which the world often rings, the sober confession is as often extorted that human nature is very frail,
full of faults and infirmities, easily led astray by temptation, breaking
loose with untamable wildness from  every restraint of law and education, but soon subjected to the resistless tyranny of evilhabits. I
appeal to your observation of mankind, to your familiarity with history, to the facts of your own life, to the present testimony of your
own consciousness, in proof that the heart is habitually and deeply
vicious.  If you are ever well pleased with yourself, it is in gay
moods of thoughtlessness, or on very superficial reflection; it iswhen
friends have flattered you, or you have drugged your own souls with
the opiate of vain imaginations. I challenge you to enter on serious
self-examination; to select as a standard of comparison an ideal of
virtue and purity, notmore strict and spiritual than your own conscience will approve as right and enforce as binding, if you allow
conscience to speak; to try your life by that line-your inward dispositions- by that law, candidly and searchingly, as you expect to be
tried by God in the day of accounts. I know that the verdict of
your own heart now will be the same as the verdict of the dread
Judge then-you will pronounce yourself unworthy of his love and
unfit for heaven. It requires no peculiar skill of priest, or seven
days of trial, to determine that you are a moral leper, cut off from
the congregation of the righteous and the presence -of divine glory.
Yet you know not one tithe of your own wickedness as it appears before the God of infinite purity, or even as it may be learned by yourself. You confess in moments of honesty and sober thought that you
are prone to do evil and weak to do good; but in fact, you are a captive to sin, without power to escape its chains, and a spiritual par alytic, impotent to work righteousness. You may patch together a
garment of fancied goodness by outward morality and religious 
192                CHRISTIANITY REASONABLE IN
forms, but you have only to consider in order to strip off and cast
away the robe of filthy rags as utterly worthless. Set about to
change your nature, and be the holy being your conscience commends, and you will find the task as difficult as to roll back the river
rushing to the sea.
But I pause too long in describing the disease-where is the remedy? Can there be any remedy? One only, and that must come
from the power and grace of God. Hle cannot change. Over his
lustrous purity shall never come spot or dimness. As his essence, so
must be his will and law, holy, unchangeable. Not a precept can be
waived in accommnodation to human weakness.  Earth, his footstool,
heaven, his throne, may be crushed and rolled into nonenity; but his
glory, which is his holiness, shall still shine forth in infinite brightness, and his law, which is a flawless mirror reflecting that glory,
shall remain in its original perfection. God must ever loathe and
hate sin, with a repugnance as uncompromising as his justice and as
unbounded as his purity.  But man  may change-rather, may be
changed, for the change cannot come from himself. How shall this
change be wrought? Not by the law, though it is holy, just, and good.
Absolutely perfect in its own nature and to its own end, it has no
adequacy or even tendency to restore to purity a sinful nature. It
is an infallible guide in the path of life, but not a physician to cure
an impotent man that he may walk therein. Its study may increase
the admiration of virtue in the pure, because it discloses all her peerless beauty; but a carnal mind feels a more violent aversion to its
statutes the more clearly they are understood.  You must be born
again-born of God-or you cannot see his kingdom.   There is regenerating power in the Holy Ghost shed down on us by the Father.
The old heart must be taken away, and a new heart given. The nature itself must be thoroughly renovated before it, can take any delight in God, or God can take any delight in it. Nothing will answer the necessities of your case save a spiritual and almighty influence, which can act directly on the very heart and revolutionize the
whole man. Such is the work of the Spirit. The very best account
of your moral state which even your dim-eyed conscience can furnish,
shows the need of a change to make you a partaker of the divine nature, so vast and profound as to be beyond any other-agency than
that of God's Spirit; and the very worst account of yourself which
you can give under the progress of religious conviction, cannot show 
ITS DOCTRINES AND DEMANDS.                    193
too desperate a condition to be saved by this power to which all things
are possible. Though you be dead in sin, the Spirit can quicken
you; though you be buried, the Spirit can raise you from your grave;
though you have turned to corruption, the Spirit can restore to OTder the elements which have dissolved, and reclothe with beauty the
form which has decayed; though your skeleton be broken and your
bones be dry, and the question be asked with despair, "Can these
dry bones live.?" yet there may breathe upon you the Spirit, so that
the deranged fragments shall be composed into a new man, and your
heart shall beat with the pulsations of an immortal life.
This Spirit of the Lord has sufficiently enlightened your mind, and
excited a susceptibility to the attractions of holiness, to induce in you
a penitent seeking after God, unless you wilfully resist his gracious
drawings. If you ask his sanctifying worlk, your Father in heaven
will give him to your prayers with greater eagerness than ever earthly
parent gave bread to the cries of a starving child. He will dwell in
you to thoroughly purify your inmost thoughts, and to strengthen you
for all righteousness. Through his might you shall, like Paul, be
able to do all things: that strength is made perfect in weakness.
There is not a command in the Bible so high that you shall not find
a promise of grace sufficient to qualify you for its performance.  If
you are required to love the Lord your God with all your heart, he
Las promised to circumcise your heart thai you may love him with all
the heart.  You are left. in a world of evil, but Christ prays the
Father to keep you from the evil.  You will be exposed to tempttions, but there shall not befal you a tempation without strength
enough being imparted to bear it.  He "is able to keep you from
falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory
with exceeding joy."
V.   Godpays tle largest wagesfor the service he demands.
The remuneration is of grace, not of debt, for the most faithful
-,ervice through a life-time would only fill the measure of duty, and
could not bring our Lord under obligation. Man, in his impatience,
desires immediate reward  and God, in his compassion, does not
withhold it until the day's task is finished, but begins to bless
him in his very deed, and reserves for him in heaven an incorruptible inheritance. The recompense in this world is a hundred fold
greater than the toil and the sacrifice; there is added in the world
13 
194                CHRISTIANITY REASONABLE IN
to come everlasting life-a portion too vast to bear any ratio which we
can express or conceive to the service even of the apostle who
was "in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons
more frequent, in deaths oft." - God keeps ceaseless watch over his
servants, directs, defends, feeds, clothes them. He gives them his
Spirit to abide in their hearts as a comforter. This divine friend,
guest, companion, speaks to them, communes with them, leads them
into a spiritual understanding of the precious truths of God, inspires
them with chi'd-like confidence and delight in their heavenly Father,
encourages them under difficulties and despondency, and strengthens
them with internal joy and vigor when they feel ready to faint and
fall. The kind voice of the Spirit cheers them in the heat of the
strife and during the dull hours of watching; and there soon follows a complete victory which revives and emboldens them for fresh
conflicts. They have peace of conscience, the love of God, and fruits
of usefulness. Theirs is a steadily increasing reward, because they
are conscious of a progressive purification and strengthening of their
spirits, by which it becomes easier to conquer temptation, a keener
relish is felt for divine things, and they have larger capacity to do
good. In seasons of affliction, they have revelations of God in such
glory of holinesss and tenderness of love as they enjoy at no other
time; and they come forth from thile fires with a purity, not tarnished,
but more resplendent than before. Their dying hours are bright
with a spiritual joy and triumph which draw from the most worldly
the prayer, "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last
end be like his."
After a short life of labor they rest forever, and their works do
follow them. Shall I attempt to describe the munificence of that recompense which God will give to you when you shall have proved faithful
unto death? Shall I contrast the wages of sin with the wages of pietyeternal death with eternal life? Shall I speak of the short service
and the enduring reward? Shall I speak of how little we do and
how much we receive? I can find neither words nor thoughts worthy of the theme. The inspired description leaves nothing to be desired above or besides what is promised. You could not ask more
ntfryuowpladsure  bufors thAe glr  of God and __!the good __f 
ITS DOCTRINES AND DEMANDS.                     195
others, the few talents here committed to your trust, you shall be ruler over many things, and it shall be the will of God that they should
minister to your full enjoyment. There is nothing which seems to
us so long or so heavy as affliction; but the most severe and protracted sufferings are light as a feather and brief as a moment if
compared with the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory
which they work out for the christian. Your talents may be few
and your sphere of activity contracted, but if you improve that
which is given, you shall not fail to be commended as a good and
faithful servant, and to be welcomed into the joy of your Lord. Your
face shall glow like the sun in his strength, while around your form
shall flow a robe of light, and on your brow shall glitter a crown -of
glory.  Your rank shall be equal to that of the angels, and God
himself shall delight to honor you; yea, Jesus Christ shall seat you
by his side as a brother, and share his inheritance with you as a jointheir. There will not be a tongue to revile you, or a hand to be
raised against you, or a tempter to try you, or a sorrow to pierce
you, or a care to annoy you, or a task to weary you. Every desire
will feast without satiety on a full supply, and every faculty will exult without fatigue in the noblest employment. Yours shall be an
endless life of waiting on God, beholding his glory, hearing his
voice, doing his will, delighting in his love, being transformed into
his image, with a satisfaction and rapture unmixed in purity and unbounded in degree.
Friend, will you withhold from God so reasonable a service, and
reject for yourself so rich a reward t  
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PAUL'S COMMISSION TO PREACH.
BY LOVICK PIERCE, D. D.,
OF THE GEORGIA CONFERENCE
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with
wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. —
I Cor. i, 17.
As all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable
for doctrine, we may place our text at once upon its proper basis,
and proceed to adjust its terms and explain its rather singular aspect,
according to our view of its import.
And, frst': Were it meet to call any one of the apostles of our
Lord Jesus Christ an appointee of his by eminence, we think all would
unite on Paul. His epistles are nearly all prefaced with the same
great governing fact-" Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ "- once
adding "Not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God
the Father."  And he once says he was "set for the defence of the
gospel."  Putting all these evidences ofhis divine credentials together,
and then seeing how slightly attached to the commission of preaching
was the work of baptizing, there is much room left for wise suggestions, none for silly speculation.
The commission of St. Paul to preach the gospel was either a perfeet commission, without an absolute order to baptize; or else he
preached under an imperfect commission, and pleads its origin and
authority to be divine. Every one not mentally disabled to judge
by an incautious surrender of principle to creed, will admit the first
member of the proposition-to wit: that St. Paul had a perfect
commission to preach the gospel, exclusive of an absolute order to 
198              PAUL'S COMMISSION TO PREACH.
a perfect commission to preach the gospel without an absolute order
to baptize, then baptism as a thing or act is not an integrant portion
of what the scriptures mean by the charming epithet, gospe/. For if
it were, then would a commission to preach shut up every preacher
of the gospel to the necessity of baptizing as a part of his office, and
of preaching baptism as a part of the gospel. This will furnish the
reason why so many self-deluded preachers preach baptism so much;
it is because they look upon baptism (by which they mean immersion)
as a portion of the gospel-not as an incidental appendage of a Christian church, but as a part of the very gospel. If they did not so
understand it, they could not preach immersion as one of Christ's
commands under the general commission, " Go, preach my gospel."
And yet there are thousands of worthy preachers who preach this
dogma as a portion of Christ's gospel. As a proof point-blank that
they do so understand it, they deny the existence of a gospel church
in the absence of immersion, and hold that a pure and legitimate administrator must derive his right from his place in a regular descending
line of the duly immersed. They also make obedience to this feature in the gospel they preach indispensable to Christian communion
In a word, immersionists demand more and yield less at this point
than anywhere else. A candidate may be a liberal on almost any point
of general faith, but on the question of immersion, as demanded by
eminence, no modification can be allowed. All must yield to one
mode, and then hold every one not immersed as a stranger and a foreigner in the family of Christ.
That anything as subordinate to the gospel as baptizing is made
in Paul's commission to preach, as set forth in the text, should have
been exalted by men to such importance, is a point entitled to manly
and fearless consideration. For let it be understood that the obligation of a minister to perform baptism cannot fall below the value of
baptism itself; and if the necessity to be baptized is to be enforced
on the same ground that we enforce the obligation to believe, then
there could not be any such subordination of baptism as that which is
rovided for in St. Paul's commission.  But if baptism, like circumcision, is a mere certificate of interests secured to the holder anterior
to its institution-obtained without and entirely independent of it, it
being only a sign or seal of an interest arising from a simple reliance
on the covenant of grace, through Christ Jesus-then Paul's failure
to baptize was no infraction of any primary law or ground of saving 
PAUL'S COMMISSION TO PREACII.                  199
faith.  Thus to ignore baptizing was not to discard baptism as wrong
or idle, but to declare its great inferiority when compared with preaching the gospel-it being at best only an outward rite, valuable as a
testimonial of an inward grace, but perfectly worthless in itself.  And
if such a deduction is at all legitimate, it follows as a matter of course
that the individual right of Christians to communion in the household of faith does not proceed in anywise from baptism, in view of original dependence of the one upon the other, but from the possession
and exercise of that faith which justifies the ungodly, into the groundwork and reason of which baptism did not and cannot enter. The
whole value of Christian baptism is found in its representative and
social signification. In the first, it is the visible sign of imparted purity;
in the second, it is the fraternal sign of the household of faith, and of
the consociation of converted souls in the Church of the living God,
and derives its importance and authority from the divine law and
rule of order. It is to be regarded as the initiatory step into Church
relationship  in taking which, the initiated is understood to admit all the
rights of the Church, and to pledge himself to a Christian observance
of all the rules and regulations thereof. Ilence it is conceded as a
self-evident fact, that any denominational law or usage in the establishment of an exclusive mode of baptism, cannot have any force
beyond their own limits as a reasonable ground of brotherly fellowship, until they prove that a legitimate membership in the Church of
Christ cannot be secured without a special mode of baptism, and that
all variations or modifications of that mode renders nugatory, and an
usurpation, the claim of any person for brotherly communion and
Christian fellowship-the claimant not being in the Church. Our
couclusion is, that every such assumption of right and power in a
Church is but a beguiling of Christ's children in a voluntary humility, a subjection of them to an usurped authority, and a policy of
bigotry at war with Paul's directions, "Let no man therefore judge
you in meat or in drink," or in anything immaterial to the faith that
justifies and saves.  Every such surrender of a great principle is the
inauguration of an element of arrant bigotry.
But the commission of St. Paul suggests another important idea,
viz: that the office of baptizing may, by an over estimate of its necessity, minister to divisions in the Church, and that as an inferior office
it may and should be laid over until this evil is cured. We assume this apostolic example as conv;ne:g proof that baptism can 
200               PAUL'S COMMISSION TO PREACII.
never have importance enough to justify divisions in the Church; and
therefore all such divisions founded on mere differences about baptism
are evidences of bigotry on a larger scale than they are of orthodoxy. It is true that Paul ignored baptism for reasons stronger
than could easily be shown in our day; but it is sufficient for our
purpose, in all cases where the evil is presumptively evident. Paul's
movement in this instance is not alleged on higher ground. He only
feared, as a possible case, that some one of the self-styled Paulites
might, in partizan heat and folly, claim to be baptized in the name of
Paul.  But let not any imagine that Paul feared the formula of baptism would be altered, so that the officiating minister would say" I
baptize thee in the name of Paul, the apostle of Jesus Christ." No,
this was not what he feared, and what he so nobly deprecated.  He
feared that he would seem to be making disciples unto himself: this
was what he meant by baptizing in his own name. There was the
carnal leaven of envy and strife working lustily in Corinth. It was
a choice time and place for a factionist. The revival, or to speak more
properly perhaps, the great religious awakening in Corinth came up
under Paul's preaching; so much so that he afterwards, in vindication of his ministerial success there against his calumniators, asserts
his pre-emption right to the whole of them, as his converts. But
waiving all advantages from position and priority, he nobly lived and
labored only for Christ.  He was one of a very few preachers as I
fear, who know that there. cannot be an over-appreciation of themselves but at the deadly cost of an equal depreciation of Christ. He
knew that the leaven of Paulism in the Church would  be no less
harmful than would the leaven of Herod. He counted a refusal to
baptize his converts a saving policy demanded by Christ himself,
when set up against the error and idolatry of man-worship which enters into all these excessive admirations of men. In how many ways,
and in how many instances, think you, baptisms are virtually administered in the name of a Paul?  I tell you I am not utterly mistaken,
nor do I speak uncharitably, when I say there are now in our midst
preachers who would rejoice more at the conversion of any old or
prominent member in another church to the belief that immersion is
the only mode of baptism, indeed that it is the thing itself, than they
would at the conversion of a sinner who had this sectarian faith before. Now, candor and conscience compel me to say, that I want no
other proof of the carnal origin of any ecclesiasticism of this kina 
PAUL'S COMMISSION TO PREACH.                   201
than these two-the bigotry that disowns, and the zeal that proselytes
with a gusto. And these little carnal outgushings can be found in
no church, unless some strict orthodoxy of creed or punctilious observance of order, not recognized by other churches as of such intrinsic value, is raised to preeminent importance, and becomes a
matter of glorying. There are thousands of these misguided immersionists who have imbued their spirits with admiration of this bant
ling idea, until they really believe themselves the chosen sentinels of
the ark of the covenant. Thus every one who defends an idea under
the belief that he is defending a divinity, naturally becomes a sort of
spiritual idolator.
It is evident that Paul was too cautious in his course, or else many
of his successors are far too incautious; either he was over Scrupulous
in guarding the great doctrine of grace, of exclusive grace in
human salvation, or else we are generally too indifferent about the
dangers of its corruption. I fear there is too much glorying in men
and modes, for the purity of the church. It is no better to make a
sectarian now than it would have been in Paul to make a partizan.
iHe determined to do neither by any official act of his; and therefore
after baptizing Crispus and Gaius, and subsequently Stephanas and
his household, he practically ignored baptism, lest any should say he
baptized ia his own name-that is, baptized his converts as his own
disciples, and the friends of his party. Against such a chance, he
said that Christ sent him not to baptize, but to preach the gospelnot to raise up a Paul party, by going on to baptize, while some said
" I am of Paul," and of course would wish to be baptized by Paul as
their champion leader. No, he ceases to baptize any of them, knowing that if they thought baptism was any better at his hands, because
he was their man, than it would be at the hands of any other minister,
they were not religiously worth baptizing. And if they were baptized
as much to honor Paul, as to be honored byhim, they were to all
practical ends baptized in the name of Paul   Here was a preacher
for you-a model preacher. Where shall we find his successors?
Can no such man be found in our times? Can we find anywhere now
a warm-hearted immer~sionist who, when about to immerse an unin formed subject, would say: "Christ did not send me to baptize, but to
preach the gospel; that is, baptism is so little a thing that I do not
look upon it as contained in the spirit of my commission; it is only
added as a thing of practical utility to the outward church; and if I 
202              PAUL'S COMMISSION TO PREACH.
thought you would look upon yourself as any more acceptable to
Christ, any more worthy or welcome a member in his church, on account of this immersion, I would now dosist." Baptism, like circumcision, is nothing-nothing in the same sense.  Who ever heard any
immersionists labor to convince his subjects that immersion, as a spiritual agency, was empty, dead, worthless in itself —that it was a mere
religious form, and could not, by its mode, make religion more valid 
Now, brother, it were as well for you to make water itself your saviour,
as the mode of applying it in baptism. Now we modestly say that if
our immersionists would talk thus to their numerous disciples, (land it
is their absolute duty to talk so to them) there would be a decline in
the estimated value of immersion. But right here arises the dificulty
which presses so fearfully upon all sides of this question. The practical working in these days of all sectarian and partisan movements,
is exactly the opposite of Paul's course. We risk wrong notions
about certain things-for instance, immersion  itself-rather  than
depress them to their proper measure, for fear of unsettling some views
already extravagant in devotion to this mode. Paul's idea was that
non-baptism was a less evil to the Corinthian church, than baptism
with idolatrous elements wrapped up in it; our modern immersionists
recommend and defend their idolized mode of baptism, as if satisfied
that an error in mode is more to be dreaded than an excess of confidence in its God-pleasing letter. Hence an ultra immersionist never
thinks too much passed to the credit of immersion, until you say it is
meritorious enough to supersede Christ's merit! then alarmed and
horrified, he raises his wail. So that you do not reach that point,
you may say: "There is no gospel-obedience without it; no church
without it; no ground of christian communion without it.  It is
Christ's chosen and only mode of baptism. Christ has the same views
of immersion and preference for it that we' have. And I believe that
God is just as much pleased with me on account of my having followed him through his' liquid grave,' as I am with myself." Every
immersionist that does not feel and think thus enough to justify him
in saying so, ought to be ashamed of his adhesion to his party.   For
if all this is not true, the whole ground of modal baptism is only a
delusive mirage. But the delight with which every water-worshiping
spirit hears the immersionist extol and magnify the mode of his baptism, is proof conclusive of his devotion to mode. The credentials 
PAUL'S COMMISSION TO PREAClg                   203
under which he acts must, therefore, differ from those Christ gave to
Paul, in so far as to make baptism a part of the gospel, and its administration a paramount duty. Hence a stress and meaning are placed
on every phase of this wonderful symbol, so as to magnify a mode.
But once more we will return to our stand-point: The division of
the church in connection with baptizing. Have not these latter days
furnished men of popular ministerial prominence who have rent in
twain a church of years, and of well-earned fame, on the ground of
baptism? Not indeed about its mode, but about sequences involved
in the extravagant notions entertained concerning the mere mode.
The church as it was, made immersion indispensable to gospel obedience. The great reformer desired the church to go farther, and
increase the necessity for this obedience, by  making  immersion,
when believingly received, the guarantee of regeneration-thus seemingly denying the doctrine of baptismal regeneration, and yet teaching that the Spirit is so resident in the word, or letter, as to render
obedience to the letter indispensable to the offices of the Spirit, and
those offices a never failing certainty upon such obedience. It was a
magnificent idea for such as labored under the modal lunacy. It is a
matter of wonder to me, how Mr. Campbell came to make immersion
such a central point in this brief programme of spiritual development.
It is, however, retrospectively a very suggestive incident. The germ
of Campbellism is found in the over-estimated value of immersion.
Whenever an enhanced value is attributed to outward forms of religion, it always leads to theoretical dogmas, or to sacramental sanctification. The Campbellite heresy is the fullest development of what
we understand to have been the evil deprecated by St. Paul, "the
baptizing in his own name," which the world ever saw. But who
supposes that Mr. C. ever felt this horror of having disciples baptized in his name, as a champion and a leader? And yet to prevent a
similar evil, Paul was commissioned to preach the gospel without
baptizing, because to baptize and make a hobby of it would have
.ministered to party feuds; and baptism was considered of too little
value to the church, to be practiced at such cost of vital principle.
The argument, up to this point, has been to show that baptizing in
Paul's commission to preach was only incidental, and not imperative,
as though it were essential in carrying out the high behests of heaven,
as some seem to regard it. And being so clearly a contingent duty,
it cannot be exalted into a consideration of such intrinsic value, as 
204               PAUL'S COMMISSION TO PREACH.
to constitate a sine qua non in settling the ground of christian fellowship, thereby rendering null and void all higher and more spiritual
qualifications, such as spiritual regeneration. And if the whole question of baptism is too insignificant to justify divisions in a church,
the mode of baptism must furnish still less justifiable ground for discord and division in the whole church of the Lord Jesus Christ. This
much for the conditional part of Paul's divine commission: next,
comes the positive and imperative.  He was sent to preach the gospel.  How did he do it.
Paul's preaching of the gospel was marked by three distinguishing
features: in its matter; in its manner; and in its extent. To'each
of these let us pay a passing notice.
Christ, and him crucified, was his constant theme. His first public
discourse was in the synagogues at Damascus, to prove that Christ
was the Son of God. As he increased in strength, he mightily confounded the Jews, proving that Jesus was the very Christ.  Here
was to them the rock of offence, and here he applied his arguments.
At Thessalonica, he entered into their synagogue, and "three Sabbath days reasoned with them, opening and alleging, that Christ must
needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this
Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ." Most of his epistles open
with the recognition of Jesus as the Messiah of God. To the Romans, his salutation is: "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to
be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (which he had promised afore in the holy scriptures,) concerning his Son Jesus Christ
our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
and declared to be the Son of God, with power, according to the Spirit
of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." Here is a brief
view of the gospel as Paul preached it. He began with Christ, and
ended with Christ.
To the Church at Corinth he said: "For I determined not to know
anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." To the
Galatians: "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I
tin thr  is nohn tat cont  rave Chis hisl.  _For ths most*as 
PAUL'S COMMISSION TO PREACH                   205
not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of
God by faith." He preached Christ as the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believed. The law of the Spirit of life
which makes believers free from the law of sin and death, he placed
in Christ. Deliverance from the noisome body of death, he ascribed
to Christ. Such, indeed, was his estimate of Christ, that he proudly
declares his loss of all things-a loss too, which was the result of
deliberate choice,-for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ
Jesus his Lord. Nay more, he gloried also in the marks of the Lord
Jesus which he bore in his body-the marks of whips and the endu.
ing scars of stonings, all suffered for preaching Christ. He preached
this gospel from prison and prison bounds: he preached it in chains.
IIe was transported in this condition from Jerusalem to Cesarea, and
from Cesarea to Rome. To the Romans, he declared in his epistle:
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power
of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first,
and also to the Greek." He preached Christ, the wisdom of God, and
the power of God. He declared that in Christ dwelt all the power
of the God-head bodily; and that believers are complete in himneed no other ingredients in their religion, Christ being all and in all.
To his merit, nothing could be added; especially, nothing by ceremonial washings. Jewish ablutions were all annulled, and Jewish sacrifices abolished, and the kingdom of heaven was set up. But outward things could not become of any more worth, after the setting
up of the Messiah's kingdom, than they were before. How could
they. Could Christ raake water baptism of more value in the
christian religion, than circumcision was in the Jewish. Surely not.
For this would have been to put away one ceremonial on account of
its unprofitableness, and substitute it by another equally worthless as
a saving element. If no saving virtue could be imparted to circumcision, none can be to water baptism. The two impossibilities are
just equal. Here we see further evidence that Christ did not send
Paul to baptize. Paul wrote and spoke on every essential principle
of salvation, and yet there is not a word from him on this now mooted
question, except an incidental disclaimer to the christian validity of
John's baptism, as related in Acts, nineteenth chapter. And this may
safely be regarded as one of many instances in which Paul, being set
for the defence of the gospel, interposed his apostolic authority 
206               PAUL'S COMMISSION TO PREACH.
against the incorporation of any one element of Jewish religion into
the gospel of Christ. Paul knew that to admit these twelve disciples
into the fellowship of the Ephesian church upon the authority of
John's baptism, would be construed as accepting a rite which did
not demand the acknowledgment of the Trinity in Unity of the everlasting God-head-a circumstance which demolishes forever the baptism of John as an example for christians. It is perfectly immaterial
by what miode John  baptized: all must confess that his baptism
passed away with his peculiar office and dispensation; and with his
baptism, its mode. Its effete and imperfect character was declared
by the order of Paul that those disciples should be baptized in the
name of the Lord Jesus, which was done by some other minister
beside Paull. But Paul ceremonially laid his hands on them, and they
then received the Holy Ghost, of whom they had significantly learned
in their christian baptism. In view of these and other considerations
not less grave, it is to us a most surprising fact that, ever since our
earliest recollection, there have been persons claiming the right of
teaching as if by eminence, who hold the preposterous notion that
Christ's baptism by John before the public was an example to be followed by his disciples, and who have taught in all cases of immersion
under their auspices that the gist of the thing consists in its being
obedience to Christ's example. And yet a mind not crippled by
prejudice will see at once, that it was impossible for Christ to be baptized, at any time, or in any mode, simply as an example for his
followers. Neither his character nor his order left to him the possibility of receiving John's baptism, or his own, as an example for
believers. Example proper cannot be set in cases where the conditions and moral obligations are essentially dissimilar. Where, we
ask, in the name of unprejudiced candor, is it found that Christ's
ceremonial consecration to the office of God's high priest on earth,
in the river Jordan, by John the baptizer, the only official of God
who could befittingly perform this consecration of Jesus to his public
office as a divine teacher-where, we ask, is it found that this sui
generis baptism, or Jewish priestly washing, was done or designed as
an example for christians to follow in their baptism. I confess that
to meet with men of good capacity in other respects, who can doggedly
defend the idea that Christ took up John's baptism, grafted.on to it a
different ceremonial, and then made his own baptism by John an
example for believers' baptism, leaves me less ground' of confidence 
PAUL'S COMMISSION TO PREACH.                    207
in the reliability of human opinion, where prejudce exists, than I am
willing to admit.
Iu all Paul's preaching there is little, very little, heard of baptism.
Not a word did he say about baptism as if it were a doctrine proper,
or any thing like a doctrine, of the gospel. Not a sermon did he
ever preach in vindication of baptism, in any way, or as to any mode.
What he did say referred to the spiritual truths acknowledged and
vows assumed by baptism in the name of Christ: it only went to
prove this one thing-that the baptized renounced sin, and professed
full and implicit faith in Christ Jesus, and in all the grand and gracious benefits of his death; so much so, that they were said to be
baptized into Christ's death. Now I would like to know why any
mode of baptism may not lead the mind, by ceremonial allusion, to
the death of Chris.t.  May not the man who is baptized in the name
and as the disciple of Jesus Christ, thus manifest his sole reliance on
the cross, and his obligation to die unto sin, without any literal resemiblance between the mode of his baptism and the mode of Christ's
death.
We come next to speak of the manner of Paul's preaching. This
was of no less decided a character than was the matter.
Thie general manner of Paul's preaching, as to style, was argumentative. We judge that his epistles afford unquestionable specimens
both of the matter and mnanner of his synagogue discourses.  Luke,
in the Acts, tells us plainly that he did preach after this form.   His
reasoning seems to have been after the fashion of Christ's instruction
to his disciples after his resurection-namely, that if they had understood the prophecies concerning him, and had believed them, they
would never have felt a jostle in the ground-work or in the framework of their faith. Hence, beginning at Moses, and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures, the things' concerning
himself. Oh! what a discourse that must have been. How often
have I felt inclined to wish that I could have heard it. But we have
the rich skeleton of it still unimpaired. It was somewhat after this
divine model that Paul preached the gospel. At Thesalonica, for instance, he entered the synagogue, and three Sabbath days reasoned
with the Jews out of the holy scriptures, opening and alleging that
Christ must needs have suffered, and entered into his glory. " Aid
this crucified Jesus, about whom Jerusalem and all Judea have been
so excited and confounded, is the veritable Christ-the Christ de 
208              PAUL'S COMMISSION TO PREACH.
scribed by your prophets. Look and see. No one but Jesus whom
you have crucified, could ever answer the description given of Messiah by Isaiah."* Go, guilty unbeliever, compare notes with these dedelineated characteristics of Christ, and see if you can concieve of a
mere Jewish prince entering upon his glory without suffering, and
make such a prince the promised Prince of Peace. God's Messiah
is foretold by all your prophets, so minutely that his entrance into
Jerusalem upon an ass, and the foal of an ass, (as the prophet had
phrased it, probably, a young unbroken ass,) was as necessary to meet
that vastly significant monosyllable needs-Christ must needs suffer,
and enter his glory-as was his crucifixion upon the hill of Calvary.
It was necessary that all prophbies concerning Christ should be literally fulfilled, and all were so fulfilled; and then he cried: "It is
finished."
But Paul's manner of preaching the gospel, as it regards style, is
more fully set forth in his first letter to the Corinthians. Corinth was
one of the proud and populous cities where this missionary apostle
broke ground himself; a city where false apostles tried to oust him,
and made it necessary that he should boast himself a little. They
sought to depreciate Paul by ridicule, and by insinuations derogatory
to his integrity. But all these attempts were weakened into mere
pestiferous breath by his apostolic signs and seals, to which he could
so undeniably appeal.  He  claimed to have begotten the whole of
them in Christ Jesus; so that however many instructors they might
have, they had only one ministerial, spiritual father. On this ground
he claimed their christian affiliation. But as Corinth was a hot-bed
of factionists, it afforded a fine opportunity for proselyters. But how
did Paul break ground in Corinth?  He says: "I came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony
of God-and I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much
trembling-and my speech and my preaching was not with enticing
words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of
power; that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but
in the power of God." Whether Paul intended any difference between
his speech and his preaching, and if so, what, we are not advised;
but we suppose the terms to have been used then, as they are now,
to distinguish between a sermon proper, and a hortatory address on
the general subject of religion. But be the difference what it may,
* Isaiah iii, 53 
PAUL'S COMMISSION TO PREACHI,                   209
his style was the same in each. It consisted in the recital of God's
testimonies or truths, as found in the scriptures of the Old Testament.
These were brought forward, and their application to Christ, and their
fulfilment in him and by him were simply declared. None of the
apostles seem to have felt it a duty or a necessity to prove God's word
true. They simply assumed and affirmed its truth, and called upon sin ners to believe it, and to deport themselves accordingly. They did not
stand at the door of a sinner's heart, and plead with him to yield to
the chances of a verdict against himself; but they took a verdict al ready found, and walked into the heart's guilty chamber, and exhibi ting Jehovah's bill of complaints, called upon him to plead "guilty"
as to his conscience was clearly the fact, and judgment was at once
entered up.
This manner of preaching, it is to be feared, has been too long
neglected, and a reliance on logical reasoning, such as might appear
well in a lawyer before a court and jury, or in a statesman before his
peers and his country, has been substituted for that faith which declares God's testimonies, and leaves him to work out their verity by
the demonstration of his Spirit and power. Or if there should be any
approach to it, it is done rather in the way of a professional performance, than as a mere agency to be made powerful and efficient by the
Holy Ghost..We do not feel that we are, in a peculiar sense, laborers together with God-ambassadors for Christ, sent not so much to
negotiate about terms, as to demand submission. It will require the
disclosures of the last day to tell what has been lost to the church by
the error of her ministers in placing too much reliance on the wisdom
of words   The hope of demolishing the fortresses of unbelief and
sin, by mental troops or logical detachments, is a vain hope-at least,
in our general warfare. Sinners must be arraigned before the law
and the testimony of God, charged with a consciousness of their guilt,
and left to the demonstration of the Spirit and of power.  This is the
way in which ministers ought to preach; and at this point arises the
need of prayer by the church, for the want of which much preaching
is lost. The Holy Spirit is given in answer to prayer.
But it is time for us to subject our text, in another of its peculiar aspects, to a more critical examination. Paul's commission to
preach the gospel, as it seems in the language of the text, made his
obligation to baptize so contingent that he did not consider it a part
of his call at all. Strange procedure this, if baptism is what our
14 
210              PAUL'S COMMISSION TO PREACH.
Baptist friends claim it to be-the door into the church, and the ordeal of obedience. But his call to preach the gospel was a positive
call in two aspects: first, he was to preach it; and secondly, he was
to preach it without wisdom of words-that is, without any connection with the philosophy of Greece or Rome, or any dependence upon
mere excellency of speech. This is no denunciation of a pure and
good style in preaching, but a simple declaration that the style of
preaching, so far as it concerns grammar and rhetoric, or even logic,
philosophy, and oratory itself, is not the medium of spiritual power
and success. This medium is found in the divine testimonies themselves. Wisdom of words cannot energize the truth with such power
as dead souls demand. Indeed, if wisdom of words could add anything
in the way of saving energy to the word of God's grace, then would
it be settled that the divine word, like a musical instrument, gives
forth better or worse sounds, according to the artistic skill of the performer. Not so, however, with the minister of the gospel. He
strikes the keys of gospel truth and grace; and disdaining all the
artistic rules which the fastidious taste of the auditors of the age
may seek to impose upon him, he thunders from Sinai or weeps and
woos from Calvary, as he judges best, and quietly leaves all issues to
God's Holy Spirit.
But there was a positive prohibition in Paul's commission to preach.
This negative part of his obligation is couched in terms of such import as to demand investigation with godly jealousy. The temptation to preach the gospel with wisdom of words was never greater
than at this time; and the reason of its forbiddance is not entirely
transparent to all minds. It is lest by wisdom of words we make
the cross, or what we may consider the preaching of the cross itself,
of none effect. This danger of burying the cross out of sight by
wisdom of words, so as to destroy its meaning and power, is utterly
unintelligible to carnal minds. They have not learned to distinguish
between the proud delight they take in the poetic drapery cast about
the cross by the delicate imaginings of their preacher, and the cross as
it exhibits the love of the Father in the gift of the Son, and the love of 
PAUL'S COMMISSION TO PREACH.                    211
miration of his life and death as the prince of philanthropists.  But
with him as the Lamb of God, taking away the sins of the world,
they feel no adoring sympathy. The cross, in this high sense, is
made of none effect.
This prohibition, so justly imposed by Christ upon his preachers,
while it deprecated as weak and unavailing the wisdom of the world
which had labored, but with constant failure, to make God known in
former ages, looked no less to the more modern inventions of a proud
philosophy seeking to rid itself of the necessity of dependence' on the
doctrine of a positive inspiration of the Scriptures for faith and salvation, with the special view of avoiding that mystery of godliness,
the incarnation, and of bringing christianity sufficiently under the
auspices of some school of German neology to make the story of the
cross more a carnival for the revelry of reason, than a kneeling place
for penitents. This tendency to bring the great central doctrine of
the gospel-Christ crucified, crucified vicariously-into pleasant odor
with a rationalistic philosophy, is diffusing itself more and more into
every new modification of theology.  It is to be detected, wherever
it gains a foot-hold, by frequent gentle insinuations that there is a
great deal of the human, as well as of the divine mind, to be looked
for in the Bible. And they soon learn to make this want of inspiration as broad as the flattered cravings of a worldly spirit may demand.
Many of these American neologists are strangely wrapped up in a
modernized Swedenborgianism. They are wonderfully familiar with
ideal spirits; can almost see and feel them  have no dread of them.
But watch these religious lunatics, and if they belong at all, in their
own classification, to the rationalistic philosophers, they are apt to
wind up their rhapsody with a most respectful and religious announcement of their Bridge creed: I believe in one true and living God.
This is Deism, as it is cultivated in the Church by the Unitarians of
our day.  Deism used to manifest itself by epithets of abuse lavished
against Christ; but since its baptism and reception into the Church,
it only believes in one true and living God. But its wisdom of words
has made the cross of none effect.
There remains one other view of this subject to which we desire to
call particular attention: it is the sense in which we should understand "excellency of speech" to be forbidden in Paul's commission
to preach the gospel. There does not seem to us any sense in which
it can be taken as contradistinguished from "wisdom of words," 
~212         PAUL'S COMMISSION TO PREACH.
except that of composition  or if there be any other, or further sense,
it must be that of fine elocution. Now, how is it that either or both
of these pleasant accomplishments can make the gospel of none
effect? There are several ways in which they might lead to such a
result. There might be in the preacher himself such a looking to
mannerism as to vitiate simple faith in the word; or there might be
in the church such a readiness to account for success by the charming style and captivating eloquence of the preacher, as to render it
necessary that God should withhold his Spirit, in order to save the
Church from this man-worship, and to preserve unmixed to the end
of time the pristine view of efficiency-" It is God that giveth the
increase."
But our thoughts lead us to the conclusion, that this excellency of
speech may be applied, directly and without any forcing, to the practice, in these days too common among us, of writing and reading
sermons. Why, we ask, do so many ministers of a certain order of
taste, go to the trouble of writing their sermons-for it is troublesome when viewed in connection with life's many calls-if it is not
for "excellency of speech or of wisdom?" I do not think, after all
the ingenious excuses given by the advocates of this pernicious practice, that but one ruling reason can be found for its adoption and use,
and that is desire to attain excellency of speech and of wisdom.  If
these polished preachers believed that they could, by carefully conning over their rising thoughts and entering the pulpit from knees of
wrestling prayer, produce an extemporaneous discourse which would
elicit as much praise from the elite as one they can bring forth in
manuscript from their studies after days of thinking-does any one
suppose that they would write and read their sermons? Certainly
not. There is not one of them who imagines that truth is any more
truth, because it is first written; and certainly it does not add any
thing to the sublime grandeur of the pulpit, to see a preacher thumbing down his sermon for fear that a puff of wind will blow out his
light, or fixing his eyes on every change in his position as if he revolved on an axis. And if no vital advantage is to be gained by
writing a sermon, why do it?  We answer again: it is for the sake
of excellency of speech and of wisdom. It is not that the sermon
may be more impregnated with truth, but merely that it may accord
with grammar and rhetoric, and be pronounced a chaste and beautiful piece of English composition   And here, my dear  brother, let 
PAUL'S COM-MISSION TO PREACHII.                213
me tell you for your mortification that I often hear men who are men,
pronounce your discourses very beautiful compositions, but very poor
sermons.
But we do not play off, because we are either afraid or ashamed of
our position; which is that, as a general result, the writing and reading of sermons for the common uses of preaching, makes the cross of
none effect. Does not the history of the pulpit, everywhere, prove
beyond the possibility of denial that discourses, first written and then
read, or written and pronounced, are somehow shorn of their wonted
power? Who ever saw under this form of preaching any of that heartstirring influence which precedes and accompanies revivals of religion?
And does not every one know that a simple sermon of that sort -. to say
nothing of a series of them-is deprecated as an evil in times of revival?  There is, as a matter of necessity-doubtless of necessityan absence of that peculiar unction which seems to give a sort of
almightiness to a gospel sermon, when it gushes like a crystal stream
fresh from the baptized heart of the preacher. Here every emotion
expressed is a truthful thermometer of love divine within. But tell
me nothing about it: my mind is clear that it must often happen in
the delivery of written sermons, that the emotions are merely artificial; they may appear in the right place in the programme, but they
are unnatural, and unable to call up their kindred tribe in others.
The ground I take involves so much that is exceedingly delicate,
that modesty itself restrains me.  This much, however, I must say
for myself: that whether mine is an abnormal mind or not, one thing
is certain, I cannot feel under a written sermon, as I can under an
extemporaneous one; and I believe that the common sense of mankind has, by a general disapproval of the practice, given a verdict
against it. It is an innate desire, partaking of the nature of a simple appetite, to crave feeling in all public addresses which would lead
us to action in matters of interest. The extent to which a speaker
can carry our active sympathies with him, is the measure of his probable success. And if nearly all the results of speaking are in favor
of extemporaneous discourses as most efficient, why will ministers who
could, if they would, extemporize well, persist in this dull round of
reading, disliked by nine-tenths of mankind, if it is not for the eclat
of excellency of speech? I do fear for all my friends who are about
to inure their minds to this incubus on fine natural powers of speech. It
is true, certainly true, that if a sermon-reader could have in his man 
214              PAUJL'S COMMISSION TO PREACH.
useript every word just as it would have risen in an impromptu discourse-fresh gushings of a present, internal fountain of feeling, yet
when read, those words would fall on the ears and hearts of his audience like weary, worn-out winds. The curse of inefficiency has been
universally stamped upon written sermons, when read to an audience,
and called preaching. If badly read, it is murder; and if well, it is
agreed that the man in the desk is a good writer, and a fine reader;
but no one ever regards anything as preaching proper, unless it is
generated and delivered as an impromptu production-all else is called preaching merely by grace. Every congregation that requires the
pastor to serve it with prepared sermons, that is, sermons prepared
to be read, is found to be as unmoved in all the emotional springs of
piety, as a skeleton. Indeed, the underlying and prompting motive
in those cases is, generally, quietism. But in these time-serving movements, as they creep in among us, there is an unsuspected element of
vain glory. I have never conversed with a volunteer in this line of
Methodist preaching, who did not leave me decidedly under the conviction, that ambition after excellency of speech and of wisdom was the
real motive prompting him in the premises;  and the avowed motive is
to ensure the esteem, and gain the ear of the well informed.  This
all looks well-looks right; but somehow it does not work well.  It
is condemned by the comparative practical results. There is some
way in which this reliance on excellency of speech vitiates the gospel;
some way in which the cross is made of none effect. Hence, St. Paul
would not preach the gospel with excellency of speech, or of wisdom.
If he had pertinaciously adhered to all the school rules of composition and oratory as practiced by lawyers and senators, his power
would have been located in his oratory-using the word oratory in
the generic sense. But waiving all these facilities of speech, he
simply declared God's testimonies. He planted himself on the truth
of God's revelation, and demanded belief in it, and conformity of life
to it. He never gave himself any trouble about the strict conformity
of his speech and preaching to every law of grammar, and every rule
of rhetoric, but declared the testimonies of his God in demonstration
of the Spirit and of power. In his preaching, the cross was undraped;
it stood out naked, the centre and soul of the gospel, and the only
hope of sinners.
Having considered what seems to have been optional and what imperative in Paul's call to preach the gospel, to wit: the work of 
PAUL'S COMMISSION TO PREACH.                   215
baptizing; and also both the positive and the negative parts of what
was imperative in his comihission; and having shown, moreover, how
he did preach, both as to matter and manner, we come, finally, to say
a few things on the extent of his labors.
There were but few features in Paul's personal ministry more striking than the extent and abundance of his preaching. Referring to
abundance he says: "In labors more abundant."  In reference to
his field, he says: "So that from Jerusalem and round about unto
Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. Yea, so have
I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I
should build on another man's foundation; but as it is written, To
whom he was not spoken of they shall see; and they that have not
heard shall understand." Circuit-rider was once the sobriquet of
a Methodist preacher. It was then used as a depreciative term.
Circuit-riding was regarded as a low employment. But here was a
precedent in circuit-riding, or perhaps, in Paul's case, it was circuitwalking, which fully justifies the Methodist in riding circuits. It is
the best plan in the world for the wide and easy spread of gospel
truth. It seeks to break new ground all the time. It is in exact
accordance with the aggressive genius of the people. Paul's circuit,
from Jerusalem round about to Illyricum, was perhaps more than
one thousand miles in length; but whether they were in direct line
or not, he fully preached Christ in cities and in country. His theme
was Christ crucified.  Before the preaching of the cross, superstition,
idolatry, and systems of false religion, venerable in years and powerful
in patronage, fled like morning mists before the orb of day. He says
that this style of preaching brought forth fruit in every place; that
God always caused him to triumph through Christ. This was the effect of preaching Christ then, and has been ever since. Preaching
must be done upon the simple basis of faith, faith in the word, faith
because it is the word of the Lord that endureth forever. Our faith
must not be in the logical arguments used, not in the captivating
style, not in excellency of speech or of wisdom, but in the great doctrines of the cross. And if we catch the proper inspiration of this
doctrine, like Paul, we will restlessly strive to make Christ known
to such as had not heard of his name in this relation before. Whatever we may or may not do in this aggressive line, if the spirit of
preaching the gospel to every creature is properly upon us, we will
show our divine calling by our labor in the lanes of poverty and in 
216              PIAUL'S COMMISSION TO PREACH.
the destitute districts of the country. A preacher who can content himself through life to sit down in some good pasture, and write off, and
gracefully read off a sermon or two every Sunday, and feel no call to
preach to the destitute that lie all round him, is surely not a minister
of Jesus Christ. No such pastors and preachers are reported to us in
the New Testament. Look and see. The extent to which a minister
preaches the gospel, he being able to choose his course, has much to
do with the evidence of a divine call to the ministry. A man may
have a local charge, but no man can do his duty by giving himself to
one congregation, while there are large numbers of neglected souls
in easy reach of him. But we will here close this humble essay.
We have glanced at one or two things which lie without the beaten
pathway of our predecessors in exposition.  Our great desire is to
wake up in all our preachers a jealous, just concern to guard against
all the chances of making the cross of none effect by wisdom of
words.
Let Paul's account of a gospel ministry be our motto: "But if
all prophesy and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all; and thus are the
secrets of his heart made manifest, and falling down on his face, he
will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth." If any
one ever saw the like of this under a sermon read, no matter what its
excellency of speech, he has seen what I have not. Let us prophesy,
that is declare the testimonies of God.  
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SALVATION IN ITS INDIVIDUAL RELATIONS.
BY THOMAS L. BOSWELL, D. D.,
OF THE MEMrPHIS CONFERENCE.
" What must I do to be saved? "-Acts xvi, 30.
SALVATION is commonly understood as deliverance from danger,
whether temporal or spiritual. It is therefore a subject of the greatest moment to one exposed to imminent danger. Its importance is
to be estimated according to the magnitude of the interests involved.
Hence, if a man's health, character, or life, is exposed to great danger, and likely to be lost or greatly damaged, and it is quite beyond
his power-to escape, and in his great extremity some kind friend
interposes and effects his deliverance, he is gratefully appreciated as
a saviour.
But let us apply the idea of salvation in a spiritual sense to the
interests of man's immortal soul, and the greatness of the danger
(and consequently of the deliverance) is at once inconceivably augmented.  Think of an immortal soul, all polluted with sin and iniquity,
exposed to the wrath of God, "in danger of eternal damnation;"
think of the inexorable law of God-the claims of infinite justice;
think of the infinite love of God in the gift of his eternal Son, to be
made flesh and dwell among us; think of his midnight prayers, his
agonizing sweat of blood; think of his sufferings on the cross, and
ignominious death! -and all to atone for sin, and to make the sinner's
salvation possible; and then think of this salvation actually applied
to a penitent believer, through the agency of the Eternal Spirit: How
great, and good, and glorious! Well might the angels desire to look
into these things, and rejoice more over one sinner that repenteth,
than over ninety-and-nine just persons that need no repentance. And 
218                      SALVATION IN ITS
of God, and the damnation  of hell    There  is no escape if we
neglect the salvation of Christ. Sinners can only escape the fearful
retributions of the future by seeking, finding, and perfecting the
salvation in question.  Hence the great importance of the question
proposed in the text —" What must I do to be saved?"
It is now proposed to call attention to the subject of salvation in
its individual relations.
I. Salvation is an individual concernment.
There must be a deep and abiding conviction of this truth in the
sinner's heart before he will even consent to seek salvation. He
must be made to feel and say, cc Let others choose whom they will
serve,"-wealth, honor, pleasure, &c. —" as for me, I will serve the
Lord."
1. Acting under this personal resolution, the sincere penitent will
not neglect his salvation on account of the adverse influence of others.  He will give no heed to the doubts of the skeptic, the scofs ot
the infidel, and false reason of the Deist. He is not discouraged at
the fact that false professors of religion occasionally appear in the
Church; that some "run well for a while" and then turn back to
the world  that others are deceived and miss their way, &o.   He
judges no man-his concern is with himself.
One of the greatest hindrances to personal religion is the spirit and
practice of judging others.  Therefore  the  Great Teacher says,
" Judge not, that ye be not judged; for with what judgment ye judge,
ye shall be judged." In opposition to this, a sinner, blind and ignorant in spiritual things, sets himself up to judge; and he very readily
decides upon the character of the members of the Church-one is a
hypocrite, another is a backslider, and the balance cold and formal.
Therefore I shall not seek religion-not join the Church-I am as
good as the best of them. And thus he excuses himself on the score
of others. Now, what right or qualification has one short-sighted,
fallible man, to judge another? And what has the hypocrisy, backsliding, &c., of others, to do with a man's own personal religion? 
INDIVIDUAL RELATIONS.                      219
and should stimulate him to greater efforts in seeking to obtain it.
Hence these evil influences from others should not cause us to neglect our own personal salvation.
2. It should not be neglected on account of human speculations.
Some persons have quieted themselves in the neglect of salvation on
the ground that "If I am to be saved, I will be saved."  "When
God's good time shall come, I shall be brought in." And il the day
of his power, his people shall (as an old New England divine once
said) be made willing. This human scheme of salvation has kept
thousands from "striving to enter in at the straight gate," until the
master of the house has risen up and shut to the door, and excluded
them forever from the possibility of salvation.
On the other hand, others have rested their hopes of heaven on
the infinite benevolence of God —that he will finally save all men in
heaven; and consequently, have neglected their personal salvation.
And there-are others who are simply resting in the neglect of personal
salvation on the supposition, that "there is time enough yet"a sophism that has drowned millions in destruction and perdition!
Still men rest upon this broken reed, and glide along softly, singing
to themselves "time enough yet."  May the Holy Spirit awaken such
sleepers from their dangerous and almost fatal slumbers, that they
may seek an individual interest in the Saviour of sinners 
Hluman speculations will never awaken sinners to see their need of
Christ. Suppose a man could prove that if I am to be saved,
I will be saved; will such preaching be the means of saving my soul
from sin? Suppose another man should convince me that all men
will eventually be saved; is it likely that I would be alarmed on
account of my sins, so as to flee from the wrath to come?  And suppose a third should persuade me that I need give myself no personal
concern about salvation; when God's good time shall come, he will
make me willing, and bring me in-and "Be easy, my child, there
is time enough yet."  Would such a gospel as this awaken sinnerscause them to break off their sins and come to Christ. Nay, verily.
The reason is, it is not personal, individual, direct; hence there are 
220                      SALViATION IN ITS
John the Baptist, our blessed Lord, and his apostles.  They were
wont to say, " We have Abraham to our father;" we were elected
in him to the favor and salvation of God, and we have descended from
him in an unbroken succession, and "have never been in bondage
to any man." Therefore your doctrine ofpersonal conviction, repentance, faith, conversion, &c., does not apply to us. All this, and
more, has been secured to us in our father Abraham. Is it any wonder they should have held the tradition, "that Abraham stands at the
gates of hell, and will not suffer an Israelite to go in thereat?" In
opposition to this great error, John the Baptist testifies against them,
that their exclusive claims to salvation in Abraham, by virtue of their
succession from him, are nothing in the sight of God, in absence of
personal faith and obedience.   He says: "Think not to say within
yourselves, We have Abraham to our father; for I say unto you, that
God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham "-that
is, spiritual children, by personal faitli in Christ Jesus. It is also
ignored by our blessed Lord: "I know that ye are Abraham's seed"in a natural sense, and by ecclesiastical succession from him-but this
does not save you; for "ye seek to kill me, (and no murderer hath
eternal life in him,) because my word hath no place in you."   But,
"If ye were Abraham's children," by personal faith in me, "c ye
would do the works of Abraham." The great Apostle to the Gentiles
is no less explicit on this point.  He says, "Circumcision is nothing;" all that Abraham and' all others in succession from himn can do
for you as ecclesiastical attorneys in religion, without your own individual faith and obedience, amounts to nothing; "And  uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping the commandments of God "-faith
working by love, by which you become " new creatures in Christ Jesus."
Now, when we consider the extent of this error, its evil tendencies,
and its great opposition to the progress of " pure and undefiled religion," we are not surprised that it was promptly met and confuted
Dy the greatest authorities in the whole range of Christianity. In
its extent, it was almost universal among the Jews at the time alluded
to; its evil tendency was to extinguish among them all personal and
experimental religion; it secularized their notions of the Messiah and
his kingdom, and resulted in the total ruin of their national polity.
It was a mighty barrier to the progress of spiritual religion.' Neither
John, nor Christ, nor Paul, could succeed in the truth of God's message of individual salvation till this wall of brass was broken down. 
INDIVIDUAL RELATIONS.                     221
But let us come a little nearer home in our inquiries on this subject of ecclesiastical attorneyship in matters of religion. And how
many thousands are there who call themselves Christians who have
given up all personal and independent thinking, acting, and realizing
for themselves, through the grace of God, the religion of Christ, for
the vain notion of priestly absolution. Ask them what they believe,
and the reply is, "c I believe what the Church believes." But what
does the Church believe?  " The Church believes what I believe."
But what do you both believe?  "We both believe the same thing."
No independence in thinking and believing.  Again; if you should
hear one swear, or see another drunk, and reprove them of their sins,
they would most likely (as it was in the days of Wesley) refer you to
their priestly (absolution-" I have been baptized; I have been confirmed; I receive the sacrament from apostolic hands," &c And
thus they excuse themselves and cover their sins under the cloak of
sacerdotal absolution-what their ecclesiastical attorneys have done
for them. Ask them of their religious experience, assurance, and
prospects, and they can only say they have committed their religious
interests into the hands of the priest, and they suppose he is managing all for the best. Oh, what a pity that so many thousands of
God's people, religiously blind, should be led on by blind Nicodemuses, that they should all fall into the ditch together!
Priestly absolution!-what is it? It is said to be the power to
forgive sin. But who can forgive sin but God? He alone possesses
infinite wisdom to know the sins man has committed, and he alone
has power to forgive them when known. Sins to be forgiven must be
known. The priest has not this knowledge, as he cannot penetrate
the secrets of another's heart. He cannot come to the possession of
this knowledge by auricular confession; for no man can call to mind
all his sins in thought, word, and deed. But if he could know all the
sins of the penitent confessor, he has no power sufficient to forgive.
This is plain from the fact, that the Jews, regarding our Saviour as
a mere man, called in question his power to forgive sin, and accused
him of blasphemy; and he, to vindicate himself from so foul a charge,
and to establish his authority in the premises, gave a stupendous
exhibition of Divine power, by saying to the man sick of the palsy,
whose sins he had just forgiven-" Arise, take up thy bed, and-go
unto thy house. And he arose and went to his house.'" I know that
it is contended that "the keys of the kingdom of heaven" were given 
222                      SALVIATION IN ITS
to Peter and his associate apostles, and that they received power to
remit and retain sins; but it is fatal to this view of the subject, that
we never find that they ever exercised any such power as is contended for in modern priestly absolution.   They understood their
Lord and Master better than that.
No man can rationally and religiously presume to forgive sin, for
he has no jurisdiction in the case. Sin is committed against God,
and not man; hence the penitent must, in his own individual person,
confess to God, like the Publican, " God be merciful to me a sinner!" 
This is direct, individual confession to God, and direct and personal
results followed; for "he went down to his house justified," without
the agency of any ecclesiastical attorney. We are, indeed, to confess
our "faults one to another, and pray one for another, that we may
be healed;" but confessing our faults one to another is not confessing
to the priest; and there is a vast difference, too, between the faults
committed between man and man, and sins committed against Godthe former can be forgiven by man, upon suitable acknowledgment
by the aggressor; the latter only by the Divine Sovereign of the
Universe.  Therefore our Saviour says, "If thy brother shall trespass
against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone:
If he shall hear thee "-be convinced of his fault, and confess it" thou hast gained thy brother."  Again: "If thy brother trespass
against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he
trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day
tern again to thee, saying, I repent, thou shalt forgive him." There
is no auricular confession here-no priestly absolution.  Brethren
are to confess their faults or trespasses one to another, and upon
suitable confession of wrong on the part of the offender, he is to be
forgiven by the brother aggrieved.
There is a species of this ecclesiastical attorneyship manifested
among some evangelical christians, in apparent efforts toprompt penitents in a profession of faith —in the relation of their experience, &e.
Now, by how far this practice may prevail, by so far we consider it
a departure from the true standard of scriptural profession and expe
minitra  promtn  orY cofsing for the penten  in this_ c~S_ ase —k 
INDIVIDUAL RELATIONS.                     223
"One thing I know, that whereas Iwas blind, now I see."  This is a
short scriptural, personal experience. Let us profit by it. Give full
and proper instruction to penitents; "weep with them that weep;"
mourn with them that mourn;" but let them believe for themselves,
profess for themselves, and tell their own experience in their own
way: then "Rejoice with those that do rejoice."  In this way we
shall avoid the fatal errors of ecclesiastical attorneyship; convictions
among us will be personal, deep, and pungent; conversions will be
individual, thorough, and powerful; and thus our people shall be
taught of the Lord-shall know him in the pardon of their sins; "ana
be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh a reason
of the hope that is in them."
II. Salvation is an individual experience of the grace of God-in
conviction, conversion, and sanctification. This involving the exercise of Divine, angelic, and human agencies.
1. In conviction, Divine agency is indispensable, as He alone can
quicken the "dead in trespasses and sins" to life, sensation, and
action. This divine power is graciously given in the direct operation of the Holy Ghost-the instrumentality of the word-and the
mercies and judgments of God.  The angels are "ministering spirits,
sent forth to minister for them who shall be the heirs of salvation;"
hence, they have their agency in influencing sinners to come to God;
and we are told, when they succeed, that "c there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one.sinner that repenteth, more than
over ninety-and-nine just persons which need no repentance." Human agency is exerted in good example, pious advice, admonition,
rebuke, persuasives, &c., &c.
But, let us notice more particularly the great and leading agent in
connection-the direct operation of the Holy Ghost. This was one
of the great objects of His mission into the world, for it is so defined
by our blessed Lord, who says, "When He (the Comforter) is come,
He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment," &c   But here is a question, How does he do this?  Is it
done only through the word, or by a direct influence on the mind of
sthe_ _ __ sinne witou  th word    To "the wor  ony", L___  syste  ther -v_are 
224                      SALVATION IN ITS
tendency is to 8ensualize religion. It ignores all experience in religion and reducing it to something that is tangible to the sensesthat can be seen, and heard, and handled 3 hence, the motto is, " Do
religion."' Obedience is more necessary than faith. There was plenty
of this kind of religion in the day of our Saviour and His apostles;
but they repudiated the whole of it as  "making clean the outside of the
cup and platter, while within they were full of extortion and excess."
Instead of this they taught that men must have pure hearts in order
to see God. There was plenty of the outward doing of religion in
the days of Luther; but he rejected it all for the Scriptural doctrine
of "justification by faith."  The Church of England abounded with
the outward forms of godliness in the days of Wesley, and he himself was a long time subject to a sacramental salvation; but, when
the eyes of his understanding were opened, he laid it all aside for the
" more excellent way" of "salvation by faith." In all this we see
that the " word only" system is wofully heterodox in theology. In
the third place, this "word only" view of the operation of the Spirit
operates fatally to the religious interests of a large and helpless
portion of our race. It effectually excludes from all possibility of
salvation every individual of the race who is incapable of being benefitted by the word. How can infants be saved if the Spirit operates
only through the word-the Spirit saves only through  the wordtherefore infants cannot be saved!  Horrible conclusion.  Who can
believe it?  Now, it must be apparent to all thinking minds that that
system must be founded in error against which so many weighty objections are found to exist; and especially, when the crowning objection-that it is totally wanting in support from the pages of holy
inspiration-is added to the foregoing. Where is it taught in the
Scriptures that " the Spirit operates only through the word?"  It is
a mere assumption which was found necessary to an extended system
of new-divinity.  The old way of experimental religion must be set
aside-a new system of doing religion is to be introduced-and, in
this, there is no necessity and no plan for the direct operation of the
Spirit. 
INDlVIDUAL RELATIONS.                      225
Hle is then infinitely wise and powerful-everywhere present-and
therefore capable of making direct communication to the mind of the
sinner-for, " with God all things are possible."
(2.) " There is a spirit in man" underived from matter, and capa ble of conscious and intelligent existence apart from matter; hence,
it is immaterial. In proof of this, we learn from the Bible, that God
originally " formed  man's body of the dust of the ground,  and;
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; (Heb. lives, animal,
intellectual, and spiritual;) and man became a living soul." Hlere
then is the origin of the spirit that is in man, not from the earth, not
from organization, but from God; hence, when "C the dust returns to
the earth as it was, the spirit returns to God who gave it," and
receives its position iD weal or we, "according to the deeds done
in lthe body," and is capable of a conscious and intelligent existence
in a diseumbodied state.   This is amply  proved by the argument
of our Lord  in opposition to the materialism of the Sadducees,
who denied the existence of angels and spirits.  Ie says to them,
"Have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God,
saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the
God of Jacob I God is not the God of the dead but of the livings"
That is, God is the God of the living and happy spirits of those venerable patriarchs, notwithstanding their bodies had been mouldering
and mingling in the dust of Machpelah for more than sixteen centuturies. Again, the great teacher gives us evidence of the same great
truth in the narrative of the rich man and Lazarus.  They lived
through their probation on earth, the former in wealth and affluence,
gratifying ", the desires of the flesh and of the mind," and careless
about religion; the latter, in poverty and affliction, but deeply pious,
laying up his treasures in heaven; he died, and was carried by the
angels to Abrahamn's bosom to rest; he is conscious and happy in a
disembodied state.  " The rich man also died and was buried; and
in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torment;i" hence, hsu spirit is
living and conscious of torment; for he says, "I am tormented in
this'flame."   Moreover, his conversation with Abraham shows that
he was intelligent as well as conscious; but the mind cannot be intelligent without ideas-the rich man  had ideas of the torments of
hell in a disembodied state  therefore the mind is capable of receive
ing ideas independent of the senses.   Once more, there is evidence
of the same great: truth in the transfiguration of our Lord. Peter,
15 
2296                      SALVATION IN ITS
and James, and John, are selected to witness the transcendent glory
of their Lord; and on this interesting occasion "' there appeared
unto them Elias with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus."
Elias was a glorified saint in soul and body, for he had been translated that he should not see death; but Moses was a disembodied
spirit. He had suffered death-his body was buried and given to the
dust, but here we find his spirit living, intelligent, and happy. He
is talking with Jesus; but men cannot talk sensibly without ideas;
therefore the spirit of man is capable of receiving ideas apart from
matter. Hence, I conclude that the human mind is immaterial and
capable of receiving direct influences from the Divine Spirit independent of the outward senses.
(3.) The Scriptures furnish abundant proof of the fact that many
of the most important ideas ever communicated to the mind of man
have been made without the medium of the outward senses.
In the days of Job, under the Patriarchal dispensation, the prevailing doctrine was, as set forth by Elihu, that " there is a spirit in
man;" -materialism was nat then known-,  and the inspiration of
the Almighty giveth them understanding." " Inspiration" is defined
by the best authorities to be "any supernatural influence of the
Spirit of God upon the mind of a rational creature, whereby he is
formed to a degree of intellectual improvement to which he could
not have attained in a natural way." This is true of the inspiration
of the Scriptures; but, if' these great revelations were made to the
minds of holy men of old, who spoke as they were moved by the
Holy Ghost, in a supernatural way without the medium of the outward senses, the Spirit of God can convict, convert, and sanctify the
soul of man in the same way now-I mean by direct communication.
In the days of our Saviour the most momentous idea ever communicated to the human mind was by direct influence without the intervention of " flesh and blood"-the outward  senses.  It is the idea
contained in the noble confession of Peter when Jesus put the ques tion to the apostles, "But whom say ye that I amn   And Simon Peter
answered and said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Jes _' _ in _1ly said,, "Blsse  ar thu  Simon Ba-j1a  for fesh 
INDIVIDUAL RELATIONS.                     227
the mind of Peter without the agency of " flesh and blood," ther0
can be no good reason for denying the direct operation of the Spirit
in conviction, &O.
Additional evidence is found on this point in the instructions given
by our Lord to his apostles in view of their being brought before
" magistrates and powers;" he says to them, "Take no thought how
or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: for the Hloly
Ghost shall teack you in the same hour what ye ought to say."  Here
is direct spiritual influence promined beyond a doubt, and the fulfil ment of this promise to the disciples and primitive christians proves
the truth of my proposition-that the human mind is susceptible of
direct communications by the Holy Ghost.
Finally, "the Spirit of adoption' is conclusive proof of the direct
operation of the Spirit ia the work of salvation.  On this point St.
Paul says, "Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear i
but ye have received thie spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba,
Father. -The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we
are the children of God."  Again, he says, "Because ye are sons,
God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying,
Abba, Father." And St. John says, "He that believeth on the Son
of God, hath the witness in himself." These passages set forth in
unmistakable language the agency ot the Spirit of adoption in christian assurance, which it is at once the duty and privilege of every christian to enjoy. And it is equally plain that His Divine testimony is
borne directly to the spirit of the child of God-the Spirit beareth
witness with our spirits-not our senses. God sends forth the spirit
of His Son into our hearts-not to our senses. The christian has
the witness in himself-not from others-not through the outward
senses-but from the direct witness of the Spirit.
It is not intended in this connection to make the impression that the
Spirit does not operate through the word. Far from it. The word is
the sword of the Spirit; and the mind can be reached through the
senses  But the object is to establish the fact, that he is not confined
alone to this channel of communication, and that the heart of man is
caal  ofdrc  ovcin  ovrin,adsntfcto,wihi 
228                      SAVATION IN ITS
prove" or convince "the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of
judgment."  To this end he was striving with man in the days of
Noah, directly-through the word preached by Noah-and by the
long-suffering of God, and the threatening of judgment. But they
resisted all and were destroyed. HIe was engaged in the days of the
Saviour, striving with the hearts of men-casting out devils, and
doing wonders by his direct agency. He also employed the outward
word as preached by the apostles-applied the mercies of God and
threatened hlis judgments. But the unbelievers rejected his word, trampled upon his mercies, disregarded his judgments, blasphemed his
Holy Spirit, and were overthrown with a terrible destruction. In
view of all this, we are exhorted not to resist the Holy Ghost as the
Fathers did: "quench not the Spirit "-" to-day if ye will hear his
voice harden not your hearts," "lest we fall after the same example
of unbelief."
Conviction, in a general sense, is the assurance of the truth of any
proposition. And when applied in a personal and religious sense, it
is an assurance from the Holy Spirit that man is a guilty sinner before
God. It is the knowledge of sin. When this conviction is produced,
then the sinner's own individual agency is called into requisition,
first in volition.  " If any man will come after me," he must be
willing to take up his cross, and willing to follow Jesus in evil as
well as good report. In the second place, he must individually repent.  He must deeply feel a godly sorrow for sin-he must forsake
all his sinshe must confess his sins to God, and learn to do well;
and thus to reform his life. A knowledge of sin however, will not
save him-willingness to be a christian will not save him, and reformation of life will not save him. So far from this, the whole course of
conviction and repentance will lead him to a point of self-distrust and
self-despair-that he cannot save himself.  Then, in the third place,
he must individually believe. This is a thorough conviction of the
truth of the christian religion-a satisfactory assurance of the suffioiency of that truth to accomplish all that it proposes to do-and an
entire trust of soul and body, for time and eternity, on the great 
INDIVIDUAL RELATIONS.                      229
we see individual human  agency employed in "working  our sal vation;" not indeed without divine assistance, for without the aid of
the Spirit of Christ we can do nothing.
2. In conversion the Spirit operates directly upon the hearts of
penitent believers. Conversion, in this connection, is a general term
which includes several particulars; and   (1.) It includes justification, that actof God by which he graciously pardons the penitent believer-forgives all his past sins, for Christ's
sake  absolves himn from guilt and condemnation- restores  him
to his divine favor, and treats him as innocent. "Therefore being
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ." Faith is the only condition of this great work done for us.
Whatever we may be supposed to have, without faith we cannot be
justified; and whatever we may lack in the exercise of faith we shall
be justified. The reason is, that faith appropriates the merits of'
Christ to the penitent individual, and thus presents to the Father an
infinite consideration why the sinner should be pardoned-and the
work is done.
(2.) Conversion includes the workof regeneration; and, so far as
we can learn, the scriptural order of the work of salvation, it follows
justification, is one of its concomitants, and, of course, inseparable
firom it. In proof of this, St. Paul says: "If any man be in Christ,"
by justification, " he is a new creature," by regeneration. The reason of this order is plain, for when the sinner is pardoned, there is
then no obstruction in the way of his regeneration; there is no need
of an additional act of faith as it is concomitant with justification, so
that he that is justified must be at the same time regenerated.  Regeneration is the work of the Holy Spirit directly on the heart of the
penitent believer; hence, our Saviour teaches that we "must be born
of the Spirit," "and that which is born of the Spirit  is Spirit."
This shows the individual and spiritual nature of regenerationq.
Again, we learn from St. John that as "4 many as received him,(Christ)
to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that
believe on h's name: which were born not of blood, nor of the will of
the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." This important passage clearly defines the agent of spiritual regeneration as welt as
man's individual relation to it. The evangelist is exceedingly careful, in the first place, to exclude all human agency from all participation in it. He says the sons of God are born, begotten, or regen 
230                      SALVATION IN ITS
erated, "not of blood"-by descent from Abraham, which has already
been noticed as the great error of the Jews in trusting to their succession from Abraham more than in God and individual piety. This
is a vain hope, whether it is founded on Abraham, the Virgin Mary,
Peter, Paul, or any one else, and can never " make the comers thereunto perfect." Regeneration is not " by the will of the flesh "-natural generation. Natural generation can never produce a holy seed
so long as the progenitors are naturally depraved; like must produce
its like; and, whatever man may acquire by grace through faith, it
will have no effect on his natural generation. Neither is this great
work effected by "c the will of man." One man cannot regenerate
another by an act of his will-in faith or otherwise.  This at once
and forever excludes the idea of baptismal regeneration; for baptism
can only be given by the will of man, and St. John expressly tells us
that regeneration is not by his will. Regeneration by baptism is one
of the greatest absurdities that could possibly occupy the human
mind. I had as soon believe in the doctrines of transubstantiation
as this. There is about as much scripture and reason for one as the
other. I know it is said that Saul was commanded to " arise and be
baptized and wash away his sins," and that Peter exhorted the people on the day of Pentecost to" repent and be baptized in the name
of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins," &c. But there is just as
much  authority for transubstantiation.  Jesus says, in reference to
the consecrated elements of theEucharist: "This is my body," —" this
is my blood." Now, if these passages are to be taken just as they
stand, we must believe not only in baptismal regeneration, but that
the elements of the holy supper are changed into the body and blood
and soul and divinity of our blessed Lord, by mere priestly consecration.  But, says the zealous Protestant, the words of institution in
the sacrament must be explainedc-" This denotes my blood"-" this
signifies or represents my body "-and so we demolish the Romanist
at a stroke, and fairly enough too; for this mode of interpretation
must be applied to other portions of holy scripture, such as the parable of the tares of the field; in reference to this Jesus says: "The
field is the world;" that is, it represents the world. " The good seed
are the children of the kingdom;" that is, denotes, &c. is The tares
are the children of the wicked one;" that is, they signify the children
of the wicked one. Now, if this is a just rule of interpretation, why
not demolish the Romish doctrine of baptismal regeneration, by ap 
INDIVIDUAL RELATIONS.                      231
plying it to the passages cited from the Acts, in support of that monstrous dognma   We would thus understand the apostles: "Repent
and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and represent the remission of sins," and in the case of Saul: "Arise and be baptized, and
denotc, or signify, the washing away of thy sins," &c.; and in this
way rid ourselves and  the church of the unscriptural doctrine of
Rominish, Anglican, and all high church baptismal regeneration as well
-is Romnishi transubstantiation. Thanks be to God that the great
interests of individual salvation have not been left to the precarious
contingency of the will of man in baptism, confirmation, the eucharist, or anything else that depends upon his will. So far from this,
inspired authority assures us that, in regeneration the penitent believer is born of God; that is, of His Spirit, and that which is born of
the Spirit is spiritual, powerful, and saving.
(3.) Next to regeneration in the order of grace, as we humbly conceive, stands the spirit of adoption, which is also included in the
general term conversion. This is that work of grace performed by
the agency of the Holy Spirit, by which he bears a direct witness to
the spirit of the justified and regenerate believer, that he is a child
of God-a joint-heir with Jesus Christ, and an heir to an incorruptible inheritance which is undefiled and fadeth not away, reserved in
heaven for the faithful.
This is the great privilege of all christians.  It is the source of
their present joy and future hope.  It is their comfort and support
in trouble and affliction, and their courage and fortitude in contending
against their spiritual enemies, and in the valley and shadow of
death. And4 as it is of so great importance in the christian's life
and experience, we are devoutly thankful that it has not been left in
doubt by the inspired writers.  They tell us that "the Spirit himself
beareth witness with our spirits, that we are the children of God."
And, " because we are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son
into our hearts, crying: Abba, Father."  And, "he that believeth
on the Son of God, hath the witness in himself." Nothing more explicit is needful on this point.  He that hath this witness in himself
can adopt the language of one of old: "lOne thing I know, that,
whereas I was blind, now I see." The change is personal, spiritual,
and conscious, through the direct operation of the Holy Spirit. There
are outward evidences that serve to corroberate christian experience
on this point, such as the love of the brethren-love of the ordinances 
232                      SALVATION IN ITS
of religion-hatred of evil, and the follies and vanities of the world.
" By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love
one to another," which includes all the graces of christianity.
3. Sanctification is the work of the Holy Ghost, and the highest
degree of hebristian experience attainable in this life. "It is the will
of God," says St. Paul, "even your sanctification." And "Jesus, that
he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the
gate." This is sufficint to show that sanctification is attainable by.
all who are convinced of its necessity, and will seek it according to
the will of God.
The necessity of this work is found in the indwelling seeds of sin
and roots of bitterness still remaining in the hearts of regenerate
persons. For regeneration does not destroy all the remains of the
carnal mind, though it implies a change of our nature, and establishes
the reign of grace, and is itself the incipient stage of sanctification.
In proof of this, while every justified person is enabled to maintain
thereign of grace, and prevent the dominion of sin, he feels that he
has a constant warfare with unsanctified passions and tempers. Hence
St. Paul, after acknowledging that the Thessalonians had received the
gospel, "not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost,
and in much assurance,"-had recognized "6 their election of God;"'
and, remembering with approbation, "their work of faith, and labor
of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight
of God our Father,"-after all this, he prays for their entire sanctification, saying: 1"The very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and
I pray God your whole spirit, and soul, and body, be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."  I want no other
evidence than this of the necessity of this great and good work.
None of us can claim higher attainments than those accredited to the
christians at Thessalonica, and they needed to be wholly sanctifiedso do we. Let us then inquire what it is. And,
(1.) It is to be set apart to the service of God. This much may be
included in regeneration, in which much acceptable service may be
rendered to God.  All such are " babes in Christ," —" little children 
INDIVIDUAL RELATIONS.                      233
if (under the law) the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes ~f
an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the
flesh; how much more shall the blood of Christ, who  through the
eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God, purge your consciencefrom dead works, to serve the living God!"
(3.) It is to be filled with the mind which was in Christ Jesus-love,
meekness, and humility. It is to love God with all the heart, soul,
mind, and strength; and to love our neighbor as ourselves. This is
"walking in love as Christ also hath loved us, and given himself for
us." Love is the ruling principle of the sanctified heart-meekness
characterizes its relations with men, and humility uproots and destroys every vestige of " pride and fond desire," so that there is nothing in it contrary to the "mind of Christ."
(4.) This state of grace and salvation is developed by a gradual
growth under the gracious influence of the Spirit, in connection with
the means of grace.  I-lence, we are exhorted to "grow in grace, and
in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."   To" add
to our faith virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness,
brotherly kindness, and charity," and thus to "go on to perfection"
"till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the Son of God
unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of
Christ." It is illustrated by Christ according to the growth of
grain —" first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the
ear;" and by John, according to the growth of man; first," little
children," then "young men," finally, "fathers."
(5.) This state of grace does not exempt the sanctified from temptat ion  and      liability to sin while on probation.  Some of the angels
" kept n     ot their first estate," but sinned and fell.  Adam sinned and
was expelled from Paradise, and sanctified christians may sin and fall
too: hence, they must watch and pray. It does not exclude the infirmiti es o  f our finite natures while in this state of being.  The best
of men are still liable to err, to mistake, &c.; hence, they must still
pray,   "Forgive us our trespasses," &c., and feel
" Every moment, Lord I need,
Tlhe meritof;    Thyr death." 
234                      SALVATION IN ITS
originated in reading the Scriptures and seeking spiritual religion.
She has had her growth and unparalleled success in preaching and
realizing the direct operation of the Spirit in conviction, conversion,
and sanctification; and, by zealously maintaining this doctrine in
teaching and experience, she will carry down the blessed institutions
of the gospel pure and efficient to the latest generations: but, if she
proves unfaithful in her high and heaven-born mission-backslides
from spiritual religion-substituting for it succession, ceremonies,
forms, and sacraments, " Ichabod" will be written upon her pulpits,
her altars, and her hearts, the glory will have departed, and God
will spue her out of His mouth.
III. Salvation is an individual practice of the duties, privileges,
and responsibilities of religion.
(1.) Authoritative commands originate and impose duties upon all
intelligent subjects; it is therefore the duty of all men to do what
God commands, and to abstain from all that he forbids. The deca-ogue, as contained in the Old Testament, comprises an admirable
code of moral duties, all that we should do, and all that we should
not do, in the relations we hold to God, our neighbor, and ourselves.
Our Saviour sums it all up in "two commandments"-love to God,
and love to man-which, the apostle says, "is the fulfilling of the
law." Some of the duties arising out of our present relations, and
enjoined by religion, will be found delicate, some unpleasant, some
difficult, others pleasant and agreeable  none impossible; for the
commandments of God "are not grievous," He is not " a hard master," His "yoke is easy and His burden light."  All His commands
are reasonable and profitable to those who are exercised therein, and
all His prohibitions are for our good.
(2.) Przvileges result from the rights freely bestowed on Christians.
Thus, man has a right to life, liberty, and property; and from this
flows the privileges he enjoys therein. Man has a right to liberty of
conscience in matters of religion, and from this right result his numerous religious privileges. This gives him the privilege to think
for himself, believe for himself, and to worship God according to His 
INDIVIDUAL RELATIONS.                     235
have hope."  It likewise secures to every child of God the inestimable privilege of praying to his heavenly " Father in secret," under
the encouraging promise that his Father, "who seeth in secret, will
reward him openly." Every head of a family has the privilege of
worshipping God in his house; every gifted christian has the privilege
of praying and speaking in the church for spiritual edification; every
christian has the privilege of attending upon the ordinances of Godhearing the word read and expounded-attending upon the holy communion, and to " speak often one to another" of the dealings of God
with their souls; and thus, in the improvement of their privileges, to
" build each other up in their most holy faith, praying in the Holy
Ghost."
(3.) Responsibilities;csult from important interests being committed
to the care of intelligent moral agents. Here we must observe that
God gives "to every man according to his ability;" to one he gives
five talents, to another two, to another one, and holds each one responsible for what he has received. To one he gives the great and
important trust of preaching the gospel, and holds him responsible for
the faithful discharge of this important trust. To another the gift
of exhortation-to another the responsibility of " working out his
own salvation:"-to every man according to the grace given to him,
whether " prophecy," says the Apostle, "let us prophesy according
to the proportion of faith, or ministry, let us wait on our ministering;
or he that exhorteth, on exhortation:" but let every man know that
he is responsible for what he has received, and must " give account
of himself to God."
God has given to his pastors the solemn responsibility of taking the
oversight of His flock.  He says to them: "feed my sheep-feed my
iambs,"-bring them into the fold and set the seal of the covenant
upon them in their infancy. He has also imposed a great responsibility on parents in "training up their children in the way they should
go "-" in the nurture and admonition of the Lord," that, " when
they become old, they may not depart from it." Fearful will be the
accountability of those who neglect, or abuse, this responsibility; but,
eternity alone will tell the blessedness of its right and faithful observance. The great Head of the Church has also enjoined the responsibility on " masters to give to their servants that which is just and
equal; knowing that they also have a Master in heaven," to whom
they are accountable. Here is a clear recognition of the relation of 
236         SALVATION IN ITS INDRVIDUAL RELATIONS.
master and servant. The master has the right to the time and labor
of the servant; and, while the servant is his, and accountable to him,
he is entitled to that which is "just and equal." And what is that 1.
A  sufficiency of comfortable and wholesome  "food and raiment;"
reasonable labor; all due attention when sick; support and protection when old and infirm; all needful religious instruction in youth
and mature age, and a decent burial when dead. Masters give unto
your servants these "just and equal things," and ye need not be afraid
to meet them in judgment.
In conclusion, I will make a few reflections on the great utility of
practicing the duties, privileges and responsibilities of our holy religion.
1. It is practice which proves the truth of our profession to others.
' By their fruits ye shall know them."  We know that the doctor is
what he professes to be when, by his skill and remedies, hlie cures his
patient; so of the lawyer, mechanic, farmer; and so of the christian;
we know him to be a good man who bears "the fruit of the Spirit;"
"fruit unto holiness." The world will credit a profession upon such
evidence as this.
2. It is practice which makes perfect. The practical improvement
of religion will maintain all that was at first received, and will be the
occasion of receiving more; for it is a rule in the economy of grace
that, "whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more
abundance," because he shows both capacity and willingness to improve.  Acting upon this rule he will soon become "perfect and
enitire, wanting nothing."
3. It is practice that prevents backsliding;-" for if ye do these
things, ye shall never fall."  " Never fall" from your own steadfastness; "never fall" from the enjoyment of religion; "never fall"
into sin, pride, and the snare of the devil; "never fall" into hell.
On the contrary, he that cometh to Christ, heareth his sayings, and
doeth them, like a wise man building his house upon a rock, shall
stand firm and unshaken amid howling winds, descending rains and
beating floods, when storms of wrath shake earth and sky; and,
soaring above all, "an entrance shall be ministered unto him abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ." Amen.  
ffi~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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CHARACTERISTICS OF ABRAHAM'S FAITH.
BY  REV.  L. D. HUSTON,  D.  D.,
OF THE KENTUCKY CONERENCE.
By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he
should after receive tor an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a
strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with
him of the same promise. for he looked for a city which hath foundations,
whose builder and maker is God.....  By faith Abraham, when he was
tried, offered up Isaac, and he that had received the promises offered up his
only-begotton son, of whom it was said: That in Isaac shall thy seed be
called; accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from
whence also he received him in a figure.'" —Heb. xi, 8,9, 10;.. 17, 18, 19.
Abram, the son of Terah, was born about the year of the world
2008, or 350 years  after the flood.  This is supposed to have been
but two years after the death of Noah, the faithful preacher of righteousness, whom Terah must have known, and yet, such is man's
proneness to forget God, that already the world was filled with idolatry.
Even Ur, the land in which the human family had so recently had its
seccnd origin, was an idolatrous country-even Terah, it would seem,
an idolator.  This  astonishing fact explains the frequent recurrence
in the word of God of the first commandment, and justifies the promptness  and  severity of the punishment  inflicted upon  idolators.  It
shows, also, why it pleased God thus early to select a suitable man to
be the special depository of Divine truth, and a reliable conservator
of the true religion.
Abram was invested with this high prerogative for the reason, above
all others, that he was "the friend of God."   No other character is
likely to be a public benefactor, "for foe to God was ne'er true friend to
man."   And of all those who, at that time, were friends of God, he
wa  perap  th  mos  liel  ma   to susev  th.. ratproe 
~38       CHARACTEttISTICS OF ABRAHAM'S FAITI.
justice and judgment." For these reasons he was selected to be at
once the conservator and exemplar of the true religion-" the father
of the faithful." To fulfill this great calling, it was better that he
should leave home, since idolatry would seem more revolting to him
if practiced by strangers. Accordingly, the terms of his call were
"Get thee out of thy country, andfrom thy kindred, to a land which
I shall shliew thee." And at the age of seventy-five years, he started,
without a murmur or misgiving, carrying with him, besides his ser vants, Terah, his father; Sarah, his wife; and Lot, his nephew.
Though ordered to no particular spot, the general country for
which he was destined was Canaan, the eligibility of which, for the
purpose contemplated, is worthy of a moment's notice. It was rich,
salubrious, and diversified in its scenery and resources; having land
for pasturage, and land for tillage; with enough of sea-coast for useful purposes, but not enough to tempt to a wandering or warlike life.
It was also conveniently situated as to the peoples of the earth, occupying a position where three vast continents meet; near the centre, in
fact, of the whole eastern hemisphere-the entire known world of
those times. Not just in the great international thoroughfares, but
immediately by them. Within sight of all that was transpiring in the
world, yet perfectly retired. An observer of the nations, but in nc
one's way.
Abraham was not an absolutely perfect man, nor is he represented
as such in the scriptures; yet really, if we except the prevarication
in his intercourse with Pharaoh and Abimelech, it would be hard to
name his fault. He possessed a clear calm mind, and a moral consti
tution of surpassing strength and integrity. In all the relations of
life, as husband, father, master, patriarch, he was a model of manly
virtues. But it was his faith which distinguished him above all other
men, and it is to some of the more patent characteristics of that
faith that your attention will be called in the following remarks.
1. In the first place, it is important to show that it was a reasona*
ble faith.
There is an expression in vogue, to the use of which Christians
have a right to object.  Men speak of a "blind faith."  There is no
blnd the  slne  it.  Suc  was Abaa'  fath  but it wa..s not 
CIARACTERISTICS OF ABRAHAM'S FAITH.                 239
blind-it was reasonable. God constantly supported and reassured
him upon every occasion of more than ordinary trial, appearing to
him and renewing the promise some nine or ten times. It is altogether
probable, also, that the first great promise made him was understood
at the time to embrace the gratification of every virtuous wish of a
great and good man's heart, together with the imperishable honor of
a connection with Christ. Such a promise fully justified the most
implicit and self-sacrificing trust in its author.
WVhen he was called to leave the land of his birth and the society
of his friends, God did not at first promise him the place to which
he was called; he did not describe it; he did not even name it; he
only said he would show it to him. Btit the patriarch knew that it
was God who spoke to him; that with such a warrant he could well
afford to go anywhere; and that nothing could be more reasonable
than such a venture. VWhen it is said that Abraham offered up Isaac,
" accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead,"
the literal sense is, "he reasoned with himself" - exercising the
highest faculties of the mind.  It was not "a thing incredible with
him that God should raise the dead." He walked in the way of God's
commandments by the help of a light sufficient to make the path plain
immediately before him, and was willing to wait for more till he needed
it. For let it be borne in mind that God supplies this commodity
step by step, and in no other way. Room is always left for doubt and
occasion for trust, else were there no faith. God will force no man
to believe. He will give him light enough, but none to waste. Accordingly Abraham went, not knowing whither he went, but perfectly
satisfied in knowing his guide.
The term " seed of the woman " was always understood to refer to
a Saviour of the world; and whenever that expression was used, the
idea of redemption was suggested. There is also abundant reason to
believe that Abraham  knew mnore of this doctrine than a careless
reader of his history would suppose-more, indeed, than the recorded
language of the covenant seems at first to imply.  "The light of the
knowledge of the glory of God shined on him in the face of Jesus
Christ."  Our Saviour says, "Abraham rejoiced to see my  day,
[eagerly desired —leaped forward- to Fee my day,] and he saw it,
and was glad." He knew what the allusion to his posterity meant,
and had, therefore, the greatest possible motive to fidelity.  Through
him-in his seed, "Not," says the Apostles "seeds, as of many," but 
240          CHARACTERISTICS OF ABRAHAM'S FAITH.
seed —in allusion to the Messiah-" shall all the nations of the earth
be blest." Of course Abraham understood this.
When the son was promised, he was, it is true, very old; but God
had already made him rich while he was a wanderer, and without any
apparent advantages  why could he not also give him a son? After
the son had been given, he was required to sacrifice him, and virtu ally did so; but he " reasoned with himself" that God had given
Isaac by miracle, in reward of obedience, and would, if it - became
necessary, restore him in the same way.
Abraham's faith was reasonable; so must ours be. No man ever
had more faith than he had a reason for; and he who most clearly
comprehends the nature of Heaven's promises, will repose the most
implicit trust in them.
2. His faith was prompt.  The faith by which men in all ages have
been justified, is a living, active faith.  The Bible abounds in pre cepts as well as promises, duties as well as privileges; and though
Abraham was justified before the works of the law-before circumcision was enjoined-it was not before there were commandments to
obey and duties to perform.  There is no mention of his ever having
delayed or hesitated to obey, but many expressions forcibly suggestive of his punctuality. Hagar's banishment was very grievous to him,
yet cc he rose up early in the morning" to enforce it.  He was a very
old man when circumcision was enjoined, yet the rite was observed
"the self-same day." Nothing could be more shocking than was the
commandment to sacrifice Isaac, yet "he rose up early in the morning" to execute it.
IHis faith was prompt; so should ours be. Few things are so fatal
to the prosperity of the soul, as the habit of delaying the performance
of an act of duty. The very derivation of that word is suggestive;
it signifies something that is already due. The very moment God
bids us perform an act, that moment let us do it. Delays are dangerous.  Faith is productive of prompt obedience.
3. Abraham's faith was singularly constant. Religion was the
business of his life. Wherever he went, he carried it with him;
wherever he pitched a tent, he built an altar; wherever God appeared
to him, he offered an extra sacrifice. He was very rich, encumbered
with a large family, unsettled, in the midst of enemies to his. religion;
yet he never neglected his devotions, nor permitted his household
to do so. 
CHARACTERISTICS OF ABRAHAM'S FAITH.                 241
By obeying God he became rich, and so, by being in good company,
did Lot become rich. But wealth without piety is sure to be a snare.
Hence Lot, who had his choice of localities when he separated from
his uncle, preferred the neighborhood of wealth and sin. At first he
only "pitched his tent toward Sodom," but in a short time he was
a citizen.  He loitered round the verge of the vortex till it had well
nigh engulfed him.
One cannot help noticing in this connection the great danger of
prosperity to social concord. The flocks and herds of the kinsmen
no sooner became increased than they gave rise to disputes; so that
what want and wandering, fatigue and famine failed to do, was easily
effected by prosperity. The friends were separated. But the sincere
man of God is always safe. Neither the height of prosperity, nor the
depth of adversity could separate Abraham from God.   All of
Lot's good fortune was the result of his connection with Abraham;
insomuch that, "when  God destroyed the cities of the plain, he
remermbered abrahlam, and sent Lot out of the midst of the destruction." The first set prayer upon record is the one offered by the
patriarch for the doomed city; and it contains all the elements of
christian supplication-an impression of God's majesty, faith, humility,
charity, importunity-so that the good man who would not dwell in
Sodom, as Lot did, prayed for it, as Lot did not.
His mind seems to have dwelt constantly upon his "high vocation."
At Haran he took a house cc at the entering in" of the town-on the
alert to learn-ready to entertain; an example of piety we should
be careful to follow. When in the service of the weak he had taken
spoil in battle, he refused to keep or to share it; because that was
not his profession. His mind was on other gains: he was true to his
calling.  "He was not mindful of that country from whence he came;
for truly had he been mindful, he might have returned."  But "he
desired a better country, even a heavenly." When the famine broke
out in Canaan, he did no! murmur, nor wait for a needless miraclehe helped himself; not by going back to Ur, for he went in a directly
opposite direction; yet not to stay, but to sojourn. When stricken
in years, he very naturally wished to see Isaac well settled in life,
but would not permit him to marry in Canaan. His wife must come
of good people, and there were none nearer than Chaldea. Yet he
would not go for her himself, nor suffer his son to go, to use his own
expression, "whatever might come of it." He would not go nor send
16 
242           CHARACTERISTICS OF ABRAHAM'S FAITH.
his child where temptation was, not even upon an important errand.
He therefore sent Eliezer, his servant, having just sworn him to be
faithful. So also, when Sarah died, he would not bury her with the
natives; but bought the cave of Machpelah, and buried her alone.
By tLese tokens may we judge of the constancy of the patriarch'!
faith.
4. But the most remarkable characteristic of Abraham's faith was
its fortitude. We have seen what it could do, let us see what it could
suffer.  Cave mentions fifteen different journeys, and ten sore temptations, which befel him; and in almost every trial he was called upon
to face a seeming contradiction, if not an apparent impossibility.
Upon reaching Canaan, the land was promised him, for an inheritance
to him and to his children; yet it belonged to unfriendly strangers,
and he was not permitted to settle, but was required to dwell in tents
and tabernacles; while his age threw him far past all hope of a
posterity.
But of course, the great trial of his faith was the sacrifice of Isaac.
It befel him just when all his troubles should have seemed well nigh
well past. He was comparatively settled in life; the long-promised
son had been given; domestic  broils were provided against; all
seemed well with him, and it was "well with the child;" when the
command fell upon him like a bolt out of heaven, that he should
offer Isaac for a burnt sacrifice. That moment, it may be supposed,
every bliss of his life was turned to a pain.  lie was desolate.  Ishmael, poor boy, was an exile at God's command; Isaac was all the
son he had or ever would have. The very being whose presence
would have nerved him to meet any demand upon his fortitude, was
now to be immolated, as a test of that fortitude, under circumstances
indescribably revolting.  His last prop was to be struck from under
him. Ah! no; not his last: he still had for a support his confidence
in the word of the Lord.  Wonderful faith!  Even there it " staggered not through unbelief at the promises of God."
He might have given many plausible excuses for disobedience. He
might have called it murder, and shown an antecedent law forbidding
it. He might have urged natural affection, and demanded, at least,
that some one else should do the deed. He could have required a
reason for this requisition. Ishmael was banished for the sake of
peace, but what had Isaac done.l He might have asked what would
become of the promise; or how he should afterwards look Sarah in 
CHARACTERISTICS OF ABRAHAM'IS FAITHI.'243
the face, or what the heathen would.think of human sacrifice among
the Hebrews, and whether the cause of religion would suffer byit.
But nothing of the sort was said. He neither disputed, delayed nor
murmured; but on the contrary, "rose up early in the morning" to
execute his dreadful commission.
The requisition was made, it should be observed, in the very hardest language:
Take now thy son "   0 God, will not all my flocks, and herds, and servants do, instead?"
"No: take thy son!"
"Then at least let me send to the wilderness for Ishmael; Isaac is my
cherished child, the son of the wife of my youth-my beautiful, faithful
Sarah-the tie that binds us to the days of our bloom.  Will not Ishmael do?"
No: take thine only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest.  It is to be a trial of
love; the question is, lovest thou the gift more than the giver?"
"Enough, Lord, I give him up."
"Nay, but more:  take now thy son, and get thee into the land of Moriah,
and offer him there."
"Alas, must I slay him?-pompously, religiously, immediately? Must
I do-it?"
"Yea, even more: offer him there for a burnt offering!"
What a mitigation of the good man's suffering would a sentence
of death have been!
In further progress of the narrative, Moses introduces, according
to his wont, many of those touches of power, by which, almost at the
rate of a volume to the word, he throws the entire picture upon your
eye in all its terrible sadness. For example, they were to travel together for three long, dreary days; and then, when near the mount
of grief; they were required to leave the servants behind, and proceed
alone.            Father and son together for such a purpose! It was the fellowship of joy and grief, of love and death. (This occurred near the
foot of Moriah: was it the spot afterwards called Gethsemane?) An
excuse for requiring the company of the servants could easily have
been framed; but no             The menials at a distance wait,
Alone ascend the son and sire;
The wood on Isaac's shoulders laid 
244          CHARACTERISTICS OF ABRAHAM'S FAITH.
"My father," ('call me not father,' flesh and blood would have said,
'but murderer,') " behold the fire, and the wood to keep it burning,"
(to keep what burning?) " but where is the lamb?" No doubt the
father thought he saw the lamb, in that young and trusting face.
"My son:"-Dare he call him so?  Ah! yes,-he never loved
him more; and never but one father loved a son more than he.
"Jehovah jireh-the Lord will provide."  So he did then, and so he
did near two thousand years afterwards on the very same hills.
The patriarch had erected many an altar in gladness and in hope;
he nows builds one in sadness. And having finished it, turns to the
subject of his anguished thoughts, and breaks the matter to him.
"My son, thou art the lamb!"  Isaac was perhaps twenty-five years
of age-old enough at any rate to have thwarted his father's purpose,
but this was to be a voluntary sacrifice-an adumbration of the sacrifice to be " offered once for all." He knew his father's hope, and
had been trained to obedience.
The first duty was to bind him-to tie the arms which had se
often embraced him; the hands he had so many times seen spread out
in pure and innocent devotion; the next, to take a farewell token from
lips that never murmured. Thus far the father: now rises the awful
priest, the majestic "friend of God,"-lays his left hand on the pure
young forehead, takes up the gleaming knife, looks to heaven for one
more supply of strength, then at the smooth breast for the palpitating
seat of life, his lips close more tightly, his chest expands with a
breath of desperate purpose, his muscles swell, the right arm rises!
There-hold there, for a space, O grand old hero! Let heaven and
earth behold the sublimest act of obedience ever performed by man 
It is a spectacle for men and angels: the gentlest and best of fathers,
in that attitude over his heart's darling, and "Sarah's laughter!"
Another such spectacle will not be seen for near two thousand years,
and never but one more.
This was God's opportunity: he does everything in due time. He
had more control of that imminent arm than the patriarch had; and
at the point between the will's perfect obedience, and the execution
of its purpose, he called to him: "Abraham, Abraham!" and the
lofty man answered: "Here am I!" Lo, what force his position gives
these words: "Here am I "-in the most desperate emergency to
which duty ever called a man-obeying, with every fibre of my heart
on fire. "Behold here am I!" 
CHARACTERISTICS OF ABRAHAM'S FAITH.                  245
"Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do him any harm: for
now I know that thou fearest God, seing thou hast not withheld thy
son, thine only son, from me." I meant thee no harm, but only good.
That is enough, "to obey is better than sacrifice."
At this point, God confirmed his reiterated promises by an oath,
saying: "By myself have I sworn, for because thou hast done this
thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: that in blessing
I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the
stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and
thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall
all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my
voice."
It is more than merely possible that this is the point from which
also the patriarch saw the day of Christ. It may be, that as the words
of this great obligation were finished, the rugged landscape melted
out of his sight; the hum of human life-the roar of a mighty cityrose over the hills upon which he,stood; and there lay Jerusalem, the
joy of the whole earth, like a jewel in the bosom of Palestine. Music,
pure as light and sweeter than perfume, floated through the ambient
air. The harp of Isaiah sang the story of the manger, that of David
the story of the cross.  He saw Israel in her strength and glory; he
saw the glory fade, the strength decay; tribe after tribe shrinking
toward the enfeebled centre  till the land of their fathers was a
despised and conquered province.  But, lo! across the hill, there,
above a stable in the suburbs of the meanest town in Judea, God has
hung the morning star of hope-a herald of the brightest day that
ever dawned.  Beneath that wretched roof lies an only-begotten and
well-beloved son, whom it has just been Isaac's immortal honor to
represent.
Cold on his cradle the dew-drops are shining,
Low lies his head with the beasts of the stall!
But that infant brow will ere long wear the diadem of the universe;
that dimpled arm sustain a sinking world. He has come to lead captivity captive, to conquer death, to despoil hell of its hopes, and
reopen the gates of Paradise!
The vision may have been extended, till it embraced the accumulating conquests of the cross-the millennial day-the resurrection
morn-the gathering of the redeemed myriads to the gate of light. 
246          CHARACTERISTICS OF ABRAHAM'S FAITH.
For this is by eminence the day of Christ, and it is fair to suppose
that Abraham saw it.
It has been objected that the sacrifice of Isaac excites too much
feeling; that the feeling it excites is wrong; that the patriarch's
faith was ferocious, his piety cruel; that religion should recognise no
such duties, and encourage no such thoughts.
Cain may have entertained a similar opinion of Abel's sacrifice
The elder brother's offering was beautiful; it consisted of the blushing, golden, dewy fruits of the earth. The younger brother slew an
innocent creature, and placed it reeking upon the altar. The former
act was a proud man's offering-a mere acknowledgment  that his
wishes were gratified; the latter was the sacrifice of an humble, penitent heart, whose faith admitted that without the shedding of blood
there is no remission of sin. -
The transaction now under consideration was a scenic representation to Abraham and to us of something infinitely more moving.  And
if it be asked why the object of the sacrifice was not at once explained
to father and son, it is obvious to answer that the scene was meant to
be affecting-to move the feelings of all whose guilt and vanity will
permit them to feel; to show how dear a price it cost to buy a soul
from death; how deep the obedience and humiliation to which Christ
bowed his neck. It was meant to give as lively an idea as possible
of the amazing love of God, who, not at the command of a superior,
or the call of friendship, but while we were yet sinners, spared not
his only-begotten, his well-beloved Son, but freely gave him  up to
sorrow and death for us all.
The whole narrative is as faithful a representation as prophetic act
could well be, of the Eternal Father offering the Adorable Son. The
place was the same, the sacrificer a father; the sacrifice an only
son-an unoffending and willing victim;  the son was received back
by a figure of the resurrection; the place was called, by way of prophetic promise, Jehovah-jireh-the Lord will provide.  Isaac bore
the faggots, as Christ bore the cross.   The entire scene forcibly
reminds us of the world's redemption, and furnishes a beautiful explanation of the words, "Sacrifice and offering thou didst not require;
a body hast thou prepared; lo! I come to do thy will."
Men will call this act of Abraham by such names as suit thema display of iron nerve, of heroic fortitude, and the like-but it was
an exhibition of unconquerable faith-faith which the hurtlings of all 
CHARACTERISTICS OF ABRAHAM'S FAITHI.              247
heaven's thunders and the shock of a thousand earthquakes could not
stagger. That faith had reached the sublime height at which it
became an absolute and settled understanding with its possessor, that
whatever God did, he would do him no harmn, but always good; that,
whatever befell him, nothing should ultimately hurt him; but, on the
contrary, all things should work together for good to him. Such a
faith was his support in this great trial. He accounted that God was
able to raise his son, even from the dead. He reasoned thus with
himself: I may stab the life out of that young heart; I may rob the
glory from eye, lip, and lrimb; may drown the music of that pleasant
voice; may burn that youthful form to ashes,-but God can give my
son to mre again! He can collect the wreathing smoke to glossy
curls; the sparks to beaming eyes; make lips of eloquence of the
ruddy coals; and bring looks of love and life from ghastliness and
death!
Such was the eminence attained by Abraham, through an unflinching trust in God. But let none suppose that it was his exclusive
privilege to occupy that position.  We may all obtain "like precious
faith." If we do not, it is our own fault. And 0, brethren, when
we consider that the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and that
even in the comparatively-benighted days of the patriarch, "every
transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward,"
with what earnest emphasis should we ask, " How shall we escape, if
we neglect so great salvation?"
Abraham was now permitted to rest and prosper, till twelve years
afterward we find him sitting in his wife's tent, whither he had gone
(as the Scriptures express it) "to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for
her." She had been the beautiful companion of his youth in far-off
Mesopotamia; the faithful sharer of his toils and wanderings; she
was the mother of Isaac. Honored woman, to have such a mourner
at her bier.
Finally, about the year before Christ eighteen hundred and twentyone, Abraham himself gave up the ghost, at a good old age. He had
lived one hundred and seventy-five years, during an entire century
of which he had been a wanderer.  Now had he found the long-sought
ret the "srne  an  pigi on eath  ha  rece  th heavenly   
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RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.
BY REV. S. G. STARKS, A. M.
"Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should
raise the dead? "'-ACTS xxvi, 8.
How precious are the words of promise! and so much  the more,
as the heart is clothed in sadness. How full of interest and heavenly consolation does that record appear which speaks to us-to allof a better life, when the life that now is is ebbing to a close! Then
it comes to pass, if not before, that heaven gains audience on  earth,
and man is wont to heed the counsels of his Maker. Then it is that
every doctrine and precept of our holy religion appears to assume a
new and increased lustre, and to speak with an unwonted energy and
power to the hearts of the children of men; in a word, that a new
song has been heard in the temple.
And shall we inquire for the cause?  Has any fresh impulse been
imparted?  Has any new star been seen burning on the brow of the
future, or any new message come down from the Holy One?  By no
means. The very same light and influence which are now seen kindling on the altars and thrones of revelation, have crowned its every
page and paragraph from the beginning. That peculiar interest with
which Christianity seems invested in such an hour and on such an
occasion, is made manifest from the fact that man is now inclined to
look with a "single eye" on the "truth as it is in Jesus"-to consider his ways, and to ponder the path of his going. It is now that
his ear, so long closed to all good, is open to instruction; and  his
eye, so long fastened on earth, is uplifted to heaven, where the cross
from the first pointed his vision, and labored to plant his affections.
Whenever Christianity finds such a spirit and temper of mind as
this enthroning the affections, how complete are the triumphs of faith,
how blessed the results of obedience!  Then, every word of revelation is heard and heeded, embraced and adored. It is no longer
viewed, as heretofore, to be a matter of minor importance, but as the 
250                RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.
one and only source of life and hope, joy and immortality. Happy
would it be for man if in every period of his life there were the same
marked anxiety to know and obey the will of God as that which characterizes the close of existence. And of reason; for so varied as
are the conditions of earth's sorrowing children, so varied likewise
are the voices of revelation. There is a sentiment rich and full for
every condition, from the cradle to the grave. That Infinite Wisdom
whose ear is open to the cry of the raven, and whose eye is on the
flight of the falling sparrow, certainly has not been less mindful of
man and his wants; nor has He failed, in the bright revelations of
His will, to manifest His care and tender solicitude for our race.
Revelation, therefore, by Divine appointment, rejoices with those who
rejoice, and weeps with those who weep. The law and the gospel,
Sinai's thunder and Calvary's hymn, conspire together to promote
man's present and eternal good.
In view, therefore, of the many deaths among those we love, over
Which our holy christianity teaches us not to sorrow even as others
who have no hope, and of our own approaching dissolution, may we
not fondly hope that the theme of our present meditation will be regarded as appropriate and highly suggestive? In the great and momentous question before us, touching the resurrection of the dead,
revelation speaks with an air of commanding triumph, and yet, at the
same time, in strains as sweet as the " song of love."  Blessed words!
swift-winged messengers of light, bearing joy and gladness to the
habitations of mourning and distress.
The text is truly inwrought with glorious hope in reference to the
dead, and the final overthrow of the kingdom of death. We may
well and with much assurance contend, that there is nothing which so
universally calls forth and enlists the sympathies of our race as that
momentous question, the question of all ages and climes, "If a man
die, shall he live again?"  Shall the sleep of the dead have a waking,
and the silence of the grave be broken by a song of the resurrection?
Who is there that is not interested-vitally interested-in the solution of this great problem?  Nor is it wise in man to turn away from
or push aside this fearful question. He has too much at stake to
think either slightly or seldom on this subject. Nothing is more fully
calculated to arouse and impress man with a due estimate of life's
untold interests and issues, its facts and fallacies, its brevity and uncertainty, than the hopes and fears of a coming future. Hiow often 
RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.                    251
is it that, in the contemplation of this subject, the Christian, the true
disciple of Christ, is made to rejoice through hope, "knowing that the
day of his redemption draweth near;" and many who are out of Christ
are induced to "turn their feet into the path of Hlis testimonies."
Probably no other subject of thought or inquiry, in the vast range
of the human intellect, has more fully or more deeply penetrated the
souls of men, and of all men, than the doctrine of a future state -
whether there is, or is not, an hereafter; whether all life terminates
at the hour of death, or whether beyond the grave there is a renewal
of existence. As to the general sentiment of mankind, but fewvery few, comparatively-are found to doubt.  Notwithstanding the
absence of a written revelation in many portions of the earth, and
the consequent moral darkness which shrouds the nations, still that
great truth, revealed by God in the garden of Paradise, nearly sixty
centuries ago, that man was to inherit immortality, has not been entirely lost nor forgotten; but, being invested with immortality, it has
lived on in glorious remembrance, rising superior to Eden's wreck
and ruin; and to-day, as in the beginning, though in greatly diminished splendor, it still burns in every human heart, and kindles an
undying glory in every human hope. It has wandered on through
every tribe, and nation, and kindred, and people, and tongue, until its
testimony is found in every land and under every sky, from the
dwarfed Greenlander to the giant-grown Patagonian, and from the
dweller in Oriental climes to him whose home is at the setting sun.
Everywhere man reaches forth his arms to embrace a future. However marred and disfigured, materialized and sensualized, the heavenly
pencillings of immortality may be and are, nevertheless the great
primal fact stands out in bold and living colors; nor have the clouds
of ignorance and superstition, not the howling storms of ages, been
able to extinguish this celestial light, or hush the song of its triumph:
it lives on still and forever. In fact, the great future forms part and
parcel of every system of religion under the sun: it is incorporated
in every language under th8 whole heavens: it is symbolized in fact
and fancy, in budding life and in smouldering hecatombs, in rolling
clouds and in purple floods: everywhere and in everything man
strives to read his future and his rest. The sun-tanned children of
the woods, as they wander among the wild pomp of their mountains,
rehearse it in their legends of distant smiling seas and islands of
green. The polished and erudite Greek proclaims it in his classic 
252               RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.
story of Itesperian gardens and Elysian fields of fruits and flowers.
But above all the Christian glories in it, as he sees heaven open
through the resting chamber of the "Man of Sorrows," and as he
listens to the song of the celestial harpers, as it rises and swells, like
a tide of glory, beneath the bending arches of immortality.
In fact, nothing is more foreign to the human mind than the idea
of ceasing to exist.  The fearful dream of annihilation is, if possible,
more revolting, more withering and blighting to the hopes and energies of an immortal soul, than the visions of gloom.  Life, life is the
song of existence. God is life, as well as love; and the more perfect,
and pure, and abundant is man's life, the more he resembles, of conceivable excellency in man, his maker.  "Blot me not out of thy
Book, 0 God, but let me live on and forever," is the prayer of every
living and intelligent spirit. And what are we to understand by all
this universal longing after immortality? Shall we interpret it as a
simple chimera of the brain, a wild and distempered romance of a
heated imagination?  Is no higher and nobler estimate to be placed
upon it than this? Ought we not the rather to view it as the revealed
will of God-as a glorious prophecy written on the imperishable attributes of man's nature-in a word, as the first great poem of life and
immortality, once sung in Paradise, and, through the efficacy of the
atonement, still shouting its heavenly harmonies on the chords of the
soul? We may not, we cannot regard it as an inspiration of no value;
nor should we close our eyes or seal our ears to its heavenly hopes
and bright anticipations. Has Infinite wisdom, think you, kindled
this star of promise to cheer and allure man on in the hope of a
future state, of a better life, and of an eternity of joy, for no other
reason than to mitigate the sorrows of the present? Surely, such an
estimate is as unworthy of man as ft is dishonoring to God.  Creation
may tremble on its ancient foundations, but the "word of the Lord
abideth forever."  And  this is the word which Ile has spoken, that
"the dead shall arise i" that there "shall be a resurrection of the
dead," both of the "just and of the unjust;" that  the great eternity to which man goes is the autumn of probation, in which man
shall reap the harvest of that which he sowed and cultivated in time.
If man's immortality were on earth, and to be developed in the
growth of ages, then might the world plant its hopes and settle'its
fortunes in the dust; but if, on the other hand, this life in its best
estate is only a fading and transitory scene, the simple cradling exis 
RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.                    253
tence, the preface of a history burdened with the epochs of eternity,
where is the wisdomn in man's spending all his energies, and living,
and toiling, and striving simply and alone for this life, whilst every
object of trust and treasure on which God has stamped the impress
of merit and immortality is above him, in the regions of man's promised existence-a land undimmed by clouds, unshaken by storms?
And here the question naturally arises, What use, what improvement, should we make of this universal and well-attested faith of
mankind?  Does it-not bear the signs and seals of the Divine glory?
and if so, can we doubt the issue?  Will it not most assuredly be
fulfilled? Hath the Almighty spoken, and will He not bring it to
pass? Hath He attracted the gaze of all nations to the unfolding
future, and will Hie not reveal that future in the annals of eternity t?
Is the racer to reach no goal, and the Vesser no port?  In a word, is
the divinity in man to expire -in the agonies of death, and the voyager
to eternity to be stranded, and lost, and go down, and forever," into
the cavernis of a sunless sea?"  Great God! is this to be the destiny
of -iunman hopes. and the final issue of those glorious promises and
prophecies which have come to us from the Divine throne!  By no
means: heaven has inspired no false hopes, nor has the Almighty
kindled a meteor glare on the brow of eternity. The eternal sun
floods with prophetic daylight the valley of death, and already the
voices of holy watchmen are heard on the summits of intervening ages,
" Behold, the morning cometh!" "Awake and sing, ye that dwell in
the dust, for your dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast
out the dead!"  Nor is this blessed hope of a coming future found
simply in the faith of those who enjoy the advantages of revelation
God has written it in all nature: it "lives in all life, and extends
through all extent." If so be, then, that the nations of the earth,
having no other apparent light than that of nature, have stood out
beneath the opening heavens, and in the profound and unmeasured
abysses of space. reaching away to the throne of the Eternal, have
gathered hopes of a home and residence in the altitude of boundless
spheres, what may not our exultant songs be, who have received the
Divine pencillings of that invisible future, in whose sky the Star of
]Bethlehem has shone like an undimmed glory, and from whose very
tombs have been heard the thrilling shouts of triumph?
At this point, however, lest we be misapprehended in our argument, we would most explicitly and unequivocally state, that all we 
254               RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.
have said as to the universal belief of all nations in a future state of
existence, as read in nature, taught in the schools of philosophy, or
rehearsed in their sacred groves, has reference simply and only to the
soul-to man's spiritual existence. As to the body, the visible and
tangible part of man's nature, what was to be its destiny after death
formed no part of this theory, at least in relation to the hoped-for
future. At the hour of death, the body was supposed to have met
and fully accomplished all the designs of its organization and being;
and, consequently, it was consigned to no higher and nobler destiny
than that of hopeless dissolution and decay. Even the soul's immortality was regarded, more especially amlong those who sought the
teachings of philosophy, as hypothetical, and grounded on what they
were pleased to style " the eternal fitness of things."  Philosophy in
its best estate, and encouraged by the longing desires of the multitude, and receiving its all of inspiration from the natural instincts of
man's nature and the floating strains of Eden's prophecy, ventured
only to teach the immortality of the soul: that there was an invisible
and intangible something in man, which would survive the ravages of
death, and wing its mysterious and invisible flight to higher and nobler
regions, or to lands of deepest gloom, as its moral affinities might determine. When this much was said, all was said that lay in the region
of their philosophy. Knowing of no future for the body, they spoke
not of its resurrection or redemption.  Their brightest lamps were
instantly extinguished as tley sought to penetrate the arcana of the
grave. They saw no prophet standing on the borders of the valley.
They heard no rushing winds of immortality gathering over the millions of the slain. All was silent, and dark, and incomprehensible,
and consequently they pronounced death eternal. And yet, however imperfect such a system is, and more especially when contrasted
with the hopes of Christianity, and whatever of gloom settled upon
the grave in the belief that death was an eternal slumber, nevertheless we can but rejoice that our kindred in every land and nation have
not entirely lost the hopes of a future state, and the belief that virtue
will be rewarded and vice punished. But, rejoice as we may, what
hoe  of th  resureton wer  cu  off  if the _St*ar of Be.thleXhem 
RESURRECTION OF THE bDEAD.                    255
land!  As little as we may regard it, it is nevertheless true, that he
who seeks to  blot out the hopes of the resurrection, not only plants
himself in battle-array against the truth of Jehovah, but at the same
time shows himself to be in league with death, and saling with approbation the heartless work of the destroyer!  But, thank God,
there is a Power high over all; a Power which in the fulness of time
shall send earthquake, and overthrow the thrones of primeval darkness; a Power which shall be heard, and felt, and realized in the resurrection of the dead, and the utter confusion of those who "obey
not the gospel of the Son of God!"
With whatever of confidence the world has held to the doctrine of
a future state and the immortality of the soul, it is scarcely necessary
to repeat that it was left for Christianity, and Christianity alone, as
taught in the "living oracles," to reveal and make manifest the sublime mystery of a resurrection. To Christianity belongs the immortal
honor of kindling hope in the bosom of despair, and of pouring a flood
of eternal daylight on the grave of humanity.  It was Christianity
speaking in the first promise after the fall; Christianity tenting among
shephlerd-kings; Christianrity in the Tabernacle and in the Temple
Christianity rejoicing in the hymns of priests and singing on the harps
of prophets; and, above all, Christianity as embodied in the person,
character, and teachings of Him who was revealed from heaven as
" the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of His
person," which "brought life and immortality to light through the
gospel." Christianity was that almighty arm revealed from heaven,
which rolled back the dismal clouds from the mouth of the grave, and
that Divine hand which traced in characters of flame, on the very
arches and columns of Death's shadowy throne, " Jesus of Nazareth,
the resurrection and -the life."
That the doctrine of the resurrection of the human body is purely
a subject of Divine revelation, is most fully attested by the universal
history of mankind. That it is in advance of all human reasoning,
and superior to the loftiest conceptions of the imagination, is at once
most fully sustained by the universal silence of all history and poetry,
ethics and philosophy, on the subject. Christianity, therefore, in the
statement and advocacy of this new and startling doctrine, not only
assumed a high and regal position, but at the same time stood solitary
and alone, clothed in the awful grandeur of its own divinity. It had
no ally but Omnipotence, and no investments but the high behests of 
256P RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.
Heaven; and consequently, whenever its voice was heard and its
pleadings manifested, whether in the Temple or in the Tabernacle,
in the forum or in the field, in Jewish or in Pagan lands," Jesus and
the resurrection" was the burden of its song and the hymn of its triumph. As proof of this, we refer to the position taken by St. Paul,
when he uttered the memorable language of the text. Nor was it the
theme of this only, but of every other occasion on which he spoke in
the name and for the cause of Christ.  It will be remembered that,
two years previous to this interview, the Jews had lodged complaint
against the apostle of "sedition," as it respected both their government and their religion. He was consequently arraigned before Felix, and impleaded by Tertullus.  And although "no cause worthy
of death or bonds" was found in him, nevertheless, Felix, on being
removed from office, to please the Jews, left Paul in chains. On
the arrival of Festus, the new Governor of Judea, he found the
apostle in bonds at Cesarea. King Agrippa, coming as far as this
place to do court to the new Governor, and learning from him the
state and condition of the apostle, and that he was under arrest on
account of his religious opinions, signified his desire to hear him himself; whereupon Festus appointed the audience on the following day.
" And on the morrow, when Agrippa was come, and Bernice, with
great pomp, and was entered into the place of hearing, with the chief
captains and principal men of the city, at Festus' commandment Paul
was brought forth," attended by the soldiers who kept guard.
What a spectacle of the moral sublime was there here displayed!
In the midst of pomp and royalty, titled chiefs, and earthly nobility,
and all the insignia of grandeur and state, the chained apostle for
the honor and cause of Christ makes his appearance.  Calm andselfpossessed, with a Divine impulse in his heart and the glory of his
Master in view, and realizing in himself a divine unction and the bap_
tism of fire, he began and finished one of the most triumphant and
overwhelming arguments in defence of the Christian religion, and the
glorious assurance of the resurrection of the dead, to be found in all
the Book of God. Nor was his appeal in vain. As he called up
prophet after prophet who had spoken of Christ and the "power of
His resurrection," and arranged and stationed them around the cross
and at the sepulchre, and made them repeat their ancient.and honorable predictions in reference to the sufferings and death, resurrection
and ascension of the Prince Messiah, and then and there pointed out 
RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.                    257
their literal and eternal fulfillment in Jesus, the "son of liary, the
Son of God," every heart was riven as by the bolts of heaven. The
actual tragedy of the crucifixion and the resurrection, of the cross
and the sepulchre, was being reenacted in the minds of that awe stricken multitude, when St. Paul moved towards the king, and, lift ing his chain in the sight of his royal auditor, exclaimed, "King
Agrippa, believest thou the prophets?" The appeal was irresistible;
and at once the king responds, giving proof of the soundness of the
apostle's argument, and an honest conviction that Christianity was
true, "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian."  Why, then,
O King Agrippa, "why should it be thought a thing incredible with
you that God should raise the dead."
This was Paul's only crime, and herein was found the whole of his
offence, that he preached the doctrine of the resurrection, and set
forth Christ as its author.  And  yet there and then he most triumphantly demonstrated that to the same glorious hope" the twelve
tribes, who instantly served God, day and night, hoped to come;"
and- " for which hope's sake, (exclaims the apostle,) King Agrippa, I
am accused of the Jews." In view of the Almighty energies embarked in the work, "why should it be thought a thing incredible
with you that God should raise the dead?"  Can any man show reason, or science, or philosophy, or aught else to disparage the faith in
God's ability to raise the dead? That the same Almighty Power
which in the beginning made man out of the dust of the earth, cannot and should not, in His own good time and pleasure, raise up the
fallen tabernacle of humanity, and adorn and beautify it, spiritualize
and glorify it, and crown the whole with an investiture of immortality
and eternal life?  "Can man conceive beyond what God can do?
Quite impossible." We may well, then, rest secure in the immutability of His word, let that word pledge or promise what it may.
And here we would examine more critically the immutable and
eternal basis on which the apostle founds his faith and builds his
argument in favor of the doctrine of the resurrection. He appeals
not to the philosophy of the schools, for there was no light in them;
he calls not to his aid the prejudices or sympathies of the multitude;
he rests not his argument on the musty records of the past, nor on
the fancied systems of the present; but, as a wise master-builder, he
lays his foundation and piles his superstructure amid the attributes
of God. On the "stone which the builders rejected" he rears the
17 
258               RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.
hope-tower of his faith, and, taking his point of survey from this
lofty and glorious elevation, and beholding in the coming future the
heralding-star and the dawning light of God's promised morrow, he
exclaims, with an air of conscious triumph, "i Why should it be
thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead "
Here the apostle, in plain and simple terms, states the ground of the
Christian's hope, which hope rests on the promise that God will raise
the dead, and the ability to redeem the pledge. The doctrine of the
resurrection is set forth most emphatically as the work and prerogative of God, and of God only. No other power, or combination of
powers, can effect it. He, and He alone, who made man, can redeem
man.  "An angel's arm can't lift man from the grave;" and when
God speaks, " Legions of angels can't confine him there."  In the
mind and counsel of Jehovah, the resurrection has actual existence;
His eye as certainly rests on the triumphs of the last great battle as
though every child of mortality this moment stood before Him; but
to us the event is future.  But when the final hour shall arrive, the
transcendent glory of the resurrection is as certain to be revealed as
that God exists and immortality endures. In view, therefore, of the
almighty resources embarked, why should we tremble to convey our
kindred to the dust? Who does not recognise the reasonableness
and Divine assurance of the doctrine, in that the hand of God is set
to the work, and the honor and veracity of the Eternal Throne is
fully and faithfully pledged to its consummation?
And yet, as full of hope and heavenly consolation as this doctrine
is to man, there are many, even in Christian lands, who have denied
its authority, and labored with a zeal worthy of a better cause to
effect its overthrow. Not, it is presumed, from antipathy to the
doctrine itself, simply and abstractly considered, but from the fact
that it is a great foundation-principle. -a basement doctrine of a system of religion which they despise, and despise only because it reproves vice, and threatens punishment to the finally impenitent.
Although the cherished mode of attack is not by a direct charge,
seemingly, that God has not power to raise the dead, yet impliedly it
is none the less bold and presumptuous, in this, that God has counterworked the ability to do so. The argument is based on what infidels
are pleased to style the "iimmutability of the laws of nature." It
is contended that God is the builder of nature, and the author of her
laws; and to this every Christian will most heartily subscribe; but 
RESURRECTION OF THE, DEAD.                     259
the deduction drawn from this fact by the infidel, namely, that "na ture's laws are immutable-incapable of alteration or change, even
by God himself," we do as heartily deny. This objection, taken in
its most favorable bearings, must at once be pronounced, not only
fallacious, but highly presumptuous. It is in no sense logical, nor
can it stand the slightest test of criticism. It is neither more nor
less than an artful mode of evading the subject, rather than an honest
consideration of it. The position assumed by the apostle in the text,
and that too in perfect harmony with every other inspired writer,
touching the resurrection of the dead, is not in any sense, either intimately or remotely, founded on nature or her laws, but solely and
entirely on God.  If the word of God taught that the resurrection
of the human body were to be effected, in whole or in part, by nature
and her laws, then the objection, whether true or false, would have
at least a degree of relevancy, and an expression of candor.   But
as neither nature nor her laws are called into effect, or in any sense
to aid in- this work, but the whole is reliant on God and God only,
no objection can lie against the doctrine as set forth in nature.  We
assert-and the proof is abundant-that no valid objection can be
found in or urged from nature, unless it can be shown that an effect
is greater than the cause which produced it, which no one but a madman or fool will allow. What is nature but an effect of which God
is the cause? Which then is the greater, nature, or God, the author
and builder of nature?  But if there be, as contended for, any law
or element of nature which can or will prevent the resurrection of
the dead, then God must be held as inferior to nature, and is consequently overmastered by the works of his own hands.   Can anything
be more absurd than such a conclusion as this? And yet this is the
logic and criticism with which infidelity strives to overturn the sublime and glorious hopes of the Christian!
What is law, either human or Divine, natural or revealed, that it
should be held in such profound veneration, on this subject, by those
who are constantly violating it on all others? Is it anything more
than an ordained "rule of action" or "mode of existence?"  It is not
an agent, but an instrumentality; the express or understood will or
pleasure of a superior, single or multiplied. Law, in itself considered, is purely passive: it is not in any sense existence itself,
but simply a mode or means of existence. The idea, therefore,
that the element of "immutability" is an inherent or natural 
260               RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.
quality of law, urged by those who oppose the doctrine of  the
resurrection, is a most arrogant assumption, and destitute of any
foundation. Immutability of right belongs to God, and to Him only.
If in the counsels of Infinite Wisdom nature has been constituted on
a plan or -principle of regularity, or, if it is preferred, "irmmutability," it is subject to the will of God, and in no particular can it be
shown to be independent of Him. As all immutability, as an original quality or mode of existence, is of God, and can only be imparted
or bestowed by Him, it is at once evident that nothing is or can be
immutable or unchangeable, contrary to His will; and can only so
long remain immutable, in its relation to other modes of existence, as
the Divine pleasure shall bind the investment. Although it may be
admissible and rational to speak of the" immutable and unchangeable
laws of nature," when referring to simple created causes and agencies,
and of their ability to alter or amend, yet when reference is made to
God, the author and builder of nature, the terms are inadmissible
and unmeaning. That God cannot (as contended by those who deny
the resurrection of the dead on the ground that the immutable laws
of nature forbid such an occurrence) alter or change the laws of nature, (if necessary,) to effect the resurrection of the human body, is
too absurd and ridiculous to demand a refutation. In fact, the entire
argument of infidelity, if it is to be styled an argument, is nothing
more nor less than a pure sophism, in this, that the attempt is made
to prove that the regularity in nature is one and the same thing as
the "immutability" of nature.  That nature is regular, or at least
seems so to us, is at once admitted; but that it is "immutable" is
most positively denied; nor is it in the power of any man to establish
such a fact
Intimately connected with this error in doctrine and sophistry in
reasoning, on the part of infidelity, is found another, none the less
objectionable. In fact, errors in doctrine or practice searcely ever
exist alone. The assumption that, because a thing now exists, it will
forever exist, or that, because it does not now exist it never will exist,
(which is scarcely more than the former argument in another form,)
is not only an unwarranted assumption, but is at the same time contradicted and proved false by every agency and instrumentality in
God's moral and physical universe; and of reason we affirm, that the
simple fact of the existence or non-existence of mutability or immutability, when made to depend on God as an absolute and independent 
RESURRECT[ON OF THE DEAD.                      261
cause, relies solely on His will and pleasure. Planting ourselves,
therefore, on this immutable basis, we conclude that the fact that the
resurrection is not now-to-day-taking place, and the dead are not
seen rising up and walking forth out of their graves, furnishes no
more evidence that they never will arise, than does the existence of
man-to-day-that he will never die.  The argument is as sound in
the one case as in the other, nor can the conclusion be successfully
resisted. That men have lived and then died, is a fact requiring no
array of argument; equally true is it that those who were dead have
been raised to life again by the power of God-that same power
which stands pledged for the resurrection of all. These two great
facts, death and the resurrection, are sustained by the same style and
character of evidence; nor can the one (except in frequency of occurrence) claim any real advantage over the other. This may seem
at first a strange if not a hazardous position; nevertheless, we feel
confident that facts will bear us out. Take the case of Jairus's
daughter, or the widow's son, or Lazarus-either one, or all of them
-and there were as many, if not more, present when Christ raised
them from the dead, and who saw and conversed with them after their
resurrection as ever beheld any one die, or followed him to his grave.
The fact that but few have been raised from the dead has no relevancy to the validity of the argument; nor can the world reasonably
look for the general resurrection of the dead until the period of general probation closes. Revelation indicates each period as distinct
and successive, and not as both existing or transpiring at one and the
same time.  The simple fact that God has given promise to the world
that He will raise the dead, is and should be a sufficient and an allsufficient ground for our faith; and yet He has done mnore, and because of our infirmities has abundantly demonstrated the doctrine by
raising to life some of those who were dead, which fact is sustained
by the testimony of friends and enemies, by sacred and profane history. These, at least to the eye of faith, stand up as prophetic
sheaves, typifying the general harvest.
The studied effort on the part of infidelity to array nature against
revelation in the doctrine of the resurrection, is entirely unfounded
peioi  sucsso  an  haronou   progrssio.   *E_e____h_ng in tAheoa 
262               RESURRECTION  OF TIHE DEAD
moral and physical universe has been ordained and established on
regular and successive periods of time and fitness; and, consequently,
no two events, epochs, or periods, in the regular order of nature,
providence, or grace, are found existing at the same place and time:
in a word, God has everywhere and in all things revealed himself as
a Being of order and not of confusion.
To illustrate and strengthen this position, we need only refer the
mind to the period when God alone existed; when there were none
with him in the universe; and then there followed another period
when the creative fiat went forth, and the silence of eternity was
broken by the harps and hymns of angels. There was also a period
when no firmament lifted its fretted dome of azure and gold, and no
system of worlds revolved through "voids immense;" and then again
there was another period succeeding, when the gloom of ancient night
fled away before the blaze of innumerable suns and sparkling stars.
Now, with these beautiful illustrations and proofs drawn from nature,
the accredited record of infidelity itself-relative to the order and
harmony of the works of creation, both spiritual and material;- of
period succeeding period, and of creation following in the train of
creation; we must naturally, and with the fullest assurance of reason,
conclude that, with the accumulated light of a thousand prophecies
burning ia glorious fulfilment on the ages of the past, and kindling
with a Divine assurance on ages yet to come, instead of nature or her
laws placing any barrier in'the way of a resurrection, it does in fact
not only illustrate, but at the same time confirm and establish it.
How forcibly are we taught that the present is the period of death
and the power of the grave, but that succeeding this there is to come
another period, which shall prove the period of life and the power
of the resurrection!  As, in the order of creation, the " evening,
preceded the "1 morning," so, in the order of redemption, death and
the grave precede life and the resurrection.  If, in the triumphs of
Calvary, death has prospectively been " swallowed up in victory "
in which event the resurrection of the human body isreiliant on God,
then it is as certain in due time to come forth, as if this very day and
hour the song of the resurrection should salute our ears, and the
earth be felt tremblingsunder the mighty tread of its buried generations.
As far as the light of nature and revelation combined have enabled
man to read the mighty volume of creation, and the glory and sub 
RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.                     263
limity of its constitution and laws, it has been found to reveal but one
grand series of elevations and progressions. In fact, God never
works on a retrogressive scale. His every sketch of wisdom and
touch of power is always and forever to improve and perfect, to beautify and adorn. Whatever, therefore, there is or may be found contrary to this great elemental principle, either in nature or man's
present state and condition, is and must be pronounced foreign and
antagonistic to the Divine government. We may therefore with boldness assert that death and the grave are no more of nature, as God
originally constituted it, (at least in so far as man is concerned,) than
they are of heaven. They are the offspring of sin, and the just retribution for the violation of God's law.  God made the world an
abode of life and an Eden of pleasure, but by transgression it became
the habitation of death and of countless evils. Every triumph of
death over humanity, and every grave dug in the bosom of the earth,
are but the visible footprints of the destroyer. God, however, in the
great and glorious plan of human redemption, has pronounced the
doom of death, and the restoration of his captives. As the grand
mission of the second Adam, the Lord from heaven, was to counterwork the powers of darkness, and to bring back what was lost by the
defection of the first Adam, death and the grave are as certain to be
overthrown, as that God is mightier than His enemies.  Whatever,
therefore, infidelity, or pseudo-infidelity, may assert to the contrary,
one thing is certain-one unfailing edict has passed the throne, that
God will vindicate the honor of His injured law, and sustain the rectitude and perfection of His universal government. And when this
shall have been fully accomplished, death and the grave shall be piled
in ruins at the foot of the cross, nature restored to its pristine purity,
and Paradise bloom in unclouded beauty.
Such we conceive to be the overwhelming evidence of nature, as
unfolded in the light of revelation; not as now existing, in death and
graves, but as it shall hereafter exist, when redeemed and disenthralled, and when the hands of the Crucified One shall pronounce
the second benediction upon it through the power of His grace. This
sublime prophecy, however, is only clearly and distinctly enunciated,
whls  in ante  there is revae  the bligh__ of despair   Inon 
264               RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.
moment the ear is regaled with the song and shout of life, whilst in
another it is torn and riven with the fearful wail of death. And what
does all this mean? Has Infinite Wisdom thus ordained and estab lished confusion and contradiction in His own government? By no
means.  "God cannot deny himself."  All His acts and works are
necessarily perfect in harmony and degree. The confusion and con tradiction which are so apparent to all, are the works of an enemy.
God sowed "wheat" in the fields of existence, but an enemy hath
scattered "tares."  Such are the present conflicting and jarring ele ments of nature, that no man or class of men are now or ever have
been able, independent of the light of revelation, to satisfy themselves
as to the great original laws of life and being. If so, why is it that
so many countless systems have perished with their authors? Why
is it that even now long-established and cherished theories are seen
trembling on their ancient foundation? Is it not because God's original laws written in nature have been so mutilated and disfigured
that no system of philosophy can fully decipher them and read understandingly the record? In view, therefore, of such a condition of
things, God has, in tender compassion for our race, spoken to man
through His revealed word; and it is through this medium alone that
man can arrive at any satisfactory conclusion in determining what constitutes God's will and pleasure towards our world. Here, and here
only, can man learn what is of God, and what is the result of sin;
what is in conformity with, and what is opposed to, the Divine government. With this Divine record in the hand of man, flashing its immortal fires over the wastes of time, he learns of the power of a
resurrection; that death shall be destroyed; that the grave shall be
opened, and that those who "sleep in the dust of the earth shall
awake and come forth;" and that life "immortal and the same" shall
one day live and reign in glorious triumph.
Whatever, therefore, may be the trembling suspense of the world,
or the cavils of infidelity, in reference to this marvel of revelation,
the resurrection of the dead, matters not as to its full and final completion. God has settled and established it as His own will and work,
that the dead shall awake and come forth to newness of life; and no
power shall be able to resist it. To give to this momentous subject
the strongest possible hold upon the human mind, God has declared
it to be His own peculiar work and pleasure. He has not intrusted
it to any agency or instrumentality, but reserved the accomplishment 
RESURRECTTON OF THE DEAD.                     265
of the mighty enterprise to himself, and consequently placed it be yond the possibility of doubt, chance, or change.  If the resurrection
cf the dead had been predicted as the result of second causes; if
nature, or man, or angels had been spoken of, there might and would,
doubtless, have been a withholding of confidence; but when God
reveals His own almighty arm, and stakes the honor of His throne
that He will raise the dead, who can doubt the issue? Infidelity
itself, with all its assumed composure, trembles before the announcement, and aetually calls upon the "4 rocks and the mountains" to shut
out the light of revelation, and shield the trembling consciences of its
votaries from the "face of Him who sitteth on the throne."  Here,
thank God, the soul may find repose. Here the mourner may hush
his griefs and still his sorrows. Here, on this tempestuous ocean of
time, lashed into foam and fury by the wild hurricane of death, the
voice of Jesus lingers still; and in the calm of dissolution, as the
vessel bounds over the dark waters, faith walks with steady step the
deck of those eternal promises that God will raise the dead-that
"they that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him."
The various other objections urged by infidels against this doctrine,
and founded on the imaginary idea of opposition in nature, are in fact
but of minor importance. The controversy on the doctrine of " personal identity" and the " revolution of particles," even among those
who cavil, is in fact but little relied on. These floating visions of
infidel sophistry may allure and deceive for a moment, and more especially those who strive to weave a "cloak for their sins," but when
it is remembered that no respectable infidel writer has ventured to
base his theory on so slender a trifle, but simply held them as collated for want of something better, we may well pass them by without
any formal refutation. The theories foreshadowed, although urged
against the resurrection of the human body, are in themselves as
much, if not more, opposed to nature, and to every system of civil
jurisprudence throughout the world, as they are to the doctrine of the
resurrection. We may in truth affirm that the immutable and eternal basis on which the doctrine of the resurrection has been placed
;n the Word of God, leaves all objections without foundation, and
utterly harmless. Nature, the great volume with which infidelity
assumes to be so conversant, is as little comprehended by those who
speak so confidently of its God-built laws as are the words of revelation;
and if it were not that its marvels were every day and everywhere 
266                RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.
rising up in life and beauty around us, would be as certainly condemned by those who oppose the resurrection as any doctrine of
Divine revelation. How prone is man to forget that God's ways and
modes and plans are not only ordered in all things and sure, but
infinitely wise, and, in innumerable instances, beyond the mightiest
conception of the mightiest minds!  But were it possible for every
objection urged by infidels to bear, as set forth by them as found in
nature, against the resurrection of the dead, (which is by no means
true,) still God could and would as certainly raise the dead as his
own word has been pledged to the work; and in so doing God would
be restoring his law and vindicating his sovereignty. Were the
particles of the human body scattered to the utmost limits of infidel
conjecture, and, in addition, "immutability" be stamped on every
law of nature, (admitted for argument's sake,) yet God could as easily
and as consistently raise the dead as he now gives life to vegetation
and fragrance to flowers. And of reason; for death is not a law of
nature; it is the result of sin; and sin had no existence in this world
when God ordained and established its laws, and pronounced everything "good" which he had made.   Death and the resurrection,
therefore, both lie outside of the original constitution of nature. But
should infidelity object to this theory, then every infidel is reduced
to the fearful necessity of contending that God is at war with himself,
and has set up opposing laws in his own government; that with one
law he ordains life, and with another law destroys that life; that
with one hand he builds up, and with another hand pulls down; and,
furthermore, that these two laws-the law of life and the law of deathare both " immutable," unchangeable, and eternally the same. Alas,
alas, for the fearful logic of those who set themselves in opposition to
the Word of God!
Let us not forget that God is consistent with himself; that none
of his plans or laws or governments have been ordained or set up in
confusion; that God's periods are of a moral character, and not of
days and years; that with the Lord "one day is as a thousand years,
and a thousand years as one day;" and, consequently, that it is
because of man's infirmities that he measures and maps off time. Whenever, then, the great period of probation shall close, and the reign of
death end, then shall be ushered in the period of life and the resur
rection; and then (thank God) He who in "'the beginning" called
matter into existence, and out-of a sea of chaos built up and adorned 
RESURREGT1ON OF THE DEAD.                      267
the innumerable chambers and dwelling-places of universal being,
will as certainly raise the dead, and out of the widespread chaos of a
crushed and blighted humanity reconstruct the human body, suited
to its new and future relations, and, upon the indestructible principles of rejuvenescence and immortality, place it forever beyond the
possibility of chance or change.
Such are some of the analogies of nature in reference to this sublime and heavenly doctrine; and although the Christian faith neither
looks for nor claims from the great world around us any evidence or
proof confirming the doctrine of the resurrection, still there is much
which, in the light of revelation, serves to typify and illustrate it.
Most certain is it that every effort has most signally failed to find
anything in nature to disprove it. Infidelity may wrest the language
of nature, as it most certainly does that of revelation, to its own
destruction, and final and eternal overthrow, but still nature, like a
great physical prophecy, is rolling forward to final completion and a
glorious end -a period when its stammering tongue and broken accents
shall be eloquent with the praise of God, and triumphant in the vindication of his word.
To this word of revelation we now turn our attention, and gather
from the rich munificence of its grace the evidences of the doctrine
under discussion. And here we find the doctrine of the resurrection
most clearly stated and abundantly established. With the Church
of God the resurrection is no novel theory. It is no new mine sprung
in modern times, or forged out in the brains of speculative theologians, but is venerable with the age of God's first promise, and has ever,
from the beginning, been recognised and embraced in every dispensation of the Church of God.  Although it was but dimly shadowed
forth in earlier times, when compared with the overpowering splendor
of later ages, nevertheless there was always light sufficient to arrest
the attention and inspire hope, to prevent the seal of destiny from
settling on the brow of death and the gates of the grave.
Enoch doubtless understood this doctrine when he "walked with
God" and communed with his Maker; and although his translation 
26     S           RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.
Dver his son- his only son- bound for sacrifice; and although
restrained from actual immolation by the arresting voice of the Divine
Angel, nevertheless (says an inspired apostle) "he received Isaac
from the dead in a figure of the resurrection." How well this great
truth was recognised by Job, may be fully comprehended by his own
language. Listen to the sublime proem with which he introduces
his testimony: " O that my words were now written! —0 that they
were written in a book!-that they were graven with an iron pen and
lead in the rock forever! "  Could anything be more beautiful than
this?  But hear his testimony:  "For I know that my Redeemer
liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and
though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall
I see God, whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold
and not another, though my veins be consumed within me." What
testimony could be more full and explicit than this?  How sublimely
does the harp of David send out the following language: "My flesh
shall rest in hope, for thou wilt not leave my soul in the grave."
" I shall be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness."  How beautifully does Isaiah set forth and establish this doctrine in those sublime
odes and songs with which he celebrates the praises of the Prince
Messiah: " Thy dead men shall live; together with my dead body
shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; for the
dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead."
In fact, nearly all the prophets more or less clearly shadow forth this
glorious doctrine, and point out some new star of hope burning in the
sky of the future, to keep in remembrance this great truth, that
"the dead shall arise."
Here we might safely rest our argument as to the Old Testament
Scriptures  and yet we can scarcely forego the pleasure of introducing one other illustrious character, in the person of Elijah. This
holy man of God, exercising his prophetic office midway between Eden
and Calvary, a translated Enoch and a rising Redeemer, had not only
been signally honored during his stay on earth by the answering fire
from heaven to consume the sacrifice, and by being entrusted as it 
RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.                     269
tion a conquered enemy, and the grave a chamber of temporary
repose. But that chapter in his history which most effectually arrests
the attention of mortals is the story of his translation. Elijah hav ing passed out from the city of habitation-having entered the valley
of the Jordan, and passed the water-floods-ascended in a celestial
chariot, and was borne aloft amid the sublime wonders and temple
habitations of the heavenly world, leaving another bright example of
the power of faith, the awards of holiness, and a glorious demonstration of an invisible and ever-unfolding future for man's physical as
well as spiritual existence.
Such are some of the evidences in relation to the knowledge of this
sublime doctrine in "olden times "-years when creation was young,
and the memorials of Eden lived in the memory of man. Whilst
numerous other  passages might be cited from the Old Testament
Scriptures to the same point and proof as the foregoing, yet, holding
the above to be amply sufficient to sustain the correct sentiments of
the ancienit worthies, we now turn our attention to the New Dispensation, and walk out under a sky radiant with the " Sun of Righteousness," and over a land actually rent and torn by the power of a resurrection. In making our selections, however, from the New Testament Scriptures, we scarcely know where to begin. So replete is the
entire volume, and so convincing and overpowering are the demonstrations given, that to collate all that is appropriate would result in
but little less than the reading of the record. Whilst the four evangelists were chiefly concerned in writing the history, and in giving to
the Church and the world a true narrative of the advent, life, ministry, sufferings, death, resurrection, and ascension of "Jesus of Nazareth," they at the same time, and in the same connection, make the
most full and ample references to the general resurrection of the dead.
Nor could they have done otherwise, when their Divine Lord and
Master, both in His public and private ministrations, in the audience
of gathered multitudes, and alone with His disciples, gave the most
direct and convincing proofs that the period was approaching when
cc all that are in their graves shall hear the voice of the son of God,
and come forth." In this connection Christ most emphatically proclaimed Himself "the resurrection and the life;" and not only so,
but He gave proof of this great fact, and settled forever this momentous question, in that He raised the dead in His own name and power,
and finally came up himself from the silence of the tomb, to the con 
270                 RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.
sternation of his enemies and the joy of his friends. The great burden, however, of the Evangelists' triumph and hymn of joy was, to
celebrate the resurrection of Christ himself; His victory over death;
His triumph over the grave; His spoiling of principalities and powers, and making a show of them openly; His leading captivity captive,
and receiving gifts for men;  and  His glorious ascension into the
heavenly places, with all the essential attributes of man's nature,
spiritualized and glorified, as the first fruits of that mighty harvest of
redeemed humanity which shall be gathered, in the fulness of time
and the fruition of glory, into the home and rest of the sanctified and
saved.
However full and convincing may be the testimony afforded by the
four Evangelists in proof of the resurrection, still, if possible, the
writings and ministry of the apostles are more full and ample. The
reason of this will at once appear, when we consider their fields of
labor, and the gross darkness which shrouded the minds of Gentile
nations.  The mission and ministry of Christ, according to ancient
prediction, (in so far at least as His personal labors were concerned,)
were to be exercised in the land of Judea-the house and home of
the prophets, the earthly inheritance promised to Abraham, the nation
out of which Messiah was to rise, and to which He was to appear; a
land made sacred by God's temple, and in which Christ was to stand;
immortalized by its sacred mountains, crowned with cedars and waving
with palms. The Urim and Thummim, the altar and incense, the types
and symbols, and all the ministration of Divine heraldry, were there;
and there Christ made His advent, and taught, and suffered, and died,
and rose again, fulfilling both the Law and the Prophets. In this
land the doctrine of the resurrection was held as an article of religious
faith; but in the great field which opened up to the apostles, cc white
and ready to the harvest," the doctrine of the resurrection was an
unrevealed mystery.
The commission which Christ gave to His disciples was of the most
extensive character: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." In the execution of this godlike plan and
labor, the apostles of necessity ventured on lands where no Law had
revealed its thunders, where no prophet had told of the glory of
Messiah's reign, and no hymn of redemption had ever been sung. In
such lands, lying on the borders and in the "shadow of death," all
had to be made known and proclaimed, and republished at every 
RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.                    271
interview and on every occasion when the apostles spake of Jesus and
the resurrection. In the very beginning of the apostolic ministry,
after the resurrection and ascension of Christ, the manifestation and
approval given by heaven in confirmation of their Divine and holy
mission, and of the sublime verity of the doctrine, was in very deed
one of the most splendid and overwhelming miracles found in sacred
story. In accordance with the command of Christ, the apostles held
their first conference in the city of Jerusalem. Here, on the very
theatre where the tragedy of the crucifixion had been so lately performed, in sight of Calvary and the cross, the garden and the sepulchre, crowned with cloven tongues of fire, they preached Jesus and
the resurrection; and there and then, three thousand of those who
had so lately clamored for Christ's crucifixion cried out for pardon,
and embraced the cross.
From Jerusalem, the city of holy memories, the city of Christ's
humiliation and triumph, the apostles, "being endued with power
from on high," took their departure to publish, in every land and
nation whither they should go, Jesus and the power of the resurrection; and "their words were with power, for God was with them."
Stephen, in Jerusalem, puts to silence and utter confusion the combined wisdom and subtlety of the synagogues of the libertines, and
those of Cyrene, and Alexandria, and Cilicia, and contends, even
unto martyrdom, that the "same Spirit which raised up Jesus from
the dead shall also quicken our mortal bodies," and enthrone them at
His own right hand in heaven. Philip, in Samaria, confounds and
overwhelms the sorcerers and magicians, and moves to anxious inquiry
the whole city, in reference to the doctrine of the resurrection; giving
assurance unto all that " the dead shall be raised incorruptible
for this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall
put on immortality. Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is
written, Death is swallowed up in victory." Peter, in Cesarea, in Pontus, in Galatia, in Bithynia, in Cappadocia, and wherever he went,
preached with the power of the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven,
giving proclamation and proof of the resurrection, in the conversion
of the people, and to as many as heard him, that ", if they believed
that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus
will God bring with Him." Barnabas, in the cities of Phenice, and
Cyprus, and Antioch, sent consternation and alarm to the hearts and
consciences of listening thousands, who beheld the miracle-attested 
272               RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.
evidences that "God would raise the dead, and bring every work into
judgment; that the hour was coming when all that are in their graves
shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live."
Paul, at Berea, and Corinth, and Philippi, and the world-renowned
cities of Athens and Rome, and the idolatrous Ephesus, and wherever he went in the spirit and power of his mission, gloried in the
cross, and triumphed in the sepulchre.  His arguments and demonstrations were like mighty avalanches sprung from the Rock of Ages,
and thundering down the heights of Calvary, overwhelmed sages, and
philosophers, and heroes, and statesmen, and camps, and courts.  Like
another Divinity walking amid the earthquake of the crucifixion, and
bearing on his shoulder the "stone rolled away from the door of the
sepulchre," he dedicated to Jesus of Nazareth the altar inscribed
"To the Unknown God:" he heaved the very foundations of Diana's
temple; he drove to madness the craftsmen of her shrine; he committed to the flames the thousands of their magical books; and, standing
ini triumph in the crowded Areopagus, he established and defended
the cross, and piled at its base the diadem of Death, the broken bars
and shattered gates of the grave, and proclaimed the day of God's
appointment, "in the which He will judge the world in righteousness
by that Man whom He hath ordained, whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead."
James, and John, and Timothy, and Titus, and a host of others, sent
out on the glorious mission of the world's conversion, went everywhere proclaiming the one all-heavenly theme of the resurrection of
the dead, and the coming in of a morning which shall shed down oni
the night of the tomb the radiance of immortality and eternal life,
and reveal to the gaze of an astonished universe the returning captives,
triumphing in the song of the bursting sepulchre: "0 Death, where
is thy sting! 0 grave, where is thy victory!" until, at last, the transcendently glorious apocalyptic vision, descending from God out of
heaven, burst upon the gaze of Patmos' isle, and closed the scene.
And here is the kindling of a glory too intense for mortal vision.
We may not, we cannot, sketch the unfoldings of this inspired drama.
Who can adequately portray the evening of time and the dawn of
eternity? Ages of investigation have walked among these divine
symbols, and gazed on these last links of prophecy, and yet how little
does man comprehend them! nor can he fully, for they bend too near
the throne, and speak in the language of glory. And yet this much 
RESUARECTION OF THE DEAD.                    273
we may know, that these sacred signs are hung upon the cross as
trophies of conquest; that the multitudes of angels which surround
the throne and bow before the altars are witnesses of the resurrection;
that the tramp of the celestial horses and the thunderings of the roll ing chariots proclaim a pilgrimage to the sepulchre; that the heavenly
armies are pushing forward the triumphs of Calvary; and that, press ing hard upon the evening of the world and the setting of time's
last sun, they already burn with ecstatic delight to celebrate with harp
and hymn the new creation in Christ Jesus.
Like a second Moses, who typified the coming Redeemer, and was
chosen of God to narrate the sublime wonders of the first creation, so St.
John, the "beloved disciple," who so often leaned on the Saviour's
bosom, was selected to sketch the diviner glories of the spiritual cre ation, the closing periods of time, and the opening epochs of eternity.
Far down the unfolding future, and standing as it were on some angel tower, which overlooked: the roll of centuries and the flight of time,
he beheld the opening of seal after seal, and heard ever and anon
their prophetic thunderings proclaiming the triumphs of the cross
and the final conquest of the world, the overthrow of Death, and the
resurrection of the dead; when "in a moment, in the twinkling of
an eye," as the voice of the archangel sounded out amid the thrilling
notes of the trump of God, creation ceased its roll-the power of
death was broken-the slumber of the grave was disturbed-the
generations of the dead awoke-and far and near, over land and over
sea, earth and ocean, there were beheld uprising millions walking out
over the boundless fields of space, arranging and stationing around
the descending throne, height over height, and order over order, and
lifting the bold anthem on the tongues of unnumbered generations,
'Jesus reigns —He reigns victorious!" "Alleluiah! alleluiah! the
Lord God Omnipotent reigneth!"
0 my God, mray our voices and the voice of our departed brethren
at last unite in this glorious song! Blessed be God, and blessed be
Flis holy name forever, for the promise of a resurrection, and of life
eternal after death'
As proof of these high-born and heavenly hopes, that our kindred
shall arise, and that we ourselves shall come up from the last resting
places of humanity, St. John testifies that he "saw the dead " —-so
near did he stand on the confines of that glorious day of God
Almighty-that he actually saw the dead. "And I saw the dead,
18 
274               RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.
small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and
another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead
were judged out of those things which were written in the books,
according to their works."
Itis enough: God has declared it, and coming ages shall reveal in
glorious perfection His every word and promise; and those whom we
now mourn as dead shall stand living witnesses of the power of the
resurrection. Why, my christian friends; why, my weeping brother
and sister; "why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that
God should raise the dead?" Nor is it; for your faith and trust is
in Him who raised the widow's son, and who will as assuredly raise your
dead to newness of life.
" 0 happy dead, in Thee that sleep,
While o'er their mouldering dust we weep!
0 faithful Saviour, who shall come
That dust to ransom from the tomb!"  
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TIE SIN AND PUNISHMIENT OF SELFISH WEAITH.
BY REV. LEROY M. LEE, D. D.,
OF THE VIRGINIA CONFERENCE.
"So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."
Luke xii, 21.
A profoundly interested crowd were listening to the gracious
words that proceeded from the mouth of Christ. They were agitated
by the solemn warning to fear Him who hath power to kill and to
cast into hell;* and were excited to a grateful joy, by the assurance of a special and merciful Providence, which  suppliea their
daily wants, watched over their steps, and "numbered the very hairs
of their heads."t But their eager attention was suddenly and
strangely interrupted. There was one among those who listened to
him, who" spake as never man spake," whose thoughts were too
much engrossed by "the  love of money," to sympathize with tfihe
doctrines of Christ, or to be attracted by his representations of " a
better and a more enduring substance" than earth can offer, or wealth
can purchase.  He had no taste for those spiritual treasures which
Christ was  offering "without money and without price" to himself
and others. But he was keen to perceive the authority with which
Christ taught, and the deference with which he was heard; and quick
to conclude that he might avail himself of the authority of Christ to
accomplish a selfish purpose of his own. The things that filled his
heart and excluded Christ from his thoughts and affections were displayed'when, lifting his voice amid the solemn stillness of the multitude, he said: "Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the
inheritance with me."I Disclaiming all right or power to judge or
settle questions of that character, the Master warned him against 
27C        SIN AND PUNISHMENT OF SELFISH WEALTH.
a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which lihe
possesseth."'i How true! How wisely, how impressively true is it,
that a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of his possessions!
Life has a better and a more  enduing substance than "gold that
perisheth!"  It has higher aims, nobler promptings, and more substantial objects than are found in the pursuit or the possession of
wealth.  "They that will be rich, fall into temptation, and a snare,
and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition "t' The dangerous tendency and destructive influence of the love of money on the hearts and habits of men are
distinctly portrayed in the parable connected with the text.
To confirm his warning against covetousness, and to illustrate the
deceptions and hardening influence of the disposition and determiuation to be rich and increased in goods, he related a parable showing
the effects of wealth upon one who "layed up treasure for himself,"
and was not, either in the possession or use of his wealth, "rich
toward God."   Our text is a deduction from the parable, setting
forth a general principle, as to the effect of selfish wealth on religious
life and character, drawn fromi a particular case. It is the history
of a man who made to keep; who accumulated to lay up for himself
who labored to have, not to give; who was anxious to get and glad
to hoard; but not cheerful to communicate nor willing to distribute;
who was rich for himself and poor toward God; who was wealthy for
the life that now is, but a pauper for that which is to come! /s he
was, "So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich
toward God."
The parable furnishes ample and authoritative proof of the evils of
seeking wealth for its own sake, and of laying it up for pride and
selfish pleasures. Its various and impressive facts for warning and
instruction may be comprised in the following propositions
1. The influence of the pursuit and use of wealth for selfish purposes, on the character and destiny of men.
2. The remedy against the evils of accumulating riches suggested
by the duty of so using our wealth as to become " rich toward God." 
SIN AND PUNISHMIENT OF SELFISH WEALTH.                277
tendant upon the selfish pursuit and use of wealth, we find that it
blinds the mind, hardens the heart, inflames the passions, perverts the
understanding, and damns the soul. A frightful catalogue of evils,
consummated in eternity, and crowned with fire that never shall be
quenched. Let us hear and heed the warning.
It is, perhaps. not an insignificant fact that the case used for illustrating so important a principle as the consecration of one's wealth
to the service and glory of God, is taken from agricultural pursuits
and profits. From any other of the professional and industrial pursuits of life it might have awakened the suggestion that the successful
accumulation of wealth was connected with chicanery and peculation,
the growth of skillful trickery, professional mendacity, or of fraudulent transactions pervading a thousand operations, and spreading
over a long tract of time. But nothing of the kind enters into the
subject.  It is a case where the man  and his pursuits are segregated
from corruption and trickery, are subordinate to providence, and face
to face with God. Man the worker and God the blesser occupy the
vision and fill the thoughts. These work together. The munificence
of God crowns the toil of man, and he is rich!  But alas! he is rich
without an emotion of gratitude, an impulse of benevolence, or even
a desire for fellowship with him who crowns labor with increase, and
life with blessings.  In these facts, defining the influence of selfish
wealth on the character of "a certain rich man," we find authority
for our proposition, and support it by the following deductions
plainly set forth in the parable.
1. Wealth sought and used for selfish ends blinds the mind as to
the author and end, no less than the right use of wealth. " The
ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully." He was
already rich. The successive products of years had brought him
wealth. It was not ill-gotten wealth. It had grown by God's blessing upon the skill, and care, and industry of the husbandman. He
plowed and planted and sowed. God gave the genial seasons, summer and winter, sunshine and rain, seed time and harvest; and his
stores were continually augmenting.   The direct agency of God's
providence is constantly displayed in such a case of prosperity. It
is mor   p    1pal  an 1mrssv h*r  tha  in an  othe  modeof 
278        SIN AND PUNISHMENT OF SELFISH WEALTH.
affections  the Giver is ignored, selfishly excluded, practically repudiated: God is not in all his thoughts. He may not have magnified
his own thrift, his prudent foresight, his indomitable energy and perseverance. But neither, on the other hand, does he acknowledge
God, confess his providential goodness, feel, or even suspect, his dependence upon Him whose sun and rain and air cause the earth to
bring forth her fruits in their season. In the vastness of his possessions; in the diversity, variety and abundance of his goods, in the
full hand, the satisfied heart, the confiding trust of wealth, he is
"without God in the world:" alone with plenty; rejoicing in the
harvest, but stupidly unconscious of the prolific goodness of the
Giver of fruitful seasons. He has toiled for wealth, and he has it.
Poor as he is in all things else, he is "rich and increased in goods."
He has a God, but it is gold: he has a temple, but Mammon sits enthroned in its high places; and the melody of his worship is the
rushing tide of increasing prosperity. But, rich as he was, he was
"not rich toward God."   He knew that he was " rich, and increased
in goods, and had need of nothing" that wealth could furnish; but
he knew not that, with all his boasted wealth, he was toward God
"wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."   Such
is the sad picture of a rich man who lived and labored to " lay up
treasure for himself." But it has darker shades, and the gloom increases as we proceed in the analysis.
2. Wealth sought for its own sake hardens the heart against the
duty of benevolence towards men. "And he thought within himself
saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow
my fruits! "  &C.  The barns which had sufficed to preserve the products of preceding years were inadequate for the protection of the
plenteous harvest of this fruitful season.  He must, therefore, to preserve the fruits of his industry, have larger storehouses. He resolves
to pull down his barns, and build larger ones-spacious enough to
receive and retain all his fruits and provisions. In the desire to preserve his goods, there is nothing to be censured or condemned; the
sin of the act consists in its selfishness. He intends to take care of
his goods —that is right; but he does it only for himself —that is
wrong. He never loses sight of himself and his goods. God is forgotten, the poor are forgotten; the good that wealth might do,.the hearts
* Verses 17 and IS. 
STN AND PUNISHMENT OF SELFISH WEALTH.                279
it might gladden, the moral wastes it might make, "to rejoice and
blossom as the rose," enter not into his thought, form no part of his
plans, have no place in the uses to which his wealth is to be appropriated. What cares he for these, or God? He says, These are my
fruits, my goods, my provisions; my hands have gotten me all this
wealth. May I not do what I please with my own,! Whom shall I
consult? God?-the poor -the cause of benevolence? In that case,
my present barns would hold all they would leave me. No, none of
these; Self is my counsellor. I and selfishness will settle the matter.
What shall I do? I will pull down, and I will build up, and I will
bestow my goods in a place of safety. Here is a combination of arrogance, selfishness, and pride the legitimate fruit of godless wealthenough to make those who "will be rich" pause  in their cause, and
tremble for their salvation.  "How hardly shall they that have riches
enter into the kingdom of God!"   He was laying up treasure for
himself. His present was as blissful as heart could desire. He had
much goods-enough for the long years that were trooping towards
him, like the swelling symphonies of coming music. His future was
gorgeous with a protracted career of unruffled repose, luxurious living, and splendid merriment. But the portrait of this rich atheist is.
not yet filled up. A master's hand traces the image on the canvas.
Another stroke, and it grows more luminous and perfect.
3. Wealth sought and used for selfish purposes deceives and damns
the soul. "And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods
laid lup for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry."*
The selfish passion for wealth seldom tolerates self-indulgence, and
less frequently indulges in sensuality   It is generally too exacting
for the one, and too avaricious for tie other. In this graceless rich
man, however, they all meet and harmonize, and combine to form a
character which Inspiration only can describe, and which "pure and
undefiled religion" contemplates with humiliation and sorrow. In
purpose all his plans were settled: his larger barns were built, and
his abundant harvests gathered into his spacious storehouses. He
now passes into the future. A long line of years stretches out and
away before him. He has much goods laid up for each of the many 
-280       SIN AND PUNISHMENT OF SELFISH WEALTH.
in the using of his wealth. He-laid up for himself; he will enjoy it
alone.  His aspirations are bounded by his possessions; his anticipations range within the years and luxuriate among the scenes of feasting and merriment for which he has provided. Soul, these are thy
goods, thy gods; enter into thy rest; sit down to the feast and the
bowl!-eat, drink, and be merry.  Pause not, nor spare; thou hast
much goods laid up for many years.  Soul, take thine ease.  The
long years of toil are ended; the anxious thought for to-morrow can
disturb no longer. The diligent hand, the daily thrift, the nightly
care, the ceaseless vigilance, have met their reward in boundless
wealth!  To keep, economize, and enjoy thyself, is henceforth life's
business and recompense. Take thine ease, soul-eat, drink! Crowd
thy table with the choicest and costliest delicacies; clothe thyself
"in purple and fine linen, and fare sumptuously every day; " give a
free rein to appetite; revel in the lusts of the flesh; - whatever
passion suggests wealth can supp!y;-eat thy fill of dainty food; drink
at every fountain of pleasure! Soul, be merry; put away sadness;
call for the daughters of music; join in the song and the dance; bid
care be gone; hush the voices of the past; live to-day; and let tomorrow be as to-day, and much more abundant!  Thou hast much
goods; they will last through many years to come. Eat, drink, and
be merry!
Such was the dream of a sensualist, foolish with wealth, and frenzied with the desire of anticipated pleasures.  But the dream perished,
and the vision faded and passed away at the rebuke of Him before
whose word "riches take wings and fly away;" or he who for them
forgets God fades as a leaf, and dies in the strength of his days,
and in the magnificence of his possessions. While the dream was at
its height-in the midst of his gorgeous imaginings, with his plans
ripening, and his soul counting on long years of pleasure here, and
reveling through their ample rounds of ever-coming, ever-changing
joys-a voice awoke his soul!  It was God that spoke!  And, oh,
how terrible were the words, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall
be required of thee! Then whose shall these things be which thou
hast provided?"  "So is he," ih character and feeling, in doom and
destiny, "who layeth up treasures for himself, and is not rich
toward God." 
SIN AND PUNISHMENT OF SELFISH WEALTH.                281
II. The remedy against the evils of accumulating riches suggested
by the duty of so using our wealth as to become "rich toward God."
A compound object is comprised in the history set forth in this
parable. It contains a solemn admonition against the sin of covetousness, and it suggests the end for which wealth is given, and the uses
to which it is to be appropriated. It warns against laying up treasure for its own sake, and for our own exclusive use. It teaches that
wealth is a gift of God, and is to be used for his glory, and for the
good of our neighbors.  In its proper use, we make " friends of the
mammon of unrighteousness," become rich toward God, and lay up
treasure in heaven. The case of the rich fool is presented as a warning against the follies and vices to which inordinate love of money'
leads its votaries.  He stands as an example of the sin and punishment of selfish wealth.  If we would escape his doom of damnation,
we must avoid his course of crime and folly.  The wealth God mercifully confers must be gratefully received and rightfully used. In
all respects, as to the reception and use of wealth, the parable is
eminently suggestive.
1. Wealth is a gift of God. Wealth is a relative term, of common
use, but indefinite in meaning. The world's idea of wealth, as to
amount and uses, we discard, as it enters not into our present object.
W       e        occupy        christian ground, and present christian ideas, for christian
objects. In this view wealth consists in the ability to do good as opportunity offers and means allow. Besides, it comprises the idea of
Ip   ower   to work that we may have wherewith  "to give to him that
needeth." If we are destitute of means, and have no ability to work
f    o     r      means, then only c an we be excused from giving.  St. Paul
prescribes it as th      e     duty of a converted thief, "to labor, working
with his hands that he may have to give to him that needeth."*
Thus making it a rule of christian life to give a portion even of
th         e hard-earned fruits of daily labor as a consecrated offering to
the christian doctrine of doing good to our neighbor. Wealth,
in the christian sense, then, is not measured by the amount of our
gifts, or the ability to give largely, but by the ability to give
something, and the disposition to give as God hath prospered us,
and to live willingly and cheerfully. The ability, the spirit, anti the
obligation of this law of christian life are happily comnTined in a -entence of the disciple that Jesus loved, and whose spirit so be~,ati                              i;-h. iv, 23. 
282        SIN AND PUNISHMENT OF SELFISH WEALTH.
fully reflects the life and doctrines of the Master: " But whoso hath
this world's goods, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up
his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in
him."* The principle is this: the possession of the means of relieving, or of contributing something towards the relief of the needy, involves the duty of giving. He who hath the means, whether limited
or in profusion, has wealth, is able to give, and is under law to Christ
to give according to his ability. The ability to give, that constitutes
the wealth in the case, is the gift of God. The use we make of this
wealth displays "c the riches of our liberality" as signally in the gift
of two mites, as in the offering of thousands of gold and silver. God
giveth us richly all the means by which wealth is required. The head
that plans, the energy that executes, the arms that work, the hands
that gather, have their foresight, patience, perseverance, and success
from God. Wealth inherited, the emoluments of trade and commerce,
the fruits of professional skill, the gains of dally industry and protracted toil, all come from God. His providence turns all to wealth,
and transmutes honest labor into gold. Whoever plants or waters,
projects or executes, plans or works-He giveth the increase.  It is,
therefore, a duty first in order, and of grave importance to the successful prosecution of all our efforts to accumulate, to recognise God,
to confess our dependence upon Him, and to importune His blessing
upon the work of our hands. Besides, there is a mode of increasing
ability to give, which is the true christian idea of accumulation, too little
understood, and too seldom practiced by christians. Christ's prescription for growing rich is by promptness and fidelity in giving:
" Give, and it shall be given you." A doubting philosophy transposes and perverts the doctrine and rule of Christ. Tt says: we
must get- and give: get first, then give: get enough to give largely,
then give largely: get much, and give in proportion to our gettings.
All such reasoning is vain and vicious. The command is clear, the
rule positive, and the promise infallible.  Give and receive: for if
you "give it shall be given you."  The rule of christian life is to
begin by giving. The amount is not stipulated that is to go out from
us; but the return is certain, and the increase abundant. Give, says
Christ. Give something, give according to your ability. It may be
but little you have to give: give the little. Let those who axe able
~1 John, iii. 17. 
SIN AND PUNISHMENT OF SELFISH WEALTH.               283
give the more, to supply your lack, if more be needed. Be only careful to give of a ready mind, and do it cheerfully: God loveth a cheerful giver.  Giving, you will grow "rich toward God."  Give to every
one that asketh you, to every good cause: the command is give: the
amount is " according to your ability." Means are not lost, but increased by giving. " There is that scattereth and yet increaseth."
Giving scatters. God multiplies his mercies as we obey him by giving.
"Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down,
and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your
bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal, shall it be
measured to you again."  This is a new mode of "increasing in
goods."  It is not by pulling down our barns and building greater,
that we may have room to bestow and keep our plentiful harvests:
it is not by absorbing all the gains of trade into our business, for the
enlargement of trade and the multiplication of profits: it is not by
investing our surplus capital in profitable stocks: but it is by riches
of liberality, giving to do good, growing rich toward God by the right
use of our means, that we are multiplied in all the resources with
which God-rewards and enriches a cheerful giver. This is the only
true, satisfactory, and authorized mode of laying up treasure on earth
and in heaven. It commands the appropriation of present available
means to present objects of necessity or benevolence; and God
assumes the place of debtor to the giver, and pledges grace, mercy,
and truth, to repay a hundred-fold in this life, with eternal recompense
in the life to come.
But wealth, in the sense here presented, as comprising the power to
work, " that we may have to give;" and giving as a means of increasing the amount of our wealth and the ability to give at the same time,
is not the precise idea of the parable.   It is offered as a sound religious sentiment, suggestive of duty, and soliciting practical experiment of all who make the necessity of daily toil an apology for
inability to give. It is commended to our faith, and secured by
-heavenly promises.
2. Wealth is a talent entrusted to us for usefulness; and for the 
284        SIN AND PUNISHHMENT OF SELFISH WEALTH.
prosper the plans of the merchant, crown the industry of the mniechanic.
His world has wealth for each, for all, and forever. Sea, and earth,
and sky, are full of His treasures; and invite all, who to prudence
and sobriety add industry, economy and energy, to come, appropriate,
and grow rich. But creation is not filled with treasure to stimulate
cupidity, to gratify pride, or to pander to lust; nor do all equally
participate of the munificent provision. Ignorance, infirmity, misfortune, and sin, hinder many from competency, and subject them to
want and suffering. Poverty is a heritage, for good or evil, from
which humanity will never be free. " The poor ye have always with
you." The Lord niaketh poor. But poverty is representative. Christ
was poor: He had not where to lay his head; and friendship, affection, and faith,. supplied His daily wants. The munificence that fills
the world with wealth, the providence that guides and prospers humanity in the search for it, and fills the diligent hand with riches,
taxes success with the first fruits of its increase; and claims a tenth
at least, as tribute money for his treasury, and a proof of fealty to
his government.  This obligation to give, of giving "according as
God has prospered us," is absolute and universal.   It binds all;
excuses none. It is a law of life, sanctioned by Divine authority, and,
like the tree of life girt about with the flaming sword, it is fenced
round with words of warning, and voices of vengeance, crying woe
against every transgression and disobedience.  "How hard is it for
a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven."  "Go to, now, ye
rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
Your riches are corrupted; your gold and silver is cankered, and the
rust of them shall eat your flesh as it were fire; ye have heaped
treasure together for the last days: Thou fool: this night thy soul
shall be required of thee!"  Selfish wealth is a crime against God
and society; and a curse to him who lays up treasure for himself.
It is never a virtue, but always a crime; never a blessing, but always
a curse.  It expels all the sympathies and charities of christianity
from the soul; it solidifies "the milk of human kindness" in the
breast; it dethrones God from the affections, and elevates Mammon
and Moloch to the throne of authority and worship; and having begun
by debasing, it ends by devouring the soul in destruction and perdition.
3. Wealth derived from God is to be consecrated to lhis service
and glory. Wealth, whether regarded as an actual possession, or as 
SIN AND PUNISHMENT OF SELFISH WEALTH.                285
ability to give, may be held, enjoyed, and used, so as to render us
"rich toward God:" and this constitutes the true riches.  A com prehensive outline of the duty, and of the modes by which our means
are to be used on earth so as to make us rich toward God, and be
treasure laid up in heaven, is thrown off by the Apostle in words
fragrant with the unction of heavenly wisdom, and musical, as if the
angel singers had come a second time to sing, not the opening, but
the consummated triumph of the reign of peace on earth and good
will to man.  "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be
not high minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God,
who giveth iUs richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that
they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the
time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life."*  The sentiments of the Apostle are a commentary, exegetical and practical, on
the words of Christ-" rich toward God."  Means distributed in
good works are not wasted, not lost. The alms, no less than the
prayers of Cornelius, came up as a memorial before God. How grateful was " the blessing of him that was ready to perish" to the heart
of the ancient patriarch; and how sweet to his soul was the song
that widowed hearts sung for joy in his path.t  The inscription on
the tomb of a charitable man happily illustrates and urgently enforces the duty of consecrating our wealth to God: "Here lies Etella:
who transported a large fortune to heaven in acts of charity; and
has gone thither to enjoy it."
4. Wealth laid up for selfish uses and sensual pleasures, is a violation of the ordinances of God, and brings no blessing, but leaves a
curse.  "They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare,
and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil."1
The seductive and delusive influences of " the love of money" in
perverting the thoughts, sensualizing the affections, and debasing the
noble powers of the soul, are frightfully portrayed in the parable of
the rich man. He contemplated his wealth, and forgot the Author
of the vaie  sason  and! th  Give  of th  plntfu havsts._ He   _ 
286        SIN AND PUNISHMENT OF SELFISH WEALTH.
folded their wings to eat, drink, and be merry, at tables crowded
with sumptuous fare, and fountains ever flowing and always sparkling
with pleasure. He was in the bloom and freshness of life, counting
on long years of pleasure, with ample provision for each as it came
and went. But, how abject and poor, in the profusion of this world's
good. His mind had no God; his heart no worship) his soul no
eternity, his hope no treasure. He was alone: rich, selfish, and a
fool!  "So is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich
toward God." How full of horror to such an one is the startling
announcement: "This night thy soul shall be required of thee!"
How much more horrifying still, to him who is rich for himself, the
demand: "Then whose shall those things be which thou has tgathered?"  Yes; whose shall they be?  Poor man, wretched  man,
ruined man, the announcement and the question have shivered thy
hopes, the vision fades from the mind, the wealth falls from the grasp,
the soul is transpierced with a thousand sorrows; and of all he had, all
he loved, all he desired, "there remaineth nothing but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation." This is his position. It is not what he wished, but it is all he deserves. So is he;
so will he be," who layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich
toward God."
Covetousness merits the rebuke it receives in the parable. It is
always and only evil; a sin against God, a crime against sooiety.
The rich and selfish sensualist is the type of a class: a representative
of an innumerable company who love money for its own sake, and for
the license it gives to the lusts of the flesh. It is an easily besetting
sin, delusive in its approaches, strong in its enticements, corrupting in its influences, and destructive in its issues. It is the only sin
in the catalogue of transgression that by a strange perversion of feeling, or a stranger disregard of the Word of God, is held to be not
incompatible with the christian profession. Hence, it is as pervasive
and glaring in the pews of the Church, as in the places of more
worldly resort. It is arraigned by God as guilty of the gravest of
sins, and classed with the most offensive of sinners. Covetousness is
idolatry; and idolatry is treason against God. It dethrones God.
It usurps his place in the affections. It deifies gold. It is a rapacious worshipper of Mammon. Covetousness fraternizes the money
lover with the impure and impenitent both in the nature and punishment of their crimes. Association with the covetous is prohibited to 
SIN AND PUNISHMENT OF SELFISH WEALTH.                 287
christian.*  He cannot be a christian, since a christian may not eat
with him. Inspiration, with a pencil of light, defines his true character and destination by association. He is one of a vile and vicious
crowd, grouped together in a companionship of guilt, and marching
to the damnation of hell.  "Be not deceived; neither fornicators,
nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor
revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God."t Look
at that picture, ye money lovers!  It is drawn by the Holy Spirit.
He places the covetous arm in arm with the thief and the drunkard,
in the centre of the most offensive and loathsome group of depravity
and corruption that can be found this side the world of woe; and
together they are journeying, not to the kingdom of God, but to the
place prepared for the devil and his angels.
Take heed, and beware of covetousness!
*1 Cor. v, 11                           Ver"e9. 1.  
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RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLE.
BY REV. JOSEPHUJS ANDERSON, A. M.,
OF TIlE FLORIDA CONFERENCE.
And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue."
-2 Peter i, 5.
This whole passage deserves attention, as a beautiful and comprehensive description of the virtues of the christian character. Here is
a sacred chain, with link after link, commencing with" faith" in Christ,
and closing with " charity," the greatest of all. Here is the progressive development of a holy character, where trait after trait becomes visible and grace after grace appears. I call this the great
christian motto. It deserves to be written in letters of gold, and
placed where it will always attract attention. It should be committed
to memory, and so often thought upon as to influence the life, and
conform the character to its standard.
The Apostle begins thus: "And besides this"-intimating that
there is something more.  There is no degree of grace, no position
in religion, no height of enjoyment, where we may not hear the voice
of God saying, "And besides this, giving all diligence."  There are
yet higher, brighter, better, positions which invite to diligence. It
is a great mistake to suppose that it requires no exertion to be a
christian.  Many would gladly so believe, and would rejoice to go to
heaven on flowery beds of ease. But there is no such way for either
rich or poor, high or humble. There is one way, and but one, pointed
out by Christ, and that is, "Strive to enter in at the straight gate,
for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able."
Laziness and self-indulgence are great foes to religion. There is
beom  rih or grat  or lernd sip   by idl wishes,x or eve  by 
29o                    RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLE.
wise, we should fail to appreciate it. We do not value highly what
costs us nothing, and if we made no exertions after religion, we should
but lightly esteem it. The Apostle urges therefore to diligence, and
not simply to diligence, but to "all diligence." Nothing is to be
left undone; every effort is to be made. If men were only as diligent, and made the same amount of exertion in the cause of religion,
as for riches and worldly honors, they would prosper greatly and rejoice in the Lord always.
The object of diligence is to "c add  to."  The  christian should
never be content to occupy the same position in religion for any length
of tine.  The spirit of Christianity calls perpetually, saying "come
up higher."  "There is very much ground yet to be occupied:" and
we must " go up at once and possess the land." Too many live in
the past, and when they desire to excite pleasant religious feelings
they go back to the day of their conversion, the time of first love,
and live over again those days.  It is all the joy they have; they
remember how they once felt, and this gives them pleasure. Alas!
for them. They have no present experience. PIaul said, " Forgetting
the things which are behind, and reaching forth to those which are
before, I press toward the mark for the prize of my high calling,
which is of God in Christ Jesus." It is thus a continual adding to.
We add victory to victory, grace to grace, joy to joy, work to work,
improvement to improvement; and so pass round after round up the
ladder from earth to Heaven  The true christian ever prays, "Nearer,
my God, to thee!"  The starting point is faith-" add  to faith."
This is the ground work of the religious life, and he who has not
faith builds upon sand, and while his hopes may stand in prosperity,
when all goes well, in adversity, in death, in judgment, his foundation will be swept away, and he doomed to a miserable and eternal
disappointment. He who starts for the Celestial City without faith
in Christ, enters the wrong gate, and travels in the wrong direction.
Poor man! he has lost his way and is in darkness, but he knows it
not. First of all, we must come to Christ as poor, miserable, guilty
sinners, utterly unable to save ourselves, and cast ourselves at his
feet. crying "4Save, Lord, or we perish." Faith looks back upon
abov  at an anr  God  benat  at..     flmn.   h,l.l,.eor  us to an 
RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLE.                        291
"Jesus, I my cross have taken,
All to leave and follow thee
Naked, poor, despised, forsaken,
Thou, from hence, my all shall be."
The next step is virtue. Here is the progress of religious experience; first faith, then virtue. I dislike ever to find fault with our
translation of the Scriptures. It stands deservedly high as a faithful
and true rendering of the original into pure and unexceptionable
English. It is certainly the best translation into English ever yet
made, and perhaps the best that will be made for many generations
to come.  But while this may safely be said of it as a whole, truth
requires that we say, that in a few instances-and they are very few
indeed-the translation is at fault. These are not sufficient to mar
the beauty, or change materially the sense, of the Scriptures. They
do not affect a single doctrine; and the complaint can only be, that
they fail to bring out the sense of the original fully. Now, in the
case before us, we should hardly expect the apostle to say,',Add to
faith virtue," which means religion or moral goodness; and then go
on to require the addition to religion of the several virtues which
make up religion. This is absurd. The original makes no such blunder,
nor did the translators so intend; for when the translation was made,
virtue was a term expressive of courage, fortitude, moral principle.
Like many other words, it has changed its meaning in the course of
years. The Greek word here translated virtue, means courage, fortitude, goodness, principle. The last is the best meaning for this place,
because it embraces all the rest, and answers the design of the apostle. He is giving the progressive development of Christian character, and therefore intends to say, "Add to faith principle," which is
a settled law or rule of action; an inward, fixed purpose of life; a
permanent spring of conduct.
I wish to call your attention, therefore, to the subject of Religious Principle.
I. There is a great demand for the serious consideration, the calm
investigation, of the true nature of Christianity in this regard. There 
292                    RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLE.
who are zealous and active in times of religious excitement, but who
are lukewarm and indifferent at other times; so many summer and
fair-weather ChIristians, who are seen at the house of God when the
weather is pleasant and warm, but when it requires self-denial to
attend, we see no more of them; so many who are very regular and
attentive when they have a popular pastor whose eloquence attracts
and charms them, but at other times either go not at all or very seldom;
so many who serve God when adversity drives them to the cross for
consolation and hope, but when prosperity returns they forget God,
and, like Jeshurun, "wax fat and kiick."
The question arises, Does Christianity sanction this state of things I
Does it spring legitimately from the nature of religion? Can it be
chargeable to the influence of religion? If so, it ought to be known,
for then these persons are not to be condemned;  but if, on the
other hand, Christianity provides for and contemplates a different
development of character, these persons must be condemned, and their
conduct denounced as utterly contrary to true religion.
We invite you, then, to enter upon the investigation; and we begin
with a question, the answer to which setles the matter decisively and
at once: Is religion merely an excitement of the emotional nature
by the presentation of religious truth, or is it more? Mark you, the
question is not whether religion excites emotional feeling. This we
know to be true. God has not ignored the emotions in providing a
religion for man. Religion. is not simply for the intellect, nor for
the will and conscience, to the exclusion of the sensibilities. It is
for the whole man-intellect, emotions, will, conscience.  A religion
that does not affect the heart is worthless, and altogether unsuited
to man's nature and condition'. Nor am I to be understood as questioning the propriety of religious excitement. Doubtless David was
excited when the ark of God was brought back; Solomon when the
temple was dedicated: Moses when he saw the promised land from
the top of Pisgah; Paul when he was caught up to the third heaven
and heard unspeakable words; and multitudes of the people of God,
in ancient and modern times, have felt the most powerful excitement
at times. There are times when not to experience an excitement of
feeling would be unnatural, and almost impossible. The question is,
whether religion consists in excitement of our emotions, or in something more. The essential element of religion cannot be emotional
feeling, because that wants three of its most prominent characteris 
RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLE.                      293
tics.  Emiiotional fecling wants the uniformity of true religion.  It is
variable and ever changing.  Sometimes men feel deeply, and are powerfully excited, but at others they are calm, and apparently destitute
of feeling. It is a source of frequent trouble to some persons that
at times they feel, and at others they seem to have little feeling on
the subject of religion. Again; true religion is by all conceded to
be a(,lpted to all men; but if emotional feeling is the essential element of religion, it sadly fails in adaptedness to all.  Men are differently constituted with regard to the predominance of the mental
faculties. There are those who have more feeling than others-of
excitable temperament, and a greater prominence of the emotional
nature.  Others, from constitution and habits of life, are cold, intellectual mlen, never much excited, but always calm and reflective.
Others again are men of great nerve and iron will, formed for action,
neither excitable nor reflective, but cool and deliberate, and strong
in purpose. If religion is a mere excitement of the emotions, it is
clearly adapted to but one of these classes. It is totally unsuited to
the man of intellect or the man of will, neither of whom can be excited to display much feeling upon any subject whatever. It is contrary
to their constitution and habits of mind that they should do so.
These need a different religion from that of mere excitement.
Once more  we know that the christian religion is a permanently
abiding reality-something that is constant, always  with us.  But
emotional excitement, in the nature of the case, is necessarily inconstant and variable. Excitement cannot possibly remain long; it soon
wears itself out, and by the laws of the mind must produce a reaction,
when there is a calm. Are we to believe that we have no religion,
when we are no longer excited? This is inevitable if religion is no
more than excitement of the emotions. We conclude, then, that religion is something more than feeling. It is a principle. Some think
that the sentence "Religion is a principle" is a scriptural phrase, but
in this they are mistaken. It does not occur in scripture; but is a
christian axiom of universally admitted truth. I know of no christian divine who teaches otherwise. St. Paul frequently teaches this
when he speaks of the Spirit as dwelling in us, leading and influencing us, and remaining always in our hearts as a controlling power.
St. Peter teaches the same thing, where he says we are partakers
of the divine nature. This divine nature becomes a living, active influence, a principle of life, a powerful inward motive. St. John says 
294                    RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLE.
that when a man is converted "he cannot sin, because his seed remain
eth in him."  A  new principle of life is imparted to the convert,
which changes his inclination and disposition, so that he no longer
loves sin, no longer commits it willingly and deliberately. David
spoke of himself as in a very unsatisfactory religious state, from which
he sought relief.  He says: "I waited patiently for the Lord, and
he inclined unto me and heard my cry; he brought me up, also, out
of a horrible pit, and out of the miry clay, and set myfeet upon a
rock and established my goings." Then he exclaims: " O God, my
heart is fixed, my heart is fixed." In this we recognise religious
principle —-something more than mere feeling.  This is what Paul exhorted the Corinthians to secure, when he urged them to be "steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord." St.
John speaks of this principle when he says: "I have written unto
you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth
in you." The word of God received into the heart and mind as an
abiding principle becomes a source of spiritual strength. We see the
presence and influence of religious principles in the case of Moses
when he rejected the crown of Egypt. There was everything to excite
his feelings, and lead him to a different course of conduct. Gratitude
to the daughter of Pharaoh for his preservation, education, and her
care and kindness, the desire of wealth aroused by the treasures of
Egypt, the ambition for distinction and renown, the desire of ease and
pleasure-all these were operating against his choice. Why then did
" he choose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to
enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season?" This was not a matter of
feeling; there was more than feeling involved; it was because his
religion was a principle of influence and power that he so acted.
Abraham offers a striking illustration of religious principle. Isaac is
his son, the son of promise, long expected and waited for, the son of
his old age, the only son by his beloved wife Sarah, the son who is to
be his heir, and in whom his seed is to be called-yet God commands
to take him and offer him up a burnt offering. Can he do it? Are
not all his feelings against it?  Shall he commit murder. Murder
his son so endeared to him? offer him up a burnt offering.  How is
it possible for him to do it? Here then is feeling against duty, against
principle. If Abraham's religion had been one of mere feeling, it
would have certainly failed here. Job was a man of great wealth,
andsurrounded by a large family of children, to whom he was most 
RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLE.                      295
devotedly attached.  He has everything of an earthly character to
make him happy-rich in possessions, rich in domestic affection, rich
in his circle of friendship, rich in the esteem of all men, rich in religious hopes. But in one day all his property is swept away, all his
children perish, and he is not permitted to see them die or be buried;
his friends forsake him, his wife turns against him, and his body
breaks out with loathsome and painful boils. If his religion is no
more  than feeling, it cannot possibly sustain him; it is more than
nature that can bear all this.  How is this?  Hear him: " The Lord
gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the
Lord." This can be no less than religious principle in its most powerful and beautiful influence, for here it contends with feeling and
overcomes nature. How glorious must such a religion be! how infinitely
superior to a mnere excitement of feeling!  Daniel was severely tried,
when the decree was issued that 1no petition should be presented to
either God or man for thirty days, and thrusting into the lion's den
made the penalty of violating it. If he complied with it he disobeyed
God, but if he violated it he exposed himself to the charge of ingratitude to the king, who had greatly promoted him, disloyalty in transgressing the king's decree, and then to be devoured by lions, torn
asunder piece by piece!   But Daniel kneels down with his window
open and prays as usual three times a day, calmly and firmly. Is this
not from principle.
It was this religious principle that made such heroes of the prophets, martyrs, and confessors.  Nothing less could have sustained
them in the loss of property, friends, and everything dear to their
hearts; nothing less could have supported them in imprisonment,
exile, torture, and cruel death. How firm they were when other men
were weak! how courageous they stood when others trembled! how
calm and cheerful they became even at the stake and on the rack!
Was it feeling that sustained Ignatius when torn by wild beasts. or
Luther when going to Worms? or Jerome when singing in the flames t
When John Ardly was before the cruel Bonner, he particularly described the pain of dying, and dwelt upon the sufferings he would
soon be enduring unless he returned to the Roman Church.   Ardly
listened patiently, and then, as a hero, calmly replied, "Had I a
hundred heads, they should every one be cut off before I would give
up my faith!" Noble man! the world was not worthy of him.
Such, then, is the nature of Christianity. It is far more than ax 
296                    RELIGIOUS PRINOIPLE.
citement of feeling.  In its essential element it is a principle-a
principle fixed in the soul of man by the Holy Spirit at conversion;
a principle given in answer to the prayer of faith; a principle that
succeeds faith in the development of christian character. But if
we pause here, we leave this subject too indefinitely before your
minds.  We proceed therefore to investigate the properties of this
principle. These we find to be two, life and power.
II. Religion is a living principle. Some persons content themselves by imagining that they have a sort of indefinite something
which they call principle, but which has no life, and no power. Their
religion is like a tree whose roots are rotten; it is dead, and ready to
fall whenever the storm comes. It is like a watch with a worthless
mainspring, that will not work, or only irregularly and without keeping time.
There are two great errors, which have each its advocates.  There
is a class who think too much of excitement of feeling; they suppose
there is no religion where there is no excitement, and that the excitement will be in proportion to the degree of religion. There is
another class who are ever prating about principle; but their boast
of principle is the only evidence they give of religion. Theirs is a
dead inactive principle.  These are both in error.  Religion is a
living principle, and feeling is the result of life. Where there is
life, there is conscious feeling. The religious principle fixed in the
soul imparts life to the soul-a conscious religious life.  Life in its
proper conditions is always conscious, and attended by sensibility.
So the religious principle, wherever found, gives a consciousness of
its possession, and creates religious emotions. David so declared
"I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined unto me, and heard
my cry.  He took me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry
clay, and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings; and lihe
hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto God." Again
he says: "0 God, my heart is fixed, my heart is fixed; therefore
will I sing and give praise even with mny glory."  The principle
produces joy. He is happy when his feet r.ge on the rock, and his
heart is fixed. I will illustrate this point, for it is an important one.
upon th.,d, it start, mo.ve.s cnusiey  and peraps stges 
RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLE.                      297
about until the influence has passed off. But it is still a dead body,
just as dead as the other; the only difference is, that under the influence of outward appliances it starts convulsively into a sort of irregular motion, while the untouched body is still and inactive. The
living body is warm, moves regularly, and is active from an inward
principle of life. Now, these bodies represent three classes of professing christians. The body acted on by the galvanic battery represents the noisy christian who, during times of great religious excitement, gives some seeming evidence of religious life, but as soon as
the excitement passes away, he relapses into his former lifeless state
of cold indifference. The other dead body is the professor, who
prides himself on being a christian from principle; he cannot bear
excitement, never goes into it-no, not he; he has no patience with
shouting, or any manifestation of religious feeling; he believes it to
be madness and wild enthusiasm.  These bodies are both dead, and
they are equally dead. But the living bodv represents the true
christian, who is alive, has the principle of religion in his heart, and
the feelings of a living christian —moves regularly, acts consistently,
goes steadily on. How different he from the cold, feelingless body,
or the body that starts and gives signs of life only when acted upon
from without, having no life within!  A christian who does not feel,
is not conscious of religious feelings, is an anomaly in the moral world,
a monstrous absurdity!  Life is characterized by loves, hates, joys,
sorrows, and struggles. So is the religious life. The true christian
loves God with all his heart; his heart melts with tenderness at the
name of Jesus, and he loves his brethren of the household of faith
with a pure heart fervently. He hates sin and Satan with a perfect
hatred. He rejoices with joy unspeakable and full of glory. His
are the joys of freedom, of adoption, of divine love, of spiritual delight, and of hope. Not unfrequently he mourns over his follies and
failings, and sorrows over the ungodliness of men, and the desolation
of Zion. Ile struggles against temptation, difficul ies, and weakness.
Sometimes the principle of life becomes very weak, and is ready
to die.  In this condition men do many things they could not have 
298                    RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLE.
like a poor consumptive, it grows weaker and weaker every day. Soon
the last live coal may be quenched, and spiritual coldness and death
ensue. Is this the condition of any of my readers? Wake up, thou
self-secure; examine thy lamp; see if there is yet oil in thy vessel;
arouse, for the Bridegroom comneth!
III. I must pass on to notice the power of the religious principle.
Religion is an active principle. Life is active, and the religious life
is the highest form of living power. It has the energy of the divine
nature.  It comes from God, and is an emanation of his own glorious
activity. What may we not expect of it? Activity is a great law
of all principles. All have power and exert it. They move worlds,
change seasons, cause day and and night, produce vegetation, paint
the flowers, ripen fruits, and occasion all the phenomena of the
natural world. If the principles of the natural are so active and efficient in working, may we not expect the principle of grace to be
equally so?  Nay, it is the most active of all principles, and if unrestrained it is the most powerful. Here is the origin of the doctrine
of salvation by works. Men saw that wherever there was true religion, it produced the fruits of righteousness, and that the scriptures
required holiness of life; therefore they concluded that salvation was
by works. Salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ, but that faith is followed by an indwelling and active principle which produces works of
righteousness. They stand related as cause and effect, antecedent and
consequent; one is the legitimate result of the other. The absence of
obedience is good evidence of the want of religious principle. An
obedient spirit is the characteristic of a true christian, and the religious principle must either be given up, or it will cause its possessor
to seek after holiness. It acts upon the affections, purifying the heart;
it acts upon the desires, producing a hungering and thirsting after
righteousness; it acts upon the thoughts, directing them to Christ
and his service; it acts upon the temper, causing meekness, gentleness and love; it acts upon the conversation, turningit upon heavenly
things; it acts upon the conduct, producing conformity to the divine
will, and an effort topromote the divine glory. If unrestrained, this
principle would work wonders everywhere. Wherever it has been 
RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLE. 
of Noah, of Abraham, of Moses, of Samuel, and a host of men of
great renown in the Church of God.
We often hear men say, " I wish I was as holy as Moses, or Samuel, or John." They wish they could be great christians-eminent
saints. And why are they not? Certainly they have more light,
greater advantages, more assistance, stronger encouragements, and
are altogether more favorably situated than were the ancients. They
have the same religious principle.  Why are they not eminent for
piety, and distinguished for holiness? The difficulty is in themselves.
They restrain and hold the religious principle in check. They grieve,
resist, and quench the Spirit. It leads them, but they follow not; it
moves them, but they go not; it draws them, but they yield not.
Often has the religious principle pointed to some duty which they
would not perform-urged to the house of God, to the prayer meeting, to attend class, to commence family prayer, to make restitution,
to visit the sick, to pray with the dying, to attend Sabbath School, to
speak to the unconverted. Some such duties have been pointed out,
but they have been neglected.
I tell you plainly, if you resist and restrain this principle, you cannot become holy; but if you will only give it free course. and be led
by its influence, it will lead to glorious heights of holiness. Now
and then, we see here and there a christian who has allowed the religious principle its legitimate influence, and it has led him above the
world, into the presence of God, surrounded him with a heavenly influence, and filled him with a sweet serenity and joy of soul. How
pure his spirit, full of meekness and goodness, and ready to enter
the heavenly world!  I have seen such persons, in whose presence I
have felt a sacred awe, and yet a holy delight; and the impression
was made that they have been with Jesus, or on the mount with God.
Yes, my friends, if you have religion, you have in you a principle
of great active power, which if you do not restrain, but only follow
its leadings, will cause you to ride upon high places, to mount up on
Wings as eagles, to run and not be weary, to walk and not faint. A
gentleman in Baltimore city many years ago bought a young eagle
giv  hi  liet.  He go togeher. numbe  of fiens as sp.e.tat.rs 
300                    RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLE.
dclown upon the spectators, then darting upward he started towards
the sun, and rose higher and higher and still higher, until he appeared
but as a little speck before the sun.  Just so with him who yields to
the powerful influence of christian principle. He may look earthward awhile, and soar around near the ground, but if true to the
grace of God, he will arise, and fixing his eye upon the glories of
heaven, mount higher and higher, going on from grace to grace, and
from glory to glory!  True religion is like water.   Water will, if
not hindered, invariably find its level. If you place a vessel full of
water by the side of one that is empty, and establish a communication
between them so that the water can pass from one vessel into the
other, the water will run into the empty vessel until it rises as high
in it as it is in the other.  Religion is the water that comes from Godit flows from the throne of God into our hearts, and if not hindered,
it will raise us gradually but certainly to its level in heaven. Blessed
truth! glorious power of divine grace! There is nothing too hard for it.
-There is no temper but can be subdued-no disposition but can be overcome -no habit but can be reformed-no vice but can be rooted out.
It is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth!
Reader, have you this divine principle, livitng and active?  If you
have, keep it and guard it as you would treasiures of gold.  It is of
more value than gems and precious stones. It is the true riches of
indescribable and ever increasing value.   ie who possesses it is rich
indeed, and he who is without it is poor indeed. No other wealth
can compensate for the absence of this —no other supply its place.
It is a fountain of heavenly peace, and an inexhaustible source of
sacred joy. It is a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
It is a light cheering the heart,. irradiating the path of life, chasing
away the gloom of death, and shining unto the perfect day.
But I must not leave the impression upon your minds that it is simply a subject relating only to individual experience. It is far more.
I t i    s      a  matter of vital interest to the Church at large.  There is no
greater  want of the times, than a piety that is the result of a living,
active principle-a consistent, laboring, firm, and uniform piety. The
impression that religion is nothing more than blind enthusiasm, or the
fitful excitement of the ignorant and weak-minded, must be destroyed,
but it can only be done by showing the true nature of religion, and
arousing the Church to the exhibition of a piety springing from prin               19 
RELTGIOUS PRINCIPLE.                      301
,iple. Men must be taught by the Church, that grace is more than
an exciting sound-that it has an existence in the heart as a directing
and controlling power. I would rather have the distinction of calling
attention to, and fixing this great idea in the minds of the people,
than any honor in the gift of men. Let this be properly understood,
and widely taught as the true theory of Christainity; let it be inculcated in the early lessons of family religion; let it find a place in the
instructions of the Sabbath School; let it be published from the sacred
desk; let it be firmly held as an undisputed truth by all christians;
and the effect will be seen everywhere in the beautiful consistency and
permanent uniformity of christian character, the greater respect it
inspires among others, and tile increased power of the Gospel. Now
we look upon the vascillating piety, the instability and frequent backslidings of christians, and mourn the want of principle.   When shall
these mournings cease? When shall we take down our harps from
the willows, and rejoice in the beauty of Zion and the salvation of
the Lord?  When shall Zion put on her strength, and come out of
the wilderness, comely as Jerusalem, beautiful as Tirzah, and terrible
as an army with banners?  When shall the glorious battle-shout of
victory ring from line to line of the militant host: "The best of all
is God is with us?" When shall one chase a thousand, and two put
ten thousand to flight, and a nation be born to God in a day? That
day of wonders and of glory will come, but not until we have a different religion from that of merely excited feeling.  Guard well this
point.  If you have this principle, keep it; and you can only keep it
by yielding to its influence.  Wherever it urges, go; let it be unrestrained, and it will lead you to God's kingdom and glory.  ]But what
shall I say to you who arc strangers to divine grace?  What arguments can I use that have not been often urged upon your attention?
WVhat appeals can I make, that you have not often resisted? Will
you still live without religion? Trust not in your morality, and expect not to be saved because of your honesty and benevolence. It
is written, and will face you in the judgment,"  Without holiness no
man shall see the Lord." Fearful truth! Morality may do for this
world, because it regards your relations to men; but it will not do
for eternity, because it does not regard your relations and duties to
God. Hear me, then, " Prepare to meet the God." Choose you
this day "the better part that shall not be taken from you," and
live for Heaven.  
ALL THINGS WORK FOR GOOD.
BY REV. J. 0. GRANBERY,
OF THE VIRGINIA CONFERENCE.
And we know that all things work together for good, to them that love
God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."-Rom. viii, 28.
What a rich promise! How full of comfort! Often has the troubled
Christian thought that it was exactly suited to his need, and thanked
God that it was ever written. Often has it seemed the only ray of
light in thick darkness-the last fortress to which the soul could flee
against the assaults of temptation. My brother, you would not have
this one verse stricken out of the Bible for millions of gold. It is
well to consider it. Sometimes men say that they wish they could
understand it, but that it is a mystery to their minds. Let us have
patience in examining it, and we may unfold the meaning of this mystery-if not to the satisfaction of a curiosity which would pry into the
secret things of God, at least to the strengthening of faith and hope.
" To them who are the called according to his purpose." Here
I might launch forth upon the stormy sea of controversy, which has
agitated the Church during centuries, about foreknowledge, foreordination, election, reprobation, and kindred topics. But I am talking
for your comfort, afflicted Christian, and you have no heart now for
such disputes: I prefer another course. I will attempt a simple explanation of the terms employed in the text, which, by avoiding rather
than seeking to settle controverted points, may be acceptable to
Christians of every creed. What, then, is the purpose of God? I un 
304               ALL THINGS WORK FOR GOOD.
Son, salvation should be provided for the lost world, both Jews anti
Gentiles; that it should be offered as a free gift to all, upon the same
condition of faith in Christ; and that, without distinction, believers
of every nation should be gathered into the one family of God. This
purpose, foreshadowed in prophecy, was first clearly and fully proclaimed after the ascension of the Son of God; and it began to be fulfilled in those Jews and Gentiles, who, in apostolic days, received the
unsearchable riches of grace, and became members of the household
of faith. " Having made known unto us the mystery of his will,
according to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself:
that in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together
in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are
on earth, even in him; in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: that we should be to
the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ."~* "Unto me,
who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that
I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which
from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created
all things by Jesus Christ: to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church
the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which
he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord."t
Who are " the called" according to this purpose?  All men to
whom the gospel comes are invited to repent and believe, that they
may enter upon the blessings of salvation; for God "4 will have all
men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth."  In
this sense many are called, but few chosen, because the majority
disobey the call. But is not this equivalent to affirming that only
those who comply with the required terms of repentance and faith
are called to take their places among the children of God and heirs
of faith? Of those who excuse themselves for declining, amid the
press of other engagements, to gather to his feast, Christ says: "For
I say unto you, that none of those men which were bidden shall taste
of my supper." To him who appears among the guests without the
proper robe, he saith:'"Friend how camest thou in hither, not
* Eph. i, 9-12.                 t Eph. iii, 5-11. 
ALL THINGS WORK FOR GOOD.                     305
having a wedding garment  "  These are rejected-are bid to stand
back-are thrust into outer darkness. But the humble, the contrite,
the believing, are called to fellowship with God and Christ, and to
the hope of eternal salvation.
God, therefore, of his rich mercy, had purposed that Jesus Christ
should, in the fulness of time, be set forth as the propitiation for the
sins of the whole world; and that, without any respect to persons,
whoever received him by simple faith in his atonement, should be
admitted to the high privileges and immortal hopes of his peculiar and
elect people. Do you earnestly repent of all your sins. Do you,
renouncing every other trust, cling to the cross of Christ for salvation? Then are you among the called.
" To them that love God."  Evidently this phrase describes the same
class that the other does. Their great spiritual characteristic is the
love they have for God.  This is the first precept of the law and
element of religion. Supreme love to God is the highest excellence
in itself, and it comprises every other; it includes obedience. We
must do his qommandments because we love him: we desire to please
him in all things, and we delight in his will, because it corresponds
with, and is an exact expression of, his holy nature. Love cannot
exist without constraining us to obedience; and obedience is merely
apparent and wholly worthless, unless it is the development of love.
Not those who say "Lord, Lord," but those who do his will, truly
love him. You cannot love God and sin at the same time: love to
one is hatred to the other. Love involves resignation; hearty approval of his will and acquiescence in it, as expressed in his acts as well
as obedience; hearty approval and observance of the same will, as
expressed in his commands. Supreme love to God cannot exist, apart
from sympathy with those great ends which it is the pleasure of God
to accomplish, or from confidence in his resources for subserving his
own purposes in the best manner. You see, therefore, how love to
God will manifest itself, viz: in efforts to be like God in our nature,
because we admire him above all others, and wish to please him; in
carrying out his will by the employment of every energy, both to 
o06                ALL THINGS WORK FOR GOOD.
I love thee?" Then are you one of that number to whom applies
the promise, "All things work together for good."
What is "good?"   Not mere comfort.  Some restrict it even to
bodily or natural comfort, or to that which is, adapted to promote
such comfort. They understand by it only riches, health, honor,
friendship, and like worldly blessings. If we take so narrow a view,
we cannot admit the truth of the text, for it is contradicted by facts.
Stephen was stoned.  Paul  was beheaded.  Peter was crucified.
Many tortures have been employed to destroy those who loved God.
And they have often had lots during life cruel as their deaths. Not
honored, but disgraced Not rich, but penniless and homeless. Not
luxurious, but hungered, and thirsting, and thin-clad, and foot-sore
with hard travel, and imprisoned, and scourged, and chained, and
fastened in stocks. How is it in the most quiet times of the churcht.
Look at the condition and experience of God's servants. You will
find them in mean hovels and at heavy toil, scarce able, with all labor
and pains, to get bread enough for themselves and their families. You
will find them tossing upon beds of sickness through long days, and
groaning through sleepless nights, writhing beneath acute paroxysms
of pain, or lingering out lives of weariness and disease. You will find
them watching with anxious faces by the couch of those dearest to them,
who they fear will soon be torn from their embrace; or heartbroken
at the graves into which they have just seen them lowered, and
returning to their houses with slow steps and sobs of anguish, for the
hearth seems desolate and the home cheerless now; or bowed beneath
a more insupportable burden of grief, because madness or other
calamity has darkened the mind of a child or other near friend. You
will find them persecuted by the slander and abuse, the tricks and
violence, of wicked men. There are good people to whom all things
seem to work together fbr evil.  Take a pious woman, (you have
known many such cases as I will describe,) of gentle spirit, of much
prayer, of faithfulness in every duty.  Her husband's business does
not prosper; he is thrown out of employment; he spends months
upon his bed, earning nothing, but running up a large bill with the
doctor, though - honor to the profession! - they are very kind to~~~~~~~~~ 
ALL THINGS WORK FOR GOOD.                    307
in the piercing cold of winter; with meagre and wornout clothing,
which affords little protection against the pitiless elements; with the
coarsest fare, often refused by squeamish sickness, but oftener craved
by keen hunger, when each one's pittance is too small to satisfy the
demands of appetite and strength; not knowing how or when the
exhausted stock will be supplied again; draining her own spirits and
life by constant waiting on the sick by day and night; with aching
head and feeble limbs, trying to do some little jobs which may bring
temporary relief- do not all "hings seem to conspire against her?
And you look away from her to some man in the community without
any regard for God, who prospers every way. He has uninterrupted
health; he looks fresh, strong, and buoyant; he is making money
swiftly and surely; no scheme goes amiss; he has a happy family, in
whose midst he can rejoice and refresh himself after the cares of the
day; he has a large circle of friends and congenial company. It
does look like all things are working together for good to the godless
man. So it looks to the eye of sense, but far otherwise to the eye
of faith. As God is true and faithful, all things work together for
her good, for his harm. How is this?
The difficulty may be relieved by looking over a few more years of
the present life. You watch a few scenes in the drama of life, but do
not wait for its complete unfolding. The plot is not half unravelled,
ere you pronounce your hasty decision. Have patience. The present moment is not a lifetime. Great changes may happen to each of
those persons before death.   Joseph's envious brethren conspire
against him, and succeed -that is, seem to succeed; they stay at
home; he is sold into slavery in Egypt, and thrown into prison. But
see him next in honor and power to Pharaoh, ministering bread to a
famished nation, and sending supplies to the distant family of his
aged father. See the brothers in his presence, ignorant who he is,
and accused of being spies; hear them as they say, "We are verily
guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul,
when he besought us, and we would not hear: therefore is this dis tress come upon us." Do you not see how God, when he seemed to
desert his servant, was really caring for him; and eternal justice,
though it seemed to be defeated by the schemes of wicked men, was
by such means working out its own unerring judgments? Haman
is advanced above all the princes of the empire, and abounds in
wealth; he builds a gallows fifty cubits high, on which to hang pious 
308                ALL THINGS WORK FOR GOOD.
Mordecai, and procures a decree for the utter extermination of the
Jews, men, women, and children, in one day. Haman is feasting:
God's people are fasting, and weeping, and wailing. But see the
result. The proud and cruel oppressor is hung on his own gallows
Mordecai succeeds to his dignities, and the delivered Jews have light,
and gladness, and joy, and honor. It often happens, even here, that
a season of trial to the good is followed by years of happiness, and
that heavy reverses overtake the evil who for a while had prospered.
They may continue rich, perhaps: but how easily may some rankling
heart-wound, some domestic trouble, turn to wormwood every cup
of pleasure.
This does not, however, remove the difficulty. It is useful-in suggesting that even-handed justice does preside over human affairs, and
that after years may furnish a satisfactory solution of what in Providence is now strange and dark to our short sight: but it is not a
complete vindication of the ways of God.  Sinners do sometimes
flourish, and saints do sometimes suffer, to the very end of life. But
why should we follow men only so far as the limits of the present
life?  Why should we not look beyond death and the grave?  Does
not the soul exist hereafter?  Eternally?  Is she not conscious, and
has she not susceptibilities of pain or pleasure in the disembodied
state? If we grant that God may show his goodness in working out
years of comfort and honor for the righteous, after and by means ot
severe afflictions during the early part of life, and may show his
severity by hurling the ungodly into disgrace from the height of honor
he had reached, and stripping him of all his riches and all his glory,
why may he not reserve his retributions until they are ushered at his
summons into his immediate presence and into vast eternity? Why
mnay not a lifetime be the day of trial to the good, and of seeming
prosperity to the wicked? Is not eternity long enough to reward
the one, and punish the other? God has an unpaid balance of good
on his books to the credit of the christian, and a happy immortality
shall be their recompense: he has an unsettled account against the
sinner, and to the uttermost farthing shall he exact that debt in the
prison of hell. He stands in slippery places; he is treasuring up
wrath against the day of wrath; he has his good things in this world;
God's eye marks him; God's strong bow is drawn, and his sharp
arrow made ready on the stretched string; in a moment his fortune
shall consume into smoke; he shall sudcdenly stumble, and fall into 
ALL THINGS WORK FOR GOOD.                     309
desolation, to rise no more; his comfort is a dream, and his glory a
vision of the night, which shall cruelly pass away at the hour of waking; the Lord laughs at him, for he sees that his day is coming;
haughty and voluptuous as he now is, there is a sentence written
against his name, and an hour fixed in the great book of judgment,
which would make his face pale, and his heart break with anguish,
could he look into those pages; when that hour comes, not all the
powers of earth can save him from his doom; his plans stop, his
beauty withers, his head droops, his pride bows, his mirth is hushed
then;  in the grave he has no benefit of gold or honor, of sumptuous
fare and costly raiment, of friends and family; in hell he is tormented with flames ihat never burn out, and parched with thirst
that is never cooled, and cries aloud to a Heaven that is separated
by an impassable gulf, and a God that is deaf to all his prayers.
See the proud sinner in his luxury on earth; then see the poor
wretch in his misery in hell. But how is it with the afflicted saint?
He is taken up by angels from his hovel, or the rich man's gate, to
a mansion in heaven; he leaves his bed of straw to rest in Abraham's
bosom; he drops his rags, and is clad in spotless white; he wears
upon his brow a diadem more majestic than Pharaoh's, sparkling
with jewels that outshine the morning star; he sits down to a feast
fit for angels, and Jesus serves him; his tearless eye is bright with
gladness; upon his enraptured ear fall the melody of angel tongues
and golden harps, and the sweeter music o: the voice of Jesus; he
has forgotten his moaning, and is ever breaking into songs of joy
~nd shouts of glory; his face is radiant as a cloudless sun, and his
mind is fresh as a dewy morn, and his voice is merry as the notes of
lny summer's bird; and his heart is so happy that tongue has no
word, earth no symbol, imagination no conception, to express it.
Will not such an immortality sufficiently reward us for our afflictions
mere'?  "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh
for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." Light
affliction does he call it? Ah! it seems heavy enough to you, my
brother; almost too heavy to be borne   a crushing, grinding burden.
Poverty, care, sickness, bereavement, disgrace, temptation -are not
these heavy? Yes; but Paul was thinking of the glory which
should follow; that made them appear so light. Put into scales,
t.he afflictions so flew up that they seemed light as a feather. "For
I reckon," he says," that the sufferings of this present time are not 
310               ALL THINGS WORK FOR GOOD.
worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."
Ah! these are the weights with which I would like to compare my
future glory.  When I am told that I shall be equal to the angels.
and bright as the sun, I cannot clearly understand the expressions.
But I know what my trounles are; I can appreciate them; they are
more and heavier than aught else, or so seem. And Paul says that
they are not worthy of compaiison with the glory which shall be
mine - that they are light to this far more exceeding weight! lie
says, too, that they are but for a moment.  That sounds strangely in
your ear. The time wears away slowly when trouble presses you
A night lengthens into an age.  Perhaps day follows day - weeks,
months, years pass away, without any relief.  Hope is ready to die;
you ask, How much longer must I suffer this?  But Paul was think
ing of the long hereafter. When he looked forth upon eternity, that
boundless expanse, that endless line, years shrank into a moment.
Did I describe the prosperity of the wicked man as a cheating vanity,
conjured up by the fancy during sleep, vanishing as the senses open,
perhaps through the very excess of joy, and leaving the deluded
wretch to bitter disappointment? Yes: and what is the adversity
of the righteous but the pain and the terror which oppress the slumberer in dreams, until he turns over in restlessness, and awakes to
find all an illusion? So shadowy and fleeting are the joys and sor.
rows of this world: so substantial and lasting the things of eternity.
Therefore "beloved," looking not merely to temporal good, but much
more to eternal, " think it not strange, concerning the fiery trial
which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto
you" Do not think it singular; for tribulation is the old, the common, the one path to heaven; many have travelled it before you,
and many are travelling it with you, and many shall travel it after
you; every hour hundreds are stepping out of darkness and sorrow
into fadeless light and ever-flowing joy.  Think it not mysterious?, as
though God had forsaken you, or was angry with you; for he intends
to give you an eternal compensation for every tear and sob.' But
rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's,ufferings; that,
when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding]
joy." Jesus lay in the manger, fasted in the wilderness, was
tempfed by the devil, had not where to lay his head, was reviled b>v
sinners, was betrayed b v a disciple, was deserted by his best friends,
suffered intense mental anguish in Gethsemane, poured out strong 
ALL THINGS WORK FOR GOOD.                     3  1
cries and tears, prayed thrice in vain that the cup might pass from
him, was publicly mocked, scourged, sentenced as a criminal, was
nailed to the cross, was in deep gloom at the hour of death, was laid
in the tomb: thence he ascended to heaven, which opened wide its
gates in welc)me, and poured forth its myriad hosts to hail him with
worship  the Father crowned him and seated him upon the throne,
and bade heaven, earth, and hell bow in joy or else in terror before
him. You see the way Jesus went, and whither it led him. You
must go the same way; you must drink the same cup; you must be
baptized with the same baptism; self-denial must be yours, the cross
must be yours: or you will never go where Jesus is, and see his
glory; and share his joy.
We arc beginning to solve the mystery of the text, but we have
not reached the exact idea yet.  I do not feel satisfied with the explanation thus far given, viz: that all things work together for our
eternal good, because against whatever is adverse in our lot now, shall
be set an abundant compensation hereafter. I would like to know
how and why our present afflictions produce such blessed results
forever.  I wish to see more clearly the connection between our diversified experience here and our eternal happiness. There seems to
be too much abruptness in thus contrasting our condition here and
that yonder, as though all were bitterness and blackness this side,
and all sweetness and brightness the other; an unfilled and unbridged
chasm intervening. I would be glad not to put off the results so
far- to see that all things work for good even now. And this I believe to be the true doctrine. It will require eternity to develop all
the good, and it will be more clear, more conspicuous in the future
world; but it is being wrought, being realized already.
We will understand the text so soon as we rightly interpret tihe good
which is intended to be wrought out by all agencies and events. Sup pose we conceive good to be not mere comfort, whether temporal or
eternal, but something nobler than this, viz: the progressive develop ment and perfection of our own natures after the image of God.
Let us agree that evil is more in ourselves, than without us; more in
our hearts, than in our circumstances; that a remorseful conscience,
and unruly lusts, and raging passions, are greater curses than poverty
and bodily pain; that a degraded character is worse than the con
tempt of our fellows; that the consciousness of our own guilt and
vileness is a heavier load than all the abuse and execration the world 
312               ALL THINGS WORK FOR GOOD.
can heap upon us. It is a bad thing to have a keen appetite and no
food to appease it; but it may be worse amid the greatest profusion
to become slaves to our appetites, and to pamper and stimulate them
until they are morbid, insatiate cravings, which force us to indulge
them, though the momentary gratification is working ruin to soul
and body. Our lot may not be an easy one; but we often embitter
the waters we drink by our own discontent, and spread for ourselves
beds of thorns and thistles, by envy, and jealousy, and wrath, and
suspicion. If the flesh has its wants which must be met, or pain will
ensue, the soul has deeper and more lasting needs, to neglect which
will cause us an ever-gnawing hunger and  an ever-burning thirst.
If the body has its diseases which produce weariness, and depression,
and achings, there is a sickness, an unsoundness of the moral nature,
which unfits for every proper employment, for all true happiness,
which makes the heart sad and gloomy. This is evil. You may put
a man with a stained conscience and a mean spirit, with a heart under
the tyranny of licentious desires and malicious tempers, sullen and
sour, amid the sweets of paradise or on the pinnacle of power, and
he will be, he must be, a wretch. Purge away that guilt from the
conscience; cure that inward disease, those festering sores of the
heart; give the man a new heart and a right spirit; let him be born
again, partake the divine nature, and begin a holy life; shed abroad
in his soul love to God, love to his neighbor; fill him with thankfulness, resignation, and trust; let every appetite, propensity, passion,
be moderated and controlled by reason and duty; let him enjoy the
friendship of God and the approval of his own heart; give him a
hope of living with God in spotless purity forever -and do you not
confer on him the highest good of which he is capable. The true
riches, the true beauty, the true glory, of a man consists in the virtues of his heart. These inhere in himself. These alone are his
own. These depend not on shifting circumstances. These are a
perennial fountain within - not a cistern which may be exhausted, or
from which you may wander. External situation does have some
effect. Things without us do affect our comfort. We have wants
whose supply is outside of us.  But let a man's own body be deeply
diseased and violently tortured, in the lassitude, and melancholy, and
pain thence resulting, is he not cut off from pleasure in the outward
world? What To him are the sunlight on the varied landscape, the
delicate viands which the epicure provides, polished mahogany, and 
ALL THINGS WORK FOR GOOD.                      313
soft carpets, and rich curtains, and a magnificent co,uch, and sweet
strains of music?  And how mu(,h nearer to himself than the flesh,
is his spirit. How much more sensitive. If the heart is sick, if the
heart is wounded and bruised and bleeding, if there is derangement
in all its parts and functions, how can there be happiness? It is the
soul that constitutes himself and his worth, that raises him above the
brute, that by its holiness can make him the equal of angels and the
image of God. Our good must be found in moral excellence, in
purity from all sin, in partaking the divine nature and reflecting the
divine glory, in meekness, and gentleness, and temperance,  and
humility, and patience, and justice, and truth, and generosity, and
love. This is the glory that is not artificial, not accidental, not
changing: but genuine, essential, unfading. It sweetens tLe waters
of Marah.  The consciousness of innocence, the approval of our own
hearts, unswerving integrity, superiority to all low and mean feelings, submission, confidence, and love, can triumph over all ills, can
sing songs of gladness in the prison at midnight, can shout victory
amid the agonies of death. Death itself cannot rob us of this good
though it takes all else. Gold may be stolen, honor may be wrested
friends may forsake, reputation may be aspersed, health may fail,
kindred may be laid in the dust, the body itself may fall off and rot:
but virtue, holiness, religion, survive every change of life, survive
the last anguish of the flesh, bloom with unwithering beauty, shine
with fadeless lustre. And thus it is.that our good is eternal. Freed
from all alloy, no longer liable to any tarnish, perfected, it is " the
glory that shall be revealed in us"-a glory that cannot go out,
cannot dim, but can and will widen and brighten evermore.
Now this;s the good, begun here, perfected in heaven, continued
forever, which all things tend and contribute to produce in us. It is
the refining of the soul from all dross, its transformation into the
divine likeness, the development and maturing of virtue, the glorification of the immortal spirit, its preparation here and now for the
presence, sight, fellowship, fruition of God in heaven and forever.
Our worldly, our bodily comfort is not a matter of indifference to
God; but what chiefly concerns him is our holiness. Are not all
things designed to promote in us this growth of virtue, and to result
in immortal blessedness Chri-t gave himself for us, that he might
sanctify and cleanse us to be a glorious church, without spot, wrinkle,
or any such thing The Spirit is given to hallow and comfort us. 
314                ALL THINGS WORK FOR GOOD.
The Scriptures are given that we may be perfect, thoroughly furnished
unto all good works. All orders of the ministry are given for the
perfecting of the Saints, for the edifying of the body of Christ, that
we may grow up from feebleness to the measure of the stature of
the fulness of Christ. The fellowship of the church is provided
that we may consider one another, to provoke unto love and good
works. God sends us rain, sunshine, food, friends, health, that his
goodness may lead us to repentance, to thankfulness, to imitation of
his own benevolence. He gives us talents, that, by employing them
aright, we may not only be useful to others, but may exercise and
strengthen our own graces. And trials subserve the same purpose.
They teach us humility, self-distrust, the vanity of earth, the importance of living for heaven, the value of religion, faith in God, meekness, patience, love. They chasten the spirit. They subdue lust,
tame passion, sober frivolity. They drive us to the Word of God, to
pious meditation and prayer. They impose on us the necessity of
watchfulness and self-control. Trouble is the time for reflection.
Darkness is the season to try and to improve faith. When men slander and ill-treat us, we may learn to conquer pride and revenge, to
put on long-suffering, gentleness, charity. Go to the sick room, and
you will find the best examples of resignation, patience, trust, hope,
love, deadness to the world, joy in Christ, heavenly-mindedness.  The
Captain of our salvation was made perfect through sufferings. We
need to be made perfect through sufferings.   Often we are straying,
and can be brought back only by the rod. Often a toy is charming
us to forgetfulness of God, and he breaks it. Often worldly, or sen
sual, or bitter feelings are waxing too strong, and they must be curbed
and subjected by sorrow. If we do not need punishment, yet our
virtues may ripen faster in adversity. Then we think much about
God and heaven. Then we prize most highly the consolations of tk
Spirit. Is there any temptation against which we struggle manfully
without profit t Is there any sorrow which we bear patiently, and are
not improved?  Thus does God choose to work in us substantial
and abiding good. Thus does he draw us from the world to the enjoyment of himself; and invest our souls with the glory of holiness,
which will outshine the sun in the kingdom of heaven. T1herefore,
we glory in tribulations, also; they are agencies for our good; they
work experience, patience, hope Therefore do we most giadly glcry
rather in infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon us. 
ALL THINGS WORK FOR GOOD.                       315
Therefore it is needful that, for a season, we should be in heaviness through manifold temptations; that the trial of our faith, being
much more precious than of gold that perisheth, may be found unto
praise, and honor, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Thus
do these light, momentary afflictions work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
We now see why those things work good only to them that love
God. We are moral beings, and must co-operate with every agency
in order to be benefitted. Only to those properly exercised by them
do chastenings yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness. It depends on the spirit with which we receive the gifts and dealings of
God, how we shall be affected by them. If we view God in all things,
in blessings and afflictions, in providence and grace, in our own business and plans, if we are patient, thankful, and resigned, then do all
things contribute to our growth in piety.
We see also the connection of the promise with our calling according to his purpose.  God made us to bear his image and show
forth his glory. He has redeemed us by the blood of his Son to the
same end. He manages his providential and spiritual kingdoms alike
for the salvation of his people. We, bought from the power of sin
by so dear a ransom, justified, taken into his friendship, taken into
his family, and made his heirs- must not all things work the divine
purpose towards us, the object near his heart - even our glorification? Yes, all things are ours to this end. Earth is ours. See the
bounty of God in verdure, fruitage, harvest, flowers, in his care of the
least blade of grass and the tiniest insect. Do you think that he will
deny one  of his own  redeemed, beloved children, a share of his
bounty? No: he- withholds only as our good demands. Angels are
ours, ministering spirits to the heirs of salvation. Life is ours, for
the culture of piety. Trials are ours, to purge away sin, and invigorate religious principles. Death is ours, to bear away our souls to
God. The grave is ours, that, sleeping in weakness like Christ, we
may rise like him in power. Heaven is our home and inheritance.
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how 
316               ALL THINGS WORK FOR GOOD.
we eyes, we might see all things, linked together and co-working,
like cog-wheels and bands in some vast machinery.   The private
soldier may not understand the unity of plan in the mind of the
general, by which the movements of different companies converge to
a single end. The reader may not conjecture for a time how the
ingenious author will manage the thickening plot. These are poor
illustrations of the deep wisdom by which the complicated affairs of
earth are directed to the accomplishment of one great purpose. Some->
times, as in the cases of Joseph and Haman, the design is sufficiently
developed in this world to be appreciated by us. Hereafter, as the
results shall be developed on the broad stage of eternity, we will
understand more correctly and fully. Put us in possession of the
law of gravitation, and what had been separate and disconnected
phenomena are arranged in order and harmony as parts of one stupendous whole: the falling of a leaf and the regular motions of the
heavenly bodies are seen to obey one commuon impulse. So a simple'
principle of God's moral government may explain to us the apparently confused and clashing operations progressing around us.
Can we avoid a glance at the general purpose which the events
and agencies of all earth and all time are effecting-tlie eternal glorification of the entire Church? Look and listen to the wrecking
storms witnessed in different ages!  Do you tremble for the Church?
Founded on a rock, she shall never fall. What chaos, what darkness. what tumult, abound'among the nations!   Over all preside
eternal justice, eternal mercy. Wars and treaties, science and invention, commerce and conquest, the spread of civilization and Christianity
over savage or unpeopled lands-all, all are working, under the watchful superintendence of God, for the preservation, the purification, the
perfection, the triumph, of his saints. Above the din of business, above
the uproar and shocks of armies and revolutions, rises the shout of
saints and angels —" Alleluia! the Lord God omnipotent reigneth!"
It is the shout off(ilth and hope. As systems of error and sin, longestablished and high-towering, fall with migh y crash to earth, loud
rises the triumphant acclaimu —" Alleluia! the Lord God omnipotent
reigneth!" As Christianity is freed from some false doctrine, from
some dark spot, from some heavy incubus; as she marches to new
lands, and plants her standard on a strange soil, again the jubilant
peal is heard —"Alleluia! the Lord God omnipotent reigneth!"
When every idol shall have been broken, and the crescent shall have 
ALL THINGS WORK FOR GOOD.                     317
yielded to the cross, and spiritual religion shall have everywhere
prevailed; when Christ shall come to be glorified in his saints, and
the number of the saved shall be completed, and the Prince of Darkness shall be doomed to confinement and chains in his own hell, and
the bodies of the dead in Jesus shall share the glory of his redemption; and the Church, as a bride arrayed in fine white linen, (the
righteousness of the saints,) shall be presented to her Lord-then,
as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many
waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, shall we hear the
shout —O that we may join therein!- "Alleluia; the Lord God
omnipotent reigneth!"  "To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church
the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which
he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord."
It is equally true, that all things work together for evil to the
wicked.  As a diseased stomach turns the best food into poison, so
does a bad heart turn every blessing into a curse-every gift becomes
a snare.  The very gospel is a savor of death unto death.  The atonemnent of Christ is the occasion of heavier condemnation, through
unbelief. Their privileges (neglected) aggravate their guilt. Chastenings, instead of melting, harden their hearts. Prosperity blinds
their eyes to their true interests. Fortune is as smooth, but slippery
rocks. Honor is a height overhanging a deep abyss, and the head becomes dizzy.  They sow to the flesh, and reap corruption.  They are
filling up their cup. They are fitting themselves unto destruction.
They wax worse and worse —harder and blinder. Thus goes on the
progress of virtue in Christians, of vice in sinners; until probation
ends and retribution begins; until saints are ripe for heaven and sinners for hell; until justice, unrestrained by mercy, seizes the ungodly,
and mercy, unrestrained by justice, blesses the righteous; until the
one class enters upon the perfection and eternity of misery, and the
other upon the perfection and eternity of bliss. 
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CHRIST AND PILATE:
OR, THE DIVINE AND HUMAN GOVERNMENTS IN CONTRAST.
BY REV. DAVID S. DOQGGETT, D.D.,
OF THE VIRG NIA CONFERENCE.
"Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were
of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered
to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. Pilate therefore said
unto him, Art thou a king, then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a
king.  To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that
I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth
my voice."-John xviii, 36, 37.
The Jews, in order to accomplish their murderous purpose upon
Jesus Christ, availed themselves of the most successful of all human
instruments: the jealousy of the Roman government. To obtain
against him the sentence of capital punishment, which, as a tributary
people they had no right to pass, they charged him before the legal
tribunal with the crime of sedition. They pretended that he was an
opponent, if not a rival, of Caesar, and perhaps a dangerous competitor for the imperial crown. Under this accusation he was arraigned
before Pontius Pilate, the provincial governor. Said they, "We
have found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give
tribute to Coesar, saying that he himself is Christ, a king." And to
render Pilate's decision in their favor inevitable, they charged him
with virtual conspiracy against his own sovereign. They declared,
" if thou let this man go, thou art not Cesar's friend: whosoever
maketh himself a king, speaketh against Cesar." Thus were Christ
and Pilate brought face to face. What a scene, my brethren! what
a mystery! They confronted each other, not merely as individuals,
no  meel  as a jug  an  a crmial bu  as _r_p_resettv  person 
320                     CHRIST AND PILATE.                         307
visible world, Christ that of the invisible world; Pilate the claims
of human law, Christ those of the divine; Pilate the wisdom of man,
Christ the wisdom of God; Pilate the court of Rome, Christ the court
of Heaven. Pilate was a frail, sinful man, under sentence of eternal
death; Christ, the eternal son of God, at Pilate's bar, about to receive the sentence of crucifixion, in behalf of Pilate and of that
humanity which Pilate represented. Little did Pilate understand
these contrasts.   Christ understood them  perfectly.  Under  these
imposing circumstances, Pilate interrogated Christ as to the nature
of his pretensions. The text is Christ's reply to Pilate. In this
reply we recognise his assertion of his royalty, and his description
of his kingdom. Let us examine
I. HIs ASSERTION OF His ROYALTY.-This was the very issue
wlich the Jews had made before the governor.  They affirmed that
he had avowed himself to be a king; and for this accusation there was,
to say the least, apparent ground.   He  had not, at any time, positively so announced himself. Others had done it for him. He had,
however, indirectly assumed the prerogative in his conversations and
in his parables. Several recorded proofs sustain the general allegation. The Magi. who had been guided from the East by the wonderful phenomenon of a new star, inquired., "Where is he that is born
King of the Jews?"  Nathaniel had said, "Thou art the King of
Israel."  After the miracle of the five loaves and two fishes, "Jesus
perceived that they would come and take him by force and make him
a king."  The mother of Zebedee's children had urged him: "Grant
that these, my two sons, may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the
other on the left, in thy kingdom." When he made his triumphant
entrance -into Jerusalem, the multitude shouted,,Hosanna! blessed
is the King of Israel, that comineth in the name of the Lord." He
had said unto his disciples, "I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my
Father hath appointed unto me; that ye may eat and drink at my
table in my kingdom, and sit on thlrones, judging the twelve tribes. of
Israel."  He had often, in his teachings, uttered the phrase, "kingdom of heaven." It was easy, out of such materials, to frame and
to sustain the plausible charge with which Christ was indicted before
the provincial court of Rome.
2. This was the only pretext on which Christ could have been
made amenable to the imperial tribunal, and exposed to its penalty. 
CHRIST AND PILATE.                       321
There had been no phase of his entire life which could have  been
construed into insubordination to the government except this; and
this, only, by that malignant ingenuity which. to realize its nefarious
objects, seeks, by a legal technicality, to consign its innocent victim
to a death of torture. Of religious questions Pilate would take no
cognizance. He would entertain only such as were civil and political, involving the welfare of society and the State. Hence, when
Christ was arraigned before him as an impostor, Pilate declined official
action against him, and earnestly endeavored to release him, without
the firmness with which he should have assumed the responsibility;
for he clearly perceived the real ground of the prosecution. It was
only when his adversaries made and pressed their political plea that
he allowed himself to yield to their wishes.
The chief priests had met in council, and determined upon his
death. They had obtained the sanction of Annas and Caiphas, with
which they conducted him to Pilate; who, to evade the painful
emergency sent him to Herod; who, again, remanded him to Pilate.
Unfortunate man! He, against his own convictions and the solicitations of his wife, is obliged, at last, to meet that emergency, or suffer
the impeachment of disloyalty to Cesar.
3. The extreme perplexity of Pilate in this emergency, was painfully betrayed by the questions which he put to Christ in order to
satisfy himself, and, perhaps, to vindicate his conduct. He propounded three, very distinct in their nature, and requiring different
answers.  The first was, " Art thou the king of the Jews?"  The
second was, "What hast thou done?"  The third was, "Art thou a
king, then?" The object of the first seems to have been to secure an
explicit avowal as to the crime alleged; of the second, to ascertain
whether his conduct had justified the allegation; of the third,
whether he indulged any regal pretensions of any kind.
4. What, then, was the reply of Christ to these questions? A
direct answer to the first, true as it would have been in one sense,
might have been readily construed into a confession of guilt. It was)
therefore, indirectly given, and was designed to make Pilate define
his position; which he promptly did.  Jesus answered him, "Sayest 
322 CHRIST AND PILATE.
nothing more than a negative response was made. A direct answer to
the third, was demanded by the posture of the case, and was accordingly rendered in unequivocal terms, in the three following specifications; positive affirmation, the immediate object of his birth, and the
grand design ofhis incarnation.   " Jesus answered, thou sayest that I
am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the
world." Thus, when the period arrived; when the pending crisis
required it; when the great plan of God had reached its development, Christ, at the bar of Pilate, asserted his royalty, not only over
the Jews, but over Pilate, over COesar himself, and over every man
that is named, whether in heaven or earth! IHe then and there announced himself, "King of kings and Lord of lords."  This, my
brethren, is that "good confession," which Paul declares that Jesus
Christ witnessed before Pontius Pilate. Let us now contemplate,
II. His DESCRIPTION OF HIS KINGDOM. - On  no subject  conniectej with Christianity was it more imperative to impart definite
ideas to the world. And no distinction have mankind been more
prone to confound, notwithstanding the perspicuity with which Christ
himself has drawn it. The purity and the majesty of our holy religion can be contemplated only in its own light. It must stand out
in that clear and bold relief in which its author placed it in his testimony at the bar of Pilate, uncompromised by earthly affinities, in
order to display its own grandeur, and to maintain its divine prerogative over the human mind. While, therefore, Christ asserted his
sovereignty, he settled forever the character of his reign. This he
did,
1. By a decisive disclaimer.  Said he, in the audience of Pilate
and for the instruction of all men, " My kingdom is not of this
world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants
fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my
kingdom not from hence."  This negation is unspeakably important.
It defines the boundaries between what would otherwise appear the
conterminous and blending lines of two very different tcrrritories;
those of the Divine and human governments* boundaries never to be
obliterated from the map of human history. Let us endeavor to
recognise them to day.
The kingdom of Christ did not originate in the world. All other
forms of government have arisen from this source. They were 
CHRIST AND PILATE.                      323
dictated by the exigencies or by the caprice of human societies.
They claim no higher a paternity than human intelligence and human
passion. That of Christ was planned in heaven, and descended with
its founder to earth, and is the combined product of the wisdom and
the love of God.  Immeasurably distant are their respective fountains:  the one, the bosom of Divinity; the other, the heart of
humanity.
The kingdom of Christ is distinguished from those of the world,
by its objects.  Civil governments propose to secure and to promote
the interests of men merely as citizens; as members of organized
human societies; an object which the purest models accomplish imperfectly. Christ's government proposes to emancipate, purify, and
exalt man's moral nature, with the design of transferring him to a
loftier sphere, in which that nature shall be replenished with the
boundless acquisitions of citizenship in heaven. This is its sublime
object, in the accomplishment of which it incidentally, but infinitely
enhances his civil and social felicity
The kingdomn of Christ does not resemble those of the world in the
modes of their operation.  They appeal exclusively to the motive of
self-interest, by the presence and the force of visible agencies, and
by the sanctions of human authority, in the guaranty of rights and
the infliction of penalties, in accordance with their objects.   Christ's
government appeals to the conscience, by the rectitude and the weight
of divine authority, and by the power of interminable results; utterly discarding civil disabilities as incompatible with its genius or
its ends.
The divine and human governments differ in their policy, if so
doubtful a term may be employed in the contrast. All human governments are actuated by a principle of self-aggrandizement; of their
prosperity as governments; and adopt corresponding contrivances.
The kingdom of Christ is administered on the principle of aggrandizing its subjects, and adjusts its measures to that principle.
Human governments are animated by the spirit of the world; by
earthly and secular impulses. Their heart, their life, their sentimnents, are identified with things temporal and visible. The spirit
which penetrates and diffuses itself through that of Christ, is hallowed,
heavenly, divine. The HOLY SPIRIT dwells in and works by
means of that kingdom.
They differ in their defences. The last, and often the precipitate 
324                     CIHRIST AND PILATE.
resort of states, is the scourge of war.  The outraged honor, rights,
or territory of nations, are rebuked by its thunder and baptized with
its blood. Jesus Christ disavowed, in his behalf, the intervention of
arms.  "If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants
fight." Not forbidden to fight for their country, they are forbidden
to fight for him. The interests of his cause are to be entrusted to his
own hands. "Put up thy sword," said hlie to Peter, and to his church,
"for they that use the sword shall fall by the sword." This is the
maxim of Christianity. This is the command of its author. Happy
would it have been for the world had it never been violated!
Human governments are circumscribed by territorial limits, and
by a transitory duration.  They may occupy a continent, and survive
for ages. But conflicting claims and national disasters terminate
their progress and annihilate their existence. The kingdom of Christ
is universal in its domain, irresistible in its advancement, and imperishable in its structure. The dynasties of men, confined within their
contracted limits, and held in check by contesting encroachments,
shall decay and fall, and the coming wave of oblivion roll over all
their pride and splendor. The kingdom of Christ will witness the
catastrophe, and rear its grand and indestructible proportions over
every foot of earth's conquered territory. Pope, in his Messiah, thus
paraphrases the prophet:
"The seas shall waste, the skies in smoke decay,
Rocks fall to dust, and mountains melt away;
But fix'd his word, his saving power remains,
Thy realm forever lasts, thy own Messiah reigns."
Better still are the words of the christian poet:
Wide as thle world is thy command,
Vast as eternity thy love,
Firm as a rock thy truth must stand,
When rolling years shall cease to move."
In these instances, at least, we realize the solemn disclaimer which
Christ uttered in the ears of Pilate: "My kingdom is not of this
world; now is it not from hence."
He dsrie  his _  k_1n!1_-_om,_ 
CHRIST AND PILATE.                        325
this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the
truth;" should unfold, demonstrate, inaugurate, establish the truth.
Hle thus exalts his government above all others. It is not only founded
in truth, and supported by truth; it is truth itself: truth enthroned;
truth triumphant. Let us ask, as Pilate did, at the time of Christ's
declaration, " What is truth?"  Unlike Pilate, let us wait for an
answer. Pilate's question indicated his own skepticism; indicated
the fruitless search of all philosophers and of all sages. The answer
had never yet been given. It had never been found. He doubted,
probably, whether it ever would or could be found. The laborious
experiment of antiquity had been a terrible failure, and the human mind
was reeling under its own recoil. Could truth ever be discovered?
Pilate's question is the question of humanity;  of all men, and of all
ages. Little did he suspect that the prisoner at his bar was competent to impart to him and to the world the only satisfactory and complete answer; an answer which would leave nothing to be added, and
allow nothing to be subtracted; that he was the infallible oracle, the
eternal Word, whose utterances settled all questions. Little did he
imagine that the Truth itself was before him in the person of his prisoner. If the unhappy judge did not perceive the fact, nor wait for a
verbal reply, the one was visible, and the other has been given.  Let
us further remark upon both.
The truth which Christ came to inaugurate was not that which the
world has vaunted and magnified as such: scientific truth; the discoveries and the deductions of philosophy. It was that absolute, essential truth to which every other truth tends, and into which it will
converge with a focal blaze, when the period of its full development
shall have arrived. This absolute, this essential truth, is presented
to us in two forms, which are generically the same. Said Jesus, in
his intercessory prayer to the father, "Thy word is truth."  The
revelation of God is the divine idea, the infinite reality expressed in
words. It is the theory and the essence of the divine government,
announced in human language. It is the solution of life's problem,
the explanation of man's history, the guide of his destiny, and the
aliment of his being.  It is his true and only good.  It is the whole
truth, embracing and comprehending every other truth.
Again: Christ said to his disciples, "I am the truth." He is
truth embodied, concentrated, perfected, impersonated. Divine
Revelation is the emanation and manifestation of Christ by the Father 
326                    CHRIST AND PILATE.
through the Eternal Spirit. He is the centre, the fountain, the
subsistence of all truth, human and divine.   He is the King, and
his is the Kingdom of Truth.
Once more: The affirmation of Christ before Pilate defines the
subjects of his kingdom.  They are not philosophers, politicians,
citizens, nor human beings, as such.  They are those who are "of
the truth;" who understand, appreciate, and receive the truth; who
submit to its sway, surrender themselves to its power, and exemplify
its influence. It is thus that " Wisdom is justified of her children,"
and Christianity achieves its conquests over the souls of men.
In conclusion:
Let us recall the strange and instructive scene, which our text so
vividly portrays before us;  one of " the princes of this world," and
" the Prince of the kings of the earth," face to face; the one
clothed with the visible insignia of human authority about to pass
sentence of death upon the other, who, though his prisoner, is about
to obtain the sentence of pardon for the world  the one, by his
questions and perplexity, evincing the ignorance and unhappiness of
mankind; the other, by his answers, bringing cc life and immortality"
to light; the one, personating the pomp and the secularity of the
kingdoms of the earth; the other, the simplicity and the spirituality
of "the kingdom of heaven;" the one, representing the dominion
of human law; the other, the sublime dominion of the Truth; the
one, ascending his throne'to pronounce his official judgment upon the
anrecognized sovereign of the universe; the other, descending from
QiS throne "C to subdue all things unto himself."  What an interview!
What  an inversion of order!  What a difference between parties 
What pending results!
Again, let us recognise the cardinal distinction which our subject
draws between the Christianity of the Bible and all forms of human
organization. Civil governments, when discharging their legitimate
functions, are perfectly compatible with Christianity. But their nature and spheres are totally dissimilar. The one cannot and ought
not to merge into the other; nor ought they ever to conflict. In
their true relations, they harmonize without combining, and reciprocate withoutinterference. All that Christianity invokes of civil government, is its protection. All that civil government needs of Christianity, is its blessing. The integrity of civil government is preserved by adhering to its legitimate purposes; the purity of Christianity 
CHRIST AND PILATE.                        327
maintained by discarding all alliance with the State.  It is thus that a
civil government becomes the patron of Christianity; Christianity the
support of civil government; and it is thus that each., untrammeled and
uncorrupted, accomplishes its highest possible good for the human
race; the one for its temporal, the other both for its temporal and
eternal welfare.
Finally, whatever may be our individual, social, or political predilections, it behooves us to submit to the King of Truth, a:,.d to hear
his voice. To be citizens of his kingdom, is to ally our destiny with
its own duration, and to enrich ourselves with its eternal wealth.
To enjoy this boon, we must be "of the truth."   We must be subdued by it, identified with it, and sanctified through it. We shall
then "know the truth, and the truth shall make us free."   Enfranchised by its authority, invested with its prerogative, and imbued
with its spirit, our exalted condition, our ennobling hopes, and our
perennial pleasures, will demonstrate to ourselves, and illustrate to
others, its grandeur and its grace; will justify the universal prayer,
" Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven;"
and extort the rapturous doxology, "Thine is the kingdom, and the
power, and the glory, for ever and ever: AMIEN.   
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LABOR-THE LAW OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESS.
BY REV. JOHN E. EDWARDS, A. M.,
OF THE VIRGINIA CONFERENCE.
"For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him that hath not shall be taken away, even that which he
hath."-Matthew xxv, 29.
The parables of the Great Teacher are, for the most part, founded
upon some well-known custom among the people of his day, or upon
some established law of nature, or upon some recognised principle of
action in the business affairs of life. The parable of the virgins is
based upon a prevalent oriental custom; the parable of the mustard
seed, of the leaven, and of the corn from the early blade to the mature ear, each has for its foundation an established law; the parable
of the treasure hid in a field, and that, also, of the creditor and
debtor, furnish us examples of that class of parables founded on
business transactions. Some of the parables combine more than one
of these elements as a basis; and I may mention, as a striking example of this class, the parable of the talents, with which the text
stands intimately connected.
HIaving thus briefly introduced the text, I shall go on, as preliminary to the main object of this discourse,
I. To lay before you an explication of the parable of which
the text contains the pith or moral.
A chronological arrangement of Christ's parables, I doubt not,
would exhibit a gradual progress and development in his sublime
instructions, rising, by almost insensible gradations, from the simple
and elementary to the more abstruse and profound; from the germinant seed to the mature grain. The parable of the wise and foolish
virgins, with which this chapter opens, represents the church in a
state of repose and expectancy, looking ahead for something in the
future; theA parabe of the taents, which follow it, represents t~he 
330       LABOR -  THE  LAW  OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESS.
fear. In both parables we have examples of persons saved and of
persons lost. The parables stand closely connected, and are in struetive.
The parable of the talents is based on a custom known in the East
in the days of Christ. The familiarity of his hearers with the custom
in question, excited a deeper interest in their minds as he proceeded
with his discourse. The moral lessons inculcated peered through the
almost tangible imagery which he employed; at first, phantom-likemere skeletons stalking in the twilight-but presently, as the attention became more fixed, and the interest grew more intense, the truth
flashed full on the mind. The phantom became a reality; the skeleton a thing instinct with life and energy.
A man of fortune, owning slaves in the Orient, when he travelled
out of the province in which he resided, could not carry them with
him, and as he wished to derive the greatest possible profit from their
labors, on his leaving he committed certain trusts to them on certain
conditions. He made each servant an interested party, and promised
a suitable reward to a proper use and improvement of the goods with
which he severally intrusted them. He knew, from intimate personal
acquaintance, the different capacities of his servants, and he therefore gave to them according to their several ability, in the proportion
of one, two, and five. Having made a judicious distribution of his
moneys among his servants for improvement, he took his departure,
and spent his time in foreign travel and diversion in other lands. On
his return, after a long absence, he called his servants together for
settlement. Each one was required to render a just account of the
moneys committed to his hands, and receive the promised reward for
improvement. In every case where there had been activity. and increase in the use of the talents intrusted to the servant's management
and care, he bestows a compliment and the merited reward; in each
case of failure to improve, he refutes the false reasoning urged in
justification or extenuation of the neglect, and inflicts condign punishment for the delinquency.
It will be observed that no servant is rewarded simply because he
had five or two talents, and that no one is punished simply because
he had but one talent. The reward is bestowed for improvement; the
punishment is inflicted, not for waste or prodigality, but for simple
neglect.
On this custom of the East, Christ founds the parable of the 
LABOR -THE LAW OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESS.                 331
talents.  Christ himself is the master of the household; we are all
his servants; the goods committed to us severally are our natural
endowments and our temporal possessions, but mainly our spiritual
blessings, the measure of grace imparted to us, and our capabilities
for usefulness in the church, in promoting the happiness and welfare
of those around us, and of advancing Christ's kingdom in the world.
The travelling "' into a far country" is evidently intended to represent Christ's departure from earth, and his ascension to the right
hand of the Father.  The "long time" is the interval between his
ascension from Mount Olivet and his second advent, when he shall
come "without sin unto salvation."  The "reckoning" unquestionably has reference to the final judgment, when every man shall be
rewarded according to his works: a day of reckoning-a day of
settlement-a final settlement between God and man.  By the "good"
servants, we are to understand those Christians who have been
active and diligent in the improvement of all their means and capabilities of usefulness; those who have industriously employed whatever of ability God has given them for the advancement of the
Redeemer's kingdom.  By the "wicked and slothful servant," we
are to understand the man who refuses to employ his limited means
of usefulness, simply because they are limited; who pretends to justify his indolence and neglect, either on the ground that he could do
but little for God's cause any way, or on the ground that he could
not hope to meet God's exactions by the most vigorous improvement
of the little talent which he possesses. The whole practical bearing
and application of this parable is summed up in the text: "For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance
but fromehim that hath not shall be taken away, even that which he
hath;" and it contains the following proposition, namely: That an
active improvement of the gifts of God for our personal salvation, or
far usefulness in the church, will be followed by a proportionate increase, whereas the neglect to improve what God has given, will be
followed by decrease, and, ultimately, by an utter deprivation of all
that was originally bestowed.
II. It is my purpose to illustrate and establish the doctrine
of this proposition. The illustrations of this doctrine are abundant.
1. We briefly advert to some natural and obvious facts that strike
the mind on every hand as illustrative of this subject. God has 
332       LABOR-THE LAW OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESS.
endowed us with wonderfully contrived bodies. His wisdom and
goodness are singularly displayed in the mechanism of our physical
organization. There is an admirable adaptation of the various parts
of this mysterious piece of machinery to the diversified ends and
purposes for which it was constructed. And yet, we have but to
neglect the proper improvement of the different parts of this physical
apparatus to render it extremely inefficient in the accomplishment of
the objects for which it was designed by our Maker. The neglect
of bodily exercise, and the use of appropriate means to develop and
invigorate the system, is followed by pliancy of bone and muscle,
by feebleness and debility, by a sickly constitution, and a miserable
existence; whereas the well-directed use and employment of one's
physical faculties tend to strengthen and brace the body: the arm
becomes brawny and strong, the chest expands, the step grows-firm,
and the muscles elastic, until the ruddy glow of health tinges the
cheek, and an undimned fire burns in the eye.  To him that haththat improves what he has-shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him that hath not-that does not improve what he
has-shall be taken away, even that which he hath. But this doctrine is also true in relation to the active use and improvement of
our temporal possessions. The man who employs his capital in a
prudent and properly conducted business, or who invests it in safe
and well-secured stocks, or even employs it in private hands at simple interest, realizes a steady increase of his means; whereas the
thriftless drone whlo lives on his capital stock, without making his
principal productive, constantly exhausts his resources, and verifies
the truth of the somewhat paradoxical clause in the text, "from him
that hath not shall be taken away, even that which he hathti
The doctrine of our proposition also finds striking illustration in
the general law by which our intellectual and moral faculties are
governed.
A man of ordinary mental endowments, by application and unwearied diligence in the pursuit of knowledge, may become a scholar
of extensive learning and varied information. Mental culture in
creases mental power, and facilitates the acquisition of knowledge.
The more a man knows, the more he may acquire, and the acquisition
is rendered easier by the increase of knowledge. On.the other
hand, the sluggard will grow weaker in mental power by the mere
neglect to develop his mind.  His intellect will actually dwarf, and 
LABOR -THE LAW OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESS.                 333
he who might, by patient study, have acquired a name as a scholar,
may, by simple neglect, verge on imbecility in intellect.
Sometimes we are astonished to find men whom we once knew as
rising stara of no ordinary magnitude, sinking back into obscurity,
and losing their position in the galaxy of bright names in which
they promised to shine.   Their history furnishes a forcible comment on the doctrines of our text. The God-like faculty which
we denominate conscience, or the moral sense, is subject to
this same law. By cultivation and exercise it becomes strong,
powerful and authoritative in its monitions and impulses. By neglect
it loses its keenness of moral discrimination, becomes weak and feeble
in its impulses; right and wrong are robbed of their independent and
distinctive character; and the wretch who has thus neglected to improve a talent of incalculable value, finds himself bankrupt in moral
virtues, unable to resist temptation, the victim of passion and appetite, and more nearly allied, in disposition and character, to the foul
fiends of hell, than to the good and holy angels. Instead of rising
higher and still higher in moral excellence, with a conscience as responsive to the calls of duty as the molian harp-string to the zephyr's
kiss, he sinks deeper and still deeper in crime, becomes hardened and
vile, and finally reaches a point of degradation in which he is given
over to reprobacy of mind, to believe a lie that he may be damned.
" Unto him that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance
but from him that hath not shall be. taken away, even that which he
hath."
The will-that high executive faculty with which God, in the
proportion of one, two, and five, has invested every man-is subject
to this law under consideration. Its proper use, in obedience to the
dictates of an enlightened and cultivated conscience, clothes man
with dignity and powver.  By neglect and abuse of this endowment,
he becomes the sport of every wind of doctrine, unstable as water, a
cloud that floats on the atmospheric current, double-minded, and
utterly fails in the accomplishment of any noble purpose or plan in
life.
In all the above enumerated regards, we find striking and interesting illustrations of the doctrine deduced from the text, any one of
which might furnish a theme for a profitable discourse. But I proposc to furnish still more important illustrations of this doctrine. 
334       LABOR -  THE LAW  OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESS.
2. From a consideration of the operations of this law in relatiot
to spiritual gifts. And
First. The gift of divine enlightenment, which produces conviction
for sin and leads to repentance, is a talent subject to this law.
The pearl of salvation is embedded in the gift of divine enlighten
ment. This is a priceless jewel. Who, indeed, dare attempt to
estimate its value? And yet, how little prized by vast multitudes
around us!  It is trifled with, and tossed aside as though it were
valueless.
A single ray of light from the Holy Spirit-the great sun of this
fallen world-penetrating the darkness of the sinner's mind, and
shedding its genial influence upon his cold, dead heart, and struggling
amid the gloom that reigns in the chambers of his guilty soul, is
worth more than than ten thousand worlds to the sinner, " were each
world a crysolite."
This talent is bestowed in different degrees on different individuals.
Go,u gives it to men according to their "several ability."  To one
five talents, to another two, to another one. And if any man is
damned at the last, it will not be because he did not have five, or two
talents, but because he did not improve what his God gave him. He
gives to every one a talent that may be improved to eternal life.
Sometimes the light is strong, the conviction for sin powerful, and
the consequent feeling or emotion intense. Tears may fall, and earnest prayers may be extorted from the agonized heart.  This large
measure of divine enlightenment devolves fearful responsibilities upon
the sinner; where much is given much will be required. But God,
for wise reasons, unknown to us, gives this talent of divine enlightenment in smaller mneasure to others. He, however, only requires
us to improve what is given, be it much or little. And the sinner
who is the recipient of asingle talent, may so improve it as to be able
to make quite as satisfactory a return to the Master at the last, as he
who received the five, and meet with just the same compliment of
approval, " Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been
faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things;
enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." Everything depends on improvement.  "For unto him that hath shall be given, and he shall
have abundance"
But very many fail to improve the light given, simply because the
measure of conviction and feeling upon the subject of religion does 
LABOR -  THE LAW  OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESS.             335
not come up to their preconceived expectations. They compare their
exercises with the exercises of St. Paul, under divine awakenings, or
with the experience of some remarkable person of whom they have
read in religious biography, and because it does not exactly correspond with these standards, they either reject it altogether, or wait for
some more powerful divine manifestation; meanwhile complaining
and repining because God does not come down suddenly upon them,
smiting them to the ground and crushing the reluctant and irrepressible cry from the heart,  "God be merciful to me a sinner."  Their
language is, "If God would convict me powerfully  if he would so
melt and move my hard and stubborn heart as to make me weep and
mourn; if he would only give me such a view of my sins, and the
hell to which they expose me, as to excite my fears, and stir me up
to pray, then I would go to work and seek pardon and reconciliation
to God."
Sinner, hear me: if you continue to wait until you realize your
own views and expectations on this subject, you will wait until the
day of grace is past with you; until your present light expires, and
your convictions for sin entirely vanish; and until you realize what
that meaneth, "from him that hath not shall be taken away, even that
which he hath."
The sinner's duty under divine enlightenment is, however feeble
and faint the illumination, to place his foot at the farthest verge of
the light that plays around him, and make an advance, and he will
discover that, like a man in the dark with a lantern in his hand, the
light will advance with him; more than that, the circumference of
vision will enlarge, and if he continue to advance, his path will shine
yet "more and more unto the perfect day."
It is dark; I tell you to go to a certain point which I designate.
You strain your eyes, peering through the gloom, and tell me you cannot see the distant point. I know it. But I place a lighted taper
in your hand, put you in the path, and tell you to advance. That
light will answer all the purposes to guide and conduct your steps
over all the intervening space till you reach that point of destination.
The Holy Spirit finds the sinner in the darkness of nature's night, 
336       LABOR    THE LAW  OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESS.
and feel after the Saviour, and the light will increase; "for unto
every one that hath shall be given, and he shall abundance."
I remember once to have visited the Washington Monument, in the
city of Baltimore. I stood at its base and looked up to its lofty summit that towered high above me. I wished to ascend to its topmost
pinnacle, and gaze upon the magnificent prospect that I knew must
greet the eye of the beholder from that elevated point. My eye
rested for a moment upon the lowermost step, and as I looked up the
spiral stairway in that rock-built shaft, I discovered that but three
or four steps were visible; the rest were shrouded in darkness. Just
then the keeper, who saw how I was puzzled, placed a little lantern
in my hand, which glimmered faintly around me.  " Take that," said
he, " and mount the steps.  It will conduct you safely to the top."
I took the flickering lamp and began to ascend, holding it in such
a position as to shed its light on the steps ahead of me; and upward and onward I urged my way, panting and almost breathless.
Wherever I paused, there the light, which only revealed a few steps,
lingered around me, until I advanced again. But, faint and feeble
as it was, I found it sufficient for all my purposes, until at last I
emerged from the gloom; the sunlight began to meet my upward
gaze, and in a moment I stood on the summit, with a clear blue sky
above me, the city lying at my feet, the canvas-whitened bay stretching away till "c the steel-blue rim" of waters bounded the vision, while
all around lay one of the finest panoramic views that ever greeted my
eyes. The application is plain. Take the lamp of the gospel in
your hand, and hie away to the cross. Don't stand still; if you do
the light will tarry. Go forward. Improve grace, and grace will increase; you shall even have abundance. Press onward, discouraged
though you may be, and it will not be long till you have reached the
point "where ether pure surrounds, and Elysian prospects rise."
Divine enlightenment is a talent. It is the germ of eternal life.
But patient persevering labor is necessary to its development.
Neglect nips it in the germinant state.  "Learn  to labor and  to
wait."
Second. The lowest evidence of pardon is a talent, subject to
this law. 
LABOR- THE  LAW OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESS.                337
bring him into a state of forgiveness and acceptance with God.  "To
him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
hisfaith is counted to him for righteousness." "Christ is the end of
the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."  "Abraham
believed God, and it-his faith-was counted to him for righteous ness."  It is not a sinner's tears, or prayers, or promises, or suffer ings, that saves him; it is his faith.  He gives up his sins; confesses
them to God; asks God for Jesus Christ's sake to forgive him; and
firmly believes in his heart that what God has promised for his Son's
sake he most surely will perform. And standing at that point, he
lays the hand of faith on the atoning victim, and he finds God in Christ
reconciling the world unto himself. God's anger is turned away.
He can be just, and the justifier of him who believes in Jesus.
Now, if that penitent sinner firmly believes that God for Christ's
sake does accept and forgive him,his faith is "counted," "imputed,"
" reckoned" unto him-for righteousness or justification.   And when
this act of pardon passes in the mind of God, if the believer instantly
receives a full-and overpowering sense of forgiveness, attended by a
large measure of joy, and a spirit of rejoicing, then the gift of pardon
is accepted; it is appreciated; and there arises with it a sense of
indebtedness to God for his abundant mercy and goodness, and a
purpose of heart to love and serve him. But, if the sense of pardon
is not very decided; if it barely amounts to a faint persuasion in:the
mind that God for Christ's sake has pardoned the sinner; if it is
unattended with joy and rapturous delight; if there is no outward
manifestation in the way of rejoicing, then it is often treated as the
wicked and slothful servant treated his one talent: it is buried, and
the work of grace ceases, or goes backward in that heart.
Now I hold, and I am very certain the view is scriptural, that the
removal of condemnation, or the conscious sense of guilt, from the
heart of the penitent who confesses and forsakes his sins, and who
stands by the cross of Christ, trusting in God's promise of forgiveness
to him that works not but believes, is to be received as a low evidence
of justification; and that the new creature - the new creation-begins
from the mysterious change which is then and there wrought in the
soul by the divine energy of the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven.
This state is always attended with a degree of peace, and the
subject of this inexplicable moral transformation realizes that "there
is now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus;" and that
22 
338  LABOR - THE LAW  OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESS.
"being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ."
Now, the position which I have assumed as scriptural is, that in the
absence of joy, or the spirit of rejoicing-in the absence of any outward demonstration whatsoever-the simple calm, the peace, however
small, received as indicated above, should be taken as a precious and
invaluable talent; and that the recipient of this high trust should
address himself to the work of improvement, with the assurance that
"unto him that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance."
The fact that the measure of grace is small-is one talent instead of
five-does not relieve the servant from the duty of using and improving
that talent. He is under the same obligation precisely to improve
the one talent, as the more highly favored servant is to improve the
two or five with which he may be invested. With the larger number
of talents there is greater responsibility; and the servant who has
but one talent will find it quite as easy to improve that one as for
the servant who has two or five to improve the greater number
intrusted to him.  God knows our "several ability," and he does
not lavish his grace improvidently upon us. He knows what we are
capable of using successfully. He does not impose responsibilities
upon us that we are not able to meet. We should therefore accept
thankfully what he designs to give, and go to work to make the best
of it.  God knows far better than we how much he can trust to our
improvement; and there is a species of arrogance and presumption
on our part in presuming to dictate to him what measure of grace
shall be meted out to us in our conversion. It is wicked and
offensive in any one to murmur and complain against the master
because he does not give two or five talents instead of one. The
lowest evidence of pardon may be improved and cultivated until it
shall ripen into the most abundant and satisfactory assurance. The
mists of doubt will vanish before the rising sun; the clouds that skirt
the horizon will dissolve into thin air, and the great spiritual luminary
will ascend higher and still higher, until in unclouded splendor he
culminates in meridian glory, and pours a flood-tide of light and
blessing upon the enraptured heart "filled with all the fulness of
God.    "T  hi,, m     tha  hath.    shl  be gie"-ie  in abudace 
LABOR -THE LAW OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESS.                  339
ticipated  if we reject and despise the little because we expected
much; if we bury the one talent because it was not five, we shall
lose all; even that which we have shall be taken away from us.
How many who have been pardoned and regenerated, have failed of
the grace of God and gone back to the world, to realize at the last
the fearful doom of the apostate, simply because God did not give
that sort of evidence of conversion, or that measure of evidence which
the beggar demanded!  One rejects peace, and even a small degree
of joy, because it did not break upon his dark and benighted soul
like a blaze of lightning upon the gloom of midnight Another is
dissatisfied with the removal of all guilt and condemnation, because
he was not so filled with the love of God at the moment as to shout
aloud and praise God in the congregation. This is the part of the
slothful and wicked servant.
Take what is given with a grateful heart. Bless God that he
can trust you with anything.   Accept a dime, a penny,  and go
to work. -Turn it over to the best advantage.  It will multiply.
Labor and activity is the law of spiritual progress. Your capital
stock will increase, and increase too with astonishing rapidity.
You  may become rich in grace and good works.   There  can be
nto failure here.   Hundreds and thousands have commenced  the
religious life with a single talent of grace in conversion, and
have become eminent Christians, deeply experienced in the divine
life, and have attained a power of faith, and an acquisition of the
Christian virtues-patience, meekness, love, longsuffering, and
charity-that has entitled them to the highest rank among the saints
of God on earth, " meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the
saints in light." Then trifle not with even the lowest evidence of
justification. Prize it highly. It is all that God can safely commit
to you for improvement.  But remember, it is susceptible of endless
development. And as the broad and majestic river may be traced to
its source in some quiet dell, where the noiseless fountain oozes from
the bosom of the earth beneath the shade of some moss-covered rock,
and creeps silently away half concealed by the velvet turf, sparkling
for a moment in a stray sunbeam that here and there steals through
the overhanging foliage: so the glorified saint may survey ~his spiritual career from the mount of holy vision, tracing it back to its
commencement in a quiet serenity that stole over his anxious soul
while engaged in prayer; or to a transient emotion of joy that thrilled 
340        LABOR - THE LAW OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESS.
for a single moment the tense chords of his heart, touched by the
ethereal fingers of the Holy Spirit  or to a momentary emotion of
love to God and his people that lifted his affections from earth to
heaven, lasting, it may be, only long enough to be fully conscious ot
the existence of the peace, the joy, the love, and then was succeeded
by tedious intervals of doubt, depression, and gloom; to a beginning
so small he may trace the unspeakable blessing of eternal life which
crowns his immortality in glory.
However desirable it may be to enjoy an overwhelming sense or
pardon and regeneration at the moment the great work takes placean evidence that banishes all doubt, and leaves the mind in a state
of full assurance-it nevertheless often happens that early Christian
experience is mingled with much fear, perplexity, and doubt; andt
too many are discouraged and cast away their confidence simply
because it is weak; because it is one instead offive talents; because
it does not compare favorably with some familiar instance of Christian
experience recorded in religious biography, or with that of a pious
friend narrated in private conversation.
And yet, a careful scriptural examination of the subject, would
reveal the interesting fact, that the change effected, and the evidence
furnished, differ only in degree, not in nature or substance; in
quantity, not in quality. The responsibilities imposed, in each case,
are proportioned to the measure of grace imparted; and c he that is
faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much; and he that is
unjust in the least, is unjust also in much."
Let the timid doubting Christian take encouragement.  He  does
not serve a hard master. God requires no impossibilities. Diligence
will certainly be crowned with reward   while simple neglect will
ultimately be followed by an utter deprivation of all that was originally given: "For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he
shall have abundance;  but from him that hath not shall be taken
away, even that which he bath."
III.-The capacity for usefulness in the church is governed by
this law.
This department of the subject furnishes abundant illustration of
our proposition. The humblest and the highest ability are alike subject to this law.
In the distribution of gifts for improvement in the church, the 
LABOR -THE LAW OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESS.                 341
Great Master has given for the work of the ministry, "apostles,"
" prophets," " evangelists," "pastors," and "teachers;" the object
of which is, " the perfecting of the saints and the edifying of the body
of Christ."
Among those whom God designates for the work of the ministry,
he distributes a diversity of gifts.   All are not equally endowed.
One is a Paul; another an Apollos; another a Cephas.  But all are
Christ's ministers. Each one has his appropriate work, and each his
appropriate endowment for that work. The ability for the performance of the work assigned to each, is given by the Great Head of the
church in the proportion of one, two, and five. No one is accountable for the improvement of that which he has not. Where much is
given much will be required, and when but little is given but little
will be required. In the final settlement, he that knew his Master's
will, and did it not, shall be beaten with many stripes; while he that
knew not his Master's will, though he did things worthy of punishment,
shall be beaten with few stripes!
It will not prove the slightest extenuation of a man's guilt, in the
day of judgment, to say that he was not eloquent like Apollos; that
he could not command the logic of a Paul; that he could not move
and persuade like a Summerfield, or pour forth the oratory of a Bascorn. This will not excuse the neglect of whatever grade of ability
God may have given him. For the use and improvement of that, the
man is responsible   And we have hundreds of illustrious examples
to show what a man may accomplish by the active employment and
improvement of limited ability. The man of plain mind, who is incapable of commanding the figures and flowers of rhetoric; who can
never delight his audience with bold and lofty descriptions, or the
gorgeous creations of the imagination; whose elocution is even repulsive, and who can scarcely rise above a simple didactic or narrative style, may, by a vigorous and untiring use of his talent, accomplish an immense amount of good. Activity and industry in the use
of his limited ability will be followed by increase. Each successive
step prepares him for a farther advance; and with a growing influence, and the gradual accumulation of the results of his labors around
him, he may reach a point of usefulness in the church that will embalm hissname in the memory of thousands, and enable him to leave a
legacy of incalculable value behind him when he is called to enter
" the joy of his Lord." 
342        L.ABOR -THE LAW OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESS.
]ut, unfortunately, this ability, simply because it is small, is buried
by thousands who are entrusted with it for improvement.   The man
who might have improved his one talent so as to have had abundance,
by his neglect and affected humility, becomes worse than bankrupt.
He is deprived of all, and cursed as a wicked, slothful, and unprofitable servant. Not for having squandered and wasted his lord's
nHoney, but for a failure to improve it according to the intention of
the master.
But this subject is not restricted in its application to the ministry,
The laity of the Church "c are called in their measure to edify one
another," as says Mr. Trench, in his comment on the parable of the
talents.   They all have "a spiritual vocation, and are entrusted
with gifts, more or fewer, for which they will have to render an account." One has a talent, it may be, for leading a class; another,
for public exhortation; another  for  Sabbath school  instruction;
another for visiting the sick; another for public prayer; another for
instructing inquirers after salvation; another for distributing the alms
of the church among the poor; and still another for soliciting funds
for benevolent objects.   Now, each one is called on-male and female-to use that ability, be it much or little, for the advancement
of God's cause in the world.   And a gift for usefulness in any department of service in the church, is subject to the law under notice.
Improvement and active use will be followed by increase; neglect
will result in an entire deprivation of all that was originally bestowed.
From small beginnings how many have risen, as class leaders, as
exhorters, as Sabbath school teachers, and as visitors of the sick and
imprisoned, to positions of extensive usefulness and influence in the
Church of God! Up, thou indolent and slothful servant, and to thy
work!  God is not a hard master.  He does not reap where he has
not sowed. He does not exp)ect something from nothing, nor does
he expect a great deal from a little; but he does expect a proportionate improvement and increase of what is actually given away. Away
with your idle excuse that you can do nothing; or, what you could
do would be so small and inconsequent that you are excusable in doing nothing. Unfaithfulness in that which is least will subject you to
a fearful doom; and when at last, like a guilty culprit, you are dragged into court, and begin to say, "Lord, I knew thee that thou art
a hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where 
LABOR -THE LAW  OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESS.               343
thou hast not strewed; and I was afraid, and went and hid thy
talent in the earth;" what must be the shame and confusion of the
miserable delinquent when his Master responds: " Thou wicked and
slothful servant; out of thine own mouth I will condemn thee. What
thou hast said is false; but admitting its truth, what should have
been thy conduct!   If thou wast afraid to use thy talent; afraid to
enter the marts of trade; afraid to risk it in any independent enterprise of thine own, thou shouldst have attached thyself to others,
stronger and more skilful than thyself in the management of my
funds, under whose direction I might at least have obtained' some
small, but certain return for my moneys.' Take the talent from him,
and cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness, where there
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." This is the terrible doom
of the idler, the drone, the man that wastes not, but fails to improve
his talent for usefulness in the church, however small it may be. Be
alarmed and tremble, ye sluggards! You will be damned for doing
nothing.
There are several instructive lessons suggested by this subject.
And
First. We learn why it is that so many who, at one time of life, are
convinced of sin, and make partial efforts to obtain salvation, fall
short of pardon and regeneration.
They fail to improve the talent of divine enlightenment. They do
not follow out their convictions of duty. They halt and complain
because their feelings are not so much excited and aroused as they
think necessary. They wait for more light, without improving what
they have, and the result is that these convictions abate, and are
transferred to others; and I doubt not that many sinners will look
back from the pit of hell, and fix their eyes upon the very point in
their experience when, because of their neglect, the scales, for awhile
at equipoise, balanced for damnation.   Beware, my unconverted
friends-you who attend church, and wait all the time for more light,
conviction, and feeling, and do not improve what God has already
given. Some of you will never have a particle more, till you improve
what you have already. Go to work. Begin to pray and repent.
"For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have
abundance; but from him that hath not shall be taken away, even
that which he hath." Millions are now in hell, and millions more are 
344        LABOR-  THE LAW OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESS.
on their way, who have had a sufficiency of light to conduct them to
the cross.  Their damnation is attributable-not to profanity; not
to outbreaking crime; not to wicked rebellion and obstinacy; but to
neglect.
Second. We hereby account for the spiritual poverty and ineflfciency of many members of the church.
They have been genuinely converted-born of the Spirit-passed
from death unto life; but they have declined from their first love.
They have hid their Lord's money for safe keeping, too honest to
risk anything.  The gift for prayer and active Christian duty has
been permitted to lie idle; and the consequence is, the soul has lost
its relish for divine things; the hands hang down; the knees become
feeble; and he who once had a capital stock which was susceptible of
indefinite expansion and improvement, is now a worthless and bankrupt idler in the Church of God. Backsliding begins in idleness
and neglect.   How many become spiritually poor and inefficientdoing nothing for themselves or others-for no other reason than a
failure to improve the talents committed to their trust!
Third. We are struck with the amount of good the whole church
might accomplish if all the talent of the church were put into active
use.
We have a state of things verging on bankruptcy, where we might
have an amount of wealth that would satisfy the heart of Jesus
Christ.   Our Sabbath schools languish; our class meetings grow
cold and decline in interest; the poor are neglected; the sick die
without spiritual comfort; penitents grope in the dark for the want
of instruction; the pulpit is less efficient than it should be; wickedness multiplies on every hand;  the church, instead of pushing
its victories to the speedy conquest of the world, barely holds its
position at home.  And why?  Is it because God has not furnished
the grace and the ability to sustain all these interests of the church?
Nay, verily. It is because the talent of the church is not employed. 
LABOR-  THE LAW  OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESS.              345
what would be the result? Very soon the church would become as
terrible as an army with banners.   The wilderness and the solitary
places would blossom and bloom like the garden of God. The strongholds of heathenism would give way, and the long, loud shout of ultimate triumph would soon ring out from multiplied myriads of happy
souls, and the whole world should see the salvation of our God!
What a melancholy spectacle is presented in the swarms  of idlers
standing upon the graves of buried talent-talent enough to save a
world, if rightly employed-while that world, from inexcusable laziness and neglect, sinks with a heartbreaking wail to hell!  0, for a
trumpet-voice to arouse the sluggards in the church; to awake and
excite the idlers to activity.  Time is flying.  The period for labor is
short. With every vibration of the pendulum, souls are sinking to
hell; and yet the church slumbers; and thousands excuse themselves from the work, which they could so easily perform, of plucking
sinners from the fires of perdition.  Thou wicked servant, stretch out
thy hand, and save a soul from death!
Fourth. We learn from this subject, that while oneparticle of grace
remains it may be improved.   The work becomes harder and still
harder with the delay; but, thank God, while a single spark remains,
it may be kindled into a flame.   "Be watchful, and strengthen the
things that remain, which are ready to die."  Ready to die!  What
a blessing they are not quite dead! There is a little love, a little
faith, a little hope, that yet lingers in the heart.  Improve it right
speedily.
Sinner, if there is one good desire; if there is the slightest inclination of the soul to God, fall upon thy knees and begin to pray; there
is yet mercy and salvation for you.  But the light wanes; hasten to,
the cross ere the night comineth, when no man can work. Cold-hearted
formal professor, is there any faith, any love, any zeal, in the
thy soul.  If the Holy Spirit still tarries with you; if there is any
longing after God, your case is not hopeless.   But everything depends upon an active improvement of what remains.   Dig up the
buried talent; and by your future diligence, make up and atone for
past neglect. God waits to multiply his blessings upon you. " Unto
him that hath shall be given."
Finally. The day of final settlement draws on apace —," silent 
346        LABOR -THE LAW OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESS.
as the breeze, but dreadful as the storm. After a long time the
Master will come.   A scoffing world  may mock, and ask, "r Where
is the promise of his coming?"  "After a long time."  The church
may grow weary in waiting. The world may grow old and gray with
time. Successive generations of men may pass in silence to the tomb.
The sun may grow dim with age, and the star-fires may expire on
heaven's high arch; but after a long time the Master will come and
call up his servants, to whom he committed his goods for use and
improvement, for a final reckoning.  With what joy the faithful will
meet him; and with what ecstacy will they hear  him say, "Well
done, good and faithful servant." For that compliment, who would
not cheerfully toil and bear reproach? Who would not suffer and
die for his Divine Master, to hear him say, in the great day of judgment, when the world is on tire, when the faithless and unbelieving,
the sluggard, the hypocrite, and the backsliders are crying for
rocks and mountains to fall on them, and hide them from the wrath
of the Lamb —who, I repeat, would not be willing to toil, to suffer, to
bear reproach, and even to die, to hear the blessed Jesus pronounce
the words upon him:  "-Well done, good and faithful servant; enter
thou into the joy of thy Lord"? 
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THE WORD OF GOD: THE ONLY SAFEGUARD AMID
THE PERILS OF YOUTH.
BY REV. E. E. WILEY, D. D.
OF HOLSTON CONFERENCE
" Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way   By taking heed
thereto, according to thy word."-Psalm cxix, 9.
Encouragements to the young to forsake the paths of sin, and to
tread the ways of virtue, abound in the Scriptures.  So many and
special are the promises made to this class of persons, that the minister of Christ may be well assured that his labors with them will not
be in vain. A rich moral harvest awaits himt who tills, in faith and
hope, this virgin soil.  The seeds of sin, the noxious weeds of corruption, the briars and thorns of depravity, may find here, it is true, a
ready and a rapid germination and increase; but these, under the
tiller's hopeful toil, with the help of God, may be eradicated, and the
plants of virtue reared in their stead to a comely growth, and an
abundant yield of precious fruit. Left to itself, the ground will soon
become a wilderness, where monsters lurk and vipers hiss; but under
the hand of patient cultivation, it may be made as the garden of God.
It is not so, however, with the old, whose hearts are dry as summer
clods, whose sensibilities are blunted, whose habits are fixed. There
is hope of the wayward youth, that he may yet turn to the paths of
life.  The tender twig, though it shoot aslant from the ground, may
with kindly guidance yet grow heavenward, and send out from a
stately trunk its hundred arms and luxuriant foliage-the glory of
the forest. But what can bend the old gnarled oak, whose shapeless
stock and crooked limbs have defied a thousand wintry storms, and
thrown off, unzplintered, the fiercest bolts of heaven? The young
ma lase hs wa-a   ca ng fro  a viiu  coreb  takin 
348                     THE WORD OF GOD:
The text contains a question of much interest and importanceHow shall a young man make his way pure? The term way here signifies a little path, and indicates a distinction between this and the
broad, frequented way, in which the ungodly millions walk.   The language implies that the goings of the young are not yet so well established that their steps may not be retraced. They have begun to go
astray-their feet have already entered the ways of vice-yet these
ways, little though they be, lead with certainty to destruction. Their
number is many, their names different, yet all tend to the same end.
They may be fitlyJrepresented as lanes leading off to the left, out of
the broad road, into which they come again, bringing their travelers
to swell the vast multitude rolling on to the chambers of,death. But
the text also assures us that the young who have been allured into
any of these forbidden ways may come  back to the path of life.
There are ways of escape on the other side of the broad road, directly
opposite each lane to ruin. Let the young man, then, pause and
ascertain his true moral position; let him ponder the path of his feet,
and take heed thereto, according to God's word.  Into which of these
lanes has the tempter beguiled you?  For there are but few young
men in this age, who have not either made some progress in a course
of vice, or at least looked with desire upon the gorgeous scenes which
fancy paints along this tempting path, and which the flatterer falsely
declares to be realities.
That you may better know them, let us point out some of the more
dangerous roads into which you are liable to turn, in which you may
perchance now be traveling, or around which you may be lingering,
and listening to the voice of the charmer. You will not have traveled far in the broad way until you reach a path upon the left, leading off to apparently Elysian bowers. This is  The way of the indolent. Thousands of happy loungers are gathered about its entrance. Splendid palaces attract the eye, whose walls
are festooned with rich drapery, whose floors shine with Persian dye,
whose walls echo with music's voluptuous swell, and glitter with
the sheen of golden light.  Couches of down invite the weary to
repose. The air is redolent with the perfume of flowers, and vocal with
songs of nature's choristers. Gardens, rich in the beauty of colors
and of fruits, gladden the eye and delight the taste. As on the traveler slowly moves, bowers of ease, cooling water brooks, and voluptuous inns, retard his steps. At length, full to satiety of fancied joy, 
YOUTH'S ONLY SAFEGUARD.                      349
diseased in body and imbecile in mind, lost to every noble impulse,
and reft of hope, he would lay him down to die; but the on-coming
crowd presses him toward the end of his path, and soon he disappears
in the countless throng which fills the broad way leading to destruction.  How many thousands of the young find a shameful end through
this path! Thinking that they may turn back at any moment, they
consent to indulge in indolence, and to regale the senses for a time.
But they wake, alas! too late, from their dream of delight; they wake
only to the consciousness that their energies are paralyzed-that
their hopes are dead! I ask you, young man, at this point, to pause,
to consider the end of this way. Listen not to the voice of the charmer, nor to the lying speech of the deceiver. God has made you for
labor, and not for indolence. The powers of your body as well as of
your soul are strengthened by toil. Great achievements are attained
only by great labor-a labor too that is incessant, not fitful.  The
yielding stream, by its constant flow, will wear its channel in the solid
rock; the ever-ringing clink of the chisel will tunnel the stupendous
mountain; the ceaseless toil of the coral insect will pile his rocky
reef from the depths below to the ocean's surface, and stretch it from
shore to shore. Work on, then, work ever, at something noble and
good. Enough of rest will be found in the slumber of the grave.
Such, too, is the teaching of God's word. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.  Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Say not, there is a lion in the waya lion is in the streets. And remember, too, that the sluggard is wiser
in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason.  But let
us look at  The way of the profane.  No sin is more common among us than
that of profane swearing, and there are but few of greater magnitude.
It is an offence not so much against the peace of society and the
rights of our fellows as against our Creator.  For this reason public
opinion has not set the seal of its condemnation upon it, nor the civil
law enacted and executed against it severe penalties. Hence it is too
often regarded as a venial transgression, to be winked at rather than
to be scorned. The man who steals (no matter how trifling the sum)
is branded as a thief, scouted from even the common walks of life,
and doomed to carry the stain to his grave; nor would we mitigate
the punishment which is inflicted upon him; while he who utters profanely his Maker's name, in all his waking hours, and pours forth 
350                     THE WORD OF GOD:
blasphemous oaths, until by habit he is unconscious of his crime, is
neither discarded by the polite, nor utterly rejected by the good. But
which is the greater sinner? Society will tell you, the thief. But
we ask not for the answer in the light of human law, but in the light
of the Divine Word-in the blaze of God's searching eye. In heaven's
chancery what decision may we suppose, from the revelations given,
would be made? In the Divine Law-book it is said, Thou shalt not
steal. In the same decalogue God has written with his own finger,
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; and has
added to this prohibition, (and to none other, as if to magnify his
abhorrence of this sin,) For the Lord will not hold him guiltless that
taketh his name in vain. There is not, perhaps, another crime which
men commit, for which they might not find some apology, flimsy though
it be. The liar may plead in extenuation of his sin the dread of punishment; the thief, poverty and hunger; the drunkard, his quenchless thirst; the libertine, his lust; the murderer, his passions; the
midnight assassin, his drunkenness;-but what excuse has he to offer
who takes his Maker's name in vain-who pollutes his soul and sears
his conscience with blasphemous oaths? Is it that his Creator has
not dealt in kindness with him? Let him tell, if he can, the sum of
God's mercies towards him; let him fathom the depth of the love
wherewith Heaven has loved him; let him estimate the value of the
cost of his redemption-and then answer, if the name of his Father
in Heaven is not worthy at least of his reverence. Surely he who
thus insults Infinite Goodness must be approaching rapidly the gulf
of perdition, and requires but few more days, and but little practice
more, to make him a finished fiend. Does he swear that more credit
may be given to his assertions? His declarations were believed,
perhaps, before the profane oath passed his lips; but now, doubt has
taken the place of confidence. The vilest of the vile must surely
hold the words of him in less esteem who would attempt by profanity
to strengthen them. Shame on the man whose mouth is full of cursing, and whose tongue has never yet pronounced with reverence the
name of the blessed God. Turn thou, my son, from the way of the
profane. Go not with the countless host that throng this lane of
death. Take heed to thy steps, according to God's Word. Forget
not the holy law uttered amidst the flaming thunders of the mount,
nor the milder injunction of an apostle: But above all things, my
brethren, swear not-neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither 
YOUTH'S ONLY SAFEGUARD.                       351
by any other oath-but let your yea be yea, and your nay nay, lest
ye fall into condemnation. But consider also  The way of the "man of honor."  This way is marked with the
tears and groans of stricken ones-the wail of widowed hearts-the
blood of murdered men.  The "code of honor," in its teachings, in
its spirit, in its practical results, is so abhhorent to humanity, so bold
a contradiction of Christianity, and so surely a remnant of a barbarous age, that we could hardly suppose that it would not flee before
the march of Civilization, and wither in the light of the Gospel. It
cannot be countenanced by the good, nor practiced, except by men
of distorted conceptions of right, and of corrupt hearts. It is a golden
image, which public opinion-a tyrant more cruel than Nebuchadnezzar of old-has set up, and to which all who bow not are doomed
to the fiery furnace. It is a Moloch monster that fattens on human
gore, and sates his cannibal maw on nought but human flesh.  It has
its origin in a false view of honor, tramples upon God's law, and sets
at defiance the plainest teachings of reason and of conscience. In
the "man of honor" passion reigns supreme, subjugating the better
principles of the heart, and scoffing at Divine authority. Resentment
and Revenge-two fiends that would extirpate the entire race, if left
to themselves —are the presiding judges in the court where this code
is admitted.  But society will brand him a coward who acts not in
accordance with its requisitions. What society? That of the just,
the pure, the holy on earth; that of the blessed, of angels, of God, in
heaven? Nay, verily; but of fiends incarnate upon earth, and of lost
spirits and of devils in hell! Better that the world call you coward,
than that God stamp upon you the mark of Cain, and call you a
murderer. Every duelist is a murderer in the eye of God's law; and
whether he shed the blood of his fellow or not, the purpose of his
heart is manifest, from his relation to his antagonist.  If for keeping
the Divine commandments you are to be loaded with opprobrious
epithets, you may have grace to endure it. But he has a stouter
heart than mine, who can bow in cringing attitude before a wicked
public sentiment, and in the same act hurl defiance at God's law, and
run madly upon the thick bosses of his bucklers. Company not with
the men who-call this the way of honor. 0 my soul, come not thou
into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honor, be not thou
united; for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they
digged down a wall. Solomon, in his Proverbs, has well said, He 
352                     THE WORD OF GOD:
that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth
his spirit, than he that taketh a city. And a greater than Solomon
hath said, Thou shalt do no murder. But mark well   The way of the licentious.   As you approach this path, the scenes
before you will seem strangely at variance with the conceptions you
had heretofere formed of its travelers and of its horrors. Over the entrance is written, in gilded letters, "The way of many delights." The
young, the gay, the beautiful, alone are there. Glittering in costly array
and jewelled light, the joyous throng dance on, swift as the flying hours
to the sound of their revelry. That health reigns here, the blooming cheek, the sparkling eye, the elastic step, proclaim. that this is
pleasure's path is known by the rapture playing upon every face.
While the beholder is surveying the bewitching prospect before him,
drawn towards it by the power of an enchanting spell, his trembling
feet a moment pause, lest pitfalls anId snares may be there. For he
has heard that there is a wav which seemeth right unto a man, but
the end thereof are the ways of death; that the way of a fool is right
in his own eyes, but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise. Turning his face towards the way of escape, and just ready to seek the
path of life, he sees approaching him a form of surpassing beauty.
Her lips drop as a honey-comb, her mouth is smoother than oil. With
face half-veiled, and eye radiant with the light of love; with smniles
pleasant and changeful as the tinted clouds in summer-sunset sky,
and robe glittering as the dress which morning throws over beds of
flowers and spangled lawns, -she utters, in the melody of music, her
winning words: I have peace-offerings with me; this day have I paid
my vows; therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy
face, and I have found thee. I have decked my bed with coverings
of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. I have
perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.  With much fair
speech she causes him to yield; with the flattering of her lips she
forces him. He goeth after her straightway. For a time he revels
in the bliss of his intoxication, until, wearied and exhausted, he turns
aside from the giddy crowd, and seeks repose in the quiet of slunmber.
lie wakes, at length, to look upon a scene so sadly changed that he 
YOUTH'S ONLY SAFEGUARD.                       353
sepalchres.  Rushing upon his soul now, like a swift-coming tide, are
the thoughts of a father's counsel, of a mother's warning voice, of a
sister's love. He sighs for the innocence, the purity, the bliss of
home. He would fain go back to the paths of his childhood. But,
alas! he is swept on by a current that he cannot resist. Onward and
downward with the living tide of pollution, he is borne until the house
of death receives him, and the gates of hell open before him. And
tell me-Oh tell me, if you can-what tongue has ever described the
horrors of that living death, or the torments of that burning hell
which awaits the licentious profligate! My young friend, pause, consider. Listen not to the lying words of the foolish woman. Heed
rather the voice of Him who sees the end from the beginning, and
who has in mercy declared, Let not thine heart decline to her ways;
go not astray in her paths, for she hath cast down many woundedyea, many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the way
to hell, going down to the chambers of death.
The way of the intemperate. This is another'of the numerous paths
which lead to present ruin and to eternal destruction. The probabilities that you may enter it are greatly strengthened by the fact
that you will find at the outset of the way those whom the world has
ho     nored               - men  of commanding position and of intellectual might.
The                      accomplished, the  generous, th e  social-all-will win you by the
prestige of their influence. The hand of beauty, perchance, will press
to your lips the foaming bowl, which you dare not dash away. The
tempter   will               whisper, "No      evil c an follow from association with such
company. A short excursion in this way will enhance life's enjoyments.' Live while you live,' and m     ake the most of the passing hours.
If dangers lurk along the path, they are nowhere within the range of
may vision; and upon their first appearance it will be easy to retrace
my steps. No                    poverty nor disease nor death are apparent; and if
they spring out upon the traveller, like beasts of prey from their
ambush, their hiding places must be far on at points which I shall never
r e ach. The drunkard shall never be  m y companion, nor the drunkard's grave nor hell my portion." Trust not to these fancy dreams.
The real evils which flow from the wine-cup have never yet been told,
no human mind has ever fully compassed them, nor imagination painted
them. You have read of gorgon horrors. of the transformation of
men into swine, by Circe's potent spells; of harpies, whose touch was
pollution; of Scylla and Charybdis, whose dismal caverns are whi                                            23 
354                     THE WORD OF GOD:
tened with the bones of ill-starred mariners; of the Maelstrom, whose
capacious maw, at one effort, could engulf whole navies; of Sin and
Death as pictured by the poet; of Lucifer hurled from heaven, driven
through dreary leagues of chaotic night, and stretched, a dragon
huge, on his lake of quenchless fire. To these you may add all the
monsters dire which the human fancy has created, and group the whole
into one revolting picture: to this picture your terrified spirit would
fly for relief, from the one imagining forth all the horrors of intenmperance. There sits the Moloch monster, King Alcohol, with his eyes
of fire, his teeth of iron, his arms of burning steel, his cannibal maw
distended, but never filled, and smiles with grim and ghastly visage
above his altar, reeking with human gore and pollution, upon the
ruin which reigns throughout his wide domains. See in the distance
that stately mansion; enter its gates; look behind those grates of
iron-there is he whom the world honored; on whose lips listening
senates hung entranced! He writhes in chains which humanity had
placed upon him to mitigate his sufferings. And here is another house,
whose walls and dungeons imprison felons of every grade, from the
youthful culprit to the cold-blooded assassin. Here is a lazar-house,
and there a gibbet, whose beam has just swung into eternity a youthful murderer!  What train of weeping ones is this, clad in the weeds
of widowhood, stricken and bowed with the anguish of years. They
were once the wives, they are now the widows, of drunkards. With
swollen eyes and faded cheeks and bleeding hearts they tread upon
the brink of the grave. What countless multitudes of innocent little
ones are there, in tatters and in filth-hatless, bonnetless, shoeless;
haggard with hunger and pallid with disease? Their tiny feet patter
over the frozen clods until their pathway reddens with their trickling blood! These are the children of drunkards. But I cannot
complete the picture. My tongue and voice grow tremulous in the
work; my hand can no longer guide the pencil upon the canvas.
Turn, young man, from this dimly-colored picture of living realities;
fill up, if you can, and tinge, if you will, with burning hues, all the
true scenes of misery that lie on either side of this path to hell. Then
look across the broad way, and over the way of escape which leads
to life; read in letters of light, radiant with heaven's own brightness,
"Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its color
in the cup, when it moveth itself aright: at the last it biteth like
a serpent, and stingeth like an adder." 
YOUTH'S ONLY SAFEGUARD.                     355
But the young are always too ready to believe that the perils of
these paths of vice are by the more experienced greatly exaggerated.
The danger lies, (as they suppose,) not in entering them, and in traveling in them for a time, but in continuing in them too long. True,
some have made shipwreck of body and of soul by pursuing these
courses too far, but as for us, we will be wary and watchful. Little
acquainted with their own natures, with the fearful laws which God
has thrown about their intellectual and moral being, with the power
of temptation, or with the nature of habit, they rush on, in the firm
persuasion that they are fully able, at any moment, to reverse their
course.  They know not the strength of the chain which habit has
already thrown around them; they know it not, because they have
never made an effort to sunder it. To the eye its threads are of gossamer, and will yield to the touch of youthful vigor.  The lion, imprisoned behind the slender bars of iron, knows not that the little rods
are stronger than his brawny arm, until he tries upon them his full
9
power. In his native wilds he roams monarch of the forest, and in the
pride of his strength looks scornfully upon the net which holds the
tempting bait. His might can sever the meshes and snap the strands,
should they mpass him around, and with a bound he leaps upon the
wished-f^' prize. The repast is ended, and he rises to his wonted
haunts, out (alas for him!) the net has already enfolded him.  Every
effort of his stalwart limbs draws yet more closely the fatal cords
around him, until, exhausted in the struggle, the king of beasts lays
him down to die in the meshes which the tooth of a mouse might
sunder.  Would you know the stiength of the cord which habit has
already woven into the entire tissue of your physical and mental
being? Bring against it all the force of your young manhood, and
happy for you if you find in it the strength only of the seven green
withes with which they bound the son of Manoah. Are you still confident of your power? are you an overmatch for the mighty Samson?
He rent asunder the lion as he would have rent a kid; slew a thousand men of the Philistines single-handed, with no weapon but a bone
for his club; parted the new ropes and green withes as a thread of
tow when it toucheth the fire; bore off the huge beams of the house,
to which he had been fastened by the hair of his head,-and yet you
find, afterwards, this same Samson quietly sleeping upon the lap of
his own loved Delilah, until the wicked woman, artfully stealing the
seven wondrous locks, the secret of his strengths cries out, "The 
356                     THE  WORD OF G~OD
Philistines be upon thee, Samson!" and he awakes to the consciousness
that his power is gone, and himself betrayed into the hands of his
enemies.  And now see this mightiest of men!  Reftof his eyes, and
bound with fetters of brass, he doth grind like a galley-slave in the
prison-house of the Philistines.
Trust not then, young men, to your own strength, nor to your own
wisdom. Listen to the instruetions of the wise, to the experience of
age.  Heed-Oh, heed!-the admonition of the text.  If you would
walkl uprightly and purely, take heed to your steps, according to
God's word. Fearful are the interests trembling this hour in the
balance of your decision-interests affecting not only the present, but
reaching far away into the cycles of eternity. I beseech you, by the
counsels of an honored father; by the daily prayers of a loving
mother, if she lives, or, if not; by the vows that you made when words
of tenderness fell upon your ear for the last time from her dying lips,
and which you have often renewed at her quiet grave, as the tears
have fallen, like the rain-drops, upon the green-growing sod; I beseech you, by the love of God as shown in the abundance of his grace,
by the blood of the Son of God, which paid the priceless cost of your
redemption,-let not your feet decline towards the paths of sin.
Choose rather, and follow, while you may, the way of life, which leads
to usefulness and honor here, and to everlasting joys in Heaven. 
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THE GOSPEL-ITS CHARACTER, REQUIREMENTS AND
BLESSINGS.
BY THE REV. NELSON HEAD,
OF THI. VRGINIA CO.MERENCE.
"In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the
Gospel of your salvation; in whom, also, after that ye believed, ye were
sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our
inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise
of his glory."-Eph. i, 13, 14.
What a precious treasure is the Bible! WThat a privilege to
enjoy the free, unrestricted use of the oracles of our salvation
The Bible stands alone amidst the multiform literature of our world,
as the Book of God. It is a revelation of God's personal existence
and perfections. It contains an account of God's works. It furnishes a disclosure of God's plans. It is a repository of God's
thoughts. It makes known to us the brightest expression, and
sublimest proof, of God's love to our fallen world. Its treasures of
instruction and consolation are inexhaustible. The more we study
the Bible with humility and prayer, for divine teaching, the more we
perceive in it to admire and to-enjoy, to guide and to comfort us in
our perilous pilgrimage to "the Saints' everlasting rest."   The more
we imbibe the spirit of the Bible, the more will the scope of faith's
vision enlarge, the range of hope's expectations widen, and the image
of God's eternal love be reflected from the depths of our moral and
spiritual nature.
No part of the Bible should be neglected. History, prophecy,
poetry-its doctrines, its ethical principles and precepts-have  all a
meaning, and all contain a good, and it is ours to enquire into the one,
and appropriate the other. From this blessed book, it is our
special duty, as "the  ministers  of Christ, and stewards  of the
mysteries of God," to minister to the edification of God's Israel, and 
358                        THE GOSPEL.
contents exhibit the most elevated conceptions, and eloquent expressions, of those things which God hath prepared for them that love
him. Here we have sublimest doctrines, most spiritual truths, the
purest precepts, loftiest privileges, kindest admonitions, and most
inspiring encouragements.  0, that we  had eyes to perceive the
beauties, ears to catch the celestial tones, and hearts to appreciate
the riches of this Divine composition!
The passage which we have selected for our present use, is replete
with instruction and comfort. In it we have the character, the
requirements, and the blessings of the Gospel.
I. The character of the Gospel: "It is the word of truth, and the
gospel of your salvation."
I. The Gospel is characterized by the Apostle as the " Word of
truth."  It is "the word" which "God spake in time past to the
fathers by the prophets," and which he " hath in these last days
spoken unto us by his Son." The Gospel is not made up of the
gleanings of human wisdom, and human investigations, and human
opinions; it is a kind and faithful oracle, which has been communicanted from the eternal throne of wisdom and love.  It is " the word"
-the special utterance of God.  It is a revelation from the  God
and Father of all, to his lapsed creatures, bearing the impress of his
paternal regards and solicitude, for the recovery of our revolted and
wretched portion of his family. Its tones are clear, loving, authoritative, pathetic, and full.  Truth is its subject-matter.   But what
kind of truth. It is truth diverse from all those truths which the
human intellect hath ascertained, and in which it glories; and yet it
contradicts no truth, but is in harmony with all truth. It is "c the
truth as it is in Jesus;" the " truth which is according to godliness;"
it is the truth, whose foundation is Christ, fore-ordained before the
foundation of the world; whose superstructure is Christ dying for
our sins according to the Scriptures, and whose topstone is Christ
head over all things, and head over all things to his church. The
"word of truth" is the whole sum of Christianity, as revealed in the
person, teaching, works and sufferings, resurrection and triumphs, of
th  So   f God   The trut whic  solves _A  1A all th  mytere  oftou 
THE GOSPEL.                          359
of mankind must stand or fall; it eclipses all by its glory, transcends
all by its majesty; sways all by its authority, and determines all by
its decision. This is the truth after which the world has all along
sighed and striven, since man's first transgression disrobed him of his
innocency and purity, and perverted his whole nature into the dark
ness, guilt and misery of falsehood. Thus bereft of the sun of his
moral and intellectual nature, man, apart from the word of God,
has ever groped in ignorance and falsity, seeking in vain for the
truth of which sin despoiled him. Even the most illumined and
enlarged intellects, which rear their noble forms high above the less
favored masses of humanity, have been doomed-to confess, after all
their painful enquiries, that the truth has still eluded their search.
, You  may see," says a Christian philosopher, " Socrates in the
twilight lamenting his obscure and benighted condition, and telling
you that his lamp will show him nothing but his own darkness. You
may see Plato sitting down by the water of Lethe, and weeping
because he could not remember his former notions. You may hear
Aristotle bewailing himself thus-that his'potential reason' will
so seldom come into act, that his blank sheet has so few and such
imperfect impressions upon it, that his intellectuals are at so low an
ebb, as that the notions of Euripus will pose them.   You may hear
Zeno say that his'porch' is dark; and Epictetus confessing and
complaining that he had not the right'handle,' the true apprehen
sion of things." And as it has fared with the old philosophers, so has
it fared with the new. They are alike blear-eyed, when untouched
by the healing beams of "the Sun of Righteousness."  But what
the sage, the scribe, and the disputer of this world have sought for
in vain, breaks upon the human mind, with all the splendor of a
sunburst, from the firmament of gospel truth. The Gospel then is
" the word of truth," because it contains, and makes known, truth,
absolute truth, without any mixture of error or falsehood. It is that
special truth which humanity needs, and after which it groans being
burdened; and to which, when made known and appropriated, the
deep, throbbing, oppressed heart of humanity responds in jubilant
tone  of paise and joy.  a Thre  beautiful___a words reea  thi  truth. 
360                        THE GOSPEL.
is love." Of this glorious truth, the cross is at once its brightest
expression and sublimest proof, salvation its unspeakable gift, and
heaven the scene, and eternity the scope of its consummated beatitudes. Do you ask for the credentials of s" the word of truth?"
Go ask of history, as it expands into living reality, what the prophets'
pen had so long antedated, on the pages of Hioly Scripture.  Go ask
of the miracles of "the Great Teacher" of the truth, and the lame
leaping, the blind seeing, the sick flushed with new health, the dead
living, the waves turning to adamant as a pavement for his sacred
feet-his own triumphant exit from the grave, and ascension into
heaven-these are credentials of the word of truth. Go ask of the
moral triumphs, which the word of truth hath achieved along the
centuries of the past, over the barbarism, idolatry, superstition, falsehood, sin, and wretchedness of man, and learn from their response,
the credentials of the truth. Nay, go no further than your own
moral consciousness, for you must feel there, that the Gospel is the
word of truth-divine, eternal truth, that flashes light through the
densest darkness of your nature, condemning your sins, and pointing
you to your only remedy: this it does by its own self-evidencing
power. Thus attested, and instinct with the resources of Omnipotence, the truth "must stand when rolling years shall cease to move."
And as it rises higher and higher in the firmament of this world's
history, all that is darkened with error and falsehood, in governments,
both civil and ecclesiastical, in institutions, in literature, creeds and
forms, must fade away; and as it culminates in its meridian splendor,
the nations shall shout the long-expected jubilee, and hail the
universal establishment of the kingdom of truth.  Then shall "the
glory of the Lord be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together."
2. The Gospel is not only "the word of truth," but also "the
gospel of your salvation." The Gospel is as benevolent as it is true.
It comes not only to shed the effulgence of certitude on all those
great subjects which lie at the basis of man's highest interests, but
also to release mankind from the burdens of sin and woe which had
for ages crushed their energies, darkened their hopes, and saddened
offers, as it abnanl  provides, savto to the lost an  hAven! to_  
THE GOSPEL.                          361
through him might be saved." It tells of the Son, that he came to
seek and to save that which was lost; and declares, that "this is a
faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners."  And it tells you, also, of the Holy
Spirit, that he should come into the world, to convince it of sin, of
righteousness, and of a judgment to come; and that it is his special
province to enlighten, regenerate, comfort and sanctify you, that you
may be made "meet for an inheritance among the saints in light."
TIuly then does the Apostle describe the Gospel as "the gospel of
your salvation." It reveals the whole Trinity in unity engaged in
the work of saving you. And, surely, the work which engages the
entire Godhead, Father, Son, and Spirit, must be a work of matchless
grandeur and blessedness. And such undoubtedly is the work which
achieves a sinner's salvation.  What difficulties are surmounted in
this work!  The eternal rectitude of the government of God was
opposed to it.  But this was brought into harmony with it.  The
incarnation of the Son of God, by his life, which was "holy, harmless,
undefiled and separate from sinners," and by his humiliation "unto
death, even the death of the cross," magnified the law, and made it
honorable, and fully satisfied the claims of Divine rectitude and
justice. And in saving the sinner, c" mercy and truth meet together,
righteousness and peace kiss each other." The perverted, blind,
depraved, and hostile nature of man himself is against it. But this
resistance, stubborn and mighty as it is, is met and overcome by those
elements of superior power which are embodied in the Gospel of the
grace of God. Satan, and his manifold agencies, are opposed to it.
But "greater is he that is for us, than all that can be against us."
How do these difficulties and oppositions serve to heighten our
conceptions of the glory of that Gospel, which wields principles and
powers by which they may all be overcome, and God glorified in the
siner's salvation? But look at the salvation itself.  What  does it
do for the sinner? It comes to you beaming with light and robed in
celestial loveliness. It solves all the anxious solicitudes of your
souls, when awakened to a keen perception of the wrongs which you
hav  don  to God.  It cacl you  1guilt   _t padn  you  __in_i___!uiA__ 
362                       THE  GOSPEL.
makes the whole sphere and scope of your being bright and joyous
with the hope of the glory that shall be revealed. Such, and more
than words can express, is the salvation which the Gospel proclaims
as the work that engages the tireless energies of the ever-blessed
Trinity.  Well might the Apostle exult in such a Gospel, saying: " I
am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God
unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also
to the Greek." This Gospel is indeed good news; for wherever
it comes, it is the bearer of the tidings of salvation-the most
truthful and cheering tidings that ever fell on mortal ears. These
are the tidings which hush the wailings of despair;  raise  the
downcast eye of conscious guilt, and send the pulsations of new life
and joy into the crushed and woe-stricken heart of humanity. What
then is our Gospel? Is it a mere system of high doctrines and
mysteries, inviting the investigations of the learned? Is it a mere
repository of dogmas, for the use of creed-mongers; or is it merely
a spacious firmament of brilliant truths, sparkling and beautiful, to
be gazed at with delight and admiration!  No, no, my brethren.
The Gospel is the glorious proclamation from heaven, that sinners
may be saved through the finished work of the Mediator, Christ
Jesus our Lord. This is its grand characteristic. This is its
sublime mission. And in this, it is peerless and alone. Its tones
of mercy and deliverance to man, sound from no other quarter of
the universe. The good news of salvation radiates from no orb of
the sky; it is announced from no region of scientific discovery;
philosophy in all its depths and in all its heights never struck its
key-note; "the depth saith it is not in me; and the sea saith it is
not in me;" but it is voiced out from the Gospel, in tones full and
sweet, like the singing of angels; and free, like the atmosphere that
enwraps the globe. Hear it, ye nations! Hear it, all ye people who
are ready to perish.'"God so loved the world that he gave his
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not
perish, but have everlasting life."
II. The requirements of the Gospel.  " After that ye. heard the
1. Th.ose reuie tha it be ead.  And is no  thi 1' _m_ost 
THE GOSPEL.                          363
sound of the Gospel. Is the utterance of truth on any grave question, involving the property, reputation, liberty and lives of men, or
the stability of nations, worthy of being heard with profound attention? How much more so, " the word of truth." By its announcements, questions infinitely more momentous than ever trembled in
the balance of senatorial debate, or judicial decision, are solved and
determined beyond any further appeal.   Those  great questions
concerning God, the soul, life and death-eternal life and eternal
death-tremble in the balance which is swayed by the oracles of
Gospel truth. What then can so much merit your serious and
attentive hearing? Does the proclamation of health to the sick,
freedom to the captive, joy to the sorrowing, or life to the dead,
receive the tribute of an eager audience, from those subjects of pain
and wretchedness?  Then how should you regard "the Gospel of
your salvation?" You are diseased, it offers you health; you are in
bondage, it offers you liberty; you are the subjects of manifold
sorrows;, which earth cannot cure, it offers you "a balm for every
wound, a cordial for every fear;" you are dead to all the higher
and nobler ends of your being, it offers you life. Surely then if
there is one duty pressing upon you-one privilege which you ought
with eager hand to grasp-it is the duty, the privilege, of hearing
the Gospel. And yet how lamentably true is it, that scarcely any
sound is less heeded than this heavenly proclamation, by the
thoughtless and guilty multitudes, who are hurrying through their
brief and uncertain existence upon earth. Your ears are open to
every passing tale that is told, eager to drink in the news of the
day, whether of personal, social, political, or commercial matters.
Lectures on the fine arts, literature, science, and even on subjects of
ridicule and mirth, are listened to with marked interest and attention,
and made the themes, afterwards, of earnest conversation. What
multitudes, also, lend their ears, night after night, to the feigned
exhibitions of the stage. And yet all these things together, with
any interest you may have in them, are limited by the seen and the
temporal; while some of them are opposed alike to the interests of
the life that now is, and of that which is to come. But where is 
364                       THE GOSPEL.
When the Gospel is preached, purely, simply, God speaks to you
words of truth and grace by which you may be saved. How reasonable, how solemn, how urgent, then, the duty of hearing it! cc "0
earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord." Hear it attentively,
and you will receive instruction in the way of life. Hear it, honestly
desiring to know what is the truth, and it will flash the light of
conviction into your dark understandings and consciences. Hear it
with an humble, reverent prayer, that it may bring to you a message
of mercy, and it will reveal Christ to your inmost soul, as "the way,
the truth, and the life." May you so hear it now! Not long since
two of the mightiest nations on the globe paused, and bent their
ears to catch the first notes of mutual congratulation, as they were
borne on the tongue of lightning, through the waters of the broad
Atlantic. And will you not hush your souls into stillness, bid all
your passions be quiet, while your Almighty Father, King of kings,
and Lord of lords, stoops from the throne of his glory, and in all
the melting majesty of love, proclaims to you "the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation?"  O, who will not say, Be still! let
every earthly sound be hushed: it is my Father's voice! lo! my
elder brother speaks!  "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?"
,Send some message from thy word,
That may peace and joy afford."
2. The second requirement of the Gospel furnishes an answer to
the all-absorbing question, which the right hearing of the truth ever
suggests and awakens.  "Believe  in the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved."  "In whom after that ye believed."  "Faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."   But what is
it to believe? On this subject many words darken counsel. It is
not so much the philosophy of the act, as the act itself, which
concerns you. Yet its philosophy, like all the philosophy of heaven,
is simplicity itself. Do you still ask what it is to believe? We
reply, it is the "flight of a penitent sinner unto the mercy of God in
Christ."  Make an honest effort to perform the act, and the Holy
-the Gspe  rqie.  Yo   hav  "the' _ord of truth," __L_ 1! and you' a*1   
THE  GOSPEL.                         365
you should hail it with joys study it, embrace it, as the only disclosure of God's method of saving sinners.  But if you stop here,
you stop short of salvation. The Gospel receives all its significance
and importance-its very character and substance as a Gospel —from
the person, the work, and the sacrifice of Jesus, to whom it points as
the only ground of a sinner's hope, and the sole object of a sinner's
faith.  He  it is, "whom  God hath set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood, for the remission of sins that are past,
through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his
righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him that
believeth in Jesus." This, then, is the grand requirement of the
Gospel-BELIEVE.   Wonderful word!  What power resides in it,
what a crisis in human existence does it produce; what countless
blessings does it secure!  It fixes the soul on the everlasting love
of God in Christ, as the foundation of its pardon, adoption, and
regeneration. It gives to the soul a living, felt, joyous interest in
the aim and end of the redeeming work of the Son of God, which is
eternal life, derived from God and perfected in him. It is the
fruitful source of a holy and beautiful life, in conformity to the
lovely life of Jesus. Believe in Christ, and you are one with him.
And in this blessed union the whole Godhead smiles on you, and
invests your being and destiny with divine dignity and splendor.
Such being the simplicity, power, and efficacy of faith in Christ,
marvelous indeed is the unbelief of man! I know that the pride of
philosophy, and the pride of self-righteousness, have ever stumbled
at this word-believe. But that pride must bow, or the soul it swells
must die. Reason, philosophy, science, and largest learning, must
bring all their boasted treasures, and lay them at the foot of the
cross, and count them but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus our Lord-that Christ may be won. Morality, with
its noblest traits and most generous deeds, must disrobe itself and
appear in its naked deformity, that it may seek, like Paul, "to be
found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the
law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness
which is of God by faith."  But why do I prolong your attention to
this evangelical word, believe? It is that you may even now realize
its sublime import in your hearts. Come, then, all guilty, polluted,
wretched and undone, as you are, and " Behold the Lamb of (~od
that taketh away the sins of the world." 
366                         THE GOSPEL.
Believe in Him, who died for thee;
And sure as He has died,
Thy debt is paid, thy soul is free,
And thou art justified."
Here you may lay off the sackcloth and ashes, and in a garment pure
and white, standing hard by the cross, with your eye of faith resting
on the slain Lamb of God, tune your harp and sing:
,All praise to the Lamb! accepted I am,
Through faith in the Saviour's adorable name;
In Him I confide, His blood is applied;
For me He hath suffered, for me He bath died.
' Not a doubt doth arise, to darken the skies,
Or hide for a moment, my Lord from mine eyes:
In Him I am blest, I lean on His breast,
And, lo! in His wounds I continue to rest."
III. The blessings of the Gospel.   c After that ye believed, ye
were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of
our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession."
1. The first gospel blessing, as indicated in the text, is that of our
being "sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise."  Here is a blessed
agent, and a blessed  act.  The agent is "the  Holy  Spirit  of
promise." He it is, by whom the work of salvation is wrought in,
and made manifest to the soul. Hence our spiritual renovation is
said to be effected "by the'washing of regeneration anda renewing of
the Holy Ghost." He is the third person of the triune Godhead,
and as such, preceeding from the Father and the Son, it is his high
prerogative, in the economy of our redemption, to re-edify the fallen
temple of the human soul, to re-adorn it with the beauties of holiness,
and to fill it with the Divine presence and glory. He is called the
"Spirit of promise," because he is the prominent subject of many of
the promises announced by the prophets of the old economy. He
was also promised by Christ to his disciples. For before Christ was
glorified the Spirit was to the church a promised gift.  For this
promise the church waited, and with this promised gift the waiting 
THE  GOSPEL.                          367
But what is the act, which is here ascribed to the Holy Spirit,
and which constitutes for the child of God so rich a blessing? It is
the act of sealing them. The use of seals, to which the Apostle
refers, was to impress a mark on an object, so as to designate it as
the property of him whose seal it bore. Thus the Holy Spirit seals
those who have believed, by impressing upon them the image of God,
thereby designating them as the peculiar people and property of God,
enlisting in their behalf the special interest and regards of God.
The Spirit's seal hath on it this motto, "The Lord knoweth them
that are his."
The seal of the Spirit is not only an objective designation, but
also a subjective assurance that we are God's people; the objects of
his peculiar interest and favor. It is a part of the Spirit's work to
make our reconciliation and adoption sure to us. Wherever he
dwells as a sealing Spirit, there he is as the Spirit of adoption, crying
in our hearts, Abba! Father!
What a rich blessing is this-! to be designated, marked, sealed as
the peculiar people and property of God, and to be inwardly assured
that we are his, and are entitled to all the present and prospective
imnmunities of his heavenly household. And all this, not by the
fallible deductions of our own reason; the declarations of an erring
priesthood, nor the appliances of ecclesiastical forms and ceremonies,
but by the infallible Spirit of God himself.  The Holy Spirit first
produces in us the new creation after the image of God, then sheds
a clear, steady light on his own work, by which we are assured that
we are the children of God, and heirs of God, and joint heirs with
his Son Jesus Christ. This is the blessed religious experience which
the Bible inculcates, which true faith realizes, which God acknowledges, before which the clouds of earthly affliction grow bright,
death loses its sting, and the grave its victory. My brethren, this I
call a great, a glorious Gospel blessing.  What think you?  Is it not
so?  I know that you are accustomed to place a very high estimate
on the assured favor of those whom you regard as important to your
temporal well-being. You know if you are in want they will help
you; if you are in danger they will screen you; if you are perplexed
they will guide you. They may be wealthy, strong, and wise; and
you know they love you. What- a cheerful light does the assurance
of their love and favor throw around your earthly life! But what is
the favor of man compared with the favor of God? A thousand
23 
368                        THE GOSPEL.
circumstances may intervene, and cause the aid of those on whom
you rely, to fail you just at the period of your greatest need. But
can God fail? Can circumstances affect him? Is he not "' a friend
that sticketh closer than any brother?" Can his wealth be exhausted,
or his strength be weakened, or his wisdom be nonplused? Then, if
you are sealed as his property, and assured of his proprietorship in
you as one of his peculiar people, you may rejoice and be glad, for
thou hast a friend adequate to every possible emergency. And he
says to thee-" I will never leave thee nor forsake thee;" so that
thou mayest boldlysay, "theLord is my helper."
2. The other great blessing which follows faith in Christ, is the
" earnest of our inheritance."  An earnest is a part of the purchase
money already paid down, to confirm the contract, and as a pledge
that the whole amount shall be forthcoming in due time. This word
the Apostle uses in a figurative sense, to represent the work already
wrought in the heart of the believer, in relation to its future
completion at the revelation of Jesus Christ. The import of this
"earnest" is, that grace is incipient glory, and glory shall complete
what grace has begun. This representation of the work of the
Spirit in the hearts of believers, has a special value, as it serves to
give a kind of definiteness to our ideas of the heavenly inheritance.
Much of the gorgeous picturing of heaven which we sometimes read
and hear, fails in vividness of impression and urgency of motive to
our souls, because it is composed of features and hues to which there
is nothing correspondent in thle present realizations of our experience.
But when we speak of a heaven on whose loveliness you have already
gazed, of whose fruits you have already had a foretaste, and into
whose fellowship you have already entered, then the shadowy gives
place to the real, the indefinite to the distinct, the foreign to the
familiar; then the land that is afar off is brought nigh, and the
visions, the love, the purity, the high services, holy fellowships, and
the sublime enjoyments of heaven, are antedated by the cc earnest of
our inheritance," which is heaven in miniature, and which all who
have believed, and are partakers of the Holy Ghost, possess and 
THE GOSPEL.                          369
glory as by the Spirit of the Lord;" and is not this the beginning
of that perfection which consists in your complete transformation
into the image of God, and which is one of the brightest radiances
of the celestial glory? John tells us of the blessedness that shall
crown us, that " we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He
is."  Have  you not in this, the land of your pilgrimage, some of
those ravishing delights and elevated joys, which are forever in the
presence, and at the right hand of God? "' Whom having not seen
ye love, in whom though now ye see Him not, yet believing ye
rejoice with joy unspeakable and fill of glory."  In these works and
fruits of the Holy Spirit, the Gospel blesses the reliever with an
earnest of his future heaven. These are the grapes of Eschol, which
tell me how goodly a land my Canaan is. These are streaks of
immortality breaking through the intervening veil, and kindling for
me the beginnings of heaven upon earth. And if all this be but an
"earnest," which is, as Chrysostom  explains it, "a  part of the
whole," then what must that" whole" be?  It will be these precious
buds bursting into full blown flowers; these lovely streaks of the
morning dawn melting into the splendor of meridian day. It will
be my present knowledge, freed from its dimsightedness and uncertainty; my present holiness made stainless like the holiness of God;
my present enjoyments expanding into all the perfection of bliss, of
which my glorified nature shall be capable. And all this to be
realized in that " new heaven and new earth," where sin shall never
be, with its defilements and its curse; where there are no seeds of
corruption to work decay, and whose bloom and beauty shall be
immortal in their tints and hues of loveliness and splendor.
And  this earnest is ours "until the redemption of the purchased
possession." By the purchased possession, here, you are not to
understand heaven, or your eternal blessedness, but the collective
people of God, whom he hath purchased by the precious blood of
Jesus as His own peculiar treasure.  And by the redemption of this
purchased possession, is meant the final restoration, when the graves
shall give up their dead, and the whole family of God shall be
presented faultless and complete before  His  throne.   Of  that
glorious period of "the manifestation of the sons of God" Paul
speaks in another place, and says of those who have the fruits of the
Spirit, "even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the
adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." When the trumpet 
370                         THE GOSPEL.
that heralds the second advent of our Lord shall sound its blast
upon the ear of the universe, then shall the slumbering dust of his
saints hear his voice, and come forth, in new and beautiful forms,
fashioned like unto his glorious body, spiritual, incorruptible,
immortal; robed in flashing sunbeams, fit abodes and organs for
" the spirits of just men made perfect."  Then shall be the redemp
tion of the purchased  possession; then shall the "earnest" be
absorbed in the full "inheritance."  Then for  the foretaste, you
shall have the rich and royal banquet. For then, the shout shall be
heard, as the sound of many waters: "Let us be glad, and rejoices
and give glory torim For the marriage of the Lamnb is come, and
his wife hath made herself ready."
Yes, the prize shall soon be given;
We his open face shall see:
Love the earnest of our heaven,
Love our full reward shall be:
~~~-  -Love shall crown Iis
Kings through all eternity."
My brethren and fellow heirs of immortality, what is this Gospel
to you? Has it given truth to your understandings, and salvation
t o    your souls! Have you heard it with due interest, reflection and
prayer? Have you believed in the Christ to whom it points you, as
your only and all-sufficient Saviour? Have you the seal of God
impressed upon your inmost souls? Have you, in the peace, the
purity, and     the gladness of your hearts, the earnest of your future
heaven? Can you answer these questions affirmatively? if so, then
I hail you, ye blessed people of the Lord! Learn to prize this
Gospel more highly every day of your lives. You will never reach
that point of progression in this life, at which you will be beyond
the need of this grand old Gospel. Make it, then, more and more
your Gospel every day of your existence. Study it; pray over it;
adorn it; commend it. Breathe in its atmosphere. Drink of its
living waters. Feast upon its heavenly manna. Thus shall ye grow
up into a moral manhood, like unto Christ your living head. Thus 
THE GOSPEL.                          371
present possession, what shall I say to you? What can I say, that
has not been said a thousand times before? And yet, blessed be
God, I have an abiding faith in the simple, old story of the cross.
" I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God
unto salvation to every one that believeth." And as "c faith comneth
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God," why  may not that
faith so come to you this day t. Think of your sins, how deep their
dye; how ponderous their weight of guilt; how revolting in the sight
of your immaculate God; how deep the damnation they deserve.
Think of the love that bled and died, in the person of the holy and
loving Jesus, that your sins might not cleave as a withering curse
to your souls forever. And can you thus ponder, and not turn and
live t  Behold the cross!  Hear as from the quivering, dying lips
of your crucified Lord and Saviour, these gladly solemn words:
"' Look unto me all ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved." One
look! One glance of the eye of living faith, and thou art justified,
and hast peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. May God
grant you this grace for his name's sake.  AMEN.  
I
I I 
~ ~~~~~~j~~~<~j~~< ~>
wj;A&,cy<74~~& 
THE INTERMEDIATE STATE:
OR, STATE OF THE SOUL BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION.
BY  H. N. M'TYEIRE,  D. D.,
OF THE LOUISIANA CONFERENCE.
And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not
the promise; God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect."-Heb. xi, 39, 40.
No one has yet been saved in heaven: no one sent to hell. These
states and conditions will not be awarded till the judgment  and it
will not take place till the resurrection.
"It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this, the judg
ment."  God has also "appointed a day in the which he will judge
the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained."
4' That man" has described to us the order and awful glory of" that
day." It is future-how far off, we know not. Meantime, death
reigns.   For six thousand years men have been dying.  What of the
souls of the departed? What of all who have died, and who shall
die between this day and the last?
No vain or irreverent curiosity inquires here. A state so near, so
certain, concerns us all.  The soul  would explore before entering
"the land of darkness, as darkness itself."  We look, we cannot help
looking in that direction. That long interval between death and the
judgment, how is it spent, and where?  Reflection upon such themes
sobers and chastens us; brings worldly thoughts to a solemn pause;
lessens the dread of death; introduces us to edifying communion
with the things which are not seen, and kindles gratitude and love
to Him to whom we owe these lively hopes.
This chapter recites the names and deeds of heroes and heroines of 
374                THE INTERMEDIATE STATE.
No salvation is perfected under the Mediatorial dispensation, until
that dispensation is consummated. The Mediator must reign till he
hath put all enemies under his feet by conversion or subjection.
Death, the last enemy, must be destroyed; his bands be broken, his
pains loosed, and every grave opened and emptied.  " Then cometh
the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even
the Father....  Then shall the Son also himself be subs
ject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all
in all."
This Mediatorial sovereignty is distinct from that which he shares,
as the Son, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, in the essential
unity of Godhead. It was delegated for a time and a purpose. All
power was given unto him, in heaven and earth; head over all things
to the church. When he has brought sons and daughters to glory —
saved his church, then, except so far as his reign is with and over
them, his mediatorial sovereignty may end-be merged in the original
and eternal sovereignty which he has as God the Son, with God the
Father and God the Holy Ghost.
Patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs have gone before; we shall
overtake them; others us; and the communion of saints be enjoyed
in being perfected together. There are advantages in an advance
position.  To have "the ends of the world come upon us," is not
without its advantages. Our times are in God's hand; he has distributed and disposed of us well. Let us be thankful for the times
we live in. The redeemed in Jesus Christ are one family. They bear
one family name, and are bound up in one covenant and fate, from
righteous Abel to the last praying, trusting, self-renouncing Christian
who shall die in the Lord.
" One family we dwell in him,
One church above, beneath                Though now divided by the stream,
The narrow stream of death."
Chrysostom has remarked on the text: "Still they had not received it, still they waited for it, even after they had ended their life 
THE INTERMEDIATE STATE.                      375
them; just as a tender father would say to his good sons who had
finished their work,'I will give you to eat when your brother also
comes.' The Lord does no wrong to them, but he does honor to us."
Of the state of the dead during the interval between death, the
dissolution of soul and body, and the resurrection, when soul and
body are re-united forever, the three opinions most seriously entertained, are:
1. An unconscious state. To one dead, time is of no note; nothing to mark it by: no scenes, no moving bodies, no succession of
ideas. The grave is without a dial-plate. Hence, like a dream in
the night, it will seem but a moment between closing the eyes in
death and awaking to judgment.
This cheerless theory involves a subtile distinction between real
and apparent time not to be attributed to the teaching of the Holy
Scriptures.  St. Paul's willingness to be "absent from the body,"
in which he was so useful to the churches and the brethren, was in
view of the happiness-not of vital suspension, but of being" present
with the Lord."  The reverse was, "at home in the body-absent
from the Lord." The Apostle, in his earthly presence, was fully
alive, conscious. Moses and Elias had been sometime dead when
seen and communed with on the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus
encouraging the dying thief-" This day," etc.-meant what he said.
2. Souls go immediately to heaven or hell. This view has many
difficulties.  For the present, hear  Mr. Wesley:*  "'The beggar
died'-here ended poverty and pain-' and was carried by angels'nobler servants than any that attended the rich man-' into Abraham's bosom;' so the Jews commonly termed what our blessed Lord
styles paradise; the place where the wicked cease from troubling,
and where the weary are at rest; the receptacle of holy souls from
death to the resurrection. It is indeed very generally supposed
that the souls of good men, as soon as they are discharged from the
body, go directly to heaven; but this opinion has not the least foundation in the oracles of God.                  Paradise is not heaven.
It is indeed (if we may be allowed the expression) the antechamber
[elsewhere,' porch'] of heaven, where the souls of the righteous re 
376                 THE INTERMEDIATE STATE.
for our bodies, so also there is a receptacle for our souls, during their
separation. This spirit-world receives all who depart; good and bad,
small and great, old and young. The Hebrew original of the Old
Testament calls it sheo1, which the Greek translation of the Septua gint renders  lades.    The Greek original of the New Testament
calls it hades, which the Latin Vulgate renders infernus. The
English translation of the Old Testament and of the New, sometimes
renders it hell, sometimes grave.
Here, in sheol, hades, the souls of all who die are received, without respect to their goodness or badness, their happiness or misery.
It is a temporary abode. But they abide not together. There is a
gulf fixed, a great gulf and impassable, between Dives and Lazarus,
and all who fall respectively into their classes. Here are not only separations, but joys and sorrows; for these affections are not confined to
the body.
With this agree particular words, texts and the tenor of Scripture.
- An eminent biblical critic" observes thatgehenna, a word occurring
just twelve times in the New Testament, means the place of torment
reserved for the punishment of the wicked in a tuture state.  In ten
of these there can be no doubt; in the other two, the expression, if
figurative, is taken from that state of misery which awaits the impenitent, "where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."
Another word, hades, occurs frequently in the Old Testament, and in
eleven places in the New. In the New Testament it is translated
hell, in all places except one, (1 Cor. xv. 55,) where it is translated
grave.  Hides is not only frequently used by the Seventy, but it is
common among classical authors; and in the judgment of the critic
quoted, and others, it ought never in Scripture be rendered hell, at
least in the sense wherein this word is now universally understood
among Christians. In translating the Hebrew word sheol, the Seventy
almost invariably used hades; both meaning the state of the dead in
general-the invisible, the hidden, the veiled land.
Jacob, hearing of the probable and melancholy fate of Joseph —" I
will go down into the grave unto my son mourning." According to
his fears, Joseph was not in a grave, much less the family burialplace, where his own dust would mingle with his beloved son's. He
had despairingly pronounced-" An evil beast hath devoured him;
Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces." Afterwards, his s6ns expos
* George Campbell, (1758,) Dissertations 
THE INTERMEDIATE STATE.                      377
tulating with their father about sending Benjamin into Egypt with
them —" Then shall ye bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to the
grave." In both texts, grave is in the Septuagint hades, in the
Hebrew sheol. Shocking as it might seem, there would have been as
much reason to translate it hell in both, as in Psalm xvi, 10, where
David prophecies of Christ —" Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell;
neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." The
words are the same. (So Isa. v, 14; xiv, 19. Ps. cxxxix, 8.) Besides, continues our critical authority, we have another clear proof
from the New Testament, that hades denotes the intermediate state
of souls between death and the general resurrection. In Revelations
(xx, 14) we read that death and hades-by our translators rendered
hell, as usual-shall, immediately after the general judgment, "be
cast into the lake of fire  this is the second death." In other words,
the death which consists in the separation of soul and body, and the
receptacle of disembodied spirits shall be no more.  Hades shall be
emptied, death abolished. But interpret hades hell in the Christian
acceptation, and you have hell represented as being cast into hell!
An ancient and much used form of the Apostles' creed delivers
that Christ being crucified, was dead, buried and descended into hell.
Not into geheniza, there with the devil and his angels to perfect his
passion or complete his atonement; that was "finished," proclaimed
so, and accepted, when he died on the Cross, commending his sinless
spirit into his Father's hands. But that he, after death, entered into
hades, we may well believe.
Our Lord Jesus was very man-not in appearance only; he lived,
he died; really went through all the phases of our humanity, living,
dying, and post-mortem. He skipped no essential passage of the
nature he had taken on him, not even from the womb. Through
some, he went more rapidly than we  may go.  His soul and body
were parted by death; the body was laid in Joseph's new tomb; the
soul went, as every other departed soul, into hades. It did not
abide there long, but returned and reanimated the body, before in
the course of nature the latter had seen corruption. Peter's sermon 
378                 THE INTERMEDIATE STATE.
first to come out of /Iudes and enter heaven with his glorified body.
As among the living he had manifested his divinity and mission, so
he proclaimed by his presence among ihe millions of faithful spirits,
that the atonement was accomplished, and bore to the happy prisoners
of hope the joyful tidings that the seed of the woman l]ad bruised the
serpent's head.  Faith's expectation had been fulfilled.  The desire
of nations-the object of their prophecies and prayers, of their hopes
and sacrifices, had come. He had found a ransom; nothing had
failed.
In view of this Lamb of God, the Church in all previous dispensations had been accepted. His prospective atonement was their hope.
Could they have witnessed the temptation in the wilderness, when
Satan thrust sorely at the second Adam, that he might fall and redemption fail in him; could they have  known of his agony in the
garden, when, at the approach of the awful hour for which he came
into the world, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were pos'sible, it might pass from him, and the shrinking flesh for a momentonly a moment-seemed to put away the cup of expiation for the sins
of men-then they might have feared. But he has appeared and put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself. He has cancelled the debt.
Paradise, with all its joys, must have known a higher joy then. And
his departure thence was the announcement that he had the keys of
hades and death.
The thief on the Cross was promised-" This day thou shalt be
with me in paradise." Jesus kept the appointment. That very day,
doubtless-and it was far spent when the word was spoken-the soul
of the penitent sinner was with him in paradise, a trophy of redemption. Three days after this promise, Mary is at the Lord's sepulchre
weeping.  He has risen.   ie speaks.  She recognizes and would worship him. Jesus saith unto her, " Touch me not, for I am not yet
ascended to mray Father; but go to my brethren and say unto them, I
ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God  and your
God." After that, and in their sight, he was carried up "into
heaven:" ascended, and sat down on the right hand of God, from
whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. If Jesus
making his word good, was with the soul of the thief in paradise on
the day of the crucifixion, and three days after it had not ascended
into heaven, paradise and heaven are not the same place In
paradise the soul of the; penitent sinner was left; his body has seen 
TilE  INTERMEDIATE STATE.                    379
corruption When the trumpet sounds, and death and hades deliver
up those in them, he shall come forth with others.
So much for the literal meaning of hades, which, as has been shown,
implies properly neither hell nor the grave, but the place or state of
departed souls. Created spirits are not omnipresent, but bounded
by space, and may even take form-perhaps human, or fairer than
human-though invisible to mortal eyes.  Place, habitation, may
therefore be assigned them.
Consistently, Samuel, in his apparition to wicked and God-forsaken
Saul, speaks on this wise: "To-morrow thou  and thy sons shall be
with me." Not that Samuel the prophet, and Saul the apostate, were
congenial characters, and had the same portion after death, yet both
on the morrow, were in the spirit-world, as they both had been in this
world. Of the wicked kings and of the pious kings of Israel, it is
alike written, that, after their decease, they were gathered unto and
slept with their fathers.
Otherwise, a consequence cannot be escaped that makes the
Judgment Day too empty to be solemn or too uncertain to be just.
All Scripture attests but one Judgment.  The time is set-" a day,"
" that day," "the day of Jesus Christ," "the day of Judgment,"
"the day of God."  The most frequent and eminent and emphatic
designation is "that day;" as of a day whose import and certainty
were well understood. It is the last day, and the judgment will be
universal.  Then every one receives a final and everlasting destiny.
But if as fast as men die they are sent to heaven or hell, that day is
only for the very small portion of the human race alive at its coming.
Or will those sentenced to hell, gehenna, for thousands of years, and
who have been suffering its torments, be brought to a second trial?
Is there probability or possibility of reversal of the first sentence?
must be, if the form is serious.   If reversal follow upon their second
judgment, they were unjustly dealt by in the first. Or are they
only brought out to be remanded again? No adequate purpose is
served   We read of a "second death," never of a second judgment.
And the ri;ghteous, must they leave their heaven-for what? To be 
380                   THE INTERMIEDIATE STATE.
Whither he has gone we know, and the way we know. The heaven
must receive him until the restitution of all things. But we look
for him.   "And as it is appointed unto men once  to die, but after
this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of
many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second
time unto salvation." Without any signs of sin-offering or humiliation he will come-come in glory: his second coming and the general judgment contemporaneous. May we have boldness in that
day!
Jesus has not made known the time, but he has the order of the
judgment of the last great day:
" When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels
with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. And before him
shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another,
as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep
on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto
-them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered,
and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger,
and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited
me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer
him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty,
and gave thee drink?  When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came
unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto
you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren,
ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand,
Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and
his angels. For I was an hungered, and ye gave no meat; I was thirsty, and
ye gave me no drink; 1 was a stranger, and ye tookl me not in; naked, and
ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall
they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or
athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And
these shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life
eternal.'
The righteous and the wicked hear their sentence togetler; hear
it fo  the fis,t.im.e...igl  or cletel, the "besed   of th.. 
THE INTERMEDIATE STATE.                      381
When Jesus exhorted his followers to charity, he added, "Thou
shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just."  Again, " At
the end of the world"-not before-" shall the righteous shine as the
sun, in the kingdom of their Father."  St. John declares, "When he
doth appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."
Till then, it is enough to be assured that we are the sons of God.
St. Paul encouraging persecuted Christians  " And to you who are troubled, [God will recompense] rest with us, when
the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels:
In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey
not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction fromn the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his
power: When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired
in all of them that believe in that day."
Christ was our pattern-the first fruits of them that slept.  The
foremost and preeminent position belongs to him, by necessity and by
nature, and is carefully guarded in the Scriptures.   Others were
raised from the dead before him, but to a mortal  life, not to die
no more.   Death claimed  them  afterwards,  and they died  like
other men. They had only a respite from the grave. Corruption
did not put on incorruption, this mortal immortality, in their cases.
But the resurrection of Jesus was real, and the first of human nature. He did not enter heaven without a glorified body. We cannot.
Enoch may have been translated in the patriarchal, and Elias in the
prophetic dispensation, for a purpose. Saved from seeing death, as
others see it and undergo it, their bodies may have been buried by
God, as he buried Moses' body, no man knoweth where or how.
But the body of each is a seed sown somewhere, that has not yet
been raised "in glory" and "in power."  Without spiritual, glorified
bodies, none shall enter heaven; and even with such bodies, they
could not have entered, for that would have inverted the order:  the
Head before the members.  "But every man  in his own order.
Christ the first fruits; afterwards they that are Christ's, at his coming."  The sheaf of "the first fruits," severed  fromn the ripening
crop, was the pledge and earnest of the coming harvest, and consecrated it, apart, in advance: this is the rank and order of Jesus.
We shall rise because he did-rise like him-rise after him.   The
order is a material part of the fact.
Of the two cases which seem, at first, to stand in the way, well has 
3-82           TITtE INTE,RMEDIATE STATE.
it been observed, that " it is most probable that Moses was with Elias
as well before as upon the mount; nor is there any reason to conceive that Abraham should be in any worse place or condition than
Enoch was, having as great a'testimony that he pleased God' as
Enoch had."
No change of character in this disembodied state, in this spiritland. In hades is no dispensation for making men better who were bad
here.  "We  must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ,
that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to
that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." The things done in
the body are to form the basis of judgment. This life is given unto
men to work out their salvation with fear and trembling.  This is
the day of salvation; secure it now or never. After death, judgment, and judgment proceeds upon and reflects on the life that went
before death-that only. No amendment, no conversion is provided
for between death and the judgment. Character is fixed then, though
destiny be not pronounced Hence, correctly it may be said of one
dying in his sins-he has gone:  to hell.  Gone, beyond grace and
effectual prayer. Gone, beyond remedy. He which is filthy must
be filthy still.  Gone, gone to hell.  Work while it is day; the night
cometh.  Do this work of salvation now, and with thy might, "for
there is- no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave
whither thou goest."  Ye unholy who enter there, leave hope behind.
Likewise, when the righteous die, we may safely say, not only that
they rest from their labors, but by anticipation that they have gone
to heaven.  "The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart;
and merciful man are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come; he shall enter into peace."
No temptations, no lapses beyond the grave; he that endures till
then, endures to the end of probation, and a crown is his.  Hle that
liveth and believeth in Christ shall never die; he that believeth,
though he die, yet he shall live; but he that dieth in unbelief shall
neither believe nor live.
Happiness and woe in this middle state. It is a low and unworthy 
TtE INTERMEDIATE STATE.                      383
their victim sharpened and unrestrained.. Tribulation and anguish
are there, foretastes of judgment.
"Tortured with keen despair, they cry
Yet wait for fiercer pains."
These torments have one mitigation-they are not hell, gehenna,
with the devil and his angels; that is to come. The malefactor, condemned in his own heart and imprisoned, awaits the day of doom.
,Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace
And rest can never dwell; hope never comes
That comes to all."
If final sentence were immediately meted out, men would not be
prepared, unless God gave an insight into the future, to estimate the
evil done, and to acquiesce. Let their works follow after and results
work out; let the slow unfolding seeds of evil produce their harvest.
While the day of wrath approaches they are tormented with the accumulating consequences of their wickedness. It is a growing account, after death, treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath and
revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Dives not only laments, but prays.  He prays for others.  Hear the requests of a lost
soul: Failing of any, the least succor for himself, and assured that
it was hopelessly impossible
" Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him
to my father's house: For I have five brethren: that he may testify unto
them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto
him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said,
N ay, father Abraham; but if one went unto them from the dead, they will
repent."
It is counted a sign of grace to be interested for the salvation of
others.  Whence this solicitude.  Not gracious, but selfish-purely
selfish.  As his life had been wasted in social pleasures, he remembered his influence upon those brethren, in setting them in the ways of
hell. He dreads to meet them at their coming, as heaping up more
wrath, and sinking deeper one already lost.
Let the impenitent know that their repentance is a matter of soli 
384                 THE INTERMEDIATE STATE.
unless you cease from the sins you learned of them-but you go unwelcome.  They would turn you back after whom you press on with
a heavy and reluctant damnation.
"Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord."  They enter at
once into peace, if not into glory. Devils tempt no more, the wicked
trouble no more:
"Flesh and sin no more control
The sacred pleasures of the soul."
The days of suffering and sorrow are ended. The body rests in hope,
while the soul is happy-happy as the disembodied spirit can be.
But complete perfection includes the body. The soul must ever tend
to and affect its body. Bliss cannot be, in the full sense, consummated until its restoration, all fit and suitable for an endless union.
Htence Job, referring not to death, but to the resurrection, as the
context shows, "All the days of my appointed time will I wait,
till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee; thou
wilt have a desire to the work of thy hands." He argues that if a
man die he shall live again-not as a separate spirit, but in his entirety.  The "I" that waits in hope of the resurrection is the part
of man alive after dissolution-the soul longing for the satisfaction
to be enjoyed in reunion with the body. A spirit that never had a
body, and not constituted for one, may be fully satisfied without; but
if framed for and associated in experience with a body, it cannot be
complete without one. It is pleased to have its vitality diffused
through what more remotely belongs to it and is dear to it. And it
is, in a sense, straitened till this be accomplished.  "I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness." Then, and not before, there
will be nothing left to be desired.
No wonder the soul thinks on its lowly companion, well pleased
that it rests in hope, and that God, who so curiously formed and
adapted it, will have "a desire to the work of his hands."
"God, my Redeemer, lives,
And ever, from the skies,
Looks down and watches all my dust 
THE INTERMEDIA&T  STAT.                      385
Goodly company! Angels, as spirits also, are congenial for intercourse. And it is not likely that they which see God's face would be
sent down from heaven to convey the souls of the just into that
place where are no unveilings of that face. Even in this world, God's
grace can be so poured into earthen vessels, his love and mercy so
sweetly manifested, as to make the willing sufferer abide in patience
for his release. What raptures must there be where the saints of all
ages in harmony meet, and they who have loved meet again-detained, if detention it can be called, only in due time to be made
happier.   Contentment were easy in paradise.  Like enough, Peter
has long ago said, " It is good to be here; let us make tabernacles."
Children of God, it is within a day's journey. Your faithful friends
are not lost, but gone before. Should it please God to dismiss us,
" this day "- we should be with them, in paradise. There is comfort
in the thought of death-light in that valley-sweet hope for our
dead, and for ourselves dying. Jesus has gone before. Grace and
hope span the tomb.  If there is much to stay for, there is more to
go to. And the Christian is in a strait betwixt the two. Of those
departed, survivors may use touchingly true and solemn words, in the
office for the burial of the dead: "Almighty God, with whom do live
the spirits of them that depart hence in the Lord, and with whom the
souls of the faithful, after they are delivered from the burden of the
flesh, are in joy and felicity, we give thee hearty thanks, for that it
hath pleased thee to deliver this, our brother, out of the miseries of
this sinful world; beseeching thee that it may please thee, of thy
gracious goodness, shortly to accomplish the number of thine elect,
and to hasten thy kingdom; that we, with all those that are departed in the true faith of thy holy name, may have our perfect consummation and bliss, both in body and soul, in thy eternal and everlasting glory."  And  those who  welcomtne each new comer "into
peace" on the other shore, and wait till all are come, for their own
perfection, might well say,  imen.  There is a communion of saints.
St. Paul exults in view of martyrdom;   "For I am now ready to
be offered up, and the time of my departure is at hand.   I have 
386                 THE INTERMEDIATE STATE.
now?  Crowned immediately?-  He  says not so, but continues
"Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which
the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day." The so cial principle in religion heightens its individual joys  "And not to
me only, but to all that love his appearing." Proclaimed victor, but
not crowned. It is certain, however, that he is to have a crown. It
is cast, gemmed, and "laid up" for Paul.  No man can take that
crown.  Solomon garnished the " house of the forest of Lebanon"
with two hundred targets of beaten gold, and three hundred shields.
They were hung about its walls-a magnificent display!  What  are
these, in all their glory, to that array of crowns "laid up" for the
people of Goal, who have fought a good fight, finished their course,
and kept the faith!
"Love his appearing." If, when he appears, we shall be like him
-if the perfection of soul and body in the resurrection depends on
his appearing-then it is natural Paul, and all in his condition, though
infi paradise, should "love his appearing." When in the body, he
saw something' far better;" and now, in the spirit, still a "far better" is the object of his hope-even the reunion of that soul and
body in the glorious likeness of his Lord.  "Things present and
things to come" are ours, even in paradise. No restless anxiety, no
impatience; but an affectionate longing for the consummation, a
felicitous expectation-" looking for and hasting the coming of the
day of God."
What a contrast!  The wicked dread his appearing, and tremble
at every sign that betokens "the great and dreadful day of the
Lord." On their part, " a fearful looking for of judgment and fiery
indignation:" while those who "are kept by  the  power of God,
through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time,'
would rather cry, "How  long?" "Come, Lord Jesus, and come
quickly." In that day, when the frame of nature falls, and all faces
gather blackness, h  that believeth shall not make haste.  Though
the sun become as sack-cloth, and the moon as blood, the stars fall,
as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs when shaken by a mighty wind,
and the heavens depart, as a scroll when it is rolled together, and 
THE INTERMEDIATE STATE.                     387
taken by the saint of this day, and both enter heaven at even step.
There is an inheritance not yet possessed: a virgin soil, and our feet
shall brush off its dew with the foremost. By the side of those heroes of faith who "obtained a good report," and whose conduct you
have admired and emulated, you may stand, and with them receive
the promise. Peradventure you think of other names less renowned,
but dearer to you-old companions of earth, who have labored and
prayed and sympathized with you. Friends and families in groups,
pastors and congregations, may stand and be perfected together.
A church-a family-God's people are also a militant host:
" One army of the living God,
At his command they bow
Part of his host have crossed the flood,
And part are crossing now."
They will not straggle into heaven, like the fragments of a broken
and defeated army. Passing over, they halt on the other shore.
There the land is bright and fields are sunny, and they wait for us.
They pitch their tents on celestial plains. For each arrival there is
a welcome and a greeting. And when the last has passed over, and
the redeemed host has been gathered. in number numberless,
"They shout to see their Captain's sign,
And hear his trumpet sound."
Christ, their life, appears, and they also appear with him, in glory:
"Now shall their sacred, sleeping dust
Leap into life; for Jesus comes."
Now is the consummation of bliss. Now they are made perfect.
Death is swallowed up in victory.
Together they will march to the holy hill, and have a triumphant
entry, after the manner of the King of glory, "the Lord mighty in
battle," who obtained it for them.
Lo, a great multitude, which no man can number, of all nations
and kindreds and people and tongues, before the throne, and before
the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands, and 
THE INTERMEDIATE STATE.
What are these which are arrayed in white robes, and whence
come they 
These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have
washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and
night in his temple; and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell
among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more;
neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb
which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead
them unto living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all
tears from their eyes.
0 thou Saviour of sinners, surely in that day thou shalt see of the
travail of thy soul, and be satisfied.
Now unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his
own blood, and bath made us kings and priests unto God and his
Father-to Him be glory and dominion, forever and ever.  AXMN  
~~/  )   t~  I,  ~!      A L  ~7~ 7
/)/"~~~~~ ~~~'<'~7X,  ~l4//j7' "ii- ~/5X....... 7 gg7!z 7?;!' 
GLORYING IN THE CROSS.
BY REV. N. FP. REID, A. M.,
OF THE NORTH CAROLINA CONFERENCE.
But God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ."-Gal. vi, 14.
There is an expression similar to this in the Epistle to the Phillippians. The Apostle, writing to them on the same subject, closes one
of his arguments with the declaration, "Yea, doubtless, and I count
all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ
Jesus, my Lord." We are liable to mistake the sense of the Apostle
in the use of these strong expressions, unless we use some care to
ascertain his true meaning. We are not to understand him that, abstractly considered, he regarded everything as worthless; by no
means. His history and writings show that he placed a proper estimate upon the necessaries and conveniences of life; that he valued
highly his friendships; that he prized learning and everything calculated to enhance our happiness here; but when any or all of these
were compared with the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, or
contrasted with the benefits of the Cross of the Redeemer, they
dwindled into insignificance.
In meeting the obligations of this hour, we propose taking up the
theme of the Apostle, and shall undertake to present the Cross of
Christ, in its power and attractiveness and blessing, as the object
above all others which demands the highest place in the affections of
every man. In doing so we shall also endeavor to follow the spirit of
the text, by contrasting the Cross with the objects connected with and
limited to this life, which constitute the chief glory of a large majority 
390                  GLORYING IN THE CROSS.
ing the dictates of their carnal appetites, and as they are cursed and
thrown into confusion, it is easy to see that they are unsafe guides,
and in the end will prove ruinous to their hopes, for under their influence they form attachments to things which soon perish and pass
away. Thus the million bow at the shrine of wealth, glory in gain,
thinking it will confer happiness. Money is the great Diana now.
Money is the watch-word by which the sentinels are passed to posi tions of honor, trust, and emolument. If there is ever a time when
Mammon holds more undisputed sway than at another, that time is
the present. Individuals of every class and grade and profession
and sex, almost, are brought under its influence, so as to be swayed
by it to a greater or less extent. The ruling sentiment of the age
seems to be that money-getting should constitute the chief concern of
life. What a strange infatuation! An individual may bend all his
energies in the pursuit of wealth, and at last become disappointed in
its acquisition. How blank and terribly embarrassing must his condition be, who, after consecrating his time and talent and physical
energies at the shrine of Mammon, is despised and rejected by his
God!  But allow that he is successful, how easily do riches "make
themselves wings" and fly away!  Grant even that he is not only
successful, but retains his wealth, how poor, how wretchedly destitute!
aye, we would repeat, if thereby we can make it more emphatic, how
wretchedly destitute is he who comes down to the grave, at the close
of his earthly career, possessed with no other treasure than his world's
goods! Out of all his vast possessions he can use only enough to
buy a wooden box or metallic case; then, dressed in his best suit of
clothes, he is wrapped in a linen sheet and hid from the gaze of his
fellows. This little even he cannot carry with him through the grave,
for mingling with his dust, when his body is called away by the trump
of God, it stays behind as fiel in the general conflagration of all
things. Wealth is proper enough, sought and obtained and used
properly, but should not hold the highest place in the affections of
any.
Under the influence of the same appetites, another class glories in
fae   Cachn  up th rol, and runnvrtenmsofrnwe 
GLORYING IN THE CROSS.                     391
some of this class, who did not enjoy more than a neighborhood notoriety, as devout worshippers at its shrine as was ever Wellington or
Napoleon.  What iY fame?  A bubble that glitters awhile in the sunlight, then bursts and is gone forever!  It dies away like the" voices
of morning bells on the air." If we would know its worth, let us
turn the pages of the past.  We read of one Ammon's son, who came
forth in the majesty of his strength; the smoke and dust roll into the
heavens from the wheels of his triumphal car, as he sweeps the plains
of Tyre and Gaza, Phoenicia and Egypt. We are awe-struck and
amazed as we see hiinm stopping at the temple of Jupiter Ammon, and,
by a mysterious rite of his own invention, lay aside his humanity and
assume divinity. On he shoots, like a thunderbolt, through Persia
and India, successive victories marking his bloody way, until he stands
upon the sea-shore, weeping for more worlds to conquer.
.nd after all, the j'retended god died drunk in Babylon!
We read also of the Carthagenian general, and Roman usurper;
the one, after a splendid career, perishing by his own hand; the other,
in the act of consummating his highest hope,falling by the hand of
the assassin.
Coming on down to later times, the ear is saluted with" Vive l'
Empereur!" Not a breath stirs but is loaded with praise to the Corsican lieutenant. His sun scarcely clears the horizon ere it is blazing
in its meridian; all Europe is lighted up by the splendor of his genius,
and the Anglo-Saxon hold- his breath in terror as he sees the thrones
of his neighbors, hallowed by the sacred memories of ages, crumbling
to dust beneath the giant tread of the man of destiny. Yet, his sun
went down as suddenly in cloud and darkness, as it had arisen in
brilliancy and hope.  He died in banishmert and bonds, an outcast.
In these examples is seen the worth of fame, when enjoyed in its
greatest measure. They have a name renowned, but it is cursed by
humanity.  They are remembered, and are immortal; so is the plague.
Could we call their ghosts from the spirit-land, and take their testimony as to the value of fame, as they should stand before us wrapped
in the vestments of the dark world they inhabit, with souls well
an epeea  flwe Is woll  pleasure_.  Trl  it i  __1           _s _"__u1t fo a   sea-1 
392                  GLORYING IN THE CROSS.
often, even in its enjoyment, the cup of bliss is broken upon our lips,
and by a single thought our pleasures die.
These three-wealth, fame, pleasure-constitute, as some one has
said, the world's trinity. These are the objects in which worldlyminded men glory.  Your observation and experience will witness
whether we have correctly represented them; if so, we would have
you carry the estimation in which they are now held with you, whilst
we hold up the Cross of Christ, and invite you to look upon it; and
we trust that when our reflections are ended, we shall all be prepared
to join the Apostle in the prayer of the text.
The first feature in the Cross-of course the doctrines of the
Cross are meant; the merit of the victim, and not the instrument
itself-which we present, is its elevating influence upon individuals
and nations.
Man, since the fall, has had a downward tendency.  The promptings of his fallen nature, as already intimated, lead him into inconceivable difficulty and trouble. Every step he takes increases the
distance between himself and his God, and tends to consummate his
humiliation and abasement.  The  Cross counteracts this influence.
It calls to him; tells him of his noble birth; points him to his high
destiny; exhorts him to retrace his steps.  In a word, it elevates him
morally, mentally, socially, and exalts him to a high and holy communion with his God. Turn to a page in your observation, and you
see this truth illustrated   Do you not remember to have seen a wayward son leaving his father's house, or the bosom of his own family;
frequenting the haunts of vice and dissipation; descending step by
step until he reached the lowest depths of poverty, shame and disgrace?  Just as, in his abandonment and wretchedness, he was
chasing from his heart the last lingering symptom of good feelingcursing away the influence of a pious mother's prayers, which tarried
with him when all things else had well nigh departed-you saw some
messenger of the Cross take him gently by the arm and whisper in
his ear a word of hope and recovery. He told him there was yet a
chnce for him; bade him rise, in the name of Jesus, and be a man.
he reace  fot  hs had  trmln  fro  deac, an  grspe  it,___ 
GLORYING IN THE CROSS.                      393
decent clothes were substituted for his tattered garments, and, a devout worshipper, he came to occupy a place in the sanctuary of God,
and was introduced again into society, a worthy, respectable citizen.
Though all this occurred years ago, yet, as you visit him in his comfortable, happy home, kneel with him at the sacramental table, and
lift your voice with his in the song of praise, you now, more confidently than then, expect to meet him in Heaven.  This is but one
instance of the thousands that are occurring all over Christendom, in
which the power of the Cross transforms cruel tyrants into affectionate husbands, rebellious children into obedient sons, drunken sots into
intelligent citizens, and fiends almost into pious saints.
The elevating influence which the Cross exerts upon individuals, it
also exerts upon communities and nations. When the love of Christ
constraineth not a people, corrupt passion becomes their guide in all
things. Thus they become involved in the same evil consequences,
find the same degradation to which the individual is reduced. The
Gospel, from its peculiar self-perpetuating principle, prompts its votaries to undertake in their behalf. Soon we see the missionary
tearing himself-for he loves as we do-from the embrace of home
and country, embarking upon the "dark blue sea," and under the
protection of that God who put it into his heart to go, he sets his
foot in safety upon heathen soil. He erects the Cross, flings to the
breeze his banner, stained all over with precious blood, then kindly
approaches the deluded worshipper, as he is bowed before his dumb
idol, tells him of the one true and living God, whom alone he is to
worship; tells him that all his fellows are his brethren, descended
from the same stock, subject to the same ills and sorrows, and heirs
of the same promises and hopes; tells him of man's fallen state,
assures him of the remedy; bids him look upon the Cross and rise to
a higher life. The idolator's heart, touched by the holy spirit that
"lighteth every man that cometh into the world," turns to that Cross
as the needle to the pole, and quitting his senseless worship, he consecrates himself to the service of the most high God.   One after
another follows his example. A new and glorious era begins to dawn 
394                  GLORYING IN THE CROSS,
in commerce, in science, in laws, the new-born nation takes her position side by side with the enlightened nations of the earth.
One ray, emanating from the Cross, has kissed the black, hideous
cheek of Africa, and has thrown a smile over the face of that dark
benighted land.  The little republic sitting upon the sea-shore, reflecting its borrowed light, heightens the hope inspired by the Prophet,
that "Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God," and that
the songs of Zion, with their accompaniments, the ploughman's merry
laugh, and the rattle of the steam car, shall resound in the jungle,
where now is only heard the yell of the savage, the hiss of the serpent,
and the roar of the lion.
If we would witness the most wonderful display of the elevating influence of the Cross, nationally, we have only to turn to our own. RIepublie. What has given us the proud and enviable elevation as a nation
which we enjoy? What constitutes us the free and happy people we
are? The response comes from millions of happy lips, that it is the
inculcation and practice of the great doctrines of Christianity-justice, equality, and fraternity. The late distinguished Calhoun, in his
"Disquisition on Government,"  teaches that men are influenced
by only two principles in their actions-selfishness and benevolenee,
or self-interest and the interest they feel in others. That selfishness
being much stronger than benevolence, the end of all proper legislation is to check the former and promote the latter. If benevolence
was the stronger principle, then it would be necessary to reverse legislation, so as to promote selfishness and check benevolence.  That
government, therefore, he alleges, which produces by its legislative
enactments an equilibrium between these two principles, compelling
each of its subjects to act with as much regard for the interests of
others as his own, is a perfect government. Now, in following the
great statesman to his conclusion, and endeavoring as a nation to
carry out the doctrine taught in all our legislation, where do we find
ourelves standing? Upon the second great commandment of Christ,
{' Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." This is the secret of our
success in all our struggles to be free, and to rise to a commanding
position as a people. This is the sap to the tree of liberty, which
causes it to strike its roots deep into the soil, and throw out its great
arms, covered with evidences of health and substantial growth   The
doctrines of the Gospel have not only elevated us, but they preserve
us in our elevation and progress. The corner-stone of our Republic 
GLORYING IN THE CROSS.                      395
rests securely beneath the rage of party strifes and fanaticism, not
because it was laid with pomp, or is guarded with bristling bayonets, but because it was laid with prayers and tears upon the Cross
of Christ. But recently we have had an exemplification of our true
preservative principle. When, a few years ago, that dark cloud
gathered in our political atmosphere, flinging its black shadows over
the whole land, threatening in its fury, if ungirted, to tear in shreds
our flag, and rend in fragments our glorious Union, what was it but
the honesty, the Christian integrity of the masses, the-pure Gospel
temper and spirit of the convocations of the people, North and South,
that sounded the knell to demagogues and fanatics? Remove from
our Bation the influence of the Cross, and there are now exciting
causes abroad that would make our rivers run red with blood, and
bleach our plains with the bones of our bravest and best citizens.
The truth of the position we have assumed is more strikingly manifest by contrasting our condition with that of unfortunate, downtrodden France. God has blessed France with the elements of a great
nation-she has the physical element; she has the intellectual element; she has bravery and courage enough for anything; but she
lacks the religious element; she is cursed with infidelity; and on this
account her masses are ignorant and enslaved; and as a general thing
she has to keep them abroad, murdering her neighbors, to prevent
them from butchering each other at home. Let a pure Christianity
be given to the French, and they would soon break their chains and
put themselves upon the platform upon which we now stand. We
should glory therefore in the Cross on account of its elevating
influence.
Again: we should glory in the Cross, because it is the manifestation of a peculia(r exercise of power by God in meeting the wants of
our spiritual nature.'The apostle calls the crucifixion of Christ a the
power of God." It has been truly said          "'Twas great to speak the world from nought,
'Twas greater to redeem." 
396                  GLORYING IN THE  CROSS.
the trength of his voice.  " He spake and it was done, he commanded
and it stood fast." When man even stood before him, fashioned from
the clay, he simply breathed upon him, and he began to live; but
when by his disobedience he sunk down into spiritual death, God could
not, without an infraction of his justice, breathe him again to life.
Though God could ding from his fingers a blazing sun, and send him
shining and sparkling on his path; though he could by the strength
of his voice crown the sky with shining worlds, and by a wave of his
hand pencil their orbits through space; yet it was not enough that
he sit upon his throne and point out the way of redemption. If there
was a way, it was necessary that God himself come down and press
the path with his own feet. This he did. Christ said, when upon
earth, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father."  Coming thus
in person, when' he had thoroughly explained, taught, and enforced
his doctrines, he submitted to be lifted upon the cross. Then it was
that he brought into exercise his omnipotence, in bearing "our sins
in his own body on the tree."  When he cried, "My God! my God!
why hast thou forsaken me?" such was the effort put forth by him,
that the influence of the act was felt co-extensive with his very existence. God was touched, and through every avenue and vein and fibre
of the universe, the power of the influence of this act went thrilling
along; for wherever God was, there the sensation was felt.  No wonder the earth reeled and rocked and trembled, and the rocks were
split; no wonder the graves heaved forth their dead; no wonder the
sun covered his face in darkness. Here we witness an act performed
by God which rises in grandeur and sublimity above all the displays
of his power. There seems to be a significance in the very outstretching of his hands; with one he holds up the principles of his government —-lifts them high above the touch of violence or injury; with
the other, though pierced and bleeding it is, he grasps the millions of
the human race, and, holding them upon his throbbing heart, cries,
"Father, forgive!"  And as the blood trickles down  his side, we
behold the sublimest of all spectacles-" Mercy and truth are met
together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other." Ever
Thr  was at  1, th_e sam  _time  L  a_pwe  exrtd, th  efecs ofhic 
GLORYING IN THE  CROSS.                      397
ously imparting virtue to all the altars of sacrifice which had been
fired in hope of "the promise," and also sending itself forward to
the latest period; thus stretching itself across the generations of man,
from the eternity of the past to the eternity of the future. The apostle calls it "The power of God unto salvation."  It is in our atmosphere, it is in our sanctuaries, it is in our closets, it is in our "mouth
and heart," and, upon confession of the crucified Saviour, it is developed upon us by the Holy Ghost, in raising our dead souls from the
death of sin to a life of "righteousness, peace, and joy."
Finally, we should glory in the Cross, because it is our only hope
in the hour of death. Disguise it as we may, there is a mysterious
influence, beyond the power of our resistance, bearing us rapidly to
another state of being.  Our life is but "a vapor that appeareth for
a little time, and then vanisheth away." Our fathers, where are
they? They have fallen asleep upon our bosoms, and we have taken
them in the arms of affection, and laid them down in their beds of
dust. Soon our children will perform the same kind office for us.
"Like leaves on trees the race of man is found,
Now green in youth, now withering on the ground;
Another race the following spring supplies,
They fall successive, and successive rise:
So generations in their course decay;
So flourish these, when those are passed away."
When the time of our change shall come, then the Cross is our
only hope; for when the shadows rising from the grave are dimming
our sight; when the silver cord is being loosed; when the turbid
waters are rolling at our feet,-then it breaks
" The shock blind nature cannot shun,
And lands thought smoothly on the farther shore."
In that hour, the light of the. Cross falling into the tomb, scatters
its darkness and opens to the spiritual eye the path of triumph, trod
by the rising Saviour; and clinging to his cross, and listening to his
encouraging voice, we feel that we have reached the perfection of
th stig. grve whr  ithvitr.  Wha  a grn.hngis 
398                  GLORYING IN THE CROSS.
sicken, rather than soothe; when the heart fails to propel the lifecurrent, and is becoming still and cold,-what a grand thing it is,
that we can cast ourselves upon a great beating heart, whose mighty
pulsations, in flowing out to the farthest limits of the universe, sending life and sustaining power to all things, just at that moment throb
through our souls, thaw away the death-chill, and warm us into
eternal life!
God grant that we may all be prepared, now and ever, to join the
apostle in the sentiment of the text  and may the time speedily come
on, when every human lip, from a -thorough conviction of its worth
and excellence, shall repeat, "God forbid that I should glory, save
in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ!"  
., ~i
~~~~~~X- -z -2 -,
(~x2~f'' idC0       -?m~.,;X7   
MINISTERIAL SOLICITUD)E.
BY REV. E. M. MARVIN,
OF THE ST. LOUIS CONFERENCE.
" Therefore, said I, Look away from me: I will weep bitterly; labor not
to comfort me, because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people:  For
it is a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord
God of hosts in the valley of vision, breaking down the walls, and of crying
to the mountains."-Isaiah xxii, 4, 5.
The denunciatory prophecies of Isaiah, and some of the minor
prophets, are denominated " burdens "-a most expressive title.
The curse-of God is heavy-it is intolerable.
Isaiah, commissioned by God himself, stood upon the heights of
Judea, and hurled thunderbolts here and there against the most
powerful and prosperous nations in existence. Babylon, Moab, Ed
om, and other nations and cities, were the objects of malediction.
The prophet seemed an angel of destruction, as the lightning leaped
out of his terrible words, eager for its guilty prey.  He stood, the
agent and embodiment of vengeance, with features unrelaxed, as he
saw emnpires overthrown by the headlong violence of the wrath which
his lips pronounced. Scene after scene of national crime and its
sanguinary denouement passes before his vision, and finds expression
from his tongue.  But'ie weeps not, shudders not-he simply sees
and denounces. The man is lost in the prophet.
At last a burden comes that wakes the man. The tension, even of
prophetic strength, is insufficient to support the enormous load, and
it lies on the prophet's soul.  Grief clamors for utterance, and puts
tears into the eyes of the seer to make the glaring vision less intolerable. Words of anguish shriek amid the thunders of prophetic
vengeance:   "Look away; I will weep bitterly: labor not to com 
400                  MINISTERIAL SOLICITUDE
suppose, Jerusalem. The subject of the prophecy is the invasion ot
Judea by Sennacherib, and perhaps its conquest by Nebuchadnezzar.
The latter is probably referred to in the first part of the prophecy.
Both these invasions, and especially the latter, brought heavy calamity upon the Jews. The bloodshed, the starvation, the violation of
Judean homes, the brutal bearing of the savage soldiery, the consternation of Hebrew women delicately raised, the defilement of the
temple, the desecration of the altar, the long procession of weeping
captives, torn from their own vine and fig-tree, and hurried away into
the land of the idolator, presented to the Jewish seer a panorama the
most appalling his eyes had ever looked upon. It was his fatherland,
and he was none the less a patriot for being a prophet. On the contrary, his prophetic character gave him an intense Jewish heart. In
Judea, religion was an element of patriotism. To all the other considerations that endear a country to its citizens, there were added
here the promises and strange providence of God which had brought
the seed of Abraham into the land flowing with milk and honey; the
memories of a thousand divine interpositions on behalf of their oppressed and endangered country; the solemnities of their faith, that
brought them near to God; their national election, by God himself, to
be his peculiar treasure, and the consciousness of a faith and worship infinitely purer and sublimer than those of the nations surrounding them. Thus the full strength of their religious character
entered into their patriotic sentiments. The land was consecrated, in
their eyes, by every sacred consideration that could fix affection or
excite emotion. Around Jerusalem, especially, the place where Jehovah was worshipped, these sentiments clustered. There the smoke
of continual incense and sacrifice went up to the God of their fathers;
and there, from between the cherubim, did He "' shine forth" and
answer their supplications.
In an eminent religious character, such as Isaiah, these sentiments
would be doubly strong. Every stone in the mountains that were
round about Jerusalem would be dear to him; every vessel in the
temple would be sacred. The utmost strength of his emotional na     fe  upo  it paveet  wol  grn  hs hear.  He wol  "lv 
MINISTERIAL SOLICITUDE.                    401
and leave the smoke of ruined homes behind them over half a conti nent, so they kept within the territories of the stranger. But horrid
war! Must it stain the sacred hills of the " promised land?"  Must
it ravage the "heritage of God?"  The man of God could not bear
it.  "Look away from me: I will weep bitterly; labor not to com fort me."
The anguish of the prophet is the example of every true minister
of God to men. He deals not with men so remote and uncongenial
to him as to arouse no interest. There is no man so much a heathen
or barbarian as to be beyond his sympathy. The acutest sensibilities
of his nature unite him to the cross, and the cross connects him with
the whole world. His citizenship is in the kingdom of Christ, and
that embraces in its provisions mankind entire.
The true minister of Christ feels himself charged, in a measure,
with the destiny of those who come within the range of his ministrations. He feels the deepest concern for them. He cannot bear that
they should reject his message, which comes to them from God. We
will consider this subject of ministerial solicitude in several aspects.
I. It arises   1. From a clear view of the nature of sin. He realizes the
enormous sinfulness of sin.  He  sees how hateful it must be to
God, how it vitiates the nature it inhabits, how it debases the soul,
and fixes an infamous brand upon the being that is controlled by it.
This is the essence and source of every species of evil. It is the
poison injected by the serpent into the veins of our race at the very
fountain of humanity, and it has been spreading ever since. Whereever it comes it brings a blight.  It has taken possession of states,
and places them alternately under cruel tyranny and still more, cruel
licentiousness. It has made itself master of commerce, and trade has
become almost another word for fraud. It controls social life, and
has made intercourse between neighbors a lie. It enthrones itself in
the family circle, and either destroys all peace, or makes the family
bond a mere species of hearthstone selfishness. It extends its do 
402                  MINISTERIAL SOLICITUDE.
covert corruptions, blacken the character of man, so that not one
escapes. They disturb human relations, so that everything is out of
joint.
But, to the mind that appreciates divine truth, the worst aspect
under which sin appears is in the fact that it alienates man from his
Creator.  Our relations to Him are infinitely the most sacred of any
that we sustain. To disregard them is at once the climax of guilt
and the consummation of moral ruin. Everything that is noble in
human nature is realized in communion with God. Everything that
is desirable in human condition comes of harmonious relations with
Him. The recklessness of moral obligation that can disregard divine
claims is the concentration of crime. This first of claims despised,
it matters little, so far as the character of the sinner is concerned,
what becomes of the rest.
One of the most alarming manifestations of depravity is the fact
that men are so stupid in their moral perceptions that they cannot
see this fact. They imagine that the whole sphere of goodness is
filled when they discharge their obligations to one another. As
though there were no God, or that we owed him nothing. Disregard
of God is the very essence of sin, and they imagine they escape by
avoiding merely some of its accidents. It is this bluntness of feeling
that makes men so immovable in their sins-that seems, in some
cases, almost to shut them up to their doom.
The only thing that is hateful to God is sin. The only misfortune
of sinners is to fall under his hatred. The faithful servant of God is
grieved in his soul that God should be flouted by His creature, and
that men should fall under His displeasure.
2. The concern of the minister arises from a just conception of
the danger of souls. As sin, in its own nature, is no trifle, so it cannot be regarded as such in the divine administration. The hateful
and ruinous thing must be put under ban. The most effectual check
must be laid upon its progress. God owes it at once to Himself and
His creatures to punish the workers of iniquity. " The soul that
sinneth, it shall die."
fonain ofgo. Al  es..se.nti.a.P l goo  comes fro  God   Bu  th _sIn 
MINISTERIAL SOLIICITUDE.                   403
course. This privation must result in unhappiness. But sin does
still more-it deranges and perverts the nature it possesses.  The
soul, in its normal condition, is adjusted to enjoyment   The affections, which constitute the emotional nature, are genial and joyful.
But sin jostles them out of their adjustment, and turns them to gall.
In their sad perversion, they answer ends exactly the reverse of
those designed in their production.
The faculty of repugnance, in its healthful state, directed temperately but decidedly against evil, was given for the soul's protection
and safety.  But sin inflames it into anger, hatred, revenge; and
these tear the soul with cruel pangs. Love, a pure spiritual affinity,
is the harmonizing and happifying principle of the intelligent universe. It is the magnetic touch that turns gravitation Godward
everywhere. But sin has reached even this, and, from its delightful
and undeviating polarity, turned it to wild and demoniac impulses.
always earthward and debasing, and involving a guilty consciousness
and a disappointed hope. Conscience, intended to be not only the
tiler of the soul, to guard it against all contraband approach, but
also a mirror reflecting the smile of God upon the innocent spirit,
brightening its peacefulness into rapture, becomes a Nemesis, armed
with a thousand lashes. Consciousness occupies the present with
guilty pain. Memory gathers evil from the past, and the imagination
sweeps the illimitable future for yet more horrid forms of anguish
and these two, meeting, from the past and future, at the present,
with their dreadful hoard, deluge consciousness with woe.
This desolate picture is not realized in this life, simply because
every sinner exists under the mitigations which grace secures him.
This restraining influence removed, and his soul becomes, in its own
being, a lake of fire and brimstone. Sin, left to itself, is hell.
It is impossible to conceive of any additional element that could
add a shade to this midnight, except one-the wrath of God. This
consummates the soul's ruin.
How the blackness blackens still under the pencil of avenging
ungodline<s.s and urigtosnes of me.    It is reeae.i  11am 
404                  MINISTERIAL SOLICITUDE.
persistent rejection of His mercies by rebellious men, "He will laugh
at their calamity, and mock when their fear cometh."
The divine displeasure finds its expression in the eternal condition
of the sinner.  He is "cast out into outer darkness, where there is
weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth"',Outer darkness!"
The very words make a man shudder.  And Oh! " the lake of fire
that burneth with brimstone!" To be alive forever, in raging fire
and the stifling smoke of brimstone! If anything can be more dreadful, it is " the worm that dieth not R"a, revolting reptile feeding
forever on a living soul!
Feel!  The minister that does not feel is a monster.  If he be a
mnan, he will join the cry of the prophet, "Labor not to comfort me."
I will hear no consolation. The children of my people are given to
the slaughter.
3. The fact of immortality adds infinitely to the interest with
which the sinner's condition is to be regarded. Any condition that will
terminate is tolerable. But souls are immortal; and character and
destiny, once beyond the boundary of probation, are unalterable. In
the eternal world every lineament of the moral features becomes
fixed. No agencies are at work there to produce a beneficent change.
Guilt and degradation are the soul's heritage for eternity. Oh! eternity, how will thy cycles lag in their course over the despairing eyes
fixed on the dial that marks. their progress! The depths of the future lengthen as they are approached. Death is sought in vain.
The soul that might have had heaven for the asking once, now begs
for annihilation, and even this poor boon is denied it. To be and to
9?,ffer are inevitable now.  Existence itself becomes hateful, and life
a curse! To battle with a disgusting self, and not be able to destroy
it, to flee and not be able to escape it, forever and forever-this is
the doom of the guilty. Oh! thou just God, what has sin wrought?
4. A lively sympathy with the sufferings and work of Christ characterizes the faithful minister. He is so fully in communion with the
Saviour that he seems almost a partaker of the "agony," in his min 
MINISTERIAL SOLICITUDE.                     405
The object of his advent heightens the interest. "He came to seek
and to save the lost," and we ourselves were the lost objects of his
self-denying beneficence. Ruined natures are restored, spiritual enmity reclaimed to friendship, and upon death itself is breathed the
breath of a new, divine vitality. Creation is outdone, and the display
of Godhead appears. Above all, the manner of the achievement invests it with transcendent glory. It was the only undertaking in which
Godhead ever labored. In creation, the divine words shaped themselves into worlds, and the divine volition wheeled them into their
orbits. But, to reclaim rebellious spirits, he must needs put on the
working dress of humanity, and toil, and die! Let the history of
redemption infuse its spirit into a man, andl see how his soul will
yearn for the salvation of the "blood-bought!"
5. All holy beings rejoice over the salvation of a soul. The repentance of a single sinner is an event of sufficient magnitude to be
telegraphed at once to heaven, and published there to heighten angelic joy.  "I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the
angels over one sinner that repenteth."  Angel shouts to angel, till
the remotest hears it: " The dead lives!" " The lost is found!" and
every harp gives out a gush of unstudied rapture. God himself rejoices.
This interest of superior natures in us exalts our idea of the soul's
importance. It can be no trivial thing that concentrates the attention of princely intelligences. It can be an event of no small magnitude that produces revelry amid their thrones. The mystery of redemption is the object of profound inquiry among the angels: "they
desire to look into these things"-and they do actually exult in the
triumphs of the Cross.
It is no tax upon the imagination to suppose that Christ rejoices
in the happy issue of his labor.  " He shall see of the travail of his
soul, and shall be satisfied."  Gethsemane and the Cross, contemplated by him in the light of their results, shall produce profound
complacency in his mind. Every saved soul will recall that awful
night and day, but in the recollection he shall be "'satisfed." 
406                   MINISTERIAL SOLICITUDE.
will he be to the displeasure that must follow upon any want of
fidelity. This alone, aside from the interests with which he is charged,
is enough to arouse him to the keenest solicitude. But, then, he is
to enter upon negotiations directly involving the eternal destiny of
souls, and the vital interests of the divine government.
I cannot imagine a consideration that might add to the force of
those actually concentrated on the preacher's heart, to give pungency
and power to the feelings that must sway him in the performance of
the duties of his office.
To realize all this so as to produce a great concern for souls, there
is requisite,
1st. A full, clear faith. Without this a man cannot appreciate
the nature of divine claims or spiritual facts.  The realities with
which we have chiefly to do are unappreciated by any other means
than faith. They belong to a sphere which no perception through
the means of a physical organism can recognise. The soul must be
raised above the conditions of its physical habitation to have a real,
sensible appreciation of divine things.
An account of these things God has given us in his word.
To the mind in its native, carnal condition, they seem distant and un real.  To such the only real is the tangible.  They are so fully occu pied with the gross every-day facts that crowd upon sensation, that,
becoming assimilated to their nature, there is no aptness of spiritual
perception and existence.   Eten where there is sufficient elevation
of the reason to recognise the truth of religion, there is so much
earthliness in the affections that it produces no deep impression, so
that men live in the habitual acknowledgment of the claims of
Christianity, and equally habitual inattention to them.   There can
be no more astounding inconsistency than this.  It is monstrous!
But the reason of it is that though there be an intellectual belief
there is no realizing faith. And there never can be until the grace
of God shines into the heart and renders it susceptible of a divine
consciousness. Then, and not till then, spiritual things become actualities. Then they begin to take effect upon the sensibilities.
"' Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things
not seen." It takes hold of the remote and the spiritual with a consciousness as vivid as that produced by sensation. Eternal things
now begin to impress the soul in a manner corresponding to their
importance. 
MINISTERIAL SOLICITUDE.                     407
With such a faith as this, a faith which transports the spirit into
the presence of infinite realities, a faith that sees sin and hell, that sees
God and eternify, the minister receives his message from God to the
sinner. Everything hangs on the reception or rejection of the message. Everything is poised on the volition of the sinner, and that is
either oscillating, or has settled on the wrong side. Considerations
that fill eternity compress themselves into a single hour, and waken
in the heart that has faith, an agony that may find some faint expression in countenance and voice, but none in words. It is too intense
for language.
2d. There must be an elevated Christain experience. Indeed,
faith, true faith, will secure this.  The two are inseparable.  He
that walks by faith walks with God. His moral nature is open to
holy influences, and becomes imbued with the spirit of religion.
Experimental religion is very readily defined. One word expresses
it all.  That word is LovE.  "The love of God shed abroad in the
heart by-the Holy Ghost given unto us," is the new birth. This is
experimental religion. The man who enjoys it in its perfection loves
God with all his heart, and his neighbor as himself. All the pure
and noble sensibilities of the soul become active. Sin becomes hateful, and virtue lovely.  The one his soul abhors; with equal fervor
he rejoices in the other.
Under the active operation of this principle, the person of the sinnuer becomes dear to him. He looks upon one for whom Christ died;
one who with the acutest sensibilities, equally alive to suffering and
enjoyment, is immortal; one who is his fellow, having the same
originally noble, though fallen nature, and grappling with the same
enemies.  Hie looks upon each man with a feeling of deep personal
interest-with the heart of a brother, arbiter of his own destiny,
poised between contending motives, and uncertain of the issue.
Thus his religious character gives every man a place in his heart,
and awakens alarm for every one he sees in danger. It wrings from
him the agonized cry, " My brother! my brother! thou art staggering on the edge of the precipice, and the lake of unquenchable fire is
at the bottom.' He would interpose his own person, if he could, to
arrest the fall.
II. The nature and extent of this solicitude.  The nature of it is
found in the general principles of our faith; its extent is regulated 
408                 MINISTERIAL SOLICITUDE.
very much by personal characteristics and circumstances, and is fre quently fluctuating.
1. The nature of ministerial solicitude is indicated in what has
been already said. It is the alarm of a pure nature alive to eternal
things, for those who are exposed to infinite retribution. It is the
feeling of responsibility in the execution of a commission from
Jehovah to deathless spirits. He is the watchman on the walls, and
if he allows the sword to come without warning, the blood of slain
souls is upon him. It is at the same time the vibration of the
Saviour's sorrow in his soul-the echo of the Saviour's death-groan
in his heart. All the moving considerations connected with redemption conspire to create it.  The urgencies of immortal want clamor
in his ear. The breathing of earnest angel-ministries to the same
great object deepens the intenseness of his anxiety. Divine expostulations of most subduing pathos are put into his mouth to raise him
to the inexpressible height of their meaning.
2. Sensitive natures become  agitated under it, as Habakkuk; or
melancholy, as Jeremiah; or impetuous, as Nahum.   The profound
spirit of Paul swells to an Ocean wave of feeling-a tide of earnestness. The great soul of Isaiah bows itself; he weeps bitterly, and
will hear no comforter.  Whatever there is earnest in a man will be
roused to its fullest measure. The preacher's calling becomes the
master excitant of his nature, and concentrates it upon the one great
object before him. Under its influence the strong man becomes a
Hercules, and even the languid become strong.
There are times, however, when special causes produce an augmentation of the feeling, as times of revival. Not unfrequently does
solicitude deepen into anguish, and the excitement become so great
that any long duration of it would be fatal.  It produces a tension
which neither body nor spirit can bear.
But at all times the soul of the minister yearns for the salvation of
men, and is at any moment alive to the peril of those who come to
his attention in their sins and exposed to the death that dies not.
He is on the alert for souls.
3. Solicitude for souls is graduated, however, by the higher or
lower standard of personal piety in the subject of it. No doubt the
preacher of the Gospel, himself, may live so far from God, and cultivate his faith so negligently that his religious consciousness will be
very feeble. Many deplorable instances of this are given in the 
MINISTERIAL SOLICITUDE.                   409
history of the Church. Entire continents and long ages have been
marked by it as their leading religious characteristic. And in her
best estate the Church laments the presence of more or less of this
class of men at her altars. Not Sinai can alarm them nor Calvary
melt them. There they stand, amid solemnities that hold angels
breathless, themselves unmoved.
In one whom religion has taken possession of, and who is moved
by the Holy Ghost to call sinners to repentance, there is the highest
exhibition of unselfish interest in the welfare of others. He lives for
them, labors for them, suffers for them. He is so fully occupied for
them, that self is to a very great degree lost sight of and abandoned.
Fatigue, and suffering, and shame, can scarcely recall him to the
demands of his own existence.  When Moses stood before Jehovah,
and heard him threaten the entire extinction of the rebellious raceNo! he exclaimed in passionate intercession, No! rather "blot me
out of thy book!" Paul, in contemplating the case of the reprobate
Jews, makes this earnest declaration: c I say the truth in Christ; I
lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness, in the Holy Ghost,
that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.  For
I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren,
my kinsmen according to the flesh."   His "spirit was stirred within
him" when he saw a "city wholly given to idolatry;" and when he
had turned men to God they were his "glory and crown of rejoicing."
When he had collected them into a church he was "jealous over them
with godly jealousy," for he "feared lest by any means, as the
serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so their minds should be
corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ," and the fruit of his
labor be lost.
4. Mingled with this is a pervading feeling of unworthiness —" I
am a man of unclean lips, and dwell among a people of unclean lips."
How is it that God should choose such an instrument for his holy
purposes?  "Who am I, and what is my father's house?"  Can I be
God's dmbassador to negotiate in his name with the revolted subjects
of his government?  Impossible! I am a sinner saved by grace my
self, and demanding fresh supplies of grace every moment.
WVhen once the fact is admitted, and the divine call recognised,
still. he says and feels "the heavenly treasure is in a clay vessel)"
and, bowing with conscious weakness under the burden, he turns
continually to the promise, "Lo! I am with vou always." 
410                  MINISTERIAL SOLICITUDE.
5. "Wo is me if I preach not the Gospel."  I must preach or die.
This direct accountability to God under an undoubted conviction of
duty gives pungency to his concern. He is solicitous for himself as
well as others. Fidelity in the discharge of his duty to them is the
pivot on which his own safety vibrates.  When our flaming firmament
shall light the judgment scene, he expects to hear the Judge demand
"Where is thy brother?" That will be no time for the impudent
infidel reply, "Am I my brother's keeper?" Who of us in that hour
will be able to stand with undisturbed composure, and respond,
"Here am I, and the children thou hast given me."
Let us consider, finally,
III. Its results upon ministerial effort and success.
1. It incites to activity. It tolerates no sluggishness. It is a
constant impulsion, urging its subject to the most strenuous exertionfi
in the service of souls. He looks around him for a place to work and
a way to work, "if by any means he may save some."   He is not
select as to places, nor ambitious of distinctions, but work he must.
Let others scheme and wrangle for promotion-". let the potsherd
strive with the potsherd of the earth "-he has loftier demands  to
meet.  To preach the Gospel-to all-especially to the poor-is his
highest aspiration.
To occupy metropolitan churches, and to see his name in newspapers and books, with flattering encomiums, is a very little thing.
In highways and hedges, in forgotten lanes and alleys, in rude, uncultivated neighborhoods, he finds the fields whitening to the harvest.
A soul saved out of a gutter is as good as a soul saved out of a
palace.
He can even afford to live on a small salary.  "Not yours, but
you," is his motto. He can dispense with sumptuous dinners and
costly clothing. Only let him work for Christ and souls. What if
he does not attract the world's eye.   God sees him!  He is willing
to be
little and unknown,
Loved and prized by God alone." 
MINISTERIAL SOLICITUDE.                    411
ciple predominated-" the love of Christ constraineth us." Fronm
the moment "Christ was formed within him, the hope of glory," the
spirit of the ministry wrought in him, making him a constant miracle
of endurance and of toil. No distance was too great to traverse in
pursuit of souls. No difficulty was too formidable to encounter. No
danger too extreme to be braved. Throughout Asia and Europe,
through perils, stripes and imprisonments, publicly and from house to
house, night and day, to the very last, he gave himself to the work.
Wesley found Paul's mantle and put it on. From the great Apostle
he took the motto which became the main-spring of his over-active
life, "in labors more abundant."  Anywhere, in London or in the
collieries, no matter where, so there were men there. These two
men-Paul and Wesley —each in his day, literally stirred the world
up. It is not the fortune of every man to do so large a work, but
every one may work as incessantly as they in the minuter cultivation
of a smaller field. There is work enough for the most vigorous body
and the most active mind, in a single pastoral charge. To prepare
for thorough pulpit instruction, to visit the sick and them that are
out of the way, to learn the wants of all and supply them, will leave
a man but little rest.
2. He can do nothing else. His consuming zeal, will hear of no
meaner employment. This is his business, and it is of too much importance to be encroached upon by other avocations. Head, and
heart, and hands must be devoted to this. He must not bring to it
affections diluted by the cares of secular life.  Of the Gospel he
must live.
3. It infuses an inspiring animation into all his ministrations.
His theology is no mere speculation. His gospel is not a system
of remote and unappreciated facts.  Gesture, and tone, and eye are
alive with the message. The words take more than half their meaning from the utterance of a burning spirit. A sentence which from
other lips means little, comes from his throbbing with vital thought.
Nor is it from studied action. It is the soul, heated to fusion, and
pouring itself out in the warnings and persuasions of the Gospel.
4. Such a ministry is always successful. The elements of success
are all present. Earnest workers always reach their object. The
energy of a sincere mind is a wonderful power. Faith at the same
time allies itself to divine strength. In the enthusiasm of his own 
412                 MINISTERIAL SOLICITUDE.
spirit he is a host, and with the momentum of divine energy added,
he is irresistible.
Contemplate the results: Souls delivered out of the snare of the
devil, washed from their dark defilement, relieved of their guilt, and
saved from the damnation of hell. Hundreds rejoice in the ministry
of a single man. They turn their eyes upward. The clouds are
parted. The sky is luminous. Heaven opens. Thrones, and crowns,
and joys invite them. Walls and arches, palaces and domes, brilliant
with precious stones, and aglow with the glory of God, welcome
them. Joy, kindled to rapture, brightens every face, and pours itself
in divinest melody from myriad strings.
We must live in heaven before we can fully realize the spirit of
this theme. If we could use the words in which the seraphim hold
their high communion, we should find no audience to receive the
celestial import.  We must die to understand it.
Let the day come.  Let me  see the dust of toil brushed off, and
the"fine linen, clean and white, put on."  Let me  see the clay
chrysalis burst into the seraph. Let me hear the shout that shall go
up into the ear of God, when the "great multitude, which no man
can number," shall "enter in through the gates into the city:"
"T3nto Him that hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his
own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his
Father, to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever." AMEN. 
I~~~~~~~~~~~~~
me ~e  ee. 
/7 6 
THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.
BY H. C. THWEATT, D. D.,
PRESIDENT OF MANSFIELD FEMALE COLLEGE-LOUISIANA CONFERENCE.
Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and
they are they which testify of me.'-John v, 39.
If there be often much difficulty in saying enough, and no more,
on any one verse or single passage of Scripture, how much more is that
difficulty increased when we undertake to say all that might be desired
on the Book itself, which contains near fifty thousand verses. The
mind is, in a measure, bewildered in the attempt rightly to embody, and
thereby'forcibly to exhibit the vast, varied, and almnost endless materiel of such a subject; and especially so, when it is required to develop all that is important to be introduced in the brief space usually
allotted to the services of the pulpit. Indeed, on a theme like this,
it is no easy task judiciously to select, from the innumerable points of
interest and of argument, all the proper elements wherewith to construct the frame-work of a discourse which may prove at once pertinent and impressive, profitable and edifying, to au intelligent worshipping assembly.
It may be said, that the subject is old, trite, common. True, but
not yet exhausted, nor ever will be. A man may live in a house
without being an architect; so may we perpetually talk or write
about the Bible without understanding to the full extent any one
of the wonders of its construction, the secret sources of its power
and beauty.  Though for centuries past the most gifted intellects
have been engaged in this worthiest subject of study and investigation, still the true value of this blessed volume remains untold.
Yes: this book, with which the careless infant plays, in which bright
childhoodeos  it  tak  adte   dim ey  of ag  met  a ceerin 
414                   THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.
and depth, and height, has never been vouchsafed to any human, or
(as hinted, 1st Peter i, 12,) even angelic mind. And yet every seri ous, earnest inquirer, however humble, may contribute something, if
but a mite, to the common treasury of thought, and thus, to some
extent, help forward the grand approximation towards the truth,
which is constantly going on while the ages roll away. The bare
thought that the best and brightest of mankind, the highest educated
of every age and realm, the appointed leaders of mind, the kingly
spirits of earth, have here labored and toiled to faintness and weariness, is enough to inspire fear and much trembling while I, in weakness, the mighty task essay, to speak of a book which "has stood,
time's treasure, and the wonder of the wise." Aye, too, a book which
reveals its secrets, imparts its power, and bestows its blessings only on
those who, with a reverent, loving, humble, believing heart, receive
it as the pure Word of God, the exact transcript of infinite perfection, and especially that which brings to view the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, as it shines in the face of Jesus Christ,
by whom alone we have eternal life, and of whom mainly to testify,
this sure and blessed Word was given.
Impressed with this great truth, and at the same time deeply conscious of the immense difficulty of condensing and shaping our
thoughts on a theme so grand, so profound, so immeasurable, well
may the preacher feel himself as much perplexed as was the man who,
when he first discovered that the rays of light which fell on the convex surface of his sun-glass had been gathered to a burning focal
point, inquired "if a lens could not be made that might gather all
the sun's rays?"
The rays of light, my brethren, emanating from this holy book, to
enlighten, cheer, and vivify the world, are more numerous, if possible,
than those which come from yonder sun, rejoicing in his beams; and
should I presume to gather them all into one, a hundred, or a thousand sermons, I would act as wildly in the attempt as the man
in the case of the sun-glass.  Let us then content ourselves, at
least on the present occasion, with such leading facts, principles, and
truths, as stand in some wise connected with the text; and that we
may observe some form or method, the better to impress the mind, and
thereby aid your recollection, we will begin with that part of our
subject, and so continue and end as general order and just propriety
may seem to us most naturally and plainly to demand. 
IHE HOLY SCRIPTURES.                    415
I et us then consider
I. THE TERM "C SCRIPTURES."
Scripture, in its original sense, is of the same import with writing,
and as such signifies "anything written." By way of eminence, however, and as used in the plural, the term denotes the entire volume
of divine revelation, containing, as it does, the most important of all
writings. In the place before us, the Saviour refers to the writings
of the Old Testament, as those of the New were not then, or during
any period of his abode on earth, (at least, in an embodied form,) in
existence; and it was only by reference to these, (if not indeed
direct quotation therefrom,) that he could have in any way vindicated
his conduct, and convinced the Jews that the Father had sent him,
since these alone were by them received and accredited as divine,
and in which alone they thought they had eternal life. On no other
ground could he have so forcibly upbraided them, when he said, "Ye
do greatly err, not knowing the Scriptures;" and again, "If they
hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded
though one rose from the dead."  Yet, according to St. Peter, (2d
Epistle, 3d chapter, 16th verse,) the writings of the evangelists and
apostles, together with those of the Old Testament, are all included,
and thus constitute one volume or collection of sacred writings. And
as the Saviour now speaks to us, not only by what Moses and the
prophets,but by what he himself declared, as recorded by the evangelists, and also by what his apostles wrote, as moved by the Holy
Ghost who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, we must of
course embrace in the term "Scriptures," as expressed in the text, all
the canonical books, both of the Old and New Testaments: since together they must either stand or fall, the one being incomplete without the other-and can only, when conjoined, form a full, sufficient,
and perfect revelation of the will of God to man; for like the overshadowing cherubim, they look to the same propitiatory, and, as the
lips of an oracle, give utterance to the same blessed truths. Whatever, therefore, may be said on this point, in this discourse, must be 
416                   THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.
corruptions of pretended friends.  "I heard a voice from heaven,
saying, write "-thus and so.  " It is written" " To the law and to
the testimony "-the final appeal, the perfect standard. "Indeed, Jesus
so honored his written word that he preferred to quote from its
pages solutions of intricate questions, to emitting replies from the
depths of his own infinite mind;" and yet this written word is to be
spoken, enunciated, preached.*
The Scriptures are sometimes called " oracles," because they are
the answers which God has given, from his holy place, to the inquiries of his people. And again, with some enlargement, they are denominated "lively oracles," in contradistinction to old, dead histories, myths, and fables about persons and things long since passed
away- if indeed they (all of them) ever existed-and which, even if
true, could never have been of any practical use or spiritual benefit
to the world.
The apostle Paul mentions it as a chief advantage to the Jewish
people that "unto them were committed the oracles of God." And
"what nation," says Moses, "is there that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all these laws t?" How different these judgments, statutes, oracles, from those idle, ambiguous, equivocal, illusory responses of juggling, lying priests, palming their impious
devices upon the credulity of the wretched votaries of some imaginary god or demon. Indeed, how widely different such revelations
from those so beautifully and forcibly set forth in the nineteenth and
one hundred and twenty-ninth psalms. And if such (as therein expressed) was the esteem and veneration which the pious entertained
for the living oracles under the former dispensation, when they had
only Moses and the prophets, how then ought they to be prized by
us, who have also Christ and his apostles
The word "holy" is often connected with other titles, to express
the pure quality and sublime tendency of the Scriptures. Also, the
word " testament" is of frequent occurrence in the sacred writings;
and which, in its original import, is equivalent to " covenant"-perhaps a more appropriate term.  Either, however, conveys the idea of
an instrument-the most solemn and authentic ever presented to the
*Rmx,4 19 Mat  v1:x;1t o._ i'L: v _1 93 Tim ict 2;Mark  v,_ 12 
THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.                      417
aright, the name, and being, and perfections of Him c' who, through
the eternal spirit, offered himself without spot to God," and who, as
Moses dedicated the first testament by the blood of calves and goats,
with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the
book and all the people, saying, "This is the blood of the testament
which God hath enjoined unto you," so also the apostle and high
priest of our profession, by his own blood having entered into heaven
itself, in the presence of God for us,gives the promise of eternal in heritance, saying " This is the new testament, in my blood, whereof
the Holy Ghost is witness, through mighty signs and wonders and
miracles;" and not less so through the mystery of grace, "made man ifest to all saints by faith and sanctification of the spirit unto obedi ence, and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ."
The name "Bible" is more frequently applied than any other. TEE
BOOK, by way of superlative distinction, because it far excels all
others-the book of books, which stands up as the kingly sheaf amid
thousands round about that make obeisance unto it-and yet not
casting a slight upon, but lending to them, some of its own dignity
and honor. In a word, the most perfect instrument and adequate organ of all the gifts and powers by which man, individual or collective, is privileged "to rise above, and lose his dividual, phantom self,
in order to find his true self in that distinctness where no division can
be, even in the great I AM, the everlasting Word."   More than this
we cannot say, since, after the widest range, we shall only return to
this at last. To know that it is the word of God, has sufficed for thousands and tens of thousands, and it suffices for us. The most earnest
and devout search, with the most exact balancing, will determine in
favor of this name, as it conveys, most clearly and distinctly, the
idea of the will of God, so necessary to be known for our salvation;
also the wisdom of God, so far above the wisdom of the world, (lst
Cor. ii, 7); again, word recorded by the Holy Ghost, (2d Tim. iii, 16,)
-word inspired by the most wise, excellent, and holy men, presenting doctrines, precepts, principles and truths, the most pure,
perfect and immutable, and which alone embraces all things necessary
for faith and practice, and is the best testimony of its own fullness
and sufficiency; and that because it is the word of God, and we have
no other, and need no other, since it affords certainty in those things
which are sufficient to perfect men here thoroughly, furnishing them
"unto all good works," and thereby in the end, through faith in
27 
418                   THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.
Christ, lead them to life eternal. Therefore, saith Christ himself,
" Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life;
and they are they which testify of me."
II. A BRIEF HIIISTORY OF THE SCRIPTURES:
We are accustomed to look upon the Bible as one book. In a very
important and qualified sense, this is true. Its origin, as divine, is
one; its doctrines, as a rule of life, one; and the object at which it
aims is one. At the same time, it consists of " a great number of
small tracts-about sixty-six-the composition of above thirty individuals-persons of all classes, from kings to peasants, of various
education, of every kind and measure of intellectual ability, and who
lived scattered over a period of nearly sixteen hundred years;" and
these tracts composed in different languages, and on divers subjects.
The books contained in the Old Testament (with very few exceptions)
were collected into one volume by Ezra, "the son of Seraiah, a priest
and ready scribe in the law of the God of heaven," whose memory
is tenderly cherished by the Jews, and for whom they have an extraordinary esteem, and indeed regard as second only to Moses; ana, as
such, say " that, if the law had not been given by Moses, Ezra deserved to have been the legislator of the Hebrews.#   Thls great
restorer and publisher of the Old Testament Scriptures prepared his
heart to seek and to do the wore of collecting and disposing in their
proper order, as well as of changing here and there obsolete words and
places, and of making such additions (for instance, the last chapter
of Deuteronomy) as were deemed necessary, and in all of which,
doubtless, he was assisted by the same spirit by which these several
books were first written; for we read, "And then Ezra, after the
wisdom of thy God that is in thine hand," &c.  Again, "I was
strengthened as the hand of the Lord my God was upon me." And
yet again, "According to the good hand of his God upon him, Ezra
the priest, the scribe, even a scribe of the word, of the commandments of the Lord, and of the statutes of Israel," &c. (Ezra, chap 
THE HOLY SORIPTURES.                      419
that the two books of Chronicles, Nehemiah and Esther-at least
portions of them-together with the entire prophecy of Malachi, were
adopted into the Jewish Scriptures by Simon the Just, the last of
the men of the great synagogue, as in these books certain names
and events are recorded, which certainly had no existence till more
than one hundred years after the death of Ezra. and of course could
not have been put by him in the Old Testament, but by some other,
and, as is generally supposed, by Simon the Just, as before stated.
it is enough, however, for us to know, that the books as now con tained in the Old Hebrew Testament, and only these, were regarded
by the ancient Jews as of divine authority; and according to the
concurrent voice of all antiquity, are the accredited sacred writings
of their nation.
In respect to the New Testament, we have the most satisfactory
testimony that the different writings of which it is composed, (at
least the principal part of them, if not indeed all,) were collected into
one volume before the death of the Apostle John. The books of the
Old Testament were mostly written in Hebrew; those of the New in
Greek; and the authenticity and genuineness of both proved by an
amount of evidence that cannot be brought to bear in any other
writings of antiquity. But as it would require a separate discourse
to enter fully into this part of our subject, we will pass on to notice
some additional facts relative to the history of the Bible. "Before
the art of printing, (A. D. 1440,)'the sacred writings, as also all
other books, were preserved only in manuscripts, written on parchwent or vellum, prepared from the skins of animals, and usually
executed with extreme accuracy and beauty.  Many of these manuscripts have come down to us from the fifth or sixth century, and
preserved with great purity." Much has been said and written about
the number of various readings discovered by biblical critics, in the
manuscripts of different languages, which for eight centuries or more
had multiplied almost beyond counting; and to this may be added
innumerable apographs, which, as one might suppose, the art of
printing would have wholly superseded. Of the vast amount of
thse vaiu  redig  we ma  for  soe idea, "fo  th numbe 
420                    THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.
found in collecting various manuscripts of the Old Testament, have
risen to many hundred thousand. But what does all this amount to?
"nothing more than whether an i shall be dotted, or a t crossed; or
whether the word honor shall be spelled with or without u;" for we
may well say, with one of the most profound scholars, and one of the
greatest critics of the learned languages of the time in which he
lived, (1740,) that eminent divine, Dr. Richard Bentley: "Put all
the multiplied thousand of various readings into the hands of a
knave or a fool, and make them as many more, and yet, with the
most sinistrous and absurd choice, he shall not extinguish the light
of any one chapter, or so disguise Christianity, but that every feature
of it will be the same." Indeed, this learned and somewhat curious
discovery of so large a number of various readings in the sacred
text, has resulted in precluding forever any just ground for cavil
and suspicion, since they have been found to be connected simply
withl "letters, accents, commas and stops;" not with points of doctrine or practices of morality, for the very worst manuscript ever
consulted, does not contain a single deviation from the original text,
which would vitiate, in the slightest degree, any one vital, essential
truth; and as such, places the uncorrupted integrity of the Scriptures in a stronger light than ever —" setting the text on a perma.
nent basis, and thereby serving to increase our confidence in its
general purity and correctness."
"Originally, there were no breaks or divisions of the sacred books
into chapters, verses, or even into words, so that anciently a whole
line, and even a whole book, was in fact but one continued word.
The invention of our present chapters was by Hugo de Sancto Care,
or as more commonly called, Hugo Cardinalis, who flourished about
the year 1240.  The method of distinguishing the verses by figures,
as seen in our Bibles, was introduced into the Old Testament by
Atheas, a Jew of Amsterdam, in the year 1661; and the same was
effected for the New Testament, by Robert Stephens, a French
printer, about the middle of the sixteenth century, while on a 
THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.                       421
Greek, into English. Nearly three years were spent in completing
the translation, and quite four in preparing the work for the press.
It was published in folio in 1611, and has ever since been the version
ia common use: and we have the best reasons, on the whole, to be satisfied with it.  Yea, take it all in all, it is an illustrious monument
of the age, the nation, and the language; the noblest, best, most
finished classic of the English tongue, and (as remarks a learned
commentator') "not only a standard translation, but the translation
is the standard of our language." The original, from which it was
taken, is alone superior to the Bible translated by the authority of
King  James.  "Of  all modern  versions," says Richard Watson,
' this is the most faithful and accurate.  Its style is simple, harmo nious and energetic; use has made it familiar, and time has rendered
it sacred." Indeed, we may add, a noble monument of the integrity,
fidelity and learning of its venerable translators. Some improvements, some corrections, doubtless, might be made, to render a few
passages more clearly expressive of the meaning of the original; but
in making even these few and comparatively unimportant improvements, one in so doing might be tempted to proceed further than
would in the end prove correct, advantageous, safe.  Admitting that
we might, here and there, gain a little in point of style, yet, at the
same time, how serious to us might be the loss in point of thought,
which, after all, is the main object in the translation of any book, and
especially so of this book, the full and proper sense of every word
of which it behooves us, by every consideration, both of time and
eternity, earnestly to seek, secure and retain.
And where, it may be asked, could we expect to find now, so
faithful a translation as this, which, for two centuries and a half, has
withstood the test of the severest criticism, and which multiplied
thousands, in reading, have experienced as being the very spirit and
soul of God's own words, transmitted through a channel in every
respect adequate to convey, in simplicity, dignity and clearness, all
the original pathos and energy? Such were the translators, and such
the language they employed.  No set of men ever acted under a
more solemn religious sense of an important duty devolved, than did
those in this work, for which, by an earthly monarch, they were
selected and called; but most evidently by a heavenly, fitted, guided
and sustained.
* Dr. Adam Clarke 
422                    THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.
Truly, it was "God who enabled them to stand, as upon Mount
Sinai," and raise up their country's language to the dignity of the
original, imbuing it thoroughly with its spirit, and, at the same time,
by his own spirit, freeing them (the translators) from all the blinding
tendencies, and narrowness, and bitterness of a sectarian spirit; for
at that time all protestants were agreed in England on every important point, and then, too, the English language was at the
happiest stage of its progress, with all the simplicity and clearness
of the older literature; whilst at the same time it was free from the
"c oant of the age of Charles I and Cromwell, from the vulgarity and
levity of that of Charles II, and from the artificial character of that
of Anne;" and thus by it our own language is at once enriched and
adorned; and therefore, as to all frivolous objections in regard to the
present version, we hold, with Sir Thomas Browne, that "if the
substantial subject be well forged out, we need not examine the
sparks which irregularly fly from it;" or, to change the figure, as
adopted by another,"  If the edifice is so finely proportioned, that its
architectural e ect impress every beholder, we may well bethink
ourselves a little before we undertake to meddle with or to mend it."
The Book, as we have it, comes to us from clear heads, pure hearts,
and from the "wells of English undefiled." In its first vigor, large,
hearty; "with the dew of the early morning upon it, and under the
inspiration of the universal awakening of the human intellect,"'ready
for the first essays of its power.
III. THE CHARACTER'OF THE SCRIPTURES.
1. In a mere literary point of view it is far superior to any human
production. Of the simplicity and purity that mark its style, of
the originality and grandeur of its sentiments, and of its poetry and
eloquence, time forbids that I speak. We could here give, at much
length, the recorded judgment of the best critics and finest scholars,
from the days of Longinus to the present time, passing the highest
eulogiums upon the sacred penmen, merely as authors, without any
regard to their being messengers of Hleaven, or laying any claims,
however just, to a divine inspiration; but I will detain you with
only a few brief quotations, and as you will at once recognise from
those writers, who, by the splendor of their talents and profound
erudition, were eminently qualified to decide on a point like this.
Sir William Jones, a distinguished poet, scholar and lawyer,(and 
THE  HOLY SCRIPTURES.                         423
of whom it has been said few such luminaries have ever enlightened the world, or been so renowned for learning, wisdom, taste and
imagination,) thns openly and distinctly sets forth his noble testimony:
",I have regularly and attentively read the Bible, and am of opinion that
this volume, independently of its divine origin, contains more true sublimity,
more exquisite beauty, purer morality, more impartial history, and finer
strains of poetry and eloquence, than could be collected within the same
compass from all other books ever composed in any age."
So likewise- Bishop Horne, a learned prelate, whose writings are
invariably characterized by deep research, and held in high repute,
and as deservedly esteemed by the friends of piety and virtue, thus
writes
"The fairest productions of human wit, after a few perusals, like gathered
flowers, wither in our hands, and lose their fragrancy; but these unfading
plants of paradise become, as we are accustomed to them, still more and more
beautiful; their bloom appears to be doubly heightened; fresh odors are
emitted, and new sweets extracted from them. He who hath once tasted
their excellences will desire to taste them yet again; and he who tastes
them oftenest will relish them best."
Even J. J. Rousseau made the remarkable observation:
"I will confess to you, further, that the majesty of the Scripture strikes
me with admiration, as the purity of the Gospel has its influence on my heart.
Peruse the works of our philosophers, with all their pomp of diction; how
minean, how contemptible are they when compared with Scripture! Is it
possible, that a book, at once so simple and sublime, should be merely the
work of man?"
And the great Joseph Addison, so highly celebrated in English
literature, says'
"Let a judge of the beauties of poetry read a literal translation of Horace
or Pindar, and he will find in them such obscurity and confusion of style,
with such a comparative poverty of imagination, as will make him sensible
of the vast superiority of Scripture style."
Longinus, the best critic of the heathen world, speaks of Moses as 
424                     THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.
of such passages as the greatest poet in the world could not put into verse,
without losing much of their majesty and pathos."
Cowley tells us, that
", All the books of the Bible are either already most admirable and exalted
pieces of poesy, or are the best materials in the world for it."
Blackmore says, that
" For sense, and for noble and sublime thoughts, the poetical parts of
Scripture have an infinite advantage above all others put together."
Prior is of the opinion, that
" The writings of Solomon afford subjects for finer poems of every kind,
than have yet appeared in the Greek, Latin, or any modern language."
Pope assures us, that
", The pure and noble, the graceful and dignified in simplicity of language,
is nowhere in such perfection as in the Scriptures and Homer; and that the
whole book of Job-with regard both to sublimity of thought and moralityexceeds beyond all comparison the most noble parts of Homer."
"I have one book only," said Collins, a distinguished English poet,
(after he had withdrawn from study, and the society of men of
letters, and was confining his attention exclusively to the reading of
the Bible,) " but that one is the best."
A large vol'ime of like testimony might be given, but we close on
this particular part of our subject, with the well known and justly
admired, eloquent remarks of the gifted Grimke, expressed in an
oration  delivered a few years  past,  before  the  Phi Beta Kappa
Society of one of the colleges of our country:
" In sublimity and beauty, in the descriptive and pathetic, in dignity and
simplicity of narrative, in power and comprehensiveness, depth and variety
of thoughts in purity and elevation of sentiment, the most enthusiastic
admirers of the heathen classics have conceded their inferiority to the
Scriptures. The Bible, indeed, is the only universal classic, the classic of
all mankind, of every age and country, of time and eternity, more humble
and simple than the primer of the child, more grand and magnificent than
the epic and the oration, the ode and the drama; when genius, with his
c~hariost of fire, and his horsesc of fire, ascnds~ in wlhirlwitnd intos the heaven 
THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.                         42.5
of the very Author of nature. If Greece and Rome have gathered into their
cabinet of curiosities the pearls of Heathen poetry and eloquence, the dia monds of pagan history and philosophy, God himself has treasured up in the
Scriptures the poetry and eloquence, the philosophy and history of sacred
law-givers, of prophets and apostles, of saints, evangelists and martyrs. In
vain        may you seek for the pure and simple light of universal truth in the
Augustan  ages of antiquity  In the Bible only is the poet's wish fulfilled                 "'And like the sun, he all one boundless eye."'
If the exhortation, as applied by an eminent author (Pope) to
Homer, were applied to this inestimable volume, it would be used
with the strictest truthfulness and propriety:
"Read God's word once, and you can read no more,
For all books else appear so mean, so poor,
Verse will seem prose: but still persist to read,
And God's word will be all the books you need."
2. In its general arrangement. "The Bible not only abounds with
all the varied beauties of the Greek and Roman classics, and in a
much higher degree of perfection, but its arrangement is the most
wonderful of all other books in the world. It consists not merely of
a collection of chapters and verses, and distinct aphorisms on trivial
subjects, as too many are apt to conceive, but, as the learned and
pious David Simpson remarks, "One grand epic composition, forming sixty-six books of unequal lengths, and of various importance.
As the sun, moon, and planets, have one system, and each of them
are necessary to the harmony of the whole, so the different books of
the sacred code that are separately considered, and taken out of their
course, may appear unimportant; yet, as parts of one large complicated system, they are all necessary, though the time is longer than is
usually admitted in compositions of the epic kind.  Its beginning is
with the birth, and its end with the close of nature itself; yet even
this is perfectly consistent with the rest of the adorable plau-a thousand years being with the Lord as one day-and the action of it, too,
is one and entire, and the greatest that can be conceived. All the
beings of the universe, of which we have any knowledge, are con 
426                   THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.
solemn, grand, and sublime, ever presented by any author, sacred or
profane. The human mind can conceive of nothing like it. Indeed
it is a complete drama, having a beginning a middle and an end; maintaining throughout a pervading unity; unfolding itself as a perfect
organic whole; always consistent with itself; the realization of the
idea of one mind, developed by a number of others, like laborers upon
some vast edifice, under the direction of the chief architect, working
each at the part assigned him, till the building stands forth in all
its commanding sublimity and perfection. None but a shallow or
malignant objector could complain of the want of order or arrangement in the Bible, since its author has established "order as Heaven's first law." Method is divine, and, in the very nature of things,
inseparable from the ideas of God and order.   Systemn (which  we
must not confound with method) is of man, and is a help to the weakness of his faculties-the artificial contrivance by which he brings
within his limited ken that which by no other way he would be able
to grasp. Hence a sort of necessity for books of systematic theology.
But it is most needful that the Bible be not a book of this kind.
Were it so, the Scriptures would be only a skeleton -a worthless
residuum-or, as one has it, "a mere herbarium;" a curious collection of withered plants and flowers; a hortus siccus; a dry garden,
uninviting, desolate-no fresh fragrant flowers growing upon living
stalks, with the dew upon their leaves.  To illustrate the point, Christ
does not declare to a system, and say, "This is truth."  So doing,
he might have established a school; but he points to a person-himself.  And thus he founded not a school, but a church-a fellowship.
whose faith stands upon Him who is c the chief corner-stone" of the
Temple of Truth. By this miode of interpretation, as applied to all
other great truths, facts, and principles of Revelation, viewed in their
proper connection, order, and arrangement, we find how " every part,
fitly joined together and compacted," is rendered a perfect, organic
whole.
When God, who at divers times spoke to the world by his servants,
had spoken his last and fullest word then to this book there is added
no more, since there is nothing more to add; though prophetic vision
teaches this is n      ot "the be all," (for "the eye hath not seen," &c.)~
the latest, highest, supremest triumph which affects redeemed human
* I Cor. xi, 9. 
THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.                      427
ity. No, it can only be fully unfolded amidst the splendor and blessedness of a perfected kingdom in heaven. In connection with this
idea relative to the general arrangement, order, method, and unity
of design as seen in the Scriptures, we would further observe: Vast
as is the course which they have traced, it has been a circle still, and
in that most perfect form carries us back to the point whence it started
"The heaven which had disappeared from the earth since the third
chapter of Genesis, reappears in visible manifestation in the latest
chapter of Revelation. The' tree of life,' whereof we have only the
faintest reminiscences in all the intermediate time, again stands by the
'river of the water of life,' and again there is no more curse."  The
token of the covenant which God made unto Noah, for perpetual generations, in the first year of the restored earth, reappears with
"' a mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud and
a rainbow upon his head;" and yet again we find it fixed and permanent,-" about the throne of God, like unto an emerald."   The angels
that shouted for joy over the new-born earth, reappear with their
characteristic songs of praise and triumph, when they announce to
the wondering shepherds on the plains of Bethlehem, " good tidings
of great joy "-the birth of the world's "Saviour, which is Christ
the Lord."  And yet again in heaven they are heard saying, " Blessing and honor and glory and power be unto Him that sitteth upon
the throne, and to the Lamb for ever and ever!"
3. Its peculiar adaptation to the human mind, as fitted to satisfy
its utmost developments, furnishing a rich and exhaustless material
for the exercise of the soundest judgment, the most delicate sensibility of taste, the highest flight of imagination, and the loftiest contemplations of the human intellect; in the meantime eliciting and
improving all the best feelings and faculties of the soul. On this
point a few hints will suffice. We say that the Bible is adapted to the
human mind, and this in all stages of society, and in all advances of
the arts and sciences.  This cannot be said of any other boos."When
we read an ancient book on philosophy or medicine or any other science, we are constantly compelled to encounter positions which modern
science has ascertained to be false. Even the works of Lord Bacon
cannot be perused without melancholy reflections on his now obvious
errors in regard to many of the well-established facts in the physical
and the mental sciences. Not so with the Bible. It contradicts none
of the discoveries of modern science; but, on the contrary, lends its 
428                   THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.
light for a more sure, vigorous, and successful investigation, as it
shines on the pathway of universal advancement." The same might
be said of mental science, the only true system of which will yet be
found to have been given in the Divine Word; the entrance of which
alone imparteth a light wholly unmixed with darkness to the mind of
man; for the simple reason that all mere human theories of mental
philosophy have left the operations of the mind in religion almost
if not entirely out of view, which must of necessity lead to a cardinal
and ultimately destructive defect.  The operations of the mind in
regard to religion are most clearly detailed in the Scriptures; and as
they represent man as he really is, and not what human philosophy
would have him to be, we conclude that the Bible on this point furnishes the only true doctrine.  With equal truth these remarks might
be extended and applied to political science.  No other book presents such elevated views of the civil rights of man. The circulation
of the Bible has been the most certain mode of diffusing just views
of liberty and the nature of civil government. The truth of this may
be easily ascertained by opening a map of the world and drawing a
line around those regions where the Scriptures have had the most
free and extensive circulation. The truth is, the Bible contains the
only principles on which true liberty can rest with permanency. This
is obvious to every one who knows anything of its spirit or its doctrines.  " The Hebrew Commonwealth presents the first example ever
witnessed in the world of a Federative Republic, governed by equal
and fixed laws, and securing liberty to the subject in the truest and
best sense.  Neither tyrant nor Pope have been able to chain down
the minds of men, or subject their necks to the yoke of oppression,
while they had the Scriptures in their hands, and were allowed to
read and understand them."  The work of subjugation has always been
preceded by the locking up the "Word of Life," and taking from the
people the "K ey of Knowledge." If the liberties of our country are
to be preserved, it must be by spreading abroad through the land
the spirit and principles of the Bible; and if they are ever destroyed,
the first blow will be struck by men who disbelieve and hate the
Bible. Yes, "the Bible is the great charter and pledge of civil liberty." That memorable document drawn by our fathers-the Declaration of Independence-is based on that sacred text, "Whatsoever
ye would that men," &c. The most eminent men that have adorned
the land, in all the departments of its government, have found it to 
THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.                       429
their honor and advantage to study the Bible; and that the distribution, reading, and minding it, will do more to  establish national
peace than a standing army or a floating navy. It will do more to
check crime than all the criminal codes ever devised and employed,
and will insure liberty in all her justifiable forms, more than constitution and statutes, though these are necessary for a nationi's welfare, but would be insecure unless sanctioned by the authority of the
Bible. I-low many past governments stand out to view as monuments
of the instability of nations without the Bible! In the language of
another, we would here say:, Had the vale of Tempe, in ancient
Greece, been the garden of Gethsemane; had Olympus been Calvary, and had the ambiguous responses of the Delphic Oracle been
the sure testimony of the Word of God-then had not the swaddling
clothes that wrapped her infantLiberty so soon have proved its winding sheet!   From whom  did our illustrious ancestors imbibe  the
spirit that led them valorously to resist the encroachments of oppression-disqualified them to be slaves-but from the Bible   The Bible
was to WASHINGTON, the leader of their forces, as he bound it to
his heart, like the breastplate that indicated to the high priest when
Israel should war, and gave signs of God's approval. It was the ark
of the covenant, leading out an injured people to victory."
And not only to civil but religious liberty. Though every country
of the world, with all their resources, be employed; though every
Jesuitical effort combine to seat " the man of sin" upon the throne
of our Government; so long as we be faithful to God we need not
fear, for we have a weapon by which all the efforts of opposing foes
shall be foiled. As easily may darkness cover the land when the san
is in its unclouded zenith, as for Romanism or Infidelity to triumph,
when the Bible is abroad in the land. Like Dagon before the ark,
all its enemies shall fall and perish, and not a vestige remain to tell
of their former insolence and vain boastings of power. With gratitude to God we should acknowledge our indebtedness to the Word
of Revelation for the establishment of genuine liberty. The tree
beneath whose ample shade we have reposed,(and by whose fairest 
THE HOLY SCRIPTUttES.
Heaven's choice prerogative; true bond of law; social soul of property; breath of reason; life of life itself; earth's richest blessingcheap, though purchased with our blood; pure, celestial boon, revealed
of God, and by him freely given) we blend the social and domestio
relations, while, in connection with liberty and its numerous attendant blessings, we have a complete round of all the sweet endearments
of life.  And bright beyond comparison, in this respect, is "the beautiful land of our birth-the home of the homeless all over the earth;"
the divinely-honored abode of joy and peace and harmony and plenty;
where supporting and supported, friends and dear relations, with
strangers, welcomed, mingle high thoughts and smiles akin to those
when from the genial cradle of our race went forth the tribes of men
with hands and hearts ever open, gentle, kind. All that is connected
with the name offather, child, husband, wife, master, servant, friend,
guest, "the stranger that is within thy gates," is derived from the
things which God has graciously made known to man. And not only
is it adapted to the human mind, in a way to secure to us all those
blessings, social, political, and domestic, which so elevate and adorn
the race of man, but " the Bible also strengthcns as well as greatly
enlarges the human intellect. It does this, even wheen it does not change
the heart. It has a tendency to ennoble and refine, where it does not
save. There is nothing so likely to elevate and endue with new vigor
our faculties, as to bring them in contact with stupendous truths, and
the setting them to grasp'and measure those truths.*  This it does
not merely by its rich imagery, exquisite poetry, and clear history,
but because it brings truth to the mind, such as He who formed the
mind knew that it would need. When God comes in contact with
the human soul lie enlarges its power. The baptism of Pentecost
reachies the mind as well as the heart. Who can doubt that in the
presence of God in heaven the intellect grows in strength simply because it is brought into contact with the great mind of the universe?
There, God teaches without the medium of the Bible; here, with it
in both cases God dealing with the intellect." The faintest beam from
the star of Bethlehem is brighter than the strongest light philosophy 
THE  HOLY SCRIPTURES.                     431
the Lord, "This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the
world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come."
In assurance of this, John* beheld " an angel flying in the midst of
heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that
dwell on the earth, and to every nation and kindred and tongue and
people," and shall thus " fly and preach" until the world shall be
filled with the "brightness of the Lord's glory"'-a " light," indeed,
"that shineth more and more unto the perfect day!"  Hence we
conclude that the Bible is
4. Inexhaustible.  "Other books teach through the eye, and I may
take from the page all that the author has put there, and perhaps
even more, because I may have trains of thoughts suggested which
he never had; but opening the Book of God I open what is inexhaustible; first, because the mind that created its pages is infinite,
and has embodied its own emotions there; and, secondly, because the
spirit of God is ever present to aid the reader of the Scriptures."
" Am I an illiterate man i-" I take up Aristotle or Locke or Bacon,
or some other of the kind, and am perhaps in some point as dark at
the close as when I began the book, while, if an humble reader of
the Bible, I understand plans which embrace everlasting ages, and
the eternal destiny of myriads of created beings. From the Bible
there goes forth a mysterious light, and in that light I see the Infinite
One-" high and lifted up"-and as he sits upon the throne of the
universe,his eternal mind designs and completes the sublime scheme
of love and power which is recorded in the sacred page-" a page
where triumphs immortality; a page which not the whole creation
could produce, which not the conflagration shall destroy. In nature's
ruins, not one letter lost;'tis printed in the mind of God forever."
You may walk amid the columns of the most glorious porticoes and
listen to the "stoics' fond pretence," the philosophic lore of Athens,
but the charm is broken, the light eclipsed by truth's resistless
blaze. The glory of the once illustrious Parthenon is gone, and no
longer wins the praise of wondering Greece. You may gaze upon
the fairest landscape, and revel amid the boundless store
" of charms which nature to her votary yields,
The warbling woodland-the resounding shore,
The pomp of groves'and garniture of fields,
* Rev. xiv, 6. 
432                   THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.
All that the genial ray of morning gilds,
And all that echoes to the song of even,
All that the mountain's sheltering bosom shields,
And all the dread magnificence of Heaven."
These are created and limited.  The soul is immortal, and wants
something more. The soul is a native of the sky, and would pine
with pale decay if condemned to dwell on thoughts and scenes confined to earth. From such it turns disdainfully, to an equal good.
with eye of fire and wings of light, it seeks through all the ascent of
things to enlarge her view, till every finite object at length shall
disappear, and infinite perfection close the scene.
5. It is tireless. "You may load your shelves with the volumes of
eloquence, with the research of science, narrations of history, lofty
aspirations of poetry, but the time comes when these titles and pages
and contents become an old story. You take down the volume without interest and replace it without regret. Not so with the Bible. It
does not tire, like the toys of earth." It is an emanation of the infinite mind, and is for the greatest minds, and yet so adapted to the
weakest as to delight and charm by its wonderful simplicity and
variety.  It can bear to be looked at in its largest aspect as in its
smallest details.   Here truly are "maxinca in  miniris."   The
sun reflecting itself as faithfully in the tiny dew-drop as in the great
mirror of the ocean.  How do they shine like finely polished diamonds!  How simple, and yet how deep!  HIow beautiful, and yet
how amazingly grand and sublime! Every one can get something
from them, and yet no one can get all.  "He that gathers little has
enough, and he that gathers much has nothing over." Every one
there gathers according to his eating.  Who sees not in the Scriptures of God that the keys of heaven and hell are put into his hands,
and yet in this widest wealth are laid up thoughts in narrowest compass?  Who will venture to affirm that he has  come  to their end,
that he has dived into all their deeps, or that he expects to do so?
Even the skeptic Bayle was compelled to call them,"an abridgment
of all human history," and as such setting us at the very centre of
the moral oscillation of the world. Nor is it only what Scripture
says, but its very silence is instructive. More so, indeed, than the
speech of other books; so that it has been likened to "a dial in which
the shadow as well as the light informs us"-so that we can never tire
for the want of proper materials; for fresh interest and new delight 
THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.                       433
continually reward, as we read and re-read, time and again, with
glimpses unperceived before, of the strange, beautiful, grand, sublime
and manifold relations in which the visible and invisible stand to one
another in the sacred pages.
Thus, brethren, have I endeavored to present to you a few of the
aspects under which the subject of our text may be contemplated as
fitted to provoke, and even more, to reward our inquiries. Could I
bave known how to condense within the ordinary limits of a single
diseourse, all connected with the subject that is needful and proper to
introduce, I should not have left it so far unfinished as a whole, and
so imperfectly executed even those separate  and particular points
which I have endeavored to discuss. I should have been pleased to
leave unfolded and closed the sabject according to the plan I had
designed, viz:
I, II, III. As already treated, and then as follows:
IV. Contents of the Scriptures, &c.
V. Inspiration of, &e.
VI. Arguments for its truth, &c.
VII. Guilt of neglecting, &c.
VIII. Man's condition without, &e.
IX. Prospects of final triumph, &e.
X. The reading, study, practice, &c., recommended, urged, &e.
All of which (the remaining seven) presented and discussed even
as briefly and imperfectly as the three points already noticed, would
require at least two additional discourses of equal, if not indeed
greater length than the one here offered for your consideration. The
subject, however. is with you, and must stand (so far as we are concerned, at least on this occasion) in the unfinished form in which we
leave it, but for which it does not become us perhaps either to express any regret or offer any apology, since by so doing, we might
seem unmindful of a truth universally admitted, and for the elucidation of which we devoted the opening remarks of our present discourse, i. e., the utter impossibility of expressing fully by speech or
written words all the pre-eminently excellent, beautiful, grand, glorious and sublime things which the Scriptures alone, of all other productions, claim for themselves. For such a task, all men and all
angels combined, would be found inadequate, and that too (it may
be) though aided by the ever encircling light and perpetually aug 
434                    THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.
menting facilities of eternity; for God only can the mind of God
fully fathom. And what are the Scriptures but the transcript of the
Divine mind!.  here and there ocean-depths which  no line can
measure; or mountain height transcending the reach of finite gaze;
"pinnacled in clouds sublime throned in eternity."
On such athenme (without hyperbole) the world itself could not
contain the books that might be written; for if fully presented, it
must necessarily embrace all the hidden purposes and emotions, as
well as the manifold disclosures of infinite love, infinite wisdom, and
infinite power, as connected with mian's redemption, to say nothing
of the work of creation, and the schemes of Providence, so inconceivably vast in their design, interminable in their range, and endless in their operations and results. Yea, only to write the love
of God to man,
Would drain an ocean dry,
Nor would a scroll contain the plan,
Tho' stretched from sky to sky."
So, then, to the loving and earnest seeker of divine truth, the Scriptures will ever be making new and continually enlarging discoveries
in their heavenly doctrines; and thus to him what seemed at first but
a light vaporous cloud, will, upon a closer gaze, to his armed eye
resolve itself into a world of stars.  The farther he advances the
more will he be aware that what lies before him is far more than
what lies behind; the readier will he be to take up the hymn of
praise and thanksgiving, and wonder, with the Apostle, at the depth
of the riches, both of the wisdomi and the knowledge of God, which
are displayed at once in his works and in his word, but far more in
his word than in his works.  Hence saith David, "I will worship
toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy loving kindness
and for thy truth, for thou hast magnified athy word above all thy
name," preferring faithfulness to its promises, to the attributes of infinite power and wisdom. wherein Jehovah has proved himself ineffably great. Verily, oh God, thy word is truth, firmly rooted in the
attributes of all thy name, and will endure forever. Its birth is
divine, its destiny eternal. It cannot be extinguished, for God is its
light. It cannot die, for God is its life. Thrones may'totter, and
powerful sceptres be shivered, "but the word of our God shall stand
forever." By divine power has it been borne over the storms of
ages and sheltered amid the wreck of nations and of systems. It has 
THE IIOLY SCRIPTURES.                      435
bid defiance to the political, religious and intellectual convulsions of
three thousand years It has laughed at the impotent rage of its
enemies of every age, and name, and dye. "The power of kings, the
pride of nobles, the prejudices of priests, and whatever learning
could snatch fromn tihe arsenals ot the past, or wit invent, or wickedness wield) have been hurled against it, and all have recoiled broken,
and lie as trophies at its feet.   It has successfully resisted the persecution of kings and conquerors.  It has sustained tihe burden of
many centuries, and survived the shock of many  a disaster." Ia
every conflict it has triumphed, and all who have dared to assail it
have perished from the earth in deserved discomfiture.   By  the
breath of its power it has dissipated the mists of error, as from time
to time they have risen up in the form of Essays on the Miracles.
Ages of Reason, Theories of Creation, of the Races, &c.  Yes, it
has defied the sophismrs of Hume, the eloquence of Gibbon, the vituperations of Voltaire, the innuendoes of Rousseau, the blasphemies
of Paine, the terrible atheism of ttobbes and his immediate pupils,
the pantheism of Spinosa, the worse than heathenish philosophy of
Shaftesbury, the deeply impure and blighting immorality of Bolingbroke, the strange, monstrous, and ridiculous theories of Kant, the
dreamy and bootless idealism of Fitch, the vague absolutism of
Schelling, the childish entities of Kezel, the quibbling, contradictory infidelity of Strauss, and a thousand more of every class of
isms," which, in their sad delusions and wild perversions of a systemn which claims to be Christian, are as truly and as fearfully opposed to the principles of the Bible as the arch enemy himself might
desire, who would "4 have all men to believe a lie that they may be
damned." Thoughi in theory they teach with divers tongues, and
charm with a thousand artful plausibilities, yet they all practically
destroy the same hopes, and indflict the same ruin-quenching the
only torcmh of truth which throws its rays upon the gloom which
broods so heavily over this fallen creation   Yet blessed be God! in
despite of all those wide-spread, multiform, injurious, fatal systems
of unbelief; in despite of all the direct, malicious assaults of desperately wicked men and devils; in despite of all the earthly tempests that have beaten upon it, the word of our God still enaains,
the strong defence of the truth, the frontier bulwark of the Church,
and the nohlest and most precious boon which heavcn has bestowed
on this, our apostate and orphaned world, which is its great mission 
436                   TI{E I-IOLY SCRtIPTRE],"
ary field, and whose nations are its pupils.  And in it. august train,
science and art, commerce and agriculture, delight to follow, while
the demons of war fly appalled at its approach, amid the acelaiamations of redeemed mnillions, made joyful by its divine teachings.
To this end-securing the best interests of man for time and eternity-God first gave it; and from its earliest career to the present
moment he has guarded, watched over, and preserved it, as the authorized herald and organ of his divine will. "1 The final conflagration of the earth may destroy the material depository of its truths,
but the truths themselves will survive in the records of heaven, mirrored in the mind of the great I Am, engraved on the hearts of the
redeemed, and will become the eternally revered text-book of the
children of God."' lHere, then,.brethren, stand ye fast, and the gates
of hell shall never prevail against you.  On this moveless, e-erabiding rock we may plant our feet, and upon it we may wage the
last mortal strugle with the embattling hosts of error; and, if need
e, there would we fall, and there only.  We need not fear.  Thi,is
mighty tower of our God, round whose base the angry waters rage
and foam and fret, shall ever stand, calmly and strongly secure. We
may hear again, as indeed we have often heard, from the ranks of the
enemy, premature hymns of an imaginary triumph, but let us ever, my
brethren, resort to this impregnable fortress of our defence, and
make it a sanctuary till all the calamities of life beiloverpast, which
surely and shortly they will; and especially let us ever have at hand,
that immediate syllogism of the heart, agairost which no argument
is good-that is, ever to be able to say, "1 These words, we have them
to be words of healing, words of comfort and joy."  This is our sole
security: to have tasted the good word of God, to have known the
powers of the world to come. And what if theology may n,ot be able,
on the instant, to solve every difficulty, yet faith will nrot therefore
abandon one jot or tittle of that which she holds, for she has it on
another and a surer tenure-she holds it directly from her God,
"the Spirit itself bearing witness with our spirit" that verily they
are the words, the entrance of which giveth and revealeth to the renewed soul, with divine power and distinetness, the blessed truth
that in them we " have eternal life, and they are they which testify
of me "-of Christ, the anointed, the "sent of God," full of graze
and truth, in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge
-" the onlv name under heaven given among men whereby we must 
TIE HOLY SCRIPTUtRES.                     437
be saved," the name of Jesus, at which every knee must bow that
is in heaven, and in earth, and under the earth, and which every
tongue must confess to the glory of God the Father-the image of
the invisible God, by whom were all things created*-whose words
are spirit and life, and whom to know is eternal life, since he is the
author of eternal salvation. In a word, the truth is in Jesus, and
he is all and in all.  Out of Christ, not only is God a consuming
fire, but the great truths of creation and providence becomnie confused and perplexed, and shrouded in vague conjecture. When,
however, we fix our mind on the great fact that all things were created by Christ, and for Christ, and that hlie upholds all things by the
word of his power, making known thereby the manifold wisdom of
God, according to his eternal purpose, we learn, and not till then,
that the gorgeous structure of materialism spreading itself interminably above us and around us, that suns and planets, angels and men,
serve but to constitute one vast apparatus for effecting a mighty enthroneient of Jesus of Nazareth.  lience, from every field of inmmensity, crowded with admiring spectators, there rolls in the ecstatic
acknowledgment, "Worthy, worthy, worthy is the Lamitb."
Yes, it is unequivocally proved, by sundry declarations of the
Scriptures, that each star, each system, each human, each celestial
being, fills sonime place in a mechanism which is working out the noble
result of the coronation of Christ as Lord of all  and, as such, he is
all and in all. Every part of the Scriptures is inlaid with Christ-the
historical, prophetic, promlissory, ceremonial, doctrinal, and practical.
Remove ltimi, and we are at once " without God and without hope in
the world "-no sun, no star, to shine forth in the moral firmamient,
to guide and enlighten the lost and benighted of earth in their sad,
dark pilgrimage in search of rest in some peaceful abode. Blessed
be God, we have a sun in the spiritual heavens, and of such glorious
and redundant brightness that no nmirror is large enough to take in
all his beamns-the Sun of Righteousness. Blessed be God, we have
a star, which twinkles with undimmed lustre in the world's moral
night, and which, if faithfully observed, will avail to lead humble
and devout hearts from far-off regions of superstition and error, till,
kneeling as the eastern sages, beside the babe in the manger, they
will see all their weary wanderings repaid in a moment, and all their
desires finding a perfect fulfilment in Him-the Star of Bethlehem.
* Col. i, 16. 
438                    THE HOLlY SORIPTURES.
Search, then, the Scriptures, for they are they which testify of that
radiant sun, that brilliant star, that clear, true light, which lighteth
every man that cometh into the world:
,For like the dawn, its cheering rays
On rich and poor are seen to fall,
Inspiring their Redeemer's praise
In lowly cot and lordly hall."
Again, let all search the Scriptures; search them deeply, closely,
thoroughly, constantly, faithfully, honestly, unweariedly, earnestly
prayerfully; yea, dig into them, scrutinize them, sift them, and
weigh their import, accurately comparing Scripture with Scripture.'
the best and truest method, the simplest and surest exponent of its
own revelation. In a word, read, read the Scriptures, till you love
to read, and pray over them till you love to pray; and thus continue
to read and pray, never resting till you have imbibed their spirit into
the very frame and constitution of your soul, and with their spirit
transcribed the precepts and examples of Jesus into every part of
your daily walk in life. ere I giving my last advice, in death's
fearful hour, to the dearest friend I have on earth, it would be,
"Read your Bible."  So said Dr. Johnson to his friend Joshua
Reynolds; and so sings Dr. Young,
Read your Bible and be gay
There truths abound, of sovereign aid to peace.
Ah, do not prize it less because inspired,"
but indeed on that account prize it the more; and if on thy soul, as
thou dost read, a ray of purer light break in, give it full scope; admitted, it will break the clouds which long have dimmed thy sight,
and lead thee till at last convictions, like the sun's meridian beams,
illuminate thy mind.  "Prize it, as an immortal being, for it guides
to the New Jerusalem; prize it, as an intellectual being, for it giveth
understanding to the simple; prize it, as the only perfect standard of
truth known among men, and which nothing else can supersede or
substitute; before whose majesty science must bow, councils fall, and
fathers veil their heads, and one text of which outweighs all the
opinions and traditions of all Christendom." Prize it, as that which
was written for our learning, reproof, correction, instruction in
righteousness, that we, through patience and comfort thereof, might
have hope, by faith which is in Christ Jesus. Prize it, as that which
alone has the power of awakening intense moral feelings in man,
under every variety of character-learned or ignorant, civilized or 
THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.                       439
savage-of making bad  men  good; and of sending a pulse  of
healthful feeling through all the domestic, civil and social relations.
P-rize it, as it will teach you to aspire after a conformity to a Being
of infinite holiness, and fill you with desires and emotions and hopes
infinitely more purifying, more exalted, better suited to thy nature
than aught else this world has ever known, and which, in the last
mortal conflict, will enable you to say, as did a distinguished saint
of holy memory, "The Bible has done more for me than all the men
on earth or angels in heaven could do."
"Oh! precious Bible, we could forever enlarge on thy praise.
Read it, ye mourners in Zion, it will wipe away your tears. Read
it, ye bereaved, it will assure you that "a father of the fatherless,
and a husband of the widow, is G,)d in his holy habitation." Read
it, ye poor, it will soothe you under your privations. Read it, ye rich,
it will sanctify your abundance. Read it, ye old, it will support
your tottering age. Read it, ye young, it will preserve your giddy
steps, and save you from many dangers, seen and unseen." "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto,
according to thy word." Then, my young friend, bind it about thy
neck; write it upon the table of thine heart; so that, when thou
goest, it shall lead thee; where thou sleepest, it shall keep  thee;
and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee; for the commandment is a lamp, and the law is a light; and length  of days, and
peace, and favor in the sight of God and man, shall it add to thee.
I More to be desired is it than gold, yea, than much fine gold;
more precious than rubies; and all the things thou canst desire, are
not to be compared unto it."   Y ea, it is all-important, all-essential;
our standard, our rule, our medicine, our shield, our sword, our
bread, our water, our sun; the charter of our everlasting privilege
our support in life, our comfort in death, our light in the grave,
revealing amidst its gloomy desolations, Him who  is the "resur lection and the life," and thence shedding its far-extending radiance
upon the scenes and triumphs of the spirit-home of  the blessed
above.  Who can tell what it has done for individuals, for communities, for nations? Who can tell what it will do in the ages to come?
Let us quote it as authority in all matters of doubt and of disputation.  Let us bless God, that he has placed it in our hands.  Let us
conscientiously follow its wise counsels in all our works and ways.
Let us be thankful for a ministry which explains and applies it with
* Psalm xix, 129. 
440                    THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.
fidelity, and let us so bring our hearts along with it, as to strain
every nerve, pour out unceasing earnest prayer, and be lavish with
our silver and our gold, until the tidings which have made us glad
shall have echoed on every mountain and on every plain, by the
oceans and the rivers, over the islands of the sea, in the frozen
north, and the fruitful valleys of the sunny south, until every home stead and habitation of man throughout the whole earth shall be
cheered and brightened by God's own word, diffusing richly, right eousness, and holiness, and peace, and joy, and gladness. Then the
Bible will be seen and felt to be the best gift of God  to a guilty
world; the mighty lever for upheaving the long deeply imbedded
massive systems of idolatry, and every false religion; aye, the
divinely appointed agent of earth's moral renovation, and of man's
deliverance from the dominion of sin and the wrath to come   Ah,
brethren! we are swiftly passing away;  the world recedes and  dis appears, but our eyes being opened by this Word of Light, we behold
the glories of our heavenly inheritance. The promises of the Word,
which are faithful and true, remove our fears, and enable us to meet
our last enemy with Christian courage. With this lamp and light
we will pass safely through the dark vale of death, and then with triumph enter into the promised rest. Looking and hastening (as we
trust) unto this great reward, let us set a proper estimate on this
Llessed Word of Life.  Let us esteem it, like Job, " as more than our
necessary food; "or, like David, "sweeter than honey to the mouth;"
and like him, rejoice in it as one that findeth great spoils: yea, as he,
seven times a day praising God because of his testimonies, which
he loved exceedingly, they being his constant delight and counsellors.
Or say, like the great and pious Boyle, "I prefer a sprig of this tree
of life, to a whole wood of bays."
Exerting thus its power, going on conquering and to conquer, it
shall never cease in its career, until it shall have triumphed, ultimately and completely, over all opposition; never until it shall
have extended its dominion throughout the world, and having engaged the general assent of mankind to its truth, and itself installed in the place of undisputed authority, shall become the rule of
every man's faith and the guide of every man's life; then, shall
every man, binding it to his heart, be seen bowing before the God of
the Bible, and singing in concert with all the dwellers of earth,
"Alleluia, Salvation! the Lord God omnipotent reigneth!"
JUL 1 ~ jR1i