THE LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 THE COLLECTION OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINIANA 
 
 ENDOWED BY 
 
 JOHN SPRUNT HILL 
 
 CLASS OF 1889 
 
 CB 
 
 B6U9m 
 
UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 00032193769 
 
 This book must not 
 be taken from the 
 Library building. 
 
SERMONS 
 
 REV. FRANKLIN S. BLISS; 
 
 TOGETHER WITH 
 
 A SKETCH OF HIS LIFE. 
 
 BY 
 
 MOSES MARSTON. 
 
 BOSTON; 
 UNIVERSALIST PUBLISHING HOUSE. 
 
 1878. 
 
TIu Riverside Press, Cambridge : 
 Printed by H. 0. Houghton and Company. 
 
PEEFAOE. 
 
 This little book has been prepared in the hope 
 that it may help to perpetuate the memory and 
 influence of one whose saintly life and work our 
 whole church may well look upon with affection- 
 ate interest. The fact that Mr. Bliss was my 
 friend, whom I loved as a brother, and whom for 
 years I knew very intimately, has in some respects 
 rendered the writing of his Memoir a more diffi- 
 cult task. For while it has been a work of love, 
 it has also been one in which the heart has de- 
 manded more than could be done. I am conscious 
 that this sketch is but an imperfect outline of a 
 noble and saintly life, and that those who knew 
 Mr. Bliss intimately will not be entirely satisfied, 
 as I am not, with the way the work has been 
 done. But if I have succeeded measurably in 
 writing what will suggest to his friends the most 
 essential spirit of his life, and what will carry to 
 others who knew him not somewhat of that spirit, 
 I must be content. 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 It lias been my aim to write a plain and truth- 
 ful narrative, and not to do violence to the humil- 
 ity and truthfulness of my friend's character by 
 any exaggeration of his virtues or extenuation of 
 his faults. I believe I have not overdrawn the 
 picture of his consecrated life. 
 
 To those who have assisted in furnishing mate- 
 rials for the Memoir, and to Prof. W. R. Shipman 
 for valuable aid in seeing the book through the 
 press, I return hearty thanks. 
 
 Minneapolis, Minn., May U, 1878. 
 
COJ^TENTS, 
 
 MEMOIR. 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Early Life and Education 1 
 
 CHAPTER K. 
 
 Life at South AVoodstock and at Enfield . . 14 
 
 CHAPTER HL 
 
 Life at Baere 21 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Last Year of his Life 56 
 
 SERMONS. 
 
 I. Confessing Christ 67 
 
 11. Spiritual Growth 80 
 
 in. Our Part in the Work of Salvation . . 99 
 
 IV. The Mind of Christ 113 
 
 V. The Method of the Christian Life . . 122 
 
 VI. Acceptance with Christ 131 
 
 VIL The Greatness of Christ 141 
 
 VIII. The True Service of Christ . . . .151 
 
 IX. Christian Faith and Christian Profession • 159 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 X. Faithful unto Death 169 
 
 XI. The Greatness of the Christian's Work . 178 
 XII. Another Comforter 193 
 
 XIII. Tidings of Great Joy 204 
 
 XIV. The Victory that overcometh the World . 21.5 
 XV. Meditation of God 223 
 
 XVI. Out of Great Tribulation 231 
 
xMEMOIR. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION. 
 
 Franklin Samuel Bliss was born in Chesh- 
 ire, Mass., September 30, 1828, and died in 
 Greensboro, N. C, March 23, 1873. 
 
 He was the son of Samuel and Polly Knapp 
 Bliss, and grandson of Col. Nathaniel Bliss of 
 revolutionary memory. He had two sisters, both 
 older than himself, — Mary J., wife of Rev. A. A. 
 Gilbert, of Lanesboro, Mass., and Amanda, wife 
 of R. G. Green, of Elizabeth City, N. J. ; and one 
 brother, younger than himself, — Darius M., of 
 the firm of Porter and Bliss, of New York. 
 
 His father was a farmer, and trained his chil- 
 dren to those habits of industry and frugal econ- 
 omy which are characteristic of the farmers of New 
 England. At an early age his children were put 
 to such work as was suited to their age and 
 strength. For a short term, summer and winter, 
 they were sent to the district school, where they 
 
2 MEMOIR. 
 
 learned the rudiments of reading, writing, spell- 
 ing, geograpky, arithmetic, and grammar. Out 
 of school hours the inevitable " chores " in the 
 house and at the barn were to be done, and each 
 had his allotted task. 
 
 Franklin was an active, nervous child, fearless 
 almost to recklessness, very persistent and deter- 
 mined, firm in resisting opposition, but tender- 
 hearted and affectionate, and easily moved by ap- 
 peals to his sympathies or his conscience. He had 
 the common foibles and roughnesses of boys of like 
 aoe and circumstances, and we may be sure that 
 his quick, decisive, persistent nature would at 
 times lead him into faults which would be trying 
 to parents and teachers. 
 
 At the age of eight years he had scarlet fever 
 so severely that his recovery w^as for a time de- 
 spaired of, and his voice, his hearing, and his sight 
 were impaired for life. For three years he was 
 nearly blind, and some of the time he had to be 
 shut up in a dark room with a bandage over his 
 eyes. At eleven his sight was so far improved 
 that he could distinguish objects and do some work 
 on the farm, but not sufficiently to enable him to 
 read or attend school. These were years of great 
 dejection and trial ; but in his memory they were 
 brightened by recollections of his mother's love and 
 sympathy. 
 
 His mother was a Calvin istic Baptist, of an 
 earnest and lively piety, a patient and gentle spirit. 
 
EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION. 3 
 
 Her influence over her sadl}^ afflicted son was very- 
 great. Her presence was light and peace to him. 
 She understood him, and in her he confided. She 
 was his counselor, his comforter, his joy. She 
 sympathized with his sufferings, anticipated his 
 wants, and ministered to him with that gentleness, 
 patience, and wisdom which a Christian mother's 
 heart knows so well how to use. She was, for 
 some years, herself an invalid, and endured great 
 suffering. In 1838 the family removed to a larger 
 farm in Lanesboro, and two years later this lov- 
 ing, devout mother died. *' Never shall I forget," 
 writes his sister Mary, '' when I went to Frank- 
 lin's room on the morning after she died, and told 
 him of her death, how overwhelmed he was with 
 grief, although she had been so low for some time 
 that we had not expected her to live from one day 
 to another." Ever}^ day, for years, as the evening 
 twilight came on, he would withdraw from the 
 family and give himself up to paroxysms of grief. 
 Her death made a deep and life-long impression 
 on his mind. 
 
 He now felt himself more alone than ever. 
 Kind friends were around him, but his life was 
 different from theirs. By reason of his physical 
 infirmities he could only to a limited extent busy 
 himself with the things which occupied their atten- 
 tion. He was shut out from their hopes ; he must 
 lead a different life from theirs. He doubtless 
 had many sources of happiness, but no one who 
 
4 MEMOIR. 
 
 knew him can doubt that he led a more solitary 
 and contemplative life than is common to boys of 
 his age. It is known that he at times felt keenly 
 his isolation and his inability to be usefully em- 
 ployed. 
 
 Two years after his mother's death, his father 
 was married to i\lrs. Ann Porter, " one of the best 
 of women, and as true and kind to him as an own 
 mother." He frequently, in after life, bore earnest 
 testimony to her worth and to her kindness to 
 himself. 
 
 At the age of sixteen years, while playing in 
 the garret of his father's house, he found a pair of 
 his grandmother's spectacles, and in boyish sport 
 adjusted them to his own e^^es. What was his 
 surprise to discover that, with the help of the 
 glasses, he could see much more distinctly than he 
 had been accustomed. It had not been known 
 before that his eyes needed glasses adapted to 
 an old person. This discovery opened a new 
 world to him. He could now read and study, 
 and make himself useful. His health was uncer- 
 tain, and at times so poor as to keep him from 
 school ; but, as health and circumstances permit- 
 ted, he attended the high school at Lanesboro, of 
 which his brother-in-law, Mr. Gilbert, was princi- 
 pal. As a student he was conscientious, persever- 
 ing, and fond of discussion. He took great inter- 
 est in writing and declamation. His declamations, 
 as was afterwards learned, were all of his own 
 composition. 
 
EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION. 5 
 
 When sixteen or seventeen years of age, not 
 long after his discovery of the spectacles, he was 
 prostrated for some weeks with a fever. As has 
 been the experience of many others, the enforced 
 rest and quiet of convalescence led to much devout 
 meditation. With child-like docility and trust he 
 laid open his heart to his Heavenly Father, read 
 his Bible, questioned its meaning, and prayed for 
 light. And the promise, " Ask and ye shall 
 receive, seek and ye shall find," was graciously 
 fulfilled. The dawning light of faith then first 
 began to break in upon him, although the full 
 day did not come until some time after. He al- 
 ways looked back to this sick-bed experience as 
 the turning-point in his life. He then began to 
 be a Christian, and from that time he renounced 
 profanity and every form of thoughtless irrever- 
 ence, and began a life of humility and prayer- 
 fulness. 
 
 His views were crude and unformed, and in 
 many things amounted to little more than tenden- 
 cies and questionings. But the germs of faith and 
 spiritual life had begun to quicken within him, 
 and the great lines of truth were clearly seen by 
 him. From the first moments of his awakening 
 to newness of life, faith in the power of divine 
 grace and in the completeness of the final result 
 of Christ's mission to the world kept even pace 
 with his progress in a Christian experience. The 
 light which shone in upon his heart was the light 
 
6 MEMOIR. 
 
 of universal love and universal redemption. In 
 so far as his life was changed and renewed, tliis, as 
 he always claimed, was the transforming power. 
 He often told his friends that he became a Uni- 
 versalist by the prayerful study of the Bible while 
 lying on a sick-bed ; and used to speak with much 
 feeling of the new life which then dawned upon 
 him. But a long, earnest struggle was before him. 
 
 From his mother he had imbibed a strong sym- 
 pathy with some of the doctrines of the Baptists. 
 His father was a passive Universalist, but stead- 
 ily attended, with all his children, the Episcopal 
 church. The children attended Sunday-school, 
 and Franklin found in his lessons many points for 
 argument and discussion. Baptism by immersion 
 was one of his favorite doctrines, and a subject of 
 frequent discussion between him and his father. 
 His step-mother was a member of the Congrega- 
 tionalist church, and would also hold arguments 
 with Franklin on religious subjects. He grew 
 more and more decided in his convictions and in 
 his dissatisfaction with the Episcopal church, and 
 finally ceased attending that church, and on Sun- 
 day morning would leave the rest of the famil}^ 
 and go a mile further on to the Baptist church. 
 He did not think of joining the Baptist church, 
 nor had he lost his faith in Universalism, bat he 
 sympathized more with the doctrines of the Bap- 
 tists than with those of the Episcopalians. 
 
 Meanwhile he was also earnestly discussing the 
 
EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION. i 
 
 doctrines of Universalism. His compositions at 
 school were tinged with this faith ; he argued with 
 his friends in its behalf. With avowed Univer- 
 salists he often took issue on some point, with the 
 purpose, sometimes, of gaining light, and at other 
 times of overthrowing what he thought to be 
 error. Among those with whom he reasoned on 
 religious subjects was his cousin, A. A. Bliss, a 
 Universalist of decided opinions, who delighted 
 in discussion. The two cousins often took oppo- 
 site grounds and held many earnest arguments 
 together. They frequently attended church to- 
 gether, and on their way home discussed with 
 youthful ardor the sermon to which they had lis- 
 tened. Their residences were two miles apart, and 
 they usually separated in a piece of woods. It is 
 related that A. A. would sometimes go back after 
 they had parted and secretly follow Franklin, who, 
 on reaching a secluded place, would kneel and 
 offer a fervent prayer, asking for light and guid- 
 ance in his search for truth. 
 
 All the while he was growing in faith and 
 knowledge. His convictions were becoming clearer 
 and deeper. The light of divine grace was shining 
 into his soul with steadily increasing brightness. 
 He was asking, seeking, finding. 
 
 As he became more outspoken and decided in 
 his doctrinal views he met with much strong and 
 bitter opposition. He stood almost alone in the 
 town in which he lived. His thorough earnest- 
 
8 MEMOIR. 
 
 ness and his deep sense of the importance of rehg- 
 ious truth, we may well believe, led him to be, 
 not a flippant and noisy, but an outspoken and 
 persistent defender and advocate of whatever doc- 
 trines he embraced. Many were the slights and 
 sneers heaped upon him; but these, although 
 keenly felt, served only to make him the more 
 bravely patient and steadfast. It required firm- 
 ness and courage as well as faith to resist other 
 less positive but no less powerful influences. The 
 young man who breaks away from old habits of 
 irreligion and thoughtlessness, and turns to a life 
 of thoughtful piety and devotion, often finds open 
 argument and even bitter sarcasm less powerful 
 enemies than the good-natured irreverence and 
 ridicule of his companions. This is mortised into 
 his own past life and is hard to shake off. But 
 Franklin's faith was strong, deep, and true, and 
 his firm, decisive will held him to his purpose and 
 his duty. He quietly pursued his chosen way, 
 and won the respect of all. 
 
 After years of study, discussion, and prayer, 
 when twenty-one years of age, he openly avowed 
 himself a Universalist, and, in accordance with his 
 earnest and resolute nature, began at once attend- 
 ing the Universalist church in Cheshire, four miles 
 away. He was constant in his attendance, over- 
 coming all obstacles, which, considering the dis- 
 tance, the climate, and his delicate health, were 
 neither few nor small. He had now become es- 
 
EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION. 9 
 
 tablished in the leading principles of the Univer- 
 salist faith. He had .found that rest and peace 
 which he had been so long seeking, and which 
 never, in life or in death, forsook him. June 23, 
 
 1850, he applied for admission to the Universalist 
 church in Cheshire, of which Rev. A. W. Mason, 
 now of Markesan, Wisconsin, was then pastor ; 
 was baptized by immersion September 1, 1850, 
 and was admitted to the church February 24, 
 
 1851. Father Mason, in communicating these 
 dates, says, " For virtue, integrity, and a desire to 
 grow in grace he was a model young man." 
 
 On the day he was baptized, his cousin, A. A. 
 Bliss, with boyish curiosity, crept back, after their 
 separation in the woods, to hear the prayer Frank- 
 lin was accustomed to offer in that place. He 
 relates that when Franklin, after offering a prayer 
 of the most joyful devotion, arose from his knees, 
 his face shone as though transfigured by his com- 
 munion with his Maker ; and he turned to the 
 trees around him and discoursed to them as to a 
 listening multitude, telling them of the riches of 
 divine grace and of the joy that filled his heart. 
 His prayer and his discourse to the trees were so 
 earnest and unaffected, so expressive of a deep 
 and joyful faith and of the indwelling of the Holy 
 Spirit, that his cousin was awed and filled with 
 deep and lasting wonder. This was but the be- 
 ginning of that remarkable life of faith and prayer, 
 of joyful trust in God, whose influence made 
 
10 MEMOIR. 
 
 many hearts glad with a wondering joy, and 
 which had strange power to quicken the con- 
 sciences of men, to awaken faith, and to bring 
 men to Christ and newness of life. 
 
 From this time his devotions were never discon- 
 tinued for one day. He was often heard praying 
 in the fields and farm-buildings, and preaching to 
 the trees of the wood, and to the stanchions in the 
 stables. On retiring at night he always engaged 
 earnestly in prayer, — not always audibly, lest he 
 should disturb his room-mates. His brother and 
 step-brothers were all younger than himself, and 
 were sometimes careless in their words, not show- 
 ing quite the proper respect for his devout ways. 
 But his evident sincerity, uncomplaining gentle- 
 ness, and unwavering persistence soon conquered 
 them, and he was permitted to follow his inclina- 
 tions without annoyance. It was probably during 
 this same year, when he was about twenty-two 
 years of age, that he was put with a phj'sician in 
 the town of Adams to study medicine. It was 
 hardly expected he would become a practicing 
 physician. His bodily infirmities were so great 
 that it had been a serious question witli the fam- 
 ily whether he could succeed in any calling. It 
 was finally decided however that he should become 
 a druggist, and to this end he was put to the study 
 of medicine. 
 
 The whole business proved distasteful to him. 
 In a few months he came home of his own accord. 
 
EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION. 11 
 
 greatly against the wishes of his parents, espe- 
 cially of his father. He then, for the first time, 
 avowed his determination to become a minister of 
 the gospel. Those who knew him can well imagine 
 how earnest, decisive, and clean-cut that avowal 
 must have been. But he was strongly and hon- 
 estly opposed in this by all his family. It was 
 thought a preposterous notion, not to be coun- 
 tenanced in the least. He was assured that no 
 assistance would be given him for that purpose. 
 He was urged to return to the study of medicine, 
 and assistance was offered, if he would comply with 
 the wishes of his parents. He finally yielded to 
 the affectionate appeals of his step-mother so far 
 as to consent to return. But he was not convinced. 
 He went from love to his mother and from a de- 
 sire to please his family. He had no heart in it. 
 His brother's account of what followed bears the 
 marks of vivid and tender memory, and would 
 only be injured by any attempt to change it into 
 the language of another. '' I took him back," he 
 says, "one bright, beautiful Sabbath afternoon. 
 Although I had no sympathy with his ministerial 
 ideas, I v.'ell remember my pity for him in being 
 sent back to duties so distasteful. He remained a 
 few weeks and then walked home (a distance of 
 nine miles). I well remember how broken down 
 and despondent he looked as he approached the 
 house. As he entered he could no longer restrain 
 his feelings, but burst into tears, and begged to be 
 
12 MEMOIR. 
 
 left to follow his own inclinations ; said that it 
 was a sin for him to pursue a calling for which 
 he had no taste, and at the same time to leave 
 undone a work which he beheved he was called to 
 perform. He was excused from returning to 
 Adams, and work on the farm was offered as a 
 substitute. He accepted the alternative, and 
 worked cheerfully to the full extent of the task 
 allotted him, arising in the morning long before 
 his brothers, that he might accomplish his task 
 early and then devote himself to his books." 
 
 After the farm-work of the autumn was mostly 
 done, he attended school in Lanesboro for a short 
 time. In November he went to Virginia to en- 
 gage in teaching school at a good salary. After 
 teaching long enough to earn the money necessary 
 to support him at school for a term or two, he 
 started for Clinton, N. Y., with the purpose of 
 attending the Universalist academy at that place. 
 This was probably in February or March, 1851. 
 
 At Greenbush, opposite Albany, the river had 
 to be crossed on the ice. It was evening when he 
 arrived there, and, in going down to the ice from 
 the railway station, owing to his imperfect vision 
 he mistook the path, walked off the abutment at 
 the ferrj^ crossing, and fell a great distance, strik- 
 ing on his head and shoulders. When he came 
 to himself, he was lying on the ice, covered with 
 blood from a severe wound in the head, and sur- 
 rounded by hackmen who were earnestly at work 
 
EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION. 13 
 
 to restore him. He at once requested them to 
 send him on to CHnton ; but on being informed 
 that the cars had gone while he lay unconscious, 
 he consented to be taken to the hotel to await the 
 next train. His wounds were dressed, he drank a 
 cup of tea, and, with characteristic decision and 
 perseverance, took the cars the same evening and 
 pushed on in his journey. 
 
 On arriving at Clinton he entered the Institute 
 and made an attempt to pursue his studies. But 
 his fall had given him too great a shock, and he 
 was compelled to go home, where he arrived in 
 the night, sick, lame, bruised, disfigured, and al- 
 most heart-broken. " I then thought," says his 
 brother, " he was permanently broken down, and 
 feared he would never rally. He was greatly dis- 
 couraged, but soon began to recover, and all that 
 he gained of health and strength was once more 
 devoted to study. No sooner was he out than he 
 again entered Mr. Gilbert's school. He now made 
 great progress, and especially enjoyed declaiming, 
 discussion, and writing compositions." 
 
 Not being strong enough to work at farming, 
 and feeling the need of money to enable him to go 
 on with his studies, he acted as book-agent for a 
 time, and in the following winter taught a small 
 district school. In the autumn of 1852, he went 
 to New Jersey, where he obtained a good situation 
 as teacher, and remained until the next March. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 LIFE AT SOUTH WOODSTOCK, VT., AND AT EN- 
 FIELD, N. H. 
 
 In March, 1853, Mr. Bliss, then in his twenty- 
 fifth year, went to South Woodstock, Yt., and en- 
 tered the Green Mountain Liberal Institute, then 
 and for some years under the charge of Rev. John 
 S. Lee, one of the most persistent and successful 
 pioneers in denominational education, now a pro- 
 fessor in the theological school at Canton, N. Y. 
 At my request Dr. Lee wrote the following ac- 
 count of Mr. Bliss's life at South Woodstock and 
 of his first work in the ministry. The whole ac- 
 count is so much to the purpose of this memoir 
 that I quote the greater part of it with but slight 
 omissions and changes. 
 
 " In January, 1853," says Dr. Lee, '' I received 
 a letter from a young man in Clarksburg, N. J., 
 requesting the privilege of connecting himself with 
 our Institute for the purpose of pursuing his stud- 
 ies. The request was not an unusual one, but I 
 was surprised that he expressed a wish to enter 
 ' as a student of theology.' Ours was not a the- 
 ological school, but simply a country academy. 
 
LIFE AT SO urn WOODSTOCK, VT. 15 
 
 designed for students who wislied to pursue the 
 languages, the sciences, and the ordinary Enghsh 
 branches. I had not received any theological stu- 
 dents up to this time. He wrote thus : ' Having 
 determined to devote my days to the work of the 
 ministry, I am desirous of engaging in a course of 
 preparatory studies for the responsible duties of 
 that high vocation.' 
 
 "His letter was so sincere and earnest that I 
 concluded to receive him. He was then teaching, 
 but would return to his home in Lanesboro, Mass., 
 in a few weeks. From Lanesboro he wrote me 
 again, expressing his wish to join the hterary as- 
 sociation and the Bible class. In March he reached 
 South Woodstock, and came directly to my house. 
 He was a pale-faced, feeble-looking man of twenty- 
 four years. His appearance seemed to indicate 
 that he could not endure much vigorous study or 
 hard work of any kind. His defective sight and 
 hearing and his poor health gave him an appear- 
 ance altogether unfavorable as a student for the 
 ministry. Some of the student boarders began to 
 make sport of his defects and to laugh at his idio- 
 syncrasies. I was advised by a friend, who had 
 talked with him and noticed his deafness and want 
 of sociability, to try to induce him to give up the 
 ministry and go home. But on further acquaint- 
 ance with him, I discovered that he possessed good 
 natural abilities which ought to be developed. He 
 had the stern materials that make the hero and 
 
16 MEMOIR. 
 
 the martyr. He had devotion, self -consecration, 
 and persistence steadily to pursue his object until 
 he had accomplished it. 
 
 *' Heretofore he had met with so much discour- 
 agement that he afterwards said, if I had not en- 
 couraged him then, he should have abandoned his 
 design of entering the ministry and returned home 
 to engage in some other work. He could not be 
 idle. He must be engaged in some good work. 
 In our school he found kind friends who sympa- 
 thized with him in his plans and bade him God- 
 speed. He persevered amid great difficulties, 
 overcame them, and pushed on to success. He 
 was a thorough scholar, and patiently and success- 
 fully wrought out the problems presented to him. 
 He studied the ancient languages, got some knowl- 
 edge of mental and moral philosophy, and recited 
 to me privately in theology. He made astonishing 
 progress. His industry and perseverance removed 
 all obstacles. He was a good thinker and fluent 
 speaker. He took great interest in our debating 
 society. I remember how concerned I felt when 
 he rose for the first time to debate a question that 
 was under discussion. All e^^es were fixed upon 
 him. He hesitated not, nor wavered, but entered 
 immediately upon the discussion of the question 
 and handled it most skillfully. His ideas were 
 clear, his arguments sound, and his sentences were 
 so accurately put together that every one came 
 out of his mouth fit for the press. However com- 
 
LIFE AT SOUTH WOODSTOCK, VT. 17 
 
 plicated the sentence he would always bring it out 
 correctly. We were astonished and delighted. 
 He had passed the Rubicon, and was ready for 
 effective service. This fluency characterized all 
 his pulpit efforts during his whole life. If he had 
 an important idea to express, he never lacked the 
 right word to express it. 
 
 " Owing partly to his defective hearing, he was 
 not at this time social with strangers; but to 
 familiar friends and acquaintances he was always 
 courteous and genial. He became a favorite among 
 the students. Even those who at first made sport 
 of him became his fast and sympathizing friends. 
 When any special public service was wanted in the 
 school, he was the first one to be called on to per- 
 form it. 
 
 " Mr. Bliss preached his first sermon in West 
 Windsor, Vt., a town adjoining Woodstock. He 
 was anxious to commence preaching, and I pro- 
 cured for him this appointment in June, 1853. 
 He walked over to West Windsor, a distance of 
 five miles, on Sunday morning, in a cold rain. On 
 arriving at the church, he was cold and wet, and 
 went to the stove to get warm. As he stood there, 
 some of the congregation looked at him and ex- 
 pressed surprise that I should have sent such an 
 inferior-looking man to supply the pulpit. ' He 
 could not preach ! ' He entered the pulpit, con- 
 ducted all the services to the satisfaction of the 
 audience, and preached and able an interesting ser- 
 
 2 
 
18 MEMOIR. 
 
 mon. But again his hearers doubted, and ex- 
 pressed the opinion that he did not write the ser- 
 mon, but that I wrote it for him. The truth was, 
 that he wrote both of the sermons which he de- 
 livered on that day without consulting me at all, 
 unless it was concerning the choice of subjects. 
 After writing them out in full, he submitted them 
 to me, and I found it necessary to make only a 
 few verbal corrections. The general plan and 
 thought were admirable, and the style was lucid, 
 simple, and vigorous. The spirit of Christian ear- 
 nestness pervaded them. He often spoke of how 
 much he enjoyed preaching at West Windsor, and 
 walking to his appointment. He preached here 
 ten Sundays and received twenty dollars. 
 
 " He was naturally a good writer and an inter- 
 esting speaker. His whole soul was in the work, 
 and he brought all his natural and acquired abili- 
 ties to bear upon it. He soon became a popular 
 preacher, and his services were sought after more 
 than those of any other young man I have known 
 with so brief an experience. He made friends of 
 everybody, and interested all by his preaching; 
 thus justifying a remark once made by Dr. Isaiah 
 Buckman, of South Woodstock : ' Brother Bliss, 
 more than any young man of my acquaintance, 
 w^as made to be a preacher.' All who heard him 
 acknowledged the justness of the remark. 
 
 " In April, 1854, after studying with me a year, 
 he made an engagement with the Universalist 
 
ENFIELD, N. H. 19 
 
 society in Enfield, N. H., and went there to re- 
 side. He entered heartily upon the work to which 
 he had consecrated his energies and his life. He 
 was ordained at Enfield, January 18, 1855. I 
 preached the sermon, and Rev. John Moore gave 
 
 the charge, and presented the Scriptures 
 
 '* Here Mr. Bliss labored with untiring devo- 
 tion and a good degree of success. He took a 
 deep interest in the Sundaj^-school and Bible class 
 which he organized, reorganized the society and 
 infused new life into it, preached and lectured in 
 the school-houses in different sections of the town, 
 formed a church and introduced the Christian or- 
 dinances, interested himself earnestly in education, 
 working for the elevation of the common schools 
 and inducing many young people to attend our 
 denominational school at South Woodstock. He 
 sometimes felt a little discouraged at the indiffer- 
 ence of many to the deeper experiences and the 
 higher life of the Christian religion, and at times 
 thought it his duty to go to some other field of 
 labor, but was encouraged by his friends to work 
 on in this field for nearly three years. In Feb- 
 ruar}^, 1857, having received a flattering call to 
 settle in Barre, Vt., he resigned his charge, and 
 early in March removed to the latter place. On 
 his way to Barre, he was married by me at White 
 Eiver Village, Vt., March 5, to Mrs. Nancy 
 Bailey Spalding, with whom he had become ac- 
 quainted at Enfield, where she had been a faith- 
 
20 MEMOIR. 
 
 fill co-worker with him in the church. She was 
 educated at South Woodstock, and her attain- 
 ments were such as eminently to fit her for her 
 peculiar work as a pastor's wife, and she proved 
 to be a true help-meet to him through his life. 
 She still survives him." 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 LIFE AT BARRE, VT. 
 
 It was at Barre, in the midst of the beautiful 
 hills and valleys of one of the most charming sec- 
 tions of Vermont, in a busy little village of one 
 thousand inhabitants, and among the neat white 
 farm-houses which dotted the hillsides around, in 
 the midst of an intelhgent, hard-working, warm- 
 hearted, and thrifty people, that Mr. BUss was to 
 do his principal life-work and win his crown. 
 
 The society in Barre is one of the oldest in the 
 State. As we learn from the sermon preached by 
 Mr. Bliss on the seventy-fifth anniversary of the 
 society, the town records certify that sixteen men 
 under the leadership of Rev. William Farwell, 
 Elder, on the 27th day of October, 1796, " formed 
 themselves into a religious society, professing 
 themselves to be of the Universalist denomina- 
 tion, viz. believing in universal redemption and 
 salvation by the merits of Jesus Christ." There 
 is ample testimony to the fact that these were 
 men of marked character, and we know that a 
 religious society whose " elder " for many years 
 was " the saintly Farwell " must have caught 
 
22 MEMOIR. 
 
 something of liis warmth of devotion and ear- 
 nestness of faith. Father Lemuel Willis wrote 
 Brother Bliss, in October, 1871, the following ac- 
 count of this early apostle of our faith, which I 
 quote to show the impression Father Far well made 
 upon those who saw him and listened to his words : 
 " I never saw that saintly man but once ; that 
 was at the ever memorable convention in Warner, 
 N. H., in 1822. He then had much of that joy 
 which is unspeakable. I saw the good old man 
 weep, he was so happy ; and I heard him sing and 
 pray ; and such a prayer as he offered up at the 
 close of that convention I never heard before or 
 since. We were all in tears ; our hearts were full 
 of a divine influence while he bore us near the 
 great white throne. And when we separated at 
 that convention, he told us he should never more 
 meet with us in annual convention, but that we 
 all should meet again to part no more. His pre- 
 sentiment that this was his last meeting was veri- 
 fied. The next year he passed within the veil. 
 His memory is blessed." 
 
 In the year 1808 Rev. Paul Dean was settled 
 over the society, and in 1810 organized a church, 
 but in 1811 removed to Whitestown, N. Y. 
 Father Farwell continued to reside in Barre, and 
 to preach at times to the society there, but was 
 principally engaged in missionary labors. 
 
 In 1821 Rev. John E. Palmer, one of the ablest, 
 most devout, and humble preachers any church 
 
LIFE AT BARRE, VT. 23 
 
 ever had, " was settled as pastor of the society," 
 and exerted an influence which is still felt for 
 good. Under his ministry the society prospered, 
 the church revived, and a substantial brick edi- 
 fice was erected as a house of worship. Father 
 Palmer continued to reside here until 1843 or 
 1844, but did not preach here all that time, the 
 pulpit being supplied a part of the time by Rev. 
 Thomas Browning, John Moore, Eli Ballon, and 
 others. From 1844 to 1848 Rev. Rufus Sanborn 
 was pastor. He was succeeded in 1848 by Rev. 
 Joseph Sargent, whose pastorate continued until 
 the close of the year 1856. 
 
 The brick church built during Father Palmer's 
 ministry was in what is known as the South 
 Village. Previous to Brother Sargent's settle- 
 ment a new village had sprung up midway be- 
 tween the South Village and Twingville, and was 
 now fast becoming the principal place of business. 
 During Mr. Sargent's pastorate, and through his 
 tact and energy, a new church was built in the 
 Center Village. Of Mr. Sargent and his work Mr. 
 Bliss speaks in his anniversary sermon as follows : 
 " When he came here the prospects of the society 
 were not bright. The church had run down and 
 was not active. The meeting-house was out of 
 repair. The population and the business of the 
 town were leaving the South Village and center- 
 ing in this. He and many others felt that the 
 only salvation for the society was in having a new 
 
24 MEMOIR. 
 
 church, and having it in this vilhige, where the 
 other churches stood and where the business of the 
 town was done. So, after repeated efforts to re- 
 pair the old church had failed, Brother Sargent 
 applied himself to the raising of funds to build 
 this one. As we understand, he circulated the 
 subscription paper and led the movement, and 
 we believe it is the unanimous opinion among 
 you, that, if it had not been for Brother Sargent, 
 you could not have built this church. As we look 
 over the field to-day, it seems to us that this was 
 Brother Sargent's great work among you, and we 
 know that he so regarded it. I shall never forget 
 the charge he gave me one day when he and I 
 alone were in this church together, soon after I 
 came here. Putting his hand upon my shoulder, 
 while in his expression there was such a blending 
 of satisfaction and regret as touched my heart, he 
 said, ' Brother Bliss, I have built this visible 
 earthly temple ; now you must go on and build 
 up the invisible, spiritual temple. Organize the 
 church, start the conference and prayer-meeting, 
 look after the children and get them into the 
 Sunday-school. This is your especial work, as 
 the building of this church was mine.' " 
 
 There is every reason to believe that Mr. Bliss 
 with the utmost earnestness accepted the work 
 thus set before him. Until compelled by fatal 
 disease to give up his charge, he never for a day 
 slackened the tension of his purpose or of his toil. 
 
LIFE AT BARRE, VT. 2^ 
 
 His every energy of body and mind was conse- 
 crated with the most saintly devotion to this one 
 end, — of building up among his people an " invis- 
 ible, spiritual temple." And when in a distant 
 State he was step by step going down to the 
 grave, so long as the power of speech lasted, he 
 never ceased to pra}^, with his own peculiar ear- 
 nestness and faith, for his beloved people, and for 
 their spiritual growth and prosperity. 
 
 To those who were intimate with Mr. Bliss and 
 his work at Barre, there was from the first evi- 
 dent in him a marked clearness and singleness of 
 aim ; a fine spiritual insight, which enabled him 
 to apprehend readily the great central truths of 
 religion, and gave him a bold and fearless confi- 
 dence in the results of a clear and faithful procla- 
 mation of the truth ; a strong and decided denom- 
 inational faith and sympathy, and a yet deeper 
 love for Christ and his gospel, leading him to de- 
 sire to have the denomination first of all true and 
 righteous and faithful to Christ ; a steel-like keen- 
 ness, elasticity, and strength of mind, and, con- 
 sidering his apparent lack of bodily health, a 
 marvelous power to work. These qualities soon 
 attracted the attention of his colleagues in the 
 ministry, and made him a center of influence. 
 For years no other Universalist pastor in the State 
 exerted so fresh and wholesome an influence upon 
 other pastors and other churches as the pale-faced, 
 humble-appearing, but clear-voiced and devout 
 
26 MEMOIR. 
 
 young minister at Barre. Whenever he preached 
 on exchange, or at a convention, or association, he 
 surprised, awakened, and uplifted his hearers. His 
 very infirmities of hearing, sight, and voice no 
 doubt added to the surprise with which people 
 listened to his clear, vigorous, and earnest unfold- 
 ing of the truth, and to his direct appeals to their 
 consciences. 
 
 In his parish he began at once that system- 
 atic and thorough work for which he became re- 
 markable. His time was carefully distributed. 
 Monday he spent in reading, letter-writing, mak- 
 ing a few calls near home, and in recreation. 
 Tuesday and Wednesday he principally devoted 
 to the writing of a sermon, but generally also 
 made several parish calls, and spent some hours 
 in reading. Thursday was usually given to visit- 
 ing among his parishioners out upon the hills. 
 Friday and Saturday another sermon was regu- 
 larly written, and much other work was done. He 
 sawed his own wood, took care of his own garden, 
 and walked more or less every day, for exercise. 
 His sermons were always conscientiously written 
 out, and never failed of a definite purpose. His 
 aim was ever thoroughly practical and earnest. 
 His preaching was not for theoretical discussion or 
 for oratorical display, but for bringing men to faith 
 in Christ, and to the righteousness which is by 
 faith. He was himself an example of one who 
 shows his faith by his works, — by his obedience 
 
LIFE AT BARRE, VT. 27 
 
 to the law of Christ, and he was impatient of 
 those who made any pretense of being Universal- 
 ists, while they were not "doers of the word." 
 In all his work he strove with great singleness of 
 heart to lead men to a real, practical religious life 
 in Christ. 
 
 Besides his two regular services on Sunday, he 
 held meetings at regular intervals in the school- 
 houses in different parts of the town, and a por- 
 tion of the time he held evening meetings in his 
 church. 
 
 In his own family morning and evening prayers 
 were regularly held, and it is known to many 
 besides the writer, that private prayer was his 
 source of daily strength and joy. 
 
 It is gratifying to know that very soon the peo- 
 ple of Barre recognized the ability, earnestness, 
 and spirituality of their new pastor, and that many 
 gathered around him and encouraged him in his 
 work. His audiences gradually increased ; the 
 Sunday-school gained steadily in numbers and ef- 
 ficiency, and the whole parish began to feel a fresh 
 interest in religious affairs. 
 
 It had been the custom to omit the Sunday- 
 school during the winter, but Mr. Bliss induced 
 the people to hold a session of the school every 
 Sunday of the year. 
 
 It may be of interest to note, that in the first 
 year of Mr. Bliss's settlement in Barre the whole 
 number of scholars in the Sunday-school was sev- 
 
28 MEMOIR. 
 
 enty-five ; in 1871 the number of resident scholars 
 was one hundred and sixty-five ; the whole num- 
 ber on the roll, including students of Goddard 
 Seminary, was two hundred and sixty-three. Of 
 course this increase was in part owing to the 
 natural growth of the town, but it indicates the 
 faithfulness of pastor and people in doing the work 
 set before them. 
 
 Mr. Bliss often preached a series of sermons to 
 the young people of the parish. These sermons 
 were of the most wholesome and practical kind, 
 and were listened to by many young people of 
 other churches who were attracted by the ability 
 and earnestness of the preacher. 
 
 Whenever he was away on his summer vacation 
 he never permitted his church to be closed on 
 Sunday. He would either get some one to preach 
 for him, or induce some one in the congregation to 
 read a sermon and conduct the service. 
 
 In the spring of 1858 ^Irs. Bliss had a notice 
 read from the pulpit calling a meeting of the 
 ladies for the purpose of organizing a social circle. 
 Ten ladies responded to the call. Mrs. Bliss pre- 
 sented a constitution, which was adopted, and the 
 Ladies' Circle began its career of financial useful- 
 ness by holding a festival in March, 1859, and 
 thereby paying off the debt of the parish. In 
 1860 the ladies bought a parsonage, and in 1865 
 made the last payment. They have laid out 
 several hundred dollars at different times in re- 
 
LIFE AT BARRE, VT. 29 
 
 pairing the parsonage, have often paid a portion 
 of the minister's salar}^ have contributed a thou- 
 sand dollars to Goddard Seminary, and a like sum 
 for repairing the church. After recounting these 
 facts, Mr. Bliss in his anniversary discourse says, 
 " Such is the financial history of their work, while 
 their moral influence in the society, in the Sunday- 
 school, and in the church has been above all esti- 
 mate." 
 
 At the time Mr. Bliss came to Barre the church 
 organization was inactive. Indeed, this was then 
 the condition of many of the church organizations 
 connected with Universalist parishes in Vermont. 
 Various causes had conspired to this sad result, 
 and it would not be easy to distribute justly the 
 responsibility ; but that the ministers were in part 
 responsible there can be no. question. Mr. Bliss 
 saw very clearly the importance of the church and 
 its rites, and was strongly convinced of the duty 
 of behevers to join themselves together in Chris- 
 tian fellowship, and to commemorate the Lord's 
 death in the way He had appointed. He often 
 preached upon the subject, and often talked with 
 individuals about it, and made it the subject of 
 earnest and frequent prayer. On the 6th of Oc- 
 tober, 1859, he administered the Lord's Supper, 
 and from that time on regularly once in three 
 months; but there was no church organization 
 until November, 1860, when a branch of the state 
 church was formed, consisting of about fifty mem- 
 
80 MEMOIR. 
 
 bers. "April 24, 1867," said Mr. Bliss, in his 
 discourse previously quoted from, " we met and 
 formed ourselves into an independent or local 
 Universalist cliurcb, the state church having be- 
 come inoperative. At this meeting we adopted a 
 covenant much like that of the state church, un- 
 der which we acted until June T, 1869, when we 
 adopted what is known as the Roxbury Confession 
 and Plan of Church Organization. AVe work un- 
 der that now, and believe it the best ever brought 
 forward in our church." In the same discourse, 
 we are informed that in 1871 the church numbered 
 one hundred and eighteen members. 
 
 In regard to the conference meeting, Brother 
 Bliss was not so successful, although he deeply 
 felt the importance of it, and tried to get his 
 people interested in the work. They generally 
 approved of such meetings and enjoyed attending 
 them, but were unable to overcome their reluctance 
 to speak in a public religious meeting. 
 
 In the year 1863 a movement was started by 
 the Universalists of Vermont to establish and 
 endow an academy, to be located in such place as 
 a committee, consisting of three gentlemen not 
 residing in the State, should decide to be on the 
 whole the best place for the school. This com- 
 mittee consisted of Rev. A. A. Miner, D. D., of 
 Boston, Rev. G. W. Bailey, then of Lebanon, 
 N. H., and Hon. Eliphalet Trask, of Springfield, 
 INIass. During the years 1864-65, agents canvassed 
 
LIFE AT BARRE, VT. 31 
 
 the State and secured subscriptions to what was 
 thought to be the requisite amount, and in Decem- 
 ber, 1865, the committee, after visiting the various 
 competing points, met at Montpeher, and listened 
 to the offers and arguments presented by the rep- 
 resentatives of the various towns bidding for the 
 location of the school. From the first. Brother 
 Bliss and his parish were very much interested in 
 the movement, and in securing, if possible, the 
 location of the school at Barre. 
 
 At the meeting of the committee Mr. Bliss made 
 a very clear and effective statement of the claims 
 of Barre, and there is no doubt that his words 
 and his known efficiency as a pastor, preacher, 
 and rehgious teacher of the young had much 
 to do w^th the decision by which the school was 
 located at Barre. Those who were intimate with 
 Mr. Bliss at the time will remember how deeply 
 he felt the responsibility laid upon him and his 
 people by this decision, and how faithfully at that 
 time, and from time to time after the school was 
 established, he urged that responsibility upon his 
 congregation. The people of Barre have contrib- 
 uted something over twenty thousand dollars to 
 the school, and of this Mr. Bliss gave his full 
 share. But he felt that he and his people owed 
 the school something higher and better than lands 
 or money ; and it was his prayer and his deep de- 
 sire that in every way proper a wholesome moral 
 and rehgious influence might be thrown around the 
 
32 MEMOIR. 
 
 school by his church. He had an almost painful 
 sense of the responsibility resting upon him and 
 his people to fulfill the expectations of those who 
 had favored the location of the school at Barre. 
 In a sermon preached on the Sunday preceding 
 the opening of the school he said : " For myself, I 
 must confess that the responsibility seems great. 
 I feel like accepting my share of it with uncovered 
 head and on bended knees." I doubt not that 
 his people still feel his influence in this regard, 
 and will continue to be faithful to all the interests 
 of Goddard Seminary. 
 
 In the year 1868 Mr. Bliss put forth his little 
 book entitled " Steps in the Pathway from Youth 
 to Heaven." In the Preface he says : " The au- 
 thor of these pages, during a ministry of fifteen 
 years, has preached man}^ sermons to the young. 
 He has ever aimed to elevate their views of life, 
 to establish in their minds principles of morality 
 and religion, and to inspire their hearts with love 
 
 to God and man The following chapters 
 
 . . . . may be considered as comprising the sub- 
 stance of what he has said to the young at dif- 
 ferent times, rewritten with such modifications as 
 his present convictions suggest. He believes they 
 treat of what is of vital importance to them. He, 
 therefore, sends them forth, hoping and praying 
 that, with the blessing of God, they may benefit 
 those for whom they have been prepared." 
 
 The larger portion of the edition he ventured to 
 
LIFE AT BARRE, VT. 33 
 
 have printed was sold by subscription, in Barre 
 and the adjoining towns, previous to the publica- 
 tion. Such was his reputation in those towns, that 
 the book was subscribed for by people of other 
 churches with almost the same readiness as by 
 Universalists. The book was fragrant with the 
 ver}^ breath of the gospel, and no Christian who 
 reads it can fail to catch inspiration from its clear 
 and lofty views of our relations to God and to each 
 other, and of the duties which grow out of those 
 relations. 
 
 As the book is, unfortunately, out of print, I may 
 be justified in trying to convey some impression of 
 its tone by brief quotations. From the chapter on 
 " Love " I quote the following : — 
 
 " What, then, are tlie natural, the legitimate 
 works of love ? 
 
 " First, we say that love is a reformatory power, 
 a progressive spirit. You cannot have thought 
 much upon the state of society, or examined closely 
 the elements that are at work in it, without having 
 discovered two strong currents in its life, setting in 
 opposite directions. One is a current of grossness, 
 opposing all progress in society, all changes in 
 political and religious thought or institutions. It 
 is set against every movement for freedom, tem- 
 perance, the elevation of woman, the abolition of 
 aristocratic distinctions among men, arbitrary and 
 unjust institutions, war, dueling and similar forms 
 of grossness We need not say that we 
 
34 MEMOIR. 
 
 have no sympathy with that insane, destructive, 
 irreverent spirit which pours contempt upon every- 
 thing old, not sparing even the word of God. Let 
 the young be admonished that, however much this 
 spirit may boast of love, there is not one of the 
 elements of love in it. It contains the gall of bit- 
 terness, and, when fully developed, annihilates God, 
 disorganizes his government, obliterates moral dis- 
 tinctions, and leaves man without soul, duty, or 
 destiny. But there is in society a gross disposition 
 to worship the dead past ; to hold on stubbornly 
 and blindly to everything old, and to reject every- 
 thing new. It is against this we warn the young. 
 Be assured, young friends, that so wicked a world 
 as ours is may be improved. Where there is so 
 much ignorance and error and crime and suffering, 
 progress is possible. There has been advancement 
 in past ages in the arts and sciences, in social life, 
 in the laws and institutions of nations, and in re- 
 ligious ideas. And you may be certain there will 
 be farther advancement. Human governments 
 are not yet so just or liberal or well established 
 that they can be made no better. We have not 
 yet arrived at a perfect understanding of the Bible. 
 It will modify our creeds and revive our moral 
 codes more and more. And this is what we mean 
 when we say that love is a reformatory power. It 
 believes in progress. It hopes and labors for a bet- 
 ter condition of humanity. It calls continually for 
 more light, and urges men to make improvement 
 by assuring them of their capacity for progress. 
 
LIFE AT BARRE, VT. 35 
 
 " Now which of these tendencies do the young 
 desire to follow? Will you join the friends or the 
 foes of mankind ? Will you be found in the com- 
 pany of the living, progressive spirits of our age ; 
 those who are toiling to bring in a better era, 
 whose hearts are all warm with love for man, and 
 who are sacrificing and praying for his salvation ? 
 Of, will you take sides with the foes of society, 
 and give pride, oppression, intemperance, and 
 grossness your support ? We call on the young to 
 awake, to open their hearts to the divine spirit of 
 love, and join the advancing army in the world's 
 progress. Let every benevolent reform have your 
 hearty support. Do all you can to help the world 
 out of its lost condition. Give it your time, your 
 labor, your wealth, your prayers. These you will 
 give if your hearts are warm with the love of God. 
 .... Many abound in religious professions, in 
 ceremonies and doctrines, who are not willing to 
 do anything to help a suffering world, who never 
 seem to think that sheltering the homeless, feed- 
 ing the hungry, and clothing the naked is a part 
 of their duty as Christians. Let no young persons 
 understand us as even intimating that it is not 
 their duty to make a public profession of religion, 
 or that they may innocently neglect any of its 
 outward forms and observances. Christ requires 
 these of you. They are a part of his religion. 
 . ... But they are no more, taken alone, than 
 the dry trunk of the tree without limbs, foliage, 
 
36 MEMOIR. 
 
 and fruit. They will not be accepted in the place 
 of love, and if they do not lead to a life of Chris- 
 tian charity, they fail of their legitimate effect 
 upon the heart." 
 
 One of the most characteristic chapters in the 
 book is that on " Religion," and it is one which 
 most deserves to be read as a whole. But difficult 
 as it is to make the selections, I must quote here 
 a few passages. 
 
 "You cannot draw into your characters from the 
 earth, or from any or all the objects that exist upon 
 it, the elements of true life. They exist alone in 
 God, and He must give them. Your souls must 
 reach up towards Him as the flowers turn towards 
 the sunbeams. All your earthly culture can avail 
 but little until it is crowned and perfected by 
 heavenly or religious culture. Without this, your 
 progress is like the growth of plants in cold, dark 
 cellars 
 
 " The religious faculties are the highest endow- 
 ments of our being. They are the windows 
 through which we may look into heaven, the eyes 
 with which we see the Invisible. Our other fac- 
 ulties open to our perception things of time and 
 sense ; but these, when used, open to our view the 
 spiritual world. Whenever, therefore, they are 
 darkened, the dimness must fall on all those fac- 
 ulties that lie underneath them, as when the sky 
 is covered with clouds the lowly earth seems 
 clothed in gloom 
 
LIFE AT BARRE, VT. 37 
 
 " This cry of the soul is natural and irrepressi- 
 ble. It is one that has gone up from the great 
 heart of humanity in every age and clime and con- 
 dition. The question is not whether you shall 
 recognize God, acknowledge his existence, and 
 sometimes feel your dependence upon Him. This 
 you must do from a necessity of j^our nature. It 
 is true, ' the fool hath said in his heart, there is no 
 God ; ' but this is a depth of degradation to which 
 nature is seldom brought in youth. It is the re- 
 sult of a long hardening process of doubt, unbelief, 
 and sin. But even if you could be so foolish, so 
 debased, as to say with your lips, or in your god- 
 less lives, to the Almighty, ' Depart from us, for 
 we desire not the knowledge of thy ways,' yet 
 your hearts in their desolation will often turn to 
 Him with sighs and tears. They will grieve over 
 their own wretchedness, and their sadness will be 
 the child's sobbing for the absent parent, the in- 
 fant's cry to sleep upon the mother's bosom, the 
 prodigal's home-sickness when perishing far from 
 the father's house. Yes, God made the human 
 soul in his own image. It is of great value in his 
 sight. He will not permit it to drift out of his 
 sight, or wholly beyond his influence. His truth 
 and Spirit often seek it in warnings, admonitions, 
 and encouragements, even in its most wayward 
 life. There are many ties that bind the soul to 
 God, and by some one or more of these He holds 
 on even to the vilest of our race. 
 
38 MEMOIR. 
 
 I know not where his islands lift 
 Their fronded palms in air ; 
 
 I only know I cannot drift 
 Bevond his love and care.* 
 
 " And here let it be impressed upon your minds 
 that you can see God and draw near to Him in no 
 other way than the one He has appointed. You 
 may, indeed, see intimations of Him in nature and 
 providence. Your own hearts may call for Him, 
 but not until you look to ' Him in whom dwelleth 
 all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,' who is 
 ' the brightness of the Father's glor}^ and the ex- 
 press image of his person,' can you obtain a clear 
 and satisfying view of your Creator 
 
 " In Christ, the Lord, the Only Begotten Son of 
 God, and the Saviour of the world, you have the 
 response which your Heavenly Father makes to 
 the cry of your souls for the Living God. When 
 they exclaim with the patriarch, ' Oh, that I 
 knew where I might find Him ! that I might 
 come even to his seat ! ' the gospel replies : ' You 
 shall find Him in Christ ; you may come unto 
 God by Him.' .... 
 
 " Here, perhaps, we ought to stop. Here, in our 
 view, our theme is exhausted. We have reached 
 the uppermost round in the celestial ladder. In 
 telling you to look to Christ, believe in Him, re- 
 ceive his spirit, obey Him, we have told you all. 
 We have taken you into the Heavenly Presence. 
 We have led you along step by step in the upward 
 
LIFE AT BARRE, VT. 39 
 
 pathway until you have come even to the seat of 
 the Most High. 
 
 . ..." In pointing you to Christ we have told 
 you all that is essential to Christian faith and life. 
 Follow Him, and you do everything. Follow 
 Him, and your heaven begins below. You walk 
 with God on earth, are clothed with angel purity 
 even here amidst the dust that soils the garments 
 of this world. 
 
 " But oh, how far above the loftiest human ex- 
 cellence is this divine ideal of life ! Like the sun 
 in heaven, bright and glorious, it rises far above 
 us, but we cannot reach it. It is not in man alone 
 to live this divine life. It is not in human wis- 
 dom to conceive it, or in human strength to attain 
 unto it. God has given us the ideal in the gospel 
 of his Son. We can live in its light, behold its 
 glory, as we do the glory of the sun, but by our 
 own unaided powers it is no more in us to reach 
 it than to ascend to the orb of day 
 
 " How are you to come to Christ ? . . . . 
 
 " God has appointed the means as well as the 
 end 
 
 " The natural sense of right and wrong, the 
 voice of conscience, is the voice of God. If you will 
 take the first step towards Christ, you must listen 
 to this voice within ; you must hear this cry and 
 call of your religious nature. Obedience to the 
 heart's sense of duty, the quick and cheerful re- 
 sponse to what you feel to be right, is the only 
 
40 MEMOIR. 
 
 condition on which you will be permitted to know 
 anything of a true religious experience. The 
 humility and the purity that with child-like sim- 
 plicity go where they feel they ought to go, are 
 the starting-point on the way to Christ 
 
 '' Consult your natural religious impulses, and 
 while they will reveal religious wants, religious 
 aspirations, they will also make you painfully con- 
 scious of natural weakness, short-sightedness, and 
 proneness to error and sin. If you are true to 
 them, they will soon make you feel your need of 
 
 a clearer light than theirs As soon as your 
 
 souls begin to hunger and thirst after righteous- 
 ness, they find food and drink in the Scriptures to 
 refresh them. 
 
 " Here you have the second step. If you will 
 come to Christ in the sense of being his disciples, 
 come unto God by Him, and find peace and rest, 
 you must have a loving faith in the word of God. 
 You must take it as your guide, your rule of faith 
 and practice. It must speak to your minds as 
 having authority. You must hide it in your 
 hearts that you may not sin against Him 
 
 " But, while the Scriptures will be your guide to 
 Christ, they will soon make you feel your need of 
 help to understand and obey them 
 
 " The Scriptures will open the way that leads 
 to the Saviour, if you study them ; but how are 
 you to acquire the power or the will to walk in 
 it? ... . 
 
LIFE AT BARRE, VT. 41 
 
 " Our Saviour promises to send the spirit of truth 
 into the hearts of those who are seeking Him, to 
 guide them into all truth. We read that God will 
 give his Holy Spirit to them who ask Him for it. 
 The work of the Spirit is to interest us in divine 
 and heavenly things, to quicken and enlighten the 
 soul, renew it in the likeness of God, and fill it 
 with holy love and peace. Its fruits are ' love, 
 joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, 
 faith, meekness, temperance.' The Holy Spirit, 
 dwelling in your hearts, will make you love the 
 study of the Scriptures, and enable you to perceive 
 in their teachings a divine wisdom, ' able to make 
 you wise unto salvation.' It will inspire delight 
 in prayer, make your communion with God con- 
 stant and sweet It inspires faith in prayer, 
 
 enables us to feel its power, humbles our souls 
 before God, fills them with the desire to draw near 
 to Him, and warms them with love for Him. . . . 
 But you will not stop with this personal experi- 
 ence. ' The love of God shed abroad in your 
 hearts ' will not permit you to be selfish or exclu- 
 sive. If you are indeed the followers of Christ, 
 you will love not only Him but his. The fellow- 
 ship of believing souls will be prized and sought. 
 The Sabbath, the sanctuary, the Sabbath-school, 
 the conference and prayer meeting, the church, 
 will all be valued as means of personal growth 
 in grace, and of religious influence 
 
 " When you attain unto the new life in Christ, 
 
42 MEMOIR. 
 
 feel a nearness to Him, a oneness with Him, you 
 will esteem it no less a privilege than a duty to 
 make this fellowship known by an open profes- 
 sion of your faith in Him. You will delight in 
 observing ' all things whatsoever He has said unto 
 you.' In imitation of his example, and in com- 
 pany with his true followers of every age, you 
 will seek to fulfill all righteousness. You will not 
 delay to take upon yourselves the solemn baptis- 
 mal vows which will be to you at once the sign 
 and seal of your faith, love, and devotion, and the 
 symbol of spiritual cleansing. You will improve 
 each opportunity^ to eat and drink at the table of 
 your Lord, and you will do it with warmer affec- 
 tion and greater delight than glows in your hearts 
 when sitting with your best earthly friends. You 
 will fully join yourselves with the company of 
 his open followers, as a pledge of fervent love to 
 Him, for their encouragement and for your own 
 strengthening. In a word, you will strive, by a 
 faithful use of all the means the gospel provides, 
 not only to grow in grace yourselves, but to bring 
 all men to the knowledge and the freedom of the 
 truth as it is in Jesus." 
 
 The last chapter of the book bears the title 
 " Heaven," and glows with the author's ardent 
 faith in immortality. 
 
 " The fact of man's immortality stands out con- 
 spicuously on the inspired page. It is inwoven 
 with all the interests of human life. It is held up 
 
LIFE AT BARRE, VT. 43 
 
 to our view to lure us from the way of evil and to 
 
 encourage us in the practice of virtue It is 
 
 the element that gives value to the human soul 
 
 and dignity to human character The young 
 
 should early bring themselves to realize that they 
 are immortal now, that they now have in their 
 own souls the germs of an endless life, which, un- 
 der God, is their own. Remember, young reader, 
 that you have a separate life, a personal identity, 
 which will never vanish into nothingness, or fade 
 into unconscious existence, or be lost in the life of 
 other beings. And if you follow out this thought 
 to its legitimate conclusion, it will teach you that 
 life is not a shadow or a vision, but a reality, that 
 it brings you a work to do, a mission to fulfill, and 
 assigns you a place to occupy both in time and 
 in eternity. We know of no opinion more de- 
 grading in its influence upon character than that 
 life is of little worth, a transient, meteoric phe- 
 nomenon, with no abiding significance. Convince 
 a man that his life may be put out like the blaze 
 of a candle, by a breath of air or the stroke of a 
 hand ; that thought and affection, hope, virtue, and 
 vice are only illusions that pertain to this world 
 and will all vanish forever at the grave, and what 
 has he more to live for than the brute ? If this is 
 true, he is a brute. He has only earthly parts, 
 and fidelity to his nature requires that he shall live 
 
 solely for earthly things Pride, selfishness, 
 
 and grossness come not from perceiving immortal 
 
44 MEMOIR. 
 
 dignity and worth in our endowments, but from 
 forgetting what we are by nature, and placing the 
 highest vahie upon the accidents, the mere circum- 
 stances of life, — the beauty of our person, it may 
 be, the richness of our attire, the splendor of our 
 dwellings, or the greatness of our possessions. 
 But when we look within and venerate the death- 
 less faculties and powers which God has given us 
 all alike, we are humbled. We stand in awe at 
 the shrine of our own being. We realize that our 
 lives are sacred, not for anything we have done, 
 
 but for their own intrinsic value Is it not 
 
 a startling thought that every one of you has be- 
 gun this immortal life ? . . . . And what are the 
 influences of this sublime truth upon your conduct 
 and character ? . . . . Does it not teach you a les- 
 son of humility, self-control, and personal purity ? 
 Does it not reveal the criminality of your giving 
 up such powers to be driven before the tempest of 
 unhallowed passion? Oh, it is an awful deed for 
 men to give the divine, the immortal life which 
 God has bestowed upon them into the possession 
 of vile purposes, wicked principles, and vicious 
 practices, to let it sink down into ignorance, gross- 
 ness, and folly ! . . . . 
 
 " We therefore urge the young to ' remember 
 life eternal,' to ' look up to Heaven,' as they press 
 on through life. If you stud}^, remember that 
 you are educating immortal faculties. If you 
 associate with your fellow-beings, remember that 
 
LIFE AT BARRE, VT. 45 
 
 you are dealing with deathless spirits which will 
 feel the effects of your treatment, your example, 
 your words, your hatred, or your love, forever. 
 Remember that every influence you send out into 
 society will sweep on, a blessing or a curse to 
 countless immortal souls. You know not where 
 it will pause ; for the affections, the moral convic- 
 tions, the spiritual aspirations, all the endowments 
 that bind the race in one common life, are im- 
 mortal." 
 
 It was thought by some that Mr. Bliss was too 
 severe and puritanical in some of his opinions and 
 tastes. His standard of Christian life was high. 
 He was very earnest in his antagonism to what- 
 ever seemed to tend towards immorality or irre- 
 ligion. His whole soul was bent to one great 
 purpose. He judged everything with reference 
 to its practical tendency — to its influence on 
 morals and religion. He himself was willing to 
 renounce every pleasure and every selfish aim 
 for the sake of Christ and his fellow-men ; and 
 he could hardly understand those who were not 
 equally conscientious and devoted. He so utterly 
 abhorred a life of mere pleasure-seeking, that he 
 was, perhaps, sometimes too impatient of those 
 who had not his fine perception of truth and error, 
 of right and wrong. But was he not right in 
 calling upon all who claim the Christian name to 
 deny themselves, to seek after the best things, 
 and to give up all practices whose moral tendency 
 
46 MEMOIR. 
 
 is doubtful ? And although one may differ with 
 him in regard to the tendency of certain amuse- 
 ments, like dancing, card-playing, novel-reading, 
 yet who does not respect the lofty moral earnest- 
 ness with which he called upon all who loved 
 the Lord Jesus and their fellow-men to give up 
 whatever seemed to him to keep them from the 
 highest life and from the noblest influence upon 
 the world ? 
 
 That he was right in this, every man's con- 
 science bears witness ; that he misjudged the gen- 
 eral influence of the practices in question, as he 
 had observed that influence, is at least doubtful ; 
 and it must be remembered that it was of the 
 practical influence, the general tendency of these 
 amusements, as practiced under his observation, 
 that he assumed to judge and to speak. 
 
 Mr. Bliss had been trained to conservative 
 views in politics, and when he entered the min- 
 istry was strongly opposed to the free-soil move- 
 ment. His friend. Rev. H. A. Philbrook, used 
 often to discuss with him the merits of the anti- 
 slavery cause, and finally induced him to read the 
 " Liberator." The clear and vigorous arguments 
 and the moral earnestness of Garrison, as Mr. 
 Philbrook had expected, soon opened his eyes to 
 the great wrong of slavery, and to the responsi- 
 bility of the whole American people for suffering 
 this evil to be extended or perpetuated. It is 
 hardly necessary to add that he ever after took a 
 
LIFE AT BARRE, VT. 47 
 
 deep interest in the antislavery cause, and did all 
 he could by word and act in its behalf. He 
 preached plainly and vigorously on the subject, 
 distributed tracts, acted as agent for antislavery 
 publications, and often contributed money to the 
 cause. 
 
 Early in his ministry he also became convinced 
 that war is never under any circumstances justifi- 
 able, and that Christians should never engage in 
 it or encourage it. He preached against war with 
 as much zeal and earnestness as against slavery 
 and intemperance. All through the Civil War he 
 was a consistent Quaker. While he took the 
 deepest interest in the antislavery results of the 
 war, and did not pretend to say what the govern- 
 ment could do, in the present state of human 
 society, but to raise armies and seek to crush the 
 rebellion, he yet advocated the principles of peace, 
 and continued to declare that the servants of 
 Christ must not fight. He grieved at the terrible 
 suffering the war produced ; but, Aost of all, at 
 the wickedness of war itself, and at the low con- 
 dition of Christian life which made war necessary 
 or possible. His position on this question was 
 from no lack of firmness or courage in adhering to 
 the truth ; it came from no maudlin sentimental- 
 ism. He opposed war on principle, as antago- 
 nistic to both the letter and the spirit of the 
 gospel of Christ. 
 
 In this, as in many other things, he was in 
 
48 MEMOIR. 
 
 entire accord and sympathy with Father Pahiier, 
 "whom he greatly loved and revered. Those who 
 were intimate with Mr. Bliss will remember how 
 tenderly he always spoke of Father Palmer, and 
 how sincere and deep was his admiration for 
 that humble, devout, and consecrated minister of 
 Christ. 
 
 In education Mr. Bliss ever manifested the 
 deepest interest. He often deplored his own lack 
 of college training, and earnestly urged upon the 
 young to seek the best education their means and 
 opportunities allowed. He was a warm friend of 
 the school at South Woodstock, and I have already 
 spoken of the interest he took in Goddard Semi- 
 nary. But while he saw the importance of denom- 
 inational schools, his interest in education was by 
 no means limited to these, but was as broad as his 
 interest in humanity. He was for several years 
 town superintendent of schools in Barre, and by 
 his efficiency in that position won the respect and 
 friendship of the people generally throughout the 
 town. 
 
 He loved knowledge and enjoj^ed keenly the 
 pure delights of the scholar. His receptive mind 
 would have been wonderfully enlarged and en- 
 riched by a systematic course of study. But the 
 prevailing tendency of his mind was religious and 
 practical. His professional duties naturally led 
 him to read principally in the field of theology 
 and ethics. Devotional and practical religious 
 
LIFE AT BARRE, VT. 49 
 
 books, of whatever name, were, next to the Bible, 
 his chief dehght. His sermons were chiefly char- 
 acterized by an earnest, devout, practical spirit, 
 and his whole manner was that of one who " dwelt 
 with God" and who spoke what he saw "in the 
 Spirit." Learning would have broadened his views 
 and enlarged the field of his thought, — probably 
 it would have added to his usefulness. But no 
 learning could have added to the devout earnest- 
 ness of his life and work, or to the clearness of his 
 insight into the central spirit of the life that " is 
 hid with Christ in God." In his sermons and 
 in his conversation on religious subjects there was 
 no perfunctory use of words, no meaningless cant. 
 His face shone with a far-off light, and his voice, 
 clear and high, had a penetrating charm, an awak- 
 ening force, which no mere elocutionist could ex- 
 plain. 
 
 His style of composition was clear and forcible ; 
 but it was the simple truthfulness, earnestness, 
 and spirituality of the man which made people 
 listen with such interest to words which cut con- 
 science to the quick, and called men to repentance, 
 faith, godliness, and brotherly love. 
 
 By careful and conscientious economy Mr. Bliss 
 was enabled to be a systematic and generous giver. 
 Whenever a subscription paper was started for 
 any purpose of which he approved, he could be 
 depended on for help in proportion to his means. 
 
50 MEMOIR. 
 
 He needed no urging ; lie sought the opportunity. 
 He was a leader in every good work. 
 
 He was a kind and sympathetic friend to the 
 poor, the sick, the afflicted. He was the first to 
 call upon those in any trouble without regard to 
 social rank or religious sect, and he gave both 
 money and religious comfort with such warmth 
 and sincerity of heart as to win the love and 
 gratitude of all. 
 
 During his pastorate of fifteen years at Barre, 
 he became well known in the surrounding towns, 
 and was called upon to preach a great many 
 funeral sermons. 
 
 As the years went by his labors increased and 
 gradually wore upon his health. At various times 
 he talked of leaving Barre and seeking a new field 
 of labor, on the ground that he was getting weary, 
 and that it would be better for his people as well 
 as for himself that he should make a change. But 
 his people would not listen to such a thought, and 
 his friends urged him to remain where he was 
 doing so good a work. 
 
 In February, 1871, feeling the need of rest and 
 a change of climate, he went, in company with 
 Rev. Q. H. Shinn, on a missionary tour to West 
 Virginia. At Wheeling he preached eight Sun- 
 days, and while there organized a church and held 
 the communion service. On week days he visited 
 various places and held evening services wherever 
 he found opportunity, Mr. Shinn often accompany- 
 
LIFE AT BARRE, VT. 51 
 
 ing him. Wherever he preached the people lis- 
 tened with marked attention, and oftentimes after 
 the sermon many would rise and express their 
 gratitude and interest. 
 
 On his way to Virginia and on his return, Mr. 
 Bliss preached at Hightstown, N. J., was invited 
 to settle there, and agreed to do so provided his 
 society at Barre would release him. He felt that 
 his health was giving way, and did not doubt that, 
 on this account, his people would consent to his 
 making the change. On his return to Barre, he 
 laid the matter before his parish and tendered 
 his resignation. But the ties which bound their 
 hearts to him were too strong. If his health was 
 failing, he had spent his strength in their service, 
 and they could not allow strangers to take their 
 places in smoothing his pathway to the grave. But 
 they hoped he could yet regain his health and 
 still remain with them. After a long session they 
 unanimously voted not to accept his resignation, 
 but to lighten his labors by omitting the Sunday 
 morning sermon, putting the Sunday-school in the 
 place of the usual morning service. 
 
 The deep feeling of attachment manifested by 
 his people moved him from his purpose, and, con- 
 trary to his calmer judgment, induced him to with- 
 draw his resignation and to remain with his be- 
 loved people. But the weariness and depression 
 continued. His work dragged heavily upon him. 
 He was exacting with himself and could not be 
 content with less than the utmost he could do. 
 
52 MEMOIR. 
 
 On the 27th day of October, 1871, the society- 
 celebrated the seventy-fifth anniversary of its or- 
 ganization. For some months previous, Mr. Bliss 
 worked diligently in making the requisite prep- 
 aration for this meeting. He consulted the town 
 records, took down inscriptions from grave stones 
 in different parts of the town, conversed with all 
 the old residents of the town, wrote letters of 
 inquiry to distant States, and, in every possible 
 way and at great pains, gathered the materials for 
 a full and correct history of the society. Many 
 clergymen were present, and took part in the vari- 
 ous exercises of the occasion. Besides the histor- 
 ical discourse, and the religious exercises at the 
 church, there was at the town hall a dinner, and 
 after the dinner short addresses by several clergy- 
 men on various subjects appropriate to the occa- 
 sion. It was a part of the original plan to have 
 the whole proceedings published in a permanent 
 form. It was a great disappointment to Mr. Bliss 
 that this was not done, and is to be regretted by 
 our church everywhere. Such local histories fur- 
 nish important materials for the general history of 
 our church, and for the study of the principles of 
 its development. May we not hope that this vol- 
 ume, as prepared by our lamented brother, may 
 yet be published? 
 
 The extra labor of these anniversary services 
 and of preparing the volume for the press was a 
 severe strain on the already enfeebled energies of 
 
LIFE AT BARBE, VT. 53 
 
 this faithful servant, and, as he ever after thought, 
 was the proximate cause of his decHne. Soon after 
 this his ehisticity and strength began rapidly to 
 fail. His Tt^ork and its responsibilities began to 
 give him acute anxiety and pain ; but he still kept 
 on, and could not think of giving up in the midst 
 of a year's duties. During the winter, as usual, 
 he attended one or more funerals nearly every 
 week, often driving twenty or thirty miles over 
 the hills and through deep snows, and, as is the 
 custom in that region, preaching a regular sermon 
 in nearly every case. In the latter part of Febru- 
 ary, he attended in one week four funerals in as 
 many different towns, and the weather was very 
 cold and the snow very deep. It cannot be won- 
 dered at that a serious hemorrhage of the lungs 
 followed, and that he was much prostrated. For 
 two or three Sundays he did not attempt to 
 preach ; but he was unwilling to close his church, 
 and finding it difficult to get any one to preach in 
 his stead, he soon was again in his pulpit doing 
 the best he could. But his nerves became more 
 and more sensitive and weak, hemorrhages again 
 set in, and at last, in great grief, he was compelled 
 to give up his task and to resign his pastorship. It 
 was plain that his nerves were in too sensitive a 
 state for him to remain safely in the scene of his 
 wearisome toil, where everything reminded him of 
 his anxious strivings, and of what he regarded as 
 his unfinished and very imperfectly accomplished 
 
54 MEMOIR. 
 
 work. It was decided that be should seek quiet- 
 ness and rest at the home of a brother-in-law who 
 was a farmer, and lived in Springfield, New Hamp- 
 shire. 
 
 The excitement of seeing his furniture and 
 books packed, and of parting with his parishioners 
 and other friends, taxed him severely and brought 
 on his former alarming symptoms. He was com- 
 pelled to rest for a few days at the house of his 
 faithful friend and parishioner, Mr. L. F. Aldrich, 
 but soon seemed better, and, on the morning of 
 the eighth day of May, 1872, he bade farewell for- 
 ever to the beautiful valley and the surrounding 
 hills, where for fifteen years he had toiled so faith- 
 fully in his Master's work, and, in company with 
 his wife and adopted daughter, started on his jour- 
 ney to New Hampshire. 
 
 His last sermon in Barre was at a funeral held 
 in the church on Sunday, April 28th, from this 
 text : " Lord, make me to know mine end, and the 
 measure of my days, what it is ; that I may know 
 how frail I am." Ps. xxxviii. 4. 
 
 Just before retiring to rest that evening he 
 wrote in his diary as follows: "I have finished my 
 ministry in Barre of fifteen years and two months 
 
 this afternoon As I look over my work 
 
 here, it seems to me very imperfect. I have been 
 with this people in weakness. I have often erred 
 in judgment .... and been imprudent in word 
 and act. Still, I can truly say that my strongest 
 
LIFE AT BARRE, VT. 55 
 
 and prevailing desire has been to point and lead 
 them to Christ, to make them, so far as God should 
 give me the power, a Christian people. I have 
 prayed for them much, both in secret and in pub- 
 lic. I have not spared myself in laboring for them. 
 I have never intentionally flattered or deceived 
 them. I have loved them sincerely and tried to 
 comfort and help them." The page is blotted 
 with tears. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE LAST YEAR OF HIS LIFE. 
 
 On his way to Springfield, N. H., Mr. Bliss 
 went to Hanover to consult the professors of the 
 medical school in that place. They gave him 
 but little encouragement and advised perfect rest 
 from speaking. On reaching his brother-in-law's 
 he seemed for some weeks to be refreshed and 
 strengthened by the rest from mental toil and by 
 out-of-door exercise. But in July the heat de- 
 pressed him and caused such a thirst that he be- 
 gan to long for the springs of Saratoga, and on 
 the loth of July started for that place. At Bel- 
 lows Falls, at Rutland, and at Saratoga, his former 
 symptoms returned, but in a few days he began 
 to recuperate. At Saratoga his physician spoke 
 more hopefully of his case, and expressed the opin- 
 ion that he might occasionally preach without dan- 
 ger to his health. August 7th, he and his family 
 went to Cornish, N. H., and thence to Hanover, 
 where a distinguished medical professor assured 
 him that he had no serious disease of the lungs, 
 but that his trouble was a worn-out condition of 
 the nerves and a weak stomach. August 16th, he 
 
THE LAST YEAR OF BIS LIFE. 57 
 
 went with his family to Barnard, Vt., where 
 friends had arranged for him to preach two Sun- 
 days. Sunday evening, August 18th, he wrote in 
 his diary: "A pleasant day, and all the more 
 pleasant to me because in the good providence of 
 God I have been permitted to preach again." 
 
 From Barnard he returned to Springfield, N. H., 
 visiting at Lebanon and Enfield on the way. Sep- 
 tember 8th, he preached for his brother-in-law, 
 Kev. Lorenzo Bailey, a worthy minister of the 
 Christian denomination. He also preached three 
 Sundays in Waterbury, Conn. 
 
 On the 30th of September he went to the house 
 of his brother Darius in New York city, where on 
 the 8th of October he was joined by his wife and 
 child. During the month of October he preached 
 several times at Plympton Hall, at Williamsburg, 
 and elsewhere. He preached for the last time 
 October 27, 1872, at Branchville, N. J. In the 
 night he had a hemorrhage, but did not call the 
 people where he was staying, as he did not like to 
 disturb them. Even after this he had appoint- 
 ments to preach, but he could not meet them. 
 
 About the last of October, Mrs. Bliss, worn out 
 with care and anxiety, was prostrated by a danger- 
 ous illness, and Mr. Bliss was at the same time 
 attacked with alarming hemorrhages. It was a 
 time of great mental suffering for both. Each 
 was filled with anxious fears for the other. It 
 was thought that neither could live many weeks. 
 
58 MEMOIR. 
 
 When Mrs. Bliss began to recover it was thought 
 best that Mr. Bliss should go into the country, 
 where he could be more quiet, and that she should 
 follow him when she should be able. This sepa- 
 ration was a very great trial to Mr. Bliss, but, as 
 it was deemed best, he submitted. A week later 
 Mrs. Bliss joined him, and after a few weeks' rest 
 they both returned to their brother's house. 
 
 The hemorrhages continued at intervals until 
 December 10th, when they ceased and a cough set 
 in. 
 
 Late in December heav}^ snows began to fall, 
 and made it difficult for him to take his accus- 
 tomed walks. He accordingly decided to go south, 
 and on the first day of January, 1873, he and his 
 family started, with the intention of going to At- 
 lanta, Georgia. He was so feeble that he had to 
 take the journey in short stages, stopping several 
 times to rest; and, on reaching Greensboro, N. C, 
 he became so weary that he said he could go no 
 further. He had reached the last station in his 
 earthly pilgrimage. 
 
 At first they were troubled to find a suita- 
 ble boarding-place, but soon, in answer — as he, 
 with childlike gratitude, believed — to his trustful 
 prayer, they found just such a place as they de- 
 sired, and he seemed very happy. He and his 
 family formed many pleasant acquaintances among 
 their neighbors, and received many kind atten- 
 tions and tokens of sympathy from all. 
 
TEE LAST YEAR OF HIS LIFE. 59 
 
 Mr. Bliss continued to take long walks daily, 
 spending much of his time out of doors. He 
 attended the Methodist church regularly, and be- 
 came much attached to the pastor. Rev. J. A. 
 Cunningham, who used to call upon him and pray 
 with him. He was delighted with the people and 
 the climate, and for a time thought he was to 
 be benefited by the change. But his cough 
 continued, he grew thin in flesh, and by and by 
 it became evident that he must soon finish his 
 earthly course. At first, he had a strong desire, 
 for his wife's sake, to return to his brother's, but 
 when she assured him that she preferred to stay 
 where they were rather than that he should under- 
 take the journey, he said no more. 
 
 During the last weeks of his life, he often said 
 to his wife : " This is the happiest winter of my 
 life." She said to him : " I wonder that you can 
 be so cheerful and willing to go." " Why," said 
 he, "I long to go. There are no failures in 
 heaven, no blind eyes, no deaf ears. I know my 
 Heavenly Father has work for me to do there, and 
 I long to be about it. It will be hard for you, 
 but think of it as my release. The separation 
 will be but short. Heaven is our home." 
 
 Morning and evening, under all circumstances, 
 he read a chapter in the Bible, and knelt with 
 his family in prayer. His prayers were so earnest, 
 so full and specific, so childlike in trust, as to lift 
 every oite up with devout feeling. His prayers 
 
60 MEMOIR. 
 
 " had wings." He continued this family worship 
 to the last ; and when he no longer had strength 
 to kneel, he sat in his chair, and with bowed head 
 prayed so earnestly and tenderly for his people in 
 Barre, for each of his friends, and for the world, 
 as to almost break one's heart to hear him, sick 
 and feeble as he was. 
 
 About the last of February he began to show 
 symptoms of rapid decline. But he still took his 
 walks, and kept up his usual habits. On Satur- 
 day, March 15th, he walked a mile and a half, but 
 from this time had to give up walking, and on 
 Sunday, the 16th, for the first time during his stay 
 in Greensboro, remained at home from church. On 
 Monday, on Tuesday, and again on Wednesday, 
 he rode with his physician into the country a few 
 miles, and rested with a family to whom the phy- 
 sician introduced him, returning in the afternoon 
 very tired, but delighted with his ride, and with 
 the family whose brief acquaintance he had made. 
 Thursday morning he felt too unwell to rise ; to- 
 wards night was dressed for the last time, and sat 
 up two hours. After this he failed rapidly. His 
 mind was calm and clear and full of trust, until 
 Sunday morning, when the stupor of death settled 
 down upon him, and his mind became a little 
 wandering, but he knew his friends, although too 
 weak to talk. At nine o'clock on the morning of 
 March 23, 1873, just as the church bells were call- 
 ing the children to Sunday-school, in the forty- 
 
THE LAST YEAR OF HIS LIFE. 61 
 
 fifth year of his age, he breathed his last, and 
 " was taken home." 
 
 He had foreseen the long and sorrowful jour- 
 ney which his devoted wife must take, and had 
 planned all the details of it and of the funeral ser- 
 vices. The people in Greensboro were deeply im- 
 pressed with his serene faith, and were very kind 
 and sympathetic towards his family. On Monday, 
 Rev. Mr. Cunningham held a brief funeral service, 
 and the bereaved widow, bidding farewell to her 
 kind friends, started, in company with her daugh- 
 ter, for New York, where she arrived on Tuesday 
 evening, greatly worn with sorrow and the fa- 
 tigues of the journey. On the next morning, at 
 the house of Mr. Darius Bliss, Rev. E. C. Sweet- 
 ser held funeral services, speaking from the words 
 of Isaiah : " My thoughts are not your thoughts, 
 neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord." 
 In the afternoon of the same day, Mrs. Bliss and 
 daughter, accompanied by Mr. Darius Bliss, again 
 took up their mournful journey, and arrived in 
 Enfield, N. H., on Thursday morning, March 27th. 
 The body was carried directly to the little church 
 where Mr. Bliss had received his ordination, and 
 where he had first regularly preached. His old 
 parishioners, whom he always loved with peculiar 
 affection, gathered in the church ; listened to ap- 
 propriate words of Christian faith and consolation, 
 spoken by Rev. S. C. Hay ford, their pastor, by 
 Rev. J. H. Little, of an adjoining parish, and by 
 
62 MEMOIR. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Chase of the Methodist church ; took 
 then- last look of his pale and wasted features, 
 and bore his body to its resting-place. It was his 
 wish to be buried here. Only two days before 
 his death, he said that there was no place in the 
 world where he would rather rest than in the 
 beautiful yard back of the little church in En- 
 field. 
 
 " How revered 
 Had been that pious spirit, a tide 
 Of humble mourners testified, 
 "When, after pains dispensed to prove 
 The measure of God's chastening love, 
 Here, brought from far, his corse found rest, — 
 Fulfillment of his own request ; — 
 
 *' Less for the love of stream and rock, 
 Dear as they were, than that his flock, 
 When they no more their pastor's voice 
 Could hear to guide them in their choice 
 Through good and evil, help might have, 
 Admonished, from his silent grave, 
 Of righteousness, of sins forgiven. 
 For peace on earth and joy in heaven." 
 
 I cannot do better in concluding this memoir 
 of my friend than to quote the words of one who 
 has himself lately passed from his faithful service 
 on earth to his heavenly reward, and who nobly 
 exemplified what he earnestly desired that our 
 ministry should be. In " Our New Departure," 
 speaking of the noble and consecrated men of our 
 ministry whose "faces shine out of the past," 
 Dr. Brooks says: "And only a little while ago, 
 
THE LAST YEAR OF HIS LIFE. 63 
 
 after a long and weary struggle with disease, 
 another passed on to these faithful ones, — Franklin 
 Samuel Bliss, a man of no brilliant gifts or con- 
 spicuous position, and of many bodily infirmities, 
 but a man of faith and prayer, who in spite of 
 numerous physical impediments, which most per- 
 sons would have regarded as insuperable, gave 
 himself to Christ, and the endeavor to lead others 
 to him, with a sincerity and unction so impressive 
 and a consecration so entire, and loved our whole 
 church with a heart so large and warm, and a 
 response so ready, and supplemented all with a 
 life so penetrated with the spirit and power of our 
 faith, and therefore so pure and Christian, that his 
 very feebleness became mighty, and the fields in 
 which he toiled bore fruit in spiritual harvests 
 which will long attest how effectually he wrought. 
 Devoted and sainted one ! with what pathos come 
 to us who knew him and the limitations by which 
 he was hindered, those words among his last, as 
 he thought of the work God had for him to do 
 on the other side, 'I shall not be deaf or blind 
 in heaven; no weakness, no weariness there.' 
 Rather a thousand times would I choose the rec- 
 ord of this humble, unpretending, comparatively 
 obscure servant of the Lord, as it stands in God's 
 reckonings, than that of many another man of far 
 greater gifts and more commanding power and 
 wider fame, but without his love for Christ and 
 his zeal for souls." 
 
SERMONS. 
 
I. 
 
 CONFESSING CHRIST. 
 
 " Whosoever therefore shall confess rae before men, him will I 
 confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whoso- 
 ever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my 
 Father which is in heaven." — Matt. x. 32, 33. 
 
 The Saviour gave this warning to his disciples 
 under very peculiar circumstances. He was about 
 to send them forth to preach, and He foresaw and 
 foretold them of cruel persecutions. "Behold I 
 send you forth," He said, " as sheep in the midst 
 of wolves. They will deliver you up to the coun- 
 cils, and they will scourge you in their syna- 
 gogues. Ye shall be brought before governors and 
 kings for my sake. The brother shall dehver up 
 the brother to death, and the father the child ; 
 and the children shall rise up against their parents 
 and cause them to be put to death. And ye shall 
 be hated of all men for my name's sake." 
 
 This was, indeed, a dark picture of the future, 
 before which the bravest hearts might falter. All 
 these sufferings were to come upon them solely be- 
 
68 SEE^WNS. 
 
 cause they were the disciples of Christ ; and it 
 would seem that the Saviour's love for them 
 would lead Him to throw around them every pos- 
 sible protection. We might at first think that He 
 would be willing they should shield themselves be- 
 hind the veil of secret discipleship, if not of open 
 denial. But we find that He manifests his love for 
 them in no such way. So far from showing any 
 disposition to screen them from public scorn and 
 persecution, He seems desirous to bring them out 
 in the boldest manner. He thrusts them against 
 the severest prejudices and hostility of their en- 
 emies ; requires them to take an open, unequiv- 
 ocal position before the world as his disciples. 
 Only those who confessed Him before men would 
 He confess before his Father in heaven. Such as 
 denied Him would He deny. He would not own 
 them as his followers ; He would deny them the 
 blessedness and peace of his fellowship. 
 
 Stern requirements, exacting conditions, we may 
 say, under such circumstances. How could one 
 whose cause was apparently so weak and insignif- 
 icant set up such high claims ? How could He 
 afford to drive men from him by demanding of 
 them such sacrifices ? 
 
 Yet these have been the requirements and con- 
 ditions on which He has made disciples in every 
 age. The one test of his religion is, and ever has 
 been, that men confess Him before the world. He 
 will not own them as his followers until they own 
 
CONFESSING CHRIST. 69 
 
 Him as their Lord and Master and Saviour. They 
 must stand out before the world, openly, taking 
 his name, professing faith in his gospel, seeking to 
 do his work, cherishing his spirit, and striving to 
 be like Him. 
 
 In making this demand, the Saviour requires 
 nothing unusual or extreme. He simply founds 
 his church on a universal test of friendship and 
 fidelity. He recognizes a principle which we rec- 
 ognize and apply in all our social, political, and 
 religious relations. There is not a man or woman, 
 of the least discernment or self-respect, who will 
 own as a friend one who, under any circumstances, 
 would deny the friendship. There are people 
 enough who will own our friendship when we en- 
 joy the public favor, and are able to serve their 
 personal interests. But when misfortune over- 
 takes us and we can do no more for them, they 
 deny us to the face. Are such people friends ? 
 Are we willing to own and trust them as friends ? 
 
 But Christ has a great many such friends and 
 followers. When it requires no sacrifice of posi- 
 tion or profit to profess his religion, when it brings 
 friends and wealth and ease, then will such friends 
 confess Him before men, unite with his church, 
 and be zealous for his cause. But if his church is 
 small and weak, if it has not a proud position in 
 society, and does not enjoy the patronage of wealth 
 and learning, they forsake it and give it no sup- 
 port. 
 
70 SERMONS. 
 
 It was to teach us that such selfishness would 
 never be owned as Christian love and discipleship, 
 that Christ made the high claim upon his early 
 and persecuted followers. He wanted to lay the 
 foundation of his church upon a rock. He wanted 
 to work into the Christian temple only such ma- 
 terials as could withstand the severest shock of the 
 tempest. Hence He said to the multitude around 
 Him, " Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and my 
 word in this sinful generation,- of him shall the Son 
 of Man be ashamed;" and, "Whosoever will not 
 forsake all and follow me cannot be my disciple." 
 This was only asking proof of sincerity. We all 
 ask as much of those with whom we associate in 
 every sphere of life. If a person's professions of 
 friendship will not stand this test they are worth- 
 less. 
 
 Our acknowledgment or confession of Christ, to 
 be accepted of Him, must be direct and natural, 
 such as we make of other friends and principles. 
 People sometimes reason strangely upon this sub- 
 ject. They say, " We will confess Christ in our 
 lives ; we will show the world by our integrity 
 and charity and purity of life that we are Chris- 
 tians." This is well. We must confess Him in 
 our lives to be accepted of Him. If we deny Him 
 in life, it is equivalent to denying Him in every- 
 thing. But is this enough ? Is it such a confes- 
 sion, or rather is such a confession all that Christ 
 demanded of his disciples, to whom He addressed 
 
CONFESSING CHRIST. 71 
 
 the words of our text ? No, it certainly is not. 
 He required them to go out among his enemies 
 and their enemies, and in the face of persecution 
 declare themselves to be believers in Him and in 
 his religion ; to confess before the world that they 
 were his disciples and followers ; and to commit 
 and consecrate themselves fully to his cause. It 
 was a direct, verbal confession that they made. 
 This was the offense. They would not have been 
 molested merely for their upright, Christian lives. 
 But their open discipleship of Christ moved the 
 wrath of their enemies as nothing else could. His 
 name, which they boldly assumed, was hateful to 
 unbelievers, and inspired their persecutions. 
 
 Simply exemplifying the virtues and adopting 
 the principles of another is not, in a plain and 
 direct sense, acknowledging him. One question 
 will show this : Is it all the acknowledgment we 
 want from one who professes to be our friend ? 
 Here is a person who agrees with us in opinion 
 and practices all our virtues. Yet he never notices 
 us. He never expresses to us or to others senti- 
 ments of respect or feelings of friendship for us. 
 He never says that he is indebted to us for his 
 opinions, or virtues, or anything else. He never 
 makes any direct effort to help us or to honor us. 
 Now does that person acknowledge us ? Are we 
 satisfied with the confession which he makes of his 
 friendship ? If we love him, do not our hearts 
 long for a direct response from him? Can we 
 
72 SERMONS. 
 
 bear his distance and cold indifference ? We ex- 
 claim to ourselves, " If he loves me, why does he 
 not tell me of his love ? Why does he not come 
 and open his heart to me, and bless me with his 
 smile ? " 
 
 You may tell me that though we, on account of 
 our ignorance of each other's heart, need these 
 direct confessions, Christ does not need them, for 
 He knows t hearts of all men. But we think 
 He does need them. We think He revealed that 
 need when, just before his crucifixion. He insti- 
 tuted the supper, and said to his disciples, " Do 
 this in remembrance of me." He knows whether 
 men remember Him, but He wants them to give 
 some proof, some token, of their remembrance, — 
 to make some confession of it. We think He re- 
 vealed this need when, just after his resurrection 
 from the grave, and before his ascension. He said to 
 Peter three times, "Lovest thou me?" He knew 
 whether Peter loved Him, but He wanted to draw 
 out a direct confession of his love. And this is 
 what He wants of us and of all his disciples. What 
 reason have we to think that his loving heart, so 
 perfectly human while it was so perfectly divine, 
 can be satisfied with less of personal communion 
 and personal affection than our own ? The thought 
 deprives Him of half the attractiveness and beauty 
 of his character. It makes Him passionless and 
 rigid. 
 
 That something more is implied in confessing 
 
CONFESSING CHRIST. 73 
 
 Christ than merely living a good life is shown by 
 the fact that we may hold the opinions and prac- 
 tice the virtues of another, and yet know nothing 
 of him personally. A man may believe in many 
 of the doctrines of Plato who never heard of Plato, 
 and is in no sense his disciple. There are princi- 
 ples in the constitution of our country ; we have 
 laws and institutions, social and moral maxims, in 
 which we all believe, but which were the original 
 thoughts of men we know nothing about. And 
 do we become the disciples of these men simply 
 by believing their thoughts ? Some of the ancient 
 philosophers, who never heard of Christ, taught 
 substantially many of the doctrines of the gospel 
 before Christ was born. Was this a confession of 
 Christ on their part ? We repeat, confession im- 
 plies direct acknowledgment of Christ as our Sav- 
 iour, Lord, and Master. To own a friend is to 
 show him personal respect and friendship. To 
 confess the principles of a party or sect is to join 
 it and help on its work. And to confess Christ 
 is to join ourselves to the company of his open 
 followers, to call ourselves by his name, and in 
 every way He requires to espouse and help his 
 cause. Says the apostle, " With the heart man 
 believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth 
 confession is made unto salvation." 
 
 This doctrine of confessing Christ has been the 
 foundation of the Christian church in every age. 
 The form of confession has varied in different 
 
74 SERMONS. 
 
 churches, and at different times ; but the idea has 
 never been left out. From the ceremonies of Ro- 
 manism down through all the Protestant sects, to 
 the almost formless worship of the Quaker, con- 
 fession of Christ, as the test and proof of disciple- 
 ship, is everywhere made. 
 
 And is not the doctrine based on a fundamental 
 necessity of our nature ? What do we hold our 
 convictions for ? Is it simply to cherish them for 
 ourselves ? Or is it to publish them as truth for 
 the world, that they may bless others as they have 
 blessed us ? Can a conviction be fully formed and 
 firmly held in the mind before it is expressed ? 
 The utterance of our thoughts strengthens them. 
 We believe a truth more firmly by acknowledging 
 our belief in it. We love men more by telling 
 them the love we already have for them. It is a 
 law of our being that our characters grow by ex- 
 pression. Our principles, dispositions, and affec- 
 tions are unfolded by it. The child may be able 
 to distinguish the letters of the alphabet, but he 
 has not learned them until he can call them by 
 name. We may understand what we see on the 
 printed page, but we must be able to read it to 
 others before we can be said to have a real knowl- 
 edge of it. 
 
 And, my friends, we must be able to speak the 
 name of Christ ; like Thomas, we must be able to 
 cry, " j\Iy Lord, and my God," before our faith 
 in Him stands firm and our love is perfected. 
 
CONFESSING CHRIST. 75 
 
 Our tlieme involves the whole subject of the 
 Christian church and our relation to it. In every 
 ao-e it has been founded upon a confession of faith 
 in Christ. This is the chief corner-stone, the rock 
 on which it is built. When the eunuch was bap- 
 tized by Philip, his confession was, "- I believe 
 that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." Peter's 
 confession to his Master was, " Thou art the 
 Christ, the Son of the living God." Everywhere 
 and always the early disciples baptized in the 
 name of the Lord Jesus. In the beginning, the 
 church signified the aggregate body of believers in 
 Christ. Acknowledgment of Christ as man's re- 
 deemer from sin was the distinctive characteristic 
 of those who composed it. 
 
 And thus, through the successive Christian ages, 
 by this confession, converts have been made, dis- 
 ciples won, believers confirmed, and the church has 
 retained its independent and organized form, and 
 achieved its glorious triumphs. It has continued 
 and increased, and been identified with all that 
 concerns the advancement of God's spiritual king- 
 dom. It has satisfied the consciences and given 
 peace to hundreds of thousands of the most devout 
 and faithful followers of Christ. Under its benign 
 influence many beautiful plants of righteousness 
 have bloomed and borne fruit in the garden of 
 the Lord. It has been a power in the world to 
 make men '' steadfast, unmovable, always abound- 
 ing in the work of the Lord." It has been the 
 
76 SERMOXS. 
 
 watch-word that has called forth Christian heroism, 
 sympathy, and sacrifice. The sentiment of human 
 brotherliood has found its highest expression in the 
 church of Christ. 
 
 But after all that it has done for the world, is 
 there not a disposition in the public mind, even 
 in the Christian world, to ignore the church of 
 Christ? Do we not offer excuses for not uniting 
 with it which are plainly equivalent to saying that 
 it is of no importance ? It seems to us that there 
 is a wide-spread indifference and skepticism upon 
 this subject which is paralyzing the power of our 
 religion. How many speak lightly of the church ! 
 How many who claim to believe in Christ refuse 
 to confess Him before men, in the simple ordi- 
 nances of the gospel! Now we are aware that 
 the church is somewhat responsible for this state 
 of things. We know that it is often cold and 
 dead to the interests of humanity ; that on the 
 questions of freedom and temperance and all moral 
 reform it has not brought its united power to work 
 in the right direction. We know that in too many 
 instances it is not a live and active body, inspiring 
 its members with zeal for God, and giving them 
 work to do in the vineyard of Christ. We admit 
 all that may be said truthfull}^ of the imperfec- 
 tions and unfaithfulness of its members. But with 
 all its faults, is not the church of Christ above all 
 human institutions ? Has it not done more for the 
 enlightenment and salvation of the world than all 
 
CONFESSING CHRIST. 77 
 
 other institutions ? It lias stood the shocks of 
 time without being overthrown. It has sent the 
 word of God into every land upon which the sun 
 shines. It has shaken to their foundations the 
 shrines of idolatry, stanched the blood of human 
 sacrifices, and reared the peaceful altars of the one 
 living and true God among savage tribes. It has 
 established the home. It has organized human so- 
 ciety. It has softened the asperities of contending 
 nations, ameliorated the cruelties of war, and mod- 
 ified the severity of law. It has built school-houses 
 and colleges and asylums and churches. And in 
 the church of Christ to-day are being generated 
 those benevolent sentiments and principles which 
 are elevating and blessing mankind. 
 
 Now it cannot be that any man or woman who 
 loves God or mankind can be indifferent to an in- 
 stitution which has done so much. Nor is it just 
 to condemn it because it has not done everything. 
 It can be shown that it has done far more than 
 any other or all other institutions for the salvation 
 of the world. It has not done all that it could 
 have done or should have done. It has often erred 
 and been corrupted. But was not this to be ex- 
 pected ? Was it not inevitable in the condition 
 of human society ? When we look at the intel- 
 lectual and moral state of the world through the 
 ages past, the wonder is not that the church has 
 done so little, but that it has done so much, for 
 mankind. In its achievements we find the proph- 
 
78 SERMONS. 
 
 ecj of its final victory. The passage of years can 
 only strengthen this organization, which has for its 
 foundation the words and deeds, the life and death, 
 of the Son of God. 
 
 And do we not, in turning away from the 
 church, do ourselves and do the world great 
 wrong ? Is not our own faith weakened ? Is not 
 our connection with Christian institutions held by 
 looser ties ? Do we not deprive ourselves of those 
 means of grace which we have no right to neglect ? 
 And are we not living worldly, unspiritual lives 
 because we neglect them ? 
 
 But we are not the only sufferers. Our exam- 
 ple discourages others, especially the young. Par- 
 ents who neglect the church tell their children, in 
 plainer words than lips can utter, that they may 
 neglect it. Every person who unites with the 
 church of Christ casts his vote for Christianity ; a 
 captive is taken from the army of the world, and 
 enlisted in the army of Christ. The work of 
 Christ in the world is called a warfare. He is 
 called the captain of our salvation. His church 
 is now the church militant. And this warfare will 
 never be ended until Christ, subdues all things 
 unto Himself ; until every knee bows and every 
 tongue confesses to Him. 
 
 We do not wish to stand in a false position. 
 There is not a man or woman who would will- 
 ingly take sides against Christ and his gospel, who 
 would wish to be found in opposition to Christian 
 
CONFESSING CHRIST. 79 
 
 institutions. But have we considered in just what 
 direction and how far our influence goes when we 
 stand aloof from the Christian church ? We may- 
 no t mean to exert it against Christ, but it cer- 
 tainly is not for Him in the highest sense. It is 
 not open, positive, and direct, such as He requires 
 in our text. 
 
 The question is simply, Are we willing to be 
 Christians ? Are we willing to hold our principles, 
 dispositions, habits, all our life-powers, possessions, 
 and business, under the control of Christ? Are 
 we willing to enter the school of Christ and learn 
 of Him all our days ? Then should we unite with 
 his church immediatel}^, confess to Him what little 
 faith and love we have, and He will give us more. 
 We need not wait to become perfect, for a Chris- 
 tian in this world is nothing but as inful man or 
 woman who has entered the school of Christ with 
 the honest purpose of becoming better. We can- 
 not in a moment reconstruct our characters, change 
 our conduct, alter our relations to things that are 
 wrong, and be perfect Christians. But we can 
 begin to be imperfect Christians at any time. 
 And it is our duty to do this now. It is every 
 person's present duty to say, " I will try ; " "I 
 will do the best I can ; " " God help me." This is 
 the spirit in which we should confess Christ. Thus 
 confessing Him, He will confess us before his Fa- 
 ther in heaven. 
 
II. 
 
 SPIRITUAL GROWTH. 
 
 " But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and 
 Saviour Jesus Christ." — 2 Peter iii. 18. 
 
 Perhaps no term more frequently occurs in 
 the Bible, especially in the New Testament, than 
 the word grace. We read much of '' the grace of 
 God," " the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ," 
 ''the gospel of the grace of God." The apos- 
 tolic salutation in most of the epistles is, " Grace 
 to you, and peace from God our Father and the 
 Lord Jesus Christ." We are "justified freely by 
 his grace;" "by grace are we saved through faith, 
 and that not of ourselves ; it is the gift of God." 
 Where sin abounds, grace much more abounds ; 
 and the assurance is, that " as sin hath reigned 
 unto death, so grace shall reign through righteous- 
 ness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." 
 
 Frequently as this term is employed, no word 
 so variously applied could have greater uniformity 
 of meaning. It is defined as signifying "favor, 
 kindness, good will, benignity, the unmerited love 
 
SPIRITUAL GROWTH. 81 
 
 of God as bestowed on sinful men." This is its 
 original and literal import, and tlie Scriptures sel- 
 dom or never give it a meaning not involved in 
 the word itself. At one time they employ it to 
 denote the favor, kindness, and agreeableness of 
 men in their social relations. Often it expresses 
 the love of God to all men ; frequently, the divine 
 light and life which flow into the world through 
 Jesus Christ, and the gracious influences and as- 
 sistance of the Holy Spirit in the soul. 
 
 In our text we are admonished to grow in grace 
 and in a knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ. What is it to be in a state of grace ? Do 
 all men experience or enjoy the grace of God ? 
 Grace signifies, as we have seen, the love of God, 
 the influence of the Divine Spirit ; and it is often 
 said that these are elements of the divine nature 
 not in any sense dependent on human character, 
 always and everywhere the same, and therefore 
 that all men do actually enjoy and are in a state 
 of grace, that all possess in some degree the Holy 
 Spirit, and need no new communications of divine 
 life, but only a quickening or development of what 
 is in them. 
 
 But let us apply this doctrine to our other ex- 
 periences. It is true the grace, the love, the truth, 
 the purity of God, always and everywhere abound 
 over sin, over sorrow, over death ; no human power 
 or act can change them ; they are infinitely full 
 and perfect. But is not our relation to them, 
 
82 SERMONS. 
 
 our participation in them, our enjoyment of them 
 dependent on our spiritual condition, our charac- 
 ter and conduct ? The nature of the sun is never 
 changed : it is always full of light and heat ; it 
 alwaj^s shines in glorious splendor ; its rays per- 
 petually fly through space in every direction. But 
 does it follow, as a fact of our experience, that all 
 men dwell in a state of sunshine ? Do those who 
 spend their days in dark cellars and mines enjoy 
 its light and warmth ? Do not countless thousands 
 perish for want of them ? The earth is always 
 the same. Nothing that man does can change its 
 elements. It is ever a firm foundation, ever send- 
 hig forth its fruits and flowers. The refreshing 
 fountains flow and the air breathes around as 
 freely as possible. But all are not in a state to 
 enjoy them. There are certain conditions on our 
 part to be complied with before we can be nour- 
 ished by the earth's rich fruits, or refreshed at her 
 cooling fountains, or breathe her balmy air. We 
 must place ourselves in right relations to these ob- 
 jects, or they will not bless us. On the contrary, 
 as experience teaches, if we do not receive these 
 free gifts of nature, or if we pervert and abuse 
 them, they turn against us fierce instruments of 
 torture and powerful agencies for our degradation. 
 So the free grace of God, the divine spirit of 
 Jesus, may flow out to us, inviting us to the rich- 
 est spiritual blessings ; but if we will not receive 
 them, will not place ourselves under their influ- 
 
SPIRITUAL GROWTH. 83 
 
 ence, how can we be benefited by them ? "We 
 may not indeed be able to close up all the chan- 
 nels by which they seek to flow into our souls ; but 
 we can steel our hearts against them, quench the 
 Spirit that strives with us, close our ears to the 
 appeal of truth, harden our feelings against a 
 sense of duty, and thus practically exclude our- 
 selves from their divine enjoyments. 
 
 It is possible, then, for men not to be in a state 
 of grace, and all talk about growing in grace be- 
 fore we enter this state is premature. The person 
 who is living chiefly for the things of this world, 
 for material treasures ; whose mind is under the 
 control of avarice and pride, whose soul is filled 
 with hatred, and whose mouth is full of cursing 
 and bitterness ; who takes the name of his God in 
 vain, scoffs at religion, and rejects all the means of 
 moral and spiritual improvement, — that person 
 cannot properly be said to be in a state of grace. 
 On him the grace of God is bestowed in vain, as 
 the sunlight is upon the toiler in the mine ; he 
 does despite to the spirit of grace, and turns it 
 into shame. 
 
 To be in a state of grace, then, is to bring our- 
 selves under the influence of the love, the purity, 
 the truth, and the spirit of God, as revealed in 
 Jesus Christ. It is to come into harmony and re- 
 conciliation with Him. It is to be a partaker of 
 his divine life, or, as the apostle expresses it, to 
 " dwell in Him and He in us." 
 
84 SERifOXS. 
 
 The attainment of such a state implies, first, a 
 positive renunciation of sin. There must be a de- 
 liberate, calm, full, and firm determination that, 
 with the help of God, we will henceforth renounce 
 and refrain from what we deem to be wrong in 
 the sight of God ; deem to be forbidden in the 
 gospel of Jesus Christ. This determination must 
 not be any mere impulse, but the result of thought, 
 of serious, prayerful reflection, impressing us 
 deeply with a sense of the " exceeding sinfulness 
 of sin," and taking such strong and permanent 
 hold upon our feelings and convictions as to work 
 a complete revolution in our lives. We can be no 
 more indulgent or tolerant of wrong, no more 
 careless or indifferent, but in ver}^ deed, in sin- 
 cerity, and in truth we are to break off from sin 
 by righteousness ; we are to make it the first and 
 leading purpose of our lives to cultivate a keener 
 sense and gain a clearer view of right and wrong. 
 Until we bring ourselves to this point, until we 
 have established the determination within our own 
 hearts always to be on the side of right, against 
 the Avrong, sin has dominion over us ; we are en- 
 slaved to the world, to the lusts of the flesh, and 
 the pride of life, and cannot be the subjects of 
 the grace of God, the love, the truth, the purity, 
 and the divine spirit of Jesus. We do not say 
 that this determination will at once and forever 
 save us from all sin. We shall still be subject to 
 the weaknesses of our earthly condition, and may 
 
SPIRITUAL GROWTH. 85 
 
 often fall ; but it will change our relation to 
 them. Whereas before we were not established 
 either in good or evil, but were drifting, first be- 
 fore virtuous and then before vicious impulses, 
 now in heart and purpose, in intention and desire, 
 we are continually seeking the right, — seeking to 
 do the will of God, to follow Christ. There is a 
 voluntary, determined, positive consecration of the 
 life to them ; a leading, earnest effort to bring our- 
 selves under the control of the Divine Spirit. 
 
 To this state of mind must we come before we 
 can claim to be in a state of grace. And this is 
 not enough alone ; other steps must be taken. 
 To enter into a full and joyous participation of 
 the divine life there must be not only a positive 
 renunciation of sin and consecration of the heart 
 to God in secret, but a positive confession of Christ 
 before men. " With the heart man believeth unto 
 righteousness, and with the mouth confession is 
 made unto salvation." The salvation is not prom- 
 ised until the confession is made. And Christ 
 Himself says ; " Whosoever shall confess me before 
 men, him will I confess also before my Father 
 which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me 
 before men, him will I also deny before my Father 
 which is in heaven." It cannot be that the heart 
 which is unreservedly given to Christ, which from 
 deep conviction and abhorrence of evil has re- 
 nounced the hidden things of darkness, has been 
 renewed in the spirit of its mind, and has tasted 
 
86 SERMONS. 
 
 the heavenly gift, can fail to make acknowledg- 
 ment of the divine power by which the change has 
 been effected, and of the glorious life into which it 
 has been brought. It will do it, not only as an act 
 of obedience and honor to Christ, but from an irre- 
 pressible, overflowing desire to make its blessedness 
 known and shared by others. And it cannot be 
 that when the soul has once entered into so blessed 
 an experience it can long enjoy it, can live and 
 grow in it, in utter concealment. It is not the 
 nature of the Divine Spirit to hide its light. Those 
 who partake of it are said to be like a city set on 
 a hill, which cannot be hid ; like a candle giving 
 light to all in the room. And if they do not come 
 forward and confess themselves, both in word and 
 deed, the friends and disciples of Christ ; if they do 
 not humbly, yet sincerely and plainly, declare their 
 faith in Him, and intention by the help of God to 
 follow Him and make Him their Lord and Master ; 
 if they do not publicly join themselves to him by 
 numbering themselves with the members of his 
 body, which is the church, they will not, in a will- 
 ful neglect of these duties, long " continue in the 
 grace of God." Spiritual life will die out of their 
 souls, coldness and indiffer'^nce will creep over 
 them, and instead of growth there will be decay 
 and death. 
 
 These statements wo believe are authenticated 
 not only by tlie word of God, but by the whole 
 experience of the Christian church. Seeming ex- 
 
SPIRITUAL GROWTH. 87 
 
 ceptions no doubt there are, but the rule holds 
 good universally. From time to time sects have 
 arisen repudiating open confession, repudiating the 
 church and its ordinances ; but what has been 
 their history? That they have had good men, 
 eminent Christians, we do not deny ; but that they 
 have succeeded in elevating the masses of their 
 followers into a high spiritual condition is not true. 
 That they have been able to make their Christian 
 influence felt far and wide and permanently is not 
 true. That their efforts to disseminate their doc- 
 trines and obtain a commanding, influential posi- 
 tion among other sects have been eminently suc- 
 cessful is not true. And that they have not been 
 able long to sustain a vigorous growth, and have 
 generally begun to decay and lose zeal and power 
 as soon as the first impulse of opposition and nov- 
 elty passed awa}^, is a historic fact. And the in- 
 efficiency of the organic body is symbolic of the 
 spiritual decrepitude of the individual life. No 
 doubt true and devoted Christians have lived and 
 died, sustaining a fervent piety unto the end, with- 
 out forming an outward connection with the visible 
 church of Christ. But these are the exceptions, 
 not the rule. They have been people of some 
 peculiarities of organization, or they have been 
 unfortunately associated in life, — excluded by big- 
 otry or conscientious scruples on particular points. 
 But we affirm that the great body of all true be- 
 lievers in and sincere followers of Christ have 
 
88 SERMOXS. 
 
 esteemed, and "will in every age esteem it both 
 their duty and their privilege to make a public 
 profession of faith in Him, to unite with his church, 
 to number themselves v^ith the people of God. 
 And so few are the exceptions to this rule that 
 our feelings in regard to it may safelj^ be relied 
 upon as another test by which we may determine 
 whether we are in a state of grace. We know 
 that the most saintly men and women in every age 
 of the Christian era have rejoiced in this privilege; 
 we know that but very few comparativel}^ have 
 been able to sustain a living, growing piety with- 
 out it ; we know that an open profession of devo- 
 tion and loj^alty to any cause is deemed essential 
 to sincerity and manly courage ; we know that 
 Christian union and sympathy strengthen our 
 Christian faith and feeling, and that Christ has 
 enjoined it upon us as a means of giving efficiency 
 to our efforts. And knowing this, can we feel sat- 
 isfied with ourselves that we are full believers in 
 and mean to be sincere followers of Christ while 
 we do not confess Him before men ? No, we repeat ; 
 this is another sign of our being in a state of grace, 
 and we ought to examine our hearts very closel}^, 
 and feel very doubtful of our religious condition, if 
 we are satisfied without it. 
 
 But by the grace of God, having attained unto 
 a positive renunciation of sin and a positive con- 
 fession of Christ, how are we to continue and grow 
 in this grace ? Our work is now but just begun. 
 
SPIRITUAL GROWTH. 89 
 
 We are now, as it were, infants, just born into 
 spiritual life. How are we to be supported and 
 nourished into spiritual growth and strength ? Our 
 feet are now upon the way of life, and our faces 
 set heavenward. How are we to make progress ? 
 Too many think that if they are once converted, 
 once in a state of grace, they have nothing more 
 to do. But in truth, it is at this point that activ- 
 ity should begin. We have just attained a condi- 
 tion where our efforts for Christian growth will be 
 effectual. Here is where the command is given : 
 " Grow in grace and in a knowledge of our Lord 
 and Saviour Jesus Christ." 
 
 Let it be first observed that this is a command, 
 and hence it is something we are to do, and impUes 
 the use of means. Our spiritual life can no more 
 grow than our natural life unless we nourish it, 
 feed it with the food God has provided for its 
 strengthening. 
 
 The first condition of our growth in grace is 
 that we make it our great business, and do not 
 leave it to chance. As spiritual progress, constant 
 assimilation to God and Christ, is the hio^hest con- 
 ceivable good, it must be sought with the great- 
 est earnestness, with a desire corresponding to its 
 desirableness. We must seek first the kingdom 
 of God and his righteousness. Business, wealth, 
 pleasure, fame, must all be made of secondary 
 importance. To draw nearer to God, to bear 
 more of his gracious image, to have a greater full- 
 
90 SERMONS. 
 
 ness of his spirit, a closer and increasing fellow- 
 ship with Christ, and an ever-deepening peace and 
 joy in Him, will be the one absorbing object of our 
 lives. 
 
 To this end we shall make constant use of those 
 means which imply dependence on God. His 
 words will be in constant requisition. The gos- 
 pel will be delighted in and daily studied, so that 
 we can say with David, " Oh, how I love thy law ; 
 it is my meditation all the day." The character of 
 Christ, his works, his love, and precepts will be 
 investigated, that we may grow in the knowledge 
 of Jesus Christ. An increase of spiritual life in 
 the soul depends in some measure upon an increase 
 of knowledge. The more we know of God and 
 Christ the deeper and broader will be the religious 
 experience of the soul. Hence the Bible will not 
 be a neglected book with us. Its contents will be 
 treasured in the memory. We shall give ourselves 
 to reading, hearing, studying, searching the Script- 
 ures. The public ministry of the word will be 
 faithfully attended, and we shall thankfully accept 
 all the assistance in investigating it which learning 
 and piety can afford. One reason why we have 
 so little grace in our hearts, so little interest in 
 spiritual things, and make so little progress in di- 
 vine life, is that we do not read our Bibles. How 
 can the stream be full and fresh and sparkling if 
 not fed by the fountain ? The Bible is the fount- 
 ain of spiritual life in the soul, it is the gospel 
 
SPIRITUAL GROWTH. 91 
 
 of the grace of God ; and if we will grow in grace, 
 if we will feel an ever-deepening interest and 
 delight in spiritual things, if we will have an 
 increasing sense of the love and purity of God, 
 an increasing knowledge and enjoyment of Jesus 
 Christ, we must study it ; study it devoutly, ear- 
 nestly, daily; study it alone, together; question 
 each other and all the wise and good about its 
 meaning^. We must consult it as we would a 
 chart guiding us to a place we are very desirous to 
 reach ; as we would a rule in mathematics directing 
 how to solve a problem. Oh, yes, my friends, the 
 Bible contains the only rule by which the difficult 
 problem of life can be solved ; and we must study 
 it, understand it in all its applications, or life will 
 be a mystery and a failure. " Search the Script- 
 ures," is the injunction, " for in them ye have 
 eternal life." Search them as you would search 
 for a lost treasure, carefully, earnestly, with strong 
 desire to discover the pearl of great price. None 
 but those who have done this have found that eter- 
 nal life which is to know God aright and Jesus 
 Christ whom He has sent. 
 
 But again, to grow in grace and in the knowl- 
 edge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ we 
 must use unceasing prayer. This point, as it 
 seems to us, needs only a simple statement. Will 
 any claim that the prayerless person can be a 
 Christian ; be a follower, disciple, and have the 
 spirit of Him whose whole life was bathed in an 
 
92 SERJfONS. 
 
 atmosphere of devotion ; who taught that " men 
 ought always to pray and never to faint" ? Prayer 
 is the very breath, the vital spark, of the divine 
 life in the soul. It is the most natural and direct 
 way of access to God. In other religious exer- 
 cises we think, hear, and learn of Him. In prayer 
 we come directly to Him, as friend addresses 
 friend. And how can it be that the soul can lift 
 itself up unto the Father in humble adoration, in 
 sincere confession, in earnest petition and joyful 
 thanksgiving, without receiving a new baptism of 
 his Spirit ? The more we are in communion with 
 God, the brighter will the illumination of his pres- 
 ence fall upon us. Our dispositions and desires 
 bend towards the objects with which they are 
 most familiar. Thus constant prayerfulness turns 
 the current of our being upward ; while, on the 
 other hand, God has promised to give his Holy 
 Spirit to them that ask Him, to reward them who 
 diligentl}^ seek Him, and to bestow all things 
 whatsoever we ask in prayer, believing. Worship, 
 then, is a mighty agenc}'' to bring us into spiritual 
 union with God. It not only lifts the soul up to 
 Him, but it brings down blessings to the soul from 
 Him. It avails both with God and with men ; it 
 has power both in heaven and on earth ; and hence 
 it is so often and urgently enjoined upon all who 
 would increase in divine wisdom and purity. Can 
 it be that we can grow in grace and in a knowl- 
 edge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ while 
 
SPIRITUAL GROWTH. 93 
 
 we neglect so important an agency ? It is impos- 
 sible. The history of man affords not a single 
 example. The prayerless individual and church 
 always sink into spiritual decay. If we will draw 
 near to God, if we will learn of Christ, grow in 
 grace, have a living, increasing sense of divine 
 purity and love, we must pray unceasingly, live 
 in a devout, a reverent state of mind. We must 
 pray in secret, we must pray in our families, we 
 must pray in the worshiping assembly ; pray for 
 ourselves, our friends, our enemies, for the good, 
 the bad, for all men. The more we pray the 
 stronger will be our love for God and for men, 
 the greater our desires to improve ourselves and 
 others ; the less of selfishness and avarice and gross 
 passion shall we have. Let us remember, then, 
 that all talk about our being Christians, about our 
 being enlightened and liberal and progressive, is 
 idle and deceptive, while we live careless, worldly, 
 prayerless lives. If we know the grace of God 
 in truth, if we are spiritually joined to Christ, we 
 shall delight to think of God, meditate upon his 
 loving kindness, study his word, commune with 
 Him in prayer, observe his Sabbath day to keep 
 it holy, join with kindred spirits in public wor- 
 ship in the Sabbath-school and in the church. 
 And in the use of all these means we shall humbly 
 wait for and seek the illumination and guidance 
 of the Holy Spirit. Christ promised that after his 
 departure He would send it, to guide his disciples 
 
94 SERMONS. 
 
 into all truth, to be their comforter and quick- 
 ener. And do we need it less than they did? Oh, 
 do we not often feel our blindness, our weakness, 
 the deadness of our souls to spiritual interests, 
 the perverse inclinations that draw us away from 
 our Father and Saviour ? Do we not then need 
 the Holy Spirit to make intercession for us, to 
 strengthen, guide, and comfort us ? It will be 
 given if we seek it, if we will open our hearts and 
 let it enter. Indeed, without it all these other 
 means will but partially succeed. They will be, as 
 it were, a body without life. This is what lights 
 up the path of Christian progress, and gives living 
 power to the word, to prayer, and to the public 
 ministry. If we have a divine revelation, surely 
 we need a divine spirit to carry it home and inter- 
 pret it to the soul. And the Father, who knoweth 
 all our spiritual needs, will not fail to give it. Oh, 
 how divine its light, how pure its joy, how sweet 
 its comfort, how unerring its guidance ! 
 
 " Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly dove, 
 "With all thy quickening powers ; 
 Come shed abroad a Saviour's love 
 In these cold hearts of ours." 
 
 Having shown what it is to be in a state of 
 grace, and some of the means of growth therein, 
 let us, in closing, notice some of its fruits, its re- 
 sults. Progress in spiritual life will be evinced 
 both by inward experiences and by outward graces. 
 Where there is growth in grace, there will also be 
 
SPIRITUAL GROWTH. 95 
 
 an increase and strengthening of faith, — -faith in 
 God, in Christ, in man, in spiritual realities. In 
 the exercise of faith the Christian life commences ; 
 it lays hold on Christ, and receives pardon and 
 acceptance with God, adoption into his spiritual 
 family, and sweet reconciliation to his will. But 
 it is a progressive grace; it not only commences 
 but instrumentally it consummates the Christian 
 experience when it is lost in sight. It operates in 
 every intervening state, conflict, and trial through 
 which the Christian is called to pass ; and as we 
 grow in grace it will not only establish us in a firm 
 belief of the fundamental doctrines of the gospel, 
 not only make us true and faithful in defending 
 them, but it will blossom forth in a calm, peaceful, 
 child-like trust, holy resignation, and satisfying 
 hope. In all our trials it will enable us to kan 
 upon our Father's arm, and feel that in the Saviour 
 we have a sympathizer and helper who will not 
 fail or be discouraged. 
 
 And this confidence will lead us to a full conse- 
 cration of all our powers to promote the Redeem- 
 er's kingdom in the earth. We shall feel that we 
 owe this to the Saviour, and that He has a right to 
 expect it of us. It is eminently the work of faith 
 to spread the cause of Christ, and an evidence that 
 grace is alive and growing in the soul. As we 
 daily drink new draughts from the fountain of love 
 and purity, we shall long to have others share in 
 our blessedness, long to communicate the joyful 
 
96 SERMONS. 
 
 tidiDgs of grace and salvation ; and we shall be 
 willing to spend and be spent for Christ. The 
 talents of our mind, the labor of our hands, our 
 time, our means, will all be given as duty and the 
 interests of truth require. He who will follow 
 Christ must sell all, hold everything in readiness 
 for his service. The more faith discovers of the 
 beauty and glory of the Saviour, and the splen- 
 dors of that heavenly country to which he points, 
 the more worthless will this world's treasures ap- 
 pear, except as they are devoted to Him. 
 
 Growth in grace will be witnessed by an ever- 
 increasing charity and love. Where faith grows 
 love will abound, for faith works by love. They 
 are connected together as cause and effect. The 
 same principle that attaches men to the truth of 
 Christ will attach them to one another for the 
 truth's sake. Christ is the center of union to his 
 followers. As we love and draw near to Him, we 
 shall love and draw near to each other. As we 
 each receive his spirit, we shall all be of the same 
 spirit. As we have the mind of Christ, we shall 
 be of one mind and one heart, " striving together 
 for the faith of the gospel."' Hence discord and 
 contention and evil speaking are banished from 
 among Christians. They love one another ; they 
 live in peace ; they are not only friends but broth- 
 ers and sisters in Christ. 
 
 But their love is not exclusive. While it is dis- 
 criminating, it is impartial and universal. While 
 
SPIRITUAL GROWTH. 97 
 
 they love Christians as Christians, and the sinful 
 as lost and erring fellow-beings, they none the 
 less love man as man, as a child of God, an heir 
 of immortalit}^ and heaven. Through the eye of 
 faith they see the grace of God bringing salvation 
 unto all men, and teaching them to live soberly 
 and righteously in this present life. Hence their 
 love extends to all ; to bond and free ; to black 
 and white. They go out to seek and to save the 
 lost, the intemperate, the abandoned, the profane. 
 There are none so weak, so insignificant, so de- 
 graded, that Christian love does not reach them. 
 It sends out missionaries and bibles and tracts to 
 the most barbarous tribes. It sacrifices friendship 
 and home and ease and comfort and life itself, 
 that it may carry the light of heavenly truth to 
 darkened minds. It never tires or faints ; its re- 
 sources never fail ; its hopes never grow dim, 
 because its trust is in God. 
 
 And where we see the most zeal in these and 
 similar benevolent works, there, we may be sure, is 
 the most growth in grace ; the most saving knowl- 
 edge of the Lord Jesus Christ. By their fruits ye 
 shall know them. By these men will take knowl- 
 edge of us that we have been with Jesus. None 
 but those who are filled with the love of God, 
 who have the divine spirit of Jesus in their 
 hearts, engage heartily and continue perseveringly 
 in efforts to save their fellow-men. Seeking the 
 inward life and inspiration, that vital, growing 
 
98 SERMONS. 
 
 spirit of faith and love which will arm us against 
 all discouragements and make us faithful unto 
 death, making our lives exemplary, our works 
 Christ-like, and our intentions just, let us "grow 
 in grace, and in a knowledge of our Lord and 
 Saviour Jesus Christ." 
 
III. 
 
 OUR PART IN THE WORK OF SALVATION. 
 
 " What must I do to be saved 1" — Acts xvi. 30. 
 
 This question implies that we have something 
 to do to secure salvation. And this we all believe, 
 though we differ in our views of the nature of sal- 
 vation, and of the precise thing to be done, to 
 obtain it. While all Christians agree in believing 
 that man cannot save himself, that he needs a 
 Saviour, and must trust in Christ alone for salva- 
 tion, all are also united in the opinion that men 
 have something to do themselves, that they have a 
 cooperative agency in the work of salvation. 
 
 This is evidently the doctrine of the New Tes- 
 tament. It characterizes Christ as the Saviour of 
 sinners, the Saviour of the world ; assures us that 
 his is the only name given under heaven among 
 men whereby we must be saved ; and at the same 
 time, it tells us to work out our own salvation, to 
 repent, believe, confess, in order that we may be 
 saved. It is easy to reconcile these two agencies 
 in securing human salvation. As God is the author 
 
100 SERMONS. 
 
 of natural life, yet we receive it through hunian 
 agency ; so the grace and truth which alone can 
 save us is given by Christ, yet we must accept 
 and apply that grace and truth before it will save 
 us. As God gives us the fruits of the earth, yet 
 requires us to cultivate them before we can have 
 them, so Christ is the author of our salvation, yet 
 we receive it through faith and obedience. And 
 the question is, what are the steps we are to take, 
 what attainments are we to make, what duties 
 perform, in order to obtain salvation ? 
 
 The answers to these questions are not specu- 
 lative, but revealed. Perhaps no other question is 
 so often, so directly, and so explicitly answered in 
 the Scriptures as this one, " What must I do to be 
 saved? " And we purpose in this discourse to say 
 little more than to repeat the inspired answers to 
 this inquiry. 
 
 In all religious thought and experience the ex- 
 istence of God is the primary and fundamental 
 truth. God is ; God exists as the Creator, the 
 Upholder, the Sovereign, and the Judge of the 
 world ; He is infinitely holy and wise and good, 
 — these are the rudimentary truths of revealed re- 
 ligion. They are the first and simj)lest thoughts 
 of the Bible, and also of our minds when we begin 
 to feel our need of spiritual illumination. And 
 hence it was by pointing man to this fundamental 
 truth, that God is, that this question of our text 
 was first answered, '•'• Look unto me and be ye 
 
OUR PART IN THE WORK OF SALVATION. 101 
 
 saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and 
 there is none else." " Who hath declared and told 
 this from ancient time? Have not I, the Lord, 
 and there is no God else beside me, a just God and 
 a Saviour." 
 
 This is the first answer given us in the Script- 
 ures to the question, '^ What must I do to be 
 saved ? " " Look unto me and be ye saved, all the 
 ends of the earth." To look to God is to believe 
 in Him and to trust in Him. It is to reverence 
 and obey Him. It is to acknowledge Him as a 
 holy, just, and perfect being, and to bow submis- 
 sive to his will. It is to feel our dependence upon 
 God, to realize our weakness and sinfulness and 
 blindness, and to be humble before Him. 
 
 In thus looking to God we are saved ; saved 
 from disobedience to his requirements ; saved from 
 ignorance of his character ; saved from alienation 
 from his spirit ; saved from the moral and spirit- 
 ual darkness of those who know not God. 
 
 Now, in this first answer which the Scriptures 
 make to the question, '' What must I do to be 
 saved ?" we have the germ, the essential principle 
 or condition of salvation. Whenever we truly 
 look to God or turn to Him with full purpose of 
 heart, we are saved. Waiting upon God and obe- 
 dience to Him is salvation. We are saved to the 
 extent we look to Him with the inward eye of faith 
 aud love. 
 
 But in all ages men have failed to look to God 
 
102 SERMONS. 
 
 with that steadfast gaze which saves them from 
 ignorance of Him and disobedience to Him. Prac- 
 tically it has been demonstrated that men have 
 not the power in themselves alone to turn to God. 
 He is infinite and they are finite. They cannot 
 comprehend Him. He is an invisible spirit, while 
 they dwell in tabernacles of flesh and eartlily ob- 
 jects veil Him from their sight. Hence we cannot 
 approach the Infinite directly or look to Him with 
 a clear vision. We need to have Him brought 
 down, as it were, to our comprehension, and rep- 
 resented to us in a form that is visible to our dim 
 eyes. When God calls to us, " Look unto me and 
 be ye saved," our yearning hearts respond in the 
 language of the old patriarch, " Oh, that I knew 
 where I might find Him." This deep need of our 
 souls that God should be brought near to us by 
 some visible token has been felt in all ages. The 
 idolatry of pagan nations is the effort of the mind 
 to bring the Infinite and Invisible near and within 
 its comprehension. And God partly answered this 
 need when He gave the law with its signs and sym- 
 bols, its solemn rites and sacrifices. These helped 
 men to look to God with a clearer vision, and to 
 enjoy more of his salvation than they ever had 
 before. They brought human hearts into closer 
 union and holier communion with God. They 
 gave the world a higher religious life than it had 
 known before. 
 
 But they had not the power to save humanity 
 
OUR PART IN THE WORK OF SALVATION. 103 
 
 from all error and sin and suffering. They were 
 chiefly outward rules of life. They were laws 
 regulating the conduct in specific cases, and deal- 
 ing less with the spirit and motives of our con- 
 duct than with each separate act. Hence they 
 could not reach down to the center of life, and 
 renovate the springs of action. They made God 
 the ruler over our lives and the judge of our con- 
 duct, but they did not bring Him into our souls, 
 as an indwelling presence and life. And therefore 
 a more vital and spiritual ministry was needed to 
 bring salvation to all men. God must be revealed 
 in a life before men could see Him. 
 
 And this revelation was made in Jesus Christ. 
 In him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead. He 
 was the brightness of the Father's glory, so that 
 he could say to men, " He that had seen me hath 
 seen the Father ; " "No man cometh unto the 
 Father, but by me." He came forth from the 
 bosom of the Father, full of grace and truth. He 
 stands to us in the place of God, so that we look 
 to God when we look to Him. 
 
 Hence, now, under the Christian dispensation, 
 faith in Christ is equivalent to looking to God for 
 salvation. This truth is fully brought out in con- 
 nection with our text. We are all familiar with 
 the circumstances. Paul and Silas had been im- 
 prisoned for preaching the gospel. " At midnight 
 they prayed and sang praises unto God. And 
 suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the 
 
104 SER3fONS. 
 
 foundations of the prison were shaken : and im- 
 mediately all the doors were opened and every 
 one's bands were loosed. And the keeper of the 
 prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the 
 prison doors open, drew out his sword, and would 
 have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners 
 had fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, say- 
 ing, Do thyself no harm : for we are all here. 
 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came 
 trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, 
 and brought them out, and said. Sirs, what must 
 I do to be saved ? And they said. Believe on the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, " and thou shalt be saved and 
 thine house." 
 
 This is sufficiently definite. As they were at 
 first told to look to God and be saved, so now they 
 are told to believe on Christ, and they shall be 
 saved. We have no reason to think there was smj- 
 thing special or peculiar in this promise to the 
 jailer. The faith that would save him would save 
 us all. This is not the only passage in which sal- 
 vation is promised to faith. Says the Saviour, 
 " By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved." 
 " He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." 
 '' If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord 
 Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart that God 
 hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be 
 saved." The passages are almost innumerable in 
 which, by one form of speech or another, it is prom- 
 ised that those who believe on Christ shall be saved. 
 
OUR PART IN THE WORK OF SALVATION. 105 
 
 Here, then, we have another direct and positive 
 answer to the question, " What must I do to be 
 saved? " '' Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
 thou shalt be saved." And this answer is sub- 
 stantially the same as the first one, " Look unto 
 me and be ye saved." We are to see the Father 
 in the Son. We are to look to God, by faith in 
 Christ, who is the image of the invisible God. 
 
 But what is faith in Christ ? How are we to 
 believe on Him so as to be saved by Him ? Faith 
 in Christ is substantially what faith in any other 
 being or object would be. If we were to say of 
 a person, I believe in that man, what should we 
 mean ? Something more, certainly, than a simple 
 belief in his existence. I believe that a great 
 many men exist, or have existed, and yet I have 
 very little faith in the men themselves. To say 
 that I believe in a man is equivalent to saying 
 that I believe in his principles, in his character, 
 in his words and deeds. 
 
 And when we say that we believe in Christ, we 
 must mean something more than that we believe 
 He once existed on earth. This is not believing in 
 Him, but it is believing something in reference to 
 Him. It is well to believe this. But to believe 
 in Him we must believe that He was all that He 
 claimed to be. We must believe that He was a 
 truthful teacher. We must believe in his religion, 
 and in its supreme excellence and authority. We 
 must accept Him as our Saviour, and his rehgion 
 
106 SERMOXS. 
 
 as our religion. We must own Him to be our 
 teacher and guide, our lord and master. 
 
 This is believing on Christ, and when we have 
 this faith in Him, He saves us. He was without 
 sin, and when we have received Him, his spirit 
 and principles, into our hearts and lives, we are 
 saved from sin. His teachings are absolute truth, 
 and when we have received them we are saved 
 from error and falsehood. 
 
 His spirit is the spirit of God, and when we 
 have received it into our hearts, we are filled with 
 all the fullness of God. Christ was saved from 
 all evil, and to the extent we are Christ-like we 
 are saved. Faith in Christ is appropriating Christ 
 to our hearts and lives, so that He, by his truth 
 and spirit, dwells in us ; He lives in us and we in 
 Him. 
 
 There is much implied, then, in a saving faith 
 in Christ. It means the giving up of our lives to 
 be moulded and directed by Him. It is the sur- 
 render of our reason, our affections, our aims, and 
 hopes to be taught by Him. Not that we become 
 less individual or free or rational by our faith in 
 Him. On the contrary, the more fully our lives 
 are swallowed up in his life the more are we our- 
 selves. When we live out of Christ, we live false 
 lives ; we are not true to our own natures. We 
 are dead while we live to the highest and best 
 purpose of life. But in Christ we are made alive 
 to the design of our being. As the prodigal son 
 
OUR PART IN TEE WORK OF SALVATION. 107 
 
 came to himself when he argse and went to his 
 fathei*, so we come to ourselves when we come 
 unto God by the way of Christ. Christ is the 
 perfection of true manliness. He took upon Him- 
 self our nature, that he might sanctify and glorify 
 it in a sinless life. He shows us what we may be 
 and what we must be to enjoy the power of God 
 and the felicity of heaven. 
 
 A saving faith in Christ implies repentance of 
 sin. Christ began his ministry by calling on men 
 to repent. His disciples went out and preached 
 that men should repent. Speaking of the new 
 dispensation of grace given the world in Christ, 
 in comparison with former and less enlightened 
 ages, the apostle says, " The times of this igno- 
 rance God winked at, but now commandeth all 
 men, everywhere, to repent." 
 
 If the faith in Christ which saves us is spirit- 
 ual union with Him, it is evident that we cannot 
 exercise this faith until we have renounced and 
 put away all sinful dispositions and practices. 
 Repentance is that sorrow for sin which arises in 
 the mind from a sincere dislike of sin. It is put- 
 ting away sin because we do not love it, but hate 
 it, and realize how offensive it is to God, and how 
 great a wrong it is to ourselves and our fellow- 
 beings. Repentance is deep regret that we have 
 sinned and offended against God and his creatures. 
 It is a full and solemn determination to sin no 
 more, to watch and pray and seek the help of God 
 
108 SERMONS. 
 
 to overcome sin and to obey Him. We do not 
 truly look to God, or believe on Christ, until we 
 have thus repented of sin. We cannot be saved 
 while there is one, and that the least and most 
 secret sin, cherished in our hearts and not repented 
 of. One sin unrepented would be endless misery. 
 There is no peace to the wicked. Where there is 
 sin there must be torment forever. You and I 
 and every person must bow down before God in 
 true repentance before we can truly believe on 
 Christ or be saved by Him. 
 
 And we must not only repent, but we must be 
 forgiven our sins. We must feel assured in our 
 hearts that God has forgiven us ; that He has 
 accepted our repentance and our faith in Christ ; 
 that He knows them to be sincere and enduring. 
 Our hearts cannot have the peace of God until we 
 have this assurance. 
 
 If we have offended against a fellow-being, it 
 does not satisfy us simply to repent of the wrong 
 we have done. We want to know that our of- 
 fended brother is reconciled to us again. We 
 want to know that he is still our friend ; that he 
 has confidence in our repentance and will love us, 
 as if we had never offended. Can we look him in 
 the face, can we enjoy his company or be fully at 
 peace with him, until we have this assurance ! 
 
 Now our sinfulness has been an offense to God. 
 It has trampled upon his requirements ; it has 
 blinded our eyes to a knowledge of Him ; it has 
 
OUR PART IN THE WORK OF SALVATION. 109 
 
 alienated our hearts from Him, and robbed Him 
 of the worship and love and obedience which we 
 owe Him. And we need not only to repent of this 
 sinfulness, but to have evidence that God in his in- 
 finite love has forgiven it, put it away out of sight 
 and remembrance, so that He now loves us as much 
 as though we had never sinned, so that there is 
 perfect reconciliation between us. We cannot 
 feel that God is reconciled to us before we repent 
 and are forgiven. But after this the soul rests in 
 a peaceful assurance of the divine favor. Before, 
 there is a " certain fearful looking for of judgment 
 and fiery indignation ; " but afterwards, there is 
 peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 We have this assurance of forgiveness in Christ : 
 " God so loved the world, that He gave his only 
 begotten Son, that the world through Him might 
 be saved." " While we were dead in trespasses 
 and sins Christ died for us." " Herein is love, not 
 that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent 
 his Son to be the propitiation for our sins," " that 
 we might live through Him." And the sense of 
 God's forgiving love comes into our hearts through 
 faith in Christ. " In whom," says the apostle, "we 
 have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, through 
 his blood, according to the riches of his grace. 
 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, 
 through faith in his blood, to declare his right- 
 eousness, for the remission of sins that are past, 
 through the forbearance of God ; that He might 
 
110 SERMONS. 
 
 be just and the justifier of him which believeth 
 in Jesus." How evident it is that a sense of for- 
 giveness is included in a saving faith in Christ. 
 We cannot be saved until we know that our sins 
 are forgiven. 
 
 And this leads us to say, finally, that a saving 
 faith in Christ implies newness and consecration 
 of life. If we live by faith in the Son of God, we 
 shall be quickened by the Spirit. That must be 
 a dead faith which is not vitalized bj^ the Holy 
 Spirit and strengthened by prayer. Faith grows 
 by exercise. When we are brought into possession 
 of a true Christian faith, a faith which includes 
 repentance and forgiveness of sins, then we are 
 simply born again, or of the Spirit. We have just 
 begun the Christian life. And now, we must go 
 on to live in Christ, to grow in grace, to develop 
 the new life which is given us in Christ. This 
 must be nourished by the word of God and prayer. 
 It must be exercised by active service of our Mas- 
 ter. Having called us, he says to us, " Go work to- 
 day in my vineyard." '' Take up your cross and 
 follow me." And this cross must be borne openly, 
 before the world. Not only faith, but confession, 
 is made a condition of salvation. " If thou shalt 
 confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe 
 in thine heart, thou shalt be saved." " He that 
 confesseth me, him will I confess before my Father 
 which is in heaven." " He that believeth and is 
 baptized shall be saved." Those that hide their 
 
OUR PART IN THE WORK OF SALVATION. Ill 
 
 talent lose it. But those who let their light shine 
 lead men to glorify God. 
 
 We have here given you the Scriptural answer 
 to the question, " What must I do to be saved? " 
 It is briefly this, — Look to God, through faith in 
 Jesus Christ. Repent of sin and seek the forgive- 
 ness of sin. Open your hearts to the new and di- 
 vine life of the Holy Spirit, and having received 
 that life, consecrate it to the work of Christ. It is 
 impossible that one soul shall ever be saved until 
 it is thus renewed and sanctified and fitted for 
 heaven. " Without holiness, no man shall see the 
 Lord." 
 
 Who, then, can be saved ? With men it is 
 impossible, but with God all things are possible. 
 We answer this question, Who can be saved ? 
 just as the gospel answers it. It could not make 
 the conditions of salvation plainer. There is not 
 a promise or a hope of salvation held out in the 
 gospel to the unbelieving, unrepentant sinner. 
 " Repent and believe the gospel that your sins may 
 be blotted out," is the call of God to all men. 
 But, on the other hand, the gospel as positively 
 assures us that Christ is the Saviour of the world, 
 that he is the Lamb or Sacrifice of God to take 
 away the sin of the world ; that He tasted death 
 for every man, and will draw all men unto Him ; 
 that God will reconcile all things unto Himself, and 
 have all men to be saved and to come unto the 
 knowledge of the truth. Here are the conditions 
 
112 SERMONS. 
 
 of salvation, — faith, repentance, newness of life, 
 holiness ; and here are the promises of salvation to 
 all men. Will the promises fail ? or will the con- 
 ditions, finall}^, be complied with ? One or the 
 other must be. Oh, blessed be God, it is the work 
 of Christ to bring all men to comply with the 
 conditions of salvation. He saves us by fulfilling, 
 not for us, but in us, the conditions of salvation. 
 So while our salvation is wholly of Christ, we re- 
 ceive it through our voluntary acceptance of Him. 
 If we do not repent and believe now, or in this 
 world, Christ's work, as our Saviour, will not be 
 done till He draws us unto Himself. But this we 
 know, that neither in this world nor the next will 
 there be any other or easier terms of salvation. 
 We are therefore called to repent and believe now. 
 " Now is the accepted time ; now is the day of sal- 
 vation." 
 
IV. 
 
 THE MIND OF CHRIST. 
 
 '* Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." — 
 Philippians ii. 5. 
 
 These earnest words, orginally addressed by 
 the apostle to the Philippian Christians, may be 
 received as addressed to all Christians, and indeed 
 to all men. We are all called upon to possess 
 ourselves of the mind, disposition, desires, feelings, 
 affections, and character of Christ. The apostle 
 frequently urges men to know Christ, to follow 
 Him, to imitate Him, to be like Him, and in 
 Him. These expressions show us how great a 
 work must be wrought in us before we can know 
 the fullness of Christ's salvation. We must be 
 like-minded with Christ before we can have peace 
 and be fully satisfied. This is the lesson which 
 this discourse is intended to teach. 
 
 The human soul is the most excellent and glo- 
 rious work of God. Nothing in all his limitless 
 creation so clearly and forcibly displays his wisdom 
 and might, his love and goodness. The sun in the 
 
114 SEP.MONS. 
 
 heavens, the mighty ocean, the delicate and beau- 
 tiful flower, speak of his skill and benevolence, but 
 the soul of man is made in his image. A right- 
 eous soul has enstamped upon it, not only his spir- 
 itual likeness, but his eternity. It outshines and 
 will outlive all material things. Great in capacity, 
 wonderful in ability, inexhaustible in resources, 
 beautiful in nature, divine in origin, and glorious 
 in destiny, it stands at the ver}^ summit of crea- 
 tion. 
 
 And its character, the manifestations of its life, 
 may be as glorious as its endowments. 
 
 But they are not always glorious. They are 
 sometimes dark, unlovely, and sinful. It is impos- 
 sible to disguise the fact of moral evil. Nor can 
 we palliate or excuse it. There is radical, pre- 
 vailing sinfulness in the world. Traces and evi- 
 dences of it are visible all over the earth. Society 
 is weakened, burdened, convulsed by the wicked- 
 ness that finds a home in human hearts. All men 
 have their besettinof sins. Sometimes the minds 
 that are strongest and soar the highest will grovel 
 the lowest. Imperial genius and rarest gifts and 
 attainments will bury themselves in the dust. 
 The strongest in virtue have sometimes fallen. 
 
 When we consider men's capacity for good and 
 evil it almost seems that they have two natures, — 
 one angelic, struggling upward to light and heaven, 
 and the other demoniac, plunging into darkness, 
 mocking virtue, and delighting in evil. Standing 
 
THE MIND OF CHRIST. 115 
 
 side by side, we behold man's divinity and his de- 
 pravity. All the circumstances of life, all condi- 
 tions, plans, and purposes develop them, and both 
 must be taken into the account in judging of man's 
 responsibility. 
 
 Whatever develops, ennobles, and perfects man's 
 higher and immortal nature should be chosen, en- 
 couraged, and followed. Whatever ministers to 
 the excessive desires and passions of his lower or 
 earthly nature should be rejected. The greatest 
 injury which error and sin can do is wrought upon 
 the higher nature of man in blinding, paralyzing, 
 and degrading it. Man was created to be edu- 
 cated, to know truth and right, to understand his 
 relations to God and his fellow-beings, to have 
 enlarged and ever enlarging ideas of his own dig- 
 nity and spirituality, and of the relations, obliga- 
 tions, and duties of life. A true education is that 
 which draws out, develops, and strengthens the 
 life within us, and opens in the soul eternal fount- 
 ains of thought and devotion. The less of such 
 culture we have, the more closely are we allied to 
 the earthly, the more is the spirit in bondage to 
 the flesh. 
 
 In this one fact we see the greatest evil of sin. 
 The degrading, brutalizing power of wrong upon 
 the soul is what makes it so offensive to God. 
 The outward injury is but a slight thing compared 
 with the evil wrought within. 
 
 And in this fact, also, are seen the great need and 
 
116 SERMONS. 
 
 worth of education. It develops the inestimable 
 value, the inexhaustible resources of man's higher 
 nature. But intellectual education alone is not 
 sufficient to perfect a man. It does much for him. 
 It gives him great power. It opens many fount- 
 ains of thought and enjoyment in his soul. But 
 it does not unseal all the fountains of his human 
 and divine nature. Nor is a mere negative virtue, 
 the mere abstaining from vice and crime, sufficient. 
 Something more is needed to make us perfect, to 
 create within us the true ideal of goodness and 
 greatness. In the life of man's moral and spiritual 
 nature there is needed an inspiration which the 
 knowledge of material things can never impart. 
 Science and philosophy enlighten and broaden the 
 mind. They do much to qualify it to appreciate 
 religious truth, but they can never fill the place of 
 religion. The one great need of the soul, after it 
 has been nourished and expanded to the utmost by 
 science and philosophy, remains unsatisfied. It is 
 yet a hollow vessel. It is yet an altar without fire. 
 And this one great need is expressed in our text : 
 " Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ 
 Jesus." In addition to natural life, the life of the 
 senses, the life of the intellect, and of the human 
 affections, we need what our Saviour calls eternal 
 life, the life quickened in the soul by the truth and 
 spirit of God. The moral and spiritual nature 
 needs to be penetrated and stimulated by a holy 
 love and holy desires that pervade and illu- 
 
THE MIND OF CHRIST. 117 
 
 minate the whole being, and subdue and mould it 
 after the divine image. The character and truth 
 of Christ need to be enstamped upon every feature 
 of our religious nature, developed in all our acts, 
 and to be the great principle to move and actuate 
 the whole man. 
 
 In all our enterprises and ambitions it is the 
 mind and spirit of Jesus Christ that we need to 
 perfect the development and education of our nat- 
 ures, and to make our happiness complete. Let 
 us strive to be conscious that Christ must be and 
 dwell within us to produce harmony and fullness 
 of all that is good, lovely, and spiritual in man. 
 We must become like Him in character, disposi- 
 tion, desire, thought, feeling, and action. His 
 spirit must pervade our spirits till they glow with 
 the warmth of his love. 
 
 We can learn the true philosophy and purpose 
 of life only from Christ. And He alone can teach 
 us the ideas and principles that give the highest 
 significance to life. In this fact lies the secret of 
 Christ's power. He grasps a new conception of 
 life. This conception is not visionary, but grows 
 out of fundamental ideas. He gives us new views 
 of the character, government, and purposes of 
 God ; of the nature, duty, and destiny of man ; of 
 the agencies, processes, and principles by which 
 man is to be saved from sin and restored to holi- 
 ness and happiness. 
 
 It is by vitalizing his thoughts upon these fun- 
 
118 iSERMONS. 
 
 damental questions in the hearts of men, as ele- 
 ments of their moral and spiritual experience, that 
 Christ makes all things new. We can easily per- 
 ceive what a change would be wrought in the 
 world's life by the introduction of Christ's view 
 of God, as the Eternal Goodness, the Universal 
 Father, and Everlasting Friend. Before He came 
 God had been worshiped chiefly as the Creator, 
 the king, the judge of men. And as such, men 
 did not, could not love Him, as they have loved 
 Him since they have been permitted to say, " Our 
 Father who art in heaven." This satisfies us. 
 He is all to us that we desire. We can draw near 
 to Him, and trust Him fully, and love Him with 
 all the tenderness of our filial nature. What a 
 new life this thought imparts to our souls ! We 
 obey and worship in a new spirit. When we 
 fully receive Christ's view of the divine love and 
 fatherhood, we are new creatures. We live in a 
 new world. We think new thoughts. We have 
 new joys and sorrows, desires and hopes. 
 
 Equally well does Christ's view of the nature of 
 man illustrate our theme. We put a different es- 
 timate upon ourselves, when we see ourselves in 
 the light of Christian truth to be the children of 
 God, created in his moral and spiritual likeness. 
 If we have not the mind of Christ upon this sub- 
 ject, what are we but mere creatures of earth and 
 sense, born to labor and suffer and perish ? This is 
 the best view of his own nature and destiny man has 
 
TEE MIND OF CHRIST. 119 
 
 ever attained without tlie light of Christian truth. 
 But where the gospel is received he rises at once 
 into the light of immortality. He perceives the 
 infinite possibilities of his nature, his need of in- 
 struction, ^guidance, and holiness. And all the dis- 
 cipline of life has meaning. Every labor, joy, and 
 sorrow is sent as the ministry of the Father's love, 
 to teach us higher wisdom and to prepare us for 
 higher blessedness. 
 
 How important to our highest welfare is it, that 
 we have the mind which was in Christ, in refer- 
 ence to our own nature. It exalts and dignifies 
 the life God has given us. It makes it sacred. 
 And it makes duty sacred ; and joy and sorrow, 
 hope and fear, life and death, are all sacred in a 
 life that is divine and immortal. 
 
 And what can be so great a blessing to us as to 
 have the mind which was in Christ, in reference 
 to the infinite future, beyond the grave. There 
 stretches out before us a vast, a boundless sea of 
 being, of conscious life and ever increasing joy or 
 sorrow. What will be the character of that life ? 
 Will it be dark and desolate, an infinite waste of 
 the powers of being ? Or will it be bright and 
 glorious, a perpetual fulfillment of the wisdom and 
 love of God in creating us. 
 
 If we have the mind which was in Christ, we 
 shall not doubt the triumphant and glorious issue 
 of God's work of creation and of grace. Christ 
 never doubted it. He threw no dark shadows over 
 
120 SEHMONS. 
 
 the future. He gives us the most cheering prom- 
 ises, and inspires the brightest hopes. How often 
 does He point on to his own victory over error and 
 sin and death, and exult in the prospect of a world 
 restored to God. 
 
 Now in reference to this question of destiny, as 
 to all other questions, the apostle says, '" Let this 
 mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." 
 We need this view of the future to explain the 
 existence of evil in harmony with the wisdom and 
 just'ce and goodness of God. It is needed to make 
 Christ's mission a success. It is needed to up- 
 hold and strengthen us in the conflicts of life, to 
 comfort us in sickness and bereavement, and to 
 enable us to die in peace. 
 
 So of all the great questions of life there is one, 
 and only one satisfactory explanation. It is that 
 which Christ gives us in the gospel. By this we 
 may interpret every experience through which 
 God calls us to pass, and find it consistent with 
 the highest wisdom and goodness. In the light 
 and spirit of the gospel all earthl}^ scenes, trials, 
 and enjoyments are transfigured, and seem to be 
 pervaded b}^ divine and spiritual influences. God 
 is brought very near to us, and his providence is 
 recognized in all the events of life. 
 
 But it is only as we have the mind of Christ 
 that we can take this exalted, spiritual view of 
 life. We must look at it from his stand-point. 
 We must meet its experiences in his spirit, with 
 
THE MIND OF CHRIST. 121 
 
 his faith in God, with his love for man, with his 
 respect for truth and right, with his devout and 
 reverent heart, and with his bright hopes for im- 
 mortahty. We must stand above the world, not 
 permitting it to enslave us or embitter our hearts 
 with its gross spirit. We must command its forces 
 to obey and serve us, make them all tributaries 
 and ministers to our spiritual life. Our Saviour 
 did this. He was made perfect through suffering. 
 As He labored and sacrificed and prayed, the more 
 He grew in favor with God and men. He seemed 
 to have the power to gather up all the experiences 
 of his life and make them minister to the increase 
 of his spiritual power. And we may do this, if we 
 have his mind in us, if, like Him, we watch and 
 pray and keep our hearts open towards God and 
 heaven. And this is what all must do before they 
 can enjoy his salvation. Certainly no one can 
 ever be saved who has any other mind than the 
 mind of Christ. In Him we are to be made alive ; 
 there is no heavenly life out of Him. There is no 
 peace but the peace of Jesus. 
 
 Let us strive for oneness with Him, — oneness 
 in thought, in spirit, in deed, and in truth. May 
 we ever be able to say with the apostle, " I have 
 the mind of Christ." 
 
V. 
 
 THE METHOD OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. 
 
 " And we know that all things work together for good to them 
 that love God, to them that are the called according to his pur- 
 pose." — Romans viii. 28. 
 
 An early interpretation of Christianity taught 
 that when the apostle, in our text, speaks of 
 " them that are the called according to God's pur- 
 pose," He means such as are elected or chosen to 
 be saved, as distinguished from those who are eter- 
 nally reprobated to be lost. A better understand- 
 ing of the apostle's thought is, that he refers to 
 those who now love God, who have been called by 
 his grace out of the darkness of a sinful life into 
 the light and blessedness of a Christian experi- 
 ence. 
 
 In the divine purpose or plan of redemption all 
 men are called to a life of holiness, a life of sub- 
 mission and obedience to God. He has purposed 
 in Himself to gather together in one all things in 
 Christ. He has called the world '' from the rising 
 of the sun unto the going down of the same." 
 
THE METHOD OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. 123 
 
 " Look unto me, all the ends of the earth, and be 
 ye saved, for I am God and there is none besides 
 me." 
 
 This is the call and purpose of God in Christ. 
 It is both universal and specific. It relates to the 
 race as a whole, and to each individual in particu- 
 lar. While we are assured that " the Father sent 
 the Son to be the Saviour of the world," we are no 
 less positively assured that " He tasted death for 
 every man." 
 
 But there is method, order, and progression in 
 the work of grace. The mission of Christ is not 
 yet fulfilled. His kingdom is gradually being 
 built up in the earth, his reign extended from 
 heart to heart and realm to realm. It was in ac- 
 cordance with the divine plan that the offer of the 
 gospel should first be made to the Jews. They 
 were first called according to his purpose. It was 
 first published to them and afterwards to the Gen- 
 tiles. To call is to invite, to urge. The Jews 
 and then the Gentiles were invited by the mes- 
 sages of truth to participate in all the blessings of 
 the gospel. They are likened to a feast and men 
 are called to come in and partake. It is prepared, 
 the prophet tells us, for all people. When the 
 Saviour called sinners to repentance ; when the 
 apostles and disciples called men to believe the 
 gospel, to be saintly and blameless and holy, such 
 were the called. And those who heeded these in- 
 vitations and yielded their hearts to the love and 
 
124 SERMONS. 
 
 service of God were, in an especial sense, the 
 called. This point is illustrated by the apostle's 
 language, " We trust in the living God who is 
 the Saviour of all men, especially of them that be- 
 lieve." God is the Saviour of all men because He 
 calls all men to receive his salvation, and it is his 
 purpose to bring them to receive it. But He is, in 
 an especial sense, the Saviour of the believer, be- 
 cause He has obeyed or accepted his call and now 
 enjoys salvation. Those who love God are the 
 called according to his purpose, because the grace 
 of God has won them from sin to a new and 
 Christ-like life ; they have been called out of dark- 
 ness into the marvelous light of the gospel. 
 
 Whenever, then, we read in the gospel of those 
 who are " the called of God," we may know that 
 they are those who have been translated into the 
 kingdom of his Son, who have been brought to 
 experience the love of God, and to give their 
 hearts and lives in submissiveness and obedience to 
 his will. All things work together for the good 
 of those who are thus called, who thus love God. 
 
 But what is implied in being called into an ex- 
 perience of the love of God ? Those who obey this 
 call are brought into heart-communion and fellow- 
 ship with God. The child's love for its parent im- 
 plies the spirit of obedience, the warm attachment, 
 the desire to be with him, the undoubting confi- 
 dence and confiding intercourse. So love to God 
 implies that those who experience it become the 
 
THE METHOD OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. 125 
 
 willing and happy subjects of God. They have, 
 in an especial sense, become his people ; charac- 
 teristically, they are his children ; the love of God 
 is shed abroad in their hearts by the indwelling of 
 the Holy Ghost. A new and divine element or 
 principle of life is in their souls. They love God 
 from an inward experience of his love, because He 
 first loved them. They love Him as their Cre- 
 ator, Preserver, but especially as their Redeemer. 
 They love his name, his worship, his word, his 
 people, his ordinances. They love Him truly and 
 fervently in spirit. They love to meditate upon 
 Him and to commune with Him, and they desire 
 to love Him more and to serve Him better. Such 
 are the dispositions and feelings of those who are 
 the called of God. 
 
 And to such, says the apostle, all things work 
 together for their good. Not always to secure 
 them present happiness and outward prosperity; 
 not to give immediate gratification to all their 
 desires; not to save them from all temptations 
 and trials ; nor to make their lives one of ease and 
 sloth. We remember that Jesus was led up by 
 the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the 
 devil. So the love of God shed abroad in the 
 human heart often leads its possessor into sever- 
 est conflicts with evil. The Christian often feels 
 called to do and say those things which will bring 
 him only enmity, reproach, and loss. He must 
 take positions that are unpopular with the multi- 
 
126 SERMONS. 
 
 tude. He must stand up boldly for the right. 
 He must utter stern Avords of rebuke to sin. He 
 must be ready to separate from fast friends, and, 
 like the apostle, if necessary, suffer the loss of all 
 things for Christ's sake. 
 
 But in all these difficulties he is permitted to 
 fall back upon God for help. He knows that God 
 lives and rules ; that He is the Lord Almighty, 
 and that his arm is not shortened that it cannot 
 save. In the broad sweep of the divine govern- 
 ment, whatever partial and transient evils it may 
 involve, it directs all events for the permanent 
 well-being of those who conform to its require- 
 ments. In saying that all things work together 
 for good to them that love God, the apostle 
 means, not present enjoyment, but the permanent 
 moral and spiritual good of the soul ; he compre- 
 hends all its interests as they relate to time and 
 eternity, he recognizes its need of discipline and 
 growth and spiritual quickening. When our 
 hearts are anchored in God, when our affections 
 cluster around and cling to Him, the more they 
 are chastened, the purer do they become. When 
 the storm beats upon them, they hold so firmly to 
 Him that they seem to draw his life into them- 
 selves. Thus even temptations and trials work 
 together for their good. If God be for us, and 
 we are for God, who or what can be against us ? 
 There is not an element or atom in the vast uni- 
 verse that is not made to minister life and strength 
 
THE METHOD OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. 127 
 
 to the faithful soul. There is not a thought nor 
 an affection in the human or the divine mind that 
 will not quicken to new life and joy the soul that 
 is filled with the love of God. All that genius has 
 discovered or wisdom wrought in science and art ; 
 all that learning has written ; all that piety has 
 thought and prayed and done ; all that enterprise 
 has accomplished in every department of human 
 action ; the theories and institutions, the truths 
 and falsehoods, the virtues and vices, the joys and 
 sorrows of men in every age and every clime ; ab- 
 solutely all things in heaven and earth work to- 
 gether for good to them that love God. 
 
 And is it not an inspiring thought that in the 
 holy heights above us, God, Christ, angels, the 
 spirits of just men made perfect, are all helping us 
 in our struggles, all interested in our victory ; that 
 in the broad world around us all events, all men, 
 — good men with their example and prayers and 
 love, bad men by the warning of their crimes, by 
 the patience and benevolence they require us to 
 exercise, — are helping us in our efforts to come 
 nearer to God. 
 
 Yes, absolutely, all things work together for the 
 good of them that love God. And consider what 
 a positive, active force is here implied. It is not, 
 all things permit our good ; or all things may be 
 overcome to secure our good, but all things work 
 for it. All things are enlisted on our side when 
 we are enlisted on the side of God. There is 
 
128 SERMONS. 
 
 nothing in the mental or moral universe at rest. 
 All things work, — thoughts, desires, affections, 
 convictions, all work and produce results. All 
 events tend to some end. As in nature all the 
 elements are active, — the air, the light, the rain, 
 the tempests, — so all things in providence and 
 grace are moving forward in majestic order to one 
 *' far off divine event." 
 
 And let us not overlook this suggestion of har- 
 mony, order, and completeness. All things, not 
 only work, but work together ; work as one whole. 
 There is diversity of elements, but the operation 
 and the end are harmonious. As in the musical 
 instrument all the notes and sounds are different 
 and yet produce harmony ; as in the Hght the pris- 
 matic colors are distinct and unlike, yet working 
 together all unite and form the soft and radiant 
 beams in which we walk ; as in natural scenery 
 there is the mountain with its craggy summit, the 
 verdant valley, the flowing stream, and the roar- 
 ing cataract all uniting to form the landscape and 
 please the eye ; or as in the piece of mechanism 
 the various parts in their action are opposites, yet 
 all work together and fulfill its design, so in the 
 government of God all objects and events and 
 experiences are one in the impression they make 
 upon the pure and loving heart. They all work 
 together and that for its good. We do not always 
 see this. We look upon this event by itself, and 
 upon that event by itself, and we say, these are 
 
THE METHOD OF THE CnRISTIAN LIFE. 129 
 
 against us ; they are not good. But it is not so. 
 Separately some things appear to work for good 
 and others for evil, but when viewed in the great 
 whole and purpose of the divine government, 
 they are all seen to tend to one blessed end, — the 
 real and eternal good of them that love God. So 
 to the old patriarch the loss of his favorite son, 
 the desolating famine, the giving up, one after 
 another, of Joseph and Benjamin and Simeon, 
 the removal into Egypt, — all these things seemed 
 against him. But they were not. They all 
 worked together for his good. So did all the con- 
 flicts in the life of Moses and David and Jeremiah 
 work together for their good. Behold the suffer- 
 ings and death of the Son of God exalting Him 
 far above all thrones and dominions, to be a Prince 
 and a Saviour. And how often does the experi- 
 ence of every Christian heart repeat the words, 
 '' All things work together for good to them that 
 love God." We thought that severe loss would 
 ruin us ; that bereavement, the death of that 
 lovely child, or dear mother or sister, would crush 
 us ; that sickness destroy us. But they did not. 
 They all worked together for our good ; they were 
 all necessary to fill out the plan of our lives, to 
 mature our experience, and fit us for the higher 
 love and enjoyment of God. O blessed assurance ! 
 Christian, amid all thy conflicts, tears, and prayers, 
 bind it to thy heart. When a thoughtless, sinful 
 world scoffs at thine appeal, and turns from thy 
 
130 SERMONS. 
 
 holy ecstasy and consecrated life to sordid pleasure 
 and selfish aims, oh, then look up, let not thy spirit 
 fail. God's own hand shall guide through the 
 deepening gloom ; his love shall cheer thee, his 
 wisdom cause all things to work together for thy 
 good. 
 
 " Know, my soul, thy full salvation, 
 Rise o'er siu and fear and care ; 
 Joy to find in every station 
 Something still to do or bear. 
 Think what spirit dwells within thee ; 
 Think what Father's smiles are thine; 
 Think what Jesus did to win thee, — 
 Child of heaven ! canst thou repine '^ 
 
 " Haste thee on from grace to glory, 
 Armed with faith and winged with prayer ; 
 Heaven's eternal day's before thee, 
 God's own hand shall guide thee there. 
 Soon shall cease thine earthly mission. 
 Soon shall pass thy pilgrim days, 
 Hope shall change to glad fruition, 
 Faith to sight, and prayer to praise." 
 
VI. 
 
 ACCEPTANCE WITH CHRIST. 
 
 " He came unto his own, and his own received Him not. But as 
 many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons 
 of God, even to them that believe on his name." — John i. 11, 12. 
 
 We have here in a few compreliensive sentences, 
 as it were, a summary of the gospel. This passage 
 of Scripture treats of the Saviour's coming, of his 
 inheritance in men, of their refusal to receive Him, 
 of the blessing He brings them, and of the means 
 by which they come into actual possession of the 
 blessing. 
 
 It is not important to our theme that we should 
 dwell upon the fact or events of Christ's appear- 
 ance on earth. Let us turn our attention first to 
 the statement here made, that " He came unto his 
 own." Who were his own ? To whom did the 
 Saviour come? 
 
 There are two answers to this question. One 
 is contained in the text, the other is found in the 
 uniform testimony and spirit of the gospel ; one is 
 explicit and positive, the other is inductive. 
 
132 SERMONS. 
 
 We are informed in our text that '' Christ's 
 own " are those to whom He came, and who '' re- 
 ceived Him not." He came unto his own, and 
 they received Him not. 
 
 Probably there is particular reference to the 
 Jews in this language. Christ came personally to 
 them, and they were his own kindred and country- 
 men. When He sent out his disciples to preach, 
 He said to them at first, " Go not in the way of 
 the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans 
 enter thou not, but go unto the lost sheep of the 
 house of Israel." His own countrymen were also 
 the first to reject Him. They misunderstood, per- 
 secuted, and crucified Him. 
 
 But this is only the literal application of the 
 text. It has a broader meaning, for the Saviour 
 came not only to one, but to all nations. " The 
 heathen " have been " given Him for an inherit- 
 ance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for a pos- 
 session." All nations, families, and kindreds of the 
 earth are to be blessed in Him. The Father sent 
 Him to be the Saviour of the world. Power was 
 given Him over all flesh that He might give eter- 
 nal life to all. His religion is a universal religion, 
 embracing the well-being of all mankind. 
 
 These plain statements of the gospel make evi- 
 dent one fact that has not always been understood. 
 It is that Christ has an interest in men before they 
 have an interest in Him, that He has an inherit- 
 ance in the wicked as well as in the righteous. It 
 
ACCEPTANCE WITH CHRIST. 133 
 
 is believed by some that only those are Christ's 
 who receive Him, believe on Him, and obey Him. 
 But our text explicitly affirms that those who do 
 not receive Him are his. " His own received Him 
 not." He claims an inheritance even in such as 
 do not acknowledge his claim, who have no faith 
 in his divine character and office, and cast off his 
 authority. 
 
 Objection to this view is frequently made, on 
 the ground that we are also told in the gospel that 
 such as "have not the spirit of Christ are none of 
 his." But this statement does not refer to Christ's 
 office and work, as the Saviour of the world, in its 
 fulfillment, but to the present relation of the un- 
 believing and sinful to Him. Those who have not 
 Christ's spirit are not his disciples, they are not 
 Christians, and have not Christ's purity and peace. 
 If a man is not influenced by the meek, pure, and 
 holy spirit of the Saviour, if he is not conformed 
 to his image, if his life does not resemble his, he is 
 a stranger to his religion. In this view he is none 
 of Christ's. But there is a broader and more im- 
 portant sense in which all men are Christ's. The 
 angel testified that He should save his people from 
 their sins. They were his people while they were 
 sinners. The Father gave Him power over all 
 flesh, that He might give eternal life to as many 
 as He gave Him. All were given to Him before 
 they became partakers of eternal life. They were 
 given Him for the special purpose that He might 
 
134 SERMOl^a. 
 
 bestow that life upon them. In this important 
 sense, all men are Christ's, even before they are 
 converted to Him, and while they live in sin. 
 They are his to save from sin, to enlighten and bless. 
 But they are not his in the sense of discipleship, 
 Christian character, and spiritual life. 
 
 We should not forget that the Saviour came into 
 the world to fulfill a specific mission and purpose. 
 His work was with men, and for men, in fulfillment 
 of the Father's will in reference to them. If we 
 glance at the moral and spiritual condition of man- 
 kind in his time, and in all time, we learn the 
 world's great need. Men have lost sight of God. 
 Their hearts are alienated from his life by wicked 
 ■works. Even when they know Him, they glorify 
 Him not as God, and their foolish hearts are dark- 
 ened. Three kinds of selfishness have blinded 
 them. Three rank roots have struck into the soil 
 of j the human heart, sending up growths of super- 
 stition and sensuality which overshadow and en- 
 feeble the higher life. Self-love, self-will, and 
 self-indulgence have made our intellects, our con- 
 sciences, and our passions rebels against God. " The 
 whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint." 
 
 In this threefold corruption, in the time of Christ 
 the world was preeminently godless. Curiosity was 
 all that was left as the aim of science ; war, as the 
 work of enterprise ; and a sensuous enthusiasm 
 for the beautiful, as the inspiration of art. Alex- 
 andria, Rome, and Athens represented these three 
 
ACCEPTANCE WITH CHRIST. 135 
 
 ambitions. In losing a knowledge of God, man 
 had lost himself. Faith in God and the dignity 
 of man went down together. Human rights and 
 liberty failed with the failure o{ the worship of the 
 true God. The scholars and the priests mystified 
 the people ; the Epicureans tempted them ; the 
 Stoics flattered and despised them. Seneca stood 
 for the world's idea of learning, CaBsar for its idea 
 of politics, Corinth for its idea of pleasure. 
 
 The world's need of the Saviour and the pur- 
 pose of his coming are apparent, when we take 
 this survey of human society as it was and as it 
 is. The world by wisdom knew not God. Christ 
 came to show us the Father. He was a manifesta- 
 tion of God. He enshrined the divine in the hu- 
 man as it never had been before. He came to 
 cause the heart of man to touch the heart of God ; 
 to blend them in that holy, spiritual union which 
 made Him and the Father one. He came that 
 the Spirit of God, through faith in Him, might 
 enter, quicken, and sanctify the human soul. His 
 mission is, if the expression may be allowed, to 
 establish God in the practical possession of man, 
 who is really and forever his own. He did not 
 spend his life in establishing an original right of 
 possession. God signed and sealed that right 
 when He sent Him. " He came unto his own." 
 Neither scholar nor priest. Epicurean nor Stoic, 
 Seneca nor Corinth, man nor devil, had any right 
 to man. He belonged to Christ, as the represent- 
 
186 SERMONS. 
 
 ative of God, liis Creator. God's image was upon 
 his soul. The breath of his own life was in his 
 body. His own right arm was outstretched to 
 uphold and shield him. The Saviour did not 
 create in man new religious faculties, but He en- 
 lightened and sanctified those He had, with his 
 " grace and truth." He came to save man, such 
 as he was and is by nature. He fills nature with 
 grace. He inspires the faith, He quickens the 
 love of the human heart. He does not desire a 
 mere legal title to men's bodies, but the free sur- 
 render of their hearts. The one thing needful is 
 living goodness. It is produced in the heart only 
 by the indwelling of Christ. As we have said, in 
 every age there has been a threefold hindrance to 
 his reception into the hearts of men. Pride, will- 
 fulness, and indulgence have ever stood in his way. 
 It is easy to receive Him by outward professions 
 and services, but to receive Him as a spirit and 
 life is a radical and difficult work. 
 
 As these hindrances are threefold, so a full re- 
 ception of Christ implies the three elements, faith, 
 love, service. These together establish Christ in 
 the soul, and impart the peculiar richness and 
 glory of a Christian character. 
 
 There must be, first, a belief in Christ. We 
 must be convinced that He is what He claimed to 
 be. He called Himself the only begotten of the 
 Father, the Saviour of the world, the giver of eter- 
 nal life, the owner of all souls, the friend of the 
 
ACCEPTANCE WITH CUEIST. 137 
 
 sinnner, tlie foe of sin. Is He all these to us ? Do 
 we in our hearts believe that He came forth from 
 the bosom of the Father, full of grace and truth, 
 to restore a fallen world to God ? This is the first 
 action of our minds in receiving Him. We doubt 
 his veracity until we are convinced of this. The 
 Saviour knew who and what He was, or He did 
 not know. If He knew, He is all that the titles 
 which he applied to Himself mean. If He did 
 not know, as another has said, his ignorance or de- 
 ception make Him less than one of the honest sol- 
 diers who led Him away to the judgment hall. 
 
 But simple belief in Christ is not a full recep- 
 tion of Him. We believe in many things that we 
 care very little about. There must be love to 
 make our faith a bond of union between our hearts 
 and Him. A mere bearer of dispatches from one 
 court to another would not need this. He may 
 not have any interest in either party, or they in 
 Him. But when the messenger comes with a 
 moral, spiritual purpose, to kindle a new life, there 
 must be love awakened in the hearts of both par- 
 ties. Their interests must be one. As there is no 
 stability in government until loyalty binds the 
 subject to his king, as there is no efficiency or 
 power in a party until the leader's name awakens 
 enthusiasm, so the Saviour's purpose to fill all 
 hearts with divine love can never be fulfilled until 
 we love Him. We do not receive Him in the full- 
 ness of his mission, we are not his in the highest 
 
138 SERMONS. 
 
 sense, until we give Him onr heart's purest, warm- 
 est affections. And even faith and love alone are 
 not a full reception of Christ. They must be 
 wrought out into service, as the heated iron is 
 made into an instrument of use. It amounts to 
 nothing to make the iron solid and strong. This 
 is simply faith. It avails nothing to heat it red- 
 hot. This is love. But if we take the solid iron 
 when it is hot, and mould it into the swiftly rolling 
 wheel and the machine to gather in the harvests, 
 then it is of value. So our faith and love must 
 develop in the active service of Christ before we 
 fully receive Him. Not a reluctant service, but 
 such as the loving heart bestows, cheerful and free. 
 In the gospel this idea of service is closely 
 blended with all that is there said of experimental 
 religion. " Lovest thou me ? Then feed my sheep," 
 said the Saviour to Peter. " He that keepeth my 
 commandments, he it is that loveth me." " This 
 is the love of God, that ye do whatsoever I have 
 commanded you." Obedience is demonstrative 
 proof of faith and love. Receiving Christ in his 
 fullness is a work. He has a cross of self-denial and 
 self-sacrifice which we must receive with Him. 
 The hungry, the naked, the sick, the ignorant, 
 the intemperate, are all around us. The Saviour 
 comes to us bearing all these upon his heart. 
 If we receive Him, we must receive them. '' In- 
 asmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of 
 these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." The 
 
ACCEPTANCE WITH CHRIST. 139 
 
 Saviour is not received by us as individuals, or as 
 liis cliurch, until all within the sphere of our influ- 
 ence are blessed by our faith and love. 
 
 And as many as do receive Him with sincere 
 faith, fervent love, and cheerful obedience, to them 
 gives He power to become the sons of God. Have 
 we received this gift of spiritual power ? Have we 
 so fully received Christ into our hearts that we are 
 indeed the children of God by faith in Him ? Have 
 we been adopted into his spiritual family, made 
 heirs according to the promise ? We may know 
 ourselves to be the creatures of God. It may be 
 that we are his servants. But are we children, 
 sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty ? Have 
 our hearts been opened, and has Christ in all the 
 plenitude of his grace entered, to abide with us ? 
 Those who thus receive Him are the conquerors 
 who overcome the world. They are able to re- 
 joice in the midst of affliction. They come spot- 
 less and beautiful out of great tribulations, having 
 washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. 
 Persecution strengthens them. Contempt makes 
 their regeneration perfect. Temptations, trampled 
 down, bring angels to minister unto them. They 
 are a multitude whose praises no unbelieving heart 
 can join, whose joy no unrepentant soul can un- 
 derstand. 
 
 The questions for us to ask ourselves individ- 
 ually, suggested by our theme, are these : Am I 
 among those who have received Christ ? Has He 
 
140 SERMONS. 
 
 given to me power or grace to cry, Abba, Father, 
 to call myself the child of God ? Is his love shed 
 abroad in my heart ? Am I willing to be known 
 as his disciple, to confess Him before the world, 
 and in my closet ? Does He live in me, and am I 
 made alive in Him ? 
 
 These are thoughts to be pondered often, — 
 thoughts that will reveal to us the secrets of our 
 hearts, and cause us to feel our weakness, and the 
 Saviour's sufficiency for all our spiritual necessi- 
 ties. I confess that I can never read these words, 
 *' He came unto his own, and his own received 
 Him not," without feeling that there is much of 
 tenderness and reproof in them. They are not 
 a weak complaint, but they do reveal the sadness 
 of repulsed affection, they show us the sorrow of 
 God's pity for sinful souls. 
 
 Let us go on repeating this language, pondering 
 these thoughts, until our hearts are moved to pen- 
 itence, until we open them to receive our friend 
 and Saviour, and are able to claim our place 
 around our common Father's board as the dear 
 children of his love. 
 
VII. 
 
 THE GREATNESS OF CHRIST. 
 
 A CHRISTMAS SERMON. 
 
 " He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest." 
 Luke i. 32. 
 
 Comparatively few men have lived of whom 
 it may be truly said that they were great. Com- 
 paring men with one another, some are found to 
 be greater than others, some stand above the 
 masses in the community or the age in which they 
 live. They are comparatively but not absolutely 
 great. The great man is the original man, orig- 
 inal not in the substance of his thought and action 
 merely, but in his life as a whole, in his manner of 
 thinking and acting. He is the man who exerts a 
 fresh influence and breathes a new spirit into the 
 world's life. He does what other men have not 
 done before him. He elevates the plane of human 
 life, he heightens our ideas of the capabilities of 
 our common nature. He sees things that are in- 
 visible to other eyes, and describes them so that 
 
142 SERMONS. 
 
 henceforth the world beholds them in his light. 
 He does what has heretofore been impossible to 
 other men, and does it so that hereafter it is pos- 
 sible for all men to do it. 
 
 This is the great man, a gift rarely bestowed 
 upon the world ; never, indeed, but once in the 
 broadest sense. There have been men who have 
 quickened the world's life in certain directions ; 
 but only one man, " the man Christ Jesus," has 
 quickened it in all directions. It was given to Him 
 to touch the springs of life, to know what is in 
 man and all his needs, and to have power to stir 
 and purify the waters at the fountain-head of his 
 being. All the currents of human thought and 
 action have felt, directly or remotely, the renovat- 
 ing power of his life. The old crystallized and de- 
 caying thoughts and institutions of the world gave 
 up to Him what truth there was in them, and they 
 went forth from his life charged with divine energy 
 and power to sanctify and save. 
 
 It was in view of these wonderful endowments 
 that the angel said of Christ before his birth, " He 
 shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the 
 Highest." How wonderfully have all the ages 
 since his birth confirmed and illustrated the truth 
 of this prophecy. His greatness, glory, and power 
 have appeared in clearer light as the race has made 
 progress. The discoveries of science, the improve- 
 ments of art, the diffusion of knowledge, the ex- 
 tension of freedom, have all helped to make known 
 
THE GREATNESS OF CHRIST. 143 
 
 his greatness. While all departments of knowl- 
 edge owe their promotion to Christ, to the quick- 
 ening, enlightening influences of his gospel, they 
 have in turn borne witness to the truth of his re- 
 ligion, and crowned him with increasing glory. 
 The fame of most of those whom the world has 
 called great has waned after a few centuries. We 
 begin, in a short time, to speak of them as the 
 great men of their age. But greater men have 
 arisen since. Discoveries have been made which 
 in some instances disprove, and in others surpass, 
 their theories or systems. The world outgrows 
 them, goes beyond them. But Christ leads the 
 ages. All the progress that the world makes is 
 simply approaching Him, coming nearer to the 
 ideal of his religion. We are learning all the time 
 how imperfectly we have known Him. Our esti- 
 mation of his greatness enlarges with the enlarge- 
 ment of our thought and virtue. 
 
 This is true of both the social and the individ- 
 ual estimate of the Saviour. He never appeared 
 in such greatness and grandeur of character to the 
 eye of the world as at the present time. Not 
 even in those darker ages when He was worshiped 
 as God and served with superstitious rites, was He 
 so truly honored as now. Then He was shut out 
 of the world and imprisoned in cloisters. Then 
 only a few ascetics communed with Him, and even 
 their spirituality, deep and fervent as it often was, 
 lacked the healthful, sinewy strength of practical 
 
144 SEEilONS, 
 
 Christianity. It was not hopeful and cheerful. It 
 was not pervaded by genial human sympathies. 
 It was not helpful to the suffering and sorrowing 
 beyond the pale of the church. But now the name 
 of Christ is honored everywhere, in the courts of 
 kings and emperors, in the councils of presidents 
 and governors, among statesmen and legislators, 
 by teachers and scholars, in literature and art, in 
 business, in society, and in the family. We do not 
 mean to say that Christ is duly honored and fully 
 obeyed in all or any of these departments of life. 
 But He is recognized in them all. The conviction 
 prevails that He has a right to rule in them all ; 
 that every sphere and work of life should be Chris- 
 tian. It is acknowledged that a man should be a 
 Christian in his family, or in society, when he 
 votes or trades, as much as when he attends church, 
 or reads his Bible, or prays. Public sentiment has 
 come to acknowledge this right of Christ to su- 
 premacy in all departments of life. We speak of 
 our Christian institutions, our Christian civiliza- 
 tion, our Christian education. And to express our 
 disapproval of an institution or law or theory or 
 practice, we say that it is Christless. 
 
 These simple facts show us how closely inter- 
 woven Christ is with our secular life. Within the 
 memory of some of us it was thought to be a des- 
 ecration to connect his name with politics. The 
 claims of the higher Christian law were boldly 
 thrust aside, and its intrusion into legislative halls 
 
THE GREATNESS OF CHRIST. 145 
 
 and secular literature was stoutly resisted. But 
 now the statesman or the scholar whose appeals 
 are made in the name of Christ and upon the 
 authority of his religion influences the greatest 
 number. Christ is great in the respect and honor 
 and reverence which public sentiment accords Him. 
 Once his religion was a reproach and his name 
 despised. But now to profess it is a distinction, 
 and to bear it is a badge of honor. Even crime 
 and folly seek respectability by assuming his garb. 
 "We do not realize how great a place He fills, how 
 almost omnipresent He is in the life of the world. 
 And the greatness of his power grows from age to 
 age. His name is more and more '' the name above 
 every other name." His religion in no sense ex- 
 hausts its vitality and energy. None of its doc- 
 trines become impracticable. None of its precepts 
 are out-dated. Its lessons are as applicable to this 
 age as to the first age, and its spirit is as fresh and 
 sweet to-day as in any former time. There is, 
 indeed, much unbelief in society now, as there 
 always has been. But even the skepticism of our 
 time accords much honor to Christ. It has not 
 escaped the elevating influences of the gospel. 
 Some of it, even in its denials, claims with amaz- 
 ing inconsistency to be Christian. It speaks of 
 Christ as a " model man," as " the best develop- 
 ment of humanity," as " a son of God," and as 
 " God's best beloved son." All the utterances of 
 modern unbelief are, in a great degree, subdued 
 
 10 
 
146 SERMONS. 
 
 and chastened, as compared with the coarse and 
 defiant assaults upon Christianity of earlier times. 
 Evidently the name of Christ is a great name, 
 commanding respect and reverence, and having 
 irresistible influence, even among his enemies. 
 Those who would arrest and crucify Him now, as 
 when He was on earth, go backward and fall on 
 the ground, saying, '' Never man spake like this 
 man." If they do not acknowledge Him to be the 
 Son of the Highest, if they will not own Him as 
 their Lord and Master, they are constrained to 
 confess his superiority, his greatness above all 
 other men. 
 
 But this prophecy, " He shall be great," finds 
 its best fulfillment and most beautiful illustration 
 in Christ's all-sufficiency for the believing heart. 
 He is all in all to the believer. The respect and 
 honor which the world pays Him is but the reflec- 
 tion of the truer and intenser love of individual 
 hearts. As when we see the surface of the earth 
 green and blooming with flowers, we know that 
 there are living roots unseen by us feeding upon 
 the richness of the soil and drinking in the rain- 
 drops and sunbeams through every pore ; so when 
 Christ is honored in society, and the fruits of his 
 religion spring up in its institutions, customs, and 
 prevalent opinions, it is because individual hearts 
 are in communion with Him and drawing life from 
 Him. It is not possible for the rich clusters to 
 gladden our view in autumn unless the branches 
 
THE GREATNESS OF CHRIST. 147 
 
 which bear them abide in the vine. It is only as 
 we are personally united with Christ by faith and 
 the renewing of the Holy Spirit, that his religion 
 prevails in the world. He is great in the estima- 
 tion of society only as He is great in the faith and 
 affection of the individual soul. 
 
 And what words can describe how great a place 
 the Saviour fills in the hearts and lives of his fol- 
 lowers ? He dwells in them, and they in Him. 
 The language of Christian experience is, " I live, 
 yet not I, but Christ liveth in me ; and the life 
 which I live, I live by faith in the Son of God." 
 Christ is great to the believer as " the author and 
 finisher of his faith," as the ground of all his 
 strength and confidence and hope. He is great to 
 him as the teacher and enlightener of his under- 
 standing, the guide of his reason, the sanctifier of 
 his affections, the exemplar of the truest obedience. 
 He is great to him as the fountain of spiritual 
 life, as the way of access into the presence of the 
 Father, as a sweet and blessed fellowship in the 
 hour of prayer, as a friend and comforter in trouble, 
 as a joyful and hallowed presence in seasons of 
 quiet meditation. Christ is great to his followers, 
 not only as their present helper, but as the one on 
 whose promises they rely for future blessedness. 
 He reveals to the eye of faith life and immortality 
 for all men. The true believer beholds in Him not 
 only a personal Saviour, but the Saviour of the 
 world. He gave his life a ransom for all; He 
 
148 SERMONS. 
 
 promises by the power of his cross to draw all 
 men unto Him. He now reigns in the spiritual 
 realm to subdue and reconcile all things to God. 
 
 The Saviour is great, therefore, not only for 
 what He has done for the world, not only for the 
 work of grace He is continually performing in in- 
 dividual hearts, the hope and comfort, the peace 
 and sanctity He sheds upon the life of faith, but 
 He is great in the purpose of his mission, great in 
 the work given Him of God to do. How great 
 must be the Saviour of the world ! How great the 
 Being who can drive darkness and error and sin 
 from the hearts of men ; who can regenerate and 
 sanctify them ; who can reconcile them to the will 
 of the holy God and Father of our spirits ; who 
 can make them free in the truth and fill them with 
 the felicity of heaven. Our Saviour has done this 
 work in countless hearts, and his mission is to do 
 it in all hearts. No mere human being has this 
 power. Can the greatest among men drive sin 
 out of a single heart ? Is there one among all the 
 wise and good of earth who can make a soul love 
 God, and obey Him from the highest motive ? No, 
 we cannot point to a philosopher, or sage, or teacher 
 who has done this work. Therefore Christ must 
 be greater than all. He is greater because He is 
 more than philosopher, sage, or teacher ; because 
 He is the " Son of the Highest." He was born, 
 not after the will of the flesh, but according to the 
 miraculous exercise of divine power ; He was the 
 
THE GREATNESS OF CHRIST. 149 
 
 brightness of his Father's glory and the express 
 image of his person. In Him dwelt all the fullness 
 of the Godhead bodily. His birth, his childhood, 
 his miracles, his teachings, his resurrection, his as- 
 cension, all attest his divinity, his greatness. And 
 the farther we go on in Christian thought and ex- 
 perience, the deeper we enter into his life and 
 spirit, the clearer does his greatness appear. The 
 Christian cannot live without a divine Saviour. 
 His faith and hope and joy all spring from Him. 
 In whatever heart the divine spirit dwells, it re- 
 veals such a Saviour. 
 
 We have thought these reflections on the great- 
 ness of Christ not inappropriate to this anniver- 
 sary season. As we meet for worship this morn- 
 ing, we are carried back by the associations of the 
 day to the birth of our Redeemer, and lowly as 
 that event was, it was witnessed by glorious signs 
 of his greatness. The angels shouted in prophetic 
 song. Peace on earth, good will to men, and glory 
 in the highest. Kings upon their thrones were 
 troubled, but saints magnified the Lord and were 
 ready to depart in peace. God does not signalize 
 mere human greatness by such tokens. The birth 
 of no man is " glad tidings of great joy unto all 
 people." Only when there is born unto us a Sav- 
 iour, which is Christ, the Lord, can men dismiss 
 all their fears and angels sing for joy. Oh, then 
 how much this day signifies ! It is not a mere his- 
 torical event, but a spiritual conception. Christ 
 
150 si:r3ions. 
 
 should come to our souls to-day, in spirit and 
 power. We should acknowledge Him, receive 
 Him. Like the shepherds, we should go and see 
 Him with our own eyes ; or, hke the wise men, 
 follow his star and finding Him, open to Him the 
 treasures of our hearts. We should transfer his 
 birth from the manger to our own souls. He 
 should be formed in us, and abide in us, and his 
 day-star should arise in our hearts. Then out of 
 our darkness will arise a brightness clearer than 
 that which flooded the night-sky above the lonely 
 plains of Judea ; then the glory of the Lord will 
 be risen upon us, and we shall serve Him with- 
 out fear. 
 
VIII. 
 
 THE TRUE SERVICE OF CHRIST. 
 
 " Verily I say unto yon, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one 
 of the least of these, ray brethren, ye have done it unto me." — 
 Matthew xxv. 40. 
 
 If we read the chapter in which this language 
 is found, it will teach us that a prominent and 
 essential part of loyalty and obedience to Christ 
 is being mindful of and ministering to the neces- 
 sities of men. The Saviour regards the poor and 
 suffering as his representatives, and what we do 
 for them we do to Him. Feeding the hungry, 
 clothing the naked, hospitality to the stranger and 
 destitute, visiting and comforting the sick and the 
 bereaved, are works highly commended and often 
 enjoined throughout the Scriptures. Neglect of 
 these duties is always represented as unfaithful- 
 ness to Christ. The kingdom of God and the 
 gates of heaven are barred against those who de- 
 spise and neglect their fellow-beings. 
 
 This is the lesson of our text. Kindness shown 
 to men in their distress is accepted as kindness 
 shown to Christ. Christ is served whenever the 
 
152 SERMONS. 
 
 suffering are served. He is rejected, insulted, and 
 abused -whenever any for whom He died are 
 wronged. He gives us this negative view of our 
 theme when He says, " Inasmuch as ye did it not 
 to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me." 
 
 The Christian religion does not consist wliolly 
 or chiefly in rites and ceremonies. It is not all 
 comprehended in acts and exercises of devotion. 
 Faith, repentance, the new birth, though a part of 
 a Christian experience, are not all of it. 
 
 It does not make us disciples of Christ to re- 
 frain from overt acts of sin. It is not enough for 
 us to be passively virtuous. We must be actively 
 obedient. We must not only refrain from wrong- 
 doing and direct transgression, but we must love 
 both God and man, and engage in those works 
 that help to relieve the world from sin and misery 
 and restore it to holiness and happiness. We 
 must contribute, as God has given us time and 
 means, in words and deeds of sympathy, to the 
 salvation of man from all that debases and tor- 
 ments him. 
 
 They who regard deeds of charity, kindness, and 
 mercy as no essential part of Christ's religion are 
 sadly mistaken. And we sometimes fear there are 
 many such, even in the Christian church. There 
 is too little kindness and charity among profess- 
 ing Christians. They too often forget the poor 
 and suffering. Our selfishness puts in its plea, and 
 we excuse ourselves from giving and ministering 
 
TEE TRUE SERVICE OF CHRIST. 153 
 
 for their relief by a thousand little pretenses which 
 we dare not look in the face. And then, how we 
 neglect these social evils around us. How little 
 we do to promote temperance, to relieve the poor, 
 and to encourage the unfortunate ; to prevent 
 Sabbath- breaking, profanity, and disorderly con- 
 duct. 
 
 Now we cannot be Christians and neglect these 
 duties. The Saviour in our text shows that they 
 are important and absolutely essential to Christian 
 character and divine acceptance and salvation. 
 And in harmony with it, the great apostle exhorts 
 men to bear one another's burdens, or, in other 
 words, to aid, assist, and relieve them of the bur- 
 dens, trials, and privations of life, and so fulfill the 
 law of Christ. We are told to be kindly affec- 
 tioned one to another, with brotherly love, dis- 
 tributing to each other's necessities, given to hospi- 
 tality, supplying food to the hungry and drink to 
 the thirsty. " This," says the apostle James, " is 
 pure and undefiled religion, before God and the 
 Father, to visit the widow and the fatherless in 
 their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from 
 the world." 
 
 We know that our Saviour was much and dili- 
 gently engaged in active sympathy with the suf- 
 fering and in the performance of deeds of charity 
 and benevolence. He went about doing good, 
 comforting the mourning, relieving the distressed, 
 visiting the sick and healing them. Those who 
 
15-4 SERMONS. 
 
 will be his disciples must imitate Him in these 
 works. Those who do, according to our text are 
 accepted of Him, are placed on his right hand of 
 approval, and become subjects of his kingdom of 
 grace and salvation. 
 
 We do not say that this active benevolence is 
 the whole of true religion. Faith, repentance, de- 
 votion, the love of God, purity of heart, patience, 
 humility, forgiveness, and a holy life are included 
 in the religion of Christ and required of his follow- 
 ers. But these are not a substitute for, nor suffi- 
 cient without benevolence. Without this no one 
 can even approximate Christian discipleship, or 
 experience the salvation of Christ, for his heart 
 cannot be right before God. No religion can be 
 genuine and saving that does not produce in the 
 individual possessing it charitable and merciful 
 fruits. True religion not only gives for the relief 
 of the distressed, but visits them and personally 
 ministers to their wants. It goes to their wretched 
 homes, seeks them out in their obscurity or priva- 
 tion or degradation, and speaks to their hearts 
 words of encouragement, cheer, and sympathy. 
 We affirm upon divine authority that the religion 
 which does not commend itself by active sympa- 
 thy with the needy and suffering, and by works of 
 charity and mercy, is not of God, is not accounted 
 to its possessor for righteousness, brings not peace 
 and salvation to the soul, secures not the inherit- 
 ance of the kingdom of heaven, nor confers eter- 
 
THE TRUE SERVICE OF CHRIST. 155 
 
 nal life. It is the precise thought of our text, as 
 nearly as we can think it, that those who refuse or 
 neglect to visit and minister to the poor and needy- 
 have no part nor lot in the inheritance of eternal 
 life, divine approbation, Christian discipleship ; nor 
 do they experience anything of the freedom and 
 joy of the true children of God, and of Christ's 
 heavenly kingdom. Instead of hearing the plau- 
 dit, '* Well done, good and faithful servant, enter 
 thou into the joys of thy Lord," they hear, or ex- 
 perience in the darkness of their own lives, the 
 sentence, " Depart from me, ye workers of iniq- 
 uity," into the condemnation and darkness of your 
 own selfishness, sensuality, and spiritual death. 
 Whatever is done unto one of the least and the 
 lowest of mankind, or whatever wrong or neglect 
 he receives, is accounted as done unto or withheld 
 from Christ Himself. The person who is in want, 
 distress, or trouble, who is in darkness or bond- 
 age, our Saviour assures us is his representative 
 on earth, and whatever we do to such an one is 
 regarded by Him as done to Him. It is honor 
 or dishonor to Christ. It is serving or rejecting 
 Christ. None enter into the kingdom of heaven 
 but those who do the will of our Father who is in 
 heaven. The doer of the word is blessed in his 
 deeds, and not the forgetful hearer. You may 
 come here and listen to this gospel of charity, but 
 if you go away and live proudly and selfishly you 
 are not Christians. You deny your Lord, you dis- 
 
156 SERMONS. 
 
 own your Saviour, jon despise the humility and 
 the love that came not to call the righteous but 
 
 o 
 
 the sinful to repentance. " Inasmuch as ye did it 
 not unto one of the least of these, ye did it not to 
 me." 
 
 Do we understand and appreciate this doctrine 
 of our text ? What is the character of that relig- 
 ion which Tve profess, exemplify, and live? Are 
 we accustomed to look upon the poor, sinful, and 
 suffering around us as Christ's representatives ? 
 Here is the drunkard, lying in the ditch. Can we 
 receive Christ in him ? Can we stoop and lift him 
 up ? Can we lead him home ? Can we wash and 
 clothe him, speak kindly to him, and do all we can 
 to save him ? Here is the rumseller, the man who 
 put the bottle to the drunkard's mouth, — the near- 
 est approach to total depravity there is on earth. 
 Can we receive Christ in him ? Can we love him 
 still ? Can we be patient wdth him ? Can we look 
 through all the darkness and depravity of his life 
 to the divine image enstamped by the Creator upon 
 his soul ? Here, too, is the drunkard's family : his 
 poor, abused, and dispirited wife ; his uneducated 
 and ragged and despised children. Oh, how meekly 
 and imploringly Christ looks at us out of these 
 blear eyes. Do we know him ? Will we receive 
 him with these ? " Inasmuch as ye did it unto 
 one of the least of these, ye did it unto me." We 
 are under as great obligation to assist and relieve 
 these as we should be the Lord Jesus Christ Him- 
 
THE TRUE SERVICE OF CHRIST. 157 
 
 self, were He on earth without where to lay his 
 head ; or sitting weary by the well should say to 
 us, " Give me to drink ; " or sweating great drops 
 of agony should say, " Watch with me." And we 
 serve Him as well in serving these as though we 
 did it for Him personally. 
 
 This is, indeed, a searching and practical doc- 
 trine, but we can draw no other from our text. 
 We are all too prone to forget or disregard our 
 obligations to our fellow-men, especially to the 
 unfortunate and sinful. We excuse ourselves by 
 pretending not to know of the wants of others, 
 or not to be able to relieve them. But if we were 
 as earnest to give as we are to get, we should know 
 of others' sufferings and feel able to help them far 
 more than we do. At other times we excuse our- 
 selves by saying that the suffering are not worthy 
 of charity, that they have brought their troubles 
 upon themselves by indolence, or want of pru- 
 dence, or crime. But this is the very reason why 
 we should help them. They are the weak or the 
 wayward children in God's great family, and the 
 more fortunate brothers and sisters ought to help 
 them. We know how the Father of these prodi- 
 gals feels towards them, and how He receives them 
 with open arms. We know how their Elder Brother 
 feels towards them, and how He suffered and how 
 He died to save them. And cannot we, younger 
 brethren, we who need the same charity and for- 
 giveness, cannot we also forgive, and exercise that 
 compassion which we so much need ? 
 
158 SERMONS. 
 
 We are not careful enough in tliese things. "We 
 know not how many tender plants are crushed be- 
 neath our careless feet. Many hearts, not vile, 
 but perchance thoughtless and rude, are made to 
 ache by our harsh words and judgments. Let us 
 be considerate and generous with all, especially 
 with the young, the inexperienced, and the friend- 
 less. While it is never our duty to approve or 
 uphold wrong, while we ought to rebuke it, yet 
 let us do it in the spirit of meekness and love, 
 considering ourselves, lest we also be tempted. 
 Let us do it to save the wrong-doer if we possibly 
 can, never forgetting that he is our brother, that 
 for him Christ died, and that if we have the spirit 
 of Christ we shall be willing to bear and forbear 
 much for his sake. 
 
 Let us try our professions of Christian faith and 
 love by these words of our Saviour. Let them be 
 the measure of our piety, the rule of our duty. 
 As we go through the world and meet the sinful 
 and the sorrowing, let us repeat as we pass along, 
 " Liasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of 
 these my brethren, ye did it unto me." 
 
 " God, with sympathetic care, 
 In others' joys and griefs to share 
 
 Do Thou our hearts incline ; 
 Each low, each selfish wish control. 
 Warm with benevolence the soul, 
 
 And make us wholly thine." 
 
IX. 
 
 CHRISTIAN FAITH AND CHRISTIAN PROFES- 
 SION. 
 
 " For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness ; and 
 A\-ith the mouth confession is made unto salvation." — Romans 
 X. 10. 
 
 The relative importance of Christian faith and 
 Christian profession is a subject of much interest 
 and vital concern to the cause of religion. Doubt- 
 less all will concede that to attain a living prac- 
 tical faith in Christian principles is the first and 
 fundamental step in a religious life. Until " with 
 the heart men believe unto righteousness," their 
 professions are but mockery and lies. The root of 
 our religion must be within us ; it must be planted 
 in the soul and be there a growing conviction, ex- 
 perience, hope, and joy. Before we can claim to 
 be Christians in any sense we must have faith in 
 God, faith in Christ, faith in the Holy Spirit of 
 truth. And before we are Christians in a high 
 and worthy sense, this faith must penetrate deeper 
 than the intellect, into the heart, and there become 
 a moulding, subduing, practical, renovating ele- 
 
160 SERMONS. 
 
 ment of life. Not only must the understanding be 
 convinced, and assent to the doctrines of the gos- 
 pel, but the heart, the moral and the spiritual attri- 
 butes of our nature must lay hold of them, believe 
 them, and be quickened into life by them. They 
 must produce in us the righteous purpose, the 
 Christ-like spirit, the sanctified heart, the holy 
 life. 
 
 Here, all admit, is the starting-point, the founda- 
 tion of Christian experience. But the question is. 
 Is this all ? When the truth of Christ has entered 
 and renewed the individual soul, reconciled the 
 secret heart to God, is its work done ? Does it 
 work privately and independently in each soul? 
 Will it lead a person out, as it were, into the 
 desert, suffer him to abandon the walks of men, 
 and standing alone, isolated from all human inter- 
 ests, pour into his soul the full cup of its blessed- 
 ness? 
 
 This is practically the position men often take ? 
 What is more common than to hear people say. If 
 I answer a good conscience ; if I do right, deal 
 justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God, 
 nothing more is required of me. And this, in a 
 broad sense, is true ; but it is offered not with any 
 comprehensive view, but in justification of narrow- 
 ing down human duty to mere individual recti- 
 tude. It is a plea for the relinquishment of all 
 social obligations in religious concerns. It is equiv- 
 alent to saying. If I am right, it is nothing to me 
 
CHRISTIAN FAITH AND PROFESSION. 161 
 
 whether the world is right or not. My duties are 
 all owing to myself. I have nothing to do to make 
 others what they should be. 
 
 But is Christianity such a selfish principle ? Will 
 it let a man enjoy its blessedness alone, with no 
 effort to impart it to others ? Can a full-grown, 
 symmetrical, living Christian be developed in soli, 
 tude ? in the cave or the cloister ? Were the old 
 ascetics of the mediaeval ages better Christians, 
 better illustrations of what the gospel can do for 
 men, than our philanthropists and reformers ? 
 
 No other form of religion ever taught to man is 
 so social, so humanitarian in its essential princi- 
 ples, as that taught by Jesus Christ. While there 
 is no other that reaches the heart so closely, that 
 penetrates so deeply into the motives, principles, 
 dispositions, and designs ; that so lays the soul 
 bare, and makes it stand alone before its God, 
 there is no other that so carries a person out of 
 himself and makes him live and move and have 
 his very being for others. The more fully it takes 
 possession of the soul the less of selfishness, the 
 more of personal sacrifice and devotion to the 
 world's good, will exist there. It works within 
 that it may reveal itself without. It is a seed 
 which will take root and sprout only in the soil 
 of the human heart, but it shoots up and branches 
 forth into the broad world, and its rich fruits fall 
 in delicious clusters in every human pathway. The 
 man who has its spirit in his heart, who feels its 
 
162 SERMONS. 
 
 blessedness and knows its worth, cannot hide its 
 light or bury the treasure. His soul is not at rest, 
 his salvation is not complete, until he makes con- 
 fession of it before men. He longs to tell others 
 what power it has to enrich and sanctify and save. 
 Like the angels, he proclaims it as glad tidings of 
 great joy unto all people. He commends it to the 
 sorrowing as a source of comfort ; to the tempted 
 as an element of strength ; to the fallen as a power 
 to restore ; to the prosperous as a sanctifier of their 
 joy ; to all classes and conditions as precisely 
 adapted to their needs. There are none before 
 whom he is unwilling to confess it. No pressure 
 of circumstances leads him to deny it. 
 
 It is upon just these two features of Christian 
 character — the internal experience, the private, 
 personal life of faith and holiness, and the out- 
 ward confession — that the apostle treats in our 
 text. " With the heart man believeth unto right- 
 eousness, and with the mouth confession is made 
 unto salvation." These two traits are not thrown 
 together acciden.tally ; their union in this passage 
 is not arbitrary, but is based on a natural and 
 strictly philosophical connection. The}^ stand re- 
 lated to each other as cause and effect. One is 
 essential to the completeness of the other. How 
 natural, how almost unavoidable it is that we ex- 
 press in word and deed the real state of our mind. 
 Character is always confessed before men sooner or 
 later. We cannot cherish anger or love, falsehood 
 
CHRISTIAN FAITH AND PROFESSION. 163 
 
 or truth, without betraying them to the world as 
 elements of our life. Is it not equally certain that 
 a living faith in Christ, a daily experience of his 
 purity and peace, will seek utterance in our words 
 and deeds. Thoughts, principles, feeling unex- 
 pressed, have not the breath of life, and soon per- 
 ish, as the seed which does not break open the soil. 
 Hence it is, as the apostle says, that confession is 
 made unto salvation. If confession is not made, 
 the work of faith and personal holiness begun 
 secretly in the soul is not matured ; it soon lan- 
 guishes, grows cold, and dies. Why should it not ? 
 Every endowment of our being is weakened by in- 
 action. Your hands and feet, your lungs and voice, 
 will not grow strong unless you use them. Your 
 anger, your love, your fear, are increased by utter- 
 ing them, and choked down by resolute silence. It 
 is thus with your spiritual life. As naturally, as 
 necessarily, as exercise is life-giving and invigorat- 
 ing, so naturally and necessarily will the utterance 
 of our religious experiences, the confession of our 
 faith and hope, our reverence and spiritual joy, 
 impart to them new life, strength, and beauty. 
 
 But even if the inward inspirations of faith and 
 devotion did not urge an open confession, a sense 
 of affection, honor, and right would demand it. Is 
 not that a doubtful kind of friendship of which a 
 person is ashamed ? Would you value, confide in, 
 and be proud of a pretended friend, who in the 
 presence of certain individuals or in particular cir- 
 
164 SERMONS. 
 
 cumstances would disown you, deny an acquaint- 
 ance or intimacy with you ? Should you consider 
 him a reliable member of your political party who 
 when with those of an opposite party denied all 
 faith in your principles ? 
 
 Our sense of manliness, all our feelings of honor 
 and right, view such meanness with contempt. 
 We say it is cowardly, treacherous, and unprinci- 
 pled. But if a person is a sincere believer in Je- 
 sus Christ, if he really has Christ's spirit in his 
 heart and knows by experience the power and 
 blessedness of his truth, will he not look with the 
 same disgust upon a disposition to repudiate all 
 obligation to Him, to deny all responsibility for his 
 cause, and even an intellectual faith in his gospel ? 
 If we are believers in Christ why not own it, why 
 not frankly and manfully acknowledge ourselves 
 to be his disciples and pledge ourselves to his 
 cause ? Do you believe Christ to be a true teach- 
 er, a safe leader ? Why, then, do you not come 
 and enlist in his cause, enroll your name as a 
 soldier in his army, a member of his church? It 
 is no more than you do in other enterprises. Are 
 there several candidates for some office before the 
 people ? How quickly will each one gather around 
 him his zealous supporters. No one is afraid to de- 
 clare himself in favor of one or the other of them. 
 What enthusiastic partisans have the several mil- 
 itary chieftains in our army. None of us are afraid 
 of assuming the responsibility of sustaining some 
 
CHRISTIAN FAITH AND PROFESSION. 165 
 
 one of them and bis policy. But what risks do 
 we run in so doing of casting our influence on 
 the wrong side. These are all fallible men. We 
 have not a full statement of their principles. We 
 merely know them, as it were, by rumor. And 
 yet how we rush to their support. How we de- 
 fend them against their opponents and advocate 
 their supposed policy. 
 
 And yet while we are doing this, in the face 
 and eyes of such a course we refuse to avow to 
 the world simple faith in Jesus Christ, whom we 
 privately admit to be an infallible teacher and 
 guide ; whose whole life and complete s^-stem of 
 doctrines and morals we have in our possession. 
 And we excuse ourselves for so doing with the 
 plea that we are not equal to, and therefore dare 
 not take upon ourselves, the responsibilities of such 
 a profession. But we repeat, where are the greater 
 responsibilities in those professions we do make in 
 secular matters, or in those which Christianity de- 
 mands ? In one case we become the defenders of 
 fallible men and principles. In the other, by the 
 very conditions of our faith, we espouse the cause 
 of an unerrino^, divine beinor and doctrine. Should 
 it be said that it is in the fact that Christianity is 
 a perfect system that the objection lies to profess- 
 ing it, that its requirements are so high we cannot 
 live up to them, it may be answered. No man is 
 required to profess that he is as perfect as Christ 
 or his religion. That is not what Christ asks of 
 
166 SEEMOXS. 
 
 US. No cliurch on earth ever demanded any such 
 profession. We are simply called on to profess 
 faith in Christianity as a fact ; to say to the world 
 that we accept it as our religion, and that it is our 
 desire and intention to defend, extend, and obey it 
 to the extent of our ability. We say to the world 
 as the apostle said to the Philippians : Not as 
 though we had already attained, either were al- 
 ready perfect ; but this one thing we do, reaching 
 forth unto those things which are before, we press 
 towards the mark for the prize of the high calling 
 of God in Christ Jesus. We simply say that we 
 are learners, that we have entered the school of 
 Christ, that he is our teacher, something of whose 
 wisdom and goodness we would acquire. 
 
 And what less than this can we do, if we pro- 
 fess to be Christians in any sense ? We place this 
 question simply on the ground of consistency, of 
 reason and right. Do not the best interests of the 
 cause of Christ demand that his followers make an 
 open profession of it ? Do not people lose respect 
 for us, lose confidence in our independence, sin- 
 cerity, and earnestness, when they see us appar- 
 ently half ashamed of our religion, when in all 
 our congregations only a handful, as it were, have 
 ever, in any wa}', made any public acknowledg- 
 ment of faith in Jesus ? Count up the number of 
 baptisms, or the number who regularly go to the 
 communion-table, compared with the whole popu- 
 lation, and how small it is. How many will stay 
 
CHRISTIAN FAITH AND PROFESSION. 167 
 
 from their place of worship when these rites are 
 observed, that they may not witness or partake 
 of them. Who can doubt that such practices do 
 much to retard the progress of Christian truth, to 
 undermine public confidence in the sincerity and 
 devotedness of those who pretend to believe it. 
 Nothing is more disgusting to an honest mind 
 than to see people indifferent, cold, half skeptical 
 about what they pretend to advocate. If a prin- 
 ciple cannot inspire enthusiasm in those who pre- 
 tend to have faith in it, why should others be in- 
 terested ? 
 
 But there is another consideration, higher than 
 any yet mentioned and which alone should be con- 
 clusive, Avhy we should confess Christ before men. 
 He commands us to do it. In plain language He 
 declares, " Whosoever shall confess me before men, 
 him will I confess also before my Father which is 
 in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before 
 men, him will I also den}^ before my Father which 
 is in heaven." He told his disciples to proclaim 
 upon the house-top what they heard in secret ; 
 and is it not the obvious meaning of the text that 
 however strong our faith, we cannot realize salva- 
 tion until we openly confess it to God and men ? 
 What terms are used to describe Christ's ultimate 
 triumph ? " Every knee shall bow and every 
 tongue confess ; " "As I live, saith the Lord, every 
 tongue shall confess to God ; " " Whosoever shall 
 confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth 
 
168 SEEMOXS. 
 
 in him, and be in God; " " If tbou sbalt confess 
 witb tby moutb tbe Lord Jesus, and sbalt believe 
 in tbine beart tbat God batb raised Him from tbe 
 dead, tbou sbalt be saved." 
 
 Are not tbese passages sufficiently explicit? 
 Do tbey not make our duty plain ? Let us, tben, 
 consider tbiswbole subject calmly, dispassionately. 
 We know tbe intense prejudice in many minds 
 against making a public profession of religion. 
 We know it bas been abused and may be again. 
 But ougbt we to give up ta prejudice? Will we 
 reject every tbing liable to abuse? Sbould we not 
 ratber let tbis, like all otber subjects, stand on its 
 own merits ? We appeal to Universalists to take 
 this matter up in earnest and answer it out of tbe 
 New Testament. Let us be as willing to accept 
 tbe teacbings of Cbrist on tbis point as on any 
 otber. Let us be willing to know tbe trutb, to 
 know our duty. Let every person in tbis con- 
 gregation, especially tbose wbo bave never united 
 witb tbe cburcb of Cbrist, give tbese tbougbts a 
 candid consideration. Look tbem over in a prayer- 
 ful, bumble spirit, witb a desire to do wbat will 
 be best for yourselves, best for tbe world, most 
 for tbe glory of God, and tbe Holy Spirit will lead 
 you into all trutb. 
 
X. 
 
 FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH. 
 
 " Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of 
 life." — Revelation ii. 10. 
 
 Faithfulness is the condition on which the 
 victory of human life is achieved. This voice of 
 the Spirit to the Ionian Church, " Be thou faith- 
 ful," repeats its admonition to the men and women 
 of every age and clime. Out of the deep conscious- 
 ness of the rational mind, out of the unfoldments 
 of Providence and inspiration, its words come forth 
 to-day, to warn and teach us. From whatever 
 point we view the conflict of life, whether in its 
 secular, moral, or religious aspect, the question 
 whether we shall succeed or fail is decided by our 
 obedience or disobedience to this requirement, "Be 
 thou faithful." 
 
 Fidelity precludes the possibility of failure. 
 Whatever may be its outward fortunes, it is in 
 itself a crown and a victory. There is no defeat 
 over which we have reason to indulge hopeless sor- 
 row but that of the disloyal, recreant spirit. The 
 
170 SERMONS. 
 
 soul cast down from the tlirone of moral and spir- 
 itual supremacy, Tanquished by the temptations 
 and difficulties of life, is ever a failure. But when 
 our manhood, through trial and conflict, maintains 
 its sovereignty ; when our purity, through the 
 storm of sensuality and vice, sits arrayed in the 
 glory and beauty of its own divinity, putting the 
 whole army of evil passions beneath its feet, then 
 is given unto us the crown, the victory of life. 
 
 Faithfulness implies the activity of both intel- 
 lectual and moral forces. It is integrity, loyalty, 
 and in its development implies the presence of 
 perseverance and self-sacrifice. To be faithful is 
 to be true to our trust through all trials and dis- 
 couragements. The faithful servant performs all 
 his duties to his master. In the beautiful imagery 
 of the Scriptures it is applied to the constanc}' and 
 extent of the divine care, when it is said that " the 
 faithfulness of God reacheth unto the clouds," and 
 " endureth to all generations." The Saviour of 
 the world is called the faitliful and true witness, 
 the faithful High Priest ; his words are true and 
 faithful. And in setting forth the duties of his 
 followers, He represents them as the stewards of 
 God, and says, " It is required in stewards that a 
 man be found faithful." To such it will finally 
 be said, " Well done, good and faithful servants." 
 
 We perceive, then, how much is comprehended 
 in this idea of fidelity. It implies the most intense 
 loyalty of soul. It is unfaltering allegiance to dut}^ 
 
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH. 171 
 
 It is veracity, strict conformity to every pledge ; 
 constancy of affection, singleness of purpose, pu- 
 rity of motive. It is trueness to ourselves, to our 
 fellow-beings, and to God. The faithful soul sus- 
 tains harmonious relations with its Creator and all 
 his works. 
 
 The theme here introduced for our consideration 
 is of fundamental importance. We feel justified 
 in presenting it, because this faithful spirit is the 
 central element of all true life. Without a deep 
 sense of moral obligation, without a determination 
 to be true and pure in our inmost purpose, all su- 
 perior endowments and advantages are of little 
 worth in a rational and spiritual existence. These 
 are the indispensable qualifications, the sure foun- 
 dation of our manhood. To educate and refine the 
 habits of the exterior man and leave the interior 
 life destitute of deep moral convictions, is like 
 planting the most beautiful flowers upon a barren 
 soil ; it is only to see them droop and cover the 
 ground with faded leaves. One of the saddest 
 things we behold in this world is a richly endowed, 
 highly cultivated intellect, destitute of moral and 
 spiritual consciousness, without God and without 
 hope, dead to a sense of obligation, indifferent to 
 justice, truth, and humanity ; careless of its influ- 
 ence upon the world. Such characters are the foes 
 of society ; they are dangerous to the best interests 
 of the race. We view them as wrecks stranded 
 along the shores of time. 
 
172 SERMONS. 
 
 If, then, we will win the victory of life, we must 
 first seek to become profoundly conscious that we 
 are subjects of moral and spiritual laws ; that we 
 must have a living sense of duty and be faithful to 
 it ; that it must hold and direct us always. The 
 sense of right and of personal obligation must never 
 be permitted to slumber. The root of all servility 
 of mind lies in its loving pleasure or indulgence 
 more than duty. The elements of true manhood 
 and womanhood, the very soul of spiritual free- 
 dom, consists in our having high aims which we 
 love better than gratification ; in whose service 
 hardship and death are honorable; to which we 
 have consecrated all the powers of our being. In 
 acknowledging the pleasurable to be supreme con- 
 sists the degradation and disloyalty of our life. In 
 our allegiance to deep convictions and established 
 principles consist the power and freedom of the 
 soul. 
 
 There is in some minds a half conscious feeling 
 that a disinterested reverence for the right is not 
 entirely respectable ; that it is an undignified state 
 of mind, born of eccentricity, indicating defect of 
 endowment and narrowness of culture. We hear 
 much said of a needed elasticity of mind and heart 
 that can conform to circumstances and adapt itself 
 to the demands of the times. This, in a high sense, 
 is indeed a desirable attainment, but it too often 
 means policy instead of principle. It is too often 
 a betrayal of the right for the sake of gain. If a 
 
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH. 173 
 
 crisis comes when interest and duty conflict, when 
 the popular opinion or prejudice demands one 
 thing and the law of God another, this elasticity 
 too often means an ignominious retreat from the 
 struggle. The man who can even think of such 
 an escape from difficulty knows little of Christian 
 fidelity. The heart is poisoned by the entrance 
 into it of such a thought. The slightest touch of 
 but the hem of Christ's garment in the press and 
 crowd of life will cure the burning of this inward 
 fever. Great and sacred is faithful, persistent 
 obedience. He who is not able in the highest 
 majesty of manhood to obey with clear and open 
 brow a law higher than himself must be destitute 
 of faith and love. All his efforts to be free draw 
 around him more closely the chains of his own 
 despotic soul. A child-like faithfulness of heart, 
 such as can believe and endure all things, or grasp 
 a guiding hand, and wondering walk in paths un- 
 known, is the spirit needful to success. Let sin- 
 cerity lead, and by winding ways, not without 
 green pastures and still waters, we climb to the 
 tops of everlasting hills, where the winds are cool 
 and the sight is glorious ; where our souls are trans- 
 figured into the likeness of heaven, and we receive 
 the crown of life. 
 
 In pointing out some of the specific and distin- 
 guishing characteristics of this faithful spirit, we 
 notice first that it develops itself in an intense ac- 
 tivity. Those who are truly faithful, and there- 
 
174 SERMOXS. 
 
 fore winners in the race of life, are the world's 
 workers. We cannot be true to ourselves or to 
 our race, without putting forth unceasing effort. 
 The universe is a scene of movement. From the 
 most distant orbs that swing in space to the low- 
 est strata of the earth, there is nothing at rest. 
 The insect tribes open to our view a world of toil. 
 The feathered races are ever upon the wing. The 
 flocks and herds move with restless diligence. In 
 such activity these lower orders of creation find 
 life and enjo^aiient. And can man, moving in a 
 higher sphere, endowed with loftier gifts, fulfill 
 the objects of his being in repose ? Slothfulness 
 is the greatest unfaithfulness to our own nature 
 and to God. They demand perpetual conflict and 
 progress. Indolence would recline upon the green 
 sod, or leisurely pace the even way. But Provi- 
 dence throws us on a rugged universe and bids us 
 make it smooth. It demands from us the unceas- 
 ing action of a living power. Every way it urges 
 our reluctant wills. It grows the thistles and the 
 tares, but expects us to raise the wheat and corn. 
 It leaves in each man's lot a thicket of sharp 
 temptations, and expects him, though with bleed- 
 ing feet, to pass firmly through. 
 
 It is our duty then to go forth into the world, 
 refusing to sit down and break bread with indo- 
 lence. Amid the luxuries and repose of sloth the 
 springs of moral soundness and spiritual vitality 
 dr up. Guilty negligence, indulgent laxity, 
 
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH. 175 
 
 plausible selfishness, eat into the faithful spirit and 
 draw away its life. The battle of existence is not 
 forced upon us from without only, it assails us 
 from within. We must march to its conflict with 
 quick and cheerful step. It is not alone with flesh 
 and blood, with the great questions that arise 
 among men in church and state, that we must con- 
 tend. But it is with viewless passions and spir- 
 itual wickedness clinging to the soul. We must 
 capture the appetites, and make them willing to 
 serve our higher faculties. We must change the 
 heart of ambition, and turn its aspiring eye from 
 the lamp of heathen glory to the sunlight of Chris- 
 tian sanctity. We must seize anger, and yoke it 
 under curb of reason to the service of justice and 
 right. We must inspire the sluggish will to 
 quicker and more earnest toil, charm the dull 
 affections into sweeter and livelier moods, and 
 tempt their timidity to break out in song and 
 mingle voices with the melody of life. We must 
 rouse pity from its sleep and compel it to choose a 
 task and begin a work of mercy. To do all this 
 requires vigilance, devotion, and endurance. Yet 
 all this must be done if we will be faithful unto 
 death and wear the crown of life. 
 
 But while this activity should be the expression 
 of inward life and force of soul, it should also have 
 some well-defined form of development. Faithful- 
 ness to life's opportunities requires that our pow- 
 ers go out in some specific direction ; that our 
 
176 SERMONS. 
 
 efforts be given to some definite work. Ever}^ per- 
 son is sent into the world for something, — has a 
 place to fill, a work to do. And to find that place 
 and work, faithfully fill and do it, is our highest 
 wisdom. Many there are who do work enough, 
 but they work to no end, with no order. Ran- 
 dom shots are most dangerous, but least sure to 
 hit the mark. So labor without a purpose, effort 
 without a plan, accomplishes nothing but harm. 
 Let us be up and doing, but have a thorough un- 
 derstanding of what we do. Convinced that our 
 course in life is in the right direction ; that our 
 work is useful, high, and honorable, we have noth- 
 ing to do but to throw ourselves into it with all 
 our might. If we will win the crown, we must 
 let no consideration of policy, no fear of danger, 
 or hope of favor move us in the least. The lesson 
 of all human experience is, that every deviation 
 from a sense of right is destructive to the most 
 sacred interests of a rational soul. It may be but 
 a trifling matter, — the mere bowing at an altar in 
 whose worship our hearts cannot join ; the casting 
 our vote for men or principles which our souls ab- 
 hor ; the utterance of a single word in approval 
 of what we deem false and wrong ; yet, sure as 
 Heaven is just, such deeds will strip the crown of 
 life from our heads, and cover them with dust and 
 ashes. 
 
 Faithfulness, then, is deeply interested not only 
 in personally maintaining, but in promoting right- 
 
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH. 177 
 
 eous principles. It loves man. It seeks to imbue 
 the spirit of tlie times with holy influences. It 
 feels the weight of social obligation, and bears a 
 generous part in every enterprise for the enlight- 
 enment and salvation of man. It knows there is 
 no sphere of life secluded from the eye of God, or 
 thrust out beyond his government. In its view 
 nothing is so sad as a life of unhallowed levity 
 and pleasure. Oh, a soul without wonder or ten- 
 derness or inspiration, with superficial mirth and 
 deep indifference, standing on the threshhold of 
 immortality's awful temple with easy smile, cov- 
 ered head, and unbent knee, is indeed in a fearful 
 condition. Can we expect, my hearers, to live 
 through this life thoughtless, careless, vain, and 
 pass, in the twinkling of an eye, through the grave 
 into the glory of the highest heavens ? How 
 strange, how childish, to think that a wasted life, 
 a life that ends in defeat, will open into victory ; 
 that there is a crown prepared for it the moment 
 it passes the brink of the grave. No, the sinful 
 need not flatter themselves with this delusive 
 hope. Only to the faithful soul is the crown of 
 life given. And only when we receive into our 
 souls the spirit of Him who is true and faithful ; 
 only when we fight the good fight and keep the 
 faith, will there be laid up for us the unfading 
 crown of righteousness. 
 
 12 
 
XI. 
 
 THE GREATNESS OF THE CHRISTIAN'S WORK. 
 
 " And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great 
 work, so that I cannot come down : why should the work cease, 
 whilst I leave it, and come down to you? " — Nehemiah vi. 3. 
 
 OuE, text refers to events which took place while 
 the Jews were captives in Babylon. Nehemiah, a 
 pious and devoted Jew, had received permission 
 from Artaxerxes, the king, to retm-n to Jerusalem 
 and rebuild it. Its walls were broken down and 
 its gates burned witli fire. But the enterprise of 
 repairing them was very offensive to some border- 
 ing nations, and they did all in their power to 
 prevent its success. Their opposition to it was 
 probably excited by both personal and national 
 considerations. During the captivity they had 
 seized and occupied the vacant possessions of the 
 Jews, and these they would be obliged to relin- 
 quish if their owners returned. They also cher- 
 ished a long-standing and inveterate prejudice 
 against the Jews, which was excited and perpetu- 
 ated by their different manners and religion. 
 
THE GREATNESS OF THE CHRISTIANS WORK- 179 
 
 Three individuals, representing three tribes or 
 nations, — Sanballat, the Horonite, Tobiah, the 
 Ammonite, and Geshem, the Arabian, — were very 
 active and malignant in their opposition. Their 
 efforts were, at first, open and plainly hostile. It 
 is said, that as soon as they heard of Nehemiah's 
 approach with authority and aid from Artaxerxes, 
 it '' grieved them exceedingly that there was come 
 a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel." 
 First, they ridiculed the undertaking. " What do 
 these feeble Jews ? " said they. " Will they for- 
 tify themselves ? Will they sacrifice ? Will they 
 make an end in a day ? Will they revive the stones 
 out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned ? " 
 " Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he 
 shall even break down their stone wall." Next 
 they sought to make it appear that Nehemiah 
 was plotting against Artaxerxes. "• Will ye rebel 
 against the king? " they inquire. " Will you at- 
 tempt to throw off the yoke of your conqueror, and 
 to instate yourself in power?" 
 
 Finding that Nehemiah was not intimidated, nor 
 the work retarded by this course, they resorted to 
 an artful scheme. All at once they became his 
 friends, and deeply interested in his work. They 
 sent to him, saying, " Come, let us meet together 
 in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono." 
 They pretended to want to counsel with him in 
 reference to the best method of doinsr the work. 
 They made common cause with him, assumed to 
 
180 SEEMONS. 
 
 feel and to tliink as he did. But Nehemiah was 
 too wise to be deceived by such pretensions. They 
 were fooHsh and weak, and he did not Hsten to 
 them. Like a sensible man he says, " They thought 
 to do me mischief." He saw through their duplic- 
 ity, and sent messengers to them saying, " I am 
 doing a great work, so that I cannot come down : 
 why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and 
 come down to you ? " He did not enter into any 
 controversy with them. Although he knew their 
 mischievous design, yet he did not charge it back 
 upon them. He had a sufficient reason in his own 
 circumstances for not going down to them. His 
 time was all well employed. He was engaged in 
 the great work of rebuilding the city and temple 
 where his fathers worshiped, of restoring the old 
 altars and forms, so revered and sacred. He was 
 making good progress. God was giving him all 
 the instructions he needed, and why should he stop 
 to counsel with men ? He was guided by a higher 
 wisdom than theirs, and why should he turn from 
 divine to human instruction ? 
 
 Doctor Adam Clarke adds to his explanation of 
 this passage the following practical suggestions : 
 " I know not any language which a man who is 
 employed on imjDortant labors can use more suit- 
 ably as an answer to the thousand invitations and 
 provocations he may have to remit his work, enter 
 into useless or trivial conferences, or notice weak, 
 wicked, and malicious attacks on his work and his 
 
THE GREATNESS OF THE CHRISTIAN'S WORK. 181 
 
 motives. I am doing a great work, so I cannot 
 stoop to your nonsense, or notice your malevolence. 
 Why should the work cease, while I leave it, and 
 come down to such as you ? " 
 
 In passing from the simple facts to the moral 
 and religious instructions of this passage of sacred 
 history, we find it has a lesson for us, as Christian 
 believers, which we trust will not be wholly inap- 
 propriate for this occasion. 
 
 We are led first to consider the greatness of 
 our work in the gospel. We are " doing a great 
 work." The religion of Jesus Christ is great, viewed 
 in an}^ light in which we may place it. It is great 
 objectively ; great in its origin, coming from God, 
 and being the highest revelation of his truth ; 
 great in its agencies, its Author and Finisher being 
 no less a personage than the only begotten Son of 
 God ; the Holy Spirit, the power that quickens it 
 in the heart, while it is wrought out in our lives 
 by the exercise, on our part, of strong faith, fervent 
 devotion, and humble obedience. It is great in its 
 principles, treating of the character, government^ 
 will, and purpose of God, of the great questions of 
 duty, right and wrong, truth and falsehood, sin 
 and holiness. It is great in its purpose, contem- 
 plating the salvation of the world from sin and 
 its restoration to God. These are, indeed, great 
 themes. If we think upon them our minds are 
 occupied with great thoughts. If wfe profess this 
 religion we make a great profession. If in any 
 
182 SERMONS. 
 
 degree we comprehend its ideas, or feel its spirit, 
 or live its life, our whole being is elevated and 
 ennobled by it : we are doing a great work. 
 
 But, my hearers, are we not doing a great work, 
 as followers of Christ, in what we are striving to 
 accomplish for ourselves personally, and for the 
 world, by our faith in Him ? As the disciples of 
 the Lord Jesus, what do we profess, by the grace 
 of God, to be doing for ourselves? Nothing less 
 than working out our own salvation, given us in 
 Him. We profess to have received the grace of 
 God, to have passed from death unto life, to have 
 been translated into the kingdom of God's dear 
 Son. We claim to have received the truth as it 
 is in Jesus ; that our hearts are the abode of the 
 Holy Spirit, — in a word that we are the charac- 
 teristic children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 
 And is it not a great work for us to bring our 
 hearts and lives into a full enjoyment of this 
 grace, to work out what God has worked within 
 us, so that it will pervade our entire lives, be our 
 comfort in sorrow, our strength in weakness, our 
 light in darkness our rescue in temptation, and our 
 hope in death ? If we are true Christians we are 
 constantly, earnestly engaged in doing this great 
 work for ourselves. We are seeking the reconcili- 
 ation of our hearts to God, the consecration and 
 sanctification of our lives by the word of God and 
 the Holy Spirit working and ruling in us. 
 
 And what we are striving to do for ourselves 
 
THE GREATNESS OF THE CURISTIAN'S WORK. 183 
 
 personally we are striving to do for the world. 
 Christ came to be the Saviour of the world. He 
 tasted death for every man, gave his life a ransom 
 for all. Now, if we are truly his, if we have been 
 born of his spirit, been made new creatures in Him, 
 we shall be doing the great work He came to do 
 for the world. The Christian cannot be indifferent 
 to the welfare of men, to their moral and S23iritual 
 condition. He cannot look upon a world lost in 
 sin, alienated from the life of God, degraded and 
 miserable, without thought or care. He loves men 
 as the dear children of God, as the subjects of re- 
 deeming grace, as the lost sheep whom the Sav- 
 iour came to seek and save ; and he feels a solemn 
 responsibility for them. The voice of God cries 
 to him from the cross of Christ, " Where is thy 
 brother? " Is he out in the cold, waste region of 
 unbelief, living " without God and without hope 
 in the world ? " Is he the prey of avarice, bend- 
 ing all the energies of his immortal soul to the 
 service of mammon, worshiping business, pleasure, 
 fame, infatuated with the " lust of the flesh, the 
 lust of the eye, and the pride of life ? " Is he a 
 poor, reeling drunkard, a curse to himself, his fam- 
 ily, and the world ? Is he a blasphemer, a robber, 
 a murderer ? Is he poor and miserable, sick and 
 in prison, homeless, without food and drink ? 
 
 The Christian feels a responsibility for all such. 
 He cannot despise his brother for whom Christ 
 died. The blood of every fallen man and woman 
 
184 SERMONS. 
 
 cries to him from the ground, and he cannot rest 
 satisfied without doing all in his power to help 
 them. He feels that God has called him to a great 
 work. He remembers the Saviour's words, spoken 
 of his disciples, but addressed to the Father, " As 
 Thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I 
 also sent them into the world." He feels called 
 upon to work in the spirit and with the purpose of 
 Christ for the salvation of men. He believes it 
 possible for them to be saved. He believes that in 
 Christ he possesses the power which alone can save 
 them. And he feels it to be his duty, to the ex- 
 tent of his ability, to apply that power to every 
 sinner's case. He feels moved to carry the mes- 
 sage of the gospel, its warnings, encouragements, 
 and consolations, to all the sinful around him. 
 His love to men is the rule by which he estimates 
 his love to Christ. " Inasmuch as ye have done 
 it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye 
 have done it unto me." What he is willino; to 
 do, to sacrifice for the spread of the gospel, for the 
 conversion of men to Christ, indicates to his mind 
 the strength of his faith and love. If he cares 
 nothing for the world, if he is not willing to sur- 
 render a moment of his time, a dollar of his money, 
 an effort of his hands, or to give up one selfish, sen- 
 sual desire for the sake of his religion, what are 
 his professions worth ? If he is too full of business 
 and pleasure to keep the Sabbath-day holy, or to 
 go into the house of the Lord to worship ; if he 
 
THE GREATNESS OF THE CHRISTIAN'S WORK. 185 
 
 cannot find time to rend his Bible, or enter his 
 closet, or worship around the family altar ; if he is 
 so thoughtless as to take the name of God in vain, 
 and in his general demeanor to set before his chil- 
 dren an irreligious example ; if his faith in Christ 
 is so weak and wavering that he dares not con- 
 fess Him before men, then what claim has he to 
 the Christian name ? He is not a Christian at all. 
 He cannot have even an intelligent, intellectual 
 belief in the gospel. He simply professes without 
 thought, talks about what he does not understand 
 or feel. 
 
 These suggestions faintly indicate the greatness 
 of our work as Christian believers. If we are such 
 vre are engaged in a great work. 
 
 Let us next consider the earnestness necessary 
 to do this work. This is implied in its greatness. 
 So great a work cannot be done by the slothful, 
 the cold and indifferent. The Saviour has told us 
 what it is to be Christians. It is to love the Lord 
 our God with all the heart and soul and mind and 
 strength. If we will follow Christ we must be 
 ready to leave all, take up our cross, and conse- 
 crate ourselves and all that we have to his service. 
 '' What good thing shall I do, that I may have 
 eternal life ? " inquired the young man. " If thou 
 wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and 
 give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in 
 heaven, and come and follow me," is the Saviour's 
 quick reply. Nothing but profound earnestness in 
 
186 SERMONS. 
 
 our Christian life will lead us to surrender all, to 
 consecrate all, to the love of Christ. Yet it is 
 just this earnestness that characterizes a deeply re- 
 ligious life. Kehemiah could not leave his work 
 for a day or an hour to parley with men. Nor 
 can the true Christian suspend his efforts for a 
 moment to engage in useless speculations, personal 
 controversies, or idle talk. He sees so much to be 
 done for his own soul, so many passions to be sub- 
 dued, so much darkness to be removed, so many 
 errors to be corrected, so many sins to be repented 
 of and forgiven ; he sees so much evil in the world 
 around him, so many opportunities and calls to do 
 good, how can he find time to be idle ? No, the 
 stronger our faith, the greater is our zeal, the more 
 we desire to do for ourselves and for humanity, for 
 the glory of God. We watch and labor and wait. 
 We pray without ceasing, and in everything give 
 thanks. 
 
 And especially shall we manifest this earnest- 
 ness and zeal in our relation to the Christian 
 church. We shall feel that here we have a great 
 work to do, requiring our utmost exertions to ac- 
 complish it. We shall be ready to work in every 
 department of the church, — in the Sabbath-school, 
 in the prayer and conference meeting, in sustain- 
 ing the secular or pecuniary interests of the society, 
 in allaying strife and closing up divisions among 
 brethren, in seeking out the young and the stranger 
 and providing them a home in the church. And 
 
THE GREATNESS OF TUE CHRISTIAN'S WORK. 187 
 
 we shall desire to promote the prosperity and 
 growth, not only of our own church or society, but 
 of our whole denomination. We shall feel that 
 we are all members of one body, and that we can- 
 not exist as members without the bod}^ Cut off 
 from it our churches die. All independent, unor- 
 ganized work is thrown away, wasted, flows off 
 into the turbid stream of unbelief and worldliness. 
 It is the want of earnest denominational work, the 
 presence of a lawless, speculative spirit among us, 
 that is thwarting our best endeavors and crippling 
 our energies. "VVe do not unite all our strength 
 and means to build ourselves up as a Christian 
 church. One turns aside in this direction and an- 
 other in that to do outside work, and therefore we 
 do very little in our own chosen household. 
 
 Let us now consider some of the influences that 
 are ever at work to abate this earnestness and to 
 draw the Christian off from his work. Always 
 there are personal or impersonal foes calling to 
 him, " Come, let us meet together ; leave your work 
 and come down to us, that we may counsel to- 
 gether ; let us devise some new, some easier way 
 to do it." In whatever form these influences ap- 
 proach us, there is only one way through which 
 they can gain admittance into our hearts ; that be- 
 ing closed against them they are powerless. The 
 Christian can never be drawn aside from his work, 
 or become cold and indifferent while the Holy 
 Spirit fills his heart. When we have living faith 
 
188 SERMONS. 
 
 in Christ, when oui' hearts are warm with the love 
 of God, full of the spirit of prayer, in fellowship 
 with the Father and the Son, no outward influ- 
 ences can turn us aside. The want of spiritual 
 life is the poison root of all our weaknesses. This 
 is where the tempter gains admission. The church 
 never denies the faith, or tries to build on " other 
 foundation," and the individual life never becomes 
 worldly and irreligious when religion is nourished 
 by watchfulness and prayer. As the human body 
 is always warm, healthful, and vigorous when the 
 blood is active and pure, so when the currents of 
 spiritual life flow freely in the soul, when it is full 
 of the Holy Ghost, there can be no outward de- 
 formity, inactivity, or decline. 
 
 Let it be understood then that the germ of our 
 weaknesses and failures is the want of living faith 
 and spirituality. But this germ grows up and 
 branches out in many forms. Its first develop- 
 ment is a disrelish for religious exercises, a neglect 
 of the Bible, prayer, the Sabbath, and the sanctu- 
 ary. As the love of these goes out of the heart, 
 the love of the world will enter it. The heart 
 will gradually fill up with the cares of this life 
 and the deceitfulness of riches. The word, being 
 choked, will become unfruitful. Thus the soul is 
 brought down from the Christian eminence, leaves 
 its great work. It does not at first renounce it 
 openly, but it forgets it, does not find time to at- 
 tend to it, being fully occupied with other things. 
 
THE GREATNESS OF THE CURISTIANS WORK. 189 
 
 But tliis is only the first step in coming down. 
 The next is an inclination to separate ourselves 
 from the Christian church, to ignore the impor- 
 tance of Christian faith, and to tolerate in the 
 church and in the Christian ministr}^ all kinds of 
 belief and unbelief. At this stage in the down- 
 ward course we hear many and severe denuncia- 
 tions of all efforts to build the church on positive 
 statements of doctrine. This is declared to be in- 
 tolerance and bigotry, and that, too, with a sever- 
 ity that would almost seem like intolerance, were 
 it not coupled with loud professions of liberality. 
 
 Open doubt and unbelief soon follow this state 
 of mind, if its tendency is not checked. It often 
 is checked ; sometimes by pride, sometimes by fear 
 of public opinion, and sometimes by the grace of 
 God, showing the danger. But it goes on to its 
 legitimate result ; it always drifts its votar}^ be- 
 yond the pale of Christian faith. We think no 
 one who has observed its course will deny this. 
 It is first the cry of intolerance and loud profes- 
 sions of liberality ; then worldliness, indifference, 
 and neglect of the spiritual life ; then doubt, soon 
 developing into open and shameless denial. This 
 is what generally comes of the least departure 
 from our Christian work, from coming down to 
 counsel with worldly wisdom. There is no place 
 where the Christian can stand firmly but on the 
 Rock of Ages. 
 
 There are innumerable other influences that 
 
190 ' SERMONS. 
 
 creep in with these to bring us down from our 
 great work. We are here in the church mihtant. 
 There will always be conflicts, differences, and con- 
 tentions, even in the church of Christ. The wheat 
 and tares must grow together until the harvest. 
 We shall often be tempted to come down and en- 
 gage in small, personal controversies, or to yield 
 to selfish ambition ; and in many ways solicited to 
 seek our own and not Christ's. We should ever 
 respond to all these solicitations in the words of 
 Nehemiah, " I am doing a great work, so that I 
 cannot come down. Why should the work cease, 
 whilst I leave it, and come down to you ? " 
 
 And let us never forget that this turning aside 
 is always " coming down," descending from our 
 lofty position as Christians, to a lower plane. If 
 we could realize how great and lofty the service of 
 Christ is, we should never want to do any other 
 work ; we could never be induced to come down 
 to meaner employments. 
 
 And let us, on this annual occasion, seek to re- 
 alize that we, as Universalists, have a great, a 
 special work to do. Yes, as a branch of the 
 church universal, we have a peculiar and specific 
 work to do. If we have not, we have no right to 
 an existence. We are striving to do what no other 
 sect or party is doing. We are not a company of 
 philosophers or religious adventurers. We are not 
 eclectics, seeking truth everywhere, but with no 
 test or standard of truth. We are professed Chris- 
 
THE GREATi\ESS OF THE CHRISTIAN'S WORK. 191 
 
 tians, disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, taking the 
 word of God as our rule of faith and practice. 
 But in this we are not pecuUar. Here we stand 
 on common ground with all Christians. But we 
 believe the gospel has been misunderstood, and we 
 are striving to bring the church to a right under- 
 standing of it. We aim to free it of traditions and 
 false creeds, to restore the primitive faith. We 
 would establish it on Jesus Christ, the only begot- 
 ten Son of God and the Saviour of the world. 
 This is our peculiar work. We hold that all other 
 sects have either obscured or denied the great truth 
 that " the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of 
 the world ; " " that God was in Christ, reconciling 
 the world to Himself." This truth, the great, all- 
 important truth of the gospel, it is our mission to 
 teach and enforce until it pervades the Christian 
 life, and, by the quickening of the Holy Spirit, re- 
 generates the world. It is a glorious theme. It 
 warms our hearts with love and praise to God. 
 There is life and power in it. Let us not be drawn 
 away from it. Let us not come down from this 
 sublime truth to a baseless, indefinite, aimless way 
 of thinking and talking on religion. If we will 
 have religious life, we must have a theology. We 
 cannot separate them without destroying both. 
 And all our efforts to arouse men to vital religious 
 experiences will be thrown away, unless we give 
 them definite ideas of God and his government, of 
 Christ, his nature and mission, of the Holy Spirit 
 
192 SERJfOXS. 
 
 and its work in tlie soul, and of man, his nature 
 condition, duties, and destiny. This is a great 
 work. And in no other way can we perform our 
 mission as a branch of the Christian church but by 
 adhering to this work. Let us not be deceived 
 with sounding professions of liberalit}^ They may 
 just now be popular catch-words, but they are 
 short-lived. We come down, we fritter away our 
 time, our means, our strength, by listening to them. 
 There is no other way for us to prosper but to work 
 on in the name and strength of our God and his 
 Christ. Let us encourage ourselves with the words 
 of Nehemiah, " The God of heaven, He will pros- 
 per us ; therefore we, his servants, will arise and 
 build." By and by, if we are faithful, the walls 
 of Zion will be rebuilt and joined together, and its 
 doors set up. The spirit of an unbelieving, worldly 
 age may be against us. But we must not ^^ield to 
 it. No ; by all our love for Christ, by all we de- 
 sire to do for humanit}^ we must not yield to it. 
 We must impart the spirit of our religion to the 
 age. By firmly believing, by truly living, by ar- 
 dently praying, we may do it. 
 
XII. 
 ANOTHER COMFORTER. 
 
 A FUXERAL SERMON. 
 
 " And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another 
 Comforter, that He may abide with you forever." — John xiv. 16. 
 
 The interest Christ ever seemed to feel in the 
 sorrowing is a marked feature of his character. Of 
 them and to them He spoke with the greatest ten- 
 derness. Whether the timid culprit was referred 
 to Him for judgment, or the weeping parent came 
 for relief, or the blind cried from the wayside, they 
 were alike assured of his s^^mpathy, and they all 
 shared in his blessing. In his presence the bright- 
 ness of the Father's love broke through the clouds 
 of grief, shedding light upon the soul, inspiring it 
 with courage, hope, and cheerfulness. 
 
 The time had come when his brief earthly life, 
 so full of wonderful events, so fruitful of results, so 
 fragrant with the flowers of purity, love, and com- 
 passion, was to close amid the tragic scenes of the 
 crucifixion. He had not failed to impart the try- 
 ing intelligence to the chosen twelve. Because He 
 
 13 
 
194 SERMONS. 
 
 had said to them, '' I go away," sorrow had filled 
 their hearts. It was indeed to them a trying hour. 
 For Him they had relinquished other friendships, 
 incurred poverty, persecution, and contempt. He 
 had won their hearts, their lives ; all their material 
 interests and possessions had been given to Him. 
 And to be told that they were so soon to be left 
 alone was indeed like the shutting out of the last 
 ray of light, the fading of the last hope. The veil 
 which hid the future and the beneficent intention 
 of this trial could not then be parted before their 
 eyes. They felt its present grief, its sting of be- 
 reavement, the loss of counsel and encouragement, 
 the disappointment of hope, the danger of expos- 
 ure, but the brightening morning of coming time 
 they could not see. Christ felt the burden of their 
 grief, saw the gloom that was settling down upon 
 them. This drew forth a new and beautiful ex- 
 pression of his love. He would not leave them in 
 despair. " Let not your hearts be troubled ; you 
 believe in God," you have a Father, a Friend in 
 heaven. Are you left alone, can you despair, have 
 you not reason to hope while He remains to you ? 
 What if I do leave you ? He is greater than I ; 
 without Him I can do nothing, and I leave you the 
 assurance of his presence, guardianship, and sup- 
 port. Be not faithless but believing. Enter the 
 shadow and the gloom with trusting hearts, and 
 even " there shall his hand lead thee, and his right 
 hand hold thee." 
 
ANOTHER COMFORTER. 195 
 
 Can we not almost imagine that we see their 
 hearts growing lighter, and their comitenances 
 brightening as they listen to his words ? But 
 these are not all, or the most inspiring ? So much 
 encouragement and comfort they may have, even if 
 the future is as dark as they conceive, and nothing 
 more of earthly good remains to them. But this 
 world is not the only province of the Lord, the only 
 dwelling-place of God. " In my Father's house," 
 continues the Saviour, "are many mansions; if it 
 were not so, I would have told you ; I go to pre- 
 pare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a 
 place for you, I will come again and receive you 
 unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be 
 also." 
 
 Their future was not so dark as they supposed ; 
 it opened into light and glory, and the departure 
 of their friend and Lord was simply preparatory 
 for their entrance into the fullness of his joy. He 
 had not been deceiving them in the glowing hopes 
 He had inspired. Although they had but poorly 
 understood Him, yet not one expectation had He 
 awakened, not one promise had He made, that He 
 would not more than fulfill. If less had been in 
 store for them than they had hoped, He would 
 have told them. But they could not, at first, at- 
 tain to the sublimity of his purpose or comprehend 
 his thought. While their minds had been linger- 
 ing in the narrow, " earthly house of this taber- 
 nacle," expecting to find there every apartment 
 
196 SEEJfONS. 
 
 tlie Father's government, and all tlie provisions of 
 his bounty, his mind had soared upwards to the 
 ''house of many mansions," ''the building of God, 
 not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." 
 The blessings He had promised were spiritual, 
 and were to be enjoyed in a spiritual state of be- 
 ing. He was about to rise into that condition, as 
 the first fruits from the dead, as a demonstration 
 of the fact of a resurrection into life immortal. 
 During the brief period of their continuance here, 
 after his departure, they were to think of Him as 
 gone into heaven, there to appear in the presence 
 of God for them, to prepare a place for them. 
 Towards that heavenly home they might look for- 
 ward amid all their labors, conflicts, and suffer- 
 ings, and find strength to persevere. There would 
 be his home, and there they should finally rest, se- 
 cure from the tempests that beat upon the shores 
 of mortality. And not only does He foretell this 
 glorious destin}^ and picture this bright abode as a 
 far off land difficult of access, but how familiarly 
 he represents it as his home, and how positively 
 He promises to come again and receive them unto 
 Himself. 
 
 What more could they ask for consolation ? 
 Even their bereavement was not real, but only a 
 temporar}^ separation, preparatory to an everlast- 
 ing and beatific reunion. The Father was still to 
 be with them and guard them in his absence, and 
 finally He was to come, " the w^ay, the trutli, and 
 
ANOTHER COMFORTER. 197 
 
 the life," to lead them to the bright mansions of 
 rest above. It would seem that these considera- 
 tions were enough ; as much as they could ask, 
 or love could give for their consolation. And yet, 
 after all these assurances, such is the plenitude and 
 tenderness of the Saviour's compassion, that in our 
 text He adds yet another assurance, " I will pray 
 the Father, and He shall give you another Com- 
 forter, that He may abide with you forever ; even 
 the spirit of truth " which shall dwell with you and 
 be in you. They were not only to know the truth 
 in reference to the mission of Christ, the love of 
 the Father, and the immortality and blessedness of 
 the soul, but in answer to his prayer God would 
 communicate his own Holy Spirit to their souls, 
 carrying these truths home to their hearts, making 
 them matters of experience, moral and spiritual as 
 well as intellectual convictions. He would work 
 in their inmost being such a change, impart to 
 their religious nature such divine illumination and 
 renovation, as would enable them to appreciate and 
 enjoy, to make a personal application of the truth 
 He had taught them, to relieve them in all their 
 sorrows. 
 
 As here presented, the lesson of this passage 
 offers a threefold consolation to every mourner, 
 and it must be accepted in all its parts, if we will 
 enjoy its full blessedness. The doctrines of a 
 present beneficent and universal providence, of an 
 immortal beatific life to issue from the present. 
 
198 SERMONS. 
 
 and of the Holy Spirit, the divinely appointed in- 
 terpreter and quickener of all truth in the soul, 
 are plainly involved. We do not say that no com- 
 fort can be derived from either one of them when 
 severed from its true relation with the others. 
 Doubtless there is power in each to minister some 
 relief to the disconsolate spirit in its hour of need, 
 but it is only when they unite and throw their 
 threefold light upon the soul that they give it full- 
 ness of joy. 
 
 We may take as an illustration the simple fact 
 that God reigns over all ; that He watches over 
 all the movements of his creatures ; that He up- 
 holds and sustains them, mercifully provides the 
 bounties we enjoy, and cares for us continually ; 
 that even our afflictions are sent in mercy ; that 
 the gift and close of life alike bear witness to his 
 goodness. 
 
 Now, to beings weak, sorrowing, and dying, as 
 we are, there must be comfort in this thought 
 alone. We feel a sense of need, of insecurity and 
 fear. And if there is One stronger than we, who 
 is interested in our welfare and attentive to us, 
 surely to know and trust Him is a comfort. But 
 out of this very consolation other questions will 
 arise which will render it unsatisfactory. Why 
 are such provisions made for man ? Why does 
 the Infinite Father stoop to his necessities, so ten- 
 derly watch over, and care for him ? Why has 
 the earth been fitted for his comfort, and all the 
 
ANOTHER COMFORTER. 199 
 
 laws of nature and providence arranged to promote 
 his virtue and intelligence? Is this the end? Is 
 it all to no purpose but present gratification ? Is 
 there not an ulterior design ? Is not man thus 
 tenderly cared for here because he has an here- 
 after; to fit him for a higher life and purer enjoy- 
 ments ? Does not God nurture him now, as the 
 parent does its child in helpless infancy, that he 
 may grow up into vigorous manhood and have a 
 broader and deeper experience of good ? 
 
 Thus there is in our present enjoyments, to say 
 the least, a suggestion of immortality. They are 
 linked to it by a natural necessity. They lose 
 their highest meaning without it. It is what 
 gives them completeness and unites wisdom with 
 benevolence in their bestowment. That is the 
 grandest work which is wrought for the sublimest 
 purpose. The mechanism may be ever so compli- 
 cated and beautiful, but if it has only a trivial 
 design we do not admire it. So human life, with 
 all its wonderful and beneficent adjustments, is 
 comparatively worthless if it terminates in the 
 dust. But if it rises into immortal existence and 
 progress in knowledge and holiness, how sublime a 
 work it is, how worthy of all the provisions made 
 for its comfort here below, how worthy even of 
 the watch-care of God Himself. 
 
 Thus this thought of immortality is the comple- 
 ment, the interpretation of a present providence. 
 Without it, life loses meaning ; all the love and 
 
200 SERMOXS. 
 
 care bestowed upon it seem comparatively pur- 
 poseless. 
 
 But it may be said these two facts — a present 
 watchful providence and the certainty of a blessed 
 immortality — are sufficient for all our necessities. 
 But are we sure, that they, alone, can give us full 
 consolation ? Have we not often found ourselves, 
 and seen others plunged in grief, which even the 
 strongest faith in the love of God and the im- 
 mortal blessedness of the soul could not relieve ? 
 Oh, how frequently have we all said in the hour of 
 trial, " I know this is wisely ordered ; I know the 
 merciful Father intends it for my good ; that He 
 is wiser than I, and too loving to be unkind in 
 anything ; of this my mind is fully convinced : and 
 yet I cannot feel it ; I cannot bring these assur- 
 ances to bear on this trying experience for my con- 
 solation ; they do not take away the sting of sor- 
 row as I feel they ought. I have no mental doubts 
 or fears, but I cannot bring my feehngs into rec- 
 onciliation ; my affections, my sensibilities rebel." 
 Do not all our hearts testify to the reality of such 
 experiences as these ? 
 
 The same is true of our faith in immortality. 
 We have stood by the bedside of the dying man 
 ripe in years and in thought, whose reason had 
 wrought long and earnestly upon this problem of 
 a future existence ; we have held the hand of the 
 almost frantic mother as she bent over the cold 
 form of her lifeless child, and we have heard them 
 
ANOTHER COMFORTER. 201 
 
 say, " Nature, reason, and revelation teach me 
 that there is another and a better life ; of this my 
 intellect is thoroughly convinced, and still I doubt ; 
 I seem to lack heartfelt assurance ; I want more 
 evidence ; I am afraid to trust my convictions and 
 go forth alone." 
 
 Now is there nothing in divine love and the 
 gifts of grace to supply this want of experimental 
 faith, to carry home these fundamental doctrines 
 of the gospel and give them living, sustaining 
 power in the soul ? Yes, the Saviour has prom- 
 ised, " I will pray the Father, and He shall give 
 you another Comforter, that he may abide with 
 you forever ; even the Spirit of Truth, which shall 
 be with you and in you, and teach you all things, 
 and bring all things to your remembrance what- 
 soever I have said unto you." If we continually 
 seek, and open our hearts to receive the divine 
 spirit ; if the love of God is shed abroad in them ; 
 if we exercise humility and trust, call on the Fa- 
 ther to enlighten us, and wait for his guidance, all 
 these consoling truths will have power and life in 
 our hearts. They will bless us abundantly in the 
 time of trouble. They will be supports, matters 
 of experience, wells of living water springing up 
 within the soul unto life everlasting. 
 
 And it is only this gift of the Spirit, this in- 
 dwelling of God in the soul, " Christ in us the 
 hope of glory," that can vitalize the truths of the 
 gospel in our experience. We may have ever so 
 much philosophy to convince us of the Father's 
 
202 SERMONS. 
 
 love and care ; tlie reviving spring-time and the 
 bursting clirj^salis, yea, even the strong desires of 
 our own souls may prophesy of renewal of life 
 beyond the grave, but these will not satisfy. Per- 
 plexing doubts will tantalize our hopes and gloomy 
 forebodings destroy our peace. But when that 
 " other Comforter " enters the soul our hopes 
 brighten, our fears fly away, and with the apostle 
 we triumphantly exclaim, " We know that if this 
 house of the earthly tabernacle were dissolved, we 
 have a building of God, an house not made with 
 hands, eternal in the heavens." " Now He that 
 hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God, 
 who also hath given unto us the earnest of the 
 spirit ; therefore we are always confident." Evi- 
 dent is the foundation of the apostle's confidence. 
 It is not any external proof, not even the word of 
 revelation, but it is the earnest or pledge or fore- 
 taste of immortal life, given by the presence of 
 God's spirit in his soul. He had in his own blessed 
 Christian experience the first installment, if we 
 may so express it, of those incorruptible heavenly 
 treasures which fade not away. And so may we 
 have it. With all his assurance we may say, '' We 
 know," " therefore we are always confident." The 
 closer we draw near to God, the more of his spirit 
 abideth in our hearts ; the more fully all our pow- 
 ers are consecrated to Him ; the more living, sus- 
 taining, comforting will be our faith and hope. 
 It is by daily, hourly, unceasing cultivation of our 
 spiritual powers that we enter into life. We must 
 
ANOTHER COMFORTER. 203 
 
 watch and pray, labor and wait for the coming of 
 the Son ot Man, the descent of the Spirit. 
 
 In every hour of grief how much encourage- 
 ment, how much tenderness and love, may we dis- 
 cern in this promise, " I will pray the Father " for 
 you. In all our trials the same compassion that 
 wept at the grave of Lazarus is interceding for us, 
 is striving to bring us to a comforting sense of the 
 truth. This, when once awakened, will abide with 
 us forever. There are no waves of sorrow that 
 can overflow or quench it. 
 
 " Sorrow and sin and death are o'er, 
 And secret joys revive and bloom, 
 The mourner weeps his loss no more. 
 
 When Thou, the Comforter, art come. 
 Of thee possest, in Thee we prove 
 The light, the life, the heaven of love." 
 
 Such thoughts we commend to this mourning 
 congregation, and especially to this bereaved fam- 
 ily circle, in view of the death of one who filled so 
 large a place in their hearts. Although months 
 have passed away since she was called home, and 
 the cloud that then rested upon your dwelling has 
 been so far lifted as to let in the light of health, 
 yet you do not, we do not, we cannot cease to 
 mourn for her ; to miss the light of her joyous 
 spirit and the ministry of her pure life at home, in 
 the worshiping assembly, and in the social circle. 
 May the Father bless us and the Comforter be 
 with us. 
 
XIII. 
 
 TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY. 
 
 A CHRISTMAS SERMON. 
 
 " For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, 
 which is Clivlst the Lord." — Luke ii. 11. 
 
 The thought that this is the birthda}^ of the 
 Son of God ought to awaken in our minds feelings 
 of peculiar solemnity and joy. Eighteen hundred 
 and sixty-four times, according to our chronolog3s 
 has it been repeated since that memorable night 
 •when the shepherds watched their flocks upon the 
 plains of Palestine, beneath the starry sky. Assem- 
 bled in our place of worship, our thoughts go back 
 to the scenes amid which this anniversary began. 
 We see the evening shadows disappear before the 
 effulgent glories of the Lord. \ye gaze upon the 
 bright angel form, Avhich, with meek and loving 
 countenance, descends through the illuminated 
 space to where the affrighted watchers sit. We 
 hear the sweet music of his voice break upon the 
 stillness in those words of blessed assurance: "Fear 
 
TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY. 205 
 
 not, for behold I bring you good tidings of great 
 joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is 
 born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, 
 which is Christ the Lord." And now, as if earth 
 had not enough voices worthily to celebrate this 
 great event, " suddenly there is with the angel a 
 multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and 
 saying. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth 
 peace, good will towards men." If beatified spir- 
 its, all unwilling to part with Him who shared the 
 Father's glory above, could leave the shining courts 
 of heaven to cheer our earth with light and song 
 at the Redeemer's birth, may not we, as an offer- 
 ing of our devotion, when the anniversary of that 
 event comes round, bring the glory of Lebanon 
 unto Him ; the fir-tree, the pine-tree and the box 
 together, to beautify the place of his sanctuary ? 
 If heaven itself could add to its stellar beauty the 
 brighter illumination of divine glory, may not we 
 light up our earthly temples in feeble imitation of 
 its supernal brightness ? 
 
 But why this rejoicing in heaven and earth over 
 the lowly birth of a peasant child ? Why do the 
 stars sing together and the sons of God shout for 
 joy when another seemingly friendless one is cast 
 forth into a guilty world to find his first rest with 
 the beasts of the stall ? Why have the successive 
 ages treasured the memory of this event, and why 
 do we to-night make it an occasion for spiritual 
 exultation, prayer, and praise ? 
 
206 SERMONS. 
 
 The explanation is in these words, *' Unto j^ou 
 is born this day a Saviour, which is Christ, the 
 Lord." Not as the poor and almost friendless 
 one of Nazareth; not in any of his earthly rela- 
 tions do we view Him, but in the light of his 
 spiritual being, as the Saviour of the world ; as 
 the anointed servant of God to redeem his rational 
 creation ; as the chosen Lord of humanity. 
 
 But if the birth of the Saviour is properly the 
 occasion of so much exultation, it follows that the 
 world is greatly in need of a Saviour. 'Why should 
 it rejoice over the coming of one whose presence 
 and work are not needed ? When sinking beneath 
 some insupportable difficulty we welcome with 
 gladness the hand stretched out for our relief. 
 But if our burden is light and our condition favor- 
 able, we feel no need of aid. The great impor- 
 tance, then, ascribed to the advent of Christ, is 
 proof of a pressing necessity on the part of the 
 world of a Redeemer. If there is in its condition 
 such an imperious demand for a Saviour, it must 
 certainly be a lost condition. And such we find it 
 really to be. Men are lost in ignorance, error, and 
 sin ; to the knowledge of God, the possession of his 
 holiness, and the enjoyment of his felicity. Look 
 at the actual condition of humanity in this, or in 
 any previous age, and how mournfully is this truth 
 illustrated. Viewed in its social aspect we see 
 whole tribes and nations given over to the gross- 
 est barbarism ; ignorant of letters, the arts and sci- 
 
TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY. 207 
 
 ences, without roads, permanent habitations, de- 
 fined communities, or public improvements of any- 
 kind. The home has never been established in 
 their midst, and the sacred fellowship of kindred 
 affection is but little known. Their worship is a 
 degrading superstition, a blind idolatry, performed 
 by acts of cruelty. Their pride and ambition de- 
 velop fiery passions and flow in rivers of blood. 
 
 Such is the actual condition of countless millions 
 of our race. It is difficult for us to realize that so 
 large a portion of it still lies under the dark cloud 
 of heathenism ; that pilgrimages are performed, hu- 
 man sacrifices offered, and idol temples thronged. 
 Yet so it is, and the heart chills in view of tlie 
 degradation and wretchedness, the cruel customs, 
 the desperate deeds, the unholy passions of which 
 those tell who explore these realms of overshadow- 
 ing death. Oh, do not these benighted children 
 of God need a Saviour ? Age after age have they 
 groped in blindness, and what hope is there for 
 them if a divine hand does not reach down and 
 lift them up ? They are sunk in a horrible pit of 
 pollution. They cannot save themselves. Only 
 as God has mercy on them and gives them the 
 light of life can they come up out of the realms of 
 moral death. 
 
 Turn now to professedly civilized nations, and 
 do we not see need enough of a Saviour here ? 
 Consider the terrible wars that so often sweep over 
 them, in which the prejudices and passions of men's 
 
208 SER3I0NS. 
 
 unsanctified hearts belch forth in jets of blood 
 and flame ; in which every wickedness known to 
 God or men is instigated, fostered, and protected ; 
 of which almost every conceivable form of suffer- 
 ing is a necessar3^ attendant. Look at the thou- 
 sands and millions held in the most degrading ser- 
 vitude, from whose minds the light of knowledge 
 is shut out, who are worked and bought and bru- 
 talized like cattle. Look at the great host over 
 whom intemperance holds its frenzied sway, trans- 
 forming them into idiots and demons, rendering 
 them the curse of home, the desolators of society, 
 the destroyers of themselves. Think what a vast 
 army of wretched, fallen ones tenant gloomy dun- 
 geons and prisons. Look at the condition of the 
 toiling poor, even in Europe and America ; look 
 into mines and factories and shops, and see how, 
 not only flesh and bones, but mind and heart, must 
 be wrought up into material substances in order 
 to live. See this state of things not onl}^ per- 
 mitted but often established, necessitated by the 
 institutions of civilized life, sometimes the tenure 
 by which rulers hold their power, and the condi- 
 tion of that greatness which the world most glori- 
 fies. 
 
 And when we consider that these public evils 
 are but the aggregate of individual crime and suf- 
 fering ; that they are the expression of what se- 
 cretly struggles in so many hearts, do we not see 
 the lost condition of humanity more clearly? Oh, 
 
TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY. 209 
 
 ho\Y far do most men live from God I He is not in 
 all their thoughts. They forget Him in the trans- 
 action of their business, in the fullness of their joy, 
 in the heaviness of their sorrow. Their hearts are 
 closed to the visitations of his Spirit. In their 
 selfishness, their avarice, their pride, their profan- 
 ity, their injustice, their neglect of prayer, of the 
 Bible, of the Sabbath, in their deadness to spirit- 
 ual interests, and their open irreligion, is painful 
 evidence that they are in a lost condition and need 
 a Saviour. They are lost to the life of God in the 
 soul, lost to divine purity, love, and peace. 
 
 Have we not reason, then, to rejoice that God 
 has given the world a Saviour ? What would be 
 its doom without one ? Six thousand years have 
 demonstrated the fact that it is not onl}^ lost, but 
 that it has not inherent power to save itself. We 
 do not say there is no redeeming principle in hu- 
 manity ; but we do say, and all history and philos- 
 ophy of human nature sustains us in saying, that 
 left to its own, unaided resources, it not only fails 
 to rise, but continually sinks down in ignorance, su- 
 perstition, and grossness. It must be strengthened, 
 vitalized, and enlightened by an element higher 
 than itself. An arm from above must be spread 
 beneath it. A spirit from on high must quicken 
 it. Men must have a Divine Saviour if they are 
 ever saved. If it had been in the power of man 
 to save himself or his fellows, would not some hu- 
 man savior have arisen before now ? We have 
 
 14 
 
210 SERMONS. 
 
 had great and wise men, teachers of science and 
 philosoph}^ who have done much to enhghten and 
 reform the world, but none have had power to re- 
 deem it, to reach, quicken, purify, and sanctify the 
 heart ; fill it with the love and holiness of God, 
 and the enjoyment of heaven. It is one thing to 
 be learned in science and art, politics and busi- 
 ness, and quite another to possess the wisdom from 
 above, pure and peaceable, gentle and easy to be 
 entreated, full of mercy and good fruits. The latter 
 has an element in it that the former has not. We 
 may have one and not the other. And no one can 
 impart to us divine wisdom but a divine teacher, 
 a teacher come from God. 
 
 Hence, in the second place, we have reason to 
 rejoice in the character of the Saviour who has 
 been given to the world. He is no mere human 
 teacher, well disposed but powerless ; no mere good 
 man ; but He is a divine being, coming forth from 
 the very bosom of the Father, filled with grace 
 and truth, raised up, sent forth, sealed and sanc- 
 tified, to be the world's Saviour. In Him dwelt 
 all the fullness of God ; He was the brightness of 
 the Father's glory ; the Christ, the anointed, the 
 consecrated, the holy Son of God, the Lord of the 
 spiritual universe. And because He is thus en- 
 dowed and quaUfied by God, we know He can 
 save ; because He is higher than we. He can lift 
 us up ; because He is full of grace and truth. He 
 can impart grace to our hearts, and by the Holy 
 
TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY. 211 
 
 Spirit guide us into all truth ; because He is sealed 
 and sanctified, He can seal us for glory and sanc- 
 tify us in his heavenly kingdom. In Him all 
 fullness dwells to reconcile the world to God. 
 In Him shall all be made alive in holiness and 
 heaven. Where sin abounds his grace much more 
 abounds, that as the one has reigned unto death, 
 the other, through Him, shall reign unto eternal 
 life. 
 
 In these assurances is given another form of 
 proof that the announcement of the Saviour's birth 
 was glad tidings of great joy unto all people. 
 Though the world is sunk down in spiritual ruin, 
 help is laid upon one who is mighty to save ; who 
 will not fail or be discouraged until He has raised 
 up the last fallen one, drawn all men unto Him, 
 and become the actual Saviour of every soul. Then 
 will the kingdoms of the world become his king- 
 doms and He will reign forever ; all nations shall 
 serve Him, and men shall bless themselves in Him. 
 Justice, mercy, and truth will be enthroned in every 
 heart, his praise be on every tongue, and his salva- 
 tion fill the spiritual universe. Then will be glory 
 to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good 
 will towards men. 
 
 " The dimness gone, all eyes shall see 
 His glory, grace, and majesty ; 
 All eai's shall hearken, and the word 
 Of life receive from Christ the Lord." 
 
 But in this view of the world's condition and 
 
212 SERMONS. 
 
 need of a Saviour, and of Christ's nature and suf- 
 ficiency, is implied a cooperative and responsive 
 work on the part of those who are saved. He did 
 not come to do away the necessity of moral and 
 spiritual activity, but to direct it in heaven's ap- 
 pointed course. If men will be saved by Christ 
 they must feel their need of Him ; feel that they 
 are indeed lost and that He alone can save them. 
 This feeling must lead them to apply to Him for 
 help ; to study his hfe and teachings as they are 
 made known to us in the gospel ; study them not 
 merely with a critical eye, or to get an intellectual 
 understanding of them, but with faith and prayer, 
 seeking the ministry of the Holy Spirit to inter- 
 pret and carry them home to the heart, to quicken 
 them therein, and make them to us the power of 
 God unto salvation. The word of Christ must be- 
 come in us a principle of renewing life ; a divine 
 element pervading and vitalizing our natural pow- 
 ers and giving us a heavenly experience. It must 
 root out selfishness, subdue passion, vanquish all 
 unholy desires, and make our lives loving and pure 
 like our Lord's. To the extent we have his spirit 
 and practice his truth, we are saved, — saved from 
 error and sin, saved from doubt and fear, saved 
 from irreconciliation, bitterness of spirit, repining, 
 and despair. We are prepared for every tempta- 
 tion and trial ; in all difficulties we are conquerors 
 and more than conquerors, through Him who loved 
 us. 
 
TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY. 213 
 
 Oh, liow many believing hearts have found their 
 Saviour near and precious amid conflict and suffer- 
 ing. What salvation has He brought to their souls, 
 what strength and victory, what peace and seren- 
 ity when all was dark without. He has dispersed 
 even the gathering gloom of death, and cast around 
 the tomb a halo of immortal glory. His celestial 
 radiance has penetrated the sick-chamber, and 
 there, as the arm of flesh has failed, it has re- 
 vealed the arm of the Lord stretched out to sus- 
 tain; as the eyes have closed to earthly objects, 
 heavenly scenes have dawned upon the vision of 
 the departing spirit. Oh, will we not rejoice to- 
 night for all that He .has done for our sorrowing 
 world, and for the assurance that ultimately He 
 will win all to a reception of his grace and truth ? 
 He offers it to us here and now. Oh, let us receive 
 Him. His invitation is to the young. He would 
 make their early life bright and pure and joyous. 
 Give your early aifections, young friends, to that 
 Saviour who loves you. It is to the middle-aged. 
 Consecrate to him your strength. It is to the 
 old. Rest your faltering spirits on his abiding 
 truth. It is to us all. In our poverty and in 
 our abundance, in our sickness and in our health, 
 among friends or bereaved, in life or in death. He 
 calls to us, " Come unto me all ye who labor and 
 are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Let 
 us hear and our souls will live. And may this 
 anniversary season revive our hearts, inspire our 
 
214 SERMONS. 
 
 devotions, deepen our faith, warm our love. May 
 these evergreens be symbols of our living piety ; 
 these lighted lamps, of the Spirit's illumination in 
 our souls. Thus shall we walk in the light of 
 life. 
 
XIV. 
 
 THE VICTORY THAT OVERCOMETH THE 
 WORLD. 
 
 " For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world ; and this 
 is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who 
 is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus 
 is the Son of God." — 1 John v. 4, 5. 
 
 There are two words which receive from Chris- 
 tianity a new and peculiar meaning, — the words 
 world and faith. How many warnings do the 
 Scriptures contain against our yielding to the 
 power of this world. They tell us to love it not ; 
 that it is enmity against God ; and for admonition 
 point to men of the world who have their portion 
 in this life. 
 
 And yet did not God make it and place us in 
 it ? Are we not to love his works and our earthly 
 home ? Are there not callings in life where the 
 highest virtue consists in producing as much worldly 
 prosperity as possible ? Is not this the mission of 
 the husbandman, the mechanic, the physician, the 
 statesman. These caUings are based upon a love 
 of the world ; are they utterly proscribed by the 
 
216 SERMONS. 
 
 Saviour when he says, *' If any man love the world, 
 the love of the Father is not in him." 
 
 The other word used in a peculiar sense is faith, 
 and it fills a conspicuous pkice in the gospel ; it is 
 a large element in the Christian system. It is said 
 to work miracles, remove mountains, justify the 
 soul, and overcome the world. 
 
 We perceive that these two words are brought 
 into opposition, arrayed against each other in our 
 text. One is said to overcome the other ; one is 
 the Christian's enemy, the other the strong right 
 arm by which he conquers. What are the essential 
 qualities of each ? 
 
 By the world evidently is not intended the ma- 
 terial structure, the kos7nos, emblem of order and 
 beauty, on which we live, but the gross age, or dis- 
 pensation of material, sensuous things ; the t^a-anny 
 of present passion and desire ; the love of power, 
 sense, and sight ; the brutal tastes, spirit, and habits 
 of society. The apostle Paul, after his conver- 
 sion, felt that Christ had " redeemed him from this 
 present evil world," and he tells of one who forsook 
 him because he loved more " this present world." 
 
 It is easy to perceive the force of these terms. 
 The worldliness condemned is the infatuation of 
 sense, the choice of present, transient gratification, 
 in place of future and abiding good. With child- 
 ish spirit it lives in the present hour and for the 
 present object. To-day is everything, to-morrow 
 nothing. Like Esau, when it feels the pressure of 
 
TEE VICTORY THAT OVERCOMETH THE WORLD. 217 
 
 desire, is hungry, worn and weary, it will part 
 with a father's blessing ; part with God and heaven 
 and holiness for a mess of pottage. It is impetu- 
 ous, inconsistent, not without gleams of generosity 
 and kindliness, but ever accustomed to immediate 
 gratification. 
 
 In this worldliness, also, may be seen the game- 
 ster's spirit and practices. It is politic and shrewd. 
 It calculates closely the chances. Excluding moral 
 considerations, its life is on the surface, is moved 
 and moulded by events, and cannot be touched by 
 moral forces. Preaching is powerless to affect it 
 while it braces and holds itself in this machinery 
 of speculation. Perhaps fifty thousand preachers 
 will this day declaim from the pulpits of America 
 against the sin of worldliness, upon the vanity of 
 riches, the uncertainty of life, the intrinsic folly 
 and wickedness of giving up body and soul, time 
 and strength, thought a-nd affection, to the affairs 
 of this life. But what impression will they make ? 
 Into how many of the twenty-five million hearts in 
 this land will their message enter ? What they 
 say of such a life is God's truth by almost universal 
 consent. Yet not one in ten thousand will accept 
 it, will feel its force, or yield to its 2:)ersuasion. 
 Why this failure ? Why is the edge of truth so 
 blunted that it will not cut the heart ? It is be- 
 cause there has grown over the souls of men a 
 granite crust of worldliness ; passion and avarice 
 and lust have gathered there a scum which the 
 
218 SERMONS. 
 
 light cannot penetrate ; the excitement of passing 
 interests and material aims bewilders them so that 
 they can neither see nor hear clearly. They can- 
 not sacrifice to-day's pleasure, though they know 
 the disgrace and bitterness it will bring to-morrow. 
 This is the weakness of the inebriate, the libertine, 
 the blasphemer, the miser, the liar, the swindler, 
 of all the devotees of crime. They are under the 
 tyranny of the senses, of earthly passions and prej- 
 udices, of social and sordid influences. They do 
 not see things as they are, but as they seem. As 
 we cannot persuade our senses that we are mov- 
 ing and not the trees which seem to flit by the car 
 in which we ride ; as we cannot make ourselves 
 realize that the apparently solid earth on which we 
 stand, and which seems so immovable, is in reality 
 flying through the regions of space ; as we have no 
 consciousness that the color which the eye beholds 
 resides not in the object itself, but in our own per- 
 ception, so is it precisely with the excesses of this 
 world. The man who died yesterday, and whom 
 the world calls a successful man, for what did he 
 live? He lived for this world. He gained this 
 world, houses, land, name, position in societ}^ all 
 that earth could give of enjoyments. Up to the 
 very last, his mind was filled with plans how to 
 pull down his barns and build larger ; how to add 
 a few more acres to his possessions, how to put out 
 a few more hundred dollars at interest. Now, put 
 his gains into the balance with his losses, and 
 
THE VICTORY THAT OVERCOMETII THE WORLD. 219 
 
 which goes down ? What did he gain ? The whole 
 world, it may be. What did he lose ? His own 
 soul, the light of heaven, the peace of God, truth, 
 love, and joy, manly dignity, spiritual freedom, 
 faith, hope, and charity. Balance his accounts, and 
 how do they stand ? Keep in mind that he is 
 human, rational, spiritual, — at least so by nature. 
 Do not reckon for him as you would for a swine, 
 whose life is to eat and drink ; or for a squirrel, 
 whose work is done when its nest is filled with good 
 things. What have this man's gains profited him ? 
 Are the Saviour's words to him, " Thou fool," any 
 too severe ? Is not his life destitute of the first 
 principles of wisdom ? Are not the tokens of folly 
 engraven upon its aim and purpose? Viewed as 
 a rational life, a moral life, it is thrown away, 
 wasted. He has loved the world, and the world 
 has ruined him, made him a slave ; made him 
 brutal, gross, pernicious ; benumbed his intellectual 
 and moral faculties ; shut him up in the dark, cold 
 apartments of sense ; turned away from him the 
 sweet, pure light of knowledge, love, and devotion. 
 Oh, whose heart does not bleed in view of the great 
 numbers who thus throw life away, with its pre- 
 cious freight of rational and spiritual endowments. 
 Men and women there are in this congregation, in 
 almost every congregation, who seem to live and 
 move and have their being in earthly treasure, in 
 the labors which secure it, in the anxieties which 
 circle around it. But, my hearers, you who do this 
 
220 SER^WNS. 
 
 do not well. You wrong yourselves, rob your fel- 
 low-beings, insult your God. Material good is not 
 the chief end of man. There is no such necessity 
 for it as to excuse such a life. Your reason and 
 your conscience, your Bible, and all the light you 
 have, tell you that there is a higher and a holier 
 aim of existence : that such servility to material 
 things is base and sordid, unworthy of beings made 
 in the image and owned to be the children of 
 God. 
 
 Such also is the doctrine of our text. It speaks 
 of a higher life than this of the senses ; a life re- 
 newed and transfigured by faith in the Son of God. 
 A mere worldly life is, indeed, a life of faith, faith 
 in things earthly. Faitli in religion is the same 
 principle as faith in worldly matters, only the first 
 has in it a divine element and centers upon a divine 
 object which the second has not. The child exer- 
 cises faith in the parent's word when it renders 
 present obedience for the promised future reward. 
 The sick man has faith in his physician when he 
 takes the unpleasant medicine for the expected 
 health. The inebriate has faith in temperance 
 when he forsakes his cups to gain respectability 
 and wealth. But in these forms of faith there is a 
 selfish spirit and aim. We see them also in some 
 of those forms which pretend to be religious. How 
 often do we see a purely selfish feeling spreading 
 over the whole life, transformed by the devotional 
 sentiments into an angel of light. It serves God 
 
THE VICTORY THAT OVERCOMETH THE WORLD. 221 
 
 as the child obeys, or the sick man takes his medi- 
 cine, with an eye upon gain, if not temporal, eter- 
 nal gain. But this is simple worldliness in the 
 guise of religion. It is but preferring happiness 
 hereafter to happiness here ; eternal well-being to 
 temporal well-being. It is but prudence, cunning, 
 thrift, on a grand scale. It is making a good bar- 
 gain, looking out for the chances. But oh, how far 
 below that faith which renews the heart and over- 
 comes the world is such calculating and selfishness. 
 The one rests upon the Holy Son of God, and 
 draws its life from Him. The other is earthly, 
 sensual, and sordid. If we will enter into life, my 
 hearers, we must lay hold upon Christ by living 
 faith ; receive his spirit and truth into our hearts ; 
 love Him as God's appointed and qualified mes- 
 senger to men, and hope for salvation in Him 
 alone. " Who is he that overcometh the world, but 
 he who believeth that Jesus is the Son of God." 
 
 We cannot fail to see the point here made. It 
 is that the victory of life comes from the soul's be- 
 ing lifted up above things material and temporal 
 to faith in things spiritual and eternal. It is that 
 the heart's highest affections must be removed from 
 things earthly and placed on things divine. Oux 
 faith in Christ is not faith in man ; is not faith in 
 human power, wisdom, and goodness. If it were, 
 it could not overcome the world, for then it would 
 simply be a lever having its fulcrum on the object 
 it would lift. But it is faith in God dwelling in 
 
222 SERMONS. 
 
 him ; faith in divine power, wisdom, and goodness. 
 He is set forth to elevate our thoughts and affec- 
 tions to what is above the earthly, to what is 
 heavenly. And to the extent they lay hold upon 
 Him, form around Him, imbibe his spirit, embrace 
 his truth, they rise out of the power of the world, 
 out of its gross and selfish life. Its pride and sen- 
 suality, its avarice and dishonest competitions, its 
 frenzied materialism, all lose their hold upon them ; 
 their charm is gone, for they are won by a sweeter 
 influence. In emptying the soul of its worldliness 
 Christ does not leave it vacant. He fills it with a 
 new life, a new spirit, new enjoyments. Not one 
 tie which bound it in legitimate union with the 
 things of earth is severed. Not one cord of sym- 
 pathy with humanity is broken ; not one deep, 
 earnest thought, not one lofty aspiration, not one 
 emotion of love departs, but they are all made to 
 glow with the light of heaven, all imbued with the 
 strength and purity of God. They are still in the 
 world, its ruling forces, but not of it ; do not par- 
 take of its spirit, but temper its life. 
 
 It is thus that faith in Christ renews the soul 
 and overcomes the world. Oh, let us exercise it 
 that we may be victors, wear the crown, and walk 
 in the white robes of the redeemed. 
 
XV. 
 
 MEDITATION OF GOD. 
 
 " My meditation of Him shall be sweet." — Psalm civ. 34. 
 
 The degree of benefit we derive from meditation 
 depends much upon the nature of the subjects on 
 which we meditate. No one can be elevated by 
 dwelling upon low and impure thoughts. The 
 sensualist is not improved by meditating upon the 
 pleasures of indulgence. The inebriate is not 
 benefited by meditating upon dissipation and riot- 
 ing. The dishonest man is not reformed by re- 
 flecting on fraudulent schemes, nor the thief by 
 plotting robbery, nor the murderer by planning 
 assassination. 
 
 There are innumerable subjects which the more 
 we meditate upon the lower we become. They 
 are degrading in themselves, and the fewer 
 thoughts we expend upon them the better it is 
 for us. 
 
 So there are many subjects which, so far from 
 increasing our happiness when we think upon them, 
 tend to make us miserable. Who can sit down 
 
224 SERM ONS. 
 
 and meditate upon war and not have his mind 
 filled with gloom ? To think of the desperate con- 
 flict, of the booming cannon and flashing steel and 
 bursting shells ; to see in imagination whole ranks 
 swept down before the deadly blast, the fields 
 strewn with the dead and dying, with scattered 
 limbs and mutilated forms ; to hear the groans 
 and cries and behold the wide-spread desolation, 
 — who can meditate upon this dreadful scene and 
 not be filled with deepest gloom ? 
 
 Again, is not the heart greatl}^ pained when we 
 think long and exclusively upon the want and de- 
 privations of the poor, upon the sufferings of the 
 sick, upon the personal and domestic ruin of the 
 criminal, upon the waste of the pestilence, the 
 desolation of famine, the wrecks at sea, the ruin 
 of the tempest? Many events which we might 
 prevent and many which we cannot prevent are 
 alike calculated to give us pain if we meditate 
 upon them. 
 
 But our text points out a theme or object for 
 meditation sweet and pure in all its inspirations. 
 '' My meditation of Him shall be sweet." The 
 reference is to God, the Creator of all things. 
 Upon Him the Psalmist could meditate and feel 
 a blessed influence exerted upon his soul. But 
 whether we can apply his words to our own ex- 
 perience depends very much upon our views of his 
 character. We think it would be difficult for us 
 to find much sweetness in thoughts of God, if we 
 
MEDITATION OF GOD. 225 
 
 believed Him to be a stern, revengful being who 
 ■will wreak eternal vengeance upon his sinful chil- 
 dren. There can be no satisfaction or improve- 
 ment in meditating upon such a God. The more 
 we think of Him, the more will our passions be 
 aroused, the more anger and resentment shall we 
 feel, and our minds will be tortured with perpetual 
 fear. Can the parent who believes that God has 
 banished a poor, lost, prodigal child into everlast- 
 ing despair say, " My meditations of Him shall be 
 sweet?" Impossible. And can anyone feeling 
 smitten with conscious guilt and believing that the 
 Almighty is enraged against him think of Him 
 with satisfaction? There can be no satisfaction 
 in thoughts of an angry, resentful being. They 
 are all bitterness and demoralization. 
 
 But the author of our text did not think of Him 
 as such a being. He regarded Him as his shep- 
 herd, his portion, his defense, his help in times of 
 need. He thought of his mercy, his truthfulness 
 and compassion. He regarded Him as a being of 
 love and tenderness ; and because He saw in Him 
 so much to be desired, so many perfections, his 
 meditations of Him were sweet. They brought 
 Him into communion with high and holy attri- 
 butes, with a divine spirit. It not only gave him 
 pleasure to think of Him, but elevated and en- 
 lightened all his feelings, expanded his soul, and 
 made him a wiser and better man. 
 
 But if the Psalmist could find so much in the 
 
 15 
 
226 S£RMONS. 
 
 character of God to attract and gratify his thoughts 
 in those early days, when his character had been 
 only partially revealed, should not we find there 
 much more to win our love and frequent medita- 
 tions, since Christ has revealed Him more fully 
 and shown his parental relation to us ? If in those 
 early days, when He was regarded chiefly as a 
 king, a judge, a ruler; if even in later times, when 
 to the minds of men He was clothed in the dyed 
 garments of cruelty and rage, men could meditate 
 sweetly upon Him, should not our thoughts of the 
 universal Father, of the near and dear Friend of 
 all, of the Being who is love, be of the most de- 
 lightsome character ? How can we fail to medi- 
 tate upon such a character, upon one so attractive 
 in all his attributes ? 
 
 And yet are we, with all our superior concep- 
 tions of the Creator, as much inclined to think of 
 Him as were our fathers ? They laid great stress, 
 in all their teachings, upon the duties of self-exami- 
 nation and prayer. It cannot be doubted that, in 
 their scheme of life, the exercise of lonely thought 
 filled a much larger space than it does in ours. It 
 was deemed shameful and atheistic to enter the 
 closet for nothing but sleep, and to quit it only 
 for meals and trade, evading all earnest contact 
 with the deep and silent God. A sense of guilt 
 attached to those who cast themselves from their 
 civil life into their dreams and back again. That 
 the merchant or the statesman should be upon his 
 
MEDITATION OF GOD. 227 
 
 knees ; that the general should pass from his dis- 
 patches to his devotions, and turn his eye from the 
 hosts of battle to the host of heaven, was not felt 
 to be incongruous or absurd. Milton's mind gave 
 itself at once to the discord of politics below and 
 the symphonies of seraphim above. Vane min- 
 gled with the administration of colonies and ac- 
 counts of the navy hopes of a theocracy and med- 
 itations on the millenium ; and it was no more 
 natural for Cromwell to call his officers to council 
 than to prayer. 
 
 It cannot be denied that there is a great differ- 
 ence now. Not that Christians may not be found 
 who in meditation still have an open door between 
 heaven and earth, and pass in and out with free 
 and earnest heart, but these represent the char- 
 acteristic spirit of a former rather than of the 
 present age. The sentiments of our own time 
 everywhere betray the growing encroachments of 
 the outward upon the inward life. How few can 
 stand alone with God and seek his pity to their 
 solitary souls. How few can find satisfaction by 
 direct contact of spirit with spirit. Everywhere 
 strength seems to have gone out from the devo- 
 tional element of life. 
 
 Now, while we do not consider this change a fit 
 subject for unmixed complaint, while we acknowl- 
 edge that it has come about in quite a natural way, 
 still we must also admit that the outward life does 
 tyrannize over us ; that it does invade our private 
 
228 ISERMOKS. 
 
 habits, narrow down our modes of thought and 
 sentiment, benumb our consciousness of a spiritual 
 nature, and impair for us the reality of God. We 
 feel that the divine spirit is gone into distance 
 and strangeness from us and is hard to reach ; that 
 solitude brings no unspeakable meditation or con- 
 verse, no ready consecration ; that the things of 
 sense and understanding seem nearer to us than 
 those that touch the soul ; that the crowd and 
 noise are too close and constant on us, confusing 
 our better perceptions and leading us always to 
 look around and seldom to look up. 
 
 But this despotism of the outward over the in- 
 ward life, this suppression of every attribute not 
 immediately wanted for business or society, is a 
 misfortune which every noble mind will assuredly 
 withstand. It is not right to live as if God were 
 asleep and heaven only a murmur of his dreams. 
 It should make some difference whether his Cre- 
 ator be here in the present or gone off into the 
 past ; whether he himself dwells in the hollow of a 
 living hand, or with nothing beyond him but ne- 
 cessity. And this difference will not be realized, 
 nor any lofty truth of character attained, by those 
 who disown the claims of meditation on the divine 
 character. By thus communing with G(5d we are 
 furnished with immediate perception of things di- 
 vine, eye to eye with the saints, spirit to spirit 
 ■with God, face to face with Heaven. In thus being 
 alone with the truth of things and passing from 
 
MEDITATION OF GOD. 229 
 
 sho\YS and shadows into communion with the Ever- 
 lasting One, there is nothing impossible or out of 
 reach. He is not faded, or slow to bring his light 
 any more than his sunshine which is bright and 
 swift as ever. He was no nearer to Christ on 
 Tabor or in Gethsemane than to us this day and 
 every day. Neither the nature he inspires, nor his 
 perennial inspiration, grows any older with the 
 lapse of time. Every human being that is born is 
 a first man, fresh in this creation, and as open to 
 heaven as if Eden were spread around him. And 
 every blessed kindling of faith and new sanctity is 
 a touch of his spirit as living, a gift as immediate 
 from his exhaustless store of holy power, as the 
 strength that befriended Christ in his temptation 
 and the angel-calm that closed his dying agony. 
 Is it not promised forever to the pure in heart 
 that they shall see God ? Let any true man en- 
 gage in meditations upon God, let him strip himself 
 of all pretense and selfishness and sensuality and 
 sluggishness of soul, let him lift off thought after 
 thought, passion after passion until he reaches the 
 inmost deep of all, and it will be strange if he 
 does not feel the Eternal Presence as close upon 
 his soul as the breeze upon his brow ; if he does not 
 say, O Lord, art thou ever near as this, and have 
 I not known thee ? The true proportions and the 
 genuine spirit of life will open on his heart with 
 infinite clearness, and show him the littleness of 
 his temptations and the grandeur of his trust. He 
 
230 SERMONS. 
 
 will be ashamed to have found weariness in toils 
 so light, and to have shed tears where there was no 
 trial to the brave. He will discover with astonish- 
 ment how small the dust that has blinded him ; 
 and from the height of a quiet and holy love he 
 will look down with sorrow on the jealousies and 
 fears and irritations that have vexed his life. A 
 mighty wind of resolution sets in strong upon him 
 and freshens the whole atmosphere of his soul. 
 The light flakes of difficulty are swept down be- 
 fore it, till they vanish like snow upon the sea. 
 H3 is imprisoned no more in a small apartment of 
 time, but belongs to an eternity which is now and 
 here. We behold God as the determining agent 
 throughout the universe, conscious of all things 
 actual and possible from the centre to the margin, 
 excluded from neither air nor earth nor sea nor 
 souls, but clad with them as with a vestment, and 
 gathering up their laws within his being. The 
 isolation of our spirits passes away, and with the 
 countless multitude of souls we feel ourselves but 
 waves of his unbounded deep. We are at one 
 with Heaven and have found the secret place of 
 the Almighty. Our meditation of Him is sweet ; 
 our thoughts of Him are very precious. 
 
XVI. 
 
 OUT OF GREAT TRIBULATION. 
 
 " These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have 
 washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 
 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day 
 and night in his temple ; and he that sitteth on the throne shall 
 dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst 
 any more ; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For 
 the Lamb Avhich is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and 
 shall lead them unto living fountains of Avaters ; and God shall 
 wipe away all tears from their eyes." — Revelation vii. 14-17. 
 
 As we look upon the wide domain of human suf- 
 fering, we are often led to inquire why a Being of 
 infinite power and goodness should make his creat- 
 ures subject to so many ills. This question we 
 may not be able to answer to our full satisfaction. 
 Indeed, it is a nice point whether it were possible 
 even for the Infinite to create beings endowed to 
 any extent as we are, and not exposed to suffer- 
 ing. It makes little difference how this may be ; 
 we have before us the solemn reality of evil. 
 Whether from an infinite necessity or choice, God 
 has seen fit to make man, in all his earthly condi- 
 tions, subject to vanity. He is born unto trouble. 
 
232 SERMONS. 
 
 Clouds of sorrow sail over every mortal pathway ; 
 storms of adversity break along all the shores of 
 time ; " great tribulations " are met in every pil- 
 grimage from the cradle to the tomb. 
 
 And taking life as we have it, it is less our duty 
 to question why it is thus than rightly to use it 
 and extract from it such good as it contains. To 
 the thoughtful mind there are discovered many 
 streams of blessing which issue from beneath the 
 frowning cliffs of sorrow. And the refreshing 
 which they bear to the weary soul is lost to those 
 who sit down and repine over the misfortunes of 
 their lot. 
 
 One of the noblest virtues we can exercise is a 
 patient, heroic endurance of the trials we cannot 
 avoid. And one of the sweetest, purest pleasures 
 we can know is a remembrance of the difl&culties 
 over which, by our fidelity, we have triumphed, — 
 a calm retrospect of the great tribulations out of 
 which we have safely come, and through which we 
 have reached our present security. A celebrated 
 writer of fiction represents one of his characters as 
 complaining because a supernatural being had de- 
 prived him of his remembrance of earlier sorrows. 
 In parting with it, he had lost the sweetest enjoy- 
 ments of his life, and would fain have those darker 
 shades restored, to set off the brighter hues in the 
 picture of existence. This representation is not 
 exaggerated or unnatural. It is true to life ; for 
 we are so constituted that we cannot enjoy our 
 
OUT OF GREAT TRIBULATION. 233 
 
 present advantages unless we know they have been 
 achieved by valorous deeds, obtained by hardships, 
 deprivations, and dangers. Is not this a universal 
 truth ? Does the brave soldier feel willing to lay 
 off his armor and rest in peace before he has been 
 in the hot strife and won the victory ? Will the 
 gallant sailor abandon the seas before he has as- 
 cended the mast, clung to the wreck, and outrid 
 the storm ? Can we enjo}^ or value treasures which 
 cost us no hardships, as we can those for which we 
 have toiled and sacrificed ? Are not the mental 
 fatigue and discipline of acquiring knowledge its 
 chief instruments of good ? Are not the mother's 
 love and enjoyment of her children enhanced by 
 all her care and anxiety for them ? 
 
 So is it in every department of human expe- 
 rience. Trials are essential to give zest to our 
 enjoyments. When they are passed by, when we 
 have patiently endured them, learned to submit to 
 them in humility, trust, and hope, then is there 
 heartfelt satisfaction in reviewing the whole field 
 of conflict. As extreme hunger gives to the most 
 ordinary food an exquisite relish, or parching thirst 
 a satisfying coolness to every draught, so deep 
 aflfliction imparts a divine enjoyment to the relief 
 which follows it. All our experiences in this world 
 are relative. We suffer and enjoy by comparison. 
 Trial or success prepares us for its opposite. And 
 we have no doubt that this characteristic of our 
 present experience is a development of permanent 
 
234 SERMONS. 
 
 elements in our nature, and that the more satis- 
 fying enjoyments of the future life will come in a 
 great degree from a remembrance of the great trib- 
 ulations out of which we rise to that better condi- 
 tion. We believe that earthly trials are prepara- 
 tory for heavenly rewards. 
 
 This may be inferred, not only from the peace, 
 but from the strength of mind developed by suf- 
 fering. Some of the most genuine elements of 
 character are unfolded by the ordeal of suffering. 
 As the oak is made strong and beautiful by the 
 storms which pelt it ; so when the heart is wrung 
 with grief, when the mind feels intensest anguish, 
 its pangs are but the birth-throes of a new life. 
 From them will come forth more real and abiding 
 convictions ; a deeper, a more serious thoughtful- 
 ness ; greater stability and earnestness of purpose ; 
 more ardent, rational, and consecrated affections ; 
 a purer, more fervent devotion. Trials wake up 
 the whole man. As the winds that sweep through 
 the branches not only make them flexible and sin- 
 ewy, but also try and strengthen the roots, so the 
 storms of adversity, if we hold out against them, 
 demand that the most central principles of our 
 nature be brought into severest action. What 
 can so reveal integrity and make it know its own 
 strength or weakness as pressing inducements to 
 fraud ? What so call out our charity as the sight 
 of suffering thousands ? What so awaken peni- 
 tence as a consciousness of guilt? What so unseal 
 
OUT OF GREAT TRIBULATION. 235 
 
 the fountains of affection as the death of a parent, 
 sister, wife, or child ? What so call out patience, 
 submission, and unreserved trust in God as to be 
 laid low and helpless by disease ? Oh, how often 
 do the most beautiful flowers of faith, resignation, 
 and hope bloom and exhale sweetly out of the very 
 bosom of earthly decay. In the midst of great 
 bodily tribulation the spirit rises up and washes its 
 robes in the blood of the Lamb ; finds forgiveness 
 and solace in a Saviour's love ; stands waiting be- 
 fore the throne of infinite compassion ; is fed with 
 manna from the skies, led to living fountains of 
 water, and its tears are all wiped away. A whole 
 life of prosperity may have been spent with these 
 treasures all sealed up in secrecy. The world 
 knew nothing of them. Scarcely was their pos- 
 sessor conscious that they were his. Never has he 
 dared to claim or use them. But now afflictions 
 have broken open the seal, and the casket is found 
 to enshrine jewels of rarest worth. 
 
 Thus often is it, in this world, that evil becomes 
 the servant of good and sorrow the messenger of 
 joy. As the cold breath of winter lights up the 
 genial fireside, and the floweret peacefully sleeps 
 beneath the assembled flakes of snow, so — 
 
 " The fountain of joy is fed by tears, 
 
 And love is lit by the breath of sighs ; 
 The deepest griefs and the wildest fears 
 Have holiest ministries." 
 
 Like our Master, whose life, made perfect through 
 
236 SERMONS. 
 
 suffering, touclies our humanity on ever}^ side, we 
 must win our way to perfection in the sad path of 
 suffering. And when we are made to realize that 
 the uneven course of sorrow is indeed the high- 
 way to glory, can we not welcome sickness, be- 
 reavement, toil, and pain ; " the fear and fact of 
 death ? " 
 
 In the second place, the sorrows of this life serve 
 to perfect the joys of the life to come. If their 
 ministry is productive of such blessed results here, 
 have we not reason to expect that when their full 
 work is done, and their collective influence is 
 brought to bear upon the soul, they will serve a 
 much higher purpose. Often is it now that other 
 and opposing influences counteract and defeat the 
 salutary work of sorrow. But in the better life 
 there will be nothing to resist its impression ; its 
 whole design will be laid out before us ; we shall 
 understand how essential its mission, how impor- 
 tant its place, how benevolent its intention. And 
 as we look back over the path we have trod, the 
 burdens we have borne, the conflicts we have 
 passed, and see how each one was an essential 
 step towards our beatified condition, can the re- 
 membrance of these griefs and wrongs fail to yield 
 us sweetest pleasures? 
 
 So is it now. The soldier delights to call up the 
 dangers of the battle-field, the sailor the perils of 
 the sea, the parent the weary nights of watching 
 and anxiety. There was nothing romantic or de- 
 
OUT OF GREAT TRIBULATION. 237 
 
 lightful in these experiences when they were pres- 
 ent ; but as we have sometimes seen the distant 
 clouds tinged with mingled glories as they rolled 
 away, so these conflicts brighten as they recede, 
 until, as from the western horizon of life we look 
 towards the east, they seem all brightness and 
 beauty. And if the retrospect is so inspiring just 
 this side the dividing line, can we believe it loses 
 all its charms the moment we pass over ? Have 
 we not reason, rather, to think it will become still 
 more glorious and productive of still greater joy ? 
 This is certainly the thought of our text. The 
 question is directly put, " What are these which 
 are arrayed in white robes? and whence came 
 they ? " And the answer as directly affirms, 
 " These are they which came out of great trib- 
 ulation, and have washed their robes, and made 
 them white in the blood of the Lamb. There- 
 fore," that is for the reason that they have come 
 out of great tribulation and washed their robes, 
 " are they before the throne of God." We re- 
 gard this as a positive assertion, that the remem- 
 brance of life's sorrows makes up a part of the 
 joy of heaven. The same truth is involved in that 
 other pathetic passage which has given consolation 
 to so many desponding hearts, " There the wicked 
 cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest." 
 Is there not here implied a remembrance of for- 
 mer ills ? a sweetness of rest that comes from the 
 troubles and weariness of other days ? But how 
 
238 SERMONS. 
 
 different this conclusion from the idea that eter- 
 nity itself will be embittered by recollections of 
 present imperfections. Oh, how quickly our minds 
 turn from so gloomy a thought to the encouraging 
 assurance that we are pressing onward, and ere 
 long shall come up out of all our great tribulations, 
 and stand before the throne of God, with robes 
 washed white from ever^^ stain of earthly impurity 
 in the blood of the Lamb. 
 
 We do not say that memory will supply our 
 only joy. Indeed, a recollection of our sorrows 
 can afford us pleasure only when we are in a con- 
 dition to view them with right feelings. We can- 
 not come up out of our great tribulations until 
 we have washed our robes and made them white, 
 until we have learned to bear them as Christ 
 bore his. Every stroke must deepen our humility, 
 strengthen our faith, convict of sin, and impart fer- 
 vor to our devotions, lead us to recline more fully 
 on the all-sustaining arm of the Lord. We must 
 be clothed in Christ's purity before our light afflic- 
 tions will work out for us a far more exceeding and 
 eternal weight of glory. Unless we meet them in 
 his spirit and seek his help to bear them, they will 
 drive us from the Father's presence and make us 
 still more wretched. Often do we now witness 
 this sad spectacle. But it shall not be so always. 
 He who holdeth the hearts of all men in his hand 
 has given to his Son power over all flesh, that He 
 may give eternal life to as many as He has given 
 
OUT OF GREAT TRIBULATION. 239 
 
 Him. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from 
 all sin. He tasted death for every man, and will 
 draw all men mito Him. 
 
 And when at last this glorious consummation is 
 reached, and we all stand in white robes before the 
 throne of God, with what divine praises shall we 
 crown Him ! How will all these mysteries which 
 so perplex us now be explained ! What strength 
 and gratitude will flow in from the rough currents 
 of mortal sorrow ! That life will be one of un- 
 spotted purity. This is the meaning of the white 
 robes. We shall there love God and delight in 
 holiness, be like the angels and the Saviour. It 
 will be a life of triumphant joy. There we shall 
 eat of the " tree of life," and the "hidden manna," 
 serve in the temple of our God, and go no more 
 out forever. He that sitteth upon the throne will 
 abide with us ; we shall have no more sickness 
 or pain, no more death or parting, no more temp- 
 tation, fatigue, hunger, or thirst. We shall be led 
 unto living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe 
 away all tears from our e^-es. 
 
 " Palms of glory, raiment bright, 
 Crowns that never tade away, 
 Gird and deck the saints in light ; 
 Priests and kings and conquerors they. 
 
 " Yet the conquerors bring their palms 
 To the Lamb amidst the throne. 
 And proclaim in joyful psalms 
 Victory through his cross alone. 
 
240 SERM ONS. 
 
 "Round the altar all confess, 
 
 If these robes are white as snow, 
 'T was the Saviour's love that blest, 
 And his blood that made them so." 
 
 Oh, as we look forward to this life where there 
 shall be no more sorrow or tears, no funeral attire, 
 no days of mourning, no night of sin, ignorance, 
 affliction, and death, does it not appear worth liv- 
 ing and striving for ? We can have a foretaste of 
 it even now. If we will but live for heavenly 
 things, live to glorify God and bless men, exceed- 
 ing peace will be ours. And who that has had a 
 foretaste of this celestial blessedness cannot say 
 with the apostle. For me to live is Christ and to 
 die is gain ? I have a desire to depart and be with 
 Christ, which is far better. Oh, as we look up- 
 ward to that glorified throng, the white robed mul- 
 titude, the congregated hosts of God's redeemed, 
 and catcli strains from their triumphant songs, we 
 are ready to exclaim, — 
 
 " I waut to put on my attire, 
 
 Washed white in the blood of the Lamb 
 I want to be one of your choir, 
 
 And tune my sweet harp to his name ; 
 I want, oh, I want to be there. 
 
 Where sorrow and sin bid adieu, 
 Your joy and your friendship to share, 
 
 To wonder and worship with you." 
 
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