THE DAILY LIFE.








THE DAILY LIFE;
OR
PRECEPTS AND PRESCRIPTIONS
FOR
C HRI STIAN  LIVING.
BY TIHE
RPEV. JOHN CUMMi\ NG, D.D., F.i.S.E.,
MINISTER OF THE SCOTTISH NATIONAL CHURCH, CROWN COURT) COVENT GARDEN, LONDON.
4 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord." - Ro.. xii. 11.
" A servant with this clause
Makes drudgery divine:
Who sweeps a room, as for thy laws,
Makes that and the action fine."
GEORGE HERBERT.
BOSTON:
PUBLISHED BY JOHN P. JEWETT AND COMPANY
CLEVELAND, OHIO:
JEWETT AND PROC1'OR.
NEW  YORK: SIILDOISN, LAMPOR'r  N3  IT,1LAKEMAN.
18 5 5.




CA MBRIDGE:
ALLEN AND'PtINHAM, STEREOTYPERS AND PRINTERS.




PREFACE.
THE following reflections are intended to act on
the minds and hearts of those who are very busy by
day, and very weary at eventide. Every Christian
must descend from Tabor and its bright radiance
into the low level of every-day life. We need more
religion in such circumstances, and less theology.
We require not arid dogmas, however orthodox, but
warm joys - sustaining strength - cheering hopes,
and inspiring expectations. We need also direction,
guidance, encouragement.  What so powerful a
check to evil, or so comforting an assurance of
peace, as a sense of a presence that encourages us
in the paths of righteousness, and encompasses us
with a ceaseless defence? True spiritual religion
will enter into every relation, transaction, toil; and
not only regulate them, but give energy of heart and
strength of hand to fulfil them. Instead of crushing
by stern law, it attracts by beautiful example. It
I X                (5)




6                   PREFACE.
keeps us free from the sour asceticism that caricatures the world and corrodes the temper; and no
less so does it remind us of the enthralment of indulgence, and the danger of pampering the mind.
It enjoins temperance, moderation, forbearance; and
these are elements of strength. In sorrow, which
enters, sooner or later, every heart — in sickness,
or at seventy —in bereavements, and vexatious
trials, and bitter disappointments, which are the
shadows on the dial of daily life, we need the sweet
sunshine of the blessed gospel. The perfect character would be a composite of Martha and Marythe industry, and hospitality, and domestic management, that never wearied; and the piety, and teachableness, and love, and lowliness of heart, that sat
at the feet of Jesus, and drank in the truths of
everlasting life.
To many a Martha these pages may give warning
of being overanxious about many things, and that
" one thing is needful;" and to many a Mary, that
the highest spirituality is not incompatible with an
active and laborious life. The apostles retired from
Calvary, and Gethsemane, and the garden of Arimathea, to their accustomed labors on the sea, and
Jesus met them there and blessed them. Daily life
may be richly charged with divine life, and the air
and hopes and joys of eternity inspire and invigorate the toils and trials of time. Prayer and praise




PREFACE.                   7
and thanksgiving are not peculiar to the Sunday;
they are for every-day living.  May we so pass
through the things that are seen and temporal, that
we finally lose not those things that are unseen
and eternal.  May the daily life of time merge in
the sabbath life of eternity, and this little work be
as useful in the age that now is, as it will be useless in the age to come.








CONTENTS.
CEAPTEI                                               PAGE
I. REJOICE EVERMORE.....11
II. PRAY WITHOUT CEASING......    29
III. IN EVERY THING GIVE THANKS.  49
IV. QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT....                 68
V. DESPISE NOT PROPHESYINGS...  90
VI. PROVE ALL THINGS....                         113
VII. PROVE ALL THINGS......                    144
VIII. ABSTAIN FROM ALL APPEARANCE OF EVIL   168
IX. TIE, PERORATION..... 187
X. BUSINESS....   204
XI.  EAR NOT.........218
XII. THIE LIGHTS OF THE WORLD....   234
XIII. UNCONSCIOUS INFLUENCE...... 250
XIV. THE CHRISTIAN....260
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THE DAILY LIFE.
CHAPTER I.
REJOICE EVERMORE.
"c He is the happy man whose life even now
Shows somewhat of that happier life to come;
Who, doomed to an obscure but tranquil state,
Is pleased with it, and were he free to choose,
Would make his fate his choice; whom peace, the fruit
Of virtue, and whom virtue, fruit of faith,
Prepare for happiness; bespeak him one
Content indeed to sojourn while he must
Below the sides, but having there his home."
" Rejoice evermore. Pray without'ceasing. In every thing give thanks:
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not
the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that
which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil." - 1 THESS. v. 16-22.
THE words " rejoice evermore," are the first of seven prescriptions that occur in succession, describing the completeness or the perfection of the Christian character.  Principle
should or will always flower into practice. Life will show
itself in living. Every Scripture truth has a directly practical tendency. Christian doctrines are not abstract dogmas, to be retained in all the clearness, and with all the
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12                  THE DAILY LIFE.
coldness, of moonlight in the head; but warm, prolific, practical truths, like the grace of God spoken of by the apostle,
tending and teaching us to live soberly, and righteously, and
godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope,
the glorious appearing of Jesus Christ our God and Saviour.
We cannot suppose that the vital truths of Christianity received into the heart. fail to bear fruits. No Christian
doubts their fruitfulness.  We feel it to be true; in our
practical experience and history we know it to be true; but
there are persons who think and say, " Christians are always proving doctrinal truths, and rarely do they attempt to
show us the blossoms these should bear as the ornaments of
Christianity, and the fruit that should ripen upon them as
its practical growth before God and all mankind."  The
beautiful prescriptions, seven in number, given by St. Paul,
contain, as carried into practical life, the plastic influences
that generate a holy life, and ripen into the fruit, the fragrant fruit, of the Christian character.  However, we need
not argue that doctrinal truths are practical. We never can
admit that a cause is without an effect; or that the sun at
mid-day sheds down no splendor.  We cannot suppose a
person in his senses speaking of a fire, but regretting that it
has no heat; or of the sun at noon, but lamenting there is
no light. In the same manner it is absurd, and equally absurd, to speak of great, broad, doctrinal truths, and yet to
regret they have no practical value.  They are living, and
therefore fruitful. A truth is meant for telling not only with
the lips, but on the life, the character, and the conduct.
Great truths we admit may be taken into the head, where
they may lie cold, magnificent abstractions - for they never
part with their magnificence even when thus received, but
there they produce no proper fruit. But we are in such a
case to blame not the truths, but the subject that imperfectly
receives them. If one were to scatter seed-corn upon the




REJOICE EVERMORE.                 13
pavement, or on the hard stones, we could not reasonably
expect a harvest; not because the seeds had no vitality, but
because the hard stones were not receptive soil. So when
these truths produce no practical fruit of whatever things are
pure, and just, and lovely; do not blame the truths, which
is the common thing, but blame yourselves, which is the difficult, and, we admit, the painful, but, nevertheless, the right
thing. The tendency of man is to lay the responsibility
upon the truths, and say, " I am not what I should be because these truths leave not the power which the preacher
says they have;" but the real duty is to lay the guilt upon
himself. We have in all likelihood taken the truths into
the head and left them there, instead of taking them into the
heart and giving them hospitality there, where by their constraining and sanctifying energy you would be adorned by
all the fruits of practical and true Christianity. It is important to show that vital truths have all a directly personal
and practical effect; and to do so not simply by quoting
instances in actual life, but by quoting such prescriptions as
are given by the apostles, and thus showing how they regard
them, and what they hold to be, logically, their precious
fruits.
The seven or eight prescriptions in the very short, but extremely suggestive, passage, in 1 Thess. v. 16-22, contain
the perfection of the Christian character. They are Christianity not in portrait on the outer page, but in living sculpture and in living men. It is the perfect man in Christ
Jesus. The whole seven have a most intimate connection,
being linked together in sweet and blessed harmony. If
you wish always to rejoice, the way to do so is to "pray
always."  And if you want to pray successfully for new
blessings, the way to do so is "to give thanks" for old
ones; and if you desire "always to rejoice," always to pray,
always to give thanks, take care you "quench not the
2




14                 THE DAILY LIFE.
Spirit," who can enable you to do so. And if you wish not
to quench the Spirit or to grieve him, but, on the contrary,
to cherish him, despise not these declarations of God's word,
which are here called " prophesyings."  And in order not to
despise prophecy, "prove all things."  And in order not to
live as a mere controversialist, always proving, but never
practising, "hold fast that which is good."  So that you can
see throughout all a binding and beautiful connection, the
one woven into the other; and the whole in practice constituting the perfection of Christian character.
In reading these Divine prescriptions, let us notice their
universality or endurance — or if there be any other word
better fitted to express my meaning. It is, " Rejoice evermore;" not to-day and to-morrow, but evermore.  It is,
" Pray always," or continually. It is, " In every thing "not in some things, but " in every thing give thanks."  It is,
"Despise not prophesyings "-   in the plural number, that
is, any part of God's word.  A negative like this in the
Bible is a strong positive, it means, revere them profoundly.
"Prove all things" that are submitted to you as being from
God. And, finally, "Abstain from all appearance of evil."
There is an all-embracing universality in these prescriptions, teaching us that there is no age in which any of them
is unseasonable, that there is no year in the threescore and
ten, or month in the year, or day in the month, in which
these prescriptions are impracticable. In sunshine and in
shadow, in life's bright spots, and in life's bleak and desert
ones, when the heart is bounding and when the heart is
breaking; in all time of your wealth, in all time of your
tribulation, rejoice always, pray continually, quench not the
Spirit, abstain from all appearance of evil.
We cannot help noticing, what is no less interesting, the
intensity of each prescription.  We do not mean simply
their connection, nor merely the universality of their applica



REJOICE EVERMORE.                     15
tion, but tlhe intensity in each.  All real life is earnest.
Wherever there is a professing Christian who is not thoroughly in earnest, it is want of Christianity that makes him
so.  It is impossible to believe what this book teaches, and
be apathetic or indifferent.  It is, " Thou shalt love with all
thy heart; " and the constant opposite of that is, Thou shalt
hate with all thy heart; but any thing between is neither
cold nor hot, and it will be rejected utterly of God.  Not
only "Joy," but  "Rejoice always;" not only "Pray," but
let your prayer culminate or blossomi into praise.  " Despise
not," means study and deeply reverence.  And not only
prove, but approve; and not only hold, but hold fast that
which you have proved to be good.  There is therefore the
intensest force in each prescription.  Thus there is, first, a
close connection subsistimng         aon  ll the graces of the Christian character.  There is, next, the applicability of every
prescription to every phasis of fie Christian life.  And,
lastly, we see the intensity of all that characterizes the
Christian, and marks him out as separate and distinct from
the world.
Let us now, after having traced the connection that subsists among these prescriptions, ponder and try-to explain
the first prescription of all; namely, "e Rjoice evermore."
What a glorious prescription,'  Rejoice evermore  "  Christianity is not a sepulchral tiling, a gloomy life, a depressed
condition of social existence.  It is impossible that it can be
so, as the world brands it with such a prescription as this
from  an apostle's lips, " Rejoice  evermore."  True, the
Christian has his sorrows; but these are not unsweetened.
True, the Christian life has its shadows and its showers; but
these are not unmingled with bright beams of heavenly
light; and the saddest aspects of a Christian's daily life are
but the April showers of spring that usher in the approaching bright and beautifuil summer, - the everlasting and the




16                THE DAILY LIFE.
heavenly sunshine.  Christian life is not a penance as the
Romanist thinks it, but a privilege, as God describes it. It is
not a reluctant sacrifice wrung from us, but a joyous and
freewill offering gladly and gratefully rendered by us. And
therefore the light of our life is not a dim, but a bright religious light.  The injunction of our apostle is, "Rejoice always;" and the prayer of the apostle's Lord, "That my
peace may remain in you;" and again, "That my joy may
abide in you, and that your joy may be full."  And Peter,
catching up the thoughts of his Lord still shining with undiminished lustre on the leaves of memory, answers in his
Epistle, " Whom having not seen, we love; in whom, though
now we see him not, yet believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." And the Apostle Paul, echoing
the same grand sentiment, says, " We joy in God. Rejoice;
and again I say, Rejoice." This shows us, that of all happy
men upon earth the Christian should be happiest. His sorrows come from sin, his griefs spring from evil; his sunshine,
his gladness, and his joy are the spontaneous and normal
elements of his true Christian and holy life.
Unless our hearts are filled with the joy that the gospel
imparts, our life must become gloomier the longer that it
lasts. Unless a Christian feels the joy that this blessed book
makes known, his life will grow sadder the nearer it draws
to a close, and the most aged man will necessarily be the
saddest. I appeal +o experience. Do we not feel that, as
we grow older, we become less susceptible of impression from
the joys that once shone so brilliantly and struck us with
such force before?  You now look at the child playing
with his baubles, and wonder how the little child can be
pleased, perhaps forgetting that kings are only playing with
baubles more splendid, but no less empty, as seen by angels
and the inhabitants of higher spheres. Do not those who
have reached the middle of life, and look back on the march




REJOICE EVEIUMORE.                 17
they have left behind, notice that the procession of those
who are no more with us grows longer every day; and
scenes, that made the heart bound and set the feelings all on
fire twenty years ago, now cease to produce the least effect
when repeated and even radiant with more than their former
brilliancy. Do we not find that, try as we like, we cannot
recall the romance of childhood, or rekindle the dying embers of departed youth, or restore to the canvas the bright
colors that have faded, and gone forever and ever. But
here lies the charmo  of Christianity, -here is the preciousness of the gospel of Christ, that as natural joys ebb away
and are spent, heavenly ones rush into their forsaken channels. As the past ceases to impress, the future and the
heavenly begins to shower down new and better pleasures.
As the old heart dies to the excitements that thrilled it once,
the new heart begins to come under the influence of those
brighter and better joys that come from the future.  As
earth ceases to attract, heaven begins, if we be Christians,
more powerfully to draw us. We cease to look backward
to a world that cannot give us any real delight, and begin to
look forward to a brighter and a better world, that, like a distant star, grows lovelier the nearer we approach it. Old
age without religion loses two worlds at once; the world
that has past is gone, and it has no future world to go to:
but old age, inspired by living religion, only exchanges the
old world, that is ready to perish, for the new, the brighter
and more glorious world, that begins to burst upon it. Of
all beings upon earth, we pity an old man without living religion. We pity the young that have not that which can
sanctify their joy; but still more do we pity the old whose
hearts are the dry and empty channels of streams that have
evaporated, and are not replenished with the living waters
that flow from the fountain of God and of the Lamb. Thus
we see how precious religion is, even if for no other reason
2-*




18               ITHE DAILY LIFE.
than that it takes the place of those joys that have withered,
and cheers us as we go down the other side of the hill towards the valley of the shadow of death; so that, as the
pleasures of memory fade, the pleasures of a sure hope shall
become brighter every day.
Having seen the excellence of this joy, and the importance
of religion as inspiring it, let us try to ascertain why we
should rejoice; and then, in the next place, what is meant
by rejoicing evermore. Why should we rejoice? There is
every thing in the Bible to make a Christian rejoice; there
is nothing to make a Christian,.as such, sad, dejected, and
sorrowful.  God has undone all that should grieve us,
and he has done. all that should make us exceeding glad.
He has undone all that should distress us. "There is no
condemnation to them  that are in Christ Jesus."  Glorious truth! "There is no condemnation to them  that
are in Christ Jesus."  The curse of the law has been borne
and exhausted by our Substitute; it cannot scathe me.
The blessing of the law that I forfeited has been repurchased by my Saviour; it cannot escape me. All that I
deserve as a sinner he endured; all that I owe as a creature
he paid. In him there is no condemnation. On the other
hand, he has done all that could be done to make me happy.
He so loved me that he gave Christ to die for me. I He has
given me his word to guide me, his Holy Spirit to teach and
to comfort me, and the bright promise of an inheritance, incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away. And as
if to make me sure of all he has said, "All things are yours,
Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, the world, things present, things
to come; life or death - all are yours;- because ye are
Christ's." In what sense are all yours? All the world's
troubles and trials are mine, to keep me from presumption
-all the world's joys and blessings are mine, to keep me
from despair or doubt —all things that are in the world




REJOICE EVERMORE.                19
work for good to them that love God, and are the called acoording to his purpose. I see nothing in the law that can
alarm me -nothing in the Bible that can depress me-but
much in every page, more in every providential arrangement of heaven, to cheer me, and to make me respond with
joyous utterance to the prescription of the apostle, " Rejoice
always." His ordinances are mine also, and for my benefit.
What a blessed fact that God should bow his ear to listen
to a sinner's prayer. I believe the simplest privileges that
are revealed in this book we may absolutely miss the weight
and meaning of by not dwelling upon them. Would not
this make us happy, that we have access in this world to the
fountain of honor, of power, of influence? How much more
so, if we were what we should be, that we have access to
the fountain of living waters! Hence prayer in a Christian's experience is ever delightful. There is not only joy
in his conscious privilege, but there is joy in the use of that
privilege. When the mere worldly man prays, he prays as
a Romanist, - namely, as a penance. And hence a mere
professor performs prayer, a true Christian prays prayer.
With the one it is a sacrifice to propitiate God; with the
other it is a child's expression of his lowest and his loftiest
wants in the ear and to the heart of a listening and loving
Father. Hence to a Christian, prayer is not only privilege
in itself as well as a right, but it is enjoyment in the exercise
of it. A Christian, too, should rejoice and may rejoice in
full assurance of faith. We do not say that every true
Christian has full assurance. The Bible does not teach the
absolute duty of full assurance of faith, or that if not fully
assured we have not faith at all. But unquestionably many
a Christian can say with no feigned lips, " I know in whom
I have believed, and that he is able to keep what I have
committed to him against that day;" and another can say,
" Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon




20                 THE DAILY LIFE.
the earth I desire beside thee; and when heart and flesh
faint and fail, thou wilt be the strength of my heart, and-my
portion for ever and ever."  Faith believes in Christ for
salvation; assurance, which is a step higher, believes that
in Christ we already have salvation. Both are saving.
The first is saving only, the second is saving and comforting
too. And an apostle writing, says, " These things we write
unto you"   wishing them to have full assurance - "that
your joy may be full."
A  Christian rejoices in the knowledge of God. What
music is to the sensitive and susceptible ear, what beauty is
to the eye, what health is to the frame and sweetness to the
taste — all this, and more than this, the knowledge of God,
through apprehension of the everlasting gospel, is to the
true Christian.  Isaiah expressed the blessings of Chris
tians, not of a prophet only, when he said, " How beautiful
upon the mountains are the feet of them that bring glad
tidings of good things!"  And to a Christian whose mind
is enlightened, all, not only all that God has written, but all
that God has made, is perfectly beautiful.  Earth is clothed
with new verdure, because he sees it was his Father who
clothed it. All Providence is full of new blessings, because
it is God's action in the midst of the world; and even thistles and thorns are welcome to a Christian, because they
urge him to quicken his pace through time, and to hasten to
that " city which hath foundations, whose builder and whose
maker is God."  A  Christian rejoices in prayer, in the
Bible, in the knowledge of God; and the more he mingles
in all this prescription of the apostle, the richer the joy that
is poured into his heart.
But there are other ways in which our joy is increased
and strengthened. A Christian rejoices, and has his joy increased, by giving for Christ's sake. If you wish to be
happy, begin, if you have never begun before, liberally to




REJOICE EVERMORE.                21
give to what is good. This is not said at random, but on
the strength of our blessed Lord's own assertion, "It is more
blessed to give than it is to receive." In all you give to the
widow, in all you distribute to the orphan, in all that you lay
upon the altar in response to the claims of Christ and his
kingdom, you have no ground for boasting, but you have
much ground for increase of joy and rejoicing evermore. By
a great law, the larger you make the amount of your beneficence the richer the harvest you will reap in the end. He
that gives most enjoys most. Every cup of cold water that
you give to the thirsty, every kind look that you reflect on
the needy, every morsel of bread that you impart to the
hungry, every helping hand you hold out to the downtrodden, every text of truth you whisper in the ears of the dying, every page of the Bible you send forth to the distant
ignorant, comes back to yourself in waves of swelling joy,
and by a beautiful reaction you reap whilst you sow, and
taste the blessedness whilst you exercise the beneficence of
giving to them that need your sympathy and your assistance. It is a grand and blessed law in God's holy providence, that if you try to increase your own joy by gratifying
your desires and appetites, you find that you stimulate them
by indulgence, and the more you give them the more they
necessarily crave. But, on the other hand, if you wish to
increase your joy by denying your own desires and appetites,
and giving as a ministry to the wants and necessities of others,
you will find that, though your desires and appetites are thus
unstimulated, yet will your gratification increase, and the
more you give the more you will swell the current of your
happiness, and multiply the joys of your own heart. To rejoice always, therefore, give always. " There is that scattereth and yet increaseth."  It is recorded of a man who had
made an ample fortune and had retired to a country-seat to
enjoy it, that when he had nothing to do he became absolutely




22                 TITE DAILY LIFE.
wretched; so wretched that he formed the horrible idea of
committing suicide.  Going to drown himself he met a poor
woman who had not tasted bread for four and twenty hours;
cold - ragged - wretched - starving.  She implored aid,
he gave her a shilling; and the grateful smile reflected from
that starving woman's face arrested his career, and he returned a wiser and a better man, saying to himself, " If God
makes me the instrument of giving happiness by the gift of
a shilling, I think he must have more work for me to do in
the world."  If any do not know what to do, and therefore
cannot find happiness in the world, let them apply at the
nearest Sunday school for work as teachers. Visit the first
day school and take an interest in it. Follow a city missionary in his laborious, and arduous, and excellent toil;
and you will reap blessings in that poor man's footsteps.
If you want to be happy, do good; if you wish to rejoice,
begin to be beneficent. This is a law that God has made.
In every age, in every circumstance, in every sphere, it has
been proved to be practically true; make the experiment,
and you will find it is so still.
We may increase our joy and rejoice when we cannot
give, by the expression of sympathy with those that suffer,
or cooperation with those that do good. The apostle says
it is one of the Christian duties to "rejoice with them that
do rejoice, and to weep with them that do weep."  To refuse to do so must spring from  envy, or from jealousy, or
from ill-will. The sorrow that a brother feels, which finds
a resounding echo in my heart, leaves a sense of satisfaction
there. If you have no wealth to give, you have a tear to
shed - a helping hand to extend- a kind word to say;
and you will find that these will return in streams of happiness into your own bosom. And wherever therefore we
see the cause and kingdom of Christ promoted really and
truly, we should rejoice; if we do not rejoice, let us ex




REJOICE EVERMORE.                    23
amine ourselves; there is something wrong in our character.
If you see a rival party - another church - spreading the
gospel more successfully than yours, to be envious is human,
to rejoice is divine.  And just in proportion as you hail
good done, by whomsoever it is done, and rejoice in blessings distributed, by whatsoever hand they are distributed,
will your own joy be increased  and multiplied in all directions.
We have seen, first, that joy is the true state of a true
believer; secondly, that without the increasing joy of the
gospel old age must only be increasing sorrow; thirdly, that
God has undone all that could obstruct the entrance of joy,
and that he has done for us all that can communicate true
joy.  We have seen next that he has left us prescriptions
that under his blessing multiply and increase our joy —such
as sympathy with them that suffer - giving to them that are
needy.  Let us now try to show, and as briefly as possible,
that the joys which spring from  these cisterns, or rather
from the fountain of life, ought to be exercised not only
everywhere, but always.  "Rejoice evermore."  The word
translated "evermore" is rcavroTr  which means literally "at
all thens" — " at every then" —at all times, on every occasion,    rejoice.  If we open the Bible we find that joy and
rejoicing is the experience of Christians in the worst of circumstances.  In a truly beautiful passage of the prophet we
find a striking instance: " Though the fig-tree shall not
blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the
olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock
shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the
stalls "-that is, famine, desolation, pining, and pinching
poverty- what shall I do?  The stoic would say, I will be
insensible - that is, I will turn granite.  The mere man of
the world will say, I will destroy myself, that is, I will commit suicide; and the mere philosopher will say, I will sub



24                THE DAILY LIFE.
mit to it; but the Christian can triumphantly exclaim, "I
will " - notwithstanding -    rejoice in the Lord, and joy in
the God of my salvation."  Paul says, "As sorrowful, yet
always rejoicing — his life like an April day-sunshine
and showers, tears and smiles, intermingling in rapid succession. James says, " Count it all joy when ye fall into
divers temptations." And, again, it is said of the Christians,
in the Epistle to the Hebrews, "Ye took joyfully the spoiling of your goods."  We are therefore taught in all these
passages, that in that hour when, according to this world's wisdom, a Christian should weep, he may " rejoice evermore."
There is no night that falls upon our hemisphere in which
there are not some intermingling rays. There is no sorrow
in which there is not some compensatory spring of joy and
thankfulness. Have you lost your property?  Has some
Atorm, unexpected - and it may be, undeserved - swept
away all that your industry had accumulated? Is not that
ground, the world would say, for sorrow? It is, no doubt,
ground for sorrow; and if you look at the loss in itself,
you must weep; or if you regard the loss as an accident, you cannot but grieve. But if you can look above
the loss, and see it was a Father that took it from you,
because. you made it a substitute for him; or that it was
infinite love that snatched it from you, because your heart
was there instead of being where Christ your treasure
is; then the loss of earth may be the gain of heaven, and
the departure of the riches of this world may leave you
a deeper hold of the unsearchable riches of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It is thus, that amid the losses of this world you
may feel in the knowledge that God sends them, and that a
Father's love is in them, what will make you, like the early
Christians, " take joyfully the spoiling of your goods."  The
mere man of the world says, " I am afflicted, I have lost my
property; therefore God hates me."  But the Christian be




REJOICE EVERMORE.                  25
gins at the other end, and says, " God loves me, therefore
my loss of property must be the expression of that love."
The natural man argues from the physical effect below, up
to the moral feeling that is in God's bosom above; but the
Christian begins his creed,- as he begins his prayer,with "Our Father," and then he argues downwards, "the
heaviest blow is from his hand, the sorest loss is his will, the
bitterest disappointment is only the expression of his infinite
and inexhaustible love."
But, perhaps, you have suffered a severer trial than this:
you have lost those that you loved on earth; you are bereaved and left forlorn and alone; and you ask, Can I hear
or respond to the words of Paul,." Rejoice evermore," whilst
I gaze on the pale face of the beloved dead?  Can I rejoice
when my tears flow so fast and so bitterly?  Yes, even
ohere, when dust goes to dust, and ashes to ashes, a Christian may hear an undertone of gladness, and feel an undercurrent of joy in his deepest and his bitterest sorrow; for if
the lost was a Christian he is not lost, he is only gone before,
- the preoccupant of the everlasting rest, —the inheritor
of the better land. You feel a new detachment from. a'
world that is perishing, and a new attachment and attraction
to a world that lasts forever; and,. instead of burying your
heart in the grave of the dead, you will lift it to the home
and the habitation of the living, knowing that " absent from
the body is present with the Lord," and that departure from
you was to be " with Christ, which is far better."  Thus the
palm  rises where cypress grew, and joy springs from the
scenes of grief, and the grave rings already with the accents
of a coming and a joyous resurrection.
But there is another hour, - that hour that comes to all,
and must come to the oldest and the youngest; the hour
when " the dust shall return to the earth as it was, and the
spirit shall go to him that gave it."  In that hour Christians
3




26                 THE DAILY LIFE.
have rejoiced- and Christianity teaches us to rejoice; and
if we have felt its blessed influence in our hearts,  a dying
hour will be to many of us our brightest and our happiest.
When God says to the Christian, " Come up hither," he invariably gives him a robe of willingness to put on for it.
We often anticipate what we shall feel when dying by what
we feel now. We are now in full health and strength, and
we do not wish to die.  Quite right; there is nothing sinful
in that; it is altogether natural. It is unnatural to die.
But when God lays us on the last bed, and the heart, " like
a muffled drum," indicates it is " beating " its last;' march to
the grave "- then and there God gives us - what he has
not given us yet- a willingness to "depart and to be with
Christ which is far better."  We shall discover at that hour,
inspired by God, and " willing in the day of his power," that
the body we are leaving is only the broken up and ruined
temple in which Divine service is now ended; and that the
holy and immortal Levite that lived and officiated within,
begins his ascent through the veil into the holy of holies, to
serve God without imperfection and without suspension.
Death comes to the Christian, clad in no robes of terror, but
with a bright and joyous welcome.  The Greeks made it a
rule never to mention the word O&varog, death - the Ponoans
rarely mentioned the word mors. They would not even say
that a man was dead; they were frightenedat death; and I
do not wonder at it. A Roman would say of a person that
died, not, he is dead, but, fuit, that is, he was; meaning he
was once, but he is not now; the word death being so terrible to an heroic Roman, so repugnant to an accomplished
Greek, that neither used it when they could escape the necessity of the employment of the sad word. It is Christianity that has made death familiar, that has clothed it in
robes of beauty, that has disclosed in it, not the foe that
comes to smite, but the messenger of Christ that bids us




REJOICE EVERMORE.                   27
welcome to our everlasting homne. And why should not a
Christian rejoice at death? It is being lifted from the field
of conflict into the everlasting rest; the soul goes at that
hour to join the companionship of them with whom we took
sweet counsel upon earth, and to wait till the rest of the
saints are gathered to their everlasting home.  One wonders
that a true Christian, who has half his family, his relations,
and his friends in the great continent of heaven, should not
long to cross the sea that separates this distant isle from it,
and so to be, not only with Christ whom he loves, but with
them rwho have preoccupied the many mansions, years and
months before him.
Thus, "in all time of our tribulation, in all time of our
wealth, in the hour of death, and," I may add, " in the day
of judgment," a Christian may rejoice, "rejoice evermore:"
rejoice that God reigns, rejoice that not a hair of his head
can fall without his permission, rejoice that there are no accidents; that "a mother may forget her infant, that she
should not have compassion on the fruit of her womb; but I
will not forget thee: I have engraven thee upon the palms
of my hands; thou art continually before me."
Thus Christians may rejoice now -rejoice exceedingly;
joy entering into us here, as a tiny rill, we enter into joy
there as an illimitable sea; the joy of heaven beginning
upon earth, and the joy of earth expanding and unfolding
itself in heaven. That Christians dying thus rejoice, I think
we have a very beautiful instance in the very remarkable
words of the late Dr. Payson, an eminent American divine,
who says, writing a letter, as he was able to do in his dying
moments,' Were I to adopt the figurative language of Bunyan, I might date this letter from the land of Beulah, of which
I have been for some weeks a happy inhabitant.  The celestial city is full in my view. Its glories beam upon me — its
breezes fan me -its odors are wafted to me - its sounds




28                 THE DAILY LIFE.
strike upon my ears - its atmosphere is breathed in my heart.
Nothing separates me from it but the river of death, which
now appears but as an insignificant rill, that may be crossed
at a single step whenever God shall give permission. The
Sun of righteousness has been gradually drawing nearer and
nearer, appearing larger and brighter as he approaches, and
now he fills the whole hemisphere, pouring forth a flood of
glory in which I seem to float like an insect in the beams of
the sun, exulting, yet almost trembling, while I gaze on the
excessive brightness, and wondering with unutterable wonder why God should deign thus to shine upon a sinful worm.
I want a new heart to love him, a new tongue to celebrate
his praise."
This is not fanaticism, it is the enthusiam of a love refreshed and strengthened with the joy of the Lord, not the
fanaticism of one who knows not what he says.
Are we branches of the vine? Are we members of the
body of Christ?  Have we abjured every name but his?
Have we ever felt in its pressing force the vast importance
and value of the soul?  Have we ever asked, under deep
depression, " what'must I do to be saved?"  Have we
found Him in whom alone is everlasting life?  Are we
Christians?  There is joy like a river for the humblest
Christian; there is no joy for the most illustrious personage
who is a stranger to the gospel of Christ. If you be Christians, rejoice. You owe it to God, to show to the world
that he makes his own happy; you owe it to the world, to
draw it to that spring from which your heart is filled; you
owe it to yourselves. Rejoice, for the Lord is your strength.
Rejoice evermore; rejoice, and again I say, Rejoice.




CHAPTER II.
PRAY WITHOUT CEASING.
Man's plea to man is, that he never more
Will beg, and that he never begged before.
Man's plea to God is, that he did obtain
A former suit, and therefore sues again.
How good a God we serve, that when we sue,
Makes his old gifts the examples of his new! "
"Pray without ceasing."- 1 THESS. v. 17.
SEVEN more practical, compressed, and sententious prescriptions, for daily life, could not be selected, than those
which begin at the 16th verse, and end at the 22d verse, of
the 5th chapter of 1 Thessalonians.  We have seen the intimate connection of one with the other.  Do you wish to
enjoy all the sweetness of the first-" Rejoice evermore"
-you must "pray without ceasing."  Do  ou uwish to pray
without ceasing, you must give thanks in every thing for
what you have, as the best preface to asking for things
which you have not.  Do you desire to pray without ceasing, and in every thing to give thanks?  Then "quench
not," or grieve not, him who inspires all prayer —the Holy
Spirit.  And do you long to know  how to think of this
blessed and Divine  ine eig, and not to quench the Spirit?
Then' despise not prophecy."  And do you long to be sure
that you are right?  Then " prove all things."  But do not
3*                       (29)




30                 THE DAILY LIFE.
stop there, but "hold," and not hold only, but "hold fast
that which is good." And do you desire in all respects to
appear what you are?  " Abstain," not from all evil only,
but from all constructive evil, "from  all appearance of
evil."
In our last chapter we endeavored to unfold the meaning
of " Rejoice evermore."  We now proceed to open the
spring from which that joy must flow, and to exhibit the
root on which its pleasant fruit must ripen. There is no
true joy in a Christian's heart unless there be living and
real prayer in a Christian's practice. The two are inseparable.  God will not give privilege without duty; and,
blessed be his name, he never gives duty without the accompaniment of precious privilege.
"Pray without ceasing."  Prayer is the spring of joy,
the secret of emancipation from  trouble. "Is any man
afflicted?  Let him pray."  The Pentecost of 1800 years
ago was an answer to prayer. And what a change that
made! the timid, cowardly, vacillating Peter becomes the
intrepid champion of the truths which terrified him even by
their utterance before. The obscure became the teacher of
nations; reserve burned into eloquence; and he that was
once afraid to confess his Master before a servant-maid, now
confronts kings and royal cabinets, and, like Paul, reasons,
unabashed, of righteousness, and temperance, and judgment.
The very first inquiry suggested by the apostolic prescription is, What is prayer? I do not know that I can answer
that question in language more succinct or more expressive
than that which is given in a document of far greater value
than some are disposed to set upon it at this day - a document that many have known in youth, and, I doubt not,
have not forgotten in riper years - the Shorter Catechism.
The question is asked in that beautiful formulary of sound
doctrine, What is prayer? and the answer given is, " Prayer




PRAY WITHOUT CEASING.                 31
is an offering up of our desires to God for things agreeable
to his will in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins
and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies: " a very beautiful and a very comprehensive definition. It is the offering up of our desires to God. In Scripture prayer is
scarcely defined. Its meaning is assumed. It is an instinct; it was born of the first want; it was understood in
the human heart at its first ache. Man needs not a definition of that which the deepest instincts of his nature explain,
the moment that he knows what it is to be hungry, and
thirsty, and naked, and in need of any thing. Prayer is
hunger's appeal for food; it is thirst's cry for living water;
it is sin's yearning for forgiveness; it is death's last look for
everlasting and glorious life. We need not a dogmatic
definition; we feel what it is. The duty and necessity of
prayer belong to this present dispensation; in the future
dispensation there will be no wants, and therefore no
prayer. In the present there are nothing but wants without ceasing, there must must be therefore prayer without
ceasing. The psalmist says very beautifully, " Whom have
I in heaven but thee?" heaven is the place of having;
"and there is none," he adds, "upon the earth I desire
beside thee." Earth is the place of desire. That is heaven, where all is having and must be all praise; that is
earth, where all is desire, and must be all prayer or asking.
This sense of the duty and necessity of prayer, which we
all more or less feel, is plain proof that none of us are at
home. Our inmost and deepest wants and longings, our
sorrows, our griefs, and our bitterness, that rise and fall, and
come and go, like the successive waves of the ocean in their
rise and ebb, and roll like these across the human heart, all
tell us unmistakably, what indeed we cannot but feel, that
this is not our rest, and that there must still remain a rest
for the people of God, On the other hand, those deep




32                 THE DAILY LIFE.
yearnings that we all feel, those longings that we never can
express in prayer,- and the humblest peasant has had
thoughts that the most gifted orator never uttered, so that
the unwritten wants of the human heart would form the
richest and the deepest poetry, - those desires after satisfaction and rest, tell us either that the tide that once covered
the world with its light and joy has ebbed away, and left
us; or that an ocean fulness is yet to roll inwards, and to
cover heaven and earth with perpetual and unbroken happiness. Our wants are prophecies of their satisfaction; our
sorrows are presentiments of everlasting comfort. Nature
is as it is because there is a day of restoration before it.
Man is said to be vanity; he would be so absolutely were it
not that he can feel it. The fact that man feels he is vanity,
is evidence that beneath all the vanity there underlies a
grand nature that looks forward to a glorious destiny.
Prayer is less a duty we are commanded to fulfil, and
more a heavenly privilege we are invited to enjoy. The
real question is not, Must we pray? but, May we pray?
The true question is not, Ought we pray? but, Will God
hear us when we pray?  There is great evil in regarding
prayer as mere duty. The moment we regard it as a duty
we begin to perform it. Very justly, and not oftener than
true, it is said " Service was performed."  Yes, it was
performed; it-was a performance from  beginning to end;
and so the consequence of regarding prayer as a duty is,
that we go forth to perform our duty, and having expressed
our wants in prayer, we conclude our duty has been done.
But this is a great mistake; this is accepting the means as
the end. You go to the well deeper than Jacob's well; you
draw water-living water; but, instead of drinking the
water as you should, you are satisfied with having raised
the bucket to the ground, and you retire, having done your
duty. The end of drawing living water is to drink it; the




PRAY WITHOUT CEASINGo                33
meaning of praying is to reach something beyond it.
Prayer is not a religious duty, but the means of attaining
religious blessings. By its very nature it is the instrument
of religious progress, comfort, and peace.
As prayer is not a duty, so it is not a penance. It is
not an expiation of any sin we have ever done, or an
atonement for any deed that cleaves to our memory.
Prayer is not an effort to prevail on God to diminish his
claims on us, or an attempt on our part to make an atonement to him for the transgressions of which we have been
guilty. You may repeat "Pater Nosters" twelve hours
without ceasing, and yet you may never have prayed at
all; and when you have prayed with all the fervor of a
saint, and all the fulness of the apostolical description —
without ceasing-you have not made an atonement for a
single sin, nor is it able, nor was it meant to do so. Prayer
is not the expression of a love we feel; it is not the expiation of a sin we have committed; it is not the payment of a
debt we owe; it is not in any sense the performance of a
duty that devolves upon us; it is something far better and
nobler than all these. We must regard prayer as a means,
not an end; as a precious and great privilege; not as a
provision for God, but a provision for us. And hence one
earnest "Our Father" on the beaten streets of London,
rises to heaven with infinitely more acceptance than all the
"Pater Nosters" that were ever offered on the encausted
tiles and consecrated pavements of the cathedrals of Europe.
Prayer is not -and our Lord warns us against this —
a display or an exercise to be seen of men. Often and
again he warns his disciples against imitating the practice
or accepting the prescription of the Pharisees. They made
long prayers at corners of the streets and the highways,
expecting to be seen of men.  Our Lord says, "In this
respect be not ye as them."  But in our days it may be




34                 THE DAILY LIFE.
possible to imitate them, if not in letter, yet substantially*
When family worship in the home is superseded by early
service in the chapel, or matins at morning and vespers at
night, we have in these last the ancient Pharisee clothed in
the garb of a modern priest.  To make long prayers in
public, to be seen of men, is the very essence of Pharisaism.
But so to pray that none but God shall hear, so to kneel
that none but God shall see; and to show how truly we
have prayed by how purely we can live —that is Protestantism, that is the religion of the Bible.
As prayer is not to be made to be seen of men, neither is
it meant to inform God. Very beautifully it is said, " He
knoweth what we have need of before we ask."  And hence
long prayers, that tell God in most eloquent language what
he is, and in very picturesque language what we are, seem
altogether inappropriate, and in fact are miscalled prayer.
We do not need to tell him what he is, nor to proclaim or to
persuade him to believe what we are. True prayer is the
deep expression of our deepest wants in the simplest and
the tersest Saxon, and in the hearing of him who knows all
our deepest wants before we tell him the uppermost of all.
Of all things truly shocking, grandiloquent language in
prayer is not the least so. Watch a person who loses his
temper on the streets; when he speaks we hear no fine
phrases, no beautifully rounded sentences; he takes the
nearest, shortest, tersest words; and he makes them  the
vehicle of his deep feeling.  Read the greatest of dramatists, and you will find the very same thing.  Study our
Lord's prayer    how simple! " Our Father which art in
heaven."  Or take the nearest to it, some parts of that
magnificent composition, the English Liturgy — how beautiful its opening confession! all monosyllables, no fine language.  " We-have-done-t!ose-tlings-we-ought-not-to-havedone."  How very simple, and yet how expressive of deep




PRAY WITHOUT CEASING.                 35
want, how appropriate as the vehicle of it!  Would that
such a model were universally followed; it is the nearest
approximation to the beautiful and perfect model set by
Him that spake, and prayed, and lived, and died, as man
never did.
Prayer is not designed or meant, as some have mischievously construed it, to alter the designs and purposes
of God.  Some have said, " God is omniscient, and knows
all things. God has his sovereign purposes, and decreed
all things. Is it therefore," they say, "possible that your
prayers can alter the purposes of heaven; or that he whose
plans have been chalked out from everlasting can be moved
to turn aside from it by the earnestness or eloquence of
your entreaties? "  The objection that has been often made
to prayer, is practically such as this  " God is omniscient,
therefore he knows what you want. What is the use of
telling him?"  The answer is plain.  God is omnipotent.
He can give you harvests without sowing. What is the
use of sowing?  But nevertheless you sow, and nevertheless we pray; and your common sense tells you that it is
truer and more Scriptural than the metaphysics of the
schools. It will be told us God is immutable in all his
plans and purposes and acts; therefore why try to make
him change?  God is immutable in the principles of his
government, but he is not immutable in his acts. For instance, God did not create once, God did create once, and
now he has ceased from creating.  Here are three distinct
and different acts; yet God is the same yesterday, to-day,
and for ever.  God therefore may be immutable in the
principles of his government, but not in the modes in which
he carries those principles into development. But, you
say, we see that God governs the world by second causes.
If there be a frost, fruits will be nipped; if there be no
rain, the earth will be parched; and we shall find this law




36                 THE DAILY LIFE.
always and everywhere. We see a little into God's great
plans, and then we pronounce upon them; just as some
geologists see a few feet down through the rind of the
earth, and then pronounce upon its inner contents. It may
be and is true, that God does commonly work the world
by second causes; only these second causes that we see are
the results of our discovery; and you know a discovery
made by man can be corrected and improved; the fact that
God hears prayer is not our discovery, but his revelation of
his own will, which we know absolutely to be true. But
grant that " God works by second causes, therefore," we
reply, " it is not needless to implore him, or necessary to
suppose he will alter these and disturb nature to suit us."
Suppose a chain stretching from the throne down to the
very footstool. Of course each link is dependent on the
previous link, or each third cause upon the second, and each
second upon the first, and all upon the staple that fixes it to
the throne of God. Very well, you answer, how can he do
any thing that you ask without dislocating the chain; removing one link, and substituting another at your prayer;
which would be disorganization and confusion. The solution is plain. May not the power of God be transmitted
down that chain as the electric fluid is transmitted along
the wire; not injuring the medium by which it travels, and
yet achieving stupendous results at the end at which it
arrives?  May not God, therefore, without dislocating a
single link, without ceasing to act by second cause, send an
influence through the whole series of causes that will be
an answer to your prayer, and yet in full conformity with
all the fixed arrangements of his own mighty and glorious
universe? And if God has decrees  as we admit he
has-may not his decree include in its execution our
desire? And may it not be that the necessity of our desire
is just as fixed as the fact of God's everlasting, unchange



PRAY WITIOUT CEASING.               37
able decree? But the fact is, the man that wants does
not discuss metaphysics; he prays. There is something
in our hearts that tells us, like an echo of what God has
uttered in heaven, " Seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it
shall be opened; ask, and ye shall obtain." The moment
that a person begins to discuss the possibilities of prayer,
the philosophy of prayer, the metaphysics of prayer, that
moment, depend upon it, he does not feel his deep wants
as he should, nor know what are the blessings that can
supply-them. You never find a hungry child begin first
to discuss metaphysical difficulties with his mother when
he wants bread; and you will find not a man who really
and in his inmost soul feels that he needs saving blessings, pause or arrest his petitions for a single moment in
discussing how it is possible that God can answer prayer;
or how, without disturbing his fixed arrangements, he can
bow his ear and listen to my petition. The text that upsets all objections is, that God will have man everywhere
to pray. Make the experiment; "seek, and you shall
find - pray without ceasing - knock, and it shall be opened
- ask, and you shall obtain."
Prayer is the expression of our wants to God, as our
Father.  Too many pray as criminals deprecating the
wrath of a judge, instead of praying as children asking
the blessing of our Father who is in heaven. When we
draw near to God in prayer, we are not to feel as criminals in the dock, but as children around our Father's knee;
and the saddest sinner laden with the greatest sin exhibits
the truest grace when he draws near to God, and in the
name of Jesus says, My Father! "If any man sin, we
have an advocate with" —the judge? No. "If any man
sin we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous."  Our creed begins, "I believe in God the
Father."  The first model prayer taught us is, " Our
4




38                 THE DAILY LIFE.
Father which art in heaven;" and the less of criminal
deprecation, and the more of filial confidence in our prayers,
the more we exhibit the characteristic spirit of the gospel
of Christ. But when all is deep and earnest deprecation
of wrath, without one single expression of filial trust, such
a litany or prayer sounds more like the wild wail of despair, than the hopeful cry of the still beloved, though long
a prodigal, son, seeking bread from his father's stores, and
a shelter under his father's roof-tree. For what did the
prodigal say, at his greatest distance from home, in the depth
and bitterness of his worst estrangement?  "I will arise
and go to my father."  That was the last lingering tie or
link within him, and that thought thrilled, in blessed vibrations, through his soul, awakened in his lonely heart all the
music of the blessed, and made him arise, and with delighted
hopes go to his father, and seek -what he found there —
a blessing, and bread, and a joyous welcome.
We are to pray to God not only as a Father, but also
evermore in the name, and through the merits, and relying
on the intercession of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
The name of Christ is not, as some seem to regard it, a
musical close to a beautiful collect; nor, as others view it,
the signal to the congregatioi that the prayer is done.
That is not the meaning of praying in the name and for
the sake of Jesus Christ. It is no decent peroration; it
is no accustomed finale to our prayer.  His name is the
very ground on which we kneel, it is the very right of our
approach, it is the very channel through which we address
God, and by which God can send down blessings upon us.
It matters not where we pray if we pray in that name.
It may be in the house, in the temple, on the hill-side, by
the sea-shore; it may be on the streets.  Prayer offered by
God's child in the name of God's Son has the pledge and
promise of acceptance always and everywhere. And, on




PRAY WITHOUT CEASING.                  39
the other hand, cathedral, church, oratory, chancel, sacred
carpet, or solemn floor, in no degree, in no shape, even the
very faintest, contribute to the efficacy, or add to the acceptance, of prayer.  Whether it be upon the street, or upon
the sand, or upon the sea; or whether it be in the cathedral,
or the chancel, or in the oratory, these things are the mere
accidents and incidents of prayer; its essence and its efficacy is, that it is offered in the name and through the
merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nor does it matter in
what language we offer up our prayer.  It is not true, as
they assert in the Western church, that there is one holy
language in which all prayer must be offered.  The incarnation consecrated all space for prayer, and Pentecost consecrated all tongues for its utterance.  There is therefore no
place intrinsically more holy than another, there is no tongue
more sacred than another.  But the mischief of attaching
sacredness to places alnd tongues- I mean efficacious sacredness - is this, that what we add to them we practically detract
from Christ.  We depress him thereby as the only Saviour,
and we invest these with a false and factitious value, as if
they contributed to the acceptance of our prayers in the
sight of God.  His name alone should be engraved upon
every prayer; his name alone must be the chord in every
petition; his name alone must give fragrance to all our confessions, our wants, and our petitions; and by the utterance
of his name we not only declare our utter destitution of the
blessings that we need, but we also declare our utter unworthiness to ask them. We are humbled in the dust as
having no right when we use Christ's name; and express
our wants and our sins through it and by it, and obtain,
according to God's promise, great and effectual forgiveness.
We must pray by the aid and teaching of the Holy Spirit
of God. The Spirit inspires the prayer, the Saviour presents it. Many have started the very difficult inquiry, Can




40                 THE DAILY LIFE.
a natural man pray? Is it possible to pray unless the Holy
Spirit has directed the heart? Let us not pause to discuss
it. Pray; and the very first feeling that you have that you
ought to pray, is proof that the Holy Spirit has come to you
as the Spirit of prayer. And when that Holy Spirit inspires
prayer you will not need - what I was deprecating before -
fine words; nay, you will not need a form, words will spontaneously come. In the family many cannot do without a
form. True Christians who truly pray, cannot pray with
two or three without a form. If so, let them use it. If a
man cannot walk without a crutch, let him use a crutch. If
you cannot pray without a form, then by all means adopt the
form. Many a spiritual prayer is breathed from a form;
many a formal prayer has been uttered extemporaneously.
But the essence of prayer does not lie in these things. We
may say prayers all day, and yet we may never pray at all;
and the heart often prays most fervently when the lips are
dumb or wholly inaudible. It is not the eloquent tongue
that we want, but the humble and the anxious heart. We do
not care about a praying place, nor do we care much about
a praying book. If we have deep wants felt within, the
heart will speak should the lips be dumb. And God hears
heart prayer; he is not dependent upon its outward and eloquent expression. In his ear the publican's first cry, the
Magdalene's first tear, the thief's last word, rose with infinite
and perfect acceptance, and brought down an answer exceeding abundant above all that they could ask or think.
We may pray for all that we feel truly and sincerely that
we need. Not a few true Christians make a sad mistake
here; they say, Well, I would ask God to give me such a
mercy if I thought it was according to his will, or to give me
relief from this overwhelming difficulty, or to send me a
little money to enable me to get over that great obstruction,
or to grant me a little health —but may we ask God for




PRAY WITHIOUT CEASING.               41
these?  Unquestionably we may. But am I sure it is according to God's will?  We have no business with this; it
is God's prerogative to decide what is good for us, it is our
privilege to tell him all our wants- the deepest, the greatest,
the worst, and the oldest. He asks me, as his child, to unbosom every want that I feel, and to leave with him the prerogative of giving what is best, or of withholding what is
wrong, or of judging what is most expedient for me. Do
not go into God's presence with a cold and distant reserve,
or with a suspicious heart; but with all the filial confidence
of an affectionate child; tell him what you want, tell him
what you think is good for you; leave him when, where,
and how he pleases to answer your prayer. He will not
always give you what you ask - and we are thankful that
it is so; -if he had given us all we asked we should have
been ruined long ago. But this we know, that if he do not
give us what we ask, he will give us an equivalent; he will
answer us either in kind, or by equivalent. If, for instance,
we are under a heavy burden, let us pray to God that he
would be pleased to remove it. He may not be pleased to
take away the load, but he will do what is the same - he
will perfect his strength in our weakness, and help us to bear
it. So Paul prayed: he felt some thorn, whatever it was;
some pain, or trouble; he prayed to God that he would take
away the thorn. God refused to do so, but he did what was
as good, he gave him this equivalent —" My grace is sufficient for you." You must leave God to give the answer in
what shape he pleases; he only asks you to put confidence
in him, and be satisfied that the answer will be given in
some shape or another. But, at the same time, we must
admit there is an order, and a proper order, in our prayers.
For instance, the great prescription that is to regulate all
the departments of social and conventional life is, " Seek
first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all other
4*




42                 THE DAILY LIFE.
things shall be added unto you." That is one of the most
precious practical laws contained in the whole of God's
word. When, for instance, you enter on a profession, do
not ask only, Will this give me the greatest profit? but ask,
Will it enable me to fear and serve God, as well as to add
to my emoluments? When you change your house, by all
means ask, Will this be a comfortable house, and on a sunny
and a sheltered side of the hill? - this is all proper enough:
but ask also, Shall I be able to hear the gospel preached in
my neighborhood -shall I have the means of worshipping
God? In all things - the least and the largest - seek first
the kingdom of God, and all besides will follow in beautiful
array behind it. So in prayer, we are, first, to seek the
things that relate to God; next, the things that benefit ourselves. In the Lord's prayer, in which we say, " Our Father
which art in heaven "- we pray, first, "Hallowed be thy
name; thy kingdom come, thy will be done."  Afterwards
come the creature's wants; "Give us bread —forgive' us
sin —deliver us from evil  lead us into no temptation."
First, there is the fulness of God; next, the emptiness of the
creature; first, praying that God may have glory; and, secondly, that in the reflected light of that glory we may have
the blessings that we truly stand in need of:
But, having hitherto endeavored to illustrate prayer as
such, let us inquire what is meant by the phrase appended
to it, " Pray without ceasing." We must notice the use of
the word in other parts of Scripture, in order to ascertain
its exact meaning. For instance, in the Epistle to the
Romans, the 1st chapter, at the 9th verse, the apostle says,
" For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in
the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention
of you always in my prayers."
The same word occurs again in 1 Thess. i. 3, " Remembering without ceasing, your work of faith and labor of




PRAY WITHOUT CEASING.                 43
love."  It is also found in 2 Tim. i. 3, " I thank God, whom
I serve from  my forefathers, with pure conscience, that
without ceasing, I have remembrance of thee in my prayers."
Now, the Apostle Paul could not remember without ceasing
-that is, his memory could not be luminous with their
names at every instant.  He could not make mention of
them in his prayers literally, ceaselessly, because he had
other things to make mention of. We must necessarily understand by this phrase, that on all proper and stated and
regular occasions, as often as he prayed, he made mention of
them, and recollected their necessities and wants. So, again,
the sacrifice, which we render " daily sacrifice," in the original or Hebrew tongue, is "the ceaseless sacrifice," or the
sacrifice without ceasing.  But that sacrifice was offered in
the morning and in the evening; and being offered morning
and evening, it was called the ceaseless or the unceasing
sacrifice, or the sacrifice without ceasing.  It, therefore,
clearly means the spirit of prayer, the continuous sense of
want, the conviction that God can supply the knowledge
what to ask, and in whose name to pray, and at all times
give that spirit that finds in prayer its appropriate exponent, and in praise its expressive thanksgiving. We may
understand the full meaning of the phrase " without ceasing," by observing the words employed by the same apostle
in describing prayer.  First, he says, " In every thing make
known your wants unto God;" secondly, "at all times;"
thirdly, "evermore;" fourthly, "with all perseverance;"
and, lastly, "whatsoever you have need of."  Now, these
are the apostle's own words, and therefore constitute the
best exposition of "without ceasing."  For instance, he
says in the first place, that in every thing you are to pray;
or to lay before God your wants, your sins, your difficulties,
and your fears. In drought you are to pray; for prayer
was the key in the hand of Elijah that unlocked the clouds:




44                 THE DAILY LIFE.
in bondage you are to pray; for prayer, we are told, threw
open the prison doors in the case of Peter; it is said that
when Peter was in prison, " prayer was made without ceasing by the church of God for him;" and the prison doors
were opened, and Peter came forth. Prayer shut the jaws
of the ravening lions in Daniel's den. And, therefore, in
each of these things, prayer was offered; in each of these
things, prayer was answered. In all things, it is said, we
are to pray. Now, what are the things?  The Apostle
Paul tells us. He says, "In all these things we are more
than conquerors." But in what things? Affliction, distress,
persecution, famine, nakedness, sword, Rom. viii. 35. These
are the things. Well, in every one of these things we are
to pray to God. There is no depth to which the Christian's soul can be depressed in which he may not pray.
There is no load of grief that can bow it down under which
a Christian heart may not pray.  Dumb lips may have yet
a praying heart; and no doubt more fervent prayer has
been offered on the stones of the Royal Exchange in the
agony of loss, disappointment, trial, grief, bitterness, sorrow,
than ever was offered in the noblest cathedrals of medieval
Europe.  Prayer lies in the intensity of our feeling, the
sense of our want, the full conviction that God hears, and
that we have only to ask and he will send down an answer
exceeding abundantly. In each thing pray; in every thing
let your wants be made known to God.
The apostle gives another element of the " without ceasing," in such a phrase as this; "at all times."  By night
and by day; in all time of your tribulation, in all time of
your wealth. But a Christian will say   " We can well
understand praying in all time of our tribulation; but, to
pray in all time of our wealth is surely unnecessary!this is surely the time for praise." You are mistaken. The
man that has an empty cup may pray, and should pray, that




PRAY WITHOUT CEASING.                 45
it may be filled; but he that has a full cup, ought to pray
that he may hold it firmly. It needs prayer in prosperity,
that we may have grace to use it; as truly as it needs
prayer in poverty, that we may have grace to bear it.
There is no day in the current of the years on which it is
unseasonable to pray, inconvenient for God to answer, or
impossible for him to give. What a blessed truth is this!
There is no year, day, or month, in the currents of time, in
which it is inconvenient for the King of kings to hear, or
unseasonable for us to ask, or impossible for him to grant.
The next element of " without ceasing," is " everywhere."
There is no place on earth - the east, the west, the north,
or the south - where man may not pray. In the deep coalmine half a mile beneath the surface of the globe; on the
loftiest Alpine crag; on the quarter-deck on the Baltic, and
on the Euxine, the sailor may pray; and I have heard that
there are hundreds of praying soldiers and sailors in both of
these places. And, depend upon it, God can hear the sailor's prayer as he is rocked on the giddy mast and upon the
restless wave as easily, and answer it as quickly, as he can
hear our prayer in the great assemblies of his people. It is
not the praying place or the praying book, but the praying
heart, that is true prayer in the sight of God. And are
there not times when prayer is your only relief? In those
night seasons of the soul, when the dark and desert side of
nature is uppermost, when the toys that we chased have
lost their gilding, and the excitement that we once felt has
only proved by its results that it was vanity and vexation
of spirit; when weariness, chill and dreary, creeps into the
heart and over us, and we feel that this is not our rest
-oh! what a blessed privilege, that we can lift up our
hearts to our Father in the skies, and know that we are not
orphans, that we are not in a forsaken world -that this is
the school of our holy discipline, and that a home, bright as




46                  THE DAILY LIFE.
heaven and boundless as infinitude, awaits us beyond it!
And in those painful emergencies which happen to all, when
skill has no resources, when the tide of life will not cease to
ebb, and when no power upon earth can put the shadow ten
minutes back upon life's dial - not to speak of ten years -
how delightful the blessed privilege that we may be careful
for nothing, but lift up our hearts to God in prayer! How
delightful to a Christian the thought that all space is holy
and all time is canonical for prayer; and that many a
blacksmith has offered purer prayers by his anvil than consecrated priest has offered by his altar.  It is our sense of
want, our deep and full persuasion that our Father will
supply it, and our approach to him in Christ's name - be it
on the deck, on the field, or on the mountain side, or on the
sea-shore; be it in the shop, in the parliament, the palace,
or anywhere — it is the heart that prays; if it be there,
there is prayer; if it be not there, we have but the splendid
trapping of exhausted formality, not the expression and the
breathing of a living and responsible soul.
And, lastly, says the apostle, you are to pray "with all
perseverance."  The expression " without ceasing" means
"with all perseverance."  Now many will pray fervently
to-day, and cease to pray to-morrow.  But mark what
God's promise is. It is absolute that he will answer prayer;
but when he will answer it he reserves to the disposal of lis
own sovereignty; it is for us to wait for the when and persevere in prayer.  And are we not encouraged and confirmed in this even by the analogies of the streets?  As you
come to the sanctuary day after day, you should watch
the boy at the crossing soliciting alms.  Study his conduct.
Our Lord uses the sparrow, and the ripe ears of corn, and
the pebbles in the brook, and the flowers in the field, as lesson books for us; let us also take the modern facts that
occur to us in our way, and see if there are not still left in




PRAY WITHOUT CEASING.                47
these lessons for us. Watch the beggar boy. He asKs
alms first gently; then louder, if he fears a chance or a
possibility of refusal; and when you seem to turn away he
will follow you; and when you have gone to a distance he
will keep his keen eye upon you — never giving up hope,
never despairing that the hand will reach the purse or the
pocket and fling an alms to him. What is that?  Perseverance in begging. Why should there not be equal perseverance in prayer?  He for an earthly, we for a heavenly.
Because we do not persevere, what is the frequent result?
We asked blessings in the year 1853, with all the fervor
and the earnestness of conscious want; we ceased from
asking under the impression that we should never obtain.
The blessings we asked come down in showers in the year
1854, we forget that we asked in 1853, and therefore we
are unthankful for the blessings when they are given. If
we waited for an answer, and watched, and waited, and
watched again, we should learn to believe that prayers that
have been offered like seeds sown in tears, will never rise
to heaven without bringing down an abundant and a glori
ous harvest.
Then let us, in the language of the apostle, " pray without ceasing."  Do not think that any want that you feel is
too trivial for God to hear, to answer, or to grant. He
hears the cry of the wild raven, he listens to the appeal of
the sparrow on the housetop; and why should he not hear
you, 0 ye of little faith?
"Seek, and ye shall find - knock, and it shall be opened
-ask, and ye shall obtain."  It is God's will that you
should pray always - in every thing    everywhere; with
the deepest conviction that God will grant what we need.
Or to sum up all in the beautiful words of a poet who has
lately gone to his rest - I mean the late James Montgomery



48                     THE DAILY LIFE.
"Prayer is the soul's sincere desire,
Unuttered or expressed;
The motion of a hidden fire
That trembles in the breast.
Prayer is the burden of a sigh,
The falling of a tear;
The upward glancing of an eye,
When none bat God is near.
Prayer is the simplest form of speech,
That infant lips can try;
Prayer the sublimest strains that reach
The Majesty on high.
Prayer is the Christian's vital breath,
The Christian's native air;
His watchword at the gates of death,
He enters heaven by prayer.
Prayer is the contrite sinner's voice,
Returning from his ways;
While angels in their songs rejoice,
And say, Belhold! he prays.
The saints in prayer appear as one,
In word, in deed, and mind;
When with the Father and the Son
Their fellowship they find.
Nor prayer is made on earth alone;
The Holy Spirit pleads;
And Jesus on the eternal Throne
For sinners intercedes.
0 thou, by whom we come to God,
The Life, the Truth, the Way;
The path of prayer thyself hast trod;
Lord, teach us how to pray."




CHAPTER III.
IN EVERY THING GIVE THANKS.
"Not thankful when it pleases me,
As if thy blessings had spare days;
But such a heart whose pulsemay be thy praise."
" A blessing given to those who'11 not disburse
Some thanks, is little better than a curse.
Great Giver of all blessings, thou that art
The Lord of gifts, give me a grateful heart,
0 give me that, or keep thy favors from me,
I wish no favors with a vengeance on me."
" In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus
concerning you."- 1 THEss. v. 18.
Now we enter upon the third prescription -" In every
thing give thanks; " a prescription that will need explanation in order to convince us that in every thing -on every
occasion, and at every circumstance - we are to give thanks.
We are not only to pray to God for blessings, but we are
also to praise him as the necessary sequel when we obtain
those blessings.  If we only expressed our wants, there
would be something in that extremely selfish; but if while
we express our wants we praise him who satisfies them from
his fulness, there is something in this extremely Christian.
Prayer without praise, is a constant craving for possession;
but the absence of praise when we have that possession
will soon make it take wings and fly away; for the man
5                       49




50                  THE DAILY LIFE.
who is an unthankful possessor - whether of a pound or of
a million, will not be a long or a happy possessor. Praise
is the tribute that God exacts for his gifts; and if we refuse
to render the little tribute, which does not diminish the excellency of the gift, we cannot expect that we shall long
continue in the possession of it. The blessings that God
gives, are only deepened and endeared to us when we lift
our hearts to bless him for his beneficent and unmerited
mercies.  To be always praying; is to be a Christian when
we are in need; but to be never praising, is to be atheists
when we have got what we asked for.  And therefore
very justly is it remarked by an apostle, " Is any man afflicted?  Let him pray.  Is any man merry?  Let him sing
psalms."  Our afflictions bring us to God, - our blessings
bring us to God; and thus all things that betide the Christian, whether they be prosperous or adverse, impel him in
the same blessed direction; they bring him  near to that
God who hears his prayer and satisfies his wants; who
makes welcome his praises and redoubles his blessings.
Gratitude to man is an expression of feeling that most people would be ashamed to be without.  Ordinary courtesy
will teach us to thank a benefactor; and if we select from
the masters of poetry in the English language their opinions
upon gratitude, we shall find that the natural man even
reprobates ingratitude as one of the basest and the most
deforming vices.
"I hate ingratitude more in a man
Than lying, vainness, babbling, drunkenness,
Or any taint of vice, when strong corruption
Inhabits our frail blood. -
How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is
To have a thankless child  "
The great dramatist justly says, if we call a man ungrateful




IN EVERY THING GIVE THANKS.               51
we brand him with the severest and the most ignominious
epithet.  But what is this gratitude?  It is the responsive
or joyous tribute that a man pays for disinterested or unexpected kindness.  It is the fragrant incense that a good
deed bestowed upon you kindles in the censer of your human
heart. And never does that heart appear so beautiful, or
exhale so fragrant perfume, as when, acknowledging the
good it has received, it praises and thanks its benefactor.
If we be ashamed to be unthankful to man, how is it that we
can muster courage - no, not courage -atheistic daring to
be unthankful to God?  There is scarcely an individual on
earth that will not thank a human benefactor for a blessing;
are there as many who can stand up on the proper occasion,
and thank God for health, strength, and daily bread?  Few
feel ashamed in being found thanking a benefactor for a
blessing.  Shall any be ashamed if found out thanking God
for their daily bread?  Why should it be thought strange to
thank God?  Surely, surely! if we bless the cistern we
cannot be indifferent to the fountain. If we are not ashamed
to thank man, shall we fail to be ashamed of the omission
of thankfulness to him who enables man to help and be beneficent to us?  "In every thing give thanks."  It is not
only duty, it is our glory.  A  thankful heart is one of the
choicest gifts, and not the least happy. And very beautifully therefore does the poet say in one of the hymns, at the
end of the Psalm Book 
"Ten thousand, thousand precious gifts
lMy daily thanks employ;
Nor is the least a thankful heart,
That tastes these gifts with joy."
Gratitude is not only duty, it is beauty.  We find this
illustrated in the very analogies of the world. The deserts
of the earth, that receive into their bosom the dews of




52                 THE DAILY LIFE.
heaven and the sweet sunshine, but bear no golden harvests,
are always to the outward eye bleak and repulsive; fields
that receive the showers and the sunshine, and express
themselves in responsive tributes of bountiful harvests, ever
look the most beautiful and joyous. In other words, barren
lands are unlovely; fertile lands, that wave with corn and
with the kindly fruits and fragrant flowers, are to the outward eye all beautiful and full of laughter. They shout for
joy, they also sing. What is the song of birds, the lowing
of cattle, the bleating of sheep upon their pastures, the hum
of bees, the fair foliage, the fragrant flowers, the beautiful
blossoms, but the earth thanking God, in her many voiced
psalm, that he clothes her every spring with verdure, and
forsakes her not in the depths of winter; and giving token
of that day, when all earth shall ring with gratitude not only
to him who made her, but, when she had unmade herself.
redeemed her by his blood, and put her in her right orbit
again. While all things praise God, it seems strange that
man should fail to do so. Are we thankful?  Do we recognize God in mercies?  It is too true that true Christians
oftener pray than praise. It is too true that the mass of
mankind neither pray nor praise. What is the reason that
even Christians should oftener pray than praise? In heaven
there is nothing but praise, because all is ever accumulating
possession; on earth there must be prayer and praise both,
because there are wants to be felt, and blessings to be received. But what reason may there be that many do not
thank God for the blessings which they enjoy as they ought
to do? The first reason we must assign, and one many are
conscious of, is pride. It is an odd thing that a human being
should be proud.  There is much in man to admire; there
are remains of his pristine magnificence that show what a
noble being he was, and what a noble being he may yet be;
but there is nothing in himself or in his history that should




IN EVERY THING GIVE THANKS.             53
make him proud. His sins should humble him, for they are
his own; his virtues should humble him, for they are not
his own; and every thing he looks at should only lead him
to God in order to give him the glory, and take nothing to
himself. But, notwithstanding this, man likes to see his own
dear image reflected in the possessions that he has; he loves
to say, My own right hand won this; my own sword clave
my way to this; my own power got me that; I have nobody
to thank but myself. He likes to hear his own sweet voice,
ringing in echoes of self-praise from the blessings that God
gives him; he does not like to be obliged to another; he
would rather not be a humble recipient of mercies, he would
prefer to be able to say, I did something; if God did much,
I did little; if he gets glory, I ought not to be without
praise. But God will not allow us to be recipients and possessors of his blessings on such terms. He says, I give you
all the blessings; but I ask of you all the praise. And the
blessing is not diluted in your possession by the praise you
render to him that gave it. The wild bee, that feeds upon
the fair and fragrant flowers, it has been remarked, nourishes
the flower and adds to its fragrance, while it takes away for
its own stores what will feed it and its infant brood, and not
impoverish any. So it is with the blessing that God gives:
we render to him the tribute of praise, which pleases him,
and does not impoverish us. Let us lay aside vainglory;
let us guard against that pride which would give to our own
genius, wisdom, or worth, praise that belongs to him who
alone is worthy. But there is another reason for this absence of thankfulness to God. It originates very often in
practical atheism. There is no such phenomenon, perhaps,
in this present world as a thorough atheist. The man who
is, by intellectual conviction, an atheist, is only fit for a lunatic asylum. It is impossible that his can be a sober and
5*




54                THE DAILY LIFE.
logical and deliberate conviction. Atheism is that freezing
gap, that horrible, freezing void, in which no wing can soar,
and no heart can beat, and no soul can breathe. No man
can come deliberately to such a horrible conviction. But
whilst this is true as looked at intellectually, yet practically
there are many kinds of atheism. The good we receive, in
which we do not thank God, or recognize his presence, gives
token of atheistic feeling. We are delivered perhaps from
shipwreck; we say, It was that clever pilot, it was that nice
reach into which we got, it was that lucky wind, that saved
us. Or, if raised from a sick-bed, we say, Oh, it was that
new and powerful medicine - it was that very talented physician -it was this new system - Homcepathic or Hydropathic, or some other pathic; it was both, or any thing, or
every thing. We try to see and to praise some thing of our
own, instead of looking above the pilot, above the physician,
beyond the means, and resting only upon God, that gave
wisdom to the pilot's head, firmness to the pilot's hand, and
a blessing to the physician's prescription. Not that we
should ignore such things - this would be folly. Common
sense is not dislodged by Christianity. There are second
causes, and we very properly act upon them. We know
that caution, or care, or precaution, guards against many an
incident-I will not call it accident, but rather incidentthat flesh is heir to. All we require is, whilst we recognize
the second causes; whilst we thank the physician, and we
ought to thank him; whilst we thank the pilot, and we
ought; yet that we should lift the heart far above the pilot
in the storm, and the physician by the sick-bed, and give the
full and swelling tribute of our praise to that Pilot who
sleeps in no storm, and forsakes us in no trial; to that Physician who watcheth over Israel by night and by day; and
thus, whilst thankful to the instrument in the instrument's




IN EVERY THING GIVE THANKS.             55
place, still raising, far beyond the instrument and far beyond
the horizon, thanksgiving, praise, and glory, unto Him in
whom we live and move and have our being.
Let us examine ourselves —let us take a retrospect.
Some of us have been raised from  sickness, saved from
shipwreck, spared on the field of battle, or on the quarter-deck. Well, we have done right in thanking all the
instruments — thus far most properly have we acted;but have we omitted thanking God — praising himhave we had a tribute for everybody, but none for
God -have we sung our hymn to hundreds, but never yet
one to him? What is this but to construct a pantheon in
the 19th century, and to fill it, not as the ancient Romans
did, with marble, and wood, and silver statues, but with the
new gods, called " second causes;" and to give to the second
causes the glory that belongs to Him who alone should fill
the pantheon with his presence, and to whom alone thanksgiving and praise are emphatically due.
We have contemplated gratitude as one of the most beautiful traits in man, when paid from man to man; -but so
often and so painfully omitted where it is so justly dueto God. We have tried to show two sources of its omission; first, self:righteousness; and, second, by our practically living as if there were no God. This prescription is
most comprehensive, "In every thing give thanks."  In all
the blessings that a believer tastes - in every one of them
in detail, in every thing in detail, we are to give thanks to
God.  God's power is as much displayed in one atom as it
is in the everlasting hills; his presence is as much reflected
from the dew-drop that dances upon a rose leaf, as it is
from the all-encompassing and girdling sea; and so God's
beneficence may be as truly in the least beat of a healthy
heart as in the long life of a venerable patriarch. God's
goodness may be in every-day mercies as well as in anni



56                 THE DAILY LIFE.
versary blessings; his goodness may be in little things, so
minute that by the vulgar eye they are unnoticed, as well as
in those magnificent things that no one can fail to take
notice of. In the little rill of comfort that flows into individual and solitary hearts, as well as in the great streams of
mercies that flood a vast nation, God's goodness may be.
But alas! such is our strange perversity, that the very commonness of God's mercies is in some degree the cause of
our unthankfulness for them. For instance, there is not a
greater mercy upon earth than health. One day of good
health is worth many days of splendid excitement; and
there are few, if soberly expressing their convictions, who
would not say that a healthy body, or good health, is worth
the brightest coronet and the weightiest crown. But why
do we not- thank God oftener for it? Because it is so common, that we cease to feel it is a blessing. And yet, of all
human blessings, it remains the very richest and the
choicest. Do we thank him for it? If we have not perfect health, do we thank him for as much health as we
have? In every thing- surely in this great thing, though
it be a common thing —we ought to give thanks to God.
But alas! the more common our mercies are the less we
value them. Spring water is a far richer treat than all the
wine in the East and in the West: yet, peradventure, we
would thank God for rich wine -but how little do we
thank-him for the bubbling fount and the sweet streams
that we can drink of, as of the stream that makes glad the
city of God, without money and without price.  But,
because it is so cheap, we cease to value it, or rather we
undervalue it. And when we think, moreover, that we have
forfeited all by the fall, how thankful should we be for the
very least mercy or blessing that we enjoy! The light of
day-rising and setting suns   peaceful slumbers- protection in our rising up and in our lying down - all these




IN EVERY THING GIVE THANKS.             57
are common, but they are choice mercies notwithstanding;
and the best way to be very humble, as well as to be very
thankful, is to reflect more how little we deserve, how much
God has bestowed upon us.
But all will admit, no doubt, that when we are prosperous
and full we ought to thank God. But the expression of the
apostle is, In every thing we are to thank God. We are enjoined to thank God, not only when full and prosperous,
but when we are poor and empty. In our gains and in our
losses — in health and in sickness -in prosperity and in
adversity - in peace and in war, the prescription is neither
spent nor diluted —thank God. And this is a very important prescription; and also a very searching test. When
Satan looked upon the patriarch Job, he told God, " Doth
Job serve God for nought? " - meaning that he was thankful because he had every thing that was calculated to make
him thankful. But, "Take away from him these mercies,
and he will curse thee to thy face." Well, we read that
God said to Satan, " Job is in thy hand - every thing except his life; you must not kill him."  Satan, let loose
under the permissive power of God, t6mpted and tried the
patriarch in every way. And what was the result?  The
patriarch thanked God when his sons and his daughters
were taken away from him; he thanked God when his
riches were snatched from him; he thanked God when he
was the suffering victim of disease; and at the end of his
bitterest trials he said, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath
taken away," — and for his giving and his taking away,
his goodness and his afflictions, "blessed be the name of
the Lord." In every thing give thanks -in affliction as in
prosperity. But it is objected, this is so difficult a prescription that it needs explanation. It does need it; but
the explanation is easy.
There is no state in which the sufferer can be placed,




58                 THE DAILY LIFE.
deep and sorrowful as Job's, in which, if he will only look
with an unprejudiced eye, he will not find at least as many
elements of thankfulness as springs of sorrow and disquiet.
The darkest night that falls upon our world has some
straggling beams of light; the bitterest cup that is put
into human hands to drink has some sweetness in it; in
the greatest misery there are redeeming features; and you
will find when you can trace no rays of light that there is
an ulterior reason still more precious. We are in a world
of discipline; let us never forget this is not heaven, it is
the place of discipline. It is our school, where the royal
priests unto God are prepared and trained for a coming
kingdom. And in this world, therefore, there are certain
graces that we have to cultivate in order to ripen and prepare us for another. Now there are some flowers that grow
best in the dark; there are certainly some graces that
blossom only in broken hearts, and when watered by many
tears. And if God means that you should bring forth these
graces your hearts must be broken, your homes must be
laid desolate, your tears must flow fast. And certainly one
grace that we all need can exist in suffering only -the
grace of patience.  You have need of patience.  Patience
is a beautiful grace.  Courage is the mission of the few;
patience is the duty of all. We have need of patience
under suffering, patience to wait for the fulfilment of God's
promise, patience to go through many a struggle that meets
us in the world. And if our affliction - affliction of any
sort- leads us to patience, that grace nourished in our
hearts is more than a compensation for the fiery struggle
through which we have passed, in order to reach it.
But let us look at this affliction in another light. Has
God in his providential government taken from you the
wealth that you had accumulated by the lapse of years, by
industry, and amid many toils? Are you obliged to gaze




IN EVERY THING GIVE THANKS.              59
at empty coffers that once were full; and have you found
in your own personal experience how truly it was said by
him  of old, " Riches take to themselves wings and flee
away."  You ask, am  I to be thankful for this?  I was
thankful when all my wealth was around me and within my
reach; but am I now to thank God, when I have not a
penny left in the world?  There are reasons for thankfulness even here, though you do not yet see them. In the
first place, be it remembered, what we call riches in this
world are estimated as debts by God; that is to say, what
he now gives is future responsibility, though it is to us in
this life a present possession; but it will be at the judgment-seat the evidence of obligations that you owe to God
for possessing them.  No man treads so perilous a path,
no man is so laden with responsibility before God, as he
who occupies a high position in this world, or has much
wealth or great power in it. God never flings down talents
at random; he gives them in infinite wisdom; and that man
who has the greatest talent and the largest number, has the
most weighty responsibility, and most demands to meet at
the judgment-seat of Christ. What, therefore, we call riches
now will be regarded as debts then; what we regard as power, station, influence, place, will be viewed as responsibilities
and obligations then. Miany a poor broken-hearted widow,
sorrowful and lonely, will thank God at the judgment-seat
that he made her thus; and many a rich, and powerful,
and influential personage will curse the day that ever he
had his own wish gratified, or his own expressed wants
filled and satisfied in the providence of God. Depend
upon it, we are best just where God has placed us; and
often where we are there is more responsibility than we
sometimes admit. If, therefore, God takes away our riches,
he has lessened our obligations at the judgment-seat; if
God has taken away our power, he has simply diluted the




60                THE DAILY LIFE.
weight of our responsibility at the judgment-seat of Christ.
It would be wrong to say these things are not blessings.
Many people speak of them in a way that is not right.
Money is one of the most precious things on earth, if you
have only grace to make a right use of it; and those people
that depreciate and despise money, will find their words
will have no echo in the hearts of the people that hear
them. People will say, We know that money is a blessing.
Money is not the root of all evils. It is where the apostle
enumerates certain evils, that he says, " The love of money
is the root of all these evils;" the definite article is used:
and he does not say that money is the root of all these evils,
but the love of money. And the love of money is not dependent on the amount we have. Mi~any a man who has
two hundred thousand a year, loves money less than many
a one who has only two hundred a year. It is not the
amount that we have, but the tenacity with which we grasp
what we have    that is the root of evil. If God has taken
away your money, which is a great blessing, he has not
only lessened your responsibility at the judgment-seat, but
he has probably given you something else. If he took
away Moses, did he not give Joshua? If Jesus departed
from the world, did not the Comforter come and occupy his
place? And if God has taken away the wealth that you
had, he may have given you that contentment which is far
greater than that which wealth can bestow. Thus our
losses may be our gains, our weaknesses may be our
strength, and the departure of what we love may by a
gracious God be compensated by the possession of something that is far better for us.
But let us look at another aspect of this truth, and ascertain if in it also we are to give thanks. Are you subject to
persecution and trial for your allegiance to Christ, your
love for God, and your acceptance of the gospel? I do not




IN EVERY THING- GIVE THANKS.             61
think that persecution for conscience' sake is at least a
prominent characteristic of the present age. It is true in
Tuscany, it is so in Rome; but thank God, it is not and
cannot be practised in our native land.  But the time may
come when persecution will again collect its fagots and
kindle them; and martyrs be required where martyrs ever
have been found, when called upon to suffer for God's
great cause. In such circumstances can we thank God?
We answer, yes; for, strange enough, in the New Testament -and the least fanatical book in the world is the
Bible; the most common-sense book that was ever written,
the book of inspired common sense, is the Bible -we are
told, " To you it is given to suffer for Christ's sake."  Such
suffering is a special honor. Ask our sailors on the Baltic,
ask our officers on the Euxine; and they will tell you that it
is their best men that lead. Ask our officers in Constantinople; and you will find they will select the guards, or the
93d Highlanders, for the van to face the foe. And so when
God has great trials, and his people a great work, he selects
his best, his choicest, his most prepared soldiers to occupy
the van of the conflict, and thus he makes it an honor —
the highest and the greatest honor-to suffer for Christ's
sake. And if we are suffering for Christ's sake, what
should be our feeling?  Thankfulness to God that we are
the persecuted, and not the persecutors. Be thankful to
God that you are cast to the wild beasts, and that you are
not giving the order that Christians should. Very beautifully does the apostle add, "If any man suffer, let him suffer as a Christian; and not be ashamed, but glorify God."
And again, he says, " If ye be reproached for the name of
Christ, happy are ye, for the Spirit of glory and of God
resteth upon you."  The best proof of this is, that prison
walls have resounded with the sweetest music; that a
splendor has irradiated the captive in his cell that never
6




62                 THE DAILY LIFE.
shone upon the occupant of a royal palace; and John Bun.
yan, the writer of the most magnificent poem —except
Shakspeare's dramas, and Milton's Paradise Lost  in the
English language, was a happier man as he wrote in his
prison than ever he was before. What proof is here, that
many thank God in such circumstances! And in the case
of the early Christians, " they took joyfully the spoiling of
their goods." And in that beautiful passage which I have
so often quoted, but so beautiful that it cannot be quoted
too often, it is said, " Though the fig-tree shall not blossom,
neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive
shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall
be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the
stalls "- that is, total famine, total desolation; then what is
he to do?  A  Stoic would say, Endure it; and neither
laugh, nor weep, nor rejoice. A  man of the world,- a
mere worlding, -who has no escape beyond his money,
would say, Then I will commit suicide. A Christian can
say, "Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will joy in the God
of my salvation." That is Christianity; and if it be so, is
there not reason for thanksgiving to God even in the worst
of circumstances? But there are other trials that many a
Christian will think of very different from these. There
are times when the trial is not something external; but that
inner sense of desolation, that sorrow of the heart, which
Jeremiah likens so expressively to those who have made
voyages by sea -" the sorrow  of the sea;" that inward
sense of something that we need to sustain, to cheer, to
comfort-that feeling which is instinctive to humanitywhich drives the worldly person to the opera or to the playhouse, and draws the Christian to his Bible and to his God,
in order to meet and to remove it. In such feeling, is there
any reason for thankfulness to God?  I answer, there is no
reason in the universe for despair; there is nothing but




IN EVERY TIIING GIVE THANKS.             63
reason for hope, and, therefore, for thankfulness and praise.
Sometimes God takes away from a Christian his comforting
presence, but he never takes from a Christian his sustaining
presence.  You know the difference between sunshine and
daylight. We have often daylight, but little sunlight. A
Christian has God's daylight in his soul when he may not
have sunlight; that is, he has enough to light him, but not
enough to cheer and comfort him. Never was Jesus so forsaken by God's comforting presence as when he said, " My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? " and yet never
was he so strengthened by God's sustaining presence, for
angels were at his service to minister to him, and to take
care of him if he needed their ministry. And thus in our
saddest hours, and in our loneliness of heart, there may be
springs of comfort that the world knows not of, and that a
Christian will not fail to drink fiom and be refreshed.
Are we assailed by temptations?  And there is nowa
Christian on earth into whose heart thoughts do not come, that
he would not for the world express; through whose mind
sentiments do not creep, that he hates as venomous reptiles,
and that he would like to crush and to extinguish for ever.
And when these temptations come like the birds of night,
flapping their foul wings over us, can we then be called on
to thank God?  I answer, yes.; for what is the great solution?  It is in these words, "Simon, Simon, Satan hath
desired to have you, that he might sift you as wheat" -
that is your danger, your bitter temptation, your trial.  But
what follows?  "But I have prayed for you "    my prayer
for your safety preceded Satan's attempt upon you-" I
have prayed for you, that your faith fail not."  And, therefore, when our temptation is the sorest, the great Intercessor    oh! blessed be his name — is the nearest.  Besides,
in all temptations of which Satan is the author, let us never
forget he is a beaten enemy. "I have overcome him."




64                 THE DAILY LIFE.
Therefore, you have to meet, not one flushed with victory
and laden with the spoils; but one whose head has been
bruised, and against whom, therefore, it will be easy and
certain to prevail.
I know no circumstances on earth in which a Christian
can be placed, if a Christian, in which he will not find more
springs of thankfulness to God than reasons to despair and
be sorrowful. We need our blessings to leave us, just to
enable us to appreciate them. Very often we never discovered that an angel has been with us, till the splendor of
his parting wing tells us he is gone. Very often absence is
necessary to the enjoyment of presence; and if God did not
sometimes take away the blessings that are choicest, we
never should appreciate them as we wish to do with thankful hearts. And when we have not left one tiny taper burning upon earth, we are never without the bright and the
ifrning Star shining down from the sky. When all things
below forsake us, there still rings from the midst of the
throne that promise, which sanctifieth things that we have,
and is more than a substitute for things that are gone, "I
will never leave thee; I will never, no, never forsake thee."
Such, then, are some of the circumstances in which believers may be placed, and in which, nevertheless, they are
still to be thankful to God. And now, if we thank God in
the midst of our trials, when laid low, if we thank him in
the midst of our sorrows, he will pour joys into the heart
that is broken; if we thank God that he has opened our
eyes to see our own hearts, how sinful they are, he will
open our eyes to see our Saviour, how precious he is; if we
thank him that he has enabled us to see ourselves, he will
reveal to us himself; and make all his glory pass before us,
and we shall find that the unloading of the full heart in
thanksgiving, and the expression of the empty heart in
praise, will equally be acceptable to that God, who expects




IN EVERY THING GIVE THANKS.              65
this tribute of thanksgiving for all his mercies and his
blessings, and for all his dealings towards us.
Such trials as these we should feel thankful for, because
they are necessary for the exercise of our faith. Many
persons are continually doubting, Am  I a true believer?
Have I real faith?  Then, if you are thus doubting and
anxious to know if you have true faith, why do you quarrel
with God, if he puts you in the ordeal that is to test and to
try you. If you wish to know whether you are true Christians, you must submit to God's process of letting you know.
If you cannot bear the trials, then you do not appreciate the blessings that the apostle speaks of when he says,
"Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if
need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations;
that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than
of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be
found unto praise, and honor, and glory, at the appearing of
Jesus Christ."
In the hovels of the poor, which successive waves of sorrow, and poverty, and wants have swept; in the dim chamber of sorrow, which the beloved has left, and a chasm
remains that life cannot fill; even in such circumstances as
these faith finds nutriment and religion erects its trophies;
and at the end the experienced Christian is constrained to
say, not in prayer, but rather to sing in joyful praise, "It
was good for me that I was afflicted."  Look behind you,
look before you, look below the level on which you are, look
above it, and you will find reason only for praise. Look to
yourself in trial, or in bereavement, and you will find only
reason for thanks. " All things work for good to them that
love God;" "our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh out for us a far more exceeding, even an
eternal weight of glory." Look at creation, look at nature
6*




66                 THE DAILY LIFE.
in its noontide summer, when covered with flowers and
giving promise of fruit. Is there no reason to thank God
that, though sin has dimmed the light of this world, and
the trail of the serpent has stained its countenance once
so beautiful, and Ve deserve that it should be our grave
instead of being our footstool, there is left so much to be
thankful for, from the green fir to the giant oak; from the
minutest insect in the dew-drop on the leaf, to the very
largest inhabitant of the deep?  In providential dealings
is there not much to thank God for? Did you, dear
reader, calculate ten, twenty years ago, that you would be
where you are now?  Is it not obvious from  the past
chapter of your biography that an unseen hand has led
you, that a kind Physician's hand has closed many a
wound; that there has been no sick-bed in your home
from which you have not gathered lessons of immortality;
and that there is no grave, of which you have a freehold
in'the distant churchyard, that grows not green at least
with bright hopes, and that tells you not of a happy meeting with all you love when time shall be no more?  Is
there any one who can for one moment read his own biography, and not see much to mourn over, much to regret,
much to deplore, but oh! infinitely more to thank and to
praise God for?  And shall I mention the last of allthe gift of a Saviour?  How very beautiful and how true
is that collect, "We thank thee for our creation, we thank
thee for our preservation, and all the blessings of this
life; but above all, for thine inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ! "  Ie drank our bitter cup and filled the blessed
one; he came to die for us all. The wrath of God let
fall an awful shadow upon that bright light. The Son
of God trod that sea that had no shore but death, bearing our sins, expiating our guilt. The man that can hear




IN EVERY THING GIVE THANKS.             67
of such a Saviour, and yet not trust, or taste such a salvation, and yet not thank him, is not only destitute of the
first glory of the human, but is absolutely destitute of every
attribute of the Divine.




CHAPTER IV.
QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT.
"Return, 0 holy Dove, return,
Sweet messenger of rest;
I hate the sins that made thee mourn,
And drove thee from my breast.
The dearest idol I have known,
Whate'er that idol be,
Help me to tear it from thy throne,
And worship only thee.
So shall my walk be close with God,
Calm and serene my frame;
So purer light shall mark the road,
That leads me to the Lamb."
"Quench not the spirit." -1 THESS. v. 19.
THERE is repeatedly announced in Scripture the exist.
ence of a Divine Being, or Divine Agent, who takes up his
abode in the hearts of God's believing people, as teacher,
comforter, and guide. He is called sometimes the Spirit of
truth, sometimes the Comforter, and sometimes the Holy
Ghost.  Repeatedly we are told in Scripture, that the want
of this Spirit in the individual heart is the reason of the
languor of such graces as are there, or the reason of the
absence of such graces as ought to be there. Jude, for instance, describes the strongest brand on the character of
the enemies of God, in these words, "Not having the
(68)




QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT.                 69
Spirit." Paul, when he gives the character of the wicked,
says, "They are unholy "- that is, not sanctified by the
Spirit - and therefore "unthankful."  It is the breath of
the Holy Spirit, sweeping over the affections of the human
heart, that, like the sweet wind upon the harp-strings, brings
forth lasting, blessed, and harmonious music.  Hence the
psalmist says, so happily, " Blessed are they that dwell for
ever in thy house;" for what is the consequence?  They
will be always gloomy?  They will be always disquieted?
They will be always in distress? and thus prove that religious people are a sort of sepulchral people?  No.
" Blessed are they that dwell in thy house; they will be still
praising thee."  In God's house, and in communion with
him, is the spring of all that consecrates the character that
is wrong, makes joyous the spirit that is heavy; till the
very world itself will be constrained to own, they are a
happy people whose God is the Lord.  We read in other
parts of the Scripture of the fruits of the Spirit.  Regeneration is ascribed to him. We are told in one place that
true Christians are all born of the Spirit.  Sanctification is
ascribed to him; we are sanctified by him.  And the
evangelist John is so decided upon this that he says,
"Whosoever is born of God" -that is, the truly regenerate person -  "doth not commit sin;" an assertion, however, that Christians sometimes interpret very erroneously.
They ask, Does this mean that if we be true Christians
we shall be absolutely sinless?  The right answer is to
quote another text of the same writer in the very same
book: " If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." Then what is meant by
the passage, " Whosoever is born of God doth not commit
sin?"  It is in the present tense; he does not do it designedly; it is not his wish, his desire, his preference, or his
liking. The sin is the incident in his character, not its




O0                 THE DAILY LIFE.
general tone; the accidental eddy in the current, not the
deep and onward stream; it is not his practice to do so.
So again, the Spirit is said to transform. "Transformed by
the renewing of our minds."  All the privileges of Christians are ascribed to him. Are you poor? He places you
amid the sons of God, and makes you heirs of God. Are
you enslaved?  He is the Spirit of freedom. Have you
enemies opposed to you, " Greater is he that is in you, than
all that can be against you."
But in one sense those who are not truly Christian people, or, as we say, not truly regenerate, are said to oppose
the Spirit. This seems very strong language -but there
are indications of it, it is barely possible to mistake. For
instance, "My Spirit will not strive with them any more"
-the withdrawal of the Spirit. We read of resisting the
Spirit, " doing despite to the Spirit of grace." The sins of
Pharaoh amidst the stupendous miracles of Egypt; the sin
of Balaam, a preacher and prophet of the truth, in subsequent times; the sin of Judas, and the sin of Demas, who
who began with religion, and ended with the intensest secularism, - were all aggravated, not by the fact that they
were sins against the law, but that they were proofs of their
resisting, and grieving, and quenching the Holy Spirit of
God. So Herod heard John gladly, did many things that
John bade him; but when a great festal occasion came, and
the daughter of Herodias danced beautifully before the monarch, then he offered her what she should choose; and that
was the head of him who had spoken too faithfully to receive the patronage of one whose conscience could not stand
it. Such, again, was the sin of Felix. He was convinced
that Paul was right; his conscience was touched: but what
did he do to get rid of it?  His passions said, Now, Felix,
Paul tells you that a pure and a holy life is duty; but if
you adopt that, then we, like wild beasts, will break loose




QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT.                71
upon you, because not satisfied and indulged as usual. His
conscience said to him, Felix, if you do not comply with
what Paul says, then I will scourge you all your life, and in
the life hereafter.  I-Ie did not know what to do; he was
drawn between two forces, and he acted morally, as by the
laws of dynamics - two forces pulling at right angles find
their solution in going along the diagonal. He struck out
the intermediate course, and said, I will not reject you,
Paul; for my conscience will not let me: I will not accept
you, Paul; for my passions will not let me; but I will
send for you when I have a convenient season. Well, that
seems to be the nearest to the resistance of the Holy Spirit
of God.
But the peculiar language, "Quench not the Spirit,"
arises from the fact that this Divine Being is set forth under
a form that makes this imagery natural. For instance, "Ye
shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, as with fire."  And
again, the disciples journeying to Emmaus under the influence of this Spirit, said," Did not our hearts burn within us,
when he talked to us, and reasoned by the way."  And by
likening this blessed Spirit to fire, which purifies the gold
of its dross - which enlightens by its splendor the eyes of
the gazer, which raises the temperature of Christian life;
resistance to him, or grieving him, as it is otherwise expressed, is likened to quenching, or casting water upon a
fire that burns.
But before we show  how  this Spirit is grieved, or
quenched, let us answer a query, Can they that are born
again ever cease to be so?  In other words, Can one who
is a Christian to-day ever be so thrown back, as to cease
to be a Christian at all? I do not believe it is possible.
The professor of Christianity to-day, whose profession is eloquent and loud, may cease to be to-morrow what he professed
to be to-day; but this is not a renunciation of Christianity




72                  THE DAILY LIFE.
for the reverse; it is merely the silencing of a profession
that had no counterpart in the individual's heart. But the
true Christian, if born again, cannot greatly fall, for God is
in him. It will not do for any to meet this statement found
in the Bible, and say, Then people will live as they like, if
they feel that they are always safe. To be made a Christian is followed by living as he likes; but the likes that he
had before he was a Christian, are superseded by new likes
that he has inherited since he became a Christian; and to
bid a Christian live as he likes - that is, purely - is to bid
a stone fall to the earth by the law of gravitation; to bid the
wind blow, the flowers blossom, the rivers meander to the
main. It is his new nature, to live soberly, righteously, and
godly; and while he lives as he likes — notwithstanding
drawbacks    notwithstanding deviations and sins which are
ever reproved - he lives justly, and loves mercy, and walks
humbly with his God. But if any one should say, Because
I have reason to believe that I am everlastingly safe, I may
therefore grieve the Holy Spirit of God; I may therefore
do what will vex and quench that Divine and precious Comforter; to such we answer, Your sense of safety is a delusion; for the moment that a sense of personal safety induces
him that feels it to plunge into what his conscience and his
Bible prohibit, in this there is the proof, not that a Christian
has apostatized, but that your sense of safety was delusion;
and now you are to retrace your steps, reanalyze your character, and ascertain what you are as reflected in the mirror
of God's holy and perfect word.
But, after this preliminary remark, let us try to ascertain
what are proofs of grieving the Holy Spirit. This will be a
very practical and very important exposition; and if blessed
by that Spirit, whose office we are speaking of, it will be
savingly important.
To grieve or to quench the Spirit, is to deny his person



QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT.                73
ality and his Godhead. It is clear, that to deny his personality and his Godhead must greatly grieve him. The atheist says in his heart, " No God," and the man that can say,
after reading the Bible, and knowing himself, The Holy
Spirit is merely an influence, falls into a similar error. It
is parallel to that of a man who says, Satan is simply an
influence.  Satan loves to hear himself called an influence, because there will thus be no defence against his
power and assaults as a malignant person.  The Holy Spirit
is grieved when he is denied to be.a Person, and a Divine
one, and you are injured; for then you have no right estimate of what you are, and what is needed to be done within
you before you can get to heaven.  The Unitarian, who
most consistently, and, I have no doubt,- as in the case of
the amiable and accomplished Channing,-  conscientiously
(at least in his earlier days) denies the Deity of the Spirit,
consistently denies the ruin, the utter ruin and fall of human
nature. But we believe that the superstructure of humanity
is so wrecked and ruined, that nothing short of a Divine
hand can rebuild and reconsecrate the.shattered shrine, and
make the heir of wrath the son of God, and the inheritor of
everlasting joy.  He that sees the depth of his ruin as, that
ruin lies in the light of God's countenance, will soon cease
to deny the Deity of the Holy Spirit; for he will feel that,
if it required Omnipotence to create, it requires a fortiori
Omnipotence to regenerate.  When Omnipotence created
orbs, he merely fashioned the unreluctant and obedient matter by his plastic touch; but when he recreates fallen humanity, he has to deal with struggling passions, a reluctant
will, a ruined nature, and a heart in which nestle a thousand
serpent passions ever seeking to crush, and where they cannot crush, delighting still to sting. If this therefore be the
condition of humanity, we must see that the Holy Being, to
whom the rebuilding, and regenerating, and reconstruction,
7




74                  THE DAILY LIFE.
and reconsecration of it is assigned, in the great purposes of
heaven, must be God.  To deny this, seems to me, to deny
the fall, to deny the depth of our ruin, and to grieve or
quench that Blessed Spirit.
Another instance of grieving the H-loly Spirit, consists in
depreciating the necessity of his presence in the accomplishment of his promises, in the extension of the gospel, in the
covering ultimately of the whole earth with the glory of
God.  When we read the Bible, we find constant allusions
to the Spirit, as doing what human energy cannot do. For
instance, it is said in one part, and it applies to all: " Not
by might, nor by power; but by my Spirit, saith the Lord."
Jesus is likened to the sun: let the sun retreat into the
depths of space; let his beams be withdrawn for a single
hour; and what would be the result?  All warmth would
be exhausted from the earth; not a tree would bud — not
a flower would burst into blossom; the sea itself would become a solid; and all nature, exhausted of its warmlth, would
fall to pieces.  The Holy Spirit is likened in a similar way
to the air or the atmosphere.  And I know not which
would be the greater calamity, the ceasing of the sun to
shine, or the exhaustion of the air that we breathe.  Take
away the atmosphere, and death must be universal. There
would be no such thing as fragrance in a rose if there were
no atmosphere, because there would be no vehicle to waft
the fragrance on its wings.  There would be no such thing
as music in voices or instruments, because there would be
no vibratory medium through and by which that music could
be heard.  All nature would be wrapped in sackcloth, and
the homes of the living would necessarily become the habitations of the dead.  What is true of the physical world, is no
less applicable to the spiritual. To expect spiritual life without the Holy Spirit to impart it, is to look for an effect
without a cause, life without a life-giver.




QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT.                 75
But we have yet more simple and practical instances of
this grieving of the Spirit still. Either to preach or to hear
sermons, and think that there is any thing in the preacher's
power, or in the hearer's colmmon sense, that will necessitate
a saving effect without the Holy Spirit of God, is to grieve
him.  We cannot feel the truth we are trying to establish
too powerfully; nor can we be too careful, lest we depreciate, or forget it.  No eloquence can impress, no logic can
convince a single soul, with saving energy, unless the Holy
Spirit carry home to the heart what is addressed to the outward ear.  It is easy to convince the intellect that this book
is true; and the evidence is so multiform  and powerful,
that it is barely possible. to escape the conclusion; but
none but Deity can convince the heart. We know well
how people's logic is conclusive in one direction, and their
lives just the contradiction of it on the opposite.  All this
indicates the necessity of some higher power.  In mere
eloquence, the ear may be regaled, but the heart will be
impenetrable still; the imagination may be charmed, but
the affections will continue rebellious still. It is the Holy
Spirit alone that lifts the orator of nature into the ambassador of Christ; that turns the crowd into a congregation, and
the meeting place into a church of the Lord Jesus Christ;
it is he alone that makes what would be a speech, falling on
the ear like the tinkling cymbal and the sounding brass, a
sermon fraught with demonstration and with power, that
by his blessing will empty the earth of its hoarded spoils,
and people heaven with trophies gathered from  the four
quarters of the globe. Let me ask you, then, my dear
reader, if, when you go into the house of God, you ever
think that prayer is not the word spoken, so much as the
feeling cherished and defined in the depths of the heart?
When you seat yourself in your Sunday pew, do you ever
feel, this day we are going to hear what in the worst case




76'HIE DAILY LIFE.
will be ruinous; in the best case must be a blessing, but in
no case can have a neutral effect?  What a solemn thought,
that no human being ever enters his church and hears
truths, few as they may be, but faithfully spoken, who shall
go home with the same responsibility with which he came.
We are told by an apostle, that the gospel preached, is
either the savor of life or the savor of death. Nobody
leaves the sanctuary just as he came, but vastly more responsible; men had better not come, than come and leave
despising; or rather, not despising only, for it is written,.
How shall we escape," not if we reject; that is very obvious; but " how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation! "  It must be a very solemn thought to every minister
who preaches to a mass of human beings, that the truths
spoken will awaken echoes that will startle the silence and
solemnity of a judgment morn. InJ such cases, preacher
and people become associated together by links that will
rise from the grave at the resurrection day; one to answer
for the use they have made of what they have heard, and
the other to answer for the honesty, not for the ability, but
for the honesty with which he has proclaimed the things
that belong to their eternal peace. When we enter the
sanctuary and seat ourselves, Sunday after Sunday, do we
pray, or, if we do not formally pray, do we earnestly desire
that the Holy Spirit of God would enable the speaker so to
speak that some one shall get good, and the people so to
hear that they shall receive a blessing?  When men sit
down to their daily meals, none, surely, are so sunk below the
brutes that perish, that they do not ask a blessing upon the
bread they are to break. If this be necessary in daily meals,
how much more necessary that we should ask a blessing
when the bread of life is to be broken in the midst of us! To
do so is common sense: the truest and the noblest Christian"
ity is most in harmony with good and universal sense.




QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT.               77
Another way in which we may grieve and quench the
Holy Spirit, is when we pray without special reference to
him, in the same manner as we might pray without special
reference to the Lord Jesus Christ as the only Mediator.
We must never forget that we believe in a Trinity; in the
Father's electing love, in the Son's redeeming love, and in
the Spirit's effective love; and that when a Christian prays,
all his prayer must have underlying it, and running through
it, the Divine chord of a Triune God - the Father we pray
to; the Son in whose name we pray; and the Holy Spirit
who inspires and teaches us to pray. I not only must pray
to the Father, in opposition to all saints, and angels, and
images; I must not only pray in the name of the Son, in
opposition to the name of the Virgin Mary, or of any
other; but I must also pray depending on, and seeking to
realize the presence of God's Holy Spirit. We read in the
Levitical economy, so instructive in all respects, that the
nineteenth century might steal a page from the days of
Moses and Levi, and of the pilgrims in the desert, that
there was not only to be no strange altar, which was the
type of Christ, but there was not to be burnt upon the
true altar a strange fire. And so there must not only be no
prayer that is not offered in the name of Christ, but there
must be no prayer that is not illuminated, inspired, dictated,
by the Holy Spirit. And, therefore, it must grieve that
blessed Comforter, that Spirit of truth, when he sees any
giving honor to Christ, which is right, but withholding
honor due to him, which is no less dutiful.
The Holy Spirit is grieved, in the next place, when his
presence is shrouded, the necessity of his power not recognized as more than incidental, or as supreme, in the ordination of Christian ministers. There is one clause in the Ordination Form of the English Church which, to my mind, is
most admirable. When a man comes to the bishop in that
7e




78                  THE DAILY LIFEo
church to be ordained, he must profess that he is moved by
the Holy Ghost.  Now that is most precious; it makes the
man an awful liar, or it secures a true Christian.  So far,
this is to honor the Holy Spirit.  To omit this thought
(and it is easy to keep it in a rubric, it is so difficult to keep
in the heart) in our feelings is to grieve the Holy Spirit.
A stated ministry ever has been, and in these days, a highly
educated ministry, is more than ever, necessary; and, unless
it be so, the parliament, the platform, and the press will
take the lead, and the pulpit will linger far behind.  But
while, granting all this, to believe that the imposition of the
two hands of a bishop, or of the hundred hands of a presbytery, on the head of a candidate for orders, is the great
essential, constituent element of a true minister, is to fly in
the face of fact; and worse still it is to grieve and vex the
Holy Spirit of God by excluding him from the place of his
special presence.  Nay, more, were the Apostles Peter and
Paul to rise from the dead and lay their hands upon the
head of an unconverted man in order to ordain him  as a
minister, he would be no more a minister of Christ after the
imposition of hands than he was before.  Two things are
necessary. First, the inner call, which the Spirit alone can
give; secondly, the outer ordination, which is dutiful because enjoined and commanded in God's holy word.  But
while this is true, let us never forget, that many a man is a
true minister who never had hands of presbytery or bishop
on his head; and many a man is no minister at all who has
been ordained by both in rapid succession. It is the inner
thing that is the great thing; and to suppose that the apostolical succession, in the Tractarian sense of that word, is a
guaranty that every man ordained under its supposed influence is a Christian, is historically untruth, is theologically
nonsense, and is contradicted by every-day fact; and it
must grieve the Holy Spirit of God.  The idea of the Trac



QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT.                 79
tarian is that the first link was an apostolic one, that then
an influence was imparted to it which was transmitted
through all the links of the chain, till the last link created
yesterday becomes the recipient of the virtue transmitted
horizontally, like the electric fluid, along the eighteen centuries of the Christian era: while the Protestant idea is,
that each link of the chain receives no virtue from the one
before it, but a direct descent of Divine virtue from  the
Holy Spirit of God above it.  The Tractarian notion is a
horizontal transmission parallel with the plane of the earth;
the Protestant idea is a vertical transmission; on each minister chosen of God, and called directly by the -Holy Spirit
of God, this influence must fall, or he cannot be a true
minister. The apostolical succession is a dogma that must
grieve the Holy Spirit of God; the Protestant idea is the
recognition of his sovereignty, of our dependence on his
blessing, and the proof of giving glory to his great name.
Another way in which the Holy Spirit is grieved, is when
we read the Scriptures without seeking his direction and
teaching.  In order for me to find my way to heaven two
things become necessary.  I must have an inspired chart
external to me, which is the Bible; I must have, secondly,
an inspired heart, which is internal to me, in order to enable
me to read profitably that book.  Now of all charts, or, to
use the more common phrase, of all books, the Bible is the
plainest.  Comments, commentaries, sermons, explanations,
are most precious; but still the Bible itself, in things that
are vital, is so plain, that the humblest peasant can understand it; while, in things that are mysterious, it is so difficult that we shall spend heaven, and still not exhaust them.
The Holy Spirit is needful, not to enable me to understand
the Bible; for I can understand it by study just as well as
Homer, or Shakspeare, or Milton, or any other writer; but
so to understand it that, instead of being a mere outer truth,




80                 THE DAILY LIFE.
it may exercise an influence within, overcoming the hostility
of my heart, sanctifying its governing principles, and giving
new life and energy within. Hence it is the Spirit than fills
every symbol in it with celestial glory, that inspires every
truth in the Bible with life, gives to its every promise sweet
music, and communicates to the heart that studies it receptive power, and makes this book the guide unto life everlasting.  The Romanist looks to the pope to interpret the
Bible; the Tractarian looks to the church to interpret it;
the Socinian looks to reason to interpret it; the Christian
looks to the Holy Ghost to explain and interpret the Bible
to him. To show you the necessity of the Spirit, let us take
the very simple illustration of a sundial. If you go to a
sundial at midnight and study it with a brilliant lamp, you
will be able to trace every figure, and to understand it as
thoroughly as any human being ever understood it. But
while the lamp or moonlight applied to the sundial, will enable you to understand its structure most accurately, neither
will enable you to reach its practical use. If you want to
do that, you must go out when the sun has risen, or shines
from his meridian, and then you will not only be able to see
the structure of the dial, but to discover from it the hour of
the day.  So in reading this blessed book, you can by the
lamplight of human reason, or by the moonlight of tradition,
or by a light which is a mixture of the darkness of both -
the pope, understand this book in its outward facts; but in
its inner, its practical, and saving meaning, you must ask the
Author of the book to explain it to you. Suppose that you
have heard that a person has written a book, and on reading
that book you find a passage in it which you can make nothing of; and you appeal to this divine or to that divine to ask
them  to explain its meaning, but in vain. Suppose you
heard that the author of the book would be in the vestry at
a certain hour ready to explain the passage, you would say,




QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT.                81
What is the use of going to others, when the author of the
book is accessible and ready to explain his meaning?  He
will be the best able to make it plain.
The Author of this book, the Bible, waits, wherever there
is a heart that can pray, or lips that can move, to explain
the meaning or the mystery of the passage that the reader
himself cannot understand.
Another way in which the Spirit is grieved, is by slighting the ordinances that he himself has appointed. There
are two extremes in this. If we neglect the ordinances that
he has appointed, we grieve him; if we make more of the
ordinances than he meant, we grieve him. We must neither
repudiate baptism  and the Lord's supper, as useless ceremonies, nor must we idolize them as substitutes for Christ,
or superseding God. We must not, with the Romanist, regard baptism as an exorcism, and the Lord's supper as an
idol to be adored; and we must not, with some extreme persons, view the Lord's supper as useless, and baptism  as unnecessary.  We are to use the ordinance, but to look above
the ordinance to the Lord of it; we are to employ the means,
as if all depended on the means - but we are to look above
the means for him that can make them efficacious. Those
who say, We need not come to the Lord's supper, to say
the least of it, grieve the Holy Spirit of God, who does
not endure that his own ordinances shall be  slighted;
and those persons who come to the Lord's supper, and make
a god of it to adore, must equally grieve that blessed
Spirit; for they transfer from the Lord a ray of his glory,
to the ordinance that he himself has ordained.
We grieve this Holy Spirit by excessive conformity to
this present world. Let us understand what this means.
Conformity to the world in things that are indifferent is the
very best way to escape the censure of the world, and to do
the world good. But non-conformity to the world does not




82                  THE DAILY LIFE.
mean that we are to wear a Quaker's garb, or a mone's
cowl, or express ourselves in a whiniing and peculiar tone, as
if that were religion.  This is a resemblance to the Pharisees; these are not Scripture elements of non-conformity to
this world. In those things that are in themselves indifferent, let us dress like the world, and walk like the world, and
act outwardly like the world. To do otherwise is to do violence to common sense.  Fastidiousness here is fanaticism,
or folly, or superstition, or, what is as bad as any of
them, monkery itself.  Such is not real non-conformity to the
world.  But, on the other hand, there is a conformity to the
world, which not only verges on the borders of evil, but
quenches divine influences within us, grieves that blessed
Spirit, and tempts him to depart from  us. It cannot be,
surely, altogether without a meaning and an end, that our
blessed Master says, " I pray not for the world. I am no
more in the world, but these are in it.  Holy Father, keep
them  from  the evil of the world. The world hath hated
them, because they are not of the world. I pray not that
thou wouldest take them out of the world, but that thou
wouldest keep them from the evil of the world."  And it
cannot be without a meaning and an end, that the apostle
says, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part
hath he that believeth with an infidel?"  All this must
mean something.  No doubt there are places in the world
you must occupy in the discharge of duty; and there are
companies in the world of all kinds and classes you must
mingle with, in order to fulfil what becomes your place in
the world. All this you are compelled to do in the discharge of duties that you cannot easily shake off. But, on the
other hand, when you voluntarily choose the frivolity of the




QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT.                83
dissipated, when you deliberately select the company of the
irreligious, and court the society of the ungodly, because it is
great, or fashionable, or noble, and shrink from the society.
of the holy, the godly, and the spiritually minded, because
poor and lowly; not to pronounce where man should pray,
we may yet express a fear that such a spirit walks on the
verge of the line that separates a world that is passing to
ruin, from the company of Christ's true and faithful people,
and hovers on the very verge of quenching the Holy Spirit.
Or, on the other hand, when you allow your affections to root
themselves in the earth, when you make money, or ambition,
or fashion, the governing instead of the subordinate forces; if
you are silent when a truthful word would be in season, or
if you bring your business into the church, or outside the
church prosecute your business with absorbing intensity; if
you would rather marry a rich fool than a poor wise man;
if you would rather marry an ungodly noble than a godly
commoner; if things which in their place are good, become
dominant, and in a great question, not fashion, not wealth,
but religion must go to the wall- then there is something
wrong, radically wrong; if you have not yet quenched, you
are certainly grieving the Holy Spirit of God; or at least
you lower the temperature of the' Christian life, you damp
its first fervor; it may be, you quench the Spirit.  The
spirit of the world and the Spirit of Christ are ever stated
as correlatives; both will not live in the same bosom, both
will not inhabit the same place.  You must take your
choice. We do not ask you to cease to dress or to live according to the sphere in which God has placed you. For
the higher class to dress and to live as the humblest class,
would be turning the pyramid topsy-turvy; or trying to rest
it on its apex, instead of upon its base; it would be ruin, it
would be chaos:  all attempts to macadamize society have
always ended in the macadamizing of all that are above, and




84                  THE DAILY LIFE.
the evoking of reckless spirits from below, who having neither the prestige, nor the power, nor the delicacy, nor the
generosity of truly great ones, have lorded it with an iron
rod over those that listened to their democratic pretensions,
or yielded to their fierce and unsanctified power.  There is,
nevertheless, a line of demarcation between what is called
the world, and what is called the church. It is not dress,
but principle, that determines it. If religion be the regulating power, your first inquiry in any course will be, Is this
compatible with God's word? Your second, and always the
second, is optional, whether it will lead to wealth or to progress. You do not do wrong in trying to advance yourself.
The young apprentice who does not try to be a master, is not
doing his duty; and that man who does not try to better his
position by every lawful means, is not acting rightly.  But
what we require in Christian men is, that the first and the
governing thought shall be the demands of religion, the will
of God, the duty that they owe to their Saviour, and the
homage they feel towards his Holy and blessed Spirit.
Another way in which we quench the Spirit is, what in
this day it is so necessary and important to remember, the
tendency that prevails among many to apologize for great
errors, to speak gently of our sister's fall, as it has been said
at Oxford in reference to a dear sister at Rome.  The
tendency to speak gently and apologetically of great and
grievous errors seems to me one of the ways of grieving
and vexing God's Holy Spirit.  He thus leaves the heart.
And the worst errors have had their roots in the marshes
of a heart that has become corrupt. The heart has had
more to do with recent perversions to Rome, than ever
the head had; and it may be that the first deviation began
in tampering with evil, and the final conclusion was absolute proselytism. We are very apt to give ear to a convenient system, or doctrine, or proposition, that will sustain




QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT.                85
what we like; and when we have given ear some time to
plausible thoughts, and tried to prove that to be true which
suits our own evil desires, by a strange law, niiat one is in
the habit of laboring to prove comes, by a sort of self-imposture, to be accepted in the end as if it were actually and
absolutely true. The explanation of many a recent perversion is this, "Wherefore God gave them  up to strong delusion, that they should believe a lie."  Why?  "Because
they believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."  What an awful statement is here! that, after men
have tampered with the claims of truth, God gives them up
to strong delusion in righteous retribution, that they should
believe a lie; not because he delights in their ruin, but because they believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.  When human nature, corrupt human nature, is induced to hear reasons in favor of going over to
Rome, it listens to arguments to it irresistible. Human
nature prefers the penance that the foot can traverse, or the
hands can pay, to the repentance that the heart must feel.
Human nature prefers the mortification of the flesh, which
is not a very difficult thing, as the practice of thousands of
Hindoos will tell us, to the mortification of the lusts of the
heart, which is a very different thing. Human nature prefers confession to a sympathizing priest, who sympathizes,
not in hatred to the sin, but with the indulgence that is confessed. It prefers to confess to a sympathizing priest today, to get absolution at its close, to commence a fresh score
at the other end of the street, and return to the dear Father,
and get absolution after confession again. All this is so
much more delightful to human nature, than to lay bare the
heart to the Searcher of hearts, and to disclose its hidden
griefs and evils, and to get safety, not from the danger of
the sin without absolution from  the love of that sin, but
absolution from the penalty that embosoms in its very na8




86                 THE DAILY LIFE.
ture deliverance from the love of the sin that is forgiven.
Hence Tractarianism  and Romanism-the one the child,
the other the full-grown parent -all spring from human
nature in its unconverted state, seeking indulgence for its
peculiar idiosyncrasy, and trying to work God's book into
its service, instead of subordinating the thoughts into obedience to God's word. For what, after all, is the Tractarian system, as it is called, in its full power? Just a compromise between passion, conscience, and deep and ineradicable conviction; a compromise between all three. It is
the transference of the world to the church; such an admixture of the world with Christianity as will make Christianity palatable to worldly and unconverted people. Hence
the worship of Tractarianism is a sacred opera, a Christian
pantomime, a religious drama-a composite of St. Barnabas and Covent Garden; where it is difficult to know
whether it is the one or the other; except that the one is
licensed by a bishop, and the other is supported by the free
contributions of the people. What is Romanism?  A provision, not, like Christianity, for the sacrifice of the evil that
we hate, but a provision for a canonization of the evil that
we love. Are you poor?  Romanism provides for you a
nook in which you may glory in your rags. Are you rich?
It provides a side chapel for you, where you may not bless
God for your wealth, but glory in your riches. Are you of
an ascetic and severe turn of temper? It fits up for you a
monk's cell. Are you very sour and morose?  It will consecrate a whip, and put it in your hand, and teach you how
to use it. Do you love sin, yet fear the consequences of sin?
It is not without indulgences and penances for you. In short,
it is such an adjustment of passion and conscience, and such
a compromise of both with God's holy word, that we cannot but believe that the Holy Spirit, grieved, and quenched,
and resisted, has abandoned it long ago, and left it to expe



QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT.                   87
rience, as its doom  pronounced in the Bible, that terrible
destruction from the presence of the Lord, which is accompanied by the previous warning, " Come out of her, my
people, that ye partake not of her sins, and that ye receive
not of her plagues."  Do not tamper with that system.  Do
not go to hear Dr. Wiseman because of the fine music;
do not visit a Romiish church because there are splendid
ceremonies; do not listen to a priest's apology, because you
are thorough Protestants, and suppose you cannot be injured.  You are invincible within the boards of the Bible,
invincible on the deck, or on the Baltic, or the Black Sea;
but you are unstable as water, and helpless as babes, if you
go where you have no business, and where God has not sent
you.
We grieve the Holy Spirit of God in another respect, by
awakening quarrels among Christian brethren, where there
is harmony and unity in all that is true, and difference only
about forms.  We shall differ to the end about ceremonies;
I see no chance of absolute unity till the Lord of unity arrive.  But though we cannot agree with each other about
all things, yet we have so much in common, vitally precious,
that we may well afford to differ in circumstantial and ceremonial details.  What is the real difference between the
Scotch church and the English church --. mean as represented in their articles?  I cannot see any.  I can see
nothing to prevent me signing the Thirty-nine Articles;
and, I venture to say, the present excellent and truly
Christian archbishop  of Canterbury would subscribe the
Confession of Faith just as fieely.  The only difference lies
in the form, not in the substance; the white gown is different from the black gown, but there is as much a preacher in
the one as in the other.  A Liturgy may have, and I think
it has, immense asdvcatages; extemporaneous praye, is not
without great advantages also.  But in all the substantial




88                   TTITHE DAILY LIFi.
essentials of truth the difference is nothing at all.  Whenever two Christiatns, either of this church or that, begin to
quarrel about matters of ceremonial detail, whatt is the natural result?  The still small voice of truth is lost in tile
clamor of controversy; love decays, life dies, and the w-orld
exclaims, not as of old, "' ehold, how these Christians love
one anotlher;" but, " See howt they hate and'assail one anotller "   T;her   e we muslt differ from a Christian brother in
many things that he thinks right, let us do so without calling
him by a single bad name; use the softest words, thle strongest reasons; and, depecnd upon it, strong reason, couched in
courteous language, will gain the day, when violent declanmation, ensoured by a bitter spirit, will do evil, and gain no
laurels.  And insteadl o  spending our aggressive energy
upon internal disputes, let us expend it upon the masses of
London, that hear no chimes of sabbath bells, see no sabbath sun, and are ignorant of those precious things that we
know.  Oh! while patients are dyingin n the wards, let not
the physicians quarrel by the bedlside about Nwho has the
best diplomao  While souls are passing to the judgmentseat, wve should have no time to dispute about mere mechanical and paltry differencesi
Another means of ouenching the Spirit, is the unsanctified
use of past afflictions.  If you have lost the near a-ad the
dear; if you have lost your property; if you have been solemnized and saddened by the gap that was left here, and
the chasm that could never be filled there; if your soul still
retains the ilages of the lost, while the heart has ceased to
feel the sadness thatl once saturated it; if you have at lei-gth
so far forgotten the vows that you made, the impressions
that you felt, that you are more worldly, more gay, more
dissipated than ever; you will learn that, of all the evils
that overtake the Christian, unsanctified afflictioni is not the
least; the heart becomes hardened by the very fact of resist"




QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT.                   89
ance, and, like the sands of the desert, amidst the sunshine
and the showers it brings forth no fruit; it is only fit for
being rejected.
Let our first and most fervent prayer be, "0  Lord, teach
us to pray." Let our second be, " Holy Spirit, take possession of my heart, and give me the spirit of prayer."  Or, as
it is expressed in a very sweet and a very beautiful hymn,
"' Return, 0 Holy Dove, return,
Sweet messenger of rest;
I hate the sin that made thee mourn,
And drove thee from my breast."
8*




CHAPTER V.
DESPISE NOT PROPHESYINGS.
" Sail on, it says, sail on, ye stately ships,
And with your floating bridge the ocean span.
Be mine to guard this light from all eclipse;
Be yours to bring man nearer unto man."
"Despise not prophesyings." -1 THESS. v. 20.
"DESPISE not prophesyings;;" that is, despise not the
record in which you find all that you need to regulate your
life in this world, and all that heart can desire to ripen and
prepare it for the world that is to be.
It will scarcely be necessary that I should here explain
what is meant by prophecy.  It does not mean the prediction of events that are future, but the proclamation of duty
that is instant.  Certainly it is used in Scripture occasionally in the sense of foretelling future events, but not exclusively so.  The prophets in the Old Testament were not
simply men predicting the future; but proclaiming the responsibilities and duties of the present. The two prophets
in the camp of Israel were not engaged in predicting futurity, but in proclaiming present obligations. So the apostle,
in the Epistle to the Corinthians, uses it; he says, " Follow
after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye
may prophesy."   This is spoken  to  Christian  laymen.
(90)




DESPISE NOT PROPHESYINGS.               91
C For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not
unto men, but unto God; for no man understandeth him:
howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries. But he that
prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and. exhortation, and comfort. I would that ye all spake with tongues,.
but rather that ye prophesied; for greater is he that prophesieth "- that is, preacheth - "than he that speaketh with
tongues "-as at Pentecost -" except he interpret, that the
church may receive edifying."  Well then, the prophesyings
that we are called upon here not to despise, are simply the
declarations of God's truth, and the varied formulas in which
that truth is conveyed, whether in Scripture or in sermons.
If in the written word, that is one way, and the best way;
if in the preaching of the gospel, that is another way; if in
tracts and sermons, this is a third way. But in whatever
shape God's good word is conveyed, the command is, " Despise it not." If man be asked, what is meant by the prohibitory language -" Despise not?"  Like many a negative in the Bible, it means a very decided positive in the
opposite direction.  For instance, we read, "Forget not to
entertain strangers:" that really means, " Be sure to recollect to do so."  Again we read, in another passage, "Despise not thou the chastening of the Lord:" that means,
"Highly value, deeply appreciate the chastening of the
Lord."  So here the command, " Despise not prophesying," means, highly value it, deeply appreciate it. Never
say, or think, or do, what is fitted to disparage this book, or
to degrade it, or in any way to dislodge it from that central
supremacy that it ought to wield over every thought and affection of the inmost soul. The simple meaning of the prescription is, Receive the Bible; love it, read it, study it,
reverence it, cherish it as a precious possession, entertain it
as a life. in the heart, and not as a mere direction outside.
This idea has suggested here what may be practically useful,




92                  THE DAILY LIFE.
some of the reasons why many persons object to Christianity and the Bible, and religion altogether; and the reasons
why others do not give it that directive supremacy which is
its just and legitimate due. We are not speaking here so
much of that sober and awful conclusion to which it is barely
possible for a man to come, after having examined the various evidences of this book, when he concludes it to be a
falsehood. If any one has arrived at that conclusion, and I
can conceive a person coming sincerely to it, he is much to
be pitied; he is deeply mistaken, I would almost add fatally
mistaken; but still I can believe it to be his deliberate conviction. It is, however, such a terrible conclusion, so awful,
so undesirable, that when one is constrained to confess it, it
must be with tears, and grief, and deep distress.  When I
meet a sceptic parading his scepticism, glorying in it, anxious to make proselytes, I always suspect, and I hope it is
not uncharitable to do so, that there is a conscience inside,
and a life outside, not as either should be; and therefore
there is this shuffling, this display of bravery, this obtrusive
bravado, to conceal if possible from  himself-for such is
man's self-deception - the state in which he is living in the
sight of God. But a really sober conviction that this book
is a falsehood, must be to a right mind a very awful thing.
Can any thing be more distressing than to quench the lamp
that thousands are walking by, as they believe, to heaven?
How painful must it be to a right-minded man, to strike
down from its pedestal that book which, its worst enemy will
admit, has given freedom to the slave, dignity to the poor, a
sense of duty to the rich and the great! What result can
be more awful and painful, than to have come to the dread
conviction that man does not know of a God, a home, an
eternity; and that he goes down into the deep shadow of the
grave without a ray of hope to penetrate it, and reveal to
him immortality and glory?  It is so dreadful a conviction,




DESPISE NOT PROPHESYINGS.                93
that surely one must hesitate before accepting it; and if any
one come to entertain it sincerely, surely it must be with
pain and sorrow that he feels constrained to admit or pronounce it.  But the sceptics that we have here to deal with,
are rather those that love infidelity for its license, and prefer
to give evasive reasons for not manfully rejecting the Bible
as an imposture, and burning it. They prefer treating it
with affected contempt, giving it an incidental compliment
to-day, and a heavy blow to-morrow, always and everywhere professing to despise it on the whole.  Now what
may be some of the reasons, as far as we can discover, why
men act so wicked and yet inconsistent a part?  One reason
lies at the root of nearly all others, and explains much of that
despising of the word of God which is here condemned. It is
man's deep sense of his sinfulness, his alienation from, and, it
may be added, his antagonism to, God. Man loves sin; he
knows that God condemns it; but notwithstanding he will
not renounce it. He can neither justify his conduct, nor will
he give up his conduct.  He prefers, therefore, to forget the
Bible, to cease to think of the Bible, and to get rid from
memory and conscience of its remonstrances the best and
quickest way he can.  But, in spite of all, he cannot help
hearing chimes of bells on Sundays, meeting even preachers in the streets, stumbling on a Christian conversation,
reading an incidental allusion to, or illustration of, the
Bible.  And some way or another this book has so struck
itself into the very texture of all society, and the earliest
recollections of mankind, that, run as man likes a refugee
from its presence, he will incidentally hear it ringing in his
ears, or the echoes of it lingering in his heart, reasoning of
righteousness, and temperance, and judgment.  He cannot
answer it; he will not obey it; he dares not therefore manfully meet it.  He flees from it, and attempts not, even to
his own satisfaction, to treat with supercilious contempt the




94                 THE DAILY LIFE.
prophet that prophecies only evil continually about him,
This is one deep-rooted reason why man learns to despise
the Bible. Another reason is, confounding such feelings
with want of evidence; making the conscience and the intellect exchange places, and constraining the one, notwithstanding its objections, to do duty for the other. Hence man
gives utterance to the conclusion, We are not convinced that
the Bible is true; whereas the real translation of his words
is, We do not wish to be convinced that the Bible is true —
such a conviction would be very inconvenient. The conscience does not want light to touch it. The passions wish
the conscience to be quiet, and the passions know that the
avenue by which light gets to the conscience is the intellect;
and if it can put on the shutter there, and exclude the light
from admission, they hope they may prevent the light touching the conscience, and so disturbing, if not curbing, them.
This, however, is discontented feeling, not insufficient evidence: and it is not fair to confound insufficient evidence,
which may be, with discontented feeling, which is actually
the fact. You will not meet with a dishonest person in
London, who does not complain of the hardship of the law
that consigns to the police and to Bridewell the man that
picks his neighbor's pockets. We rarely meet with a disloyal man who likes a monarchy, or a throne, or its laws and
government.  Few can conceive what a serf and drudge the
intellect becomes when passions, that want to be indulged,
and conscience, that desires to exclude light, muster behind
it, and urge it on to subserve their purposes. Only let it be
clearly before us that insufficient evidence is one thing, and
in its place a thing that ought to be dealt with, but discontent
or dissatisfaction with the purity of the truth, and therefore
anxiety to escape from the pres'ence of the truth, is quite a
distinct, indeed a totally different thing.
Another cause, however, far less offensive in its nature,




DESPISE NOT PROPHESYINGS.               95
but yet leading persons to treat the Bible with incredulity
or neglect, as if it were a questionable or equivocal thing,
not a book yet clearly settled to be from God, is the requiring a sort of evidence for the truth of Christianity, and for
the genuineness and inspiration of the Bible, which is not
possible in moral subjects.  All who have attained the
ordinary level of education well know, that there is a vast
difference between what is called mathematical, and what is
called moral evidence; the difference consists not so much
in the fact that mathematical proofs deal with subjects that
come under the cognizance of the senses, but that mathematical evidence has no room for prejudice, or passion, or
self-will, or an evil heart of unbelief, or an unholy appetite or sinful desire of any kind. If I am proving that any
two sides of a triangle are greater than the third side;
or that the square of the hypothenuse of a right-angled
triangle is equal to the sum  of the squares of the two
sides, I am engaged in proving a proposition, that no prejudice, no passion, no unholy appetite or desire, ever can or
does interfere with. This process does not touch the heart,
the affections, and the passions, and they never think of
touching it. It is a sort of transcendental process, in this
respect altogether out of the reach of prejudice, passion,
unholy appetite and desire. But when I am  trying to
prove to men the propositions that speak of what they are,
and what they should be, and whither they will go if they
do not turn round and come back, or if they persist in their
present palatable but sinful course, then I have to deal, not
only with an intellect that needs to be convinced, but with
prejudices and passions innumerable. Inveterate prejudice
says, I do not consent to be put down; and violent passion,
flushed with indulgence, says, I will not consent to be no
more indulged; this is all very well, but it does not suit my
taste; I do not like it. The instant that we deal with moral




96                  THE DAILY LIFE.
reasoning, all the appetites, and passions, and desires of the
human heart thrust themselves forward, and try to prevent
the clear, and logical, and triumphant conclusion, to which
we should otherwise arrive.  Such is the important distinction between the two. If men therefore ask for mathematical evidence upon this book, and upon religion, they
demand what is impossible.  It belongs to another province.
But if you ask for and accept moral evidence, it will be
found in itself triumphant.  It is not a precarious or equivocal process.  When a man is tried for his life, and when
twelve respectable men hear the trial and the proof, they
come to the conclusion, he is or is not guilty! How rarely
do we find a jury in error! almost never.  Why?  Because
moral evidence has power -it does satisfy. And yet those
twelve jurymen are not without feelings, sympathies, passions, pity, compassion, constantly thrusting themselves up,
trying to arrest their honest verdict; but they are able,
notwithstanding, to keep all down, and come to an impartial conclusion; their reason overcomes every resistance.
Men's lives are taken away by the force of moral evidence,
and all are satisfied it is right. If a physician come to me
when I am  ill, he cannot mathematically demonstrate my
illness, he cannot mathematically convince me of it; but
we do not ask mathematical evidence on such subjects; we
are satisfied with moral. Take care, then, lest in the matters of Casar you daily accept moral evidence, as all that
is requisite; but in the matters of God and eternity, where
the moral evidence is so magnificent, varied, and vast, you
criminally reject it as incomplete, and unable to prove its
end and its object.
Another cause of despising prophecy, or disregarding
God's word, arises from having erroneous views of the province and the power of reason.  Some deify reason, and
dignify it with a sort of intuition. Others, again, seem to




DESPISE NOT PROPHESYINGS.              97
defer to the very first suggestion of reason, as if conclusive
on a subject beset with great difficulties, and reaching far
above its highest level.  This is not right; reason is not an
authority propounding truth; but a servant, or agent, trying
to discover honestly where and what is truth. The moment
you take reason out of its place as an examiner of the'document, and put it in the place of the document itself, you do
violence to both the reason of man and the revelation of God.
Others understand by reasonable, what accords with preconceived opinions and views, or peculiar prejudices. Hence
you go to the Bible not to say, Whatever is here, I accept,
because God has said it; but to argue, My reason is now to
be exercised; what my reason rejects, I reject; what my
reason receives, I receive: and therefore your Rule of
Faith is not an open Bible, but it is reason, or your own
mind, in some degree upheld and aided by the Bible. This
persisted in, leads of course to disparaging the Bible: we
make it a piece of wax, shaping it as we please, adding or
subtracting, or making it answer and subserve any purpose
we prefer.
Another ground on which men come to despise God's
word, and to disregard or reject Christianity, is confounding
with and in the exercise of this reason, God's physical and
moral omnipotence. It appears at first, perhaps, that there
is no difference; but there is really a great one. They are
notwithstanding often confounded. If God be omnipotent,
why did not he prevent man falling?  If God be omnipotent, and wish everybody to be saved, why does not he save
everybody at once? If God have all power, why does he
allow any to perish?  The right answer to all this is, God's
omnipotence governs the solar system, but he does not keep
planets in their orbits by the Ten Commandments. The
two things have no connection with each other. So God's
moral omnipotence governs the intellect of man, but he does
9




98                 THE DAILY LIFE.
not govern it by the law of gravitation. The law of gravitation is that by which he governs the orbs and the planets;
moral law, moral government, moral truth, is that by which
he governs his responsible and intelligent children. If you
confound the two, you land in mischief and confusion; if you
distinguish, you will see that if man is to be what he isan intelligent, responsible being - he is not to be conducted
from earth to heaven as a locomotive engine is driven fiom
London to Edinburgh, placed upon its groove, and propelled
mechanically along; he is to be moved by motives, by hopes,
by fears, by reasoning, by fact; and if he resist all, it is not
want of light, but something that has gone wrong within
him, and that must be put right before he can be governed
or righted himself.
Another cause why persons despise, and depreciate, and
undervalue this blessed book, is a very common one; a sort
of dissipation of mind. We are very prone to think those
young men only are dissipated who fall into coarse and vulgar wickedness.  So indeed they are. But there may be a
great deal of dissipation of mind, without any immorality in
the conduct. We have all met with persons in passing
through life, who are excessively fond of all sorts of discussion.  They are endowed with a kind of intellectual pugnacity, that courts and provokes a battle wherever it can
have a chance or a possibility of doing so.  They are so
fond of such discussions, that they will take the wrong side
or the right side, just as their fancy, or whim, or caprice,
may guide them; they display the most extraordinary attachment to paradoxes and odd opinions.  Such a habit of
mind is most mischievous. I pity a barrister, I excessively
pity him; for he must be often tempted to advocate the
wrong side. Not that he does wrong in setting forth all the
claims of his client, the law of the land, and indeed all that
can fairly be said; but the temptation to identify himself




DESPISE NOT PROPHESYINGS.               99
with a person in peril, sympathy growing with suffering,
and to make the criminal's cause his own, is very great.
And instead of saying very smart and bitter things against
barristers, that have done so, one should weigh more their
temptations, and be slow to censure, even if we dare not
justify.  One may sympathize with great infirmity, though
bound to rebuke sin. But the habit of those who have no
professional peril of this kind, who argue upon all questions,
who court discussion upon every subject, and the more extraordinary the more welcome; always arguing without
concluding; ever discussing, not for the sake of truth, but
for the sake of discussion; like a people at war for the
sake of war, and not at war for the sake of peace; such a
habit is most destructive to that balance, that quiet, that
calmness of mind, which are always needful for arriving at
truth, and always and everywhere dutiful in all.
Next to this habit is the dissipation engendered by the
practice of reading novels and romances. Of all mischievous
habits, this is the worst. Many minds cannot do it. If I
may refer to personal experience, I may add, I tried long
ago to read a novel, but could not finish it, for the simple
reason, that in the most unexceptionable of all- I mean
Scott's - I felt at every step haunted with a sense of unreality: " This is not real; it is not truth."  Romance is
very different from poetry. I can read true poetry, because
it glories in bringing up hidden thoughts; in laying bare
delicate links and affinities that lie in the silent depths of
nature, waiting for the master-mind to bring, what are to
us airy nothings, into a body and a shape. But the mere
novel, which is a tale worked up into the appearance of a
reality, and full of vapid and spurious excitement, is not
natural or wholesome food.  The habit of novel reading is
most injurious to real religion. It is exactly to the mind
what drinking alcohol all day is to the body. And the con



100                THE DAILY LIFE.
sequence of a long indulgence in novel, or romance reading
is, that mental and moral delirizum tremens which, in its despair, and its agony, flees either to the atheism of Voltaire,
or sends for the advice of Cardinal Wiseman.  Unquestionably, of all habits, that of novel and romance reading tends
most to shake the mind, to dispossess it of its equilibrium,
and to make it ready for the reception of the next new
crotchet, or the wildest Pantheism and Infidelity.
Another cause of despising prophecy, or disregard or depreciation of God's word, is dissolute, immoral, and dishonest habits and conduct. It is impossible to overstate the
intimate connection between pure moral character and true
mental conclusions. A great deal more infidelity than most
people imagine has its roots in the marshes of a corrupt and
a debased heart. Whenever man's heart and habits become
tainted, he longs not only to get rid of truth, but if he has
been taught its holy lessons when young, and now wishes to
do what it forbids, his first attempt will be to bend the words
of the Bible, if peradventure they will sanction his course.
But he finds the instant he withdraws the constraining force,
the truth, like the bow that has been bent, recoils to its
original position.  When this fails, he endeavors to find
reasons for rejecting the Bible, and begins to send to the
nearest lending library for a copy of Voltaire, or of Paine,
or of David IHume, in order to see what they have got to
urge in favor of what he has already labored to believe, that
the Bible is false; but very often he cannot prevail on his
intellect to adopt the conclusion he wishes; and, finally, in
his desperation he rushes at it as a passionate man at his
enemy, and tries to strike it down and utterly destroy it,
that he may not hear it speak to him any more.  Such is
human nature; anxious to get rid of that book that prophesies only evil about it, while it continues evil itself. Many
a young man comes to London from  a pure home, from




DESPISE NOT PROPHESYINGS.              101
affectionate parents, from a warm and bright roof-tree. He
has none to take him by the hand; he falls into the company of courteous, polite, accomplished, but irreligious men.
They begin to talk of his old-fashioned habits, and of his
antiquated notions on the subject of religion. They appeal
to what they call his sense of manliness to throw off these
old woman notions; they tell him  that he will soon get
wiser as he grows older and becomes more acquainted with
London life. IHe is at first shocked; but by and by his
conscience is lulled, resistance grows feebler, and eventually
he must find out reasons for being a sceptic. And having
finally got rid of the sense of moral law, of the restraints
and the influences of God's word, he plunges into every
criminal excess; till, in a few years, amid the wreck of
health, and mind, and heart, and soul, and all besides, he
learns what a bitter thing it is to labor to depart from the
living God.
Another cause of despising God's word, is the fact that
we identify true religion with the weaknesses, the oddities,
and the eccentric notions of good but ignorant men. It is
very wrong to do so.  Christianity is for every class; men
of rude and uncultivated tastes must be among Christians,
as well as among other sections of society. Not unfrequently we find Christian men, who cannot speak good,
plain, simple language on any subject without interlarding it
with religious phrases, not always in very good taste, certainly often unnecessary, and extremely liable to misconstruction.  And you will find other men, again, who display
oddities in their conduct, give utterance to strange notions,
use a sort of whine in their speech, and assume an appearance of seriousness, as they call it, on their face; they cannot think it possible that religion can exist without these
and similar grotesque extravagances and oddities. People
of cultivated taste, anxious to learn what real religion is, see
9*




102                 THE DAILY LIFE.
such things; and they most unjustly attribute to Christianity their growth and guilt, instead of recollecting that these
were characteristic traits before; and that if they are to
measure at all, they ought to ascertain how much good
Christianity has done, not how much of peculiar or corrupt
human nature it has left. Fanaticism is not piety; violence
is not religion.  Many of those "revivals," as they are
called, that we have heard of as having taken place in other
countries, had in them much that was not religion, as well
as much real and true. Nervous excitement is not religion;
rudeness is not faithfulness; vulgarity is not true piety.
We must learn in all fairness to distinguish and eliminate
the precious from the vile; and to recognize a Christian in
spite of these things, and not to give Christianity the discredit which is due to man as an imperfect being. Christianity will elevate the taste as it will purify the morals;
but, at the same time, there is an esthetic as well as moral
residuum of the old man in every one of us; and we should
not disparage the religion which rejects what is extravagant
and absurd, on the ground that those that profess it have
occasionally displayed sad defects of taste, temper, and character.
Another cause why people become sceptical, and despise
or regard not prophesyings, is their seeing many learned
men who never were Christians at all, or positively reject
Christianity. Learning hostile to Christianity, is of no
weight, if its possessor has never brought that learning and
talent to bear upon the investigation of the claims of this
book. Learning that never weighed the Christian evidence,
proves nothing against Christianity.  There are learned
men among the Hindoos; there are learned men among the
Brahmins; there have been learned men among the heathen; but the fact that a man is clever, talented, able,
learned, is worth nothing as an argument, unless he has




DESPISE NOT PROPHESYINGS.             103
brought his talent, his learning, his intellect to bear upon
the examination of these evidences. To say that such a
learned man never was a Christian, is therefore no argument at all. It would be so, if you were able" to say, Such
a learned man brought his intellect and his learning to bear
upon the character of this book, and came to a hostile conclusion. But I venture to assert, that the most accomplished
intellects that have thoroughly examined the claims of
Christianity, have come unanimously to one conclusion.
Voltaire, who wrote his Dictionary full of satire against
Christianity, I believe never read the Bible in his life. And
Paine, the coarse and vulgar infidel, it is admitted, never
searched the Bible except to gather texts against it. And
David Hume allowed that he had not read it from beginning to end. Now here is a striking fact; that the very
greatest and most powerful intellects that have attacked the
Bible and repudiated Christianity, have been least acquainted with it. But Sir Isaac Newton, who came down from
measuring the size, the weight, the distance of the stars;
who detected the laws that regulate the balance of the
worlds, who unbraided the beautiful sunbeam, and separated it into its constituent films, sat down and diligently
read this book; and he not only believed and concluded in
the exercise of his mighty intellect that it was God's; but
he has written a Commentary upon the Book of Daniel,
that, at this day, is read by every student, and is one of the
most able and learned that ever was published upon the
subject. I need not mention very many other master intellects, who have studied this book and accepted it. Therefore when you quote learned men as not being Christians,
you must adduce learned men that have examined and concluded it is not true., It will not do to quote learned men
who have studied mathematics, or astronomy, or some other
science, and excelled therein, but who have studied and




104  THE DAILY LIFE.
read nothing else. Let a just comparison be made, and it
will be found that genius, and learning, and science, and
mighty intellect, and soaring fancy, have all recognized this
blessed book to be God's, and this religion to be Divine.
Another cause why some persons are led to disparage and
disregard this book and its contents, is what they call the
variety of opinions that prevail on the subject. You cannot
meet a person of this temper in ordinary society without
hearing, Oh, who knows what you are to believe?  There
are so many different opinions. Everybody has an opinion
of his own. I answer, that, suppose there be many opinions upon this book, they lie upon its surface. I venture
to assert, that if you will take all the Christian denominations of Europe at this moment, —the two ultra extremes,
the Romanist and the Socinian excepted, -you will find
they differ only in ceremonial or external details, not in the
great essential truths of Christianity.  But, you say, why
except the Romanist and the Socinian?  For a very simple
reason. The Socinian detracts from  the Bible much that
is Divine, to suit his own reason; and the Roman Catholic
adds to the Bible much that is corrupt, to subserve his own
superstition. Now all churches that take the whole Bible
- nothing less, nothing more - as the rule of faith, are my
witnesses; these churches make up the catholic and universal church of Christendom. If we compare them, we shall
find that their differences lie all upon the surface, and that
their depths below are one. But suppose there were many
opinions deeper than the surface, it is very pusillanimous
of any to refuse to come to examine because there are many
opinions. It would be like a soldier, or a battalion, refusing to obey orders, because the walls of the fortress were
strong, or the defenders of the besieged town very brave.
The more formidable the dangers are, the more the brave
heart braces itself to meet them. So, if there were more




DESPISE NOT PROPHESYINGS.              105
differences than there are, it is a most cowardly thing in
you to say, I will not examine because there are many
opinions. Your duty is to search and carefully examine, and
find out which is the right and the true opinion. But our
duty is not to collect and study opinions. If I want to find
out the way to heaven, I should never dream of collecting
together all the opinions of all men, and weighing, estimating, and examining them, till I find the way. Our rule of
faith is not what the most men say, nor is it what the best
men say; but it is what God has said, in his own holy and
infallible word. And my duty therefore is not to tease myself and lose my time by examining people's opinions; but
to go to the original document itself, to rise to the fountain
itself; to ascertain what is there: and what is there is true,
if all men should contradict it; and what is not there is not
necessary, if all men should shout and assert it.
Another reason of many for rejecting Christianity, is the
habit of attributing to it in its past history what really does
not belong to it. Many a man- alas! it is too true -can
quote the long midnight of Europe, in which the human
mind seemed to have slept, except from  wickedness, and
every thing like religion seemed to have died away; in
which power was an iron sceptre; and the more terrible,
because it was priestly and ecclesiastical; an era when liberty lay in chains, and virtue was branded as a felon, and
the Bible was banished as a criminal from the professing
church of Christ: and the fraud, and folly, and cruelty, and
crime of those ages have left, alas! their stains upon religion
that will not be washed out till the days of the millennial
state.  But Christianity is not answerable for these things;
corrupt human nature mainly is. Man takes the very best
gifts that we have, and debases and destroys them; and to
quote priestly abuses of Christianity as a reason for rejecting
and despising it, is to misquote and misinterpret things most




106                THE DAILY LIFE.
absurdly and most wickedly.  The apple-tree is not to be
cut down because the spider weaves its web amid its leaves,
or the caterpillar gnaws them.  This beautiful tree, under
which nations have found a shadow, and humanity a shelter,
and weary and hungry souls the choicest fruit, is not to be
hewn down because the priest, and the pope, and superstition, and cruelty, and murder, and crime, have all nestled
wickedly in it, or chosen'it as their rallying place and their
shelter. It is not religion that is here to blame. Rtebuke
the priestcraft, and the perversions of truth- protest against
them; expose Popery, and denounce it. It is due, not to
the Papist, that you would emancipate, but to the sceptic,
that you deprive of his reasons for refusing our faith.  But
despise not the gospel.
These reasons - and probably more, but surely such as
these- I ask all honestly and fairly to examine.  Examine
the thing itself, study religion itself; and I shall have more
to say upon this in another chapter, " Prove all things."
Here is the original; read this book, the Bible; does it not
give a picture of God so magnificent, that nations have stood
in awe before it, as they have gazed upon it?  Here is a
book that assigns an assemblage of attributes to God so
grand, so sublime, yet a priori so just, that no picture ever
approached it, and the brightest definitions of heathendom
were mere plagiarisms from  the word of God; and the
creeds of Plato, and Socrates, and Zoroaster, and Confucius, were only incidental, distorted rays, seen dimly as they
came from Christianity.  In what book, in what document,
will you find such a picture as this? "The God that
measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, meted out
the heavens with a span, comprehends the dust of the earth
in a measure, weighs the mountains in scales, and the hills
in a balance."  What a magnificent thought! "Behold, the
nations are as a drop of the bucket, and are counted as the




DESPISE NOT PROPHESYINGS.              107
small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as
a very little thing. It is he that sitteth upon the circle of
the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers;
that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth
them out as a tent to dwell in."  Is it meet to despise a
book that is full of such portraits as these? Is it rational
to treat with contempt such an apocalypse as this? Is that
man the fool that despises it, or he that accepts it as the
portrait of the Almighty, studies it, and is thankful for it?
Study the character of Jesus as drawn by the evangelists.
One of the most triumphant and conclusive proofs that this
book is from God, is the portrait it contains of the Lord
Jesus Christ. All antiquity, it is needless to tell the scholar,
labored and studied to find Plato's just man, or to delineate
a perfect character; and all antiquity failed.  Sin had
blotted out Eden; the ideal of a perfect man had disappeared from actual life, and had ceased to be recollected in
the memories of mankind; all heathendom had failed to
delineate it, and was silenced.  The illiterate fishermen,
peasants, and tax-gatherers of Galilee, took up and accomplished what all philosophy and science had given up in
despair.  And these peasants, these fishermen, had to sketch
not merely a perfect man, but a Being that they themselves
said was God manifest in the flesh.  Now suppose the
fishermen and publicans of Galilee had to sketch this character unaided, if they had no original, the difficulty and the
delicacy of depicting God manifest in the flesh, is incalculable; and no one can conceive how it is possible for human
nature to do it.  They must show in all his life the power,
the beneficence, the greatness, the grandeur of a God; they
must also show in his acts the tenderness, the sympathy, the
sorrow, the joy, the suffering of a man.  To sketch this
complex character is a problem  too difficult ever to be
placed to human account.  And yet these rude fishermen,




108                 THE DAILY LIFE.
these humble peasants, followed this complex- character into
the manger, into the cradle, into boyhood, into his home,
into the temple, into the publican's house, to the sea-shore,
to the garden of Gethsemane, to the cross, to the grave;
and they sketch him in each of these places, they portray
him in every light, at every angle, in every affliction, in
every duty, in every place; and the portrait that these rude
fishermen of Galilee have drawn, has been hung in the skies
for 1800 years; the eyes of all nations have gazed at it;
the Argus eyes of all critics have examined it; and what is
the result? That the impression is deepening every day in
the minds of the greatest, the wisest, and the best, till it
promises to be the unanimous verdict of all the wise, the
great, the good, that this man was not the creation of his
age, for he was the very opposite: this man was not sketched
as a fanciful being by these rude fishermen; for that would
be to suppose a miracle more stupendous, if possible, than
any. But this Being is an original; he must not only have
sat for the portrait that the rough fishermen sketched, but
he must have directed the pencils that sketched him. The
evidence is irresistible here that Jesus is no imaginary person, but that he was an original Being; and human nature,
unsophisticated by priest, and scribe, and Pharisee- for
human nature in itself is far nobler than when corrupted
by a false religion —human nature, I say, gazing on the
Original, declared with irrepressible eloquence, its deepest
and innermost conviction," Truly this was the Son of God."
The most eloquent, the most just, the most beautiful
sketch of Jesus that ever was given by uninspired man, is a
callotype from  St. Matthew.  " I will confess to you that
the majesty of the Scriptures strikes me with admiration, as
the purity of the gospel hath its influence on my heart.
Peruse the works of our philosophers with all their pomp of
diction; how mean, how contemptible are they, compared




DESPISE NOT PROPHESYINGS.              109
with the Scriptures! Is it possible that a book, at once so
simple and sublime, should be merely the work of man?
Is it possible that the sacred personage, whose history it
contains, should be himself a mere man?  Do we find
tha the assumed the tone of an enthusiast or ambitious
sectary?  What sweetness; what purity in his manner!
What an affecting gracefulness in his delivery! What sublimity in his maxims! What profound wisdom in his discourses! What presence of mind, what subtlety, what truth
in his replies! H-ow great the command over his passions!
Where is the man, where the philosopher, who could so
live, and so die, without weakness and without ostentation?
When Plato describes his imaginary good man, loaded with
all the punishments of guilt, yet meriting the highest rewards of virtue, he describes exactly the character of Jesus
Christ; the resemblance was so striking, that all the fathers
perceived it. What prepossession, what blindness must it
be, to compare the son of Sophroniscus " - tat is, Socrates
— "to the Son of Mary! What an infinite disproportion
there is between them! Socrates, dying without pain or
ignominy, easily supported his character to the last; and if
his death, however easy, had not crowned his life, it might
have been doubted whether Socrates, with all his wisdom,
was any thing more than a mere sophist. He invented, it is
said, the theory of morals.  Others, however, had before
put them in practice; he had only to say, therefore, what
they had done, and to reduce their examples to precepts.
Aristides had been just, before Socrates defined justice;
Leonidas had given up his life for his country, before Socrates declared patriotism to be a duty; the Spartans were a
sober people before Socrates recommended sobriety; before
he had even defined virtue, Greece abounded in virtuous
men. But where could Jesus learn among his contemporaries, that pure and sublime morality, of which he only
10




110                 THE DAILY LIFE.
bath given us both precept and example?  The greatest
wisdom was made known amongst the most bigoted fanaticism, and the simplicity of the most heroic virtues did honor
to the vilest people on earth. The death of Socrates, peaceably philosophizing with his friends, appears the most agreeable that could be wished for; that of Jesus, expiring in the
midst of agonizing pains, abused, insulted, and accused by a
whole nation, is the most horrible that could be feared.
Socrates, in receiving the cup of poison, blessed indeed the
weeping executioner who administered it; but Jesus, in the
midst of excruciating tortures, prayed for his merciless tormentors.  Yes, if the life and death of Socrates were those
of a sage, the life and death of Jesus are those of a God.
Shall we suppose the evangelical history a mere fiction?
Indeed, my friend, it bears not the marks of fiction: on the
contrary, the history of Socrates, which nobody presumes to
doubt, is not so well attested as that of Jesus Christ.  Such
a supposition, in fact, only shifts the difficulty without obviating it: it is more inconceivable that a number of persons
should agree to write such a history, than that one should
furnish the subject of it.  The Jewish authors were incapable of the diction, and strangers to the morality, contained
in the gospel; the marks of whose truth are so striking and
inimitable, that the inventor would be a more astonishing
character than the hero."
Who do you think, dear reader, wrote this beautiful, this
true portrait?  The wretched Rousseau, who lived an infidel, and died an infidel, blaspheming God. And yet, here
is one who gazes upon the picture, not upon the original;
and his genius is provoked to give this eloquent testimony.
We want nothing more just; we want nothing to be put
before Hume, and Paine, and Voltaire, and every infidel,
beside the Bible, but the picture that Rousseau the sceptic
drew.




DESPISE NOT PROPIHESYINGS.              11
Refer to the lessons that Jesus taught; what illustrations
of beauty, charity, and love, did he give! Read the parable of the prodigal son; read the fifeenth chapter of St.
Luke's Gospel at your lei ure.  Read the following touching account in the Gospel according to St. John.  They
bring unto him  a Awoman caugllt in sin. " Now, Moses in
the law commanded us, that such should be stoned; but
what sayest thou?  This they said, tempting him, that they
bright have to accuse himr, 3ut Jesus stooped down, and
wFith his finger wrote on the ground, as though he he ard
them not.  So when they continued asking him, he lifted up
himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among
you, let him first cast a stone at her.  And again he stooped
down, and wrote on the ground.  And they which heard it,
being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by
one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last; and Jesus
was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
When Jesus had lifted up himself and saw none but the
woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine
accusers? hath no man condemned thee?  She said, No
man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee; go, and sin no more."  Now, where have any
read a lesson like this?  It would take many days justly to
unfold and expound it; such purity, yet such beneficence;
such tender, and yet such faithful rebuke. No conniving at
sin, no courting popularity, no desire after human eclact.
All this and more, is in this book.  HIow could corrupt
man teach such lessons of purity?  I-lo, we ask, could impure man inculcate such lessons of holiness?  Good men
would not have vwritten the Bible unless they had sketched
from an original, and were inspired to do it; and bad men
would not have written a book that condemns the very sins
in which they themselves ilIdulged.
~We ask now, in conclusion, vwho is the man that is credu



112                 THE DAILY LIFE.
lous?  Who is unworthy of respect?  The man that can
afford to despise such a book, or treat such a book with contempt.  It requires prodigious credulity to be an infidel; it
requires prodigious baseness of heart to say so. It requires
but common sense, honest and impartial inquiry, to believe
that this book is true; it requires the Holy Spirit to apply
it to the heart, and to make it the savor of life to all that
read it.




CHAPTER VI.
PROVE ALL THINGS.
"Seize upon truth where'er'tis found,
Among her friends, among her foes,
On Christian or on heathen ground;
The flower's divine where'er it grows:
Refuse the prickles and assume the rose."
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." -1 THEss. v. 21.
I NEED not reiterate the proof of the connection existing
between the different prescriptions in this beautiful passage.
First, " Rejoice evermore." A Christian's air and life is joy.
In order to do so, " Pray without ceasing." And in order
to pray without ceasing, "In every thing give thanks;"
thanking God for the mercies that he gives in answer to
prayer, and thus encouraged to pray again and seek what
God again will give.  And for this purpose, grieve not,
quench not that Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of prayer,
and inspires true gratitude to God.  And, in order not to
grieve the Spirit, despise not the word that he has inspired.
In this chapter I will adduce some of the proofs - or rather
specimens only of the proofs - on the strength of which we
come to the conclusion that the book called the Bible is
from God.  In our next, I will show the doctrines contained
in this book, as proved from it alone, and as contradistin10*                     (13)




114                TEE DAILY LIFE.
guished from the perversions and corruptions of them more
or less widely introduced. In our present chapter, we will
try to prove, or rather to give specimens of proofs of the
evidence that the book that we hold in our hand, is what it
pretends to be, — the reflection of the mind, the record of
the acts, the oracle of the truths of God.  The reception of
the truth without inquiry is the surest precursor to, and
precedent for the reception of, error.  A man who receives
the truth without reason is liable, when error is presented
with more plausible attractions, to receive it without reason
also.  But, besides, when teachers of the truth refuse to
give reasons for the maintenance of that truth, or discourage
the investigation of its claims and pretensions, they convey,
intentionally or unintentionally, the impression that they
hold a creed that is incapable of proof. And infidels are
prone, very prone, to encourage the notion that the Christian religion is always to be received without reason; that
it is believing, and not reasoning; that implicit credence,
not rational investigation, is the ground and basis of the
claims and the acceptance of Christianity. But the inspired
writers do not shrink from discussion. They court it; nay,
they demand it. They substantially assert that the man
that cannot give an answer for the faith that is in him,
either has believed the truth on insufficient grounds, or has
accepted error-in its stead, which is incapable of support by
right reason, or of evidence that will stand. If we refer to
any part of the Epistles, or to any chapter of the Acts, we
shall see it constantly urged against the Jews, that they received by tradition from  the fathers, not as the result of
personal inquiry, what they believed, and therefore they
were wrong, or received truth on wrong grounds.  But, on
the other hand, we find the apostles asserting, " these things
are written that ye might believe " -facts are stated, reasons are assigned, the ground is given on which you are to




PROVE ALL THINGS.                115
believe -" that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and
that believing ye might have life through his name." In
the Acts of the Apostles the Bereans were praised, because
when an apostle preached - and a fortiori, if an apostle's
successor, real or pretended, preaches- they did not implicitly accept, but carefully test; and these Bereans were
therefore more noble than the rest, because they searched
the Scriptures, whether these things were so. Now, they
did so when an apostle preached; they acted on the pre:
scription, "Prove all things.' Test them, bring them'to
the ordeal; and do it, not for the sake of gladiatorial display, but for the sake of coming to a just and saving conclusion. " Hold fast that which is good."  In all discussion,
it is not the arena that we love, but the prize that lies on it.
It is not the battle that we court, nor the victory so much
that we desire; but the peace to which one and the other
permanently and surely lead. And, therefore, when we
prove things, we are not to do so in order to show how
clever we are, how talented our logic is, but for the purpose
of establishing, vindicating, and eventually of holding fast
that which is good. I am not at all surprised that the
church of Rome should not agree with us in this matter.
Her maxim is substantially, " Prove nothing - do not venture to do so; but believe all that the church teaches, and
hold fast that which she lays down."  In fact, she reminds
one in this matter very much of Nahash the Ammonite,
when he answered the request of the people, " Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee."  Nahash the Ammonite received the proposal very much after the manner
of the modern pope. IHe answered, " On this condition will
I make a covenant with you; that I may thrust out all
your right eyes, and lay it for a reproach upon Israel."
Now, in the church of Rome, they will insist on a similar
condition, that you put out your eyes, or let them do it for




116                 THE DAILY LIFE.
you, that is, that you surrender the authority of your senses,
give up the employment of your reason, investigate nothing,
abjure argument, shut up the senses, and receive implicitly
truth or error, as the church may be pleased or feel it convenient to give. And yet it is very singular, not to say
inconsistent, that this very church, that disparages reason,
and labors to quench it in her people, yet gives us reasons
for so doing; and, at the very moment she asks you to
destroy your reason, she is working by your reason to guide
you to do so! So inconsistently do men act when they deviate from simple truth and plain common sense.  On the
other hand, there is something in human nature favorable
to Rome; it likes to be spared the trouble, the fatigue, the
painful drudgery of investigation. We are all instinctively
anxious to make everybody think as we think, and cast all
society as a stereotype each of himself.  But, singular
enough, society is as willing to be deceived as the priest is
to deceive. It wants to get rid of trouble, to be spared all
investigation; and to have a religion prescribed by the religious physician in whom it has confidence, which it can
receive without incurring the trouble of investigating the
prescription, and above all, one whom it can intrust with its
responsibility, and appearance, and issue at the judgmentseat of Christ. But all this is incompatible with the plainest parts of the Bible, and surely inconsistent with Protestant Christianity. If the Bible has nothing to say for itself, and its advocates have nothing to say for it, it is not
worth holding. But, in reality, there is much, very much,
to be said for it; we believe that all that is conclusive can
be said for the Bible, and therefore we proceed to pass some
remarks on the force, and weight, and number of the claims
of this book to be the book of God.
But persons often want to learn what evidence exists
about the Bible external to itself, and therefore the question




PROVE ALL THINGS.                 117
is often asked in seeking to prove and hold fast this blessed
book, Is there evidence beyond the Bible, and external to
itself, that it was written at the time it says and alleges it
was written; and that the apostles and persons whose names
are contained in it, did actually write this book, and that
they wrote and recorded  facts and phenomena which
actually took place? Now, in order to answer these questions, it will not do in reasoning with scepticism to open the
Bible, and say, Paul says so, and Peter says so, and John
says so; though I cannot see why such honest men as
Matthew, and Paul, and John should not be regarded as
being as worthy of credit as any sceptic or infidel that ever
wrote. But still, for the satisfaction of those who would
take an opinion fiom Celsus, but would reject it from John;
who would accept the testimony of Porphyry, but would
not that of St. Paul; I will here adduce some extracts
faithfully and carefully made, which will show that the
truths and facts recorded in this book did exist, and were
known at the time when the book was written; and that
therefore Christianity can-be traced up to the cross, independent altogether of testimonies contained in the word of
God. This is most important.
The first evidence I will adduce is that of a celebrated
historian, known to every scholar, Tacitus, a most elegant
and accomplished writer, who so hated the Christians and
Christianity, that he never was at the trouble to investigate
it; who was nevertheless a faithful annalist of facts that
actually occurred.  The statement of Tacitus, as translated
by Gibbon, a fair and impartial translator, is,  " With this
view he," that is, Nero, "inflicted the most exquisite torments on these men, who, under the vulgar appellation of
Chrlistians, were already branded with deserved infamy."
Now this relates to about thirty years after the crucifixion;
and Tacitus, forty years afterwards, records these facts.




118                 THE DAILY LIFE.
" They derived their name and origin from Christ, who, in
the reign of Tiberius, had suffered death by the sentence
of the procurator, Pontius Pilate.  For a while this dire
superstition was checked, but it again burst forth, and not
only spread itself over Judea, the first seat of this mischievous sect, but was even introduced into Rome, the common asylum which receives and protects whatever is impure,
whatever atrocious. The confessions of those who were
seized discovered a vast multitude of their accomplices;
and they were all convicted, not so much for the crime of
setting fire to the city, as for their hatred of human kind."
We must take his prejudices and his antipathies as peculiar
to himself; and value his, testimony for the facts that are
embosomed in it. "They died in torments, and their torments were embittered by insult and derision. Some were
nailed on crosses; others sewn up in the skins of wild
beasts, and exposed to the fury of dogs; others, again,
smeared over with combustible materials, were used as
torches to illuminate the darkness of the night."  Let us
recollect, these facts happened within thirty years after the
crucifixion; and they were recorded by Tacitus forty years
after the time they actually occurred.  " The gardens of
Nero were destined for a melancholy spectacle, which was
accompanied with a horse-race, and honored with the presence of the emperor, who mingled with the populace, in the
dress and attitude of a charioteer.  The guilt of the Christians deserved, indeed, the most exemplary punishment;
but the public abhorrence was changed into commiseration,
from the opinion that these unhappy wretches were sacrificed, not so much to the public welfare, as to the cruelty of
a jealous tyrant."
We can here gather enough, from  the testimony of this
dispassionate and eloquent heathen historian, to prove the
existence of the facts that are recorded in the Gospels, at




PROVE ALL THINGS.                 119
the time asserted by evangelists, though mixed up with an
amount of prejudice, passionate prejudice, against the Christians, which resulted from  his ignorance, and the circumstance that he had never investigated, or paid any attention
to, the claims of Christianity.
Gibbon makes the following remarks upon this passage
of Tacitus. "The most sceptical criticism is obliged to
respect the truth of this extraordinary fact, and the integrity of this celebrated passage of Tacitus. The former
is confirmed by the diligent and accurate Suetonius, who
mentions the punishment which Nero inflicted on the Christians, a sect of men who had embraced a new and criminal
superstition. The latter may be proved by the consent of
the most ancient manuscripts; by the inimitable character
of the style of Tacitus; by his reputation, which guarded
his text from the interpolations of pious fraud; and by the
purport of his narration, which accused the Christians of
the most atrocious crimes, without insinuating that they possessed any miraculous or even magical powers above the
rest of mankind."
These facts will leave in our minds clear and satisfactory
proofs, external to the inspired records, of the existence,
the spread, and the recognition of Christianity after, and
immediately succeeding, the days of the crucifixion of
Christ. It appears that, during the year 106 or 107 of the
Christian era,- that is, not above ten years after the death
of the last of the apostles, —Pliny was intrusted, by the
emperor Trajan, with the government of Bithynia and
Pontus, provinces upon the Euxine Sea. According to the
customs of every governor of a province, he writes home to
his royal or imperial master accounts of all that occurs, and
on one occasion in these words.
Pliny writes to Trajan.  "Health.  It is my usual
custom, Sir, to refer all things of which I harbor any doubts




120                THE DAILY LIFE.
to you. For who can better direct my judgment in its hesitation, or instruct my understanding in its ignorance?  I
never had the fortune to be present at any examination of
Christians before I came into this province.  I am, therefore, at a loss to determine what is the usual object of inquiry or of punishment, and to what length either of them
is to be carried. It has also been with me a question very
problematical, whether any distinction should be made between the young and the old, the tender and the robust;
whether any room  should  be given for repentance, or
whether the guilt of Christianity, once incurred, is incapable
of being expiated by the most unequivocal retraction;
whether the name itself, abstracted from any flagitiousness
of conduct, or the crimes connected with the name, be the
object of punishment.  In the mean time, this has been my
method with respect to those who were brought before me
as Christians. I asked them whether they were Christians;
if they pleaded guilty, I interrogated them twice afresh, with
a menace of capital punishment. In case of obstinate perseverance, I ordered them to be executed.  For of this I had
no doubt, whatever was the nature of their religion, that a
sullen and obstinate inflexibility called for the vengeance of
the magistrate.  Some were infected with the same madness,
whom, on account of their privilege of citizenship, I reserved
to be sent to Rome, to be referred to your tribunal. In
the course of this business, informations pouring in, as is
usual when they are encouraged, more cases occurred.  An
anonymous libel was exhibited, with a catalogue of names of
persons who yet declared that they were not Christians then,
or ever had been; and they repeated after yme an invocation
of the gods and of your image, which for this purpose I had
ordered to be brought with the images of the deities. They
performed sacred rites with wine and frankincense, and
execrated Christ, none of which things, I am told, a real




PROVE ALL THINGS.                 121
Christian can ever be compelled to do. On this account I
dismissed them. Others, named by an informer, first affirmed
and then denied the charge of Christianity, declaring that
they had been Christians, but had ceased to be so, some
three years ago, others still longer, some even twenty years
ago.  All of them worshipped your image, and the statues
of the gods, and also execrated Christ; and this was the
account which they gave of the nature of the religion they
once had professed, whether it deserves the name of crime
or error; namely, that they were accustomed on a stated day
to meet before daylight "- owing to the persecution of the
times- " and to repeat among themselves a hymn to Christ
as to a god "-the recognition, you observe, from the lips
of a heathen of the admitted Deity of Christ, and the fact
that the early Christians worshipped him as God. These
Christians also, says Pliny, "were accustomed to bind
themselves by an oath with an obligation of not committing any wickedness, but, on the contrary, of abstaining from
thefts, robberies, and adulteries."  The expression, "bind
themselves by an oath," a word which is explained in this
way. The Latin word for an oath is sacramentum; and
that word came very early to be applied to the Lord's supper; when, therefore, he says here, "They bound themselves by an oath " - sacramentum - there is no doubt that
they pledged themselves at the communion table not to
commit wickedness, but to abstain from  it. And mark,
incidentally, here, what a precious testimony there is not
only to the Deity of Christ, but also to the purity of the
lives of those men who were made martyrs, not for crimes,
but simply for professing Christianity. He continues; "also,
of not violating their promise, or denying a pledge; after
which it was their custom to separate and meet again at a
promiscuous, harmless meal; from which last practice they,
however, desisted after the publication of my edict, in which,
11




122                THE DAILY LIFE.
agreeably to your orders, I forbade any societies of that
sort. On which account I judged it the more necessary to inquire, by torture, fron two females, who were said to be
deaconesses, what is the real truth, but nothing could I
collect, except a depraved and excessive superstition." Here
is a testimony to the early existence of deacdnesses in the
Christian church.  No doubt they existed in the days of the
apostles. The institution of nuns is a perversion of it. The
institution of district visitors, or females in any way engaged
in the promotion of Christianity, is the spirit of it, if it be
not the literal transcript of the original. Then Pliny says,
" Deferring, therefore, any further investigation, I determined
to consult you. For the number of culprits "    testifying,
you observe, to the rapid spread of Christianity -"is so
great as to call for serious consultation.  Many persons are
informed against of every age, and of both sexes, and more
still will be in the same situation. The contagion of the superstition hath spread, not only through cities, but even villages
and the country.  Not that I think it impossible to check
and to correct it. The success of my endeavours hitherto
forbids such desponding thoughts; for the temples, once
almost desolate, begin to be frequented; and the sacred
solemnities, which had long been intermitted, are now attended afresh; and the sacrificial victims are now sold everywhere, which could once scarce find a purchaser. Whence I
conclude that many might be reclaimed, were the hope of
impunity on repentance absolutely confirmed."  From this
letter of Pliny we learn that in ten years after the death of
John, the last of the apostles, this religion had spread through
cities, villages, and countries; till this Roman governor, an
accomplished litterateur, confesses that it is absolutely impossible - they were so numerous — to dispose of them.
The emperor Trajan writes a reply to this document; in
which he says, "You have done perfectly right, my dear




PROVE ALL THINGS.                 123
Pliny, in the inquiry which you have made concerning
Christians.  For truly no general rule can be laid down,
which will apply itself to all cases. These people must not
be sought after. If they are brought before you and convicted, let them be capitally punished; yet with this restriction, that if any renounce Christianity, and evidence his
sincerity by supplicating our gods, however suspected he
may be for the past, he shall obtain pardon for the future
on his repentance.  But anonymous libels in no case ought
to be attended to; for the precedent would be of the worst
sort, and perfectly incongruous to the maxims of my government."  We have in these three ancient documents the
clearest proof of the existence of Christianity up to the very
moment that the apostles say it commenced; and this on
testimony independent of the sacred writers; and the more
likely not to be partial to Christianity, because the parties
giving it were opposed to Christianity in every respect.
Not only did every governor of a province, like Pliny, write
to his imperial master from those districts on the borders of
the Euxine; but also wherever there was a Roman procurator, he wrote an account of every thing of moment that
took place.  We find accordingly, by referring to certain
Christian writers of early date, that they all reiterate the
fact that Pontius Pilate wrote to Rome an account of every
thing that took place at the crucifixion. Justin Martyr,
writing in the year 140, says,  And that these things were
so done, you may know from the acts written in the time of
Pontius Pilate."  He was appealing to accounts in their
archives at the very time at which he wrote. Tertullian
also, writing in the year 198, says, "Of-all these things
relating to Christ, Pilate, himself in conscience already a
Christian, sent an account to Tiberius, then emperor. The
allusion to Pilate's conviction is remarkable.  Pilate was
opposed to the crucifixion, washed his hands, as he thought,




124                TiE DAILY LIFE.
of the guilt of it; and only by the fear of losing his procuratorial government did he yield to the fury of the priests
and Pharisees. And what signally confirms the impression
we gather from Scripture is the patristic observation, that
Pilate was " in conscience already a Christian."  And yet
we are prone very much to abuse Pilate. Pilate did every
thing that man could do to rescue the Son of man, except
what he ought to have done,    to fling his power, and rank,
and authority to the winds, rather than imbrue his hands in
innocent blood.
Eusebius, the celebrated historian, also writes, somewhere
about the year 315, " When the wonderful resurrection of
our Saviour and his ascension to heaven were in the mouths
of all men, it being an ancient custom  for governors of
provinces to write to the emperor and give him an account
of new and remarkable occurrences, that he might not be
ignorant of any thing, Pilate informed the emperor of the
resurrection of Christ, and likewise of his reputed miracles,
and that, being raised up after he had been put to death, he
was already believed by many to be a God."
I have given you the testimony first of those who were
neither opposed to Christianity on its merits, nor accepters
of it. Let me give now some evidence of the facts of Christianity, not from the lips of mere heathens, but from the lips
of the most inveterate, powerful, and violent opponents of
Christianity in heathen times. The first I will give is an
extract from Celsus. He was a very violent opponent of
Christianity; and in all respects did every thing that man
could do to oppose and to resist it. He is giving his own
account of what the Christians believed, and what reasons
he had for opposing Christianity.  You must not mind his
objections and silly remarks, which can all easily be replied
to. I give them  merely for the facts that they contain.
He wrote in the year 175. "I could say," writes Celsus,




PROVE ALL THINGS.                 125
"many things concerning the affairs of Jesus, and those,
too, true, different from those written by the disciples of
Jesus."  " It is a fiction of theirs that Jesus knew and foretold all things which befell him."  " Some of the believers,
as if they were drunk, take a liberty to alter the gospel from
its first writing, three or four ways, or oftener, that when
they are pressed hard and one reading has been confuted,
they may disown that and flee to another. These things
then, we have alleged to you out of your own writings, not
needing any other witnesses. Thus you are beaten with
your own weapons."  "He" (Jesus) " threatens and feebly
reproaches, when he says,' Woe unto you,' and'I foretell
unto you;' for thereby he plainly confesseth his disability
to persuade; which is so far below a God, that it is even
unworthy a wise man."  One can easily understand the
reason of all this blundering; but I quote it to let be seen
the facts in it, and the very texts in the Bible quoted by
Celsus as existing in the Bible in the year 175, when he
wrote this. Then he says, "Jesus with his own mouth expressly declares these things as you have recorded it, that
there will come unto you other men, with like wonders,
wicked men and impostors."  " Moses encourageth the people to get riches and destroy their enemies. But his"
(God's) " Son, the Nazarean man, delivers quite contrary
laws. Nor will he admit a rich man, or one that affects
dominion, to have access to his Father. Nor will he allow
men to take more care for food or treasure than the ravens;
nor to provide for clothing so much as the lilies; and to him
that has smitten once, he directs to offer that he may smite
again."  "To the sepulchre there came two angels, as is
said by some, or, as by others, one only."  "It is but a few
years since he delivered this doctrine, who is now reckoned
by the Christians to be the Son of God."  " Having been
turned out of doors by her husband, she" (the mother of
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126                THE DAILY LIFE.
our Lord) " wandered about in a shameful manner till she
had brought forth Jesus in an obscure place; and he being
in want, served in Egypt for a livelihood; and having there
learned some charms, such as the Egyptians were fond of,
he returned home, and then valuing himself upon these
charms, he set up himself for a God."   It was given out
by Jesus, that Chaldeans were moved at the time of his
birth to come and worship him as a God, when he was but
a little child; and that this was told to Herod the tetrarch,
who issued out an order to have all killed who had been
born at that time, intending to kill him with the rest, lest,
if he should live to mature age, he should take the government.  " What occasion had you," (Jesus,) " when an infant, to be carried into Egypt, lest you should be killed?
A God has no reason to be afraid of death. And now an
angel comes from heaven to direct you and your relations
to flee into Egypt, lest you should be taken up and put to
death; as if the great God, who had already sent two angels upon your account, could not have preserved you, his
own Son, at. home."  "But if he" (Herod) "was afraid
that when you was come of age, you should reign in his
stead, why did you not reign when you was of age? But
so far from that, the Son of God wanders about, cringing
like a necessitous beggar." " You say that when you was
washed by John, there lighted upon you the appearance of
a bird. What credible witness has said that he saw this?
Or who heard the voice from heaven declaring you to be
the Son of God, excepting yourself, and, if you are to be
credited, one other of those who have been punished like
yourself?"  "Jesus taking to himself ten or eleven objects,
vile publicans and sailors, went about with them getting his
subsistence in a base and shameful manner."  "How should
we take him for a God who, as we understood, performed
none of those things which were promised? But when we




PROVE ALL THINGS.                127
have judged him guilty, and would bring him to punishment,
though he shamefully hid himself and fled away, yet was
taken, being betrayed by those whom he called his disciples. But it became not a God to flee nor to be taken and
executed, least of all did it become him to be deserted and
betrayed by his companions, who knew all his secrets, who
followed him as their master, who esteemed him a Saviour
and the Son and messenger of the most high God."  " If he
foretold who should betray him and who should deny him,"
- you observe, evidently recognizing the reference to the
gospels,- "how came it to pass that they did not fear him
as a God, so that the one should not dare to betray him nor
the other to deny him?  But they betrayed him and denied
him, so little did they regard him."  "It was God who
foretold these things; therefore there was a necessity that
they should come to pass.  God therefore compelled his
own disciples and prophets, with whom he ate and drank,
to be wicked and abominable, for whose welfare above all
others he ought to have been concerned. Never did man
betray another with whom he sat at table. Here he who
sits at table with God betrays him, and, which is still worse,
God himself lays snares for those who sit at table with him,
making them impious traitors."  "If he thought fit to undergo such things, and if in obedience to the Father, he suffered death, it is apparent that they could not be painful
and grievous to him, he being a God and consenting to
them. Why then does he lament and bewail, and pray
that the fear of destruction may be removed, saying to this
purpose,'O Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass
away?' Why did he not now, at last, if not before, deliver
himself from this ignominy, and do justice upon them who
reviled both him and his Father? "  "They who conversed
with him when alive, and heard his voice, and followed him
as their master, when they saw him under punishment and




128                THE DAILY LIFE.
dying, were so far from dying with him, or for him, or being induced to despise sufferings, that they denied they were
his disciples; but now-a-days you die with him."  " But let
us consider whether any one that has really died ever rose
again in the same body, unless you think that the stories of
others are indeed, as well as seem to be, fables, while your
fable is probable and credible because of his voice on the
cross when he expired, and the earthquake and the darkness, and because that when he was living, he could not
defend himself, but after he was dead, he arose and showed
the marks of his punishment, and how his hands had been
pierced. But who saw all this? Why, a distracted woman,
as you say, and one or two of the same imposture, and some
dreamers, who fancied they saw things as they desire to
have them, the same that has happened to innumerable
people."  "If he would make manifest his Divine power,
he should have shown himself to them that derided him,
and to him that condemned him, and indeed to all; for
surely he had no reason to fear any mortal blow now after
he had died, and, as you say, was a God."  "When he was
neglected in the body, he was continually preaching to all
men; but when he should have given full assurance to all
men, he shows himself to one woman and his associates."
"When he was punished, he was seen of all, but when
risen, by one; the contrary to which ought rather to have
been."  "If he would be hid, why was there a voice from
heaven declaring him to be the Son of God?  And if' he
would not be hid, why did he suffer, why did he die? Is
it not exceeding absurd, that you should desire and hope
for the resurrection of the same body, as if we had nothing
more excellent, nor more precious?"  "Omitting many
things that might be alleged against what they say of their
master, let us allow him to be truly an angel. Is he the
first, and the only one, that has come? or have there been




PROVE ALL THINGS.                 129
others before? If they should say he only, they are easily
convicted of falsehood; for they say that others have often
come, and in particular that there came an angel to his
sepulchre, some say one, others two, to tell the woman that
he was risen; for the Son of God, it seems, could not open
the sepulchre, but wanted another to remove the stone.
And there came also an angel to the carpenter about Mary's
pregnancy, and another angel to direct them to take the
child and flee."  "At first they" (the Christians) "were
few in number, and then they agreed. But being increased
and spread abroad, they divided again and again, and every
one will have a party of his own."  We can thus see from
the extracts we have read from this heathen writer, allusions that prove the earliest existence of the facts that constitute the very substance of Christianity.
The following is an extract fiom Porphyry, who wrote
his work against Christianity about the year 270. He is
speaking of the conversion of Origen to Christianity.  He
says, " An example of this absurd method may be observed
in a man, whom  I saw when I was very young, who was
then in great esteem, and is so still for the writings which
he has left behind him; I mean Origen, whose authority
is very great with the teachers of this doctrine. For he,
being a hearer of Ammonius, who was so eminent in our
time for skill in philosophy, in point of learning made
great improvements by the instructions of that master, but,
with regard to the right way of life, took a quite different
course with him.  For Ammonius, a Christian by birth, and
brought up by Christian parents, as soon as lie was arrived
to maturity of age, and had gained a taste for philosophy,
returned to the way of life prescribed by the laws. But
Origen, a Greek, and educated in the Greek sentiment,
went over to the barbarian temerity; to which he devoted
himself and the principles of literature which he had re



130                THE DAILY LIFE.
ceived; as to his life, living as a Christian, and contrary to
the laws; with regard to his sentiments concerning things
and the Deity, a Greek, and joining Greek sentiments with
their absurd fables."  It appears from  the following extract from the same writer, that the prophecy in Matthew
xiii. 35, was in some copies at that time ascribed erroneously to Isaiah.  For Porphyry says, " Your evangelist
Matthew was so ignorant as to say, which was written by
the prophet Isaiah,'I will open my mouth in parables, I
will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the
world.'"  He also speaks thus of the Gospel of St. John,
"If the Son of God be Word, he must be either outward
Word or inward Word. But he is neither this nor that.
Therefore he is not Word."  And speaking of our blessed
Lord, he says, "And now people wonder that this distemper
has oppressed the city so many years, Esculapius and the
other gods no longer conversing with men.  For since
Jesus has been honored, none have received any public
benefit from the gods."
I must give another short extract, from Julian the apostate, who says, writing about the year 360, "I think it
right for me to show to all men the reasons by which I
have been convinced that the religion of the Galilean is a
human contrivance badly put together, having in it nothing
Divine; but amusing the childish, irrational part of the soul,
which delights in fable, they have introduced a heap of
wonderful works, to give it the appearance of truth."
" That Moses says God was the God of Israel only and of
Judea, and that they were his chosen people, I shall demonstrate presently; and that not only he, but the prophets
after him, and Jesus, the Nazarene, say the same; yea, and
Paul also, who excelled all the jugglers and impostors that
ever were."  " That God from the beginning took care of
the Jews only, and that they were his chosen lot, appears




PROVE ALL THINGS.               131
not only from Moses and Jesus, but from Paul also; though
this may be justly thought strange in Paul; but upon every
occasion, like a polypus upon the rocks, he changeth his
notions of God; at one time affirming that the Jews only
are God's heritage; at another time, to persuade the Greeks
and gain them over to his side, saying,'Is he God of the
Jews only?  Yes, of the Gentiles also."' "Jesus, whom
you celebrate, was one of Cesar's subjects. If you dispute
it, I will prove it by and by. But it may as well be done
now. For yourselves allow that he was enrolled with his
father and mother in the time of Cyrenius. But after he
was born, what good did he do to his relations?  For
they would not, as it is said, believe on him. And yet that
stiffnecked and hardhearted people believed Moses. But
Jesus, who rebuked the winds, and walked on the seas, and
cast out demons, and, as you will have it, made the heaven
and the earth, (though none of his disciples presumed to
say this of him except John only, nor he clearly and distinctly; however, let it be allowed that he said so,) could
not order his designs so as to save his friends and relations."  "But Jesus, having persuaded a few among you,
and those the worst of men, has now been celebrated about
three hundred years; having done nothing in his lifetime
worthy of remembrance, unless any thinks it a mighty
matter to heal lame and blind people, and exorcise demoniacs in the villages of Bethsaida and Bethany."  "But you
are so unhappy as not to adhere to the things delivered to
you by the apostles; but they have been altered by you for
the worse, and carried on to yet greater impiety. For
neither Paul, nor Matthew, nor Luke, nor Mark, have dared
to call Jesus God. But honest John, understanding that a
great multitude of men in the cities of Greece and Italy
were seized with this distemper, and hearing likewise, as I
suppose, that the tombs of Peter and Paul were respected




132                IHE DAILY LIFE.
and frequented, though as yet privately only, however, having heard of it, he then first presumed to advance that
doctrine."  "But you, miserable people, at the same time
that ye refuse to worship the shield that fell down from
Jupiter, and is preserved by us, which was sent down to us
by the great Jupiter, or our father tMars, as a certain
pledge of the perpetual government of our city, you worship the wood of the cross, and make signs of it upon your
foreheads, and fix it upon your doors."  This was written
in the 4th century, when superstition began, and he noticed
the superstition.  "Shall we for this most hate the understanding, or pity the simple and ignorant among you, who
are so very unhappy as to leave the immortal gods, and go
over to a dead Jew?"  "You have killed not only our
people who persisted in the ancient religion, but likewise
heretics, equally deceived with yourselves, but who did not
mourn the dead man exactly in the same manner as you
do. But these are your own inventions; for Jesus has
nowhere directed you to do such things, nor yet Paul. The
reason is, they never expected you -would have arrived at
such power. They were contented with deceiving maidservants and slaves, and by them  some men and women,
such as Cornelius and Sergius. If there were then any
other men of eminence brought over to you -I mean in
the time of Tiberius and Claudius - when these things
happened, let me pass for a liar in every thing I say."
"But why do you not observe a pure diet as well as the
Jews, but eat all things like herbs of the field, believing
Peter, because he said, What God has cleansed that call not
thou common?  What does that mean, unless that God formerly declared them to be impure, but now has made them
clean?  For Moses, speaking of four-footed beasts, says,
Whatsoever divideth the hoof and cheweth the cud is clean;
but whatsoever does not do so, that is unclean. If then,




PROVE ALL THINGS.                133
since the vision of Peter, the swine has chewed the cud, let
us believe him; for that would be truly wonderful, if, since
Peter's vision, it got that faculty. But if he feigned that
vision, or, to use your phrase, the revelation, at the tanner's,
why should you believe him in a thing of that nature?"
The next extract I will give is a short one from Josephus,
the Jewish historian, who recorded the ruin and downfall
of Jerusalem. He was a Jew. This passage has been disputed by two or three, but I think the evidence in its favor
is irresistible. If Josephus had been silent on the great
occurrence of the age, it would have been even more significant than his saying any thing about it. If Josephus, who
writes an account of every thing that happened to the Jews
prior to the downfall of the capital he loved, had been silent
about Christ, it would have been the most ominous silence
that historian ever preserved. But that he wrote this passage is evident from the context, and from  other points
which I need not now enter on. He says: "At that time
lived Jesus, a wise man, if he may be called a man, for he
performed many wonderful works. He was a teacher of
such men as received the truth with pleasure. He drew
over to him many Jews and Gentiles. This was the Christ;
and when Pilate, at the instigation of the chief men among
us, had condemned him to the cross, they who before had
conceived an affection for him did not cease to adhere to
him; for on the third day he appeared to them alive again,
the divine prophets having foretold these and many wonderful things concerning him. And the sect of Christians, so
called from him, subsists to this day."  He also says in
another part, " Bringing before them James, the brother of
him who is called Christ."
We have had laid before us, first, extracts from heathens;
second, from inveterate opponents of Christianity; and, lastly,
from a Jew; all demonstrating that the facts of Christianity
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134                THE DAILY LIFE.
occurred and were written and accepted from  the very
moment when they were proclaimed.  And if you believe
not Moses, the evangelists, and the prophets, let me ask
you who are sceptically inclined to believe Celsus, Porphyry, Julian, Josephus, and Pliny, and Trajan?  And thus
we produce evidence fiom all sides and from all sources, so
far, I think, irresistible and conclusive.
Our next inquiry is, did these writers of the New Testament record truly, and honestly - we do not speak now of
their inspiration- the facts that they witnessed, the truths
that they knew?  We answer, the reading of the Bible is
the best evidence. The style of truth is always artless.
Ask any clever barrister at the bar; and he will tell you at
once that he can see through a got-up story; that he can at
once detect latent proofs, which the common eye could not
see, that it has been prepared for the occasion, and is destitute of reality.  But let the most inquisitorial inquirer examine the writings in the New Testament, and he will see
there is an air of artlessness, a candor, an ingenuousness
about them, a sincerity so transparent that it is impossible
to doubt that these are the words of soberness and of truth.
The writers of the New Testament, and this is so remarkable, never suspected that they would be disbelieved.  A
person getting up a story not real, would be constantly slipping in hints, incidents, remarks, arguments, to show that he
ought to be believed.  But the sacred penmen seem never
to have suspected that they would be disbelieved for a single moment. And yet they record the most stupendous
miracles just as if they were most ordinary things. Can we
suppose that a novelist, a writer of an ingenious tale, would
ever record miracles unprecedented and unparalleled in their
grandeur, as if they were ordinary things?  What is remarkable, the evangelists do not once, from beginning to end,
pronounce a eulogy upon the chief subject of the book



PROVE ALL THINGS.                 135
that is, Christ.  Now take a writer of a biography, or a
writer of a history, or a tale; and you will see how often he
pronounces eulogies on his hero, how often he praises him.
But here the sacred evangelists are perfectly silent.  They
record in the four Gospels what Jesus said, what Jesus did:
they utter no exclamations of surprise, no wonderful panegyrics upon him that wrought them; they give the simple,
artless record of conscious and eternal truth.
They do not conceal-as we have seen in the case of
Moses, to go farther back - their own sins. And yet never
did the most inveterate Jews, or the most bitter Gentiles,
from Pliny to Porphyry, Celsus, and Julian, charge them
with a moral offence. Do you not recollect that Pliny says
they made them take an oath to be all that was holy and
pure; and they were put to death simply because they professed a religion that was not then established by law -the
religion of Christ. It is important to notice that these men
that wrote this book, and who preached its truths, had nothing in the world to gain by it. When you find men persist
in something by which they have nothing to gain, but every
thing to lose, you have therein at least evidence of their
sincerity.  We do not. say this will prove the truth of their
propositions; but it does prove at least the fact of their sincerity. The apostles had no hope of temporal gain; they
were the subjects of a King, whose first palace on earth was
a stable, whose first throne was a cross, whose only crown
was a crown of thorns about his bleeding brow; and who
told them when he asked them to follow him, " The foxes of
the earth have holes, and the birds of the air have nests;
but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head." What
could induce men to adhere to such a religion, but the
clearest evidence and the ineradicable conviction that he was
the Son of God, and that what he taught was eternal truth?
But it may be said they did not anticipate such treatment.




136                THE DAILY LIFE.
They were warned long before what they had to expect.
They were told distinctly and often what penalty they
would have to pay for their adhesion. Jesus said, " They
shall deliver you unto councils; they shall scourge you, and
put you out of the synagogue; and ye shall be hated by all
men for my name's sake."  The time did come; they were
cast into dungeons; they were sewn up in the skins of wild
beasts, and fierce dogs set upon them; they were covered
with pitch, and made torches to light Nero, driving in his
chariot through the imperial gardens; and they endured it
all, they stood it all. Now what could have enabled them
thus to endure?  I admit, martyrdom does not prove the
truth of the cause. It is not the breath that a man gives
out that makes the martyr; it is the cause in which he gives
it out. But still, if you find men brave every reproach and
cruelty, not merely because they believed in a dogma, but
because they witnessed to a fact, that gave them no eclat,
that could bring them no gain; that brought them, on the
contrary, to the dungeon, the fagot, and the flame; the
inference from all this is irresistible that they wrote what
was true, and were sincere when they did so. Or, in the
words of the poet,
"Whence but from heaven could men unskilled in arts,
In different ages born, in different parts,
Weave such agreeing truths? or how, or why,
Should all conspire to cheat us with a lie?
Unasked their pains, ungrateful their advice,
Starving their gains, and martyrdom their price."
Let us enter on another proof that this book is what it
pretends to be - God's book - let us refer to the miracles
that were done.  These miracles were undoubtedly wrought;
friend and foe attest that they were; thousands were called
upon to witness them, and did witness them. 3Mahomet did




PROVE ALL THINGS.                137
not work a single miracle, and for the very obvious reason
that he could not; and therefore prudently and wisely he
would not risk the spread of his faith, and the claims of his
mission, upon the ground of miracles. We should naturally
expect that miracles would be done when a new creed, or
new faith, was to be introduced into the world, demanding
the acceptance of mankind. For what is a miracle? It is
not a mere freak of power; a rare and extraordinary display, like a rocket, to blaze before the senses, and elicit
admiration and astonishment, when wrought for truth; it is
the hand of omnipotent power, holding up the bright light
of an external truth. The miracle is simply the credential
of the document. What the seal is upon a lease, or deed,
the miracle is upon the Bible. And when people say,
Would it not be better to have the miracle repeated? we
answer, if you once place your signature and the impression
of your seal upon a deed or lease, lawyers would not think
of asking you to come back and repeat it once a year, or
once in six years, or twenty years. Once done, its significance lasts. So a miracle once done as an appendage to
the document, is never exhausted. Now we have clear and
unimpeachable evidence that miracles were done. But by
whom? Evil spirits could not have done Christ's miracles,
because there was such beneficence inherent in them. The
wicked one would not have done them.  "A  kingdom
divided against itself could not stand."  Men could not have
done them, for they wanted power to do what was superhuman.  God himself therefore must have wrought these
miracles; and because he did so, it is evidence that the book
they authenticate is the book of God. The God of truth
would not stoop from heaven to authenticate a lie; or put
forth omnipotent power to make one believe a worthless
falsehood. The very fact therefore that God wrought the
miracles, is proof of his authenticating the truth of the
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138                THiE DAILY LIFE.
document. Besides these, we have still a standing miracle
in the regeneration of the individual heart. That is a
miracle as great as Paul or Peter ever wrought. The suspension of the laws of nature is the outer miracle; the
suspension of the laws of mind, or the reversal of the
machinery of mind, that is, its transformation, regeneration,
and renewal, is a miracle as startling and striking, and it
takes place every day.
Another question, not unimportant in this discussion, is,
have we now the sacred writings uncorrupted, just as the
apostles left them?  We answer,. not a shadow of a shade
of a doubt of it. The first specimen of evidence is the
fact, that we have two ancient manuscripts in Greek. One
of these MSS. is in the British Museum, where you may
have permission to see it, called the Alexandrian MS. It
was written, probably, in the 4th century. We have also
the Vatican M1S. written in Greek, inL probably the same
century. Some think that they were written even earlier
than that period. Now then, we have two Greek MSS.,
both of the New Testament -of which alone I am now
speaking; one in the British Miuseum, and the other in the
Vatican at Rome. And if you will compare the one in the
British Museum with any Greek Testament published by
Bagster, of Paternoster Row, you will see how faithfully
our textus receptus is copied. In the first century of the
Christian era a translation took place from  Greek into
Syriac; of which a translation has been given in English,
now in my possession. And that translation having been
made in the 1st century, can be compared with our Bible
now: and if you will compare it, you will find how entire
the coincidence is. The Italic version was a translation of
the, New Testament into Latin, and was written in the 2d
century; revised and corrected by Jerome in the 4th century; and in its modern shape by Clement and Sixtus -




PROVE ALL THINGS.                 139
called the Clementine and Sixtine editions -it constitutes
now the Latin or Vulgate version adopted by the Church of
Rome; ours and it are substantially one. I add another
interesting fact; if the whole New Testament were to perish
for ever, I will engage, from the writings of Chrysostom and
Jerome, Lactantius, and Augustine, and Basil, and the other
fathers of the first four centuries, to bring nearly every text
contained in the New Testament out of their pages.  Some
they quoted to explain, some they quoted to explain away,
some they quoted to illustrate.  I will take friends and foes,
writers for and writers against Christianity during the first
four centuries of the Christian era; and, suppose the Bible
to be lost or destroyed, I engage to gather almost every text
in the New Testament out of these writers alone. Well,
all this is evidence that the text as it is in our Bible was
written by the apostles, and existed in the very earliest days
of the Christian era. There are but two translations now
that claim any importance. There is the Roman Catholic
translation, and there is ours. It is not worth entering into
comparisons, but if I were to do so it would show that ours
is the most accurate.  And I believe that if ever there was
a miracle in modern times, it was the translation of the
Authorized Version of the Bible in 1611, by our authorized,
as they are called, translators. It is so venerable in expression, so true, so just to the original; not, I admit, without
imperfections; but if every mistranslation of our New Testament were altered, on what side would the alteration be?
On the side of evangelical Christianity, and Protestant
truth. We instance such a passage as this, Tit. ii. 13,
"Looking for that blessed hope," it is in our version, "and
the glorious appearance of the great God and our Saviour
Jesus Christ." This is not a just translation. The literal
and exact translation is, "Looking for that blessed hope, the
glorious appearing of Jesus Christ, our great God and




140                 THE DAILY LIFE.
Saviour." This is the literal and true translation. And if
every translation, where there is a defect, were altered as it
should be, it would only be more visibly corroborative of all
that we value as Protestant and evangelical Christians.
And, with regard to the Roman Catholic version, I will
mention one fact, and I do not mention it at random, for I
am ready to prove it, having carefully gone into it. During
the last thirty years, there have been more than two thousand alterations in the Roman Catholic version of the
English Bible. There are two versions; the Douay is that
of the Old, and the Rheims is that of the New. And what
do you think is the result?  That this infallible church,
which, I presume, pronounced it an infallible English version, has altered some two thousand translations; and nearly
every one of them has been an adoption of the Protestant
translation in the Protestant Scriptures. This infallible
church has altered her infallible translation; and the alterations  have been the abandonment of her own, and the
adoption of ours. And, I have no doubt, she will go further
if she only become more enlightened.  To show the faithfulness of our version, and to give an instance of inconsistency in the Roman Catholic translation, I may add, wherever
the expression, /eTavoetre, occurs in the Greek New Testament, which means repent, it is rendered in the Latin
translation by the classic phrase agite pcenitentiam. If you
translate this literally, it would be, " do penitence." The
Roman Catholic church accordingly has translated it, " do
penance."  But any one who knows Latin, or French, or
Italian, is aware that to translate literally is often to translate into nonsense. This expression, agite pcenitentiam, in
the Latin is a peculiar phrase corresponding to such as
these: agite vitam, a Latin phrase, meaning to live, not to do
life: agite otium, a Latin idiom, meaning to rest, or to be at
rest, not to do rest.  So agite penitentiam means to repent,




PROVE ALL THINGS.                 141
it does not mean to do repentance. And, therefore, I must
conclude that church has adopted the literal translation of
the Latin idiom just to get a pretence for what she calls the
sacrament of penance.  But still you would naturally expect of her learned divines, that having adopted this translation, they would preserve consistency.  But mark the
inconsistency.  In the part where the people are to do it, it
is, " do penance;" but in a subsequent chapter the expression occurs, " Christ is exalted a Prince and a Saviour to
give "- it is the very same Latin translation, pcenitentiam,
" penance."  Well, of course she will translate it " penance,"
as in the last. No, she renders it, " exalted a Prince and a
Saviour to give repentance."  Why this alteration?  Because the Roman Catholic church says that the people are
to do penance; but if it were stated, that Christ gives penance, the humblest Irish peasant would say in his cabin, If
Christ give us penance, why should I be asked to do it?
So. grossly has that church perverted God's holy word.  But
you need not be afraid of a comparison between the two
translations. The Roman Catholic translation of the Bible
contains so great a number of errors, that no man, with the
merest smattering of Latin or Greek, can ever hesitate one
moment to condemn much of its distinctive rendering.
We have thus seen a few outlines of the evidence that can
be brought forward in favor of this book; the object and result of which is to show that we are not credulous, but the
very reverse.  The more I reflect upon this book, I feel its
existence as a whole is proof that God has been with it, and
the wing of his providential care spread over it at every moment.  Every hostile element has assailed it; every adverse
force has tried to undermine it. But since Moses wrote -
that early servant, - and since Jesus died - that rejected
Lord, - what a transformation has been achieved over the
length and breadth of the world by the influence of this




142                 THE DAILY LIFE.
blessed book! Homer among poets, and Plato among philosophers, have left no such deep impression as these fishermen of Galilee, these publicans of Jerusalem. The harp of
David thrills many a heart that the Grecian bard's cannot
touch: and the reasoning of Paul convinces many an infidel
that the logic of Plato has never been able to reach. Nations have passed away; tribes have withered down to their
very roots; systems have ceased, without a priest to continue their succession, without a shrine to commemorate
their existence, without a monument to mark their birth and
their decay; genius and learning have all passed away, or
gone down to the dust, and have left scarce a footprint upon
the sands of time; but this blessed book defies the effects of
time, repels the corrosions of decay. The frail parchment,
or rather the frailer paper, has held fast its trust, when inscriptions upon stone have been washed out, and brazen
monuments have melted, and the everlasting granite has
crumbled to decay. What is this, but evidence that some
one greater than man has ever been with this blessed book?
It speaks now more tongues than ever it spoke at Pentecost.
It gives names to our babes, it hallows our weddings, it
gives comfort at our funerals. It is in the prince's cabinet,
in the pedlar's pack, in the sailor's hammock, in the soldier's
knapsack. It colors every tongue; its glad music is heard
more or less in every conversation. It has crossed broad
seas; it has climbed rugged hills; its wing has not been
numbed amid Polar snows, nor has it fainted under equatorial heats.  It remains still in all its pristine magnificence
and purity, the treasure of many a home, the warmth of
many a fireside. Extinguish this book from the world, and
there would be a chasm so terrible that humanity would rush
into suicide as a deliverance from the awful sensation of it.
Can this book be human?  Is it possible to show that this
book is not of God?  But we must turn round upon the in



PROVE ALL THINGS.                 143
fidel. We refuse to stand upon the defensive wnen we can
be upon the aggressive.  Our own government is a precedent. They do not wait here and let the emperor of Russia
come and land upon the Thames, or at Portsmouth, or Plymouth; they go out to meet him, and have become justly
the aggressors, in order to be the triumphant defenders.
The infidel disbelieves that the book is Divine, and believes
it is human.  We believe that the book is Divine, and we
disbelieve that it is human.  The infidel asks, Is it likely
that your Bible came from God?  I do not stand to defend;
but I turn round, and say, Is it likely or possible that this
book came from man? It is your business to prove that it
came from man. And I will therefore ask you to be the defendant, and put you in the position of defence. I have an
easy task to prove that this book is from God; you have an
impossible task to prove that this book is from man.  But
if it came from man I would ask, how is it so different from
the former religions of man?  How does it ascribe the creation of the world to God?  Where did it learn the resurrection of the body? how such pure morality? Where did
it gather such grand descriptions of the future life? Will
you explain to me how a handful of fishermen and publicans
of Galilee, in spite of prejudices, in spite of learning, in
spite of power, in spite of influence; with no learning, with
no influence, with no prejudices in favor of it, wrought miracles?  And if you say they did not work them, will you
explain how they made the most learned believe that they
actually did so?
I assert boldly, without qualification, it requires enormous
credulity, anile credulity, stupid credulity, to be an infidel;
it requires but common sense, and honest and impartial
inquiry, to hold that this book has God for its author, truth
for its matter, eternal joy for its happy and its blessed issue.




CHAPTER VII.
PROVE ALL THINGS.
" Truth crushed to earth will rise again,
Th' eternal years of God are hers;
But error wounded writhes with pain,
And dies amid her worshippers."
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." -1 THESS. v. 21.
IN our last chapter we learned that there is evidence for
all the facts and doctrines of Christianity, from  the days of
our Lord onward to the latest centuries, external to and independent of the New  Testament Scriptures at all.  I
quoted the memorable correspondence of Pliny and Trajan; the testimony of Josephus, not unimpeached, but really
vindicated as true; the remarks of Celsus, and Porphyry,
and Julian; all condemning the truths of Christianity, but,
by an overruling Providence, guided in their condemnation
of the doctrines to embosom in that condemnation the assertion, and therefore evidence, of the facts. So that if we
wished to construct a creed external to the Bible, and without calling in the aid of a single writer of the patristic ages
favorable to Christianity, we might gather the leading tenets
of our common Christianity out of the writings of Josephus
the Jew, Julian the apostate, Porphyry the infidel, from the
letter of Pliny to Trajan, and Trajan's reply to Pliny.
(144)




PROVE ALL THINGS.                 145
Now this is a point of some importance; and if it does not
add any thing to our knowledge, it disposes of the sceptic's
cavil. The sceptic prefers, why it is difficult to say, a
heathen.witness to an upright, honest, and consistent Christian one.
We will now briefly allude to and vindicate some of those
great truths that are revealed within the book. We tarried
outside the book in our last. To-day we will enter inside,
and investigate some of those great doctrinal truths which
have been perverted or misunderstood; and that need only
to be faithfully evolved and plainly stated in order to be
fully and triumphantly vindicated. The prescription, " Prove
all things," need not be made to the man of pleasure. Eat,
drink, to-morrow we die, is the sum and substance of his
creed. It need scarcely be addressed to the thoughtless;
for such will say, We have no time to think of these things.
We are so busy with the shop, and trade, and traffic, or our
profession, that we have no time to think upon the subject
at all. Strange, indeed, are such apologies: a man trembling on the borders of eternity every moment has no time
to think what the issue will be which a single step may
irretrievably precipitate! Our common idea is that we are
walking towards the precipice of death; and that we can
calculate, to-day we are so many miles distant, to-morrow
so many fewer, the next day so many fewer; till we reach
the very edge. But this is not the fact. We do not walk
towards the precipice; we are walking along the slippery
edge of the precipice; and know not what step may place
us where all recovery is beyond our reach, because all is
fixed; and all repentance impossible, because no place is
found for it, though sought with tears. Nor will these words
be accepted by the formalist. If we say to him, " Prove all
things," his answer will be, The calendar is my rule of
faith; whatever saint's day, or whatever festival, or sabbath
13




146                THE DAILY LIFE.
it is, that is all I think about; and having said my prayers,
and sung my hymns, and heard the sermon, I have done my
duty, and am quite happy; and must be happy hereafter.
It is in vain that we address those that are overconfident,
unless we have first shaken their confidence. They think
all is right, they have never investigCted; but like the
ostrich in the desert when pursued by the fleet Arab steed,
they hide their heads in the sand or dust of absolute indifference or ignorance, and fancy that because they cannot
see the avenging pursuer all is well, and will be well for
ever.
But there is a class to whom we may address these words,
" Prove all things; " and to that class, we specially appeal.
A member of the church of Rome would probably feel the
text as addressed to him to be an insult.  He would say, It
does not matter that an apostle has said so; the pope has
substantially said, Prove nothing, but believe every thing I
say! He objects to private judgment altogether.  And yet,
strange enough, the Romanists object to private judgment,
while they are working by private judgmxent to lead us to
adopt their system as the best. What strange conduct; to
object to private judgment as the most mischievous inhabitant of the human breast; yet to make use of private judgment to carry us over the threshold of the church into the
midst of its superstition.
I do not assume that the text is a call to entertain every
wild notion that seeks hospitality in our minds, and give a
candid investigation to all its objections or its demerits. If
we were to indulge in this ceaseless process of ceaseless
testing, we should be always proving, and could scarcely be
said to be ever holding fast.  But many things are daily
presented to us which we are forced to discuss. Notions
will spring up in our minds, either weeds indigenous to our
nature, or sowed by the enemy when men sleeps that we are




PROVE ALL THINGS.                   147
obliged to canvass and to dispose of.  There are many doctrines in the word of God that need to be clearly seen that
they may be heartily grasped, and carried out into vigorous
daily practice. And, besides, the word " prove" holds a
sense which I have scarcely yet assigned it. It is in the
original doxqtaereT, a word applied by goldsmiths to the testing of metals.  A  goldsmith has gold with a certain alloy
in it; it is either fifteen, seventeen, or twenty, or the maximum twenty-four, carats fine.  He tests it, and he then tells
you the exact amount of alloy of silver or copper that is in
the gold, and thereby the exact value of the gold. The
word here translated " prove" means, test, separate the
dross from the metal, the alloy from the gold; hold fast the
precious gold, let go, as speedily as you can, the worthless,
the comparatively worthless copper.  We have the word
employed in this sense by the Apostle Peter, where he
states, in 1 Peter i. 7, "That the trial of your faith, being
much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it
be tried" -  that is the same word; and if it were translated as it is in my text, it would be, "though it be proved"
-" with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and
glory at the appearing ofJesus Christ."  Error is never so
dangerous as when it is the alloy of truth.  Pure error
would be rejected; but error mixed with truth makes use
of the truth as a pioneer for it, and gets introduction where
otherwise it would have none.  Poison is never so dangerous as when mixed up with food; error is never so likely to
do mischief as when it comes to us under the pretensions
and patronage of that which is true. And this prescription,
too, shows us that our creed, our religion, does not shrink
from  inquiry.  You may depend upon it, a doctrine that
dreads light, a religion that shrinks from discussion, is like
a gilt trinket in a goldsmith's hand, which he will neither
test nor place in broad daylight.  Our religion shrinks not




1.48               THE DAILY LIFE.
from discussion. It is not the rationalism, it is true, that
puts reason on the throne of God; nor is it, on the other
hand, the fanaticism that substitutes feeling for fact; nor is
it a gloomy asceticism that crushes instead of encouraging
and elevating human nature; nor is it a lawless system that
emancipates from all control. But it is the consecration of
man's noblest powers; the concentration of all he is to the
elucidation of God's word; and the deep persuasion that,
like pure gold, that word will come forth from the ordeal
brighter and more beautiful than before. But it does happen, and it is important to state it, that there are current in
this realm two Bibles; one bearing the superscription that
we love, of royal authority; not making it true, but recommending it as true; and another bearing the imprimatur of
Papal authority, called the Vulgate Version of the word of
God. Both these versions, I admit, differ in their translations of the New Testament in very few respects; and I
would feel the utmost confidence in arguing with a member
of the church of Rome, not from my Bible, but from his
own. In fact, in his translation, there are some passages
wickedly wrong; there are other passages even more beautiful than our own. For instance, in one verse, our translation is, " When Christ had made an end of sin." In the Roman Catholic version it is, "When Christ had exhausted
sin;" which is a finer translation. At the close of the Book
of Revelation in our Bible it is, " Blessed are they that do
his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of
life."  The Roman Catholic has taken another reading,
which I think the better reading, and it is: " Blessed are
they that have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb,
that they may have a right to the tree of life." In these
two respects, I think it is superior to ours; but then in
others it is lamentably defective. But on this I dare not
here enter. The two Bibles differ not so much by diversie




PROVE ALL THINGS.                149
ties of reading; but in the fact that in the Roman Catholic
Bible there is a large collection of Books that we have not.
There is the Book of Tobias; the Two Books of the Maccabees; there is the Book of Ecclesiasticus, not Ecclesiastes, but Ecclesiasticus.  Romanists say these Books are
as much inspired as the Gospel of St. John. We have
rejected them, and if we have not, we ought, and the
sooner we do so the better. But I believe most Protestants have rejected them, and hold them to be uninspired.
Our first inquiry is, are these Books part or parcel of the
Bible? Prove them to be so, and we accept them and hold
them fast; if you cannot, we ask, what business have they
there at all?  First, to the Jews were intrusted the oracles
of God. Whatever sins the Jews were charged with, they
never were accused by our Lord or by the apostles of adding to or taking from the Bible. The Jews, to whom were
intrusted the oracles of God, never accepted the Apocrypha:
they never, regarded it as a part of the Old Testament
Scriptures. The Old Testament is written in Hebrew, with
the exception of a portion of Daniel, which is in Chaldee;
the Apocryphal Books never were Hebrew, they were
originally in Greek. That is a strong presumption against
them. Again, our blessed Lord and the apostles quote from
almost every Book of the Old Testament; never once from
a single Book of the Apocrypha. And, in the next place,
what is singular, the Second Article of the New Articles of
the Creed of the church of Rome, says, " I will never take
an interpretation of Scripture unless according to the unanimous consent of the Fathers."  Now it happens that the
Fathers are almost unanimous, and at one, in one thing;
that is, they almost all reject the Apocryphal Books of the
Old Testament. During the first four centuries of the
Christian era the Fathers almost unanimously reject the
Apocryphal Books. One takes the Book of Esdras, and
13 ~




150                THE DAILY LIFE.
regards it as inspired; but almost all have rejected the
Apocryphal Books altogether as uninspired, and forming no
part or parcel of the word of God. I will mention what
will be very startling to a member of the church of Rome;
the present pope, Pio Nono, took a solemn oath that he
would regard the Apocryphal Books as inspired.  Pope
Gregory the Great, in the sixth century, says that one of
the Books of Maccabees was not inspired. And yet Gregory the Great was infallible, according to the church of
Rome; and Pio Nono is also infallible, and yet they differ,
the one directly contradicts the other! So much for these
books, which we believe, on the strongest and most conclusive external evidence, to have no claim to inspiration. If
we proceed to their interior contents, and examine them,
the evidence against them is irresistible. It is true, these
books contain some remarks that go far to support Roman
Catholic views; but it is singular enough that the writer of
the Book of Maccabees says at the closing chapter, and in
the last two or three verses, " Which if I have done well,
and as it becometh the history, it is what I desired, but if
not so perfectly, it must be pardoned me."  Now can you
conceive an inspired writer begging forgiveness for the imperfection or errors he perpetrates in his narrative? The
evidence, internal as well as external, therefore, is conclusive against their claims. These books are not in any
shape inspired. I have often deeply deplored, (and I say
it not to disparage a sister communion, but to state a truth,)
that in the lessons prescribed for reading in the English
church, I admit not on Sundays, but on weekdays, there
should be quoted a single lesson from these Apocryphal
Books. I admit that an Article of that church says most
truly, that these books may be read for moral instruction,
but they are not to be regarded as Holy Scripture proving
doctrines. The distinction is broad and palpable.  But




PROVE ALL THINGS.                151
still, I question very much whether they are worth much
for moral instruction; at least I can show that lying and
suicide are approved in the Apocryphal Books; and the
lessons that are good in themselves lose their excellency
and their value when we know that the same writers inculcate unsound and very destructive sentiments and opinions.
Having seen that these books do not belong to the Bible,
let us make some remarks upon another subject, which will
convey information upon points that in these days it is very
important to understand. I allude to the Creeds. Are
we to accept all that is in the Apostle's Creed, the Nicene
Creed, the Athanasian Creed? Are all these true? Are
they inspired?  Ought we to receive them as if they were
the word of God? I answer with respect to the Apostles'
Creed, first, it never was composed by an apostle, or by the
apostles, individually, or as a body. The Apostles' Creed
is not given in the same words -and I have very carefully
and very diligently searched them out -in any writer of
the first four centuries. For instance, one father gives the
creed in one shape; another father in the fourth century
gives it in another shape. And those two clauses, singular
enough, which our Tractarian brethren have made so much
of, namely, "I believe in one Catholic church, and in the
communion of saints," were not originally in the Apostles'
Creed; they made their first appearance about the middle
of the fourth century, and were incorporated nearly four
hundred years after the apostles were dead and buried.
If this document be regarded as what some have said, an
unbroken tradition; evidence of its fracture I think is too
transparent for a moment to be disputed. If it be regarded
as a Divine document, it is plain that there is no evidence
for that at all. Lastly, if it be regarded as a human document, very briefly, and very beautifully, and very justly




152                THE DAILY LIFE.
describing the leading doctrines of Christianity, as such,
and because according to Scriptures, we accept it, as we
would accept the Shorter Catechism, the Thirty-nine Articles,
or any other valuable document, important as a Scriptural
epitome of truth. The Nicene Creed, it is well known, is
the Apostles' Creed expanded; the Athanasian Creed, based
on both Creeds, if I may use the expression, was drawn up
to meet the Arian heresy, in the fourth century. Now
the Athanasian Creed contains the most precious truths;
but I think it is a pity that it condemns where we had better pray. The less man judges, and the more man prays,
the better. If it had said, " The doctrine of the Trinity is a
vital article, and ought to be held, and must be held, by
every true Christian," it would have stated truth. But
when it seems to assert he shall be damned who cannot
comprehend the minutest metaphysical distinctions which it
gives, I think it is trenching upon ground which had better
be left alone, and deciding and judging where we had better
leave all in the magnificent latitude in which it is left in the
word of God. Not that there is any doubt of its main
doctrines; the Deity of our Blessed Lord, the Deity of the
Holy Spirit, Three Persons and One God-these constitute
the very foundation of Christianity. I do not say that
there is a word in the Creed that is wrong. One only
regrets that nice metaphysical distinctions, which university
men alone can determine, but that ordinary men cannot all
understand, should be pressed as the criteria of everlasting
life or of everlasting death.
Another topic on which error prevails, and to which I
will very briefly allude, is the word church  the church.
This word, the church, that we hear so much about, has a
meaning. What is in it which we may hold fast? Is there
any thing in its popular use that is wrong, which we should
repudiate and reject? I need not describe the origin of the




PROVE ALL THINGS.                 153
word church. The word " ecclesiastical " comes from the original Greek ecc2kica; but the word church, which is the
English pronunciation of a more musical word, the kirchen
of the German, the kirk of the Scotch, is softened as it is
supposed, though this may well be doubted, into the word
church of the English.  And this shows very beautifully too
that our religion in this country did not come from Rome;
because the Romish word ecclesiastical, which most would
have thought we should have retained, we have let go; and
the Eastern phrase Kvvplaq, or kirk, or church, we have retained.  The origin of the word kirk, or church, is from
KvplaiK), the Greek word which means, the Lord's house.
Whenever, therefore, you say kirk, or church, you mean,
" the Lord's house;" a very beautiful phrase, and of Eastern oriin, indicating that Britain's Christianity was not received firom Rome, as our pretended archiepiscopal ruler in
Westminster asserts; but is derived from an Eastern source,
and can be demonstrated on other good grounds to be so.
Having seen the origin of the word, what is the church?
Some say it means the clergy.  Hence the phrase, Such an
one has entered into the church, meaning that he has been
ordained, or taken holy orders. Now the clergy are not the
church; they are the officers, not the army; they are the
pilots, not the crew; they are the clergy, but they are not
the church. The church is the company of God's believing
and redeemed people. In the next place, this word church
is not an outward or external polity. The church may be
Episcopal, it may be Presbyterial, or it may be Congregational; just as a man may wear a black coat, or a blue coat,
or a red coat, and yet remain a man in spite of all and notwithstanding.  The discipline of the church is its clothing,
the doctrine is the life and vitality of the church; the discipline of the church is temporary, the doctrine of the church
is everlasting. In the next place, the word church, as oc



154                 THE DAILY LIFE.
curring in the New Testament Scriptures, meant originally
a political and deliberative assembly. In the historian Thucydides the words frequently occur that " they were not able
iroLELt eKiccXav," translated into the language of the House of
Commons, " were not able to form a House."  It was the
deliberative assembly in which political matters were discussed, and a vote was taken, and a determination come to.
Again, you read the phrase frequently ov. eyevero rciusta, literally translated in our modern language, "there was no
church;" but in the customs of Greece it meant, " there
was no house;" there was not the requisite number of pmembers for representative deliberation. So that the word
meant simply a political assembly met together to discuss
the affairs of the realm; and in no sense did it mean originally a sacred assembly. And even in the New Testament
it is used in a sense very different from sacred. The tumultuous mob that met in the playhouse of Ephesus, for whom
the town-clerk said he was likely to be called to account for
its riotous proceedings, as described in the Acts of the Apostles, is called, the church.  But it would be absurd to translate it church in the modern sense of that word; and therefore it is justly rendered, a crowd, or an assembly. All this
brings us back to the beautiful definition of what a church
is. "Where two or three are met together," says Christ,
"in my name, there am I in the midst of them;" or translated into modern phrase, "there is a true branch of the
church universal."  What is it that makes a home?  A
mother. What is itthat makes apalace?  Aqueen.  Take
away these two, and the charm of the one and the splendor
of the other are gone. The greatest architect in the world
may build the most splendid house that suns ever shone
upon; but if our gracious queen do not choose to live in it,
it is just the architect's grand house, but nothing more. But
if she is pleased to take up her royal residence in the hum



PROVE ALL TIINGS.                   155
blest hut on the hanks of the Dee, that hut is instantly transformed into the dignity of a palace. And so, in the same
manner, an orator may collect a crowd; but it is Christ descending into the crowd that makes it a church, and out of
the tumultuous assemblage consecrates a company of true
believers. Another question has arisen about the officers of
this body called the church; the ministers of the church,
what are they, and who are they?  Let us prove what is
true here; let us hold fast what is good, and reject what is
evil.  First, the ministers of the church are not priests; in
no sense or shape are they so.  And I just stop to explain
that the word priest, which occurs in the Rubrics of the
English Prayerbook, does not mean what its readers may
imagine.  It is not the translation of the original Greek
LepnvS, " a sacrificing priest;" but xpeFPvrepof, "a presbyter."
Hence in the Saxon, prest, and in the English, priest.  A
better word, I think, would have been presbyter; but still,
as it is there, let us ascertain in what sense it is employed.
We say in the Christian ministry there is no such officer as
a sacrificing priest; and for the very obvious reason, there
is no altar for him to officiate at. There is no such thing as
an altar in the English church, there is no such word in the
Thirty-nine Articles; and anybody who pretends to be a
priest in the church of England has nothing to do, and is
therefore to be pitied, because there is no place for him to
officiate, and no function for him to fulfil. And in the next
place, he has no sacrifice to offer. The Sacrifice was offered 1800 years ago; and those accents still ring through the
length and breadth of Europe, and they will ring in multiplied echoes and yet more eloquent reverberations, "It is
finished;" there is no more sacrifice for sins; Jesus hath
died once for all.  Who is the minister?  He is simply the
ambassador of Christ: not only or merely the teacher of the
people, but the ambassador from the Lord Jesus Christ. Were




156               TTHE DAILY LIFE.
any one to say, I am a priest, I would instantly say to him,
Then you are not an ambassador of Christ. And if he said,
I am an ambassador of Christ, then I would logically say,
You are not a priest. The two cannot be in one, for this
reason; a priest is one that transacts with God something
on man's behalf; but an ambassador is a being that comes
from  God, and transacts with me on God's behalf.  And
therefore, the priest cannot be the ambassador; and the ambassador cannot be the priest. Then who is the minister?
Whether he be ordained by the Scotch presbytery, or by the
English bishop, or the Congregational board, seems to me
not an essential and vital element. These are things that
have been discussed in every age, and on which no conclusive light has yet been thrown. It does appear that in the
New Testament there is plainly and clearly revealed the
flock; clearly and plainly the Divine institution of the ministry; clearly and permanently the ministry existing till
Christ shall come again, and take the ministry into his own
hands. Essentials this book leaves definite, sharp, and fixed; details it leaves for circumstance, for country, for latitude, and for clime. And as to the notion that some have
grafted on it, called the apostolical succession, historically it
is not true; Scripturally it is not known; logically it can be
demonstrated absurd. But instead of giving my own opinion,
I will give the short opinion of the most powerful intellect of
the age; I mean the present Archbishop of Dublin, Dr.
Whately; a man of consummate power, great mind, vigorous
intellect; and though one must differ with him  in some
things, yet one rejoices that those things in which we differ, the
progress of the Irish church missions has very much diminished. However, on this subject he is a very competent authority. Now what does he say?  He says, "There is not
a minister in all Christendom who is able to trace up with
any approach to certainty his own spiritual pedigree. The




PROVE ALL THINGS.                157
sacramental virtue (for such it is that is implied — whether
the term be used or not- in the principle we have been
speaking of) dependent on the imposition of hands, with a
due observance of apostolical usages, by a bishop, himself
duly consecrated, after having been in like manner baptized
into the church, and ordained deacon and priest,-this sacramental virtue, if a single link of the chain be faulty, must,
on the above principles, be utterly nullified ever after, in respect of all the links that hang on that one. For if a bishop
has not been duly consecrated, or had not been, previously,
rightly ordained, his ordinations are null; and so are the
ministrations of those ordained by him; and their ordination
of others (supposing any of the persons ordained by him to
attain to the episcopal office); and so on, without end. The
poisonous taint of informality, if it once creep in undetected,
will spread the infection of nullity to an indefinite and irremediable extent. And who can undertake to pronounce
that, during that long period usually designated as the Dark
Ages, no such taint ever was introduced?  Irregularities
could not have been wholly excluded without a perpetual
miracle; and that no such miraculous interference existed,
we have even historical proof.
Amidst the numerous corruptions of doctrine and of
practice, and gross superstitions, that crept in, during those
ages, we find recorded descriptions not only of the profound
ignorance, and profligacy of life, of many of the clergy, but
also of the grossest irregularities in respect of discipline and
form" We read of bishops consecrated when mere children
-which is a matter of fact; —  of men officiating who
barely knew their letters;- of prelates expelled, and others
put into their places, by violence;- of illiterate and profligate laymen, and habitual drunkards, admitted to holy orders;
and, in short, of the prevalence of every kind of disorder,
and reckless disregard of the decency which the apostle
14




158                THE DAILY LIFE.
enjoins. It is inconceivable that any one, even moderately
acquainted with history, can feel a certainty, or any approach to certainty, that, amidst all this confusion and corruption, every requisite form was, in every instance, strictly
adhered to, by men, many of them  openly profane and
secular, and unrestrained by public opinion, through the
gross ignorance of the population among which they lived;
and that no one not duly consecrated or ordained was
admitted to sacred offices.  Even in later and more civilized
and enlightened times, the probability of an irregularity,
though very greatly diminished, is yet diminished only,
and not absolutely destroyed. Even in the memory of
persons living there existed a bishop, concerning whom
there was so much mystery and uncertainty prevailing as
to when, where, and by whom he had been ordained, that
doubts existed in the mind of some persons, whether he
had ever been ordained at all."  Well, this is of a bishop
in his own church. If we go back a little and look further
we shall find Tillotson - the able and accomplished Tillotson —was never ordained a deacon at all.  Secondly, he
was ordained a priest or presbyter by Sidserf, a Scotch
bishop, the worst sort of bishop of all; who came across the
Tweed, and gave ordinations in the diocese of another bishop,
where he had no business, for money; and all ordination for
money is null and void. Well, Bishop Tillotson became an
archbishop; and as an archbishop he ordained others. I
need not infer the consequences.  But it is worse than this.
By resting the claims of this blessed gospel and the ministrations of the clergy upon such a ground as this, you
generate a year of superstition, and it ushers in a year of
infidelity and scepticism. And you will always find that,
whether at Oxford or at Paris, or elsewhere, the age of
superstition has its recoil in an age of infidelity and scepticism.  So much then for the ministry of the gospel.




PROVE ALL THINGS.                  159
The next topic we will refer to is the sacraments of the
church.  Some there are that disregard them; some that
seem to me to disparage them; and there are a few true
Christians, notwithstanding, who rescind them  altogether.
And the opposite extreme to this is that of those who make
them substitutes for Christ, and one of them  an idol to be
actually adored.  Now, reading the New Testament, we
see at once that baptism is a simple and precious sacrament,
signifying a person's adoption into the visible church, not
necessarily the true church, and committing him  when
young, and if old and baptized as an adult, to profess Christ,
to hold fast the gospel, and adorn the doctrine he professes.
The other, the Lord's supper, is the sign of the necessity of
our spiritual union and communion with Christ; a ceaseless
profession of our attachment to him, a declaration before
the world of our trust in his precious death, and sacrifice,
and atonement; and doing so, we avow ourselves to be the
followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.  But it is not a sacrifice
for sin. Baptism is not regeneration in every case in which
it is administered. And the sure way to destroy the sacraments is to lift them above the place in which Christ has
put them, and give them a dignity, a position, and an authority that  do not legitimately belong to them.  It is a
great mistake to think that by excessively venerating an
institution you help to keep that institution in its proper
place. The sure and certain rebound is the degradation of
the institution altogether.  The path of safety is obedience
to the prescription of Christ; any other is sure to end in
folly, in sin, and in ruin.
A great truth on which I would also wish to make some
remarks, is the subject of the atonement. No more precious
truth is in the Bible. Christ died for our sins, a sacrifice,
to secure salvation to the chiefest of sinners. But many
persons say, If all our sins be forgiven in the atonement,




160                THE DAILY LIFE.
then we need not mind how we live. Others say, If all our
sins are forgiven by the atonement, there is the greatest inducement to live a holy, a pure, and a righteous life. One
makes the atonement a covert for his sins, or instead of
nailing his sins to the cross to be crucified, he hides his sins
behind the cross to be indulged in. Such is an illustration
of the awful sentiment of the apostle, "because grace has
abounded he thinks sin, therefore and thereon may abound
also."  But he who holds that the atonement is the highest
inducement to practical morality, answers what the apostle
asks, "Do we then make void the law?" and thereby he
shows that the atonement was held to be in the apostle's
days what it is held to be in ours; and that the same objection is not new, but very old. "Yea, rather, we establish
the law, instead of making the law void."  It will be found
that they that look to the atonement for the pardon of every
sin, look to the Spirit that taught them that atonement for
the extirpation of the love of every sin. Some think the
atonement so wide in its effects that every man upon earth
is pardoned. If so, universal salvation, as it seems to me,
must be the issue. Another class so narrow the atonement
that they make it available only for a small section, their
own sect or party; or, to take a Scriptural word, but in
this sense a misapplied one, an atonement to be preached
only to the elect. When we open the Bible we find that
the gospel says, not Christ died for the elect only, not Christ
died to save the whole world; but that Christ died for sinners, the chiefest of sinners. And instead of discussing the
extent of the atonement, let us prove by our practical acceptance of it, that to us it is the wisdom. of God and the
power of God unto salvation.
On the work of the Holy Spirit there is a great deal of
mistake. Some-people think that the Spirit ought still to
work miracles, and that in the Christian church there ought




PROVE ALL THINGS.                  161
to be miracles as plentiful as at its birth. The answer that
we make is, first, we know the Holy Spirit is still in his
church, for the fruits of the Spirit are still found among his
people. If the Spirit be here sanctifying the hearts of his
people, and giving birth to the fruits of the Spirit, then we
must infer, not that he has lost the power to do a miracle,
but that he does not will that there should be miracles.
The answer therefore to those that say there should be
miracles is, Show that there are miracles. If a miracle is
an appeal to the senses, when we see a miracle we shall be
satisfied. But let us see if it be not absurd to expect a
perpetual miracle.  At present, for instance, the grass growing, the earth moving, the sun rising, the tide ebbing and
flowing, are as much expressions of God's almighty power
as the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead  there is not
the least difference. But because we see these every day,
we call them the ordinary phenomena of nature, and cease
to call them  miracles.  But if the sun were to begin tomorrow to rise in the west, and set in the east; if the tides
were to reverse their course, and rivers all to roll upwards
to their fountains, we should instantly say, " God's omnipotence has intervened, and it is a miracle." But our children and our children's children, being accustomed to it,
would look on the sun rising in the west as one of the ordinary phenomena of the world, and not to be classed with
extraordinary miracles.  So that if miracles were continuous, they would lose the intended effect, by ceasing' to be
regarded as miracles at all. We may rest assured, it is not
omnipotent power that men need to make them Christians.
" If they believe not Moses and the prophets, neither would
they believe if one were to rise from the dead."
The great doctrine of justification by faith is not exempted
from errors.  Some say justification includes good works;
14*




162                THE DAILY LIFE.
others say that justification excludes good works. Now
both persons speak truth; but each speaks half a truth,
which is sometimes a whole falsehood; a profile view of a
human countenance is often not a true view. Both these
parties speak what is true; and yet speak, in some degree,
what is false. Justification does exclude works, and yet
justification does not exclude works. It excludes works
from our title, but it includes works as the evidence that
follows our title. We are justified by Christ's righteousness
alone as the ground of our acceptance; but the evidence
before the world that we belong to Christ and believe on
him, is the good works of charity, and mercy, and love, that
ever follow. There is no real justification before God in
heaven unless there be a real consistency of life before
man upon earth. And yet the good works are not in our
title, but external to it. We insist on and accept of good
works as strongly as the objector, only we put the good
works in their proper place, and Christ's merits in their
proper place.
Another doctrine, which has been very much objected to,
is God's sovereignty. It is said, If God be sovereign, can
we be responsible? Do we not read, "I will be gracious to
whom I will be gracious "-" No man can come to me,
unless the Father, who has sent me, draw him?"  And if
God's sovereignty be so absolute, does not this take away
our responsibility? I answer, No man was ever admitted
into heaven except with his own will, freely, fully, heartily
expressed; and no man was ever plunged into ruin without,
sooner or later, knowing, even as he lived and loved to
muffle every rising conviction, that he was going there. So
that God in his sovereignty does not drag man to heaven,
or force man to ruin. But when he brings man to heaven,
what does he do?  " He works within them to will and to
do of his good pleasure."  He changes the will, makes it




PROVE ALL THINGS.                163
willing, and then he saves in our willingness, and not in
spite of that willingness.
The doctrine of election has been mixed up with much
alloy, and misconceived of men. That there is such a
doctrine we think nobody that opens his Bible can for
one moment dispute.  Such a passage, for instance, as that
of the apostle in the Epistle to the Ephesians, the 1st chapter, at the 4th verse, is decisive, "According as God hath
chosen," or elected us, "before the foundation of the world"
- not since it-" that we should be holy " - not foreseeing
that we should be holy —" and without blame before him
in love."  Then if God has elected men to everlasting life,
we may live as we like; we need give ourselves no trouble?
I answer, that is your reasoning; but, because it is plausible
to you, it is not necessarily correct. And the best proof
that your logic is not right, is that wherever election is
referred to in the Bible, it is always referred to as followed
by active piety and devotedness to God. For instance,
"Work out your salvation with fear and trembling."  There
some stop. But the Holy Spirit adds, "Because it is God
that worketh in you to will and to do of his good pleasure."
And if to choose or elect a man to heaven be right at all,
it was right to determine to choose him  ten thousand
years ago as well as ten months ago. If the thing be right,
it matters not whether it was determined before the foundation or since the foundation of the world. But instead of
discussing the metaphysics of election, remember that the
answer to the question, " What must I do to be saved? " is
not, "Believe in election;" but, "Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Election is not a
doctrine to be touched, or discussed, or fairly understood by
men who are not yet Christians at all; it is a doctrine to
be enjoyed in its sweetness by true believers; because it
teaches them this, If I have lost the near, the dear, the




164                THE DAILY LIFE.
beloved, it was not chance, but the purpose of God. If I
am placed in peril, in the van of the battle, in the midst
of contagion, I know that all is arranged, I enjoy the comfort and all the conscious safety of it. And thus election to a
believer is a sweet spring of comfort. But election dabbled
with and canvassed by men who have not learned the
alphabet of Christianity, only puzzles them and keeps them
from  pondering truths more suitable to their case. We
cannot comprehend it - this is very true; but it is declared
in the Bible, and therefore it is the mind of God.
Another mistake is sometimes perpetrated on the subject
of faith. Many persons say faith now takes the place of
works. The old law was, " Justified by works;" the new
law, they say, is, "Justified by faith;" and they substitute
the word "faith" for the word "works," and then as before.
Now that is not the fact. Faith has no more merit than
works; it is no more the ground of our acceptance than
works. If it were so we should be now saved by intellectual
acumen, sifting and believing truth, instead of being saved
by good works, paying the price of heaven, and so reaching
it. But that is absurd; it would now be orthodoxy of creed
as the ground of salvation, instead of orthodoxy of life as
of old. How then does faith save us? It saves us as the
instrument. If you put money into the hand of a poor
man, it is not his hand that he thanks, but you. If you give
bread to a starving man, it is not the trencher on which it
lies that he thanks, but the donor. And when you obtain
eternal life through faith, it is not faith that you thank, but
the gift of that righteousness which is unto all and upon all;
and faith you recognize as a divine and precious instrument,
that concurs with you in regarding Christ as all and in all.
Some people have a very erroneous idea of the study
of a portion of the word of God called prophecy. They
say, "Oh, it is so perilous, a field of snares and pitfalls,




PROVE ALL THINGS.                 165
that our best way is never to read it at all." Others say
again, "It is so plain and luminous, that we can see the
future as transparently as we see the present." Both go to
extremes.  Not to read what God has thought fit to inspire;
not to read that of which God has said, " Blessed is he that
readeth," seems to be monstrous. It is not Protestant.
But on the other hand, to attempt to play the prophet instead of the humble interpreter, and to predict future events
instead of simply proclaiming what is written, is a very
different thing. But surely a Christian man and a Christian minister may say, " Fallible as I am, liable to mistake,
still more liable where the field is difficult and the subject
is dark, and the future is the scene of operation; I may yet
say, if these principles of interpretation be correct-and I
speak as to reasonable men, judge ye-if my reasoning,
deductions, and explanations be correct, then such and such
dates reach such and such periods, such and such events
are at hand;" this is rational, submissive, and dutiful. It
is one thing to foretell; it is quite a different thing to forthtell. And even when we forthtell, we must not dogmatize
where much is confessedly obscure, but be content to read,
and pray, and knock, and wait, if peradventure God will
open up the truth more fully.
In proving all things, recollect there is a distinction of
some value.  Some questions are worth proving, some are
not worth proving, and we have no time, in this rushing and
impetuous age, to spare for needless ordeals. For instance,
whether the church should be Episcopal or Presbyterial;
whether you should pray with a liturgy or without one;
whether you should kneel at the Lord's table or sit at the
Lord's table - are questions for the preference of taste, not
for controversial and bitter discussion. Men have prayed
with a liturgy as well as those who have prayed without
one.  Christians have commemorated their blessed Re



166                THE DAILY LIFE.
deemer kneeling as devoutly as those that have done it sit
ting. It is not the form that is of value; "My son, give me
thine heart," is the great requirement in every act and exercise.  Far better to expend your energy in testing and
deciding great questions, than in quarrelling about minute
and evanescent details. And, in the second place, learn
from all of this the great doctrine of personal responsibility.
It is not, Believe your priest, and he will take the charge
of your soul. It is not, Believe the church, and the church
will be answerable, if anybody is answerable. Christianity
is a personal thing between the individual and Christ, and
you can no more denude yourself of your responsibility,
than you can denude yourself of your immortality. In
the next place, let us learn that the Bible is a very plain
and intelligible book. If it be a book for the people, it is
intelligible. The Bible was written to the laity; its Epistles are addressed to laymen; and it is to laymen that an
apostle says, " If we, or an angel from heaven, preach any
other gospel than that ye have received, let him be anathema."  The Bible, therefore, is intelligible; the Bible
ought to be in the hands of the people; and thank God, the
shewbread that was stored in the holy place of old, for the
few, is now the daily bread of growing millions. Thank
God, that the lamp of a nation has now become the light of
all mankind. As long as we keep within that book, we are
invincible; the moment that we go for our religion outside
of it, like Samson shorn of his hair, we become frail like
other men. No antiquity must weigh one straw with you
in ascertaining what is true. Many say, That is the old
religion, and this is the new; you answer, The inveteracy
of error may equal the antiquity of truth. No degree of
age turns error into truth. Our real question ought not to
be, How old is it? but, How does it accord with God's holy
word?  All that is old is not true; all that is true is really




PROVE ALL THINGS.                167
old. In the next place, no minister upon earth, however
gifted, eloquent, or good, must be to you the standard of
truth, the rule of faith, the oracle which you are to obey.
You may hear often a minister you love; you may listen to
a preacher whose instructions do you good; and it is the
best test of all preaching, that they do so. But if you take
what he says, because he says it, then you will be a follower
of that minister, and his name entailed upon your sect will
be your only heritage. But if you take what the preacher
says, not because he says it, but because to your minds and
consciences he has proved it by God's holy word to be true,
then you have got an apostolical succession of the noblest
stamp. Like the Bereans, you are more noble than the
rest; for when an apostle preached, they searched the
Scriptures, whether these things were so; and therefore
many of them believed. Investigation.leads to Christianity,
not to scepticism.




CHAPTER VIII.
ABSTAIN FROM ALL APPEARANCE OF EVIL.
" Know nought but truth, feel nought but love,
Will nought but bliss, do nought but righteousness.
All things are known in heaven
Ere aimed at on earth."
"Abstain from all appearance of evil."-1 THESS. v. 22.
IN this passage there are suggested two distinct ideas;
suggested, if not contained, in it.  The Greek word used
here for appearance is et6og, it means often a form, a shape;
sometimes the shape of a thing when the substance is present; and not unfrequently the shape or appearance of a
thing when the substance is not actually present. If the
word be used in this sense of shape or kind, it would mean
here, "Abstain from all kind of evil;" that is, from  every
shape, development, and form of it; from every thing that is
evil in whatever shape it appear; whether in the shape of
dishonesty, of untruth, or in any other shape; abstain from
it. But this strikes us as somewhat like tautology or unnecessary repetition of what the apostle has said before. To
abstain from all evil, would have expressed sufficiently the
idea, without using a word at least equivocal in our understanding of it, from all appearance of evil. It seems, therefore, far more probable that the meaning is, Abstain from,
strongly abjure, avoid by every possible means, every thing,
(168)




ABSTAIN FROM ALL APPEARANCE OF EVIL.    189
as far as you can, that, innocent in itself, may be construed
by the world to be evil; that a censorious, uncharitable,
and cavilling world may plausibly pronounce to be evil.
To do, it is difficult and alwaysuccessful,ibut to attempt, it
is a duty. And if I point out where misconstructions are
possible, or probable, or where your peril lies; though I
cannot prescribe the absolute prevention or infallible remedy; yet if we can learn the direction in which our danger
lies, we shall have made at least one step towards the cure,
or anticipation of the evil. The reason why the apostle
prescribes, "Abstain from all appearance of evil," seems
necessary to follow as a counterbalance to the frequent
warnings of the Bible, against resting in the letter, or rebukes of mere formalism, or being too much taken up with
outward aspects, forms, and appearances of things. We
are justly reminded in the Bible, that "God is a Spirit; and
they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in
truth." " He is not a Jew who is one outwardly; but circumcision is that of the heart and the spirit, not of the letter."  And again, ",My son, give me thy heart."  These
expressions, and others analogous to these, are so often
used, and the lofty duties they embody so frequently insisted
on, that it does seem as if something relating to outward
appearance, were wanting to balance and perfect the economy of the Christian character.  Inner character is the
chief thing, but not the onlything.  "Abstain from  evil1
abstain also from all appearances that may, justly or unjustly, be construed to be evil."  At least, "as much as
lieth in you."  "If it be possible, as much as lieth in
you, live peaceably with all men;" you cannot always
be at peace with all; but you are responsible for the spirit,
and for the aim, and for the efforts that you make to attain it.  So here, "Abstain from all appearance of evil."
You will not always succeed" in a censorious world; you
15




170                 THE DAILY LIFE.
will not always appear perfect even among true Christians
but your responsibility is exhausted in humble, prayerful,
consistent efforts, not only to be all right, holy, and beautiful within; but, as far as possible, to let the inner light so
shine upon the outer world, that the world shall have no
occasion to suspect there is error, by not being able to detect the appearance, or the semblance of it.
I assume that this prescription is addressed not so much
to unconverted, that is, ungodly and unchristian men, as to
true Christians.  The prescription for the world would be,
" Abstain from all evil;" but the Christian treads a higher
level, he lives amid a purer light; and therefore the prescription to him has a delicacy and elevation that the Christian mind alone can appreciate; and therefore he is not
only to "Abstain from evil," but, "from  all appearance of
evil."  You may be in God's sight, what a Christian is, pure
in heart; but it is also most desirable and highly expedient
that you should appear pure in outward appearance before
the world.  You may be in God's sight sincere; but it is
desirable that you should be seen of men to be so. You
may be honest before the Searcher of hearts; but it is not
immaterial that nothing should be done, however indirectly,
or however slightly, that should lead a carping and a cavilling world to suspect or infer dishonesty where there is
none; or to allege insincerity where there is pure and disinterested sincerity only. Far be it from us, as it was far
from the mind of the apostle, to inculcate a punctilious attention to external details, or a ceaseless and scrupulous
regard of postures and appearances.  If the mind is absorbed with these, our pathway through the world will be
zigzag, tortuous, and difficult. But while giving attention
to the interior of the temple, we should not disregard its
steps and its portico.  While thinking of the heart, we
should not be insensible to the value of the best vehicles




ABSTAIN FRO3M ALL APPEARANCE OF EVIL.   171
and exponents of the heart's life, desire, and aim. We
must not make the outer life the main thing; yet we should
try that the outer life may be blameless and without rebuke
in the midst of a corrupt and a perverse generation.  Let
us try to ascertain the importance of this prescription, from
considering it, first, in reference to our actions; secondly, in
reference to our words; and lastly, in reference to our
spirit; and in all these three respects we shall see how we,
as Christians, are exposed to peril, and stand in need of
Divine direction to enable us to avoid what may appear to
be evil.  There is not atrait that aa Christian can develop,
an act that he can do, or a word that he can speak, that may
not be twisted into evidence of evil against him.  There are
men in this world resembling the tarantula spider, that sucks
poison out of the sweetest flowers; who search human life
as old Zoilus searched the poems of Homer, in order to find
out defects and faults.  There are spirits in this world that
do not care to find out and study beautiful and perfect
character; but like wasps that dash at the incipient decay
of the ripest fruit, they seize on the least appearance of
imperfection and find enjoyment there. This is too much
the character of the world; we need to know it in order to
be prepared to meet it. We must not expect that any
thing we do will be construed in its noblest light by everybody, and on every occasion; this is hopeless. There are
nobler spirits in this world, not indeed sanctified by grace,
yet so magnanimously generous, that they will never form
a bad opinion of a single act, if they can construe it into
good.  But these are rare exceptions, few and far between.
The vast mass is too much like the restless sea, liable to
be moved by every gust of passion, receptive of all strange
impulses, and prone to take our good and speak evil of it.
Let us suppose the case of a true Christian; he desires
not to insulate himself from  the world; let him, on the




172                THEIT DAILY LIFE'.
highest grounds, and'from tie purest motives, and for the noblest ends, mix with the world, eat with the men of the world,
take up his place and engage in conversation in the public
walks of the world. How will this be construed by many?
They will forthwith whisper, It is your choice, not your
sense of duty. You like the company of the rich, the
great, the fashionable, the powerful./ The appearance will
justify it: you may be actuated within by a pure motive,
but the appearance without will justify the impression that
uncharitableness will be sure to form. It will exaggerate
the appearance that is real; it will construct a heavier
superstructure upon it, than fairly and justly it will bear.
Knowing this, we are not to cease to do our duty because
the world misconstrues it; but we ought to be on our guard
that the appearance may not extend beyond the exact appearance of a pure, an inner, ingenuous, and noble mind.
In our daily avocations in the world we are, perhaps,
very busy; we work hard from morning to night; our own
conscience tells us, that we are trying to pay every man,
to use the common phrase, twenty shillings in the pound;
and. determined to owe no man any thing, except, according to the prescription of the apostle, to love one another.
To find bread for ourselves and ours, we work hard on the
weekday, and appear constantly in the sanctuary on the
sabbath day. The appearance too surely will be misconstrued. It will be whispered in every company, You are
avaricious; it will be said, He is making haste to be rich.
Others will say, He is laying up treasure on earth during
six days, while he pretends upon the Sunday to be laying
up only treasure in heaven. You cannot avoid, though
you may dilute the construction. Ungenerous, unjust, untrue, it may be, and it is; but it will be made nevertheless.
It is difficult to prescribe how to avoid it. Nevertheless
persist in the onward path of what you feel to be true




ABSTAIN FROM ALL APPEARANCE OF EVIL.   173
and Christian; yet be on your guard against the appear-.
ance of evil. Know that you are liable and open to the
misconstruction of the uncharitable, do all you reasonablycan in order to neutralize, or to arrest, or prevent the misconstruction of a censorious world. In dress, your desire
may be to appear as the rest of mankind, to dress as other
people dress, to appear as becomes your position in life
and your station in society; to go neither before the
fashion, nor to lag behind it -the desire that seems to
indicate the most common sense. But you will probably
be construed by the world as one giving excessive attention to these things; as more anxious about outward appearances, and less desirous of the beautiful and holy spirit
of Sara, who thought more of the- ornament of a meek
and a quiet spirit, than of gold, or jewels, or costly array.
Such misconstruction is inevitable; you cannot help it; the
appearance may seem to justify it.  But knowing the risk
of such imputations, you must, by the exercise of good
sense, - which is a very valuable thing, - and under the
influence of Divine grace, try so to dress, that none shall
notice any thing very peculiar or singularly distinctive. A
perfect speaker of our language, speaks English in such a
way, that nobody can say from what county he comes; and
a person of thorough taste, so dresses, that nobody notices
any peculiarity of class. Dress like the rest of mankind,
giving as little occasion for animadversion, or misconstruction, as you possibly can.
In contributing to religious or charitable objects, and trying to relieve the physical, the moral, or the spiritual wants
of mankind, you are open to every tone of unjust or ungenerous remark.  Perhaps you are denying yourselves a
luxury, that you may give to a charity.  The world sees
the gift to the charity, it does not see the self-denial that is
its secret spring. It cares not to discover that you are
15"




174                THE DAILY LIFE.
doing without something in your drawing-room, in order
that you may give something more to cheer and raise the
homes of the poor. You give in all likelihood more liber
ally than your neighbors; and what will be your neighbors'
construction?  They will say, He is not thinking of his
family; he is worse than an infidel; he is not laying up for
his own; or he has some selfish object; or he is courting
human eclat. You cannot avoid the misconstruction, it will
be made in spite of its injustice, it has been made from the
beginning; all that you can do is, while manfully doing
what you feel in God's sight to be right, to try so to dilute
what may appear to be evil, or so to modify the outward
aspect of your acts, that your good shall not be evil spoken
of.
We have studied our subject in one aspect. But suppose
we reverse the medal and view the obverse; and we shall
see that we do not escape censure by adopting the very
opposite course. Instead of mixing with the world, in order
to do the world good, we will suppose that you isolate yourself from the world; that you shun the society of gay, and
witty, and talented, but very worldly people; that you interpret most rigidly the text "Come out from it, and be separate." Will this appearance help you to escape the world's
censure? I venture to assert, you will hear it recorded in
the newspaper, if you are worth the newspaper's notice,
or spoken of in some small coterie, Such a one is fast sinking
into asceticism; he is gradually developing into a Quaker;
he is forgetting his duty to society and mankind; he is
likely to take the cowl and become a monk; his life is
sour, and morose, and ascetic. If you mix with the world,
trying to do the world good, it will say, You are fond of
company. If you avoid the world in order to save your
own feeling from sinking to its zero, they will say, You
are ripening for a cell. Take either course, and the appear



ABSTAIN FROM ALL APPEARANCE OF EVIL.  175
ance will be misconstrued by a censorious world, in the
direction that tells against you. Or instead of laboring hard
in order to pay your debts, I will suppose that you are so
deeply impressed with unseen and eternal things, that you
take no thought for to-morrow; you try to live utterly
above the world —to tread a higher, a holier, and a nobler
level. Will the world's tongue let you alone now? Will
this appearance be to you a defence and a shelter? Alas!
you will find it all the very reverse. They will say, He is
inattentive to his business; he is neglecting his duty; he
is preaching, or praying, or going to church or chapel,
instead of minding his own proper business.  So that
whether we take one alternative or the other, the appearance still will be liable to misconstruction. Or, instead of
dressing like the rest of mankind, and according to the station in social life as fairly becomes you; you dress very
severely, and with extreme simplicity. You think this is
best and most convenient. What will they now say?  Such
a one is so singular; he is so niggardly that he does not
dress as becomes his rank; and he is beginning to think
that religion consists in wearing his coat shaped in this
way; or the color of his robe of that hue; or in wearing
neither jewel nor diamond, nor ornament at all. The appearance will be made to justify the construction; but the
construction may not be the less uncharitable on the part of
the world, or unmerited on yours. But you must be prepared for it; it is part of the cross; it is in our commission. Our liveliness will be construed as frivolity; reserve
will be charged as rudeness; caution will be regarded as
cunning; prudence will be set down as worldliness; in
short, in every direction you will find you are exposed to
have the appearances construed, not in the direction that
you mean them to indicate, but in the distorted, and perverted, and crooked direction in which the world chooses
to twist them,




176                THE DAILY LIFE.
Having thus seen how inner character and outer conduct may be all pure, and holy, and righteous, and yet the
appearances be misconstrued; let us turn our attention to
conversation, or to speech, another phase of human conduct, and see how liable or likely it is to be misconstrued
also. You are mixing in the world, as I have specified;
you converse with your friends freely and pleasantly; and
you are anxious to be as agreeable to those with whom you
mingle as possible; and perhaps to be useful also to all you
can reach. What will be the construction of a censorious
world? Because your conversation is not directly religious,
they will say, it is therefore light, frivolous, gay, vain. But
it does not follow, because the name ".God " is not mentioned in conversation, that the conversation is therefore
irreligious; nor does it follow, because the name "God " is
mentioned in conversation, thatt that conversation is religious. There are phrases most holy that often cover
hearts most irreligious; and there is language free and
unaffected, in all the simplicity of candour, ingenuousness,
and truth, that, in the sight of God, and in the estimate of
a discerning man, is noble, and true, and holy. We are,
perhaps, deeply interested in some great question; we feel
anxious about its success; (we are constitutionally earnest\;
it may be, rapid in our conceptions, and very decided in ouir
way of expressing them. Then what will be the construction of the world? Its construction will be from the appearance, This is passion. He is a man of fervent and impetuous
feelings; he has a strong temper; he does not know how to
restrain it. There may have been no temper in it; but the
simple and full expression of what one feels deeply, who
has never learned, according to the maxim of Talleyrand,
that language was meant to disguise sentiment, but, according to the prescription of our Blessed Master, that the
meaning of language is, to let be known exactly what you




ABSTAIN FROM ALL APPEARANCE OF EVIL.  177
think and feel. Or we are speaking, for instance, against
deadly error, against Romanism, or Socinianism, or Infidelity; and if there be any meaning in the Bible, it is our
duty to do so. If these systems be right, it is utterly impossible that we can be so;and if they be wrong, to speak
against the thing that is wrong does not mean to abuse the
person. Of all systems of controversy, whether on the
platform or in parliament, that of abuse of persons, and
smart retorts uttered at the expense of individuals, is the
most obnoxious and abominable. But surely it is possible
to denounce in unsparing terms what you know -not what
you believe, but what you know - and what you can prove
to be deadly error; and yet, in denouncing the error, to
have the most unfeigned and earnest affection to him that
holds it. You may be denouncing some great error, and
speaking intensely of its character and its issue. Your language is warm; there is no sin in that. Your expressions
are decided, because you have not your opinion to gather,
it has been made up upon fair, and deep, and thorough investigation. But worldly men that think it is no matter
what a man believes, and that it does not matter what way
you try to get to heaven, will say, You are insulting such a
man's religion; you are indulging in uncivil, uncharitable,
and illiberal aspersions. This is painful censure, unjust
though it be, and in order to avoid it as much as possible,
let us always clearly discriminate between the person that
we love, and the deadly error that we hate, and feel it our
duty to protest against and to rebuke. On the other hand,
and singular enough, if, instead of speaking in that way,
you try to be most courteous, most forbearing, most tender;
and to show, by your language, that while you are deeply
opposed to the error, you feel earnest affection to the person; other men will say, You are compromising the truth;
you are giving up the strong stand that you ought to main



178                 THE DAILY LIFE.
tain; you are making too great advances towards error.
Or you are speaking, again, of the sentiments and the conduct of other men. And you may speak your impressions.
This is a license, call it so if you like, or-rather liberty, of a
British' subject, that of all public men, who are public property, he may speak freely alike of their defects and their
excellences.  And the difference between us and France,
and Austria, and Italy, and some other countries, is, that
here people may discuss their differences-call a public
meeting, state what they are, and come to a resolution, and
there is an end to it. But in those countries where no such
liberty lives, the sparks that must be repressed smoulder in
the depths of society; free discussion is prohibited; and a
revolution at intervals is the necessary and natural issue.
In discussing the opinions and sentiments of public men, or
of those who are taking a prominent part in public matters,
you speak fairly and honestly, but the appearance of your
free and faithful speech will be misconstrued; they will say,
You are slandering, or you are envying, or you are very
jealous of the greater power and excellence of another person. And if, again, you should be silent, and not venture
to speak evil of anybody when you cannot speak any good;
they will say, You are silent on public faults of public
characters; it will be said, you are compromising the truth;
you are anxious to make your way as quickly as you can,
and therefore to get everybody on your side, and to give
offence to no one. And the appearance would actually
justify it.  So that wherever we speak, in public or private,
it is impossible altogether to avoid misconstruction.  A
preacher quotes a Greek word in his sermon; an achievement which any boy acquainted with the Greek Grammar
can accomplish. The critics in the magazines and religious
journals pronounce it a parade of great learning, and acquaintance with the Greek tongue. Or again, a preacher




ABSTAIN FROM ALL APPEARANCE OF EVIL.  179
who happens to belong to the Scotch church remarks upon
the excellence and beauty of much of the English liturgy;
and on many parts of it he cannot speak too eulogistically;
instantly he is set down in a Scotch newspaper as acandidate for a bishopric.  Or he makes an incidental remark on
dissent and dissenters — how godly and truly pious a man
is such a dissenter! Forthwith he is set down as courting
popularity with the masses. Does he express his opinion
that such a bishop may be a Christian, or that a duke may
get to heaven?  He is seeking the favor and the patronage
of the great.  Does he say any thing about the worth of
the humbler classes; what silent springs of excellence deep
down are there undetected; what noble characters sweep
crossings; what holy and pious hearts beat in hovels on
which the sun has never shone?  Then he is becoming a
democrat.  Does he say that the Crystal Palace should not
be opened on Sunday?  He is resisting and opposing the
enjoyments of the people.  Does he preach Calvinism?
He is a fatalist.  Does he preach Arminianism?  He is a
legalist. Does he think prophecy, which God gave for our.reading, and pronounces a blessing on those that read,
ought to be studied? Then he is assuming to be a prophet;
fixing the very day and the very year of the end of the
world. In short, let a man say what he likes, and in the
most careful and the most courteous terms that he will, it is
impossible to avoid appearances that will be misconstrued.
Knowing, therefore, the peril, all that we can or ought to do
is, as far as lieth in us, to try and arrest or dilute its liability
to misconception.  It was while studying these thoughts,
and putting these thoughts together in my mind, that for the
first time in my life I felt the profound philosophy and depth
of a single statement of St. James.  "For in many things
we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is
a perfect man."  How true!  He must be perfect; for it is




180                THE DAILY LIFE.
almost impossible so to speak that somebody shall not misconstrue it, or take offence at it. These misconstructions of
appearances are not in the least degree to make us compromise.,The duty of an ambassador of Christ, is to proclaim
the message which he can prove to be true, regardless comparatively of all consequences.  But still, knowing the
peculiar atmosphere in which we move, the peculiar exposure under which we lie to misconception, and that mere
appearances may thus have been the grounds of very grave
mischief; it becomes us to act with an eye without, though
the main nil:        must be within; and to speak in the
pulpit or elsewhere with some reference to words, as well as
with a main reference to thoughts. And though I would
not say, that the preacher ought therefore to read his sermon in order to avoid misconception, he ought to be very
careful in his words as well as thoughts. We must not
bring in the preacher guilty for a word; or because he uses
an expression which you think too strong, or that may be
misconstrued or misapprehended.  The hearer  mut.not
judge uncharitably; but, in the exercise of that charity
which the apostle lauds and praises, and not more than it
deserves, and which is the highest, because Christian, courtesy, let us " Rejoice not in iniquity, but rejoice in the truth;
bear all things, believe all things;" believe only good, unless
there be irresistible proof of evil; " believe all things, hope
all things, endure all things."  What a magnificent world
would this be if charity were its life, the law and the limit
of its living!
Having thus seen how appearances in our conduct and
conversation may be misconstrued, let us notice very briefly
appearances in our spirit liable to misconstruction.  This is
more delicate, and less easily detected and distinguished;
but still, here appearances too will be, and must be, and
have been, perverted by misconstructions.  For instance,




ABSTAIN FROM ALL APPEARANCE OF EVIL.  181
one has great decision of character.  He sees things by
intuition, he pronounces at a glance.  He is set down instantly as precipitate and rash. Another man is very cautious; his caution leads him to delay, he is set down and
characterized as vacillating and weak, as behind the nineteenth century, not up to the age. Our efforts to rise above
the ordinary level, to maintain our course on elevated
ground, and live in inner communion with God, will be
misconstrued.  Superiority to the censure of the world
will have an appearance that the world will pronounce to
be hauteur, pride, self-conceit. True humility will be construed into meanness of spirit; enthusiasm, which is worthy
of an apostle, will be called intemperate zeal; warmth of
heart and genuine affection will be liable to be misconceived as frivolity; buoyancy of spirit will be set down as
lightness of mind, gravity of spirit as dulness; tenacity of
principle will be called obstinacy; reserve will be branded
as cunning, and silence will be thought indecision. When I
think over all these liabilities of outward appearances, the
appearances even of what is good within; when I weigh
these liabilities to misconception; I am reminded of that
sentiment in the Gospel of St. Matthew, which sums up
almost all we have said in very few words. "John came
neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil.
The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say,
Behold a man gluttonous, and a wine-bibber, a friend of
publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children."  Iow true is that! What a wonderful book is the
Bible! What striking lights are in every page of it!
What perfect wisdom in every remark! The age is behind,
never before it. All I have said may be summed up in
these words, — that if you come neither eating nor drinking, they will say, " He is an ascetic.  He hath a devil.'
16




182                 THE DAILY LIFE.
If you come eating and drinking, they will say, "He is a
glutton, a friend of publicans and sinners."
In closing these remarks, let us learn how much of our
own comfort depends upon appearances. Not what we are,
but what we appear, shapes and determines the world's
judgment of us. The world cannot see our motives, because it cannot search the heart; it can only see our outward appearance; and by its tone, its depth of shadow, or
by its brilliancy and sharpniess of outline, the world forms
its opinion of us. It is very distressing to a mind conscious
of integrity and fairness, to be represented in colors the
very opposite of what it feels; owing mainly, it may be, to
our disregard of, and inattention to, appearances.  To be
reflected as we are, is to a Christian mind a source of satisfaction, never of pride. But to have a character in the
world derived from appearances more favorable than we
really have a right to, is no enjoyment; and a character
derived from appearances in the world the very opposite of
what we are conscious of, must be to a sensitive mind extremely painful.  How, then, are we to act?  Let us first
see that we are good, and subordinately to that, that we
appear good; that we have right principles rooted within,
and next, not disregard the appearance of those principles
without.  Let us never forget, that we are in the midst of
an alien, uncharitable, censorious world, with a strong sympathy with what is evil, and a desire that everybody above
its own temperature should be reduced as low as itself.
Knowing that what we appear is liable to be misconstrued
by that world, Christians must pay attention to appearances; although their deepest and their profoundest attention
must be given to principles within.
Our usefulness in the world is very much dependent on
appearances.  This is a very important though a very




ABSTAIN FROM ALL APPEARANCE OF EVIL.  183
much forgotten thought. Let there be a case where the
appearances without are the result of evil, unquestionable evil,
within; let there be another case, where all is right within,
but where the appearances without are very much the same
as in the former case. The effect of the latter is just as
injurious as the effect of the former. Though in the latter
there may be no inner evil, yet there is a disregard of outer
appearances; though there may be nothing evil to represent
within, yet it may be just as injurious to others as an evil
appearance which is in itself only the true and exact exponent of bad that is within. And let us never forget that
outward appearances of character are ceaselessly operative.
We exercise a more powerful influence by what we appear,
than by what we say and do in the world. What was the
reason of the depth and greatness of the impression that
Jesus made upon the public mind?  It was not wholly
his speech; it was not his miracles; but the fact that no
man lived like that man, and therefore no man spake like
that man. It was that quiet, solemn, and heavenly life that
struck so deep an impression on the world around it. Now
what we design, or what we feel, man cannot see; but what
we appear to be, everybody can see. And if we are careless of outer appearances, we are careless of an element that
is moulding and shaping the mass of mankind either for
good, or for misery and ruin. But some one will say- I
do what is right; and I do not care what the world or- anybody may say. In such a sentiment there is much that is
magnanimous and noble; it would be absurd and wrong to
deny it; but there is something in it, too, unsound and doubtful. You say, I do what is right; and I do not care what
the world thinks. Is that proper?  If people speak evil
of you from malice, from envy, from ill-will, or uncharitableness, then you ought to be deeply grieved that men should
be so wicked as to do so; and you ought to feel the instant




184                 THE DAILY LIFE.
obligation of our Blessed MIaster's prescription, " Pray for
them that despitefully use you."  On the other hand, if the
cause of their unfavorable judgment be something indiscreet in your conduct; something in appearances that are
not as they should be, though all may be right within; is it
not matter of great grief to us that, Christians as we are,
we have by our mismanagement, or indiscretion, or disregard of appearances, generated a conviction, or impression,
among mankind, injurious to that cause with which we are
identified, and lowering to ourselves as Christian men?
And besides, on the other hand, we are all members of the
church universal.  We are epistles, seen and read of all
men.  Our conduct will be construed as the result of principles, and if we suffer from disregard of appearances, the
whole church of Christ will suffer; the name by which we
are called will be injured, and its march across the world
will be so far impeded.
Another will say, I do what is right; and I am not, therefore, responsible for consequences. There is much in this
most just, most noble, worthy of being recollected; but
there is a sense in which it. is not true. We are not responsible for the consequences of what is truly felt, truly spoken,
and justly and truly expressed in our conduct: but we are
responsible if — notwithstanding all is excellence within -
we either speak indiscreetly, or act imprudently, or develop
appearances which  are liable to misconstruction.  Such
offence in the world, is not the offence of the cross; but the
offence of our indiscretion, our imprudence, our want of
care, of vigilance, of caution. It is possible to be responsible for the issues of our conduct; not indeed for the issues
of truth, or of doing our duty; but responsible for issues
that arise not from the truth we hold and the principles we
love, but from our indiscreet, passionate, or compromising
expression or reflection of them. See therefore, here, a




ABSTAIN FROM ALL APPEARANCE OF EVIL.  185
reason of the inefficacy of many a true Christian in the
church of Christ. There are many Christians who are
constitutionally very odd and strange. Christianity does
not turn Peter into Paul, or Paul into James; it seizes the
man as the fall has left him; and day by day works out
and develops from  that man that which God has determined him to be. When one becomes a Christian, he does
not lose his hot temper at once. When a natural man becomes a Christian, he does not cease to have his own peculiar temperament or to have many lingering defects. We
all know that there are thoughts in our minds, sympathies in
our hearts, that we would not wish the world to know; but
God knows; and these are the evidences of the remains of a
nature not yet utterly subdued and sanctified. We find
many a true Christian in the world, impetuous, extravagant,
full of zeal without knowledge, of fervor without discretion;
or very obstinate, or very bigoted, or very stupid. And
what is the result? M3en have ears to hear, and eyes to see;
and these ears and these eyes come into contact with the
outer appearances only; they cannot see the inner worth
of the man. They see the faults that remain, not those that
are gone; and men form a judgment of what Christianity
is, by the obstinacy —the stupidity —the indiscretionthe zeal of this specimen, as they call it, of what Christianity
makes a man. You see therefore, the inefficiency of many
a good man in the church of Christ, is owing to his not abstaining from all appearance of evil.
Let us learn finally the value of a sound judgment, a
tender conscience, ceaseless vigilance. We are sentinels,
we are soldiers; we are surrounded by enemies. Be sensitively anxious, first, to what you should be; and next, to
what you appear to be. Do not only ask, What am I?
which is most important; but ask also, How will this appear
to others? What impression will this leave upon Christian
16 




186                THE DAILY LIFE.
men?  What opinion will this generate in a world that is
carping, cavilling, censorious, uncharitable? A sailor when
he is steering his ship, not only looks to his compass, but
makes allowances for currents in the ocean, and acts and
steers accordingly. You must not only think of your main
route, and of the main character; but you must recollect
there are many currents, and strange eddies in this world;
you must not only determine to be and do right, but you
must also ask, What impression is this appearance likely to
leave? What effect will it have? It is the duty of Christians to be very slow to judge. When you know how many
appearances may be the acts of indiscretion, not the just
exponents of inner character, you ought to be very slow to
judge. We shall not find out till the judgment-day tow
many grave infirmities are compatible with being -true
Christians notwithstanding. And if so, we shall find there
is much, oh! much, to forgive in the best; and there is
much, oh! much, to pity rather than condemn in the very
worst. Do not pronounce unfavorable judgment upon your
brother or your sister from an indiscreet word, from an incidental appearance that does not suit your taste, or from a
hasty act. Do not overestimate appearances in others; do
not underestimate their importance in yourselves. Do not
infer too much from appearance in a brother; do not attach
too little to appearance in yourselves.
How much need have we of the Holy Spirit, not only to
give us clean hearts, but clean hands; not only to create in
us right spirits, but to hold up our goings, that our footsteps
slip not.




CHAPTER IX.
THE PERORATION.
"0 may thy Spirit seal our souls,
And mould them to thy will;
That our weak hearts no more may stray,
But keep thy precepts still:
That to perfection's sacred height
We nearer still may rise,
And all we think, and all we do,
Be pleasing in thine eyes."
" And 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."-1 THESS. v. 23.
VERY justly and truly does the apostle, who lived near to
his Lord, and saw all things in his everlasting light, close
his prescriptions for daily life with fervent prayer: "The
very God of peace, not only make you rejoice evermore,
pray without ceasing, in every thing give thanks, quench
not the Spirit, despise not prophecy, prove all things, abstain
from all appearance of evil, but even 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." It is not the least important feature, that every
prescription given for practical duty, precious in itself,
should conclude with earnest prayer to the Giver of all
(187)




188                THE DAILY LIFE.
good things, for strength to do it. The loftiest duty is pos.
sible with grace; the least is all but impossible without it.
It is the duty and privilege of preachers and ministers of
the gospel to begin to pray after they have ceased to preach.
Preaching without prayer may illuminate the intellect; but
only that preaching that is sealed and sanctified by prayer
will be owned of God to touch the heart, and to leave plastic
and transforming influences there. If we bid men do, but
never tell them of the secret and fountain of their strength,
we shall treat them as Pharaoh did the Israelites in Egypt,
giving clay to make bricks, but no straw to bind them.
These practical prescriptions which we have been studying,
do not imply, because addressed to us, inherent strength in
us by nature to do them: they do however imply responsibility and obligation. It is when we have heard them
stated in all the length and breadth of their purity and their
obligation, that the very difficulty we feel it to generate, not
despair, or indolence, or neglect; but earnest, persevering
supplication at the throne of grace. When God says, " Do
this," the command does not imply in us by nature inherent
strength to obey, but it does imply obligation to obey. Our
sense of inability to do, is the very first step towards doing.
Because, if I am convinced that I am bound to do this, but
feel that I cannot do this, and hear that God's strength is
made perfect in weakness; if I am  sincere and earnest in
my convictions, I shall be fervent in prayer to God that he
would give me strength and grace equal to my obligations.
In considering this, the prayer of the apostle, let us first
notice the great work tbIt the apostle prays may be consummated in the heart of his converts, namely, that they
may be sanctified wholly, and preserved blameless. Let us
notice, in the second place, the subjects of this sanctification; the soul, the body, and the spirit. Let us next consider the limit of the process, and its perfection at the com



TIHE PEIRORATION.                 189
ing of our Lord Jesus Christ; and lastly, the author of it,
"The very God' of peace."  First of all, in this closing
prayer, we have the great work, the sanctification of all the
people of God.  What is sanctification?  The Shorter
Catechism describes it very beautifully. Justification is an
act; something that is done, and done for ever, incapable of
increase, and beyond the range of decrease.  But sanctification, says the same admirable document, is a work of
God's Holy Spirit. It is not an act, but a process, that begins like the infant light of the awakening morn, and shines
through the grey and the misty dawn, until it reach the full
and unclouded splendor of a meridian, and in this case, an
everlasting noon. Sanctification is a process. Its beginning is here -its progress for ever. Let us see what its
strict and literal meaning is, as employed in Scripture. Its
first essential idea is that of separation; the Hebrew word
kadosh, and the Greek  yltoS, corresponding to it, and the
Latin sacer, though naturally translated holy and sacred, yet
very often are translated by a word meaning the very reverse.  The Hebrew word kadosh is applied to a bad and
depraved person; the Latin word sacer is applied to that
which is cursed, as auri sacra fames, " the accursed thirst
of gold."  And, the reason of this is, that all three words
mean in their original use merely that which is separated;
it may be separated to evil, or separated to good. The
radical meaning is simply separation. And therefore, in
studying the meaning of the word sanctification, we must
look first at its radical idea, which is separation.  "I am
the Lord thy God, which separated you from  all people,
that ye may be a holy people."  Hence the apostle speaks
of being "separated unto the gospel."  " Come out, and be
ye separate;" or set apart, or, if you like, ordained.  The
very first characteristic of genuine sanctification in the case
of every child of God is separation, not mechanical, but




190                 THE DAILY LIFE.
moral, from  all that is evil, unholy, and impure. And
among all the separations frequently referred to in Scripture, the most common one is separation from the world;
from its service, its affinities, its sympathies, its preferences,
its delights, and its joys; as far as they are tainted by the
world's contagion, and peculiar to the world as enmity to
God and to his law. It may be a baptized world, it may
be a refined world, it may be a polished, an educated, and a
cultivated world, but it is the world still; and from all that
is still evil in it, and alien to the spirit of the gospel, it is
not only the Christian's duty, but his holy instinct, to separate himself and stand apart; not indeed with contumelious
contempt, but with sorrow and regret; and while protesting
against its evil, doing our best meekly to correct it. Many
will separate from the world, and then let the world alone;
but this is the spirit of a Cain, not the spirit of an Abel;
"Am  I my brother's keeper?" is an inhuman thought.
Just in proportion as you feel constrained to protest against
what the world is doing, you are the more solemnly bound
to try to lead the children of the world to a more excellent,
holy, and Christian way. The monk abandons the world
mechanically, and leaves it as far as he is'concerned, to
wend its way to ruin as it may; while he goes into his
sequestered nook, and vainly thinks he can rise above its
influence and be holy, and happy, and pure. But were' he
successful, this would not be Christianity.  The apostles
were in the world, but not of it; they tried to do the world
good, and to make it better for their having passed through
it; their very footprints were cheering guides. If all the
salt of the earth were to be withdrawn, if all the lights of
the world were to be put under bushels, then the very
world that needs their presence most, would be beyond the
reach of their rays; and instead of Christianity being prac.
tically an offer, wide as the wide world, it would cease to




THE PERORATION.                  191
be addressed to the many, and reach only a few, and the
world would lose its only opportunity of hearing the glad
sound, and becoming wise unto everlasting life.
The next sense of sanctification, is to be made holy; is to
make that holy which is unholy.  This denotes not an external or conventional, but an internal and real, transformation. To be holy, or to be a Christian - that is, an anointed or consecrated person-is not retreat from  duty, because duty is difficult; but the inspiration of duty, because
duty devolving upon us. It is not an outer robe, but an
inner character. It is the saint grafted on the man, the
heart of nature quickened from above by the grace of God;
till they that were the servants of Satan are transformed
into a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a peculiar
people, that they may show forth the praises of Him who
hathicalled them from darkness into his marvellous light.
This holiness or sanctification we have called a process.
Its commencement is regeneration; its close is perfection;
and its fulness is when the age to come shall have burst
upon the earth, and all things shall be made new. But it
has a beginning.  Regeneration is its initial act, the heart
is born again; and from this it proceeds from strength to
strength, from grace to grace. The entrance of the Holy
Spirit into the heart, is the first step or stage in this sanctification. There is the child in Christ, who was born again
yesterday; there is the full-grown man in Christ Jesus, who
has lived and adorned the gospel for forty, fifty, sixty years.
One is at one stage, the other at another; but each illustrating the truth that the light shineth more and more unto
the perfect day. In each case, the grain of mustard-seed
in the heart grows up until it becomes a majestic and a
sheltering tree. But it has been objected by some, Is not
this ceaseless and continuous progress in sanctification, or
separation from all that is sinful, and conformity to the




192                THE DAILY LIFE.
Lord Jesus Christ, contradicted by the personal and practical experience of many of the people of God?  Is not,
some say, the machinery often reversed?  Does not the
current of grace often flow backward in its channel? Are
there not some who were Christians a year ago, truly growing in grace, who have since ceased to grow, and are retrograding rather than advancing in the way that leads to
heaven, and in the character that fits for it?  I answer,
once a true Christian, born again by the Spirit of God, it is
impossible he can ever go finally backward; it is barely
possible such can ever stand still. It is absolutely certain
that in some shape or direction he will advance and send
forth the influences of inner and divine life; and though he
may not appear to thousands, nay, not appear to himself,
yet really and truly he may be advancing in likeness to
Christ and in fitness for the kingdom  of heaven. Quite
true, the first feelings of joy that thrilled his spirit when he
learned the distinguishing and peculiar truths of the gospel,
have all departed. It is right that they should do so; it
was not meant that they should continue.  But they may
have left behind them an abiding growth, a steady progress.
The effervescence is gone, but the pure wine remains. The
excitement of conviction may have settled down into solid
and solemn conversion; and though there may not be now
blazing light, sparkling joys, yet the whole temperature of
his Christian character may be materially raised. Passion
has become principle. There may be progress as a whole,
though there may not be continuous progress, stage by
stage. On some days the plants grow rapidly; on other
days they do not advance at all. But very often while the
plant itself is not growing visibly as measured by a scale, it
may be striking deeper its roots: it may be collecting and
husbanding or sowing the elements of growth, and so preparing for mightier future efforts the secret sap that is its




THE PERORATION.                  193
vitality and its power. The tide does not rush up to its
accustomed mark at once. It advances so many yards one
way; it retires a little, and seems as if it repented of its
approach to the land, and wished to retreat again to the
secret and silent depths of the sea. But if we wait a little,
another wave comes with more majestic and onward sweep;
and in the course of six hours we find there has been on
the whole, though not at every minute of the six hours,
progress towards the shore. Many a Christian who thinks
he is not growing at all, may be growing in the most
important sense of the word. He that is growing more
acquainted with the weakness, and the sinfulness, and the
waywardness of his own heart, is no doubt thinking that he
is going back, but he may be really making preparation for
going forward in the noblest sense of that word. We may
be growing downwards in lowly humility, not less important in its place than growing upwards in conformity to the
Lord Jesus Christ.
Our progress in sanctification may very much determine
the place of dignity we are to occupy in the age of glory and
of happiness that is to come. Justification is our title to
heaven, absolute, perfect, and complete; so that the greatest
saint of the greatest maturity, and the lowliest and humblest
Christian who was born again yesterday, have both the same
title, without any distinction or difference, to everlasting joy.
But there is another requisite besides a title to heaven.
There is fitness for heaven; the one just as essential as the
other, and the one never separate from  the other.  For
where God the Father shows his electing love, there God
the Son exhibits his redeeming love, and there God the
Spirit sets forth his sanctifying and regenerating love; the
last just as needful as the first. If I had a title that would
enable me to cross the threshold of the better land; but if I
could not breathe its air, mingle in its songs, enjoy its fellow17




194                THE DAILY LIFE.
ship, hold communion with its King, I should feel it an uncongenial clime, and myself a stranger where others find a
home. It is necessary, therefore, not only that I should
have a right and a title to heaven, which is complete in my
Lord; but that I should have a fitness for heaven, which
the Holy Spirit gives me in regeneration and sanctification.
Every Christian is equally entitled to cross the threshold;
but every Christian is not equally fitted for the same sphere
or place of dignity, and greatness, and glory. "One star
differeth from another star in glory;" one gem on the walls
of the heavenly city from another gem. The everlasting
temple is composed of living stones, laid in successive tiers;
but the apostles and prophets are laid next and nearest to
the foundation stone.  Regeneration is the starting point of
an  endless approximation, but the race is not finished
throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity to come; heaven
itself will be what earth is, ever running the race, but without its fatigue; ever looking unto Jesus, the author and the
finisher of our faith, but without an intervening cloud. It
is thus that sanctification, and our progress in it, may determine, not our right to heaven, but our place in heaven.
And there is something most interesting in this; that he who
has prayed most fervently and frequently now; who has
given most diligence to add to his faith virtue, and to virtue
temperance, and to temperance patience, and to patience
brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity; that
he who has made by grace, on the footing of his acceptance
in Christ, the greatest progress in conformity to Jesus, shall
still, by grace, but through his fitness for it, occupy a loftier
place, and taste a richer joy, and tread a sunnier table-land,
in the rest that remaineth for the people of God. Here is
the highest encouragement, not indeed to seek heaven by
our doings, or merit access by our deservings; but by grace,
and through that Spirit who is given to earnest prayer, to




THE PERORATION.                   195
seek to be fit for the highest place in heaven. Whatever a
person undertakes, he should do it with all his might; whatever we seek to fit ourselves for, we should seek to excel in.
If you are a soldier, try to be the best and bravest in the
battalion; if a sailor, seek to be the best and ablest on the
deck; if you are a tradesman, determine to be the best in
the parish.  And if you be a Christian, why should you not
aim to be the greatest, the wisest, the holiest, and therefore
the happiest here and hereafter.
After the apostle had prayed that they may be thus sanctified, he specifies what is the special subject of the process
of sanctification; namely, "soul, body, and spirit."  I do
not pause to make distinctions of a metaphysical kind. I
assume that he desires in this prayer, that all which constitutes the man may receive the influence, the sanctifying influence, of the H-oly Spirit of God. It is the apostle's
prayer, that the mind may comprehend and appreciate in all
their brilliancy those grorious truths that are foolishness to
the natural man; that all the splendor of heaven may be
brought into the darkest nooks of the mind, that it may see
plainly what it nov sees obscurely; and delight in growing
knowledge in which the world can feel no pleasure and
covets no share.  In the words of the apostle; "The eyes
of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know
what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the
glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power."  There is not
a Christian mind that does not need more light, more sympathy with truth.  And it is a blessed thought, that the Holy
Spirit not only converts and sanctifies the heart, but enlightens, instructs, and convinces the mind.  He prays that the
heart may be sanctified, and presented blameless; that it
may be regenerated by the Spirit, may have sympathy with




196                TIHE DAILY LIFE.
all that is pure, be sensitively receptive of every holy and
happy impression, and have that deep, and pure, and abiding thirst for God which can be satisfied only when time and
things temporal are no more. That the body also, and every
organ of the body, may be the willing instrument of the mind
and the heart in the service of God; that we may be living
epistles; not only be good, but seem good; that holiness to
the Lord may be inscribed upon the eye, upon the ear, upon
the tongue, upon the hands, and upon the feet; and the
whole body a sacred fane, every organ a consecrated vessel,
and all the faculties and affections of the soul the ministering priests and Levites within, that present to God the
ceaseless and fragrant incense of a living and acceptable sacrifice, which is our reasonable service. We are here plainly taught, that all these constituents of man are destined to
appear when Christ himself, who is here referred to, shall
appear. It is not true that the body is to be despised, cast
away as the raiment that we have worn out, and have no
further use for. The body of a believer is redeemed by the
same precious blood with which his soul is redeemed; and
the one shall appear at the resurrection morn, and in obedience to the bidding of him that redeemed it, just as surely
as the other. There is not a sailor that sleeps beneath the
waves of the Baltic, or the Black Sea, whose only requiem
is their ceaseless chime, who, if a believer, shall not hear
the sound of the last trump, and come forth from the silent
waters, no more in the dripping garments of his grave, but.in the radiant form of one ready to meet the Lord. There
is not a Christian traveller, whose windingsheet is the sands
of the desert, who shall not hear that sound and come forth.
And there is not a martyr in the Catacombs at Rome, nor a
sleeping saint built into the everlasting pyramids, who shall
not hear the roll of the last trump; and his body, ransomed
by precious blood, shall become again the bright, the holy,




THE PERORATION.                  197
the beautiful companion of the consecrated Levite within;
and so shall both be for ever with the Lord. It is this
blessed hope that inspires us to keep, not only our minds,
and our hearts, and our consciences, but our bodies, blameless. Every organ of that body is Christ's; every atom of
its dust is his; none of it belongs to Satan or to decay.
Satan, and the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, and
the love of. the world, have no right to a particle of it. It
is wholly Christ's; his image is struck on it, his superscription is legible on it; his Holy Spirit is in it; and bright
hopes of being for ever with the Lord it may now cherish
and rejoice in. Therefore we pray that our whole body,
soul, and spirit, may be preserved blameless. We need thus
to pray; for what is beyond the reach of sin amid the inhabitants of heaven, is exposed to sin in our case. What
is innocence in the lower creation may be guilt and criminality in us. And therefore we are to watch, we are to
wait, we are to pray, not only that we may not be blameworthy, but that we may appear,and be blameless before
God, and before man.
The apostle's prayer is, "that ye may be preserved
blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."  I
doubt if the translation here is correct. It is in the original,
ev 7wapovota; " And the very God of peace sanctify you
wholly; and I pray God that your whole spirit and soul and
body be preserved, or kept, blameless in the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ." Our translators have had unto suggested
to them by the word kept, or preserved; but the strict meaning is, "in the coming;" meaning that perfection of Christian
mind, Christian heart, and life, is not obtainable yet, but that
it will be. Perfection is a certainty, but it is a certainty embosomed by hope, not yet held fast by faith. And any one
that supposes he has attained absolute perfection now, either
deceives himself, or deceives the person to whom he says so.17*




198                THE DAILY LIFE.
But the very lowliest and humblest and weakest Christian
may look forward to that blessed period when all shadows
shall be scattered from his mind, when all evil passions, that
domineer over or oppress his heart, shall be laid; when his
body, relieved from the infirmities, the corruptions, and the
traces of evil and of the fall, shall be rebuilt, reconsecrated,
and restored; and, in the beautiful language of the apostle
in another Epistle, " We shall be made a holy church, without spot, and blameless. That he might present it unto himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any
such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."
When is this to be? When Christ comes, and presents the
church thus to himself. I may mention, in passing, one
Greek word used by the apostle in that passage is very remarkable. "Without blemish "   aluopow. The heathen god
of laughter was Momus; and it was supposed of him in
heathen mythology, that the slightest thing, which the common eye could not see, his acute eye saw, turned into ridicule, and laughed at. Now the apostle's idea is, that Christ's
church, the company of believers, the bride, shall be so holy,
so spotless, so perfect, in mind, in body, in spirit, that even
the god of the heathen that turned into ridicule specks that
were invisible to others, shall see nothing in that holy and
spotless Apocalypse that he can seize, or turn into a source
of laughter. It is a most expressive thought; and indicates
the magnificence and glory of that church which Christ shall
present unto himself. Angels, startled at the glorious spectacle; the cherubim and seraphim, noticing a white-robed
company in the realms of the blessed, that are not natives,
but colonists and immigrants, will ask the question, startled
by the strange spectacle, Who are these, and whence came
they?  And the answer given will be, "These are they
which came out of great tribulation; and have washed their
robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."




THE PERORATION.                  199
The Author of all this — " The very God of peacesanctify you wholly."  "The very God of peace! "  What
a beautiful characteristic of our God is this, "The very God
of peace! " The Author of peace, the Giver of peace; who
delights in peace; "justified by faith in whom, we have
peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ."  And this
tells us, that wherever peace reigns amidst the nations of
the earth, there, even if it be national and natural peace, is
a reflection, half spent in its transit, but still a reflection,
from the God of peace. Mr. Howells used often to. say in
Long Acre chapel, that if he saw two dogs at peace with
each other, he saw there "the very God of peace;" that
one atom of peace left in a world that has plunged into war
with God is a trace of the lingering mercy and favoring
goodness of our God. Wherever there is peace, therefore,
there is a reflection of his presence; and wherever there is
war amid the nations of the earth, on one side or on the
other, — the right side God knows, and it is not difficult
often for us to determine on a national scale, - there is evidence of the answer to the question, "Whence come wars,and fightings among you?  Come they not from your lusts,
which desire, and have not?" And if God be the very God
of peace upon the earth, he is eminently so in the church of
Christ. If war is unjustifiable in nations, oh! how inexcusable is it in those that profess to be Christians! There are
sections of the Christian church, true Christians, who are
opposed to national war on any terms, or on any grounds,
defensive or aggressive; but if we come into their chapels,
or stand on their platforms, how often do we find they are
at war, exterminating ecclesiastical war, with each other!
Now give me national war, which has many of the materials of grandeur and heroism, rather than that most horrible
of all, ecclesiastical wars. The worst battles, next to those
fought in lawyers' offices, have been fought on professedly




200                THE DAILY LIFE.
Christian platforms. If we hate war, the war that breaks
out with consuming fury amid nations, we should remember
that nations ought to look to churches for the example they
are to follow; and if war begin at the house of God, how
can we expect that there will be peace amid the nations
that know him not?  God is the very God of peace; and
peace on earth ought to be the first recognition of his sovereignty. But the reason, perhaps, of this special attribute
introduced here by the apostle, is, that all the prescriptions
he has given, are dependent upon our acceptance with God,
and our justification by him. St. Paul says, in the fifth
chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, at the first verse,
" Therefore being justified by faith - we have peace with
God."  And the apostle, accordingly, in praying that the
God of peace would sanctify them, assumes that they are
justified, and therefore that they will be, as he prays they
~may be, wholly sanctified.
We are frail, and need such prayers as these. We need
to pray for ourselves, that he who has begun in us the good
work, would carry it on to the end. And what a blessed
thought, that he who is the Alpha, is the Omega; that
he that begins, concludes; that he who is the Author, is
also the Finisher of our faith. It needs a Divine hand
to sow the incorruptible seed; it needs a Divine sunshine
to ripen and mature the fruits; itneeds a Divine hand to
weed the soil, and keep the fair flowers from perishing. It
is literally true of grace, as it is of nature, that " in God we
live, we move, we have our being."  We must therefore
pray to him, if we would persevere, that he would preserve
us, soul, body, and spirit, blameless, unto the day of his coming. Here too is a precedent for ministers of the gospel.
Paul, in this Epistle, has preached the glorious truths of the
gospel of Christ, and followed those truths with practical prescriptions of the most precious kind. But he, the eloquent




THE PERORATION.                  201
and the gifted, so felt that all he had done would be utterly
without fruit if left to itself, that he closes this most eloquent
and impressive appeal with earnest and fervent prayer. He
felt, "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit."  The
best peroration to the most eloquent sermon, is fervent prayer
that God would follow it with his heavenly blessing.
But whilst God is the Author of all this sanctification, let
us not forget that there are media of it.  God works by
means; and our blessed Redeemer has told us, in his own
prayer, the means of our sanctification.  "Sanctify them
through thy truth; thy word is truth."  It is through the
truth that we are sanctified.  We are not sanctified in
ignorance, in indolence, or in infidelity; we are sanctified
through belief of the truth. All the truths that God has
revealed, have this sanctifying tendency, "Elect according
to the foreknowledge of God through belief of the truth unto
sanctification."  Again, we read, "Seeing all these things
shall be dissolved "   that is a revelation of God's truth -
" what tnanner of persons ought ye to be?"  Again, "As he
that hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all conversation and godliness."  "Born of incorruptible seed."  And
if the truth, then, be a medium or means of our sanctification, how important it is that we should come into contact with a faithful ministry! Men are rational, responsible, and susceptible of impression; and God works by these,
and through these, to generate that character which is ripened
day by day for heaven and for eternal joy. And when we
sit under a faithful ministry, we hear motives, hopes, precepts, prescriptions, promises, doctrines; all of which are
consecrated by God to be a ministry to the soul for conviction and for conversion. The farmer sows the seed; but if
no rain and no sunshine light upon it, there will be no harvest.  On the other hand, God gives the sunshine, the rains,
anlthe dews; but if there be no seed sown, there will be




202                 THE DAILY LIFE.
no harvest.  The terrestrial toil, which is ours, or the
means, and the celestial blessing, which is God's, must both
go together; that through the truth, and by the Holy Spirit,
we may be sanctified and made fit for the kingdom of heaven.
God uses also for our sanctification, not only truth, but
losses, and crosses, and afflictions, and trials. I believe all
these things in providence are consecrated, just as all these
truths in the Bible are directed, to the believer's growth in
grace. Mlany have been brought into close contact with the
eternal world by seeing one loved and cherished entering
there, and its gates closing behind him. Many a one who
has lost the riches of this world, has learned in the loss for
the first time to grope, and ultimately to find the unsearchable riches of Christ. Loneliness created by death, by loss,
by separation, has been often blessed to be acquaintance
and friendship with God. And many a believer has been
constrained to say that he felt in his sad hours what he
never dreamed of in his happy ones, that God made him,
that eternity must receive him, that a Saviour died*for him.
And thus a Christian's losses, and sorrows, and trials, are,
by God's grace, made to work together for good to them
that love him.  "The tree," says the poet,
"Sucks kindlier nature from a soil enriched
By its own fallen leaves - so man is made
In heart and spirit from deciduous hopes,
And things that seem to perish."
We must not, therefore, be satisfied with any height we
may have attained, or progress we have made in the Christian life; but ever forgetting the things that are behind,
stretch forward to those that are before. Still give all diligence to "add to your faith virtue, and to virtue temperance, and to temperance patience, and to patience brotherly
kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity."  The liing




THE PERORATION.                   203
belief that God has planted in the depths of' our heart, must,
if it be real, grow in vigor and effloresce into all that is
beautiful and holy.  No Christian, however great his acquirements upon earth, however close his conformity to
God, must ever be satisfied with any thing short of entire
conformity to his image, and the enjoyment of the dignity
of God's freedmen, and the liberty of Christ's servants even
in the world that now is. Earnestly and often let us pray
that the Sanctifier may dwell in our hearts. Prayer is the
expression of wants that we feel, and of desires for attainments that we have not.  And if we desire that all the
beautiful, interesting, and important prescriptions we have
studied, may be practised by us, we must earnestly pray
that the very God of peace may sanctify us wholly; and
that spirit, and soul, and body may be preserved blameless
unto his coming.  Live in this world as not your home.  It
is the field of conflict; a camp as much as a nursery; often
the one, often the other. Set your affections upon things
that are above, strive after things that are before. Grow
in grace, and in knowledge of our Saviour Christ Jesus.
Do not regard the world as a workshop, in which you are
to toil for bread to feed the body; but as a porch of heaven,
a vestibule of eternity; ever aspiring, ever praying, and
ever rejoicing in the assured hope that one day we shall
be like him, " for we shall see him as he is."




CHAPTER X.
BUSINESS.
"In laborer's ballad oft more piety
God finds than in Te Deum's melody."
"Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord."RoMANs xii. 11.
BEHOLD  a practical prescription devolving primarily
upon those who have enjoyed great privileges, and learned
precious truths. The doctrines of the gospel must be translated into precepts.  We have to learn that the loftiest
truths that are revealed from heaven, necessarily, if truly
and rightly received, blossom into the fairest practices that
can adorn and beautify the earth. We need direction in
our worldly life, for our living, acting, toiling in the world;
we need to see that religion must inspire, and regulate, and
sustain all our conduct in every department of the world.
We may not be slothful in our worldly business, but diligent,
and yet fervent in spirit; the inner fervor of the heart inspiring the outer labor of the hand, - serving our Master
who is in heaven, the Lord Christ.
There is a general tendency among us all to divorce
religion from business; to give religion exclusive jurisdiction
in the church or the chapel; and to give business exclusive
(204)




BUSINESS.                     205
jurisdiction in the market or on the exchange.  Our tendency is to assign religion wholly to our Sundays, and to
assign business wholly and exclusively to our weekdays;
to regard religion as a department proper enough in its
place, and business as a totally distinct and independent
department, proper enough in its place. Religion is for our
Sunday life; and business, we think, is for our daily life.
We would not for the world bring the ledger into the house
of prayer; and then, with a strange consistency, we will not
for the world bring the Bible into the counting-house. In
all this there is a radical mistake; there is a great flaw in
such reasoning, and in such apportionment. It assumes, as
I have said, that religion is a department distinct in itself;
finished and final on its own day, in its own place; but that
it has nothing whatever to do with the varied spheres and
provinces of social life into which the Christian is called,
to discharge the duties and responsibilities of the world.
Those that think so, seem universally to feel that a consecrated place is suitable for the one; and that the market
and the exchange are only suitable for the other: that religion is the business of priests, or clergymen, or ministers;
that business must be the religion of merchants, and tradesmen, and commercial men; in short, that religion is a sort
of transcendental, rarefied air, very suitable to breathe on
consecrated heights, on Calvary, on Mdount Zion, or on
1Aount Tabor; but that it is too thin an air to be breathed
upon the low levels of ordinary life; or to be allowed on
any terms, or for any consideration, to penetrate into the
places where this world's transactions are carried on. In
short, religion, in the estimate of these men, is locked up on
the Sunday night in the sanctuary; and all she says and all
she taught they think it is their duty devoutly to forget, as
soon as they have closed their Bibles, left the church or the
chapel, and entered on the more serious, the more grave,
18




206                 THE DAILY LIFE.
and we fear, in many minds, the more important, duties and
obligations of the world. Now the consequence of all this is
very serious; it is really a fatal error; the practical results of
it are extremely mischievous.  We come to regard the church
as holy, and we do well in that; but we also come to regard
the exchange as altogether profane.  And whilst we would
insist upon the fulfilment of all the precepts of the decalogue
in the consecrated place, and on the floor of the church;
we do not at all care to drag these precepts, as we say, into
the profane parts and provinces of this present world.  We
think Christianity too delicate, too dainty a thing, too easily
ruffled, injured, done violence to, to bring her into everyday life, or to soil her robes by suffering her to appear in
the markets of this present world. The result is, the market is left to herself; trade becomes mere gambling, commerce degenerates into something intensely secular, intensely atheistic. You have the holy place, with its holy
influences; but you think it is more appropriate that the
place  you have chalked  out as profane -namely, the
world - should not be troubled by the holy, the sanctifying,
and directing influences of the religion of Christ.  Hence
the Protestant will stoutly contend for an open Bible in the
house of God, in the pulpit, and in the pew; but very many
of these very Protestants will say to the Bible, when it
knocks at the doors of their counting-houses, " Hitherto, but
no further."  They think the Bible an admirable book open
and unclasped in the house of prayer; but it would disturb
the counting-house, it would injure the ledger, it would affect
our profits at the end of the year; it would not allow us to
say, This is good, when it is bad. We will contend as
stoutly as Martin Luther for the open Bible in the sanctuary; but we will contend as stoutly against its introduction
into the house of business.  We want to die with the Bible,
we want to cherish the hopes of the Bible; but we want to




BUSINESS.                    207
do business altogether without the Bible, and independent of
it, and as if no Bible were actually in existence. You can
see almost by my statement of it, how outrageous such sentiments as these are, and how unnatural, unscriptural, and
unjust. We not only thus degrade business, but we do
double wrong; we dishonor religion itself.  We seem to
honor it, but really we deeply dishonor it.  We lift
religion up to a lofty place; we enthrone her upon a lofty
summit; and we praise, and magnify, and adorn her; we
build cathedrals in her honor, we chant hymns to her praise;
we call her great, and good, and noble; but we cannot admit
that religion shall come down, and mingle in our homes, our
houses, and our markets.  We say to religion on the Sunday, " Hosanna in the highest;" but on the weekday,
Away with it, away with it, it is not proper it should be
here.  It is far more honor to Christianity, to this blessed
gospel, and to the Lord of the gospel, - and doing more
homage to it than building cathedrals, and celebrating her
praises on Sunday,- to invoke her to leave the lofty place
where we have carried her, to come out of the sanctuary
where we have tried to shut her up, and to bid her come
down, and tread the path of daily and of public life; till cottage hearths become holier than ancient altars, and the
humblest peasant's home more sacred than- the grandest
cathedral. It is not by enthroning religion on Sunday in
the sanctuary; but it is by bringing religion into the counting-house, the exchange, and the market, that we really honor
her. It is not by studied service, by early matins, by twilight vespers, by chimes of holy bells that summon us three
times a day to come to worship, that we do homage to Christ.
True, such is thought religion; in Rome it is pronounced
so; by the imitators of Rome it is felt that you may spend
the evening in the opera if only an hour before you come to
vespers; and that in the morning, you may do any thing




208                 THE DAILY LIFE.
you like, provided you have come only first to matins: if
you attend to religion in consecrated places, in canonical
hours, that is being religious; and -as for the intervals between, you may follow the lust of the eye, the pride of life,
and the love of this present world. Nqw it seems to me
that to be truly religious is not to go to matins, nor to vespers, nor to go to church on Sunday (though this last is
right and dutiful); but it is to bring the motives, the hopes,
the precepts, the spirit of religion into all our walks and
ways in the world, till our whole life becomes religious.
True Christianity is not a nun, to be locked up within cloistered walls; but she is a wife, a mother, the nearest and the
dearest in all the walks and vocations of this present life.
She is not to be your light upon Sundays, but your guide
upon weekdays. Piety does not retreat from business, but
it seizes business, sanctifies it, and makes it sacred.  The
gospel of Jesus is not to be a voice crying in the desert, like
that of John the Baptist; but if I understand religion, it is
to open a shop, it is to freight ships, it is to keep accounts,
it is to write up your ledgers, it is to wear an apron till it
be as holy as a bishop's sleeve, and to wield a spade as
responsibly and devoutly as a monarch sways a sceptre.
The true characteristic of religion is to go down into every
thing, rise up to the highest, till, like the atmosphere, it
embraces all in its beneficent and its beautiful folds.
Such is the meaning of being fervent in spirit, serving
the Lord; and yet, not being slothful in business.  We do
not want to make sabbath days worldly; but to make weekdays holy. We want religion, and the Bible requires that
true religion shall move with the whole force and splendor
of a celestial presence wherever man goes; on the deck, on
the battle field, on the exchange, in the market, in the counting-house - everywhere.  Religion is not a profession; it
is not a subject for a special day; it is not a thing tied




BUSINESS.                    209
down to a place, restricted within a time. You came to the
church on Sunday to learn religion; to feel its motives, to
deepen your impressions, to get an answer to your prayers.
But you have not done with. religion; when the Sunday is
finished, you only begin to have to do with religion. You
have been as pupils on Sunday; you are to go out as practitioners on the M3onday.  You have been apprentices
to-day, learning the lessons that you want to know; and you
are to go forth on Monday, and all the days of the week,
practising those lessons as you may be able. But this is
in perfect contrast to the idea which I have referred to;
namely, that religion is something to be kept entirely aloof
from the world; like the electricity in the electric jar, to
sparkle on the Sunday; indicate its existence there; but on
the Monday to be entirely repudiated, laid aside; it is, and
ought to be, held like the electricity throughout the whole
universe, that balances the orbs, gives fertility to the soil,
and keeps all in harmony and order. I ask of you, what in
religion would you exclude from  business?  What grace
would you exclude from your counting-house?  Not truth,
surely; not justice, surely; not love, not honesty, not integrity.  These, you say, ought to be in business; and if
these ought to be in business, where are the roots?  Planted
in business soil, these graces will soon wither and crumple
up; but planted by the fountain of living waters, they will
grow fresh and green; and not only be the stay, the cohesion, but the ornament of your character and conduct in
the world. Would you exclude prayer from  business?
Surely not.  Is your own right hand able to do all?  Are
you lord of the winds and commander of the waves?  If
these are above your control, does it not seem proper you
should pray to Him who can control them?  Is praise unbecoming in the counting-house? If you have been blessed,
if you have been prospered in the world, if you have been
18 *




210                THE DAILY LIFE.
successful in business, surely it is natural, it is instinct, it
is duty, to praise him who has blessed you, and none can
curse you; and blessed your basket and your store, and
made you merry.  The church, sometimes seen on the continent of Europe, built in the middle of a market-place, is a
very beautiful type, whether meant so or not, of Christianity
enthroned in the market as well as in the church; sanctifying, directing, guiding, and inspiring all; till business becomes sacred, weekdays become holy; and God is blessed
and adored by hand and foot, and everywhere, and on all
occasions.
But let us look very briefly at the component parts of this
beautiful connection. We have, " Not slothful in business,"
or, diligent in business; we have next, " fervent in spirit;"
we have lastly, "serving the Lord."  I have shown that
religion and business are to be like woof and warp, constituting together human life; not two separate things; but
the one sanctifying, toning, shaping, directing, the other.
True religion is not one department, and business another;
but while business is not to enter into religion, and profane
it, religion insists upon entering into business, and sanctifying it. And this will not make business worse, or the man
of business lazy; on the contrary, when fervent in spirit,
serving the Lord, it is possible, nay, it is duty, to be not
slothful in business. In examining the passage, not to be
slothful in business, we can see how much it is in keeping
with other passages of Scripture.  What does an apostle
say? " If any man will not work, neither should he eat."
It is as much a duty to be a hard-working, industrious merchant, tradesman, physician, lawyer, as it is to pray, to read
your Bibles, and to praise God. The one is just as really
a duty as the other.  Labor existed in Paradise before sin
entered into our world; only it was labor then without its
harassing fatigue. Labor must exist now. You have chil



BUSINESS.                    211
dren to provide for, you have your bread to earn; and that
which was the recreation of innocence in Paradise, is become
the necessity of mankind outside of it. And if any man
will not work, not only should he not eat, but as a matter of
fact, he will get nothing to eat, unless he have recourse to
begging, which is dishonorable, or to stealing, which is dishonest. And besides, whatever it is a man's duty to do, it
is his duty to do with all his might. If it be right, you are
to do it with all your might; if it be wrong, you are not to
do it at all. And therefore a Christian merchant, if he be
a true Christian, is not to be lazier, or less attentive to his
business, than the most grasping, covetous, money scraping
miser that is to be found on the Royal Exchange. He is
just to be industrious as he, in seeking fresh markets, in
improving the texture of the material he prepares, in calculating all the contingencies of trade, in looking out for the
best profits, in trying to make the best bargain. He is not
to be behind on the Exchange, or in the market; it is his
duty with all his might to do whatsoever his hand findeth to
do. And I need not quote as proofs of this from the Bible
such passages as these: " He that loveth pleasure shall be a
poor man;" that is, he that playeth instead of working will
come to poverty. Again, "Love not sleep, lest you come
to poverty."  He that sleeps in the morning, instead of
being up and looking after his business, will come to poverty. What intense good sense are in these ancient aphorisms of Solomon! " He that is slothful in work is brother
to him that is a waster." They seem not to belong to the
same class; yet the profligate, who extravagantly squanders
his money, is only the creation of the lazy and the indolent
man, who does not use proper efforts, and employ proper
diligence, in earning his money.  But it is a singular fact,
that prodigality and indolence, extravagance and laziness,
are very often found together. A Christian merchant need




212                 THE DAILY LIFE.
not be indolent.  On the contrary, if he be a Christian,
and a merchant, or a tradesman, or whatever he be, he
ought to try to be the very best, and the most successful in
the parish; and if he do not, I would have him  clearly
understand, it is not the gospel nor its requirements that
prevents him from being so.
But in spite of all this, he is to be fervent in spirit. -That
is to say, he is to maintain communion with God. While
his hand is busy at the spade, or at the loom, or at the counter, or with the pen, or with the lancet, his heart is not to
be wholly there, but he is to be lifted up above it. This
world is not to cool the warmth of his spirit; but the warmth
of his spirit is to raise the temperature of this world and
of all that are about him.  He is to carry the fervency of a
sanctified spirit into the most commonplace facts of this
present world.  This religion must warm our business life;
our business life must not freeze our religion. And do you
think that the man that is truly a Christian, or who maintains this fervor of spirit, will be lazy? -do you suppose that
this will obstruct his business? Do you think that it will ever
be an apology on his lips or in his mind for inattention to
business?  I believe the very reverse.  God's great law is,
"Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and
all the rest will be added." If you maintain this fervency
of spirit, instead of finding it interrupting or obstructing
your business, it will give impulse, vigour, energy to it.
Like the ancient patriarch, you will go out with your sack
to get corn; and will return with the sack filled with the
corn; and you will find hid in the sack, not, literally, a
golden cup as he did, but something more precious than all,
a full sack filled with this world's success, and buried in the
midst of it the blessing that maketh rich, and addeth no
sorrow.  Thus shall we discover that it is possible to maintain fervency of spirit, and yet to be not slothful, or to be




BUSINESS.                     213
diligent, in business. Look around at the nations of the
earth at this moment.  The nations that are the most successful in trade, are they not those where Christianity has
risen highest? America and Britain probably transact more
business, to use the ordinary phrase, than all the nations of
the world besides.  Where there is the greatest fervor of
Christian spirit there is the greatest success in mercantile
enterprise; for a Christian, as an individual, has in his
Christianity the very elements of industry. Whatever withdraws man from the dominion of the senses, from  excess
of wine, from revellings and banquetings, - and Christianity
does this,-  will give him more time to spend in application
to the calls and claims of business. A Dorcas, when sewing
garments for the poor, no doubt had first to use diligently
the time given her in preparing her own.  He that toils
most for others has necessarily first toiled most for himself.
It is the Christian that has the best idea of the value of time.
He has learned to estimate time, to see its preciousness, to
calculate its shortness.  We therefore in this world, as well
as in the things of a better world, work while it is called today, knowing that night cometh, when no man can work.
If there were nothing else in Christianity than its sabbath,
it alone would be a guarantee that the Christian who enjoys
it will be the more diligent in business. Sabbath day rest
is refreshment after the six days' toil, and a new impetus to
the mind to undergo the fatigues of the week that is to follow. The least slothful in business will be the most fervent
in spirit; or rather, reversing it, the fervent in spirit will
not be slothful in business.  The heart that is where Christ
is, will ever wield the busiest, and generally the most successful, hand.
In both we are to serve the Lord.  "Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." The last prescription in the clause is explained in such passages as these.




214               THE DAILY LIFE.
" Servants, be obedient to your own masters, as unto Christ;
not with eye-service, as men-pleasers; but servants of Christ,
doing the will of God." See here what gives dignity to the
most menial servant. Let your situation in this world be
the humblest and the most menial; you fulfil its duties, not
because there may be a harsh or a tyrant master over you,
but because you are doing the work that Christ has assigned
you. Your sense of responsibility to Christ consecrates all
you do; and you do not feel humbled, but dignified and ennobled, in doing the lowest service, for you' serve the Lord
Christ.  "Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord."
If you sweep a crossing, if you keep accounts, if you serve a
mistress or a master, do it heartily, not as unto them, though
that is right; but look above them, and feel it is a duty that
you are fulfilling as to the Lord. And again," Whatsoever
fou do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ."  But you naturally say, We shall find next
week that we shall be so overwhelmed with the pressure of
business, we shall be so busy from early morning to late at
night, that we can scarcely get time to think about religion.
I do not prescribe that when you are making an article
of commerce, or summing up your accounts, or prescribing
as a physician, or drawing up a case as a solicitor, or pleading at the bar as a barrister, at every moment, and at every
step, and continually, you are to feel a sense of God's presence. That cannot be. You are so absorbed, as common
sense shows, doing the thing that is given you, that you cannot have the thought of God and religion like a continuous
presence.  But, nevertheless, you may be doing all to the
Lord, and doing it wholly for him. For instance, a father
goes into a distant land to toil, because he cannot get bread
for his family at home. He labors in that land. He is busy,
perhaps, sowing or ploughing for twelve hours together.
He thinks of nothing but of the furrows, the seeds, or of the




BUSINESS.                    215
plough, or the harrow, and all the demands of agriculture.
But, nevertheless, the reason for his being there, the motive
power of his being there, is to find bread for his family and
his children.  So you may be busy all day in traffic, in commerce, in business, in trade. You may not, from six o'clock
in the morning till six o'clock at night, have the thoughts of
religion, because you are utterly absorbed in the business
that is before you. But the reason of your doing that business, when you look back, and the reason why you are engaged in that business, when you look forward, is that you
may do God's will in that sphere, place, and province in
which his providence has placed you; and while fervent in
spirit, and diligent in business, you are serving the Lord
Christ. Or, to take another illustration, a minister of Christ
may be anxious to find out the meaning of a Greek or a
Hebrew word. If you call upon him, he is searching two
or three hours into different writers to ascertain the derivation and application of this word. For at least half a dozen
hours, that minister may have been preparing his sermon,
and yet he has been so busy in searching out that word, its
derivation, its application, its usages, that he has had no
time or spare thought to think of any thing but of this one
Hebrew or Greek word, and all its applications. Nevertheless, the reason why he makes the search, and his joy when
he has concluded the search, arises, ultimately, from his desire to win souls, and to spread the kingdom of Christ. So
with you; you may be in the world, whatever your situation
or employment may be in that world, serving Christ, whilst
you are utterly absorbed for the hour or two in the business
that is before you. And if you were not to attend to that
business with all your energy, you would soon lose your
business, and the opportunities of doing service to Christ's
cause, or good to mankind. It is a grand mistake in the
world to thi3nk that you can only be religious when engaged




216                THE DAILY LIFE.
in religious work. That is not true. You are religious
when you are building, or ploughing, or sowing, or reaping.
If any thing were to go wrong, or any temptation urged to
do wrong, you would fall back upon the grand governing
motive, " Serve the Lord Christ:" but for the time you are
engaged wholly in the work; and it is not irreligious to do
it with all your might, when the motive for which you do it,
and the end to which you do- it, is a Divine one. It is not
true, that doing religious work is necessarily being religious.
A man may spend twelve hours every day in building a
church, and may be an absolute heathen or an atheist. Another man may spend sixteen hours a day in building a
warehouse, and may be doing a most holy and religious
work. It is not the work that makes the workman holy,
but it is the workman's heart that consecrates the toil, and
makes all he does to be serving the Lord Christ.
Do you say, All that is very well in the pulpit, or at a
communion table, but we cannot carry it into business. Now
I am showing how you may carry into your business your
religion, and that your religion will not lead you to be slothful, lazy, unsuccessful, but the very reverse. Whenever,
therefore, I hear men say, I failed in my business because I
paid so much attention to my church or my chapel, I at once
answer, that is not true; there is not an atom of truth in it.
And you may depend upon it, it was not your attention to
your church and your chapel, but something else. No man
ever became less industrious because he became really pious.
Let us never plead religion as an excuse for inattention to
business. That is a lazy apprentice, and not a religious apprentice, who says, I went to the prayer-meeting, and therefore I could not attend to my master's order. That is indolence, and not piety, that says, I have failed to do this, or
I could not execute your message in the proper time, because I turned aside to distribute a few tracts, or went to




BUSINESS.                    217
talk with a pious man. Religion bids you do your duty to
your master diligently, not slothfully; with all your might;
and this is religion, when you do it. To make the pretence
of distributing tracts, or a conversation with a religious man,
an excuse for inattention to your master's orders, or for not
executing those orders with all your might, is either direct
hypocrisy, or it is a grievous misconception of what religion
is. Never plead that business keeps you from religion; still
less that religion, at all events, keeps you from business.
Do not put off religion, piety, the fear of God, acceptance
of the only Saviour, devotion, and dedication to him, till
after you have become rich, and retired.  The secret why
many say, I have no time to attend to religion till I have
despatched this business, or got this matter off my hands, is
their making haste to be rich. Religion is to be in business,
not after business. It is to be the life of business, not a
postscript to business. It is to direct, sanctify, sustain, ennoble business; not to be a separate thing to be attended to
afterwards.
And lastly, in the midst of all your diligence on earth,
never forget,  What shall it profit a man, if he gain the
whole world, and lose his own soul?"  Do not so look to
business, that you forget the great, the essential, the primary
thing, salvation. And do not make religion, or the things
that belong to your peace, a plea or pretext for inattention to your business, and undutifulness to your master, or
disobedience to those that are set over you in the world.
And in our daily life, and in our Sabbath life, in the counting-house, or at a communion table, or at our daily meals,
may the Lord bless us and keep us; may the Lord make
his face shine upon us, and be gracious to us; may the
Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon us, and give
us peace, through Christ Jesus.
19




CHAPTER XI.
FEAR NOT.
"And thou, too, whosoe'er thou art
That readest this brief psalm,
As one by one thy hopes depart,
Be resolute and calm.
Oh fear not in a world like this;
And thou shalt know ere long, -
Know how sublime a thing it is
To suffer and be strong."
"Fear thou not: for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy
God." -ISA. xli. 10.
MEN are liable to be afraid when they find themselves in
the midst of perils, whether by sea or by land.  They need
a prescription against fear, not a prescription against feeling
If we are in the midst of battle, exposed to shot and shell,
or on the deck no less exposed, we cannot but feel, because
we are flesh and blood; yet though we feel, we may not
fear, because we are Christians, and the promise is applicable to us always and everywhere, I am with thee; "I am
thy God; I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee,
yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."
We live in startling times. Peril surrounds and envelops
us like an atmosphere.  The first showers of the last judgments, predicted to come on the earth, begin already to
(218)




FEAR NOT.                   219
baptize it. Look where we will, there are clouds and darkness in this world, but look where we ought, and there are
bright beams of the unutterable glory, each pointing tb the
blessed truth, " Lift up your heads, for your redemption
draweth nigh."  But, without specifying what may be the
features of this age, which is needless and unnecessary, we
know that in every age, in every part of the world, on every
level of daily life, "through much tribulation," of some
sort, "we must enter into the kingdom of heaven."  Some
men's tribulation is in the sick frame; that of others lies in
their family; the tribulation of others is more secret and
unseen, but no less real; and the tribulation of many may
be sorrowful sympathy with the whole world that lieth in
darkness and in the wicked one. But in some shape or
other, if we be Christian pilgrims with our faces in the right
direction, through much tribulation we must enter into the
kingdom of heaven. Our blessed Lord, the great Captain
of the faith, has said, " In the world ye shall have tribulation;" if he had stopped there, ours would be a sad and
sorrowful lot. Blessed be his name! he adds what neutralizes all, "but in me ye shall have peace."  Precious
thought! Look to the world, and within the world, and
you are dismayed; but look beyond the world to Him who
is enthroned far above it, and in Him you shall have peace.
The Stoic-of the old heathen sect, or denomination of
heathen mythology- believed that man became excellent
in proportion as he became hardened into granite. His
idea was, that to feel was disgraceful, undignified, undutiful;
and that the perfect man, the true, the good man, neither
felt, nor laughed, nor wept; was neither pained, nor pleased;
but lived as if these things were mere fables, fancies, or
dreams. Now he must have had a great deal of hypocrisy
to enable him to say he did. not feel these things; and he
must have undergone a very great hardening process, and




220                THE DAILY LIFE.
made great progress in it, before he could approach within
a thousand miles of that strange state which was thought
the very acme of philosophical perfection - insensibility to
pain or pleasure. But the Christian prescription runs not
thus. It has no sympathy with the Stoic.  It does not
destroy the man in order to evolve the Christian, as Zeno
proposed to destroy the man in order to eliminate the Stoic;
it accepts the man, and elevates, sanctifies, inspires him.
Christianity does not refuse to say, " Weep."  What would
be the use of bidding a man not weep? It is a relief to his
sorrows: there is no grief like that which cannot weep:
when grief is bitterest, tears dilute and lessen it. Hence
Christianity says so beautifully, " Weep; but weep as
though you wept not;" and  " Rejoice; but rejoice as
though you rejoiced not." Is there not here, as elsewhere
in this book, common sense?  Are not these truths, that
come home to our hearts as essentially true, real, and
human; and evidences, in their place and measure, that the
book that is pervaded by such maxims as these, is a book
that Stoics not only never read, and Peripatetics never knew,
but that philosophers of any sect never wrote, that God, in
short, inspired?  The bravest man is not always the most
hardhearted. I have heard of surgeons who were employed
in the severest operations because they were supposed to be
the most insensible; but I have heard of other surgeons,
possessed of most tender and sensitive feeling, who nevertheless had that thorough grasp, and practical control, as it
were, of their own sensibilities, that they could steel and
stretch them for the moment to the stern duty that devolved
upon them.  The man who has fine feeling, and yet can act
as if he had none, is a far nobler type of character than the
man that has no feeling at all. It has often been remarked,
that the bravest soldiers and the most heroic sailors are not
the mere brute animals that have nothing but muscles and




FEAR NOT.                    221
flesh and blood, and no feeling,and still less the miserable Russians, who are intoxicated with alcohol in order to bring them
up to the charge; but men who feel most keenly; yet at the
same time seeing duty as plain as daylight, they nerve their
hearts for the discharge and the fulfilment of it. There appeared in the papers the other day a letter written by a soldier in the East to his family at home, giving an account of
his being for the first time in action. He said that at first
he felt as one naturally feels, and as the bravest must feel;
but these first sensibilities passed away. In an assault on
Bomarsund, he saw perfectly well that it was a bullet from
his Mfinie' that laid low a Russian opposed to him. He had
just time to go up to the wounded Russian soldier he knew
he had shot; and on seeing him he says, I had no feeling
when I fired; I had no sensibility to disturb me; but when
I saw the wound that I had made, and looked into that
dying man's eye, I wept bitterly, and like a child, at what I
had done. Now here was a man that could do his duty as
a hero only could, and yet had all the tenderness of a
woman, all the sensibility of a child, and not the least brave,
or the least nerved for his responsibilities in the field.
Men may have keen feeling, and yet do their duty; they
may weep, and yet act as though they wept not; may feel,
and yet feel as though they felt not; may rejoice too, and
yet rejoice as though they rejoiced not; and so the beautiful
combination of the tenderest humanity and the loftiest Christian principle constitutes that perfect man, which ancient
philosophy longed for and never saw; perfect in Christ;
perfected in us in proportion as we approximate to him, the
great model of all excellence.
Let us try to enumerate some of the things of daily life
that man is apt to fear; the things that we all meet with,
and must in some degree feel, but which none of us need
fear. Let us not take a human catalogue, but a Divine
19 *




222                 THE DAILY LIFE.
one. They are given in the eighth chapter of the Epistle
to the Romans, at the thirty-fifth verse, where we find the
whole list of what man has more or less to go through.
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" he says;
"shall tribulation?"  That is the first distress.  The second, "persecution;" the third, " famine;" the fourth, " nakedness;" the fifth, " peril; " the sixth, " the sword."  From
the thirty-eighth verse; "death- life -angels - principalities - powers -  things present-  things to comeheight, depth, nor any other creature."  You can think of
these things; some of them you meet with; all of them you
must feel when they overtake you; none of them you must
fear; for in them "I am with thee; I will help thee; yea,
I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."
The first is "tribulation."  The word tribulation is the
translation of the Greek id2oNp; literally, "pressure," the
kind of force applied to the grape in order to squeeze the
juice out of it for fermentation.  The word "pressure," is
very familiar to us all.  "The money market," they say,
"is tight;" or, " There is a pressure in the money market."
Again, " I am pressed for money; " or, "I am pressed for
time."  The apostle says, " Fear not pressure."  When the
worldly man, who does not know the truth, or love the
Saviour, is subjected to the pressure of circumstances, he
desponds, despairs, or destroys himself.  But when a
Christian is under this pressure, like the aromatic plant that
gives out its most fragrant perfume the more violently it is
trodden upon and pressed, a Christian appears under heavy
pressure more beautiful and more like Christ than before.
Feel, but fear not.  The second is "distress."  The word
which we have rendered distress, is, literally, tightness, or
narrowness, or straitness of place.  It is translated into the
popular phrase, "I cannot turn myself round " —" I do not
know how to turn myself.  I cannot see an outlet; I am




FEAR NOT.                   223
shut in, and can see no means of escape."  Now what are
you to do?  " Feel not" I dare not prescribe; that would
be absurd; that would be saying, "Do not be men;" but
"Fear not" I may prescribe, for that is God's own blessed
prescription. The Israelites were once in this straitness of
place. There was the Red Sea before them, too deep for
them to wade; there was Pharaoh with all his chariots
thundering in their rear. If they went back, they would be
put to the sword; if they went forward, they would be
drowned. Then what were they to do? The answer was
given, just the answer that Paul gives as the ground of
"fear not" -" Stand still and see the salvation of God."
Now I know it is a very difficult prescription. It is exceedingly easy to bustle, to do something; but it is the most
difficult of all to stand still, to wait, and wait patiently, resting on the Lord, knowing that he will bring it to pass. But
we have many texts that justly and truly express this state
of things. They said, " Neither know we what to do; but
our eyes are upon thee."  So the apostle says, "We had
the sentence of death in ourselves "- that is, there was no
help in ourselves -" that we might not trust in ourselves,
but in God, that raiseth the dead." Now it is exceedingly
useful to a Christian man to be shut into this narrow place;
because when he is at his wits' end, when he sees that he
can do nothing upon earth, then he begins to look up to
Him who can do all from heaven; and he learns to wait
upon God when there is nothing else to wait upon, and to
lean upon the rod and the staff of the Son of Jesse when all
human props have been utterly swept away. Such discipline as this is good; we need it; and when God sends it,
it is well.
The next trial enumerated by the apostle is " famine."
There are three great plagues with which God punishes
sinners, chastens Christians, pestilence, and famine, and




224                THE DAILY LIFE.
war. It is a very delightful thought to us, and I hope one
that has made our hearts all thankful to God, that we have
had in the autumn of 1854 the most splendid harvest that
our country has reaped for many a year. And if in the
present state of the world abroad, and of public health at
home, a famine had smitten us, nobody can conceive what
the issues might have been. God, therefore, in the day of
his east wind, stays his rough wind; and if he takes away
one blessing, he compensates by the gift of another. But
famine, nevertheless, may come, as well as war, or plague,
or pestilence; and when it does come, to whom must we
look for bread? Alas, what a miserable inscription is that
which I read on the Hotel de Ville at Brussels. On the
very front of that exquisite Gothic edifice, it is written up
in large letters that all may read from the marche, 
A BELLO, FAME, ET PESTE, MARIA, LIBERA NOS;
that is, "From plague, pestilence, and war, Mary, deliver
us." Think of that being written on the most public edifice
of that beautiful capital! But that litany we do not pray;
Mary has no power to answer it, there is not the remotest
probability that she hears it; we are certain that we are
not to pray to her; we look far above her; we know the
blessed assurance, " He that hears the cry of the wild raven;
-he that clothes the grass, which to-day is, and to-morrow
is cast into the oven, will he not clothe you, O ye of little
faith?"  In famine long before now he has made the
heavens rain down bread; he has made the rocks melt into
cool and refreshing water; and he has made the wild ravens carry food, rather than his prophet should want bread.
If these be facts, remember God's arm is not shortened,
that he cannot do these things again; his ear is not heavy,
that he cannot hear our prayer still; and therefore should




FEAR NOT.                    225
gaunt famine come, feel it we must, it is human nature to
feel it, and no philosophy can appease hunger; but though
we feel it, we will not fear; but we will trust, because God
is with us, and he has promised to strengthen us: and if
nature refuses, he can act and work above nature, and do
exceeding abundantly above all we ask.
The next trial is "persecution."  These are days in
which, as far as we can see, there exists no persecution on
any side or by any party. The only people now that would
indulge in the luxury of persecution have not the power;
while those that have the power have no disposition, because taught the more excellent way. Persecution is the
greatest blunder Satan ever perpetrated upon earth. He
lost his mind, and his ingenuity, and his talent, when he
originated that prescription for putting down truth. If you
will read all history, you will find that persecution never
put down a truth, and it never permanently backed up a lie.
It fails in both directions. There is something in man's
honest mind that will not submit to be crushed, and beaten,
and driven to conviction. He may be persuaded; he cannot, and he will not, and he ought not, to be forced into an
opinion. But persecution may come; and all its awakened
terrors may again be inflicted upon us. We know that the
germ and principle of it are still nursed most carefully and
closely in Rome. Its emissaries have the will if they had
the power to make short work of all opposition to it. But
they have not got that power, and I might almost say they
never will. But still, persecution may come from other
quarters, and in some shape; and if it should not come, we
shall be thankful. But if it do come, we will not fear.
Jacob in his exile saw a brighter vision than in his home:
John, in the desert Patmos, on the bosom  of the 2Egean
Sea, saw brighter visions than he ever did in the college of
apostles: and there is no dungeon so dark, no cell so deep,




226                THE DAILY LIFE.
no prison walls so thick, that God cannot enter there.
John Bunyan saw in his prison a brighter glory and enjoyed a greater inspiration, than ever apostle, or bishop, or
presbyter, for eighteen hundred years before, had seen or
realized in palace or cathedral.
The apostle adds another-" nakedness."  What does
he mean by this?  The practice was, when the Christians
were treated according to the tender mercies of Nero and
Domitian, to strip them naked and to tie them up in the
streets, for the sun to burn them by day, and the colds to
freeze them by night; and to be made a gazingstock and a
mockery, and the subject of insult, and scorn, and sarcasm
to all spectators.  But the Christians, nevertheless, were
not ashamed of it. There is no shame in nakedness to which
they were subjected; there is shame in sin only. After all,
what is clothing on which men pride themselves?  The
furs of wild beasts, the feathers of wild fowls; the silk, the
product of a poor, filthy worm; and the precious pearl, the
mere product of an oyster-shell.  These are not things to
be proud of; nay, they are proofs of our fall, not marks
and remains of our aboriginal glory. There is no greatness
in these, there is no shame in the want of them. And what
puts them all in the right place, Solomon in all his glory
was not arrayed like the wild field flower that the peasant
treads upon, and takes no notice of. Now the martyrs,
exposed all night and all day naked to the scoff and scorn
of their malicious and malignant enemies, were in nakedness.  They  rejoiced, notwithstanding, that they  were
counted worthy to suffer for his name's sake.
The apostle adds "peril," as another of those things
which we are not to fear.  We have a description, or rather
a catalogue of the perils which he passed through, in 2 Corinthians xi. 25. " Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was
I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I




FEAR NOT.                    227
have been in the deep; in journeyings often, in perils of
waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils
in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false
brethren; in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often,
in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness." Miany parts of the apostolical succession men claim
to have now; but it is-rather remarkable they do not claim
this; they do not seem to wish to inherit this part of the
succession-perils, and nakedness, and famine, and cold, and
hunger, and all by sea and land. The apostle felt these,
unquestionably felt them; but in his worst perils by sea and
by land, though he felt, he feared not; for he heard, what we
may feel, the blessed promise, " When thou passest through
the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers,
they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through
the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame
kindle upon thee."  Now these are true, these promises are
real; God means them to be believed and to be acted on
by us.
"The sword."  The sword is the acme of persecution; it
evidently means martyrdom. And that sword, martyrdom
itself, we are not to fear. Feel it we must; life is precious;
to die is unnatural; but fear it we should not. The ancient
Christians, such was their faith, such the intensity of their
peace, coveted martyrdom; and felt they were honored
when they occupied the van of the Christian army, and
were exposed to death itself for Christ's sake.
"Death" - whether it come by martyrdom, or in the
course of nature- feel you must; fear it you must not. It
separates the friend from friend, the protector from his protege, the patron from  his client, the proprietor from  his
estate, the child from his parent, the soul from the body;
but not the believer from Christ Jesus. Feel it you may;




228               THE DAILY LIFE.
but fear it not. To a Christian death is life; he dies that
he may live; he goes through the deep ravine of death
freely, that he may rise to the sunlit crag that shines and
sparkles without a cloud above him and beyond it. The
funeral bell that tolls the death of a Christian to the ears of
survivors, is only the bridal peal that hails in heaven his
marriage to the Lamb. Fear not death.
The apostle adds another   " life."  Death you can understand our fearing; but life -what does the apostle
mean byfearing this? It is often easier to die than it is to
live; and hence men have rushed into death rather than
bravely face the difficulties of life. We live in an age
when the struggle for existence is so great as almost to
make us forget the existence that is beyond. Many a one
in this great city is struggling amid the waves of trouble,
and in a sea of which he can neither feel the bottom nor
see the shore. The age of competition, when the tendency
is to make the world a workshop, and every man a crank,
or a cog, or a pinion, or a fly-wheel, in the machinery, and
to use up human nature just as machinery is used up, only
giving it food as men apply oil and grease to the axle-tree,
to enable the machinery to keep on; this horrible notion is
the tendency of our age; and the tendency against which
we should most firmly and decidedly fight; the tendency of
them that have to increase what they have, by exhausting
utterly them that must work. I do. not pity any man for
being hard worked; every one ought to work hard; and I
have no pity for the subject of hard work. That is all
right. But then there is excessive work, that human flesh
cannot stand; that must soon wear it out, and make it to be
used up. That is treatment that man ought not to be subjected to; and yet it is the tendency of the present day. I
hope that at last there is the wakening of a better spirit; I
hope that men are appreciating what is the truest interest




FEAR NOT.                    229
of both parties. If you want to make the most of a horse,
do not work him seven days, but only six; and you may
depend upon it that he will be more valuable to you- ten
per cent. more valuable. And if you want to make more
of a servant, work him a great deal less instead of a great
deal more, and you will find that you will gain by it instead
of losing.  But whether this happen to you or not, fear
not  be patient -suffer and be strong.  Deliverance may
be nearer than you expect; and at all events, this world is
not our all; it is but the path to a brighter and a better.
The apostle adds, -" Angels, principalities, or powers;"
these also we are not to fear. We do not fear demons, or
evil spirits; they are kept in chains. We need not fear
good spirits, or angels; for " are they are not ministering
spirits unto them  that are the heirs of salvation?"  He
adds, "things present."  Men often fear the present more
than they feel the past or fear the future. Sickness, weakness of faith, sorrow, distress, many a cup of bitterness,
many a battle, fears within, fightings without —feel them,
but fear them not. "Things to come."  When we look at
the past, we see much to be thankful for; when we taste
the present, we feel much to lead us to trust still; when we
look into the future, our fears often conjure up phantoms
that are dissipated the instant we enter upon it.  And at all
events, the future is not come; fear it not; and not even
feel it, for we have nothing yet to do with it.
The apostle appends, " height and depth, or any other
creature;" neither the height of prosperity nor the depth
of adversity; neither the height of honour nor the depth of
shame: there is nothing on the loftiest pinnacle of the temple to which Satan can carry us; there is nothing in the
deepest crypt or dungeon into which he may precipitate us,
that should make us fear. The whole universe is the friend
of him who is the friend of God; all things help him who
20




230               THE DAILY LIFE.
is a son of God; all things are in alliance with him who is
in Christ Jesus.
What then shall we fear? Tribulation?  If we suffer
with him, we shall also reign with him. Famine?  He
will give us living bread and daily bread. Nakedness?
We are clothed with the righteousness of Christ. Peril?
Christ is our shield and our safety. The sword? Absent
from the body is present with the Lord. Banishment? The
whole earth is filled with God. Death? " Oh death, where
is thy sting? Yea, though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me."  The curse of sin,
the condemnation of sin?  "The blood of Christ cleanseth
from all sin."  Fear not, for I am with thee; I will never
leave thee; I will never forsake thee. I give unto them
eternal life, and none shall be able to pluck them out of my
hand."  " In all things," says the apostle, " we approve ourselves as the ministers of God; in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments,
in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings; by pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the
Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the
power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right
hand and on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report
and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown,
and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as
chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing;
as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet
possessing all things."  What an eloquent passage! what a
noble statement  how full, how comprehensive! Therefore
fear not life, nor death, nor principalities, nor powers, nor
height, nor depth, nor any other creature.  Christ intercedes
for you: " Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift
you as wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith




FEAR NOT.                    231
fail not."  Christ is with you: " Lo, I am with you always,
even unto the end of the world."  His dying prescription is
for you; "Let not your hearts be troubled; ye believe in
God, believe also in me." The promise of a triune Jehovah is yours; namely, "I am with you."  The basis of our
triumph over every fear is, God present with us. We have
felt that in suffering to be quite alone, is to' aggravate our
grief; to have one human being that can sympathize with
us in suffering, is in some degree a comfort. And when
a man has no human being, (I speak to common experience,
and to what all feel,) even to have a faithful dog is better
than to be utterly alone.  Such is man's dislike in trial
to be alone, that he ever seeks some one to be with him.
Now, says God, not a faithful dog,  not sister, brother,
husband, wife, or friend, - that is not good enough for you,
that is not enough for me to bestow; but, in all, and in any,
and in every of these conditions, I, the mighty God, the
everlasting God your Father, in whom you live, and move,
and have your being —I am with thee. What a blessed
promise is that! His presence is with us everywhere and
always; omnipresence enveloping us, omnipotence paving
the way for us, infinite wisdom directing all, infinite love
embosoming us and all ours.'I  am with thee"- that is
Christ's own promise —" Lo, I am  with  you always."
"Where two or three are met together in my name, there
I am in the midst of them."
But what is the nature of this presence?  Very briefly
we may observe, it is not God's essential presence.  In one
sense God is everywhere; in the height, in the depth, on
the ocean, in the uttermost ends of the earth, in heaven and
in hell — everywhere God is present. And therefore the
promise, "I am with thee," as the mere essential presence
of God, would be of no comfort.  But it is what may be




232                THE DAILY LIFE.
called God's especial presence, his presence as a father with
his son, as a mother with her child, as a protector with his
protege.  It is that presence which Moses alludes to when
he says, " If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up
hence;" it is, his special, cheering, protecting, preserving
presence.  Now that presence, says God, shall be with every
Christian.  It may not shield you from all that will give
pain; but it will inspire you with fearlessness in the
midst of all. This presence is not with us in the sanctuary
only, but in the shop, in the counting-house, in the street, on
the quarter-deck, on the field of battle. And that man that
goes into the midst of battle as soldier or sailor, and has with
him this blessed conviction, " My God and my Father is
with me," will not be less brave, but more so: and he will
have a sustaining element within him, that the mere reckless and thoughtless man has not. And so, if we are exposed to famine, or pestilence, or plague, or any other peril:
-if, as a physician, I go into the infected chamber of
typhus, or where plague or pestilence ravens by our neglect,
I must feel, I know the elements I have to contend with;
but if I be a Christian man, I can take this blessed thought
with me, "I am with thee."  But mark the specialty of it.
We can easily understand God being with us in the bulk, as
it were; but God is with the individual Christian as close,
as near, as truly, as really, as he is upon his throne, or as
he is with the greatest saint in glory. He does not say,
"I am  with man as a whole;" but "I am with thee "close to thee as thy humanity; really, and truly, and actually, I am with thee. In all places — in the closet, in the
sanctuary, in the family, in the tents of Mesech, and in the
tabernacles of Kedar, on Pisgah and on Tabor;-  everywhere and always thy God is with thee; in all time of your
tribulation, in all time of your wealth, in the hour of death,




FEAR NOT.                   233
and in the day of judgment, on earth and in heaven, in
grace and glory.
Blessed Lord, fulfil thy promise, and be with us, each, all,
now and evermore; for Christ's sake. Amen.
20*




CHAPTER XII.
THE LIGHTS OF THE WORLD.
"Ye with mild radiance, every hour,
From your dear Saviour's face benign,
Bent on you with transforming power,
Truly, if faintly, shine."
"Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be
hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but
on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house."MATT. V. 14, 15.
SUNDAY light is meant to be carried into daily life, the
one is the inspiration and direction of the other: we receive
on the first day a supply for the remaining six days. Christians are the lights, not of the church, but of the world —
not of sabbath days, but of weekdays- not of sabbath life,
but of daily life.  When Jesus addressed a few rugged fishermen of Galilee, and one or two publicans professing
Christianity, and said to them, "Ye are the light of the
world," does it not seem  as if the world into which they
were sent to give light was then in darkness?  Was it
really so?  Was our Lord ignorant of polished Greece?
Had he never heard of imperial Rome?  Had he seen
or heard of none of the monuments of artistic magnificence and of exquisite beauty unrivalled in former ages?
(234)




THE LIGHTS OF THE WORLD.               235
The world had then a statuary, whose very remains are
now carefully treasured up in our Museums, the admiration of cultivated taste. It had then paintings, so beautiful and so perfect that the very birds of heaven pecked at
the grapes upon the canvas as if they were growing upon
the vines of the earth. And it had poetry too, so rich that
the very fragments of it, which have been drifted down the
centuries of the world, are at this moment stored and studied
by all who wish to see what bright thoughts in eloquent
words human genius can convey. There were in the world
gifted and eloquent orators; there was persuasive eloquence,
advancing science, and literature, and civilization, of no
ordinary greatness. All these existed at the moment that
Jesus said to his followers, in language that thousands would
have shrunk from, " Ye" are the light of the world.
Jesus knew of all these attainments of the earth, and he
could appreciate their excellency and beauty too. He that
could see and seemingly admire the exquisite tints upon a
violet or a rose, who could prefer to all the artistic magnificence of Solomon himself the fair lily of the garden, or the
wild field flower, we may depend upon it, had a taste that
could appreciate, and did appreciate, those efforts of the
brush and the chisel to recover what was lost in Paradise, a
perfection that had passed away like a dream, and left
scarce a wreck behind it. But whilst he was aware of all,
and could exactly estimate all  he only could see, because
he only could fathom, its utter emptiness and unsatisfactoriness, for nothing of all this cast light on the deepest problems that agitate the heart of man. Socrates, and Plato,
and Apelles, and Homer, and Sophocles, could reflect no
light upon questions intensely momentous. What must I, a
poor sinner, do to be Saved? had neither echo nor answer
from ancient oracles. Not beauty, but bread will feed me;
not the arts and sciences, but a blessing from my Father




236                 THE DAILY LIFE.
can do me the highest good. Jesus scanned the wide world
with that eye that took it all in; and saw in all the glory
that shone from the temples and academies of Athens and
Corinth, a pale day that would soon end in everlasting
night; he heard in the eloquence of the most gifted orators
of ancient days, words that had no echoes in the hearts and
consciences of a hungry, an ignorant, and a perishing people;
and he beheld, in all the paintings of its painters, and in all
the statues of its statuaries, the fugitive attempts to embody
still more fugitive impressions; - there was beauty to the
eye, but no nutriment to the heart. Under all this exterior
also there lay deep corruption; amid all this splendor there
was great moral wickedness; and Jesus, with the foresight
of a prophet, and with the wisdom  of a teacher, and the
truthfulness with which man never spake, turning from beholding the magnificent panorama of artistic greatness and
grandeur, said, "Ye, the fishermen of Galilee   " not ye,
the painters, the poets, and the sculptors of the world" are the light of the world."  And he spake truly. If he
had not said it, it still would have been true. For what do
we find?  When we look beneath the surface of the beauty
and glory on which the ancient world prided itself; which
modern sceptics quote as a proof that we are not indebted
to Christianity for all that we most admire, we find lurking
the most revolting immorality. Some of the religious rites
of the cultivated Greeks were so abominable that they
would now be prosecuted by the public magistrate: the
names of the most illustrious ladies of the days of Socrates
and Plato are not remembered with admiration and approbation now. Athens, in its meridian, in the very age of
Pericles, had a population of six hundred thousand, and out
of the six hundred thousand, five hundred thousand were
slaves, that might be hanged, or drowned, or stoned at their
master's bidding. The arts concealed, they did not extirpate,




THE LIGHTS OF THE WORLD.               237
slavery. At first you admire this exterior loveliness, but
the moment you look down below, you see what a frail,
worthless, and superficial thing is the richest outward splendor among a people without the living and sustaining power
of inward and true Christianity.  The arts and the sciences
may beautify the outward path, they cannot make the path
of immorality to be abhorred. They may adorn much that
is good, or they may conceal with a meretricious splendor
much that is false; but they cannot secure a true and pure
morality.  They may make an academy, they cannot constitute a people. Arts are not the parents of whatsoever
things are pure, and just, and beautiful. Painting, poetry,
science, music, are fit to be the handmaids, they never can be
the mothers of all that truly adorns and really elevates mankind. They may beautify the capital of the pillar, they
cannot be its strong and everlasting foundation. In all the
cities of Greece and in all the provinces of Italy, there was
no such thing as a home; therefore there was no such thing
as a people. Christianity has given the first, and through
the first it has generated all the dignity and greatness of the
second.
It is the light of Christianity, or Christ reflected upon the
world, alone, that solves the deepest questions, and answers
the most anxious inquiries of mankind. The object of light
is to disclose what would be otherwise unseen. What do
we see in this light? The very first object this light discloses is God. The ideas of God entertained by even the
most gifted of ancient times were extremely distorted and
imperfect: but if we look at God in the light we now have,
his greatness, his goodness, his mercy, his justice, his holiness, his character, shine out grand and noble; not comparison, but contrast, to everyr conception of his glory that was
entertained before. The sun can only be seen in his own
light; Deity can be seen in his own eternal splendor only.




238                THE DAILY LIFE.
A Christian now has an idea of God the heathen nations
never dreamed of. Heathendom, in fact, was midnight;
Mahometanism is a smoke that darkens the air; Romanism
is a portentous eclipse at noonday; but Christianity is the
light that shines in darkness, and reflects its beams upon
every problem that man feels most deeply important, and
gives the sure answer to every question that needs an answer in the yearning heart of nature. One great question,
for instance, has long been felt, How shall man, a sinner, be
justified before God? No oracle but that of the Bible gives
an answer to it. Another question has often be.en asked,
What is the way to heaven? No light from ancient shrines,
or altars, or temples, or tripods, gives us the least explanation. Will God pardon the sins of them that believe, confess, and forsake them? To that question Heathenism can
give no reply. Take any one subject, the deepest and dearest in a dying hour, and where can we get light upon it except
from this blessed book, from this holy and precious religion?
So much has this book done for us, that the problems that
perplexed the academy in ancient times are now the aphorisms that are taught in Sunday schools. The great questions that philosophers could not solve, a Sunday school child
now will clearly and distinctly explain. Our children know
more, and understand more about God, about conscience,
duty, heaven, and responsibility, than all the philosophers
of Greece and Rome put together. What has made this
alteration, whence is this vast superiority? The light of the
everlasting gospel is the reason of it. The least in the
kingdom of heaven - that is, in the present day - knows
more than the greatest beyond or before it. The Parthenon, with all its unrivalled magnificence, before God and
before an enlightened mind, sinks into utter meanness and
contempt beside that living temple growing up in the age in
which we live, built of living stones, upon Christ the Rock




TIHE LIGHTS OF THE WORLD.              239
of ages, whose builder, and maker, and glory is God. The
just man that Plato-foretold, the divine teacher that Socrates predicted to his pupil Alcibiades, has come, and taught
the nations, and died upon the cross, our ransom, and has
risen from the grave, our first-fruits; he pleads before the
throne our Prince and our Intercessor; and he will come
again in intolerable glory and receive us to himself, that
where he is there may we be also.  A light shines upon us
clear and level along the whole of our path through the
world that now is, and it forsakes us not at the portals of the
grave, it gleams along the dim valley of the shadow of death,
and is reflected on the uplifted eyes of the pilgrims of God,
from the towers of the heavenly Jerusalem. Blessed, oh!
blessed be God, and would that we felt it deeper still, for
that sunrise upon the hills of Palestine, eighteen hundred
years ago.
This holy light possesses a peculiar character, which the
light of mere science, literature, or secular knowledge has
not and cannot have.  The light that is purest from the
schools of earth is snow light or ice light, dimly revealing
distant, cold, and unapproachable realms; but the light that
gleams from this divine page is living light, warm, genial,
inspiring, rejoicing.  Mount Sinai, to take another contrast,
is the lightning, scorching, blasting the world; but Calvary,
or Christianity, is the sweet light of the day, opening the
folded buds, - waking the earth to a sense of the approaching summer, - falling so softly that a blade of grass is not
crushed by it, - yet with such power, life, and force that the
earth beneath its touch bursts into blossom, and the hills are
covered with corn, and the valleys shout for joy, they also
sing.
The light of science, of literature, and of this world, has
excellences, but not the chief excellency. The light of this
gospel, which Christians see, not only supplies what the arts




240                THE DAILY LIFE.
and sciences cannot; not only solves the deepest problems
the intellect fails to reach; not only contrasts in its gentle,
productive, and blessed effects, with the light of this world;
but to the light of Christianity, the light that comes from the
cross, we are indebted for all our best social, charitable, and
national blessings.  Hospitals, dispensaries, charitable institutions, never existed in heathendomn; they were not merely
imperfect, but they scarcely existed at all. The poor now,
amid all their degradation, occupy a place in the thoughts
of the rich and the arrangement of statesmen, they never
held in ancient times. The chains of the slave are now
melted by the beams of Christianity shining upon our native
shores; the horrors of war have been prodigiously mitigated.  With all the criminalities of modern warfare, it has
few of the atrocities of the wars of ancient times.  Our
soldiers and our sailors are not serfs; they are treated as
men; provided for as men, spoken to as immortals, and instructed in the knowledge of the Prince of Peace. The
soldiers that fought at Marathon and Thermopyla were
mere helots; the fields that are the pride of ancient days
and the shining recollections of the present, were fought by
slaves let loose from the mills and looms of their tyrant
masters.  Our soldiers and our sailors are now more than
ever independent and respected, and wholly through the indirect light of the gospel of Christ.  Commerce is not now
what it was- a system of chicanery and gambling; but a
dignified, elevating, and ennobling employment; so that the
merchants of our country rank with the princes of the earth.
Polygamy and social immorality are now extinguished, or if
they exist they must go to the dens and dark places of the
earth, and hide their heads from the light of the gospel of
Christ. What a revolution, produced by the successive
steps of a reformation, has the light of this blessed gospel
created among mankind!




THE LIGHTS OF THE WORLD.               241
And since its dawn, even those bright things that were
proposed as substitutes for it, this light has seized and made
handmaids to it. Literature, and science, and art, and
painting, and poetry have been urged, even in this century,
as they were worshipped in ancient times, as substitutes for
Christianity.  This religion no sooner shone upon them
than it gave them their true place, it lifted them from the
grovelling level they occupied in the academy, and taught
them to grow up the handmaids of the gospel; not the obscurers, but the reflectors of the light that shines from
Gethsemane, and Calvary, and Paradise.  Christianity in
the middle ages, even under the terrible eclipse that overshadowed it, originated an architecture peculiarly its own.
Christianity has inspired the richest music, and the noblest
productions of the most celebrated painters are associated
with great Christian truths: and if they had not been controlled by the apostasy that professed to encourage while it
really corrupted them, there had been less the taint of Rome
upon the canvas, and more the true rendering and definition
of the truths of the Bible. Cast your eye at this moment
along the vista of the ages, and what do you find? That
this religion, the light of this religion, instead of being hostile to science and literature, as some in their folly assert,
has been, as it really is at this moment, the greatest patroness
of it. W e shall find in the world at the present day, that
the nations that are greatest in literature are greatest in
the knowledge of the Bible, and in the Christian religion.
Modern heathen nations are a dead sea; Mahometanism at
the present moment is, as far as literature is concerned, a
stagnant marsh. In Christendom alone the purest churches
have around them the noblest temples of science; and the
most enlightened philosophers are the willing servants of
the gospel of Christ Jesus. Nor need we wonder at it.
Science in the hands of scepticism becomes a hard, cold, and
21




242                 THE DAILY LIFE.
freezing thing, without warmth, or love, or hope; and the
few and far between incidental excellences that appear, are
like the flowerets and the mosses that grow in the rents of a
rock, owing not to the rock, but to the particles of Christian
soil that have got between. Painting as the creation of infidels is sensual, debasing; poetry, in the hands of a Byron
and a Shelley, is not as poetry should be, full of hope, inspiring joy, but earthly, carnal, defiling.  And science
wielded by Voltaire and D'Alembert, and the men of the
academy of former days, was a hard, heavy, clumsy weapon,
with which they struck fiercely, but struck in vain, at the
fortress of the gospel of Christ. Not only does this light
reveal what science, and literature, and the arts cannot
reveal; but it takes up the arts and the literature of the
world, and consecrates them to its own benign and beneficent purposes.
There are two tendencies abroad in the present day extremely to be deplored.  One is expressed by spiritually
minded and truly genial Christians, who seem to think that
their only business upon earth is to wend through this world
as quietly and quickly as they can to heaven, caring no
more about painting, poetry, music, and science, and literature, than if they were positively and absolutely proscribed.
I cannot think that this is the mind or the meaning of our
blessed Lord.  He says, Ye are "the lights," not of a
coterie, not of a sect, but "the lights of the world." And
that would seem to me to teach that, as long as there is a
world to be aroused, and a church to be sanctified, we are
bound to be on that account in that world. We must seize
and hold the world for God. If we give up these things,
Satan watches to seize them, the Pope stands ready te
desecrate them, Infidelity waits to welcome them. But why
surrender them?  Every bit of this world is meant for
God; let us not resign an inch of it to Satan; tell him and




THE LIGHTS OF THE WORLD.               243
his emissaries that all that is in the world -its poetry, its
painting, its music, its architecture, are meant to be the
handmaids of religion, and ought not to be desecrated to the
service of that which is corrupt, or to the support of that
which is antichristian. This blessed religion of ours does
not teach that we should pass through the world just as a
skater would go over thin ice —as rapidly as possible in
order to get to another part, looking neither on one side nor
the other. We are meant and wanted for this world as well
as for the next; and that school education which does not
train the young for this world as well as for the next, is
therefore defective. Religion is meant to regulate, to inspire, to comfort, to strengthen, to encourage in this world;
and we are summoned to do its duties, fulfil its obligations,
while we make ready for a better, a brighter, and a nobler
land beyond it. Our blessed Lord did not say, " I pray that
thou wouldest take them out of the world."  Yet, the instant that a man, ai"- child of God he is fit for heaven.
Why then is he left in the world?  Because the world
needs him, because he will be of use in the world. And
when our Redeemer prayed, he said, "I pray not that
thou wouldest take them  out of the world"   which condemns the monkish and anchorite idea — "but that thou
wouldest keep them in the world from the evil of the world."
What intense common sense is in that book, the Bible 
The more that one reads it the more wonderful that blessed
book appears, and the more it commends itself to that which
is, after grace, no common gift, that strong, good, common
sense which is deepest in the heart of mankind.
On the other hand, there are others just as far wrong, who
take the opposite idea, and insist upon the divorce of science
and religion. I fear that the polarity of the present day is
very much in this direction.  Many seem to think now that
education is merely a preparation for this world. This is




244                THE DAILY LIFE.
just going off in the opposite extreme. It is not a preparation only for this world, but a preparation also for another.
Suppose a man has to go a journey, say of a thousand miles.
The mere secular educationalist would say to him, Take food
with you for five hundred miles, and make the best of your
way through the remaining five hundred that you can.
The traveller would drop and die. The other we have
spoken of would say, You have a thousand miles to go;
take nothing with you, but walk, - an impossibility, - and
therefore he also will perish. But the Christian way and
the common sense way is, if you have a thousand miles to
travel take food for all the way; and then you will run the
race set before you; run, and not be weary; walk, and not
be faint; looking to the bread of life, the author and the
finisher of your faith.  We must not attempt to divorce
science from Christianity. Common things, as a nobleman
very justly said the other day, ought to be taught rather
than fine things, and along with sacrca: milings. To try to
divorce common things from Christian things, secular education from religious education, is to act like the false mother
of old, who preferred to divide the living child in twain
rather than suffer the true mother to be the possessor of it.
The two were made and meant to go together; and what
God has joined, man should not put asunder. And there is
a reason for this. MIere science, or literature, or earthly
knowledge is so busy in its own department, that it forgets
every thing else. Just as men constantly executing very delicate engravings, or tracery  through a powerful microscopic
lens, ultimately cease to be able to see many feet beyond;
so those who are constantly dealing with the things of science
or of literature come under a tendency to forget that there is
any thing above, or other things beyond. They are so busy
investigating creation, that it comes to take the place of the
Creator. At that moment Christianity beautifully steps into




THE LIGHTS OF THE WORLD.               245
the school-room, or the college class room or lecture room,
and says to the scientific man, I admire these beautiful links
that you have struck out, constituting a long and illuminated
chain; and I, Christianity, just add to the chain the link that
fixes it to the staple that is in the throne of God, the Maker
and the Governor of all. One can see clearly that without
religion science or literature is very defective, and often ends
in the idolatry of the creature; and wherever the divorce
has been attempted the consequences have been most disastrous.  Let us not forget as a warning the German universities. Some of their Professors are Jews, some Roman
Catholics, some Protestants, and many sceptics; and the
only way they can live together in decent harmony is by
excluding religion from the university altogether. The result is, that Germany has given birth to that hard rationalism, which borrows its splendor from the intellect instead of,
as of old, borrowing its splendor from the senses; and has
become the source and the hotbed of the most deadly and
mischievous Pantheism, Atheism, and Infidelity, that have
ever existed among mankind. I will allow the statesmen
of the world to make our laws in parliament, if they will
allow me to take in my hands the education of the young.
I care not what laws statesmen make, if I can only see
in our schools, not theologians, but religious men, saturating all education with religious truth, and letting the
light that shines from the pulpit radiate from the schoolmaster's desk, and fill the whole place with its imperishable
splendors.
We cannot exaggerate the importance of these two being
connected together. No science or philosophy can be a substitute for religion; yet we do not propose to resign to Satan,
to sin, and to the world those things which are in themselves
good. It is of vital importance that everywhere true religion and true science should go together.  We do not dread
21 *




246                THE DAILY LIFE.
science; the more it shines the better; we do not shrink
from secular education; the more it prevails the better; but
woe to that country that separates the two, or rather adjures
one! woe to that nation that, in its national provision for
the education of the people, leaves out of its atmosphere its
oxygen, from  its system  its lifeblood, its vitality, and its
nutriment!
Having seen the light itself, let us notice now what is the
more practical part for us - that Christians are the bearers
of this light into all the ends of the world.  Kindled from
the Sun, they are to go forth and cast their light upon the
world. A man is made a Christian that he may Christianize. A candle is lighted just that it may be luminous.
We receive just that we may give. The monk, the nun,
the anchorite, if lighted at all, which is questionable, goes
each into a convent, or nunnery, and thus hides his light
under a bushel. The Christian, who is lighted, goes forth'
into the world, and lets his light so shine in daily life, that
others seeing his good works may glorify, not him, but his
Father who is in heaven. The believer is to be a light, and
the light of all the world. And the world shone upon by
such light, will cease to be a mere workshop in which man
gains his bread, and will rise to the dignity of a porch and a
vestibule of heaven, in which he is educated for God and for
glory.
If we be lights, and if Christians we are so, we are not
responsible for the elevation at which we are placed. We
are each a light, but God gives the candlestick; in one it
may be a very high one, in another it may be a very low
one; what we are responsible for is, not the place where
God in his providence has set us, or the elevation at which
God in his wisdom has placed us, but for filling the sphere
which we hold with the light we are. If we be lights, our
mission is to enlighten the sphere in which we are placed;




THE LIGHTS OF THE WORLD.              247
this is our only responsibility. Whatever be the sphere of
influence you are in, or the element of power you have, if
you be light, that sphere will be filled with its beams, and
every available element of power will be worked for God
and for good. Have you in your hand that most powerful
engine of modern times, the press? No words of mine can
express the gravity of your responsibility. If the Apostle
Paul were living in the nineteenth century he would take
the command of the press, if he could, as truly as of the
pulpit. I know no engine of greater power in daily life than
the daily press. How dreadful when it reflects the baleful
lights of superstition, when unbaptized it toils in the drudgery
of Satan, when without the fear of God it is worked only for
the ruin and demoralization of mankind! But on the other
hand, what a blessing, what a gigantic blessing, when it is
inspired by the truth, consecrated by grace, helps pilgrims
to their country, exiles to their home, prodigals to their Father, and children to their God!  Are you, on the other
hand, in possession of the pulpit? It is, if not perhaps
above, certainly equal to, the press as a focus of intense
light. The pulpit in the present day, it has been thought
by some, falls behind the age; we fear it does so. But if
there be any spot upon earth whe a y is        where apathy is guil where
negligence is a crime, and where want of success is to be attributed not so often as it is to the absence of a blessing,
(and that blessing is of all things the most vital,) but to the
want of our fitness for it, it is here. What an awful state
of things in the last century, when a gentleman said, I have
a son; he is not fit for being a soldier or a sailor- make a
clergyman of him! How shocking! what an outrage upon
all thiat is holy and good! If there be a place upon earth
where the greatest genius, power, piety should be concentrated and combined, and poured forth in inexhaustible ful



248                 THE DAILY LIFE.
ness, it is from that spot where overtures are distributed that
will rise either in the sweet echoes of the songs of heaven,
or in the reverberating crashes of the wails of the lost. If
there be one spot upon earth that has awful responsibility it
is surely the pulpit.
I read somewhere of a traveller at Calais going one dark
and stormy night to the light-house there. Whilst standing
looking on, the keeper of the house boasted of its brilliancy
and beauty, observing there were few such lights in the
world beside. The traveller said - thoughtlessly it may
be, " What if one of these burners of yours should go out
to-night?"  "What! " said the keeper, " go out, sir?  Oh,
sir," said the light-house keeper, "look at that dark and
stormy sea.  You cannot see them, but there are ships
passing and repassing there to every point of the compass.
Were the light to go out from my inattention, in six months
news would arrive from every part of the coast, that such
ships and crews were lost by my neglect! No, no! God
forbid such a thing should ever occur. I feel every night
as I look at my burner, as if all the eyes of all the sailors
of the world were looking at my lights, and watching me."
He for an earthly, we for an heavenly. If such was his
care of lights, the extinction of which could lead only to
temporal catastrophes, oh! what should be ours!
" Far sadder sight than eye can know,
Than proud bark lost or seaman's woe,
Or battle fire or tempest cloud,
Or prey bird's shriek or ocean's shroud,
The shipwreck of the soul."
Are we watching the burner in the light-house on which
God has placed us?  He built the house, and placed us in
it; it is ours to let the light so shine that the white-winged




THE LIGHTS OF THE WORLD.              249
doves of commerce, as they move from sea to sea and from
shore to shore, or rather as the pilgrims of eternity wend
their way to an everlasting haven, they may never have to
criminate us for culpable neglect.




CHAPTER XIII.
UNCONSCIOUS INFLUENCE.
"Is it Christ's light is too divine,
We dare not hope like Him to shine?
But see, around his dazzling shrine,
Earth's gemls the fire of heaven have caught."
" Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a
candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house." —
MATT. V. 14, 15.
EVERY figure used to describe a Christian is essentially
aggressive. It teaches us that no man is a Christian in
order to enjoy a monopoly of blessing for himself. Being
made a Christian, his very first function is to go forth and
Christianize others. Some talk of proselytism as a sin, and
denounce it even as a crime. Proselytism to a sect is most
obnoxious, proselytism to the truths of the gospel is the
duty of every man that knows them.  Some persons play
upon words, and do not distinguish things that differ. They
make you suppose by their remarks that your first and primary duty, to bless others by having been blessed yourself,
is a sin, a crime, a scandal. Every figure used to describe
a Christian indicates his duty to Christianize.  " Ye are the
salt of the earth."  What is the nature of salt?  To give
(250)




UNCONSCIOUS INFLUENCE.               251
savor to the substance with which it is mixed, or in contact, and to preserve that substance, if needs be, from corruption. An idea involved in salt is something transmissive
of virtue; and if you, therefore, are the salt of the world,
your part of the world will be touched by the savor of
what you are, and so be benefited and blessed. Ye are the
"light of the world."  A lamp is lighted for diffusing light;
and if it do not diffuse light, it is because it is not light. A
man who is not a missionary, is not a Christian; he that
does not seek to promote what he has, feels in his conscience
he has nothing worth promoting.  You may have a choice
of these two figures. Some would prefer to be the lights of
the world; to illuminate with a visible splendor that men
can admire, rather than to act as the silent, hidden salt of
the world, that penetrates the mass, and is not seen, but felt.
But one or other you must be, except you choose to be what
a Napoleon and an Alexander preferred —not the silent,
penetrating salt, not the quiet and beautiful light, but the
rending and crashing lightning, that blasts the world, not
blesses it and does it good.
From  the expression, " Ye are the light of the world,"
we learn how truly catholic Christianity is. The church
that boasts emphatically to be catholic is the most sectarian
of all, for she believes there is no Christianity without her
own pale. That is sectarianism. The really catholic Church
believes there are Christians everywhere, whom she hails
as such.  She can forgive ritual peculiarities because of the
living religion that underlies them.  This religion was
meant to be universal.  " Ye are the lights," not of a country, nor of a century, nor of an age, but of the wide world.
You are to be satisfied with nothing less than the world for
your sphere, and no fewer than all mankind for your
brethren in Christ Jesus. Christianity, it is true, was once
restricted to a few, but it was then in its infancy; as soon




252                THE DAILY LIFE.
as it was grown enough to be exhibited to all, the conviction
of a few became the creed of mighty and powerful nations: and now wherever the prince of the power of the
air has left his footprint behind him, wherever sin has
tainted the earth with its poison and its trail, wherever the
human mind is in darkness, the humaln heart depraved, the
human will in chains, the human soul without a Saviour,
there, irrespective of caste, of clime, of color, the angel
of the everlasting gospel goes and preaches the opening
of the prison doors to them that are bound, sight to the
blind, freedom to the slave, and blessings high as heaven
and wide as the universe to all that wait and are willing to
accept them.
But in looking at the world let us not dissipate by any
excessive generalization, if I may use such an expression,
our own daily duties.' Some men are so charmed with the
magnificent that they have no time to attend to the minute.
Some who are splendid advocates in parliament for liberty
to all, are the greatest tyrants in their own homes. Some
who are every thing benevolent abroad, seem to have so
expended their stores upon all mankind that they have not
one flash of sunshine for their own firesides.  We are very
apt so to think of the grand, that we overlook the instant, and
the more practical and personally minute. "Ye are the
lights of the world." Your world is your shop, your warehouse, your counting-house, the parliament, whatever place
God in his providence has placed you in, that is to you for
all practical purposes your world: and before you feel such
an absorbing interest in the enlightening of the wide world,
just see if you have put your light under a bushel in that
little world in which for six days of the week from morning
to evening you must move. "Ye are the lights of the
world."  We are not answerable for the sphere we are in:
we are only responsible for letting our light shine in it. If




UNCONSCIOUS INFLUENCE.              253
God has made you rich, powerful, illustrious, great, that is
his sovereign act; over that you have no control. Your
personal duty is to do well the work that is assigned you,
in the sphere in which God in his providence has placed
you; never to dream that what you want in order to do
better is to get a larger sphere. Many people make excuses
to themselves for not doing better in the little sphere in
which they are, by saying, Ah, if I were only in such a
sphere you would see how I would shine. Now if you do
not shine in a cellar, depend upon it you would not shine in
a palace; if you do not shine in the shop, depend upon it
you would not shine if you had the command of her Majesty's fleet. Your duty as light is to irradiate the sphere
you are in; and when you have done that well, God, who
placed you there, and sees you are able to fill a higher, will
say, "Come up higher."
This very thought, that "we are the lights of the world,"
whatever that world may be to us, implies that we are constantly in that sphere to keep and to carry our Christianity
with us. You are never to merge the Christian in the
tradesman, but always to unite the tradesman to the Christian. You are not to merge the Christian in the member
of parliament, but always to remember that the Christian is
to govern the senator, not the senator to govern the Christian. Christianity is not a religion confined to consecrated
tiles, and holy places, and holy days, but a religion that
treads with as beautiful a foot life's lowliest floor as it walks
in grand procession in Gne noblest cathedral of Europe.
Our religion is not a beautiful robe that we must lay carefully aside upon Sunday night, lest it should be rumpled by
the rough wear and tear of the weekday; it is a religion
that we are to carry with all the splendor of its first kindling into life's highest, and life's lowest, and life's universal
places, knowing it is fit to sanctify all, and make us shine as
22




254                THE DAILY LIFE.
the lights of the world in all. And if you cannot be where
God has placed you sunlight, you may always be light. We
do not expect that there will be all the splendor of a martyr's testimony behind the counter, but we do expect that
there will always be the quiet every-day life of a Christian's
character there and everywhere. And you know quite
well, writing for many who are in trade and in business, that
every-day proposals are made, offers come before you, plans
are mooted, schemes are suggested, which constantly bring
into demand or play your Christian character; you must
either, when these proposals are made, put your Christianity
away, and deal with them as tradesmen, or you must take
your Christianity with you, and let it control, direct, give
tone and force to every thing you are and every thing you
do. Therefore the conclusion we come to is this, that the
man who is a Christian is not to cease to be a tradesman, a
physician, a lawyer, a senator, a judge; but to be a Christian tradesman, a Christian lawyer, a Christian senator, a
Christian judge. The monk and the suicide, who belong to
the same category; for the one runs from society to escape
its perils, and the other runs from society in order to escape
its burdens; both fly from duty, the one to escape danger,
the other suffering, and yet neither succeed. We ought to
be in the world, not of it. The ladies who go into a convent, if they be lights, thereby go and put their lights under
a bushel, whereas, if true lights, instead of putting them under a bushel, they ought to let them shine, that the whole
house may be better for it. When it is urged that men
should go into monasteries, and women into convents, because they are so holy, so pure, that they would be contaminated by the world, they should recollect that if they be so
holy and so pure, of all people upon earth the world has
the greatest need of them. If all the good that is in the
world were to leave it, the world would go to corruption and




UNCONSCIOUS INFLUENCE.              255
ruin. Just because, as they say they are so holy, so good,
and so pure, therefore, instead of deserting as cowards the
banners of the force they belong to, they ought as good
soldiers of Christ to remain in the world, conquering the
world for Christ, and for his glory, and for his people.
But every man, whatever his character, a Christian or
not, a light that burns, or a lamp that has been quenched,
has everywhere and always a continuous influence upon all
that are around him. Some think that by not professing to
be Christians they escape the responsibility of their duties
towards those that are around them; but this is impossible,
for what man is exercises as powerful an influence as any
thing that man does or professes. There is in the human
body, voluntary action and involuntary action. When I
move my hand, or my tongue, or my legs, that is voluntary;
I can stop, or I can go on; but my heart and my lungs go
on in spite of me; they are involuntary movements: so in
the human character there are two influences; there is the
voluntary influence, as when I go out and speak to a person
in order to convince him, or appeal to a person in order to
make him better; I am then exercising a designed and a
voluntary influence upon that individual; but there is an involuntary influence, in my character, my conduct, my temper, when I think no man sees me, though many may be
seeing me; all these without my volition, and in spite of my
volition, are shaping the character, and giving tone and temper, and it may be everlasting colors, to the souls of mankind. In other words, it is impossible to be in the world
and not in some shape to influence the world. What we say
may not proceed from real conviction, but what we are is
always before the world, the symbol or sign of what grace
has made us, or what sin has left us. No child walks along
a street without learning lessons. Every sign board teaches, every random exclamation teaches, every fugitive look




256                THE DAILY LIFE.
on the human countenance teaches. The fact is, we are
constantly under teaching to the latest moment of our lives;
and what we come into contact with, is moulding and shaping our character, it may be for ever. It is very difficult to
persuade men that it is so, because they have the idea that
there is only power where there is noise, bustle, excitement.
But it is really not so. All the forces in nature that are the
most powerful, are the most quiet. We speak of the rolling
thunder, as powerful; but gravitation, which makes no noise,
has no speech, utters not a syllable, yet keeps orbs in their
orbits, and the whole system in its harmony, binding every
atom in one orb to the great central source of all attraction,
is ten thousand times ten thousand more powerful. We say
the red lightning is very powerful; so it is; when it rends
the gnarled oak into splinters, or splits the solid battlements
into fragments; but it is not half so powerful as that gentle
light, that comes so softly from the skies that we do not feel
it, that travels at an inconceivable speed, strikes and yet is
not felt, but exercises an influence so powerful, that the sea
is kept back by it, that the earth is clothed with verdure
through its influence, and all nature beautified and blessed
by its ceaseless action. The things that are most noisy are
not the most powerful; things that make no noise and make
no pretension, may be really the most powerful. An eloquent speech will never have the effect of an eloquent life.
The most conclusive logic that a preacher uses in the pulpit
will never exercise the effect that the piety, the consistent
piety of character, will exercise over all the world. And
in many congregations the preacher who may have few to
hear him, and where, if we heard him, we should say that
he has not the power of expressing clearly and intelligibly
the great thoughts that he feels, may be comparatively dumb
and ineffective in the pulpit, but in his walks amid his flock,
his beautiful and holy character, may be spreading an influ



UNCONSCIOUS INFLUENCE.              257
ence around him, that will tell more upon the destinies of
souls than if he had wielded all the thunders of Demosthenes, or pleaded with the persuasive eloquence that flowed
from the lips of Cicero.
It is not what we intend to do that strikes the most, it is
what we are. It is not beautiful words in the pulpit, but the
beating of an earnest heart heard under the preacher's
simplest words. It is not Christianity on the lip that is eloquent, but Christianity in the life that is holy, that tells most
upon the character of mankind. And the secret of the failure in the case of the hypocrite is, that if he were to speak
like an angel, or reason like a metaphysician, we know that
the background will not bear inspection. A person who is
not sincere, let him speak with superhuman skill, will produce no effect. And hence, as we know in political and in
ecclesiastical matters, the man who is gifted with the greatest eloquence, but who has let out undesignedly the secret
of his insincerity, may be admired as a specimen of intellectual power, but he is despised and worthless as an instrument of good among mankind. Thus what a man is, rather
than what a man says, tells.  Our blessed Lord spake, it is
true, as never man spake; but it was rather the dignity, and
yet the lowliness, the grandeur, and yet the humility, the holiness of heaven, and yet all the sympathies of earth radiant
from that spotless character, which left its deepest and most
permanent impression upon mankind. Jesus made converts
as much by what he was, as by what he said. You may be
serving in a shop, behind a counter; you do not think you
can be doing any moral good there; you are quite mistaken.
The quietness with which you serve, the gentleness with
which you reply, the simple, unpretending, and therefore
appropriate, remark that you make, all are telling. There
is not a face that does not almost repeat itself. In the modern discovery of the daguerreotype, rays coming from an
22*




258             - TTHE DAILY LIFE.
object paint that object on the sensitive surface which they
touch. It seems as if character radiated from the human
countenance, painted itself on the characters of those it
touches. What a man thinks, the very look of the countenance, the very thought that flashes through the eye, the
very feeling that plays upon the lip, all are influencing
others. There is not a mistress whose looks are not telling
on a servant; there is not a master whose silent looks are
not making somebody beneath him worse or better for it.
It is impossible to go through the world without exercising
influence; it is only possible to have that influence dipped
in the fountain of light and life, and to have it so baptized
and consecrated by a heavenly baptism, that wherever you
are, you shall walk through the world an ambassador from
God, a benefactor of all mankind. And what a solemn lesson is here for all teachers in schools, and parents acting in
the presence of their children. The most susceptible creatures upon earth are children; and I do not believe that we
give them credit for the intensity of their sensitive and susceptible nature. A child looks in your face and distinguishes your meaning long before you have given utterance
to it. A child watches your countenance, and picks out
your temper, your taste, your sympathy, long before you
have audibly expressed it. And very many parents look
things and say things, and when they think the child has
detected what they did not mean the child to know, often in
a very bungling way, as indeed all attempts at deception
must be, they try to do away with the mischief they have
done by suddenly turning a corner in the conversation, and
launching on another subject. Do you think the child did
not see that? He saw as clearly as you; and that act of
yours has left upon that child a conviction of crookedness
that may live in his memory, and fill up his character
throughout the rest of his pilgrimage upon earth.  To




.UNCONSCIOUS INFLUENCE.               259
children we cannot be too direct, too straightforward; we
cannot be too childlike in our intercourse with them, yet
we must not be childish. Daily life is more powerful than
Sunday life. The face as a dial cannot too purely, too
truly reflect the innermost thoughts and imaginations of the
heart. Be Christians, and your voluntary and involuntary
influence will be Christian also. Be salt, and the savor will
necessarily be good; be lights, and the influence that radiates from you will necessarily be light.  What we want to
be is not to look Christians, or to pretend Christians, or to
profess Christians, but to be Christians.  You need not
then so carefully guard yourself, you need not be on the
ceaseless watch what you do. Take an anagram; read it
from the right or from the left, or from the top or from the
bottom; it reads the same thing. Take a Christian, look at
him at one angle, or look at another angle, look at him in any
light or in any direction, and he is a Christian still. The great
secret of getting rid of a vast amount of trouble and inconvenience, is being a Christian; and when you are a Christian your eye will be single, your body will be full of light,
and all influences, sanctified and blessed by the Holy Spirit
of God, will be sanctifying, and will bless all that are connected with you.
How responsible a thing is daily life!




CHAPTER XIV.
THE  CHRISTIAN.
" Yon cottager who weaves at her own door,
Pillow and bobbins all her little store: -
She, for her humble sphere by nature fit,
Has little understanding, and no wit,
Just knows, and knows no more, her Bible true,
A truth the brilliant Frenchman never knew,
And in that charter reads with sparkling eyes
Her title to a treasure in the skies.
0 happy peasant! 0 unhappy bard!
His the mere tinsel, hers the rich reward;
He praised perhaps for ages yet to come,
She never heard of half a mile from home;
He lost in errors his vain heart prefers,
She safe in the simplicity of hers."
" And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch." -ACTS ix. 26.
THE character of which the name Christian is the exponent, or representative, has been found from the beginning. Adam was a Christian without the name; Judas was a
Christian without the character. The followers of Christ in
the earliest days of the Christian dispensation, were called by
their enemies "Nazarenes," " Galileans," "Jews," "people
who turned the world upside down."  They were called by
themselves " disciples, believers in Jesus, saints, brethren"
(260)




THE CHRISTIAN.                  261
— brethren from their love to each other, saints from the
holiness of their character, believers from their trust, and
disciples of Jesus from their manifest and unswerving obedience to him. But in Antioch they were called by a name,
— new, as a sound, but old, as a reality; and they were
called so, not by themselves, nor yet by their enemies, but,
as the word really implies, by God himself. They were
called by themselves disciples, brethren, saints; they were
called by their enemies Nazarenes, Galileans, Jews; but
this name I think was a baptism immediately from  God
himself.
The Greek word which is translated in Acts xi. 26,
" called," is not the usual word so translated. For instance,
"Many are called" — KcrTO from Kalec, " to call."  Again,
"The called in Christ Jesus," where the word is Kctrot. But
in the Acts, a new  Greek word is introduced, namely,
Xpn/artw; and the question is, in what sense that word is
used throughout the New Testament?  It is always, or
nearly so, used in the sense of a heavenly call directly from
God himself. The first instance occurs in Matt. ii. 12,
"And being warned of God in a dream."  The Greek word
translated " called" in the Acts is translated in this passage,
" warned," and such warning was directly from God himself.
In the 22d verse of the same chapter, "Notwithstanding,
being warned of God in a dream."  That is the same Greek
word, and it means there a Divine warning or call. We
find the same word used in Luke ii. 26, "And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost."  That is the same
word, again used in the sense of a Divine call, only the
person calling here is the Holy Ghost. It occurs in Acts
x. 22. "And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just
man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among
all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God." That is
the same verb translated "called" in my text.  Again, in




262                THE DAILY LIFE.
Hebrews viii. 5, we find an instance of its use, " Who serve
unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses
was admonished of God."  That is the same Greek word
translated "called" in the Acts. And lastly, in Hebrews
xi. 7, " By faith Noah, being warned of God." That also is
the very same Greek word. Now, in every instance, the
word which is rendered " called " as applied to Christians,
is used to denote an admonition, a voice, or command, from
God himself. And therefore, we might translate the passage from  the Acts, "The believers were first divinely
called Christians in Antioch."
If this be not a name originally pronounced in scorn, as
some have supposed, nor a name assumed by the Christians
themselves to denote their relationship to the Great Founder,
Author, and Finisher, of the faith, but one that was bestowed, not as a brand, but as an honor, a beauty, and a
glory, directly and immediately from  God himself, we are
all very much to blame in adding to our generic, distinctive,
and noblest name, even a Divine one, so many human additions as those into which the visible Church is so sadly
and unhappily split. The first name, pronounced from
heaven, was " Christian," and we may depend upon it it
will be the last; for just in proportion as we grow towards
the beautiful original in character, in the same proportion
will those assumed human names —  Presbyterians, Independents, Baptists, Episcopalians, Churchmen, Dissenters -
drop off. Just as Christ is in a Christian's heart, all and in
all, so, when that inner influence becomes an outer life,
"Christian" will be in a Christian's vocabulary all and in
all, also.
We will not dwell longer upon the direct evidence,
though we might adduce further proofs, that this name was
divinely bestowed. Let us notice what seems a hint of the
future new nomenclature given in ancient prophecy. In




THE CHRISTIAN.                  263
Isaiah lxii. 2, "And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a
new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name." Again,
in Isa. lxv. 15, it is said, " For the Lord God shall slay
thee, and call his servants by another name;" that is, that
the name "Hebrew," or the name "Jew" from Judah, or
" son of Abraham," should be lost in the new name, that of
Christian.
What is meant by this name?  It is often misapplied.
It is often diluted. We read of geographical Christians,
ecclesiastical Christians, and we call all who are baptized,
and profess the gospel, Christians. But all who are baptized are not Christians, and all who profess Christianity
are not Christians.  The name has a deep and precious
significance. As a name, it can have no value; as a life, it
is precious indeed.  What does a Christion denote?  First,
it denotes one who is said in Scripture language to be "in
Christ."  "There is no condemnation to them that are in
Christ Jesus."  "I knew a man in Christ."  And again,
says the apostle, "that I may be found in Christ."  Is not
this a strange expression? Its very peculiarity indicates
that there is some deep meaning and relationship in it.
We never say that a Stoic is a man in Zeno, or that a
Peripatetic is a man in Aristotle, or that a servant is in his
master, or a pupil in his teacher.  People would smile at
such expressions.  They would outrage common sense, and
the fair and proper usage of language. But in Scripture
nothing is more common than to find that very phrase,
which is inapplicable to every relationship upon earth, constantly, and without the least explanation as if it were
strange, applied to our relationship to Christ Jesus. It
must mean, therefore, that there is something in a Christian's relationship to Christ, deeper, closer, more real, if I
may use the expression, than in a pupil's relationship to his




264                THE DAILY LIFE.
teacher, a servant's to his master, a philosopher's to the
founder of the school to which he belongs. We go to
Scripture and look for similitudes and explanation; and we
find it compared to the branch in the tree, the limb in the
body, the wife as related to the husband. All that indicates
close, near, endearing connection, is seized and exhausted
to denote a Christian's connection with Christ, and his relationship to him. Only all these similitudes fail. The
branch may be severed from the vine, the limb may be torn
from the body; but who shall separate us from the love of
God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord?
A Christian means in Scripture one having the unction
or anointing of the Holy Spirit of God. " Ye have," says
the apostle, "an unction from  the Holy One;"  "The
Spirit will show you things to come;" "If any man have
not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."  The word
Xpltros comes from a Greek word which means " to anoint;"
and when we call a person a Christian, we call him an
anointed man, a man having a Divine unction. Well, what
is that Divine unction? Ancient priests had oil poured on
their heads when they were consecrated to their office.
Ancient kings were anointed with oil when they were elevated to their thrones. The very phraseology and usage
that belonged to ancient official dignity is applied to the
true Christian. A Christian is a king and a priest unto
God. He is an anointed and consecrated person. He is
set apart from profane things to holy and Divine purposes.
He has a destiny of everlasting happiness before him, a
consecration directly Divine upon him. He is an anointed
person, a Christian. When you, therefore, are tempted to
do what is wrong, your feeling and recollections must be, I
am an anointed one, I am set apart for another purpose, for
another mission, for a very different function, as I am reserved for a very different destiny.




THE CHRISTIAN.                  265
A Christian means also one who is the property of Christ.
"Ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible
things, as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of
Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."
" Ye are not your own."  "Know ye not that your body is
the temple of the Holy Ghost?"  Therefore whatever I
have is not mine. It is mine for use by me; but it is God's,
because to be used to his glory, and in obedience to his will.
Miy talent, my influence, my money, are all in my possession; but they are in the possession of a steward, who must
use them after the prescriptions of him who has conferred
them, not in the possession of an absolute king, who may do
what he will with his own. We are not our own, we are
bought with a price. Therefore let us with our souls and
our bodies glorify God.
A Christian is one who delights and strives to obey
Christ's commands.  "Ye are my disciples."  He himself
says, " if ye keep my commandments."  And again, " If ye
love me, keep my commandments."  It does not imply that
a Christian will perfectly keep every law, or that he will
keep all God's laws. He may fail, he may fall; but the
constant beat, desire, and disposition of his heart will be to
do what conscience, enlightened by God's word, proves to be
his will, and in all things and on all occasions to do what he
can discover from God's inspired word to be the will of his
Master who is in heaven.
A  Christian is one who feels deeply interested in the
cause of Christianity. One may judge what one's interest
in this cause is, and how far one has the inner spirit of a
Christian, by the sympathy that we feel with it throughout
the world. Are we grieved when Christian people suffer
for Christ's sake? Are we delighted when Christianity
gains new speed, achieves new victories, and covers the dark
23




266                THE DAILY LIFE.
and desert places of the earth with a new and expanding
glory?  Are we rejoiced and ever anxious to hear tidings
of the triumphs of this kingdom?  And is it the prayer
that we can breathe fi'om the heart,' Thy kingdom come?
A Christian would seem to me to be one who, openly and
publicly, on all proper occasions, professes, and is not
ashamed to profess, his attachment to the Redeemer.  I do
not mean that in his trade, if he be a tradesman, he should
be constantly saying, "I am  a Christian;" or that in the
place he occupies in this world he should try to make people
believe he is a Christian.  This would be pretension; it
would make one rather suspected than otherwise.  He is to
let men know that he is a Christian in trade, in a profession, in his duties in the world, in, daily life, not by speaking
Christianity, but by doing Christianity; so that the world,
taking notice of him, will soon infer the Master he serves,
the cause wherewith he is identified, and the spirit that sustains, informs, and actuates his life. If he be not a Christian, he need not try to persuade the world that he is. If
he be a Christian, he need not say it to the world; for the
world is acute enough to see the broad and palpable distinction between him that serveth God and him that serveth
him not. But at baptism, if you are adults, you profess
your attachment to the Saviour.  If children, you are
brought forward and dedicated to him. And at a communion table you are to say, (and I think it is one of the
main lessons which the world may learn by seeing you
there,) "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ."  The
communion table is the sacrament — the sacramentzum the
ancient oath that a soldier took to his sovereign and his
country. And when you come to that table you say, "I am
not ashamed of Him whom the Jew hates, whom the Gentile does not know, whom the sceptic denies, but whom I




THE CHRISTIAN.                  267
hold, and hereDy solemnly declare that I do hold, to be the
wisdom of God, and the power of God, and the only Name
given among men whereby I can be saved."
A Christian will ever look for Christ's return. The attitude of the church of Christ throughout the whole of revelation is that of the bride looking for the bridegroom, or the
widow looking for a coming husband. This being so, the
Christian will be constantly looking for Christ.  His rest
will be upon the cross, but his hope will stretch onward to
the crown. To them that look for him will he come the
second time without sin unto salvation. Waiting for the
coming of the Lord, is one of the features laid down by the
apostle as peculiar to a Christian.  Christ is spiritually
present throughout all this dispensation, but he will one day
be personally present. The Christian cannot be satisfied
with any substitute; he looks beyond all that attempts to be
a substitute, and cries, " Come, Lord Jesus."
A Christian is one who departs from all iniquity.  The
apostle lays this down very distinctly, " Let every one that
nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity."  A dishonest, a lying, or a drunken Christian is absurd. It is
impossible to use such phraseology with any propriety.
You can no more speak of a dishonest, lying, or drunken
Christian, than you can speak of an ignorant scholar, an
honest thief, or a charitable miser. These last would be felt
to be contradictions, the moment you hear them, but it is no
less a contradiction to say, a lying Christian, a drunken
Christian, a dishonest Christian.  Men who live knowingly
in the practice of sin - knowingly and deliberately in the
practice of what they know to be sin - are no more Christians than they are dukes, earls, barons, or marquises.
Alexander the Great once said to a coward in his army,
who was called by his name, "Either imitate my example,
or give up my name."  So Christ would say to all who are




268                THE DAILY LIFE.
called Christians, but who do not live the life of Christ,
"Either surrender my name, or imitate my example."
A Christian is one who denies himself. "If any man
will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross, and follow me." But what is meant by denying oneself? It is denying oneself an enjoyment in order to discharge a duty; or denying oneself something that is perfectly proper, in order to do good to a brother who needs it,
or to give an impulse to a cause that faints and fails for
want of it. Now do we deny ourselves?  Can we give up
what we prefer in deference to duty?  Can we surrender a
pleasure for the sake of doing good in some way indicated
in the providence of God, or pointed out by his holy word?
If we cannot deny ourselves, if we must indulge ourselves,
at all hazards, then we want one of those features that
seem to me essential to the Christian character, and we so far
fail in giving the clearest and sharpest lineaments of that
beautiful and Divine stature.
If' you be a Christian, you will love all your fellow Christians just because they are Christians, and for no other reason. I do not say that you may not prefer the man of taste
to the man who has none. You may prefer talent to the
absence of it. You may have yonr preference of one peculiarity, tone, or temperament of mind to another.  But
there will always be this grand feature in your predilections- you will prefer an ignorant Christian to an accomplished worldling. You will prefer a true Christian without
taste, to a man of fine taste without character. You will
prefer the humblest and most plebeian child of God to a
marquis or an earl who is but a gambler, and a wicked and
profane profligate. You may have your preferences of
many things in this world justly and properly; but you will
surrender all preferences, and sacrifice all prejudices, on the
altar of a common Christianity, holding and feeling that




THE CHRISTIAN.                  269
men may be this, but they must be that, to have communion
and fellowship with you. And you will love a Christian,
too, in spite of much in him that makes him sometimes very
unlovely.  Christians are not in this world perfect. There
are sometimes Christians who have very bad tempers, there
are Christians who have many oddities, and much in their
character that you do not admire; but you will love them,
not because they are passionate or odd, but in spite of their
being so, and in spite of their having a bad taste, just because they are Christians, the sons and daughters of the
Almighty, and the followers of the Lord. You may dislike
dissent, because you are churchmen; or you may dislike
the church, because you are dissenters; and you may have
your own views and your own predilections on these subjects; but you will love the Christian in spite of his dissent,
or his churchmanship; you will forgive him all his defects,
if he only hold fast Christ and him crucified, as all and in
all, in his heart, his hopes, his faith, his life, his walk. I do
not forbid any to have preferences; I only ask all to subordinate them to that which is higher than all, that name
Which was first, that name which will be last, the name of
Christian.
It is as Christians that we are to come to the Lords
table, and in no other capacity whatever. What is the central object, and what ought, therefore, to be the weightiest
thought, at a communion table?  What is it spread for?
What do we approach it for? The answer is, to show forth
the death of Christ until he come again. There that one
thought ought to be supreme.  The love of Christ ought so
to fill all the interstices, and cells, and nooks of the human
heart, that there shall be no room left for Luther, Calvin,
Knox, Latimer, or any other, however worthy or excellent.
It is not "Do this in remembrance of" John, or Paul, or
Peter; or in remembrance of Luther, or Ridley, or Calvin;
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270                THE DBILY LIFE.
but it is "Do this in remembrance of" One only. And
therefore, as you turn over the leaves of memory at that
table, that one Name ought to be first, last, all, and in all.
As you look into your heart at that table, that Name ought
to be engraven upon it, as on a precious gem, indelible forever. To that table Christians only should come. Leave
your ecclesiastical robes at the door, put off your sectarian
shoes at the threshold, and come in shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, wearing robes that have been
washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb, which
alone are worn in heaven, and on which there is no stain,
and because of which alone the choirs of the redeemed
stand before the throne of God, and serve him day and
night without ceasing.
Are we Christians?  This is the great question. You
are not responsible for being rich, noble, royal. These are
providential distinctions, which involve no guilt on the part
of those who are strangers to them. But you are responsible for being Christians. It is your own blame if you are
not Christians. The whole guilt of not being so lies at
your own door. You are summoned to embrace this noble
dignity, to put on this grand name, and to feel in your heart,
by believing with your whole mind, that Christ is your
Prophet, your Priest, your King, your all and in all. Is
the religion of the New Testament the religion that you
want to know? Is the Bible the rule of faith that you love
to study, the rule of life that you prefer to follow? Do you
open the Bible, not as critics, or scholars, or admirers of
beautiful poetry, rich eloquence, or fine writing, but as wayfaring men, seeking to know Christ, the way to heaven?
Do you come into the house of God, not as critics, in your
own minds or with others, to discuss the preacher's sermon,
but as hungering for living bread, thirsting for living water,
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THE CHRISTIAN.                  271
age amid life's arduous and corroding trials; so that refreshed, as from one of the springs in the valley of Baca,
you may go on your way rejoicing, and appear before God
at length in Zion?
Are we Christians? To ascertain this, let us inquire
what we are when alone? In society we may wear a mask;
before the church we may seem what we are not; but alone
with God we appear exactly what we are. When alone,
free from the harassment of business, and the world, and its
cares, do our thoughts ever instinctively turn to Him who is
their strength, their inspiration, and their hope? The flower
follows the sun, and the Christian's heart, when left to itself,
will lean instinctively and by its very nature towards Him
who is its trust, its hope, its strength, and its joy. The first
thing that the heart, left to itself, gravitates to, is its chief
thing. If it be money, learning, home, or stores, or treasures of any sort, these you love more than God. It is a
very admirable way of ascertaining what we are, to watch
where the heart naturally gravitates, towards whom  and
what is its instinctive polarity, on whom it leans, of whom it
thinks. Does the thought of God ever spring up in your
heart without the preacher's voice awakening it?  Does the
idea of eternity ever come into your mind without its being
suggested by a sermon?  If so, this would indicate that
your heart has affinities beyond the horizon, that rest and
terminate only in Him who gave them their birth and their
being, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us look at the Christian in his home. This is the
first place where he is seen by others. He is not perfect
anywhere, and there his imperfections will be seen most
clearly and most fully. What are you in your home? Are
your counsels based upon Scripture?  Is your example
originated and directed by it?  Is family worship not so
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272                 THE DAILY LIFE.
you must go through, as a necessity without which you feel
you cannot happily live, or justly act?  Is your home a
sanctuary?  Are its inmates as Levites?  Is it your
desire that it should be like a vestibule of the sanctuary,
participating, in its influence, and consecrated by contact and communion with it?
Let us look at the Christian in the church, that is, in the
assembly of God's people.  Do you come to hear, not what
pleases the fancy, but what will enlighten the mind and
impress the heart?  Do you come to hear merely because
it is habit; or because the newsroom is shut upon the Sunday, and the church only is accessible? or do you come to
the sanctuary really hungering for bread, longing to hear
something that will refresh you after the weary toils of the
week, and give you new  strength, vigor, and inpulse to
undertake the duties that are before you, and to go through
them, and be more than conquerors through Him that loved
you?  Is church-going an earnest matter, or an old inveterate habit merely, that you do not feel much pleasure in, but
that you cannot easily lay aside?  It is well if it be a habit,
but it is not enough if it be a habit only. Coming to church
is not the duty done; it is only a step towards the discharge
of the duty by embracing the privilege, and learning all the
words of everlasting life.
Let us look at the Christian in daily life. What are
you in business, in trade, in traffic, in all the transactions
with which you come in contact, and in which you take a
part, in this world?  Very many, I fear, carry the world
into the church; but it is the few who carry the church into
the world.  To bring the world into the church is to desecrate the church; to bring thle church into the world is to
consecrate and elevate the world.  We ought to gather, as
on the sabbath day, not only manna for our maintenance on
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TIE CHRISTIAN.                 273
boldly and distinctly letting the world see that our churchgoing is not a form, but a power; and that what we hear on
the Sunday does not make us more morose, gloomy, or
destitute of courtesy, or adverse to all the reciprocities of
social life, but gives us a patience, a content, a gentleness,
a meekness, and yet a fixity of purpose, as well as purity
of motive, which the world is altogether a stranger to.
Do you then seek to have the world's sunny places made
brighter by the influence of heaven, and the world's dark
and shady places enlightened by the truths of the blessed
gospel? and can you take your place at your desk, or behind
your counter, or in the post and place of duty, with a sense
of responsibility almost as sacred and solemn as that with
which you take your place at a communion table. We have
a bad habit of saying, This is holy work, and that is worldly
work. The fact is, to a Christian all work should be holy,
all days should.be Christian, and all life should be a ceaseless
sacrament. A Christian comes to the sanctuary, not there
to be the Christian on the Sunday, and then to go out into
the world on the Monday, and there to be the worldling,
just as if he had never been in the sanctuary at all. The
sanctuary is the ward in the hospital, to which he comes to
receive the prescription that can heal him, whence he goes
forth on the Monday, the lame leaping like the rbe, the deaf
hearing, the dumb speaking, and all living so that the world
may see that they have received on the Sunday that which
has made them stronger and better on the Monday.  The
sanctuary and the Sunday are the time and the place for
receiving light; the counting-house, the parliament, and
elsewhere, on the Monday, are the places for radiating that
light. You are not to receive all your light upon the Sunday, and leave it in the pews you have left empty behind
you; but you are to take it with you, not in order to say
to the world, See what the gospel has made me, but so to




274                THE DAILY LIFE.
act, that the world will be constrained to take notice of that
man, that merchant, that senator, as the Jews did of Peter
and John, that they have been with Jesus.
Let us look at the Christian in different circumstances of
personal experience.  In adversity is your lot perhaps. If
you are a Christian, your conduct will there appear beautiful,
decided, unmistakable.  When a worldly man suffers, he
is deeply depressed, he sinks into despondency, or he altogether despairs; or, if he be a stoic, he is insensible to it;
or, if he be an ascetic, he flees from the world, hoping to
avoid its trials by getting some sheltered nook where he thinks
he will have perpetual sunshine and uninterrupted peace.
But a Christian man in adversity prays; he looks up to Him
who has told him that trouble comes not from the ground,
that whatever a believer suffers is an expression, not of penal
wrath from a judge, but of paternal affection from a Father.
Such a one receiving affliction, merely feels that he is put
in Christ's school, or, like fine silver, in God's furnace; and
that in either case he is laid there, not by hate, but by love;
and that he will be kept there, not so long as the devil
would like, nor for so short a time as he would prefer, but
precisely as long as God in his infinite wisdom sees to be
good for him; and during that adversity, a believer, instead
of desponding, or despairing, will exclaim, in language that
in pitch rises far above the human, "Although the fig-tree
shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the
labors of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no
meat; the flock shall be cut off from  the fold, and there
shall be no herd in the stalls;" that is, if I lose all my property and possessions, and do not see where or whence to
get bread for to-morrow, what shall I do?  Despair, run
away into the wilderness, commit suicide?  No; "yet I will
rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation."
When a worldly man loses his figs and his vines, his olives,




THE CHRISTIAN.                   275
and his herds in the stall. he has nothing to fall back upon;
his all is gone. But when a Christian has lost his goods, he
has only lost certain expressions of God's love; the God
who gave them  still remains; and as the fountain is ever
full and ever overflowing, he knows that God will either give
him other vines, herds, and fig-trees, or he will give him
what is as good, an equivalent in his heart that will inspire
the conviction, "It was good that I lost them all."  Such
is a Christian in adversity.
Let us look at a Christian in prosperity. It is much
easier to manage adversity than prosperity; and for one
that adversity depresses into despair, there are ten that
prosperity makes forget God and themselves together.  It
is a very painful thing to have and drink from a bitter cup;
but it is a very delicate and difficult thing to hold a cup that
is full to the brim without spilling some of its contents. It
is often wearisome to live in the shade, but it is still more
perilous to live perpetually in the sunshine. It may often be
very cross to our ambition to tread earth's lowly places, but
it is still more dangerous to our spiritual safety to dwell in
the high places of the earth.  It is the loftiest cedar that is
first struck by the lightning; it is the highest spires that
first fall; it is they who walk the high places of the earth who
are the least under the influence of grace, and of whom the
fewest enter into the kingdom of heaven. If therefore you
are prosperous, be not proud, be not earthly-minded, saying,
" I will pull down my old barns, and build new ones;" be
not so attached to the gift, that you forget the giver, and
when reminded of God, go away sorrowful.  Be not selfindulgent, saying, " Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for
many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry."
If you be afflicted, as in the last case, pray; if you be
prosperous, as in the present case, praise; and let your ad



276                THE DAILY LIFE.
versity and your prosperity equally bring you to Him.who
sweetens the bitterness of the one cup, and gives strength
to hold steadily the over full cup of the other. Thus, if a
Christian is afflicted, he prays; if he be merry, he sings
psalms; and whether in adversity, or in prosperity, he sets
his affections upon God, receives thankfully, enjoys with
moderation, gives liberally, and recognizes God as entitled
to the glory and the praise of all.
Are you, Christian, placed in sorrow?  There is a distinction between sorrow and affliction.  Prosperous men
may be sorrowful, as well as afflicted men. Adversity is a
state that occurs in God's providence; sorrow is an experience implanted by God's Holy Spirit. "Blessed are ye
that mourn," says our Saviour; " for ye shall be comforted."
This sorrow is created by what you see within you.  So
much felt there that should not be, and so much wanting
there that ought to be, constitute truly weighty reasons for
that sorrow which the Saviour says is blessed. When you
look back at those things you have done which you ought
not to have done, and at those things you have left undone
which you ought to have done; the long dark catalogue
would sink you into despair, did you not see written across
it, bright and luminous in the light in which it was written,
"The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all
sin."  Sorrow also a Christian will feel when he looks
around him, and sees how little progress the gospel has
made, how little is doing or has been done in order to promote that gospel amongst mankind; and as Jeremiah said,
" Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain
of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of
the daughter of my people!" and as David said, " Rivers
of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy
law;" so a Christian cannot see the drunkenness, the reck



THE CHRISTIAN.                   277
lessness, and the depravity of a world around him, without
grieving that it is so, and lamenting that so little is attempted to make it otherwise.
A Christian may be studied in his joys.  Joy is distinct
from prosperity, as sorrow is from affliction. There is first
a natural joy, which is not forbidden; there is a sensual
joy, which is very equivocal; there is a carnal joy, which
is fiendish; and there is a Christian joy, which is beautiful.
A Christian's joy must be something like the joy of his
Lord.  It is said that Jesus shall see the travail of his soul,
and shall be satisfied.  And again, it is said, "For the joy
set before him" (what was that joy but the travail of his
soul, the sinners that should be saved) "he endured the
cross, despising the shame." And, therefore, a Christian's
joy is very much associated with the progress and the triumphs of the everlasting gospel.  When he hears of new
districts added to Christ, of new nations recognizing his
sceptre and his sway; of distant lands brought under the
light of the Sun of righteousness; and of dens and lanes
and alleys at his own threshold visited by the messenger of
glad tidings, that never were visited before; like his blessed
Master, he feels joy, and rejoices in spirit. A Christian
ought to rejoice when he hears of the gospel's spread, and
he ought to grieve when he hears of obstructions to its
progress.  In other words, if we are Christians, we shall
have the same interest in the gospel that a politician has in
the politics and progress of the party he belongs to. If you
watch a politician, he says, I move under a certain banner;
I am associated with an existing or a deposed prime-minister, and I rejoice that such a one has been elected there,
and such a one rejected here. In short, a thorough polititician is full of his party. He opens the paper the first
thing in the morning, in order to see what his party has
gained or lost.  His whole heart is in his party.  Let us
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278               THE DAILY LIFE.
borrow a leaf from his book; let our chief thoughts and
affections be in that cause which knows no party, and seeks
no partisanship; or if a party at all, that to which all flesh
should belong, to belong to which is to be a member of the
general assembly of the church of the first-born, whose
names are written in the Lamb's book of life.
Let us think of a Christian in that scene in which he
must play a part, a death-bed. This is the testing scene.
Many things occur in God's providence to test what we are;
but this scene will occur in every man's biography, and will
thoroughly test what he is. It is the scale that weighs him,
the test that thoroughly distinguishes him. It is one, too,
that he cannot avert. How shall we feel when we are
placed upon that bed? Shall we be able to say, "I have
fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept
the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall
give me at that day?"  Shall I be able to say, " I know in
whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to
keep that which I have committed to him. I have much to
lament; much to seek forgiveness for, but I know thatkI have
committed my soul with its deepest and dearest interests to
him; I know in whom I have believed, and I have not the
least doubt that he is able and willing to keep that soul
which I have committed to his hands against that day?"
He who can say so will descend into the deep valley of the
shadow of death with unfaltering footstep, because he knows
that when he has reached its profoundest depth, he there
begins his glorious ascent on the sunlit side that leads to
the blessedness and glory of the everlasting and happy Jerusalem. He will die; but because he dies in the Lord, he
will see opening before him a pathway to his Father who is
in heaven, and to all who have preceded him to the rest
that remaineth for the people of God.




THE CHRISTIAN.                   279
A Christian will live in prosperity, in adversity, in his
home, in the sanctuary, in the world, as a Christian.  This
will be the predominating feeling. This will give the tone,
direction, and influence to all that he is. And when he
comes to die, he who lived a Christian in his daily life, will
depart in peace a Christian, and having finished his course,
enter on that sabbath life which is the grand feature of the
age to come, the blessed hope and unspeakable reward of
all true believers.
END.