The calvary pulpit : Christ and Him crucified

NYPL RESEARCH LIBRARIES

3 3433 06827360 0

THE

Calvary Pulpit,

CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED,

by:.

ROBERT S. MacARTHUR.

FUNK & WAGNALLS.

NEW YORK: LONDON:

iS & 20 AsTOR Place. ^ 44 Fleet Street.

A a Rights Reserved.

^OR

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1890, by

FUNK & WAGNALLS,

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D. C.

CONTENTS.

a.
o

PAGE

Paul's Determination at Corinth , 7

The Crude Cake 28

Zealous Service for God 43

The Seven Overcometiis— 1 59

The Seven Overcomeths -II 71

Christ a Living Stone 83

Not Weary in Well-Doing 93

Sad Sowing— Glad Reaping 103

Victorious Young Men 1 1 (i

A Comprehensive Prayer 129

Our Lord's Mysterious Sorrow 140

The Promise of the Comforter loO

,^ Character and Destiny IGl

r- Future Punishment— What ? 171

Q Bands of Love 184

CO Bearing One Another's Burdens 107

«^ Human Ministry a Divine Gift 210

Marvellous Kindness in a Strong City 222

The Place Too Strait 23G

Reasons for Public Worship 251

VoicEFUL Stones 268

Prerequisites to Success 284

PEEFACE.

With a few exceptions, the sermons in tliis volume
were preached in the old Calvary Church on Twenty-
third Street, and most of them in the earlier years of the
author's ministry. The reason for limiting the selection
to this period is, that another volume containing sermons
preached in later years, and some of them within a few
months, will soon be published.

Not without reluctance are the anniversary sermons
introduced ; but it was the earnest wish of many friends,
both of the earlier and the later ministry, that the first
sermon of the pastorate and the fourth and the tenth
anniversary sermons should be included. The last two
named, it was thought, apart from their interest to the
friends of the church, would be of interest in wider
circles, because of their discussion of some methods of
church work. The last three in the volume were
preached in the new church ; they are given, as is also
the last one preached in the old church, because of their
relation to the history of the removal from the old to
the new house of worship and field of labor.

To his own people, dearer to him than any words may
attempt to express, these sermons are affectionately com-
mended ; and to them and to all others with the fervent
hope and sincere prayer that they may honor Christ and

advance His cause.

The Atjthok.

Calvaey Baptist Chuech,

New York, December, 1889,

CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

PAUL'S DETERMINATION AT CORINTH.

'* For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus
Christ, and Him crucified." — 1 Cor. 2 : 2.

It is said that, leading to an Austrian city, there is a
bridge in the parapets of which there are twelve statues
of Christ. One statue represents Him as the Sower,
another as the Shepherd, another as the Carpenter, and
another as the Physician ; others represent Him as the
Pilot, Prophet, Priest, and King ; and still others repre-
sent Him in yet other characters. The simple-minded
country people coming into the city in the early morning
with their produce for the market, pause and pray before
Christ the Sower. A little later, the artisan on his way
to his workshop worships Christ the Carpenter. Later
still, w^hen the sun has scattered the mists of the morn-
ing and has flooded the earth with his supernal splendors,
the invalid, creeping from the city to breathe the fresh
air of the country, presents his morning prayers to Christ
the Physician. Doubtless, there is much of superstition
in this worship, but there is in it also a great truth.
Each worships the Christ who is nearest to himself — the
Christ who best interprets his own thoughts and best
supplies his peculiar wants.

8 CHKIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

It is the glory of Christ that He can be everything to
everybody the world over. To-day I lift before you
Christ, and Him crucified. This is the view of Christ
which gives significance and glory to all other represen-
tations ; it is the one which so engaged the whole being
of the apostle, which captivated his imagination, con-
trolled his intellect, and constrained his heart. In all
the history of the race there was not to Paul such a life
as Christ's, and in all the life of Christ there was no such
glory as that which gathered round His cross.

Sadly Paul leaves Athens, goes forty-five miles and
comes to Corinth. This famous Grecian city was situ-
ated on the isthmus which joins Peloponnesus to the
mainland of Greece. Horace calls it " bimaris" — on
two seas. Corinth was the natural portage from the
Ionian Sea on the west to the ^gean on the east. Both
the Greeks and the Romans attempted to join the two
seas by cutting a canal across the isthmus, but owing to
the rocky character of the country the effort was not suc-
cessful. By an ingenious contrivance galleys were carried
across on trucks. Corinth had two harbors, Lechseum
on the west and Cenchrese on the east. It thus became
the mart of Asia and Europe. Its ships whitened the
seas. Foreigners crowded its streets. Near the city the
Isthmian games were celebrated. These games attracted
strangers from all parts of the world. The religion of
Corinth was debasing. Yenus was the principal deity,
as Diana at Ephesus and Minerva at Athens. " It is not
for every one to go to Corinth" became a proverb which
merchants well understood as referring to the debasing
worship of Yenus. Old Corinth became subject to the
Romans 146 b.c. For nearly one hundred years the city
lay waste. But Julius Csesar sent thither a colony of
freedmen from Rome, and soon the wealth, splendor,

and vices of ancient Corintli reappeared in tlie new city.
It was to tliis new city that Paul came. Corinth has
been called the " Paris of anticpiity." Wealth abounded.
Luxury held constant carnival. Vice triumphed. In
the name of the holiest instincts of the soul the foulest
sins of the body were committed.

To such a city as this Paul came. Here he preached.
Here a church was formed— a church to which or from
wliicli Paul's most famous epistles were written. The
Gospel that could win in Corinth can win anywhere.
After Paul had left Corinth, and while at Ephesus, in-
telligence came to him concerning the Corinthian Church
from the household of the pious Chloe, and also from an
epistle which the Corinthians had addressed to him.
The painful condition of things thus communicated to
him led him to write this epistle. In this letter he
opens to us his heart. He is a hard-hearted man who
can read these words without emotion. As we study
them we can feel across the continents and the centuries
the throb of that great heart which beat in the bosom of
the greatest apostle. Our theme this hour'is Paul's de-
termination at Corinth.

CHARACTERISTICS OF PAUl's DETERMIXATIOX.

1. Let us, in the first place, notice some of its char-
acteristics. It was a deliberate determination. Some
have supposed that Paul was disappointed alike with the
methods and with the results of his work at Athens.
But others claim that his sermon there was an admirable
illustration of his own principle of being all things to all
men that he might win some to Christ. The latter
would make his determination at Corintli refer rather to
his purpose to discard all mere rhetorical finish and ora-
torical art. It is also to be borne in mind that his ser-

10 CHRIST, AXD Unr CRUCIFIED.

mo 11 at Athens was never completed. He had just begun
to speak of the resurrection and the judgment when the
interruption came. To say that lie made a mistake at
Athens involves difficult questions of inspiration. No
one is warranted in making that statement. Neverthe-
less, it seems to me that there is in the text an undertone
which suggests a decided contrast between the method
pursued at Athens and that now determined upon at
Corinth. The word used here implies that his determi-
nation was reached after much reflection. Paul was not
a man who would rashly come to a conclusion. Neither
was he the man who would be likely to abandon a posi-
tion which he had deliberately taken. That resolution
was not accidental. In that great and sinful city of
Corinth he deliberately determined to know and to
preach only a crucified Saviour.

It was also a courageous determination. Paul well
knew the fondness of the Greeks for a finished rhetoric
and a graceful elocution ; he also knew their love for
philosophical sj)eculations. He gives us in some of his
epistles indications of his own natural fondness for ab-
struse and metaphysical discussions. He well knew^ that
such discussions would attract the attention and awaken
the enthusiasm of his audience. On the other hand, he
knew that his chosen theme would expose him to the
contempt and derision of his critical and captious hearers.
Still, he had the courage of his convictions. Addressing
poets, orators, and philosophers, he discoursed not of
poetry or oratory or philosophy. It is true that it was
Athens which was called " the eye of Greece, mother of
arts and eloquence," and that Corinth was especially
noted as a great mercantile city. Still, Cicero calls Cor-
inth, because of her intellectual attainments, " the light
of all Greece.'' Paul knew how a Jew would be de-

Paul's determination at couintii. 1L

Bpised by the Greeks. Physically and mentally they
were Pharisees ; they despised all others as barbarians.
They were the favored sons of sunny Greece ; and Paul
comes to speak to them of a Jew who was crucified by
His countrymen as a felon. I tell you, friends, that was
grit, that was grace, that w^as pluck, that w^as piety.

We still speak of the offence of the cross ; but we
oftener speak of its glory. IIow its meaning has changed
since Paul preached at Corinth ! Then it was to his
hearers what the gibbet or the gallows would be to an
audience to-day. Behold the transformation ! Poetry
with unfading garlands now decks the cross ; sculpture
honors it ; architecture, in noblest cathedral, copies its
form ; painting sits before it until its heavenly light
illumines the canvas ; genius, in ev^ery department of
thought and activity, has found its highest glory in plac-
ing the diadem on the brow of the Crucified. To-day
many of you bear the image of Christ and Him crucified
in your deepest souls. You have just sung

" In the cross of Christ I glory,

Towering o'er the wrecks of time."

That song expresses the deepest joy and the highest
glory of millions on earth and in heaven. At this very
hour, 1 doubt not, some of you would rise from these
seats, walk to that street and lay your heads upon the
block rather than deny Him who once hung on that
cross. Oh, brave Paul ! Our hearts catch the enthusi-
asm of thy courageous determination. How men in our
day ought to blush who are ashamed of Jesus. A man
who is ashamed of his Christian principles is a man of
whom his Christian principles have cause to be ashamed.
Oh, for the lofty courage of Paul's noble determination !

But it was also an intelligent determination. Paul
was a student of history. He was not a narrow man.

12 CHRIST, AND IIIM CRUCIFIED.

If lie was a man of one idea, as some have said, it was
an idea so broad that it inclnded all true and noble ideas.
He was a cosmopolitan man. The truth that flashed upon
him as he journeyed toward Damascus enabled him to in-
terpret the Old Testament in the light of the cross. lie
saw that all the ways of God's revelation converged
toward and met in the cross. He saw that if you take it
away, the Old Testament is meaningless. He saw that
the cross is the centre of the Bible. It is more, and
thoughtful men in our day are beginning to recognize
the fact : It is the pivotal point around which all the
events of the world's history revolve. '^ All the light
of " secular as well as " sacred story gathers round its
head sublime." All the centuries before Christ's com-
ing prepared for that coming ; all the centuries since
expand and illustrate the significance of His advent.
Christ is King. All events of history previous to His
death converged toward the cross ; all events since, have
divert^ed from it. The cross stood at the confluence of
three streams of civilization. The superscription on it
was written in three languages : Hebrew, the language
of religion ; Greek, the language of culture ; Latin, the
language of law. A marvellous blending of these three
varieties of national life prepared for the spread of
Christ's kingdom. Are you a student of history ? You
must '' build your studio on Calvary." J^ations flourish
and decay, kingdoms rise and fall, but amid all changes
the student will see "Jesus only." As well might a
man attempt to write a text-book on astronomy and re-
fuse to recognize the sun, as w^rite a history of this world
and leave out Jesus Christ. Christ is the Sun of the moral
universe, and around Him all events evolve. The dis-
ciple of truth will find Christ everywhere. Perhaps
Iluo-h Miller went too far when he claimed tliat he found

Paul's deteumixatiox at corintft. 13

the cross in the lioary rocks. But we are sure that the
true student of history will see it as the crowning glory
of every century. He will see along the track of the
ages the footprints of the Son of God. Paul thus saw
the glory of Jesus. To see it was the master-passion of
liis master-mind.

Well might Paul determine as he did. His decision
heightens our admiration for the clearness of his intellect
as well as for the tenderness of his heart. I ask no favors
for him. Judge him in the clear light of this nineteenth
century. His determination will bear the test. He was
a man of brains ; he had that most uncommon kind of
sense which we call common sense ; he was true as brave
and brave as true. Come on, ye philosophers of history,
will ye measure swords with this man ? We may say of
the noble Paul what Dr. Schaff says of the great Mean-
der : He was " a child in spirit, a man in intellect, a
giant in learning, and a saint in piety." How the great
God who sitteth in the heavens must laugh at the weak-
ness and wickedness of men in denying His presence and
opposing His power in the world He has made.

Men have thought they could hew down His cross and
dethrone the Lord of glory. They have thought they
could overturn the Rock of x\ges. They shall learn that
" the grass" of sceptical philosophy " withereth, and
the flower" of infidel oratory ''fadeth," but the word
of our God shall stand forever. We commend Paul's
deliberate, courageous, and intelligent determination to
know only Christ, and Him crucified.

THE MEANING OF PAUl's DETERMINATION.

2. Notice, in the second place, the meaning of Paul's
determination. Can we get the sweet kernel out of his
stirring \vords ? Christ's matchless Person and redcmp-

14 CHKIST, AXD HIM CRUCIFIED.

live work were Paul's theme as here expressed. Let us
look more closely.

He preached the humanity of Christ. By the mystery
of the incarnation Jesus Christ became the Son of man.
He had to assume the nature which He came to redeem.
He said of Himself, " a body hast Thou prepared Me."
He took upon Himself the form of a servant ; He liter-
ally emptied Himself. He came not to be ministered
unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for
many. We stand by the cradle in Bethlehem and re-
member that He whose arm upholds the universe was
once Himself borne upon a woman's arm. He was a
true man. Christ did not lay hold of the nature of
angels. He came to save men, and if He would lift our
poor fallen nature He must put Himself beneath it. We
need a living, loving, divine-human Kedeemer. The
heart cries out for a Saviour so near us as to win our
tenderest love ; and yet a Saviour so far above us as to
command our highest reverence. The soul needs just
such a Saviour as was Jesus. It can know no true rest
until it can repose on His bosom. Christ was more than
a man — He was 2fan. He was the head of a new race.
All the virtues of woman and all the nobilities of man
are in Him. I stop not to prove, in any formal way,
the humanity of Christ. We all accept it as true.

But we need to make more of this truth. We have
often put Christ too far away from us. Never until I
was in my last year in the theological seminary, did I
fully feel the uplifting power of Christ's divine-human
sympathy. The foundations seemed to be slipping from
beneath me ; I cried v/ith an intensity of desire, born of
an awful fear, and an arm mighty as God's was put
about me ; and it lifted me to a heart tender as a mother's.
Some enemies of the truth have done good by calling at-

Paul's determinatiox at coiiiNxir. 15

tention to Christ's humanity. His life has been vividly
written. Renan, and others of his class, can be cleavers
of wood and drawers of water for Christ's servants. The
places Jesus visited have been graphically described.
He has been called out of the shadows of time and dis-
tance, and made to appear in a vivid historic reality.
Writers of this class have done, perhaps unintentionally,
great good. " The man Christ Jesus" touches our
hearts with tenderness and inspires them with hope.
The proper presentation of this truth is the only antidote
to some errors which have grown out of its suppression.
How shall you prevent the mariolatry of the Romanist ?
That he does worship Mary cannot be denied. In Rome
to-day, she is placed far above Jesus Christ. Shall you
denounce her and her worship ? You will by so doing
only multiply her champions and worshippers ; and you
will also be false to fact, for she was a true and noble
woman. Shall you summon to your aid reason and
Scripture ? Yes, and you can readily show that there is
not a passage in the Bible which can fairly be quoted as
favoring her worship. But the devout Romanist will
still continue his worship, ^yhat shall you do ? This :
preach Christ in all the fulness and glory of His divinity
and humanity. Where Christ is not so preached Mary
embodies a tender thought and supplies a real want in
the human soul. In heathenism physical power was
everything ; moral purity was nothing. Christ intro-
duced a new thought. He taught that purity is power,
meekness might, and gentleness greatness. These were
womanly virtues. Mary came to represent them ; Mary
came in process of time to be worshipped. We must
show that all that is purest in woman and noblest in man
is found in Jesus ; that He meets every want of every
soul. Wc must learn that the best way to preach down

16 CHRIST, AXD III.M CRUCIFIED.

error is to preacli np truth. Kever raise Satan unless
you are sure you can lay liim. Never throw down the
gauntlet to him unless you know that you can give him
a deadly lunge. The best way to keep out the plants
of error is to fill every spot of the soil of the heart with
the good seed of the kingdom. To keep chaff out of
the measure fill it with wheat ; then let the wind blow
the chaff as it pleases. The great mass of church-going
people have learned from Christian ministers almost all
that they know of Darwin, Huxley, and others of their
class. If the theories of these men are demonstrated to
be true, we shall have neither need ngr right to oppose
them. So long as they are only theories what is the use
of directly opposing them ? God is One ; truth is one.
God cannot contradict Himself. Why waste time on
theories ? The pulpit has something better to do than
to advertise the devil's nostrums. To cure error, liber-
ate truth. Christ not only proposed to give Lazarus life,
but liberty also. The truth must be loosed. To be fair
with an opponent, you must state him clearly. Often
the statement, being largely in his language, is clear and
strong ; often the refutation is obscure and weak. The
statement is remembered, the refutation is forgotten.
The valiant knight of truth often succeeds only in giving
prominence and dignity to a hitherto unseen and perhaps
unknown foe. We have paid the devil too much re-
spect ; we owe him nothing but contempt and disobedi-
ence. As preachers we cannot know everything about
everything ; but we ought thoroughly to know God's
Word. Let us fully, fearlessly, and kindly declare it, and
victory over every error will be on the side of God's truth.
Oh how precious it is to think of the manhood of
Christ ! He was the only person ever born into the
W'Orld who had His choice as to how He should come,

Paul's determination" at corintii. 17

and lie chose to come as a babe and in poverty. He
trod the lower walks of life, and poverty was dignified.
lie became a babe, and babyhood was glorified. lie
lived as a boy, and boyhood was forever honored. All
the conditions of life into which He entered He exalted
and sanctified. On the cross He gave a yonng man's
life for the world's sin. On the throne to-day He sits
with the dew of immortal yonth and the glory of eternal
manhood. Once He suffered ; now He forever will
sympathize. The whole race is ennobled by the thought
that humanity with Divinity sits at the right hand of the
Majesty on high.

Paul preached Christ's Divinity also. A. man cannot
save his fellow. However exalted Christ might be as a
man, He would still be helpless to save a soul from
death. A man cannot find a ransom ; a man cannot
meet the claims of God's law ; a man cannot stand
in the holy place ; a man hath not clean hands and
a pure heart. The Saviour must bo God as well as man.
Man may sympathize ; God alone can save. We need
both the humanity and the Divinity of Jesus Christ. If
you deny either, you contradict Isaiah when he speaks
of Christ as ''a child born, a son given," and at the
same time as '* the mighty God, the everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace." John distinctly tells us that
the " Word was God," and also that the " Word was
made flesh." But I am not undertaking to prove to
you, brethren, His Divinity. This is not necessary. I
am simply showing how in harmony with this view^ are
the trend and spirit of Scripture. Some men say Clirist
was good, was the best man the world has ever seen, but
He was not divine. Out of tlieir own mouths such men
shall be convicted of inconsistency and stupidity. Christ
was either divine or He was not a good man ; He was

18 CHRIST, a:sd him chucified.

God, or — can we say it with reverence ? — He was an un-
pardonable egotist or a hopeless lunatic. He claimed to
be divine ; He was put to death because of that claim.
John says He was full of grace and of truth ; but if not
divine, He was full of falsehood. From the first majes-
tic words of Gene£is to the last love-note of Revelation
tlie uniform testimony of every devout heart concerning
Christ is, in substance, " My Lord and my God."
This truth fired the heart of Paul. How grandly he
bursts forth with his magnificent doxology : '' Now unto
the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God,
bo honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." And
let all the people say, Amen and amen. A symmetrical
Christ, perfect man and perfect God, is the need and is
the hope of the world.

But Paul preached Jesus Christ, and Him crucified ;
he recognized the expiatory character of Christ's atone-
ment. This glorious doctrine is the very pith and mar-
row, the warp and woof, the very heart of the whole
Bible. This doctrine has always been an offence to
some opposers, to the Jews it was " a stumbling-block ;"
to the Greeks it was "foolishness." Both Jew and
Greek have their representatives still. There are in
our day those who regard the atonement, considered as
a propitiatory sacrifice, with the utmost disfavor. They
deny that His death had any reference to the satisfaction
of Divine justice ; that He was in any sense the sinner's
Substitute ; that He did anything to satisfy the claims of
God's justice. His death, they claim, was due to man's
wrath, and its effect is simply in its moral influence over
us by His self-sacrificing examj)le.

That Christ's death exercises such a power we joyfully
admit. It has its manward side, but that because of its
Godward side. It must not be forgotten that while God

PAULS DETERMINATION AT CORINTH. ][)

is a loving Father lie is also a righteous Judge. God
must be just ; if unjust He must vacate His throne.
What is the testimony of the Scriptures ? They affirm
that '' it pleased the Lord to bruise Him ;" that " He
was wounded, for our transgressions;" that '^ He hath
made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin," and that
" Christ suffered for sins, the just for the unjust." All
God's revelations, in symbol, tj^pe, and prophecy, declare
with trumpet-tongue, that '' without shedding of blood
there is no remission ; " and the glory of Jesus, of which
the redeemed shall ever sing, is that He '' bare our sins
in His own body on the tree." The man who w^ill deny
that these Scriptures teach the vicariousness of Christ's
death could, not be convinced by any amount of scriptural
authority. The true view gives to Christ's self-sacri-
ficing example all the power which the inoral influence
theory does, and it also satisfies both reason and faith by
giving us an expiating Saviour, who meets the claims of
God's law, and thus wins the homage of man's love.
To preach Christ, and Him crucitied, then, will include
all the marvellous mystery of His august person, the
great facts respecting His spotless life, the efficacy of
His atoning death. His triumphant resurrection, His
glorious ascension, and His prevailing intercession ; it in-
cludes our pardon and peace l)y the blood of His cross,
our complete salvation in Him here, and our blessed
home in heaven hereafter. Here is enough to excite
the joy and exhaust the skill of the highest angel.

3. Let us look, in the last place, at the controlhng
motives of the Apostle's determination.

This was the only preaching which could harmonize
the facts of Christ's life. Some tell us that Christ grew

20 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

sullen and morose, toward the end of His earthly life ;
that those severe denunciations near the close, contrast-
ing in so marked a way with the Sermon on the Mount,
show how bitter was His spirit and how keen was His
disappointment. These men forget that Christ's con-
versation with I^icodemus took place some months be-
fore the Sermon on the Mount. In that conversation,
He distinctly described the manner of His death ; He
distinctly foretold that as Moses lifted up the serpent
even so must He be lifted up. In that conversation He
gave us the fullest statement of the means of salvation
whicli ever came from His lips. Nowhere else in the
gospels, and nowhere in the epistles, can you find so
clear a description of the work of each person in the
blessed Trinity in human redemption. It is true, that
until a little time before His death, Christ did not in
public discourse plainly allude to that death, and there
were reasons for this omission. But in this conversation
with Nicodemus the allusion is explicit. Christ's bap-
tism was also a symbol and prophecy of His death and
resurrection. The cross, gloomy and grand, ever lifted
itself before His mind; that He should die on that cross
was one of the ends for which He came into the world.
Now Paul saw this. He always meant to be true to the
Christ. My soul has ached for him w^hen I have seen
how he sinned through ignorance of the true Messiah.
But on that Damascus highway what blessed light flashed
upon the Old Testament teachings of the Christ ! What
a new^ world of thought and feeling was revealed to him !
Now he sees the symmetry, the harmony, the glory of
the truth. He sees how the Sufferer is still the King ;
lie sees that the way to the throne is by the cross ; he
sees that he who would reign must serve ; that to con-
quer it is necessary to stoop ; that lowliness is loftiness.

21

lie sees that Christ is the world's Prophet, Priest, and
King, because once He died as a sacrifice for the world's
sin. The cross was His throne — blessed revelation !
Now to Paul, Christ's life is a sublime harmony. So
Paul gloried in the cross. He w^ould have no other
glory. On earth he caught the lirst notes of the song
which ever since his exaltation he has been singing in
heaven, ** Worthy is the Lamb which was slain."

This, we remark again, was the only preaching which
could harmonize the attributes of God. How shall we
reconcile the apparently contradictory attributes of God ?
He describes Himself as exercising loving-kindness, and
at the same time as inflicting judgment. He is at once
a merciful Father and a righteous Judge ; a just God,
and yet a Saviour ; abounding in mercy, and at the same
time hating iniquity. This is the true character of God
as made known in Scripture. Men have erred when
they have taken one-sided views of God. Some regard
Him as too merciful to punish sin ; others, going to the
other extreme, regard Him as too just to forgive sin.
The result is that while one class presumptuously ap-
proach Him, the other class sink hopelessly into de-
spair. These are important considerations. In the
administration of human justice no question is more per-
plexing than that of granting pardon. If never granted,
government may become tyranny ; if granted often, law
becomes only advice. A law without a penalty is not
law ; it is only advice. Mercy and justice cannot always
meet in the human judge. The human judge may have
to condemn his own son. But in God there is a union
of all perfections. Only as He is seen in the face of
Jesus Christ can He be rightly known ; only in the sac-
rifice on the cross can the mercy and justice of God be
seen in blessed union. In the cross, God shows Himself

22 'CHRIST, AXD HI^[ CRUCIFIED.

to be eminently a merciful Saviour ; tliere He sliows
His hatred of sin ; there, too, He shows how it maj be
forgiven. It is the glory of God that He can be just,
and at the same time be the Justifier of the believer in
Jesus. He can preserve the honor of His law, and yet
extend pardon to the penitent. The harmony of these
seemingly inconsistent attributes gives glory to the cross
of Jesus. It lifts God's plan of redemption above all
human conception, makes it a constant marvel to the
angels, and gives the redeemed in glory a theme for
eternal praise. At the cross the beautiful words of the
Psalmist have their sublime illustration :

** Mercy and truth are met together,

Righteousness and peace have kissed each other."

Standing beneath the cross, we remember that God
spared not His own Son, but freely gave Him up for us
all ; there we see the boundless mercy of God. Still
standing beneath the cross, we remember that it pleased
the Lord to bruise that beloved Son, and to make the
iniquities of us all to meet upon Him when He took the
sinner's place — there we see the inflexible justice of God.
In the cross, these glorious attributes meet. Here is the
atonement — the " at onement," as Bishop Hall and other
English writers once wrote it. Around the cross these
glorious truths meet in eternal harmony. Here let us
stand, and with angels and glorified spirits sing, " O,
the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowl-
edge of God ! "

Furthermore, Paul knew that this was the only preach-
ing which could save men. This truth had saved him.
He had the testimony of personal experience. The lion
had been changed into the lamb ; the bitter persecutor
into the loving disciple. It is impossible to account for

PAUL'S DETEllMIXATIO.V AT CORiyTK. 23

that change if the power of this truth and the grace of
God be denied. Ahnighty grace came to his sonl ; hke
the walls of Jericho, its ramparts fell before the power
of God. The power that could tame him could subdue
the hardest heart.

With undaunted heart we stand beside the cross to-day.
In this sign we shall conquer the world. An uplifted
Christ is still the mightiest magnet to attract the hearts
of men. That cross is still the power and the wisdom of
God. Some men affirm that the old Gospel is losing its
power ; that '' modern thought" demands a modern
gospel. They have denied that the Gospel is a finality ;
they have invented other gospels. But what is new in
these inventions is not true, and what is true is not new.
They have tried spiritualism, and it has prov^ed itself to
be a vulgar cheat, a contemptible fraud. They have tried
materialism, and it has proved itself to be what Carlyle,
in his coarse way, called it, " a gospel of dirt." They
have tried various shades of liberalism, but negatives are
poor food for hungry souls. They have tried science.
To a true science, religion has no objections to urge.
What God says in His works must agree with what He
says in His Word. Genesis and geology, when each is
rightly interpreted, must harmonize. A true science
will lay its crown at Jesus' feet. Men have tried
atheism. They would dethrone God, and they would
degrade men ; but God refuses to be pushed out of the
world which He has made. One scarcely knows whether
most to pity or to despise these false teachers. They
certainly excite our pity ; they almost justify our con-
tempt. They are blind in the gleaming light of the
nineteenth century. Once Thomas Paine boasted in the
Broadway Hotel, in INew York, that in five years there
would not be a Bible in America. How we smile at his

24 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

folly ! The day will come when the defiant predictions
of another blatant and blasphemous infidel will excite
corresponding pity and contempt. The pulpit losing its
power ! tlie Bible becoming obsolete ! The pulpit never
was so mighty a power as it is at this hour. The Bible
was never so triumphant as it is to-day. We are to-day
witnessing the sublimest sight ever seen beneath the skies
since Christ trod this earth. The whole world is waiting
on bended knees and with bated breath for the Revised
Kew Testament ! I tell you that as a Christian man 1
walk with my head among the stars. The highest point
of human greatness men ever reach is when they bow at
the feet of Jesus Christ and take Him for their Lord and
God. Away with the devil's nostrums ! I respectfully
decline to be orphaned in my Father's world. We want
the old, old Gospel — old as eternity, and new as the last
sunbeam which has kissed your cheek. Nothing but the
bread of heaven can feed the hungry soul. Nothing but
the balm of Gilead can heal the heart's sorrow. Blessed
be God, His Gospel will never lose its power until Satan
is crushed beneath our feet, and Christ is worshipped as
Lord of all.

SOME LESSONS.

Permit me to suggest a lesson or two.

What Paul preached, we should believe — unconverted
men and women you should believe it. It is your only
hope. Before you I uplift the Crucified One. Here
behold the grandest display alike of God's justice and
love. Look and live. " Behold the Lamb of God which
taketh away the sin of the world." Ministers of Christ,
you should believe it. You will be shorn of your power
if you do not. Uplift that cross. Display that blood-
stained banner. Teach the old doctrines. Do not apol-

PAUL'S DETERMINATIOX AT CORIXTH. 25

ogize for God : declare Him. The best evidence of
Christianity is Christianity. The cross is its own wit-
ness. The Christian minister who uses his position to
betray his Lord, had better have his arm paralyzed at
his side ; had better have his tongue cleave to the roof
of his mouth. In proportion as the spirit of the cross
controls every thought and feeUng of our lives, glistens
in the eye, trembles in the voice, and is felt in the affec-
tionate grasp of the hand, shall we be successful. Here,
in the presence of God and His people, let us determine
to be loyal to Christ's Gospel until our work is done and
our reward is won. Christ, and Him crucified, our
theme in life, our watchword in death, our song in
heaven.

Another lesson is this : What we believe we should
propagate. Any truth that is worth holding is worth
propagating by the printed page and the living voice.
]^o argument is needed to convince you of the power of
the press. The old Homeric heroes are represented as
standing on the hill-tops of Greece and sending out their
voices into its clear air to brother heroes seven miles
away. The press is the hero of the nineteenth century,
who stands by the mighty Atlantic and sends his voice
across a continent to the mightier Pacific ; sends it
around the world. The devil shall not have the best of
everything. The discoveries of our day are for Jesus.
When good Dr. Warren saw a ship leaving the dock at
E'ew York, with a group of missionaries on her deck, he
said, '' That is what ships are made for." He was right.
Steamships and railroads, the press, the telegraph, the
telephone, are all for Jesus. "Thine, O Lord, is the
greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory,
and the majesty ; for all that is in the heaven and the
earth is thine. Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou

26 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

art exalted as head above all." Let the Assyrian boast
of the number that he cut off. What was the Assyrian ?
This : " The rod of God's anger, and the staff of His in-
dignation." Let Cyrus boust of the mighty work that
lie accomplished. How did he do it ? Thus : ^^ 1 girded
thee," God says, ''though thou didst not know me."
'' The Lord reigneth ; let the earth rejoice ; let the mul-
titude of isles be glad thereof." Jesus is King. He is
laying His hand on the discoveries of tlie hour ; the in-
ventive genius even of His enemies shall contribute to
His glory. Man, horse, and steamships shall carry His
trutli ; teh^graphs shall girdle the world with His glory,
and telephones shall make tlie world " a whispering-
gallery" with His praise. When the pierced hand of
Jesus Christ shall be laid on the press of the world the
first rays of the sun of millennial day shall color the sky
with its crimson and gold. We need the living voice of
the living preacher ; nothing can surpass that instrumen-
tality. We need also the printed page sent out as leaves
for the healing of the nations.

We should make more of the distribution of religious
and denominational literature — books, pamphlets, and
newspapers. Every convert who comes into our church
should be supplied. There ought to be a good Baptist
newspaper- in every family. A good denominational
paper in every home in a church would be worth more
to the pastor than an assistant pastor.

A last lesson is that we must feel a personal responsi-
bility for the preaching of the Gospel. You cannot
do effective work for Christ at long ranges. A Koman
youth complained to his father that his sword was
too short. " Add a step to it," said the father. The
Bible is the "sword of the Spirit." To use it well,
you must come into close quarters. " The Autocrat of

PAUL'S IJETERMINATIOX AT CORIXTII. 2i

the Breakfast Table" says, '' We are tlie Romans of tlie
modern world— the great assimilating people. And so
we come to their style of weapon. Our army sword is
the short, stiff, pointed gladius of the Eomans." And
he adds, " The race that shortens its weapons lengthens
its Ijoundarics. It w^as the Polish lance that left Poland
at last with nothing of her own to bound." He then
asks, " What business had Sarmatia to be fighting for
liberty with a fifteen-foot pole between her and the
breasts of her enemies ?" It will not do for us to fight
our Lord's enemies in this fashion. We must come to
close quarters. This Christ did. The warm heart of
the living prophet touched the cold heart of the dead
boy. You rejoice in the glorious Gospel of the crucified
Christ which Paul preached ; let others share your joy.
I appeal to you as men, as Christians and as Baptists, as
you love Christ and glory in His cross give money to
send the men who shall car^ry tlie good news to the per-
ishing, so that the dumb may sing with joy, and the des-
ert may blossom as the rose. May the theme of ^' the
matchless Paul " at Corinth— Christ, and Ilim crucified—
be our glory in life, our hope in death, and our song in
heaven ! God grant it, for His name's sake. Amen.

11.

THE CRUDE CAKE.

" Ephraim is a cake not turned." — Hosea 7 : 8.

Ephraim was the second son of Joseph, by his wife
Asenath, and the founder of one of the twelve tribes of
IsraeL His birth took place during the seven years of
plenty, it is generally supposed. Many believe that the
name itself contains an allusion to this fact, as it means
*' double f ruitf ulness. " Another interpretation finds
the meaning of the name in the growth of the family
itself. Ephraim 's elder brother was Manasseh ; but, as
on a former occasion in the family, the younger was to
rule over the elder. That destiny was first indicated in
the blessing of the children by Jacob, their grandfather.
The old man's eyes were dim, so that he could not see.
Joseph so arranged his sons that Jacob's right hand
should give its richer blessing as it was laid on the head
of Manasseh. But either by the will of God or the wish
of Jacob, or both, it was otherwise ordered. Jacob was
himself a younger son ; his sympathies are now with
Ephraim. A second time in this family the younger is
placed above the elder. Ephraim is put above Manasseh.
The immediately subsequent history of the tribes does
not seem to bear out this early promise. But under the
leadership of an Ephraimite, the brave and noble Joshua,
son of N'un, the land of promise was won. This gave
the proud and haughty tribe a higher position than its

THE CRUDE CAKE. 29

mere numbers would have implied. The new kingdom
ruled over by Jeroboam was in large part the kingdom
of Ephraim. The word Ephraim thus came to stand for
Israel, and in this representative sense it is used in the
text before us.

A word in regard to baking in the East will throw
light on the text. It is the custom to heat the hearth,
or a portion thereof ; then sweep carefully the portion
heated, put the cake upon it, and cover it with ashes and
embers. In a little time the cake is turned. It is then
covered again, and this process is continued several times
until it is found to be sufficiently baked. Israel, as a
loaf, had been put under the ashes, but, though well
leavened and kneaded, Israel had not been carefully
turned. One side became a burnt crust, and the other
side remained raw dough ; and thus both sides were
absohitely worthless.

Ephraim still lives. All his characteristics are still
seen. He has many representatives at this hour. Let
us look at a few of these representatives in their
order.

1. The man who lives for pleasure alone is a cake not
turned. One side of his nature is unduly baked ; the
other is entirely neglected. Pleasure has its uses, but
pleasure as a business is a very poor business indeed.
Honey is good, but the man who undertakes to eat noth-
ing else will have neither brawn nor brain.

There are many representatives of this class. Some
are from the lower and more grovelling classes ; these are
born in environments of sin. Their pleasures are of the
lowest and most sensual kind. They live in the damp
cellars of their earthly house. Their degradation is seen
in their very faces. They are almost below the rank of
human beings, and to class them with animals is to do

30 CHRIST, AND IIIM CRUCIFIED.

the animals injustice. But others of this class belong to
the higher walks of life. Thej have elegant homes,
they are surrounded by every evidence of wealth and
luxury ; nevertheless, they must claim kinsliip with the
more degraded classes in that pleasure is the only aim of
their lives. One danger of American society in our day
is that many young men of wealth feel that they have
nothing to do in life. But few of them secure an educa-
tion. If they have the capacity to study they have not
the desire. Comparatively few of them are ever gradu-
ated from college. They are not willing to go down to
hard work either in study or in business as their fathers
did a generation or two ago. These young men are fond
of frequenting the clubs. Tlieir talk is most trivial, if
not of a coarser character. When they have exhausted
the horse-race, the latest play, or the newest amusement,
they find themselves at home in the discussion of petty
social scandals. Such is the club life of many young
men, some of whom have honored names. They do not
live— they simply exist. They are a reproach to Ameri-
can life and to the civilization of the nineteenth century.
They have no future along this line but one of shame.
There are in Wall Street, and in other business centres,
honorable exceptions. The great regret is that these
exceptions are not more numerous.

In the old country this crisis has happily been passed.
A great change has taken place within the past gener-
ation— certainly within the last half century. Once no
work was respectable for sons of nobility and royalty ex-
cept gambling or similar pursuits. But now the sons of
nobility are taking hold of business. The daughter of
the Queen may wed the son of a duke, as honored for
his literary attainments and business pursuits as for his
long line of ancestors. As goes the court so go the court-

THE CRUDE CAKE. 31

iers. To-day many men of historic names are engaged
in banking and other forms of useful enterprise. It is
felt that there is something else to do in life beside fox-
hunting and pleasure-seeking generally. In order to
maintain a respectable standing with the thinking classes
of society, such men mast do something in life. Two
reasons account for this change. One is the comparative
non- productiveness of landed estates. That the whole
system of landed estates is passing through a crisis is
evident even to superficial observers. That the laws re-
specting property in Ireland have been at times unjust
and oppressive all will readily admit. But the same is
equally true of England and Scotland. It is needful in
all these countries that the great estates be broken up,
and that the cultivators of the soil shall have the oppor-
tunity to become the owners as well. The great pros-
perity of the smaller farmers in France is an indication
of changes which ought to be introduced into Great
Britain. But the recent troubles in Ireland have a deeper
origin. The Irish have had the benefit of remedial leg-
islation sooner than England or Scotland. The English
Church is disestablished in Ireland. The Scotch Church
is not disestablished in Scotland. The Celtic race is, and
always has been, impatient of restraint. But the two
greatest evils of Ireland are Home and rum. Boman
bigotry and rampant beggary, popery and poverty, Ro-
manism and rowdyism are evermore inseparable. This
is true whether in Italy, in Ireland, or in Lower Canada.
But this is aside somewhat from our discussion. The
great change in public opinion of which we have spoken
auo-urs well for the future. Men of high rank can now
engage in business without sacrificing their social posi-
tion.

If they do not engage in business it becomes necessary

32 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

for them to be active in some form of literary or philan-
thropic work. Strip Mr. Gladstone of all his political
honors, and he will still stand before the world conspicu-
ous as one of the ripe scholars of the daj. Remove from
the Duke of Argyle all the glory of his ancestral name
and estates ; leave him simply his cultivated intellect
and his Christianized heart, and he will still stand before
the world as the author of books representing the ripest
results of science in loving harmony with the deepest
teachings of religion. Remove from Mr. Trevelyan,
the recently appointed Chief Secretary of Ireland, the
honors of political power, and you still leave him the
author of two of the most delightful biographies which
the century has produced. Even a son of the Queen
meets some of the claims of modern society in his effort
to write an oratorio. Men of wealth and social position
like Mr. Lecky, can neither satisfy their own ambitions
nor tlie demands of society, except as they contribute
something to the world's progress in tliought and life ;
and so Mr. Lecky becomes the author of volumes which
will make his name more enduring than monuments of
marble or bronze. We ought to be profoundly grateful
for this tendency of our times. No man has a right to
live on the fame of his family name. On no heraldic
crutches ought any man to strut across the stage of life.
The world to-day asks you not what your father or grand-
father did, but, What have you done ? And its demands
are right and just. The man who lives for pleasure,
whether of the higher or lower kind, is dead while he
livetli. He is a wretched parasite ; he is a reproach to
his species. He consents to doom himself to an early
grave, a dishonored name, and an immortal shame. He
drags in the mire of his own lust the qualities which
mi^ht have made liim a blessins: to the world and a child

THE CRUDE CAKE. 33

of God. He dooiris himself to crawl and bite the dust,
when he might stand erect and eat angels' food. He
is a cake not turned. One side of his nature is burnt
to a crust by the fires of unholy desire ; the other side
of his nature is raw dough. Both are worthless. To-
day, in the name of all that is noble in manhood, and in
the name of our divine Lord, 1 beseech you to be true to
the loftier instincts of your nature and live for the glory
of God and for the good of men.

2. The man who lives for business alone is a cake not
turned. This man stands higher, all will admit, than
the mere votary of pleasure. Business is good ; business
has its claims ; these claims must be recognized. But
even though the business be honorable and the methods
of its pursuit -unobjectionable, the man who lives for
this life alone loses this life as well as the life which is
to come. The man to whom this world is a god is a
wretched idolater. The man who lives for this life alone
may reach that end, as the world regards it. But he has
missed the true end even of this life. Were there no
life beyond, it would pay any man to spend his time liere
in the service of God. This life is never truly lived,
except as it is used for the good of others and for the
glory of God. Our Lord gives us two illustrations in
His parables of men who live for this life alone. The
first is usually called 'Hhe rich fool." Our Lord sets
before us this man as a warning against covetousness and
as an illustration of the danger of those who trust in this
world's goods as a source of blessedness. ^Nothing is
said against this man's character. JSTot a word as to his
having procured his wealth by any unjust means. In-
deed, the fact that a rich farmer rather than a trader was
chosen as an illustration, suggests the honest and laborious
processes by which his wealth was acquired. The sun.

34 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

tlie rain, and all the forces of nature, contributed to his
increasing wealth. He had no roo:n where to bestow his
fruits. His selfishness appears in that he calls the fruits
his own ; " My fruits and my goods," he sajs. But
while he made plans for satisfying the flesh, he utterly
neglected the higher wants of his soul. He says to his
soul, '* Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry ; thou
hast much goods laid up for many years." He expects
to feed his soul on grain. Can a soul eat wheat ? Well
might God address him as Thou fool ! Solemn were the
words of warning telling him that that night his soul
would be required of him. He heaped up riches ; he
knew not who would gather them. He was rich toward
the world ; he was unspeakably poor toward God. He
made no provision for the future. To him the future
was a blank. It was blackness ; it was darkness ; it was
death ; and when the curtain fell he went out into that
unknown future, leaving all for which he lived behind.

In another parable — the rich man and Lazarus — our
Lord lifts the curtain and shows us what lies beyond.
This rich man, like that, lived for this life alone. Un-
like the first, he lived a life of jovnal splendor. He was
clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously
every day. He was the incarnation of selfishness. It
is not, however, said that he was the oppressor of the
poor, nor that he had robbed other men of their goods.
He simply lived for himself. He neglected Lazarus
lying at his gate. The rich man dies and is buried, and
when the costly funeral is over, the curtain is drawn
aside, and while Lazarus is in Abraham's bosom, the
rich man lifts up his eyes in hell in torments. In his
wretchedness a drop of water on his fi.ery tongue would
be a blessing. But he is now reminded that in his life-
time he received his good things. He lived for this life ;

THE CRUDE CAKE. 35

he got it. In his misery and perdition lie reaps what he
liad sowed. Having sown to tlie flesh he reaps corrup-
tion. We have here the only illustration in the Bible of
a prayer offered to a saint. It was a prayer that came
from hell, and it was a prayer that was not answered.
The fires of perdition have not baked his nature through.
He is still the unbeliever that he was upon the earth.
He wishes Abraham to send some one to warn his breth-
ren. Abraham reminds him that they have Moses and
the prophets, but this will not silence him. It is as true
of the lost as of tlie saved, that their works do follow
tbem. The temper of the Christian in heaven is but the
full fruition of his temper on earth. The spirit of the
lost man in hell is but the intensification of his spirit on
earth. This man's demand im[)lies that his brethren on
earth did not have a fair opportunity, else they would
have repented. He would thus throw the blame upon
God. He claims that if one went to them from the
dead they would repent. Abraham replies that though
one rose from the dead they would not even be per-
suaded. When a Lazarus v/as raised from the dead
the enemies of Christ went about to kill him. The
spirit of unbelief which made men opposers of God on
earth will follow them even into the regions of despair.
Both these rich men lived for this life and for it alone.
All men who so live have no outlook, no prospect ; this
world bounds their view. When the call comes for them
to leave it they go into the unknown land for which they
are utterly unprepared. I am not now speaking of men
who have been guilty of great crimes, except, indeed,
the greatest of crimes — unbelief toward God. I am
speaking of men whom the world calls eminently re-
spectable. For the future to which they are hurrying
they have made no preparation, and such a man's life

36 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

cannot but be a gigantic failure. There comes to my
mind, while I speak just such a man. He lives as utterly
without God as if God were dead. He is a husband and
a father ; but he and his wife and children sit at their
table and partake of their food, so far as gratitude to
God is concerned, precisely as animals might eat. The
name of Christ is never heard in the house except to
round a joke or emphasize an oath. This man is with-
out God and without hope. He lives for this life alone.
His only god is business. The most important part of
his nature is utterly neglected. The faculties w^iich
would give him kinship with angels and God lie abso-
lutely dormant. He is defrimding himself of his possible
heritage as a child of God and an heir of heaven. He
is robbing his home of the sunlight of Christ's presence.
He is a cake not turned. One side of his nature is
scorched by the friction of the w^orld's cares, and the
other is raw dough.

The world has claims upon men of wealth among us.
Great possessions involve corresponding responsibility,
and the intellect that is used in acquiring ought also to
be used in wisely distributing. God will not hold him
guiltless w^io amasses great wealth for personal gratifica-
tion or family aggrandizement. The wants of ten thou-
sand needy enterprises demand recognition. Only he
whose nature is symmetrically developed under the guid-
ing influence of Christ, who came not to be ministered
unto but to minister, who came to rule by serving, w^io
came to be King by being the lowliest of all, who came
to give life by His death ; only as men's lives are mod-
elled by His example can they truly live and triumph-
antly die. If their life is like that of Ephraim it is a
cake unturned. On the one side a blackened crust ; on
the other raw dough, and both sides useless. These are

THE CRUDE CAKE. 37

cnide lives ; the word crude means uncooked. The
need is that the love of God and tlie love of their nei<;h-
bor should so warm their hearts that their characters
ehould be baked tli rough and through, else they cannot
escape the charge inade against Ephraim of old.

3. A man who lives for culture alone — as that word is
usually understood — is a cake not tnrned. This remark
will not api^ly to a culture that is broad and deep, that
takes in the entire being. What is culture ? Look at
the derivation of the word. It is tilling. To till yon
must plough or delve ; you must rake or harrow. You
have culture in a field only as you have tilling. Parts
of the field that have not been tilled are not cultured.
That cannot be called a cultured field in which large
portions have been utterly neglected. New-world farmers
are astonished when they see the fields of old-world
farmers. Every spot is tilled ; every mountain-side is
cultured. No man can claim that his is a well-tilled
farm, if much of it has never felt plough or spade. No
man can claim the honors of culture, portions of whose
nature lie fallow. What would you say of a man who
would claim to be cultured simply because his muscles
were well develoj)ed ? Yuu say, " Yes ; he has physical
culture ; let him limit his claim to that." But you
rightly demand more. The intellect also must have
culture. Now, more of the territory has been gone
over ; now, more may rightly be claimed by the man.
But why stop there ? The man is more than muscles and
mind. You must go higher. All things below man
look up to man as their centre. Shall ho have no up-
ward look ? All faculties within look to the heart, the
soul, tlie conscience. The word conscience suggests this
upward look. It is a solemn word. It is knowing
together with another. Who is that other ? There

38 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

stands God. Language itself witnesses for its Author.
Man is not a god unto himself. A true culture includes
the entire field ; it sweeps across ev^ery faculty. It has
its earthward, manward, and Godward relation. If
lacking in any of these directions, it is a partial, defec-
tive, and unauthoritative culture. It is a cake baked
only on one side.

Tried by this true standard many claimants for this
honor will be found wanting. Sidney Smith thought it
better not to read a book which he was to review ; read-
ing it might prejudice liis judgment. So do men of cul-
ture in some directions seem to act in regard to religion
and the Bible. The religious side of their nature is
neglected ; other parts are cultivated. On science and
art they would not make ignorance a claim to authority ;
in regard to religion they act as if their ignorance specially
fitted them for l>old and authoritative statement. Such
men would receive our contempt did not our religion
teach us to give them our pity. The apostles could say,
^' We speak that we do know ;" not so with these ill-
cultured critics of divine things. Locke said : "It needs
a sunny eye to see the sun. " He is right. No man can
really see the ocean, except he who has oceans in his
soul ; no man can truly enjoy the mountains but he who
has mountains on his brain ; no man knows love but he
who has felt its constraining power. Flesh and blood
cannot reveal the deep things of God to a man. The
Lord's secret is with tliose who fear Ilim. To know
bread and meat you must eat them. A hungry man who
should coolly pronounce on the life-giving qualities of
bread and meat as the result of a chemical analysis,
would proclaim himself a fool. You would say of him
that much starving had made him mad. So to be able
to judge of religion you must have religion. This is not,

THE CRL'DE CAKl]. 39

on the part of the religious teacher, asking too much.
If jou are to demonstrate to me a problem in geometry,
you have a riglit to demand that I shall know enough of
the science, at least, to follow you step by step. If I do
not, how dare I dissent from your conclusion? Is my
ignorance to give me authority ? Geometrically I ani,
on this supposition, a cake not turned.

Surely a man ought to be diflident in pronouncing an
opinion on subjects which he has never studied. Sir
Isaac Newton was right when he said to Dr. Halley, a
man of science, but an unbeliever in God's AVord, "I
am glad to hear you speak about astronomy or mathe-
matics, for you have studied and you understand them ;
but you should not talk of Christianity, for you have not
studied it." That is good sense. Dr. Halley was not
a man of culture, so far as Christianity was concerned ;
that side of his nature was unbaked. In recent discus-
sions of the life and work of Emerson the name of
Thoreau has been often mentioned. He is a type of
one class of men of culture, so-called. In 1837 he was
graduated from Harvard College. For three years he
was a teacher. He then occupied himself with various
kinds of mechanical pursuits and with land-surveying.
He imbibed the spirit of Emerson's transcendentalism.
In March, 1845, he built himself a shanty on the shore
of Walden Pond. There he lived a sort of hermit life.
One object was to see how cheaply and simply a man
could live. He demonstrated that it was possible to do
this on seventy dollars a year. Noble achievement !
Grand amlntion ! True, he wrote a little. But what
did he really accomplish ? How was he better than the
miserable monastic hernn'ts of the earlier day? Such
culture is supreme selfishness, which is the essence of all
sin. Emerson, in his measure, fell into the same snare.

40 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

He was refined, solitary, personally pure and noble.
But whose sorrows did he share ? Whose burdens did
he lift ? Carlyle's culture was painfully one sided. He
was crusted on the one side ; he was crude on the other.
The harsh, the crabbed, the unloving elements were un-
duly developed ; the tender, gentle, and winning graces
w^ere neg-lected. The men who bless and save the world
are not of his stamp. His very greatness makes his
weakness the more conspicuous. It is also to be borne
in mind that both Emerson and Carlyle seem to have
come in their later years more fully into the light of
Christ than in their middle life. Remarks made by
Emerson plainly show that his pantheism gave way to
theism, and that Christ became more and more an Ex-
ample and Helper. Carlyle fully acknowledged that as
he stood on the brink of eternity the old words learned
in childhood came back with wondrous power— that the
chief end of man was to glorify God and to enjoy Him
forever. Culture ! Yes ; but let it be culture of the
whole man. There is more power in the sweet and
blessed life of Sister Dora, with her strong body, her
clear head, and her consecrated heart, ministering to the
sick, instructing the well, and comforting the dying,
than in the lives of sentimental hermits, transcendental
philosophers, and snarling critics. Give us this stalwart
sister ; give us the fragile Havergal as samples of a cul-
ture which the world needs, and which only the Spirit
of Christ and His cross can give. When Moses came
down from the mount beams of supernal splendor radi-
ated from his face. Of the silent John and the eloquent
Peter men took knowledge that they had been with
Jesus. With all your culture forget not that which can
be learned only in the school of Christ. Culture will
adorn piety ; but piety crowns and glorifies culture.

THE GRUDE CAKE. 41

We want both. Botli arc one. That is not true culture
which fails to cultivate the nobler, the diviner elements
of the soul. The man who neglects this is a crude
Ephraim — a cake not turned.

4. A man who is half-hearted in religion is a cake not
turned. Ephraim had introduced much of the supersti-
tion and idolatry of the Gentile nations into the worship
of Jehovah. Ephraim, though proud and haughty as a
tribe, had been lacking in moral backbone, in loyalty, in
consecration, in the service of God. The people had
worshipped calves at Dan and at Bethel ; and yet they
called on the name of the Lord. They, like the inhab-
itants of Samaria in later times, feared the Lord and
served their own gods. There are such professors of
religion to-day. They have a name to live and are dead ;
they have the form of godliness but not the power.
They have not true religion either in experience or in
practice. They to-day serve Baal ; to-morrow Jehovah ;
the next they flit as birds from branch to branch, halting
between God and Mammon. This is poor business. A
half-and-half man is a failure always and everywhere.
No compromise ! This should be the Cliristian's watch-
word. That was a mngniflcent army of David's — " Afty
thousand who could keep rank ; they were not of double
heart." They had but one purpose — the honor of their
king and the glory of their God. They did not have
one heart for the field and another for the home.

To-day, Jesus Christ calls for men with one heart, and
that heart on fire with His love. Away with the cow-
ards ! Gideon is stronger with his brave three hundred
than w^itli the thousands who were glad to return. We
want no unturned cakes. Our denomination wants men
with convictions ; men who know why they are Chris-
tians and Baptists. The world needs such men. Men

A2 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFirD.

strong and true ; living, loving, brave, and gentle men
— these the Church of God needs. Christ indicates the
men He wants. He commands us, in His admirable
summary of the Ten Words, to love God with all onr
heart, and mind, and strength. That is culture. All
our faculties, and all of each faculty, must be called into
service. We are also to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Self-love is right ; selfishness is devilish. It is some-
times said of some men that they are very pious God-
ward, but very crooked manward. That is a severe
criticism when it is true. That is not Christ's model
man. He is symmetrical ; he is baked through and
through. Unconverted men are crude — uncooked men.
A Christian is like a biscuit — twice cooked — as the word
means. Christ alone can make such men. Come to the
cross of the perfect Man to learn the first lesson in true
manhood. Let His love sweetly bake your hearts clear
through. Starting thus, and continuing thus, you will
never be rebuked as crude Ephraims, but you will one
day be presented to God as perfect men and women in
Christ Jesus.

III.

ZEALOUS SERVICE FOR GOD.

" Not slothful in business ; fervent in spirit ; serving the Lord."
— KoM. 12 : 11.

The Bible is an intensely practical book. It is full of
that most uncommon sense which we call common sense.
It does not contain specific rules for the government of
our conduct in all the varied relations of life. Mani-
festly it could not. It is said that the Arabian commen-
tators of Mohammed, being desirous of furnishing a rule
for every situation in life, prepared a book containing
seventy-five thousand directions ; but it was soon found
that cases occurred for which no rule of the entire num-
ber was applicable. The Bible follows another method ;
it lays down broad principles of everlasting righteous-
ness, and it gives us wisdom to understand and grace to
apply these principles. Tliese principles, like all God's
commandments, are '^ exc^eeding broad." They con-
front the merchant and his customer, the employer and
the employed, the physician and his jDatient, the lawyer
and his client, tlie pastor and his people.

The practical character of the Bible is finely illustrated
in the relation between this chapter and the one which
precedes it. In that chapter we have a statement of
some of the important doctrines of Christianity ; in this
chapter we have a dissertation on some of the important
duties of Christianity — duties toward ourselves, toward
our neighbor, and toward God. Reli^cion is intended to

44 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

reach every relation in life ; its aim is to beautify and
to glorify life in its lowliest as in its loftiest aspects.
It is not a series of speculations ; it is rather a system of
obligations. It is designed not simply to inform our
minds, but also and chiefly to reform our lives. We
have, to this end, in this chapter, many pithy and prac-
tical directions. It is the application of the doctrinal
teaching of the previous chapter. There was danger
that Paul's emphasis of the doctrine of justification by
faith might lead to a perversion of that glorious truth.
Some might suppose that if salvation is of grace and not
of works, they would not need to be careful to maintain
good works. Now the apostle reminds us that the faith
which justifies, Tvorks by love ; that although God pre-
pares in His free grace the highway to heaven, it is
walked in only by those who walk in truth and love.
We have in the text a threefold direction to guide our
activity in daily duties.

DILIGENCE IN DUTY.

1. The first direction in this exhortation is, *' Not
slothful in business." A little explanation may be neces-
sary in regard to the word here rendered "business."
In the eighth verse of this chapter the same word is
translated " diligence." It might with propriety be so
rendered here — " In diligence not slothful." It denotes
ardor or intensity of mind, and then industry or labor.
The word business is liable unduly to restrict the mean-
ing. If we include under the word " whatever our
hand finds to do," it will be sufficiently correct. The
direction means that we should be diligently engaged in
our proper employment ; no particular employment is
meant ; it is an exhortation to earnestness in all appointed
duties.

ZEALOUS SERVICE FOR GOD. 45

Religion is always the friend of industry. This text
is in perfect harmony with other parts of Scrii)tnre.
Paul in writing his second letter to the Thessalonians,
third chapter and tenth verse, says, " For wdien we were
with you, tliis we commanded you, that if any would not
work, neither should he eat.'^ The evil complained of
here hegan to show itself even while the apostle was with
the Church. Some were idlers, and they needed the
earnest words of Paul to rebuke them and to incite them
to labor. He was himself a remarkable example of in-
dustry. Often did the grand man spend the day in
preaching and teaching, and then labor far into the night
at his " craft" for support, rather than be dependent on
the bounty of others. He becomes righteously indignant
at the Tliessalonian idlers, and he declares that neither
should they eat. They were not to be supported by the
charity of others, unless they had done all they could for
their own support. This was a common maxim among
the Jews ; the same sentiment is often found in the writ-
ings of Greek poets, orators, and philosophers. The
maxim is in harmony with strict justice. At the very
dawn of human liistory we are taught that man was to
earn his l)read in the sweat of his face. A man who
will not work ought to starve. You ought not to help
him. Aid given to a lazy man is a premium on vice.
The Bible abounds with instructions and warnings touch-
ing this whole matter. In Proverbs 21 : 17 we read that,
" He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man." This
gives us the inevitable result of a lazy and a luxurious
life. The man who sets his heart upon the so-called
pleasures of idleness and sensuality, must come to pov-
erty. Such a man robs himself of the glory of manhood,
and allies himself to the beasts that perish. The '^ wise
man" says again, " Love not sleep, lest thou come to

46 CHRIST, AXD HIM CRUCIFIED.

poverty.' ' Sleep you must ; nature demands it ; but love
not sleep as if you hated work. Still,. again, in Proverbs.
18 : 9 lie say?, " He also that is slothful in his work is
brother to him that is a great waster." There would
seem to be a wide distinction between the prodigal and
Jie idler ; but, in fact, they are closely related. Both
are fools ; both are on the way to poverty ; the one scat-
ters what he has, the other never has anything to scatter.
Both make their bed in poverty. Many other passages
of Scripture are to the same purport.

It is easy to learn the lessons which God would teach
us in the light of these truths. He has no place, at least
no good place, in His kingdom here or hereafter for a
lazy man. Here all God's servants do what their hands
find to do with all their might ; there the redeemed are
" before the throne of God, and serve Him day and
night in His temple." It is just as much a duty to be
hard-working and industrious, as it is to read the Bible
and to pray. Labor existed in Eden before the full ; we
know that Adam kept and dressed the garden even in
his innocence. It was a mercy to Adam that after his
fall he was still obliged to work ; and labor is now, not
so much God's curse as it is God's blessing. A true
Christian is to be more attentive to his duties than the
most grasping or ambitious worldling " on the street."
Whatever is right in business, that a Christian is to do
with all his might ; whatever is wrong, that he must en-
tirely and determinedly^ avoid. But he is to be inspired
with a lofty and sanctified ambition ; he ought not to let
any one pass him on the line of honest endeavor. A
lazy Christian, whether in business or in religion, must
greatly try God's patience.

Experience and observation abundantly prove the truth
and wisdom of these Bible teachings. To thousands of

ZEALOUS SERVICE FOIl GOD. 47

Christians the necessity of doing liard work is a great
blessing. The Italian proverb says : " lie who labors is
tempted by one devil ; he who is idle is tempted by a
thousand devils." No men are so likely to become mor-
bid and fretful, and finally insane, as those who have
most leisure. It may be a very bad thing to have too
many irons in the fire— although Dr. Adam Clarke did
not think so — but it is a great deal worse to have no irons
in the fire. An idle man is to be profoundly pitied.
Oar greatest American preacher has said : "It is not
work that kills men ; it is worry. Work is healthy ;
you can hardly put more upon a man than he can bear.
Worry is rust upon the blade. It is not the revolution
that destroys the machinery, but the friction." Luther
could preach daily while he was burdened with " the
care of all the churches ;" at the same time he attended
to a correspondence which fills many volumes, and was
also engaged in bitter controversies with the ablest men
of his day. Similar things are told of Calvin. He
wrote his " Institutes," which have so profoundly affected
the tliought of the world, before he was twenty-seven.
While he was at Strasburg, he preached or lectured daily.
In Geneva his lal)ors were even greater ; there he was
pastor, professor, and almost nujgistrate. He carried on
an extensive correspondence with learned men in almost
all parts of Europe. He wrote many volumes, and was
at the same time a constant sufferer from infirmities of
the flesh. W^esley often preached three times a day ;
one sermon was sometimes given before the break of day
to the hard-working miners meeting in the valleys and
on the hill-sides of England. In addition he could ride
forty miles a day and make a sermon or two in the sad-
dle. Men seldom die of hard work. Bad methods of
work, allowing work to drive us instead of our driving

48 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

it, late hours and spasmodic efforts — these and similar
bad habits often prove fatal. Preaching is healthy ;
ministers are long lived. Honest work in any depart-
ment of life's activity is God's medicine for men. In-
tense activity, physical, mental, and spiritual, is the only
salvation of some Christians. This activity brings them
into harmony with God. God works in creation, preser-
vation, and redemption. Christ said : '' My Father
worketh hitherto and I work." God rested on the sev-
enth day from His work of creation ; but God never
rests from His work of upholding, controlling, and bless-
ing the world which He has made.

Christ put Himself side by side with the Father as a
ceaseless worker. He was straitened until His work was
accomplished. He affirmed that He must work while
the day lasted. He was one of the most intense workers
that ever trod this earth. He worked right up to the
measure of His strength ; often He seems to have reached
the point of fatigue and exhaustion. He lay down to
sleep that night on His hard pillow on the stern of the
little fishing-boat as thoroughly tired as was ever any
laboring man in this audience. He sleeps the sleep of
weariness, although the rain beats upon His face, the
lightning flashes over the lake, and the thunder roars
among the hills. He sleeps until the cry of despair
reaches Him, then He rises in His might and majesty,
rebukes the loud storm and hushes the wild waves.
Mark is the Evangehst who especially speaks of Christ
as the mighty worker. Attention has often been called
by commentators and other writers to the fact that the
earlier chapters of his gospel frequently contain the
words, straightway, immediately, forthwith, and anon,
as translations of one word, indicating intense earnest-
ness in work. These chapters give us the idea of the

ZEALOUS SEliVICE FOR GOD. 49

utmost activity on the part of Christ as lie presses for-
ward to II is great work.

The whole earth throbs and heaves with the move-
ments of God as the might}^ worker ; now it groans with
the terrible workings of His wrath ; now it blossoms into
beauty and breaks into song with the blessed activities of
His love. An idle life puts a man into antagonism with
nature and with nature's God. Such a life cannot, like
the divine life in the heart, *' spring up into everlasting
life ;' ' it must either stagnate or freeze. The highest
genius is willingness and ability to do hard work. Any
other conception of genius makes it a doubtful, if not a
dangerous possession. Butfon said, '^ Genius is pa-
tience." William Carey, our distinguished Baptist mis-
sionary, explained the secret of his marvellous progress
from being a shoemaker to becoming the founder of the
Baptist Mission at Serampore, Professor of Sanscrit and
Bengalee at the College of Fort William, and translator
of the Scriptures into several Oriental languages, when
he said, '* I can plod." Good work will tell. Young
men, don't whine ; don't complain that you arc not ap-
preciated. In the long run every man will get what he
is worth. If you are capable of filling a high place, go
up and till it. \\"ho will hinder you ? The world wants
such men. God wants such men, and He will reach
down His hand and say, '"Come up higher." John
Ruskin says : ''It is only by labor that thoughts can be
made healthy ; and only by thoughts that labor can be
made happy, and the two cannot be separated with im-
punity." Religion tends to promote industry. It gives
us a true conception of the value of time ; it constantly
impresses upon us the importance of *' redeeming the
time" — buying up the opportunities. Religion makes
us conscientious in the use of time and opportunity. It

50 CHRIST, AXD HIM CRUCIFIED.

takes away the temptation to frivolity and indolence ; it
solemnly reminds us that slothful servants are wicke;!
servants. We are taught that God, who forbade vvoik
on the seventh day, has with equal authority commanded
work on the other days of the week, and the man who
will not work during the week is as guilty as the man*
who will not rest on Sunday. Thus all experience and
observation, the law of God in His Word and in His
work, and the example alike of Christ and the Father,
emphasize this part of our text — " Not slothful in busi-
ness."

FERVOR IN SPIRIT.

2. The second part of the apostle's direction is of
great importance — "fervent in spirit." This fervor is
the divine fire which kindles the sacrifices of diligent
toil, and carries upward the offering of a sweet-smelling
savor. Never was this direction more needful than now.

Ours is a busy and bustling age. The most sacred
religious duties partake of the spirit of the time. There
is danger lest they become mechanical and formal. We
must be careful that they do not lack genuine fervor of
the spirit. Religious work is pleasing to God only as
the human spirit is moved upon by the divine Spirit.
God demands that we worship Him in spirit and in truth.
All true labor for the glory of God is worship. A holy
zeal must mark all our deeds of service. Communion
with God is to be maintained amid the din of Broadway
and the excitement of Wall Street. The world is not to
quench the holy fire in a Christian's heart ; but that fire
is to kindle a flame in the world's heart. The fervor of
a Christian's most exalted moments is to go with him
into the coldest duties and severest tasks of daily life.
If your business freezes your religion, cither your busi-

ZEALOUS SERVICE FOR GOD. 51

ness must be very bad, or your religion is very poor.
Your reb'gion ouglit not sinij^ly to keep your business
from freezing it, but it ouglit to warm up your business.
This religious fervor will make you more successful even
in your business. True religion will arouse every ele-
ment of manhood in your soul ; it will summon into
activity every dormant faculty, and will start you with
rapid steps in the line of nol)le achievement. Do not
tell me that you have been a less successful clerk, part-
ner, or professional man, because you are a Christian.
Do not plead neglect of business obligations because of
attendance upon religious duties. Duties never clash ;
obligations never conflict. Attendance at the house of
God should make you better men and women in evejy
relation of life. Christ's law still holds good, " But seek
ye lirst the kingdom of God, and His righteousness ;
and all these things shall be added unto you." The
somewhat erratic Dr. Cumming — to whom I am indebted
for some suggestions — says : " Like the ancient patri-
arch, you will go out with your sacks to get corn, and
will return with the sack tilled with the corn ; and you
will find hid in the sack, not, literally, a golden cup, as
he did, but something more precious than all — a full sack
filled with this world's success, and buried in the midst
of it the blessing that maketh rich, and addeth no sor-
row. ' '

Many of the rich men in New York to-day are as dis-
tinguished for their piety as for their wealth. They
have proved that godliness is profitable ; that it has the
promise of both worlds. " How can I make the most
of myself ?" — this is a fair question for any one to ask.
We travel this road but once. If at the close of life we
are compelled to write over that life " failure," the sad
record must remain forever ; we have no second chance.

52 CHRIST, AND HIM CRLCIFIED.

The Cliristian's answer is the true one. If there were
no future life it would pay to be a Christian. He has
the highest joys even here, and the brightest hopes which
the future world can give him ; and in the world to
come he has a crown, and a throne, and bliss which can
neither be expressed nor conceived. Who would not be
a Christian i Many of the merchant princes of j^ew
York are kings and priests in the sight of God. To the
industry, the good associations, the purity of life, and
the integrity of purpose, born of their faith in Christ,
are they largely indebted for their places of prominence
and power. To such men as these New York owes her
mercantile enterprise, her princely wealth, and her hon-
ored name. Look at the nations of the world ! To-day
America and Britain march side by side to the high
places of the earth. These English-speaking and Prot-
estant nations rule the world to-day. The mercantile
enterprise and progressive civilization of the world obey
their voice and follow their steps. Wherever they tread,
the plants of ignorance and superstition die, and the
flowers of liberty and religion bloom. The world to-day
is at their feet, because they to-day, as nations, are at
the feet of Jesus. Thus it will ever be true that fervor
in Christian spirit, and success in mercantile enterprise,
will go side by side. This is true of individuals and of
nations. If Christ be in a man's heart, industry will be
in his hand, and in the end success will crown the labor
of his life.

This fervor of spirit is needful to the highest success
in Christian work. If it be wanting, that success will
be wanting also. Its possession gives many a man irre-
sistible power, its absence robs some men of nearly all
power. This all-consuming zeal was an element of
Christ's influence. Ilis mother and His brethren could

ZEALOUS SERVKJK FOR GOD. 53

not understand Ilini ; the zeal of God's house had eaten
Ilini np. We have often been reminded that Crannier
and Ridley were much more learned scholars than was
Llshoi) Latimer. lie did not dare trust himself to quote
from the " Fatliers" as did they ; but he knew his Bible,
and a flaming zeal marked his preaching. This brave
man has, perhaps, made a more lasting impression on liis
nation than any other English reformer. Bishop Kyle,
himself a fine example of fervor of spirit, tells us that
although Baxter was not equal to some of his contem-
poraries in intellectual gifts, yet few men exercised so
great an influence on his generation as did he, because
of his fiery zeal. This remark he also applies to White-
field and Wesley. They were inferior in mental attain-
ments to Bishops Butler and Watson ; but they produced
effects on the people which fifty Butlers and Watsmis
would probably never have produced. They saved, he
says, the Church of England from ruin, and their zeal
was the secret of their power. What a power Christians
would be in the world if each one could honestly voice
this wish of Brainerd, '^ Oh, that I was a flaming fire in
the hands of my God 1" Dr. Mason said that Dr. Chal-
mers's power lay in his "blood earnestness." New
York churches, in pulpit and pew, need this fervent
spirit to-day. This alone will melt the icebergs, and
burn up the " wood, hay, and stubble" in our churches.
In many of our churches young men from the country,
with hearts glowing with Christian love, are received
coldly ; they are chilled, and soon they are lost to activity
and joy in the Christian life, and perhaps to that life en-
tirely. Would to God that we believed in every drop
of our blood the solemn truths of God's Word ! Oh for
quenchless love, glowing enthusiasm, and fiery zeal !
Men are about us on every side who are strangers to

54 CHRI8T, AND HIM CRrCIFIED.

God's grace. They are on the road to the judgment-
seat of Christ and are without God and witliout hope !
While we are " not slothful in business,'' let us see to it
that we are also " fervent in spirit."

SERVING- THE LORD.

3. The last element in this direction to Christians is
"serving the Lord." "We adopt the accepted reading
and retain the word Lord. This latter part of the direc-
tion gives unit}', beauty, and sanctity to the entire ex-
hortation. Our diligence in duty and our fervor in spirit,
must be governed by a zealous desire to serve Christ.
This must be the lofty motive whence all forms of activ-
ity proceed. We are in constant danger of neglecting
this motive. Activity in business is likely to take our
affections from God. It is of the utmost importance,
therefore, that we engage in our so-called secular duties
in a religious spirit. Every duty should be begun, con-
tinued, and ended with reference to the will of God.
We are constantly in danger of separating too widely
between what we call secular and sacred things ; we too
often put asunder what God has joined together. Ac-
cording to this creed, religion is the business of minis-
ters, and business is the religion of all other men. Re-
ligion is very well for sanctuaries and Sabbaths ; but it
is not suited to the activities of business and the enjoy-
ments of social life. With the locking up of the church,
and the laying aside of Sunday garments, the duties of
religion are also too often locked up, and its responsibil-
ities are laid aside. This is all very bad. It degrades
business ; it dishonors religion. Some of us remember
how earnestly President Anderson used to emphasize the
duty and glory of serving God in the common duties of
daily life. This is the thought of this whole text. It is

ZEALOUS SERVICE FOR GOD. 55

possible to be diligent in duty, and yet to serve God.
Again and again tlie apostle expresses this thought ; he
says : " Servants, be obedient to your own masters, as
unto Christ ; not with eye service as men-pleasers, but
servants of Christ, doing the will of God." Here he
gives us the loftiest motive for the performance of the
lowliest duties. Again he says : '^ Whatsoever you do,
in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ." Elsewhere we are exliorted that, whether we
eat or drink, or whatsoever we do, all is to be done to
the glor}^ of God. This motive gives dignity and glory
to the humblest duty of the humblest child of God ; it
crowns with unfading honor the labors of every toiler in
the Lord's vineyard. The needle of Dorcas wrought for
her an inscription, though not in brass or marble, but
with thread on garments for the poor, yet one more du-
rable than either ])rass or marble. Her eulogy will be
read when the victories of Roman arms and the glories
of Grecian arts are forgotten. Her needle served God
as truly as does the pen of the recording angel. The
broom of the domestic servant may be as truly used for
God as was the sceptre of David or Solomon. You may
have the humblest home in social life, and it may yet be
more resplendent with the glory of an indwelling Christ
than was the temple in all its grandeur. The hod-car-
rier's ladder may be trodden by angels' feet, as truly as
was the ladder which united heaven and earth in the
vision of Jacob, and the hod itself may be radiant with
the glory of the Lord. You may be just as much called
to your work as the preacher of the Gospel is to his. If
you are earnestly engaged in an honorable calling for the
glory of God, you as truly serve Him in that calling as
the most successful preacher of the Word. As students,
this thought will give direction to your studies, as busi-

56 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

ness men, it will give inspiration to your pursuits, as
wives and mothers, it will give glory to the daily routine
of hfe, and as employes in any capacity, it will make
your service as not unto men, but as unto Christ.

Let us not think that we nmst do some great thing, as
we call it, to honor God ; let the little things of life be
done with a great motive, and God will be honored. It
is just as much the duty of some men to make money,
as it is the duty of other men to preach. They ought,
therefore, to make money for God ; and they ought to
feel that they do it to "serve the Lord Christ." No
man in health has a right to give up business ; he may
have a competency, but tlie Lord's cause needs and de-
mands all that he can make and bestow. But is it pos-
sible for the merchant, the doctor, the lawyer, and the
preacher to have distinctly before his mind at every
moment this exalted motive ? Perhaps not. I start for
Boston, the railway train winds and turns ; at some par-
ticular moment I seem to be going in the contrary direc-
tion, but I know that this is the Boston train, and am
sure that it will reach that city. So let a man know, in
the very bottom of his soul, that the dominant purpose,
the controlling motive of his life is to glorify God, then
let him throw himself with the utmost enthusiasm into
his work, and he will not fail of glorifying God in all his
undertakings. We have lost much in our daily duties
by not carrying into them this religious spirit. My Bible
teaches me that every obligation which rests upon a min-
ister to glorify God, rests equally upon every member of
the Church. This spirit ought to characterize us in all
our daties as citizens. Men say, we do not want politics
in religion ; it is very certain, at least, that we need
more religion in politics. I do not mean to advocate sec-
tarianism at the polls ; but that question has been thrust

ZEALOUS SERVICE FOR GOD. 67

upon US. The willing tools of an unscrupulous liierarcliy
are asking our support for a man nominated to the high-
est oliice in our noble city ; our public schools, and other
risrhts, are in dauirer. Silence in such a case is not
golden. Here and now I utter my emphatic protest.
The riglit of suffrage is a great privilege ; you ought to
exercise it in the spirit of prayer and for the glory of
God. A sublime sight will greet us next Tuesday, when
silently a nation records its will at the ballot-box. You
ought to march to that box with the same religious spirit
as marks the performance of the most sacred duty in the
house of God. This is not to degrade religion, but to
apply religion, and to glorify by its presence every duty
of life. If our work be done in this spirit the workman's
apron may be as holy as the bishop's robe, and every
hearth may be an altar to God, every house a house of
God, and every table a table of the Lord. The religion
which does not sweep through, control, and glorify every
duty in life, is a religion not w^orth having. It should
manifest irs powder in the marts of trade as truly as in
the sanctuary of God — making better employers and em-
ployes, better husbands and wives, better parents and
children — thus making earth a foretaste of heaven. 1
love to look at old Trinity as she stands in majestic si-
lence, amid the rush and roar of Broadway and Wall
Street, pointing with her stony finger to the skies.
Every business house and every home should teach the
same lesson. Quaintly and truly has it been said :

" In laborer's ballad oft more piety

God finds, than in Te Deum's melody,"

Poor, indeed, is that man wdio lives for this world alone.
He forgets that although he may gain the whole world,
if he lose his soul, he makes an infinitely bad bargain.

58 CHRIST, AXD HIM CRUCIFIED.

To-day I urge upon you who are Christians, to make the
text of this morning the motto for life ; let none surpass
you in diligence in business ; show to the world that a
Christian can stand in the forefront in every noble en-
deavor. But, above all, let all your undertakings be
conducted with a single eye to the glory of God. I urge
those of you who are not Christians, first to give your
hearts in joyful obedience to Christ as your personal
Saviour ; then live for Him whom you have thus made
your Prophet, Priest, and King ; and you will sweetly
realize how blessed it is to be " ^ot slothful in business ;
fervent in spirit ; serving the Lord."

IT.

THE SEVEN '^ OVERCOMETHS."

Part I.
" He that overcometh shall inherit all things." — Rev. 21 : 7.

Having discussed, in expository lectures on consecu-
tive Sunday evenings, the letters to tlie seven Asian
cliurclies, this discourse, and the one which is to follow it,
will he given as the conclusion of the series.

All who have given any considerahle attention to the
letters to the seven churches in Asia are familiar with that
method of interpretation, called by Professor Plamptre
and others the ^' histori co-prophetic." According to this
view these are not simply seven epistles of correction and
instruction ; they are that, but they are vastly more.
In the view of these interpreters, they give us a pro-
phetic outline of the history of the Church from Christ's
departure until His return. This portion of time is
divided into seven successive periods, each letter giving
the characteristics of one period. Many pious and learned
men have held these views. It does not come within
the range of our present purpose to trace the growth, or
to name the authors of these views, nor to discuss the
views themselves at length.

We may, however, frankly acknowledge that in these
letters there are many deep and mysterious truths.
While they were actual letters to historical churches,
and perfectly adapted to the needs of those churches,

GO CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

they also contain trntlis for all cliurches in all countries
and in all ages. In a very real sense tliese seven churches
represented the churches of all lands and times. If we
look closely at the circumstances and conditions of these
churches, we shall be surprised to find how exactly they
will be found to represent the churches in our own day.
But this periodic scheme of interpretation is altogether
unsatisfactory. It often becomes artificial, arbitrary,
and contradictory. No historic key will exactly fit the
prophetic wards. The facts of no period fully dove-tail
into the prophecies supposed to refer to that period. In
these attempts men have wasted time and learning which
might better have been given to more practical religious
ends. To make Scripture mean less than God meant by
it is bad ; to make it mean more is possibly worse. Both
are dangerous methods of interpretation. An interpre-
tation which puts into Scripture what God did not intend
is not exegesis, but " eisegesis ;" it is not getting out
God's thought, but putting in man's wish. All my
habits of thought and methods of study lead me to shrink
from doubtful interpretations of Scripture. Fanciful
interpretations have done great harm. Sceptics and op-
posers of every grade attack, and, perchance, demolish
these, and in so doing they think they have refuted
God's truth. They have only destroyed the whims of
men. God's Word shall stand forever. It is glorious
to stand on the everlasting rock of God's truth. When
a man is simply the voice which utters the thoughts of
the eternal God, his words become authoritative as God's
truth itself ; they are God's truth.

In studying tliese epistles we have been impressed at
every point with the fact that they are epistles directly
from the Lord Jesus. AVe have not simply the thought
of Christ suggested to John, but we have the very words

THE SEVEN '^ OVERCOMETIIS. " 61

of Jesus dictated to John. This fact is deeply instruc-
tive in tlie light of the freqnent references to the words
of the Master as spoken by Ilini when on earth. He
speaks the same language still. In the last three epistles
there are many references to the Gospels ; and it is espe-
cially remarkable that for the most part they are to the
first three Gospels rather than to the last. Christ is still
the same Saviour as when lie walked and talked with
men on earth. This thought has given me much spirit-
ual comfort in the study of this close and searching por-
tion of God's Word. Here we sit, like Mary, at Jesus'
feet. John was not ITis inspired penman ; he was His
inspired pen. We have not the words of even the in-
spired John ; we have the words of the divine Jesus.

Having gone through on successive Sunday evenings
with the discussion of these seven wonderful letters in
the spirit thus indicated, we are to-night to notice the
order in which the promises of these seven epistles follow
one another. That there is a well-marked order no
thoughtful student can fail to notice. This order rises
by gradual steps from the beginning of the kingdom on
earth to its grand consummation in heaven.

THE EPHESIAN " OVERCOMETH. "

1. The first promise gives an assurance of life. This
is found in the letter to the angel or bishop of the Church
of Ephesns. '' To him that overcometh will I give to
eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the para-
dise of God " (Rev. 2 : 7). This promise is to him who
gains the victory over self and sin, over the world and
the devil. The Christian's life is no holiday encounter ;
it is a determined warfare with a fierce and unrelenting
foe. It begins in grace ; it ends in glory, but there is
often a mighty struggle all the way between. In this

62 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

conflict many fall, but those who win the victory shall
be at last crowned moi-e than conquerors. The first prom-
ise rightly comes hrst. The harmony and beauty of the
series would be disturbed or destroyed if this prom-
ise did not come here. Look at it. This is a promise
•:)f life. It must come first. What would any promise
be without life ? This is the basis, the substratum, the
necessary condition of all the others. The first is the
foundation of all the promises which follow ; the last is
the completion, the crown, the glory of all which pre-
cede. This promise carries us back — as so many of
John's writings do — at once to the opening chapters of
Genesis. There we had a short account of this tree ;
now it appears again before the record closes forever.
Here the victor is promised admittance into heaven, and
lieaven is represented as Paradise ; here he is assured of
sharing the joys of heaven, and they are represented as
the fruits of the tree of life of which he should partake.
The history of the race is inseparably connected with
three gardens — Eden, Gethsemane, Paradise. In the
first man sinned ; from it he was driven. In the second
Christ, the God-man, suffered and died for man's sin,
making redemption possible for all and certain to be-
lievers. The third is the eternal home of the redeemed.
Man is now reintroduced to Eden ; the fruit of the tree
of life becomes accessible and available. The perpetuity
of life is as certain as if man had partaken of the tree of
life in Eden. The life which this tree gives — as we see
from other parts of this book — is a healing life ; it is
never failing, eternal. This tree does not wait on the
seasons, but bears its fruit at all times. Heaven is an
eternal summer. Its leaves are for the healino; of the
nations. They counteract the deadly working of the
tree of sin. The victors are to eat of this tree. The

THE SEVEN ^' OVEKCOM ETHS. " 63

saints are to hold communion with Christ, lie then, as
now, will be to them the source of light and love.

This tree, we observe, is in the midst of the Paradise
of God. Paradise is a word of Oriental derivation. In
ibstantially the same form it is found in several Eastern
Mgnages. Perhaps it is more especially a Persian word.
It is said that Xenophon naturalized it in Greek. It
meant in the Scriptures at first any garden of delight,
then the garden of Eden, then the resting-place of souls,
and iinally the highest heaven — the third heaven. By it
Xenophon meant the pleasure gardens of Persia ; but re-
ligion took up the word, filling it with its glory and ex-
alting it into nobler meanings. The use of the word
paradise is suggestive. Once before, and only once, so
far as we know, did John hear that word from the lips
of his Lord. Why was it used then ? Why was it not
often used ? Is there any connection between its use
then and now ? These questions may 'well detain us for
a little. In popular language we know the word stood
for all that is fair and beautiful — a garden of delights
^ ornamented with stately trees, watered by limpid streams,
and cooled by gentle zephyrs. To convey to the robber
on the cross some conception of the glory of heaven that
word was used. But in addressing His disciples the
great Teacher did not use this word. He wished to lead
them to spiritual conceptions of the glory of His king-
dom ; they were to learn that His blessed presence was
heaven. They needed to the very last to be weaned
from their conceptions of a kingdom with its throne in
Jerusalem, a kingdom in which they should be prime
ministers^ and other great officers of state. Far other-
wise was it with that wretched outlaw on the cross ; his
untutored mind needed some picture of sensuous delight.
Christ met him where He could help him ; wisely and

G4 CHRIST, AND IIIM CRUCIFIED.

p^racioiisly Cliiist stooped to lift up tliis ignorant seeker.
To liiiii tlie promise is, " To-day siialt tliou be with Me
in Paradise." The years pass ; but this word is not
again found in Scripture. Now to John it is again
spoken. Spoken once on tlie cross to a l>abe in Christ,
it is now spoken from tlie throne to the ripest, noblest,
and divinest man on the earth. The loftiest souls are
the lowliest ; the sublimest are the simplest. Extremes
evermore m(;et. The language suited to children is the
language best suited to souls whose ripened faculties give
them the simplicity of children. Half-developed men
may not use this lofty and lowly s])eecli. Still is it true
that Christi;ins of the most advanced culture and piety —
men like Payson, Putherford, and Judson — will find the
glowing imagery of Scripture the best form of language
to express their glorious hopes. We still speak of
gates of pearl, and streets and harps of gold. Cul-
ture ouglit to simplify, lie is only half-educated
who cannot talk to little children and to ignorant
men. The object of learning is to make difficult things
plain. To John on the summit of Christian experience
the Master could talk as lie did to the ignorant robber
on the cross.

It is also instructive to notice the correspondence which
there is between the nature of the faithfulness displayed
and the character of the promise given. They had ab-
stained from idols' food ; they shall eat of angels' food.
They had denied themselves the sinful indulgence of the
world ; they shall roam at will through the paradise of
God. This same law is illustrated throughout these let-
ters. It runs all through God's kingdom. They who
deny Christ shall be denied by Christ ; they who confess
Christ shall l)e confessed by Christ. This is a retributive
law ; it is shame for shame ; it is confession for confes-

THE SEVEN ** OVERCOMETHS." 65

sion, and denial for denial. This is a solemn law. To
it we must all conform.

The meaning, then, of this first promise is that the
Saviour would welcome the victor to a world of joy ; Ho
would permit him to eat of immortal fruit, and to dwell
in an abode of bliss. In the first Eden w^e had " Para-
dise Lost ;" in this we have " Paradise Regained." All
glory be to God for His matchless grace in making this
bliss possible, and in giving the victor through Christ the
right to the '' tree of life !^'

THE SMYRXAX " OVERCOMETII. "

2. This second promise is to the victor in the Church
at Smyrna. In the promise before us, the promise to a
poor and suffering church, we have advanced a step. It
is charming to notice the reality of this progress. In a
general way there was a promise of a crown of life to
him who was faithful unto death. This somewhat antici-
pates the other promise ; but the one wln'ch comes in the
usual order is, '^ He that overcomcth shall not be hurt of
the second death" (Rev. 2 : 11). In the preceding we
had the promise of life ; here, tlte perpetuitij of that life
is promised. There Avas a paradise once before; in it
were innocence and joy. But sin entered ; deatli came
apace. Shall it be so again ? AVho can tell ? Shall the
trail of the serpent be again over Eden's fair flowers?
The very thought destroys all hope and joy. A higher
promise than the first one is needed ; a higher is given.
The paradise which shall be a true home for our souls
must be beyond the reacli of sin and death. We must
be assured ; we are so assured.

To no one of the race has God given the promise that
he shall escape death ; to only two of the race has it ever
been granted to enter glury except by going througli the

66 CHRIST, AXD HIM CRUCIFIED.

gates of the grave. To be bora is to die ; not to be born
again is to die the second death. The second death lies
right in yonr path ; it is your due ; it is the wages of
sin. To the Christian there is no second death ; for him
death— in its sadder sense — has died. This thouocht gives
joy. It makes us breathe even now the air of a country
which knows no death ; we feel the exaltation of these
deep inspirations. The unsaved have death in life ; the
redeemed have life in death. These are solemn realities.
Montgomery's words are true :

" 'Tis not the whole of life to live,
Nor all of death to die."

The phrase *' second death" is a startling one. In all
the Gospels you do not meet the word ; nor in any part
of the Bible except in this book do you meet it. It had
not yet become a common phrase in the Church ; still,
we may be sure that its thought was not unknown to the
church at Smyrna. The life of the body is not its true
life, so its death is not truly death. True, the phrase
was not on Christ's lips during His earthly teaching ;
but the awful fact of the second death He clearly taught.
Men were taught not to fear those who could kill only
the body ; they were to fear Him who could destroy both
body and soul in hell. Again and again did Christ ex-
press this terrible thought. By anticipation it is a rebuke
to the materialism of this day, which would make phys-
ical death the end-all oi life. Later in the Book of Rev-
elation this " second death" is made identical with the
*' lake of lire." There is a life beyond this life ; there
is a death beyond this first death. Dean Trench quotes
what he calls " the fearful gloss of Augustine on these
words," "Vita damnatorum mors est." These words
are sadly true — the life of the damned is death. Believe

THE SEVEN " OVERCOMETHS. " 67

me, tills second deatli liurts. As tlie first death cuts off
from natural life, so the second severs from eternal life ;
as death is the most fearful thing we know, so that lan-
guage is used to describe the unknown terrors of that
awful thing called "the second death." Three times
elsewhere is the fearful phrase used by John in this
book. Again Montgomery's solemn words are true :

" Beyond this vale of tears,
There is a life above,
Unmeasured by the flight of years ;
And all that life is love.

** There is a death whose pang
Outlasts the fleeting breath :
O, what eternal terrors hang
Around the second death !"

To the faithful Christian there is a crown of life. God
might have so ordered it that Christians could go to
glory without entering the tomb, but He sees it better
that they should sleep there for a time. Yet the glorious
promise of life everlasting cheers them in the dark val-
ley ; it enables them now to bear the ills of life and to
look forward with calmness to death. A crown of
righteousness, a crown of glory, a crown of life awaits
them. They shall wear the garland of victory and the
diadem of royalty forever in the presence of their glori-
fied Lord. Oh, escape this second death ! Oh, win and
wear this crown of life !

THE PERGAMENE ^ ' OVERCOMETH. "

3. In the last we saw that this heavenly life is to be
perpetual ; in this we see what is its sustenance. This
is found in the letter to Pergamos. '' To him that over-
comcth will 1 give to eat of the hidden manna, and I

G8 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name
written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth
it " (Rev. 2 : 17). This carries iis back to the Old Tes-
tament period in the history of the Church ; we are with
the people of God in the wilderness. There is here a
fine illustration of the harmony between the faithfulness
and the reward wliich characterizes these letters. As the
sin of the unfaithful led us back to the wilderness, so
the reward of the faithful leads us thither also. We get
a suggestive glimpse of both sides of that wilderness ex-
perience. Here, then, as above hinted, we have the
sustenance of this perpetual life. We need other than the
world's food even here. Its unlawful pleasures we set
aside ; what shall we have in return ? If we refuse to eat
meat sacrificed to this world's idols we shall partake of
this heavenly and hidden manna. The Christian has a
new nature ; he needs new food. Christ asks us to give
up sin, not that we may enjoy less, but more. The Chris-
tian has meat to eat that the world knows not of ; he has
delights of which the worldling cannot conceive. But
this promise like the others, refers especially to the future
life. God's people were supported in the desert ; they
ate of ''corn of heaven," of "angels' food." The
" hidden" may refer to the pot which was laid up before
the Ark of the Testimony. Christ is our hidden manna.
Hidden now, the time is coming when we shall see Him.
He is the true bread of heaven ; on Him we feed now ;
glorious antepasts have we of the future festal day. But
we shall see Him as He is ; we shall be made like Him.
This beautiful vision is partaking of the heavenly manna ;
His long-hidden glory shall then be revealed ; His own
prayer shall be answered, and His saints shall behold His
glory.

What is the white stone ? There is an almost endless

THE SEVEX '• OVERrOMF'TH.S." 09

variety of explanations for this language. There is a
fitness in the color. White is the livery of heaven. In
the symbolism of colors white has always been associated
with victory, purity, and joy. Some would refer the
alhision to the practice of the half-civilized tribes of
Thrace or Scythia, who noted days of festivity witli a
white, and days of calamity with a black stone. Still
others to the practice, w^hen taking the vote of an assem-
bly as to the guilt or innocence of an accused person, of
expressing belief in innocence with a white, and in guilt
with a black stone. This is not satisfactory. Tlie re-
deemed are more than acquitted ; they are justified.
They are more than '' not guilty ;" they are the glorified
sons and daughters of God. Still others refer it to the
stones used in reckoning, or to the custom of the Roman
emperors who, in their triumphal displays, threw among
the people tokens inscribed with the words, " corn,"
" clothing," etc. Those who found these tokens might
present them and receive whatever was thereon inscribed.
Archbishop Trench, following in the main, as he himself
says, the hint of the German commentator, Zullig, iden-
tifies the white stone with the Urim and Thummimof the
high-priest's vestments. Wliat the allusion is on which
the language is founded we cannot absolutely tell ; its
meaning, however, is clear. Christ is to give to each
one of the redeemed some token of His favor ; it is a
secret token ; its meaning is intelligible only to Him
who gives and to him who gets it. Between every soul
and Christ there are secrets never breathed into other
ears. Christ stands in special and unique relations to
each child of grace. He is all yours ; He is all mine.
You cannot have so much of Him that 1 shall have less.
The humblest flower can look up into the face of the
glorious sun and say, " Thou art all mine ;" the mighty

70 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

oak can say the same ; it can say no more. In my study
I get as much sunlight as if there was no other being in
the universe to enjoy a ray. It is all mine ; it is all
yours. So with the Sun of Righteousness. If you have
told a secret to the person by your side in your pew, you
and that person are separated from all others in this con-
gregation. You form a world of your own. Christ and
each soul sustain such a relationship.

According to the old Jewish legend the manna in the
wilderness tasted to each man like the food he most
relished ; to each soul Christ shall come with new
marvels, sweetness, and glory, and suited to the special
need of each soul. This white stone, with its secret
name, is a love-token between your Lord and your heart.
Oh matchless mystery of love ! Oh ineffable condescen-
sion of grace ! May we all eat of the hidden manna and
receive the white stone !

Y.

THE SEVEN '^OVERCOMETHS."
Part IT.

*' He that overcometh shall inherit all things." — Eev. 21 : 7.

Ix diviclins: our discussion of this siiminary of these
seven letters into two prirts, one of three and the other
of four letters, we are followinij^ tlie suggestive symbol-
ism of the number seven, and the division of that num-
ber common in the Scriptures.

THE THYATIRAN " OVERCOMETH."

4. We now come to the Tiiyatiran overcometh ; the
description is found, of course, in the letter to the
Thyatiran Church. Of the victor it is said, " To him
will I give power over the nations ; and he shall rule
them w^itli a rod of iron ; as the vessels of a potter shall
they be broken to shivers : . . . . And I will give him
the morning star" (Rev. 2 : 27, 28).

In the last church addressed we saw what would be the
sustenance of this heavenly life : here %oe see wliat its
einployment will he. We are still in the atmosphere and
territory of the Old Testament kingdom, but now we
are not in the migratory period. We are swept forward
to the grandeur and glory of David and Solomon. Truth
has triumphed over the nations ; from tliis point it is
easy to foresee the time v/hen He who is David's
Son and David's Lord shall have triumphed over all

72 CHRIST, AN-D HIM CRUCIFIED.

His foes. The Bible is full of promises of power and
royalty to the people of God. Becauee Christ reigns,
and is pleased to share His throne with them, they shall
reign also. The second psalm is the foundation on which
these promises rest. The Church is to rule the world,
and in a sense does, even now ; the saints are yet to
judge even angels. This is language of singular gran-
deur. Professor Plumptre (and the Greek words justify
him) finely explains this to be "the might of right,
not the right of might." He shall guide the nations —
shall do a shepherd's w^ork — that is the idea. The victor
shall share in the glory of the anointed King. He shall
rule them with a sceptre of iron, that they may learn to
bow to the sceptre of love. The power described is not
harsh and tyrannical, but firm and mighty. This exalta-
tion is future. When the Son of man shall come to
judge the world His saints shall share with Him in His
triumphs. Kinship in suffering gives kinship in sover-
eignty. Here, as in former cases, there is a charming
fitness in the nature of the promise. They were tempted
to submit to the customs of the heathen ; they were in
danger of denying their Lord as the Crucified before
these enemies. Those who overcame that temptation
are assured that they shall one day lord it for truth and
Christ over these heathen, that the power of these op-
posers should be crushed to pieces before the majesty of
their King. Why, then, deny Him to please them ?
The argument is plain ; the encouragement is glorious.

Another question comes in here, What is the morning
star 'i The literal star is Venus. This is the bright har-
binger of the day. It apjDcars as the darkness disappears,
it is the herald of the glorious sun. Many beautiful
parallels may be drawn between the morning star and
Jesus. It is not said that the victor would be made like

THE SEVEN" '^ OYEKCOMETHS. " 73

the morning star, but the promise is that the morning
star would be given him. Hence some have supposed
that some brilliant ornament, like the morning star,
should be given the redeemed, to sparkle as a gem in
their diadem. Bat there is a better explanation. The
tree of life and the manna refer to the Lord Himself,
lie Himself is the crowning blessing. His presence
makes heaven. Withont Him no place could be heaven ;
with Him any place is heaven. All that is loveliest in
creation is a faint reflection of His glory. In this same
book He claims the title of the '* bright and morning
star." The star was always the emblem of sovereignty.
Balaam, we read, saw ''a star coming out of Jacob."
A star led the Magi to Jesus' feet. They that turn
many to righteousness shall shine as the stars forever.
In the centre of that brilliant galaxy, giving them all
their lustre and glory, will be the Lord Jesus Himself.
He will impart to them His royalty. When He promises
to give His victorious followers the " morning star," He
promises to give them Himself in the undimmed splendor
of His glorious perfections. This is your prospect, oh
Christians. Act worthy of your high destiny. Trample
sin and Satan under your feet, and go forward with
Christ as the heirs of life and glory.

THE SARDIAX ^ ' OVERCOMETH. "

5. The promise to the angel of the Sardian Church is
the next in the regular order. We enter here upon a
new series ; the other is ended. Its consummation was
reached. We now enter a new atmosphere, a new ter-
ritory. This series is distinguished from the former in
several marked particulars : Our Lord again assumes a
title similar to the one with which the first series began.
He makes a second beginning ; all the promises now are

74 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

drawn from Kew Testament ratlier than Old Testament
imagery, and this in a marked manner ; in this series
there is a looking for and hastening toward the second
coming of onr Lord not observable in the first ; there is
also a geographical distinction ; bnt this is not in all cases
very distinctly marked. Dean Trench notices here " the
heptad falls, as is constantly the case, into two groups ;
either of three and four, as in the Lord's Prayer, or of
four and three, as here. And now the scenery, If I may
use the word, changes ; it is not any longer of earth, but
of heaven. The kingdom, not of David, but of David's
Son, has come ; all His foe s are under His feet ; His
Church is not any longer contemplated as militant, but
triumphant ; and in the succession of the last three prom-
ises we learn that even for the Church triumphant there
are steps and advances from glory to glory."

The promise to the victorious Christian here is that
'' he shall be clothed in white raiment ; and I will not
blot out his name out of the book of hfe, but will con-
fess his name before My Father, and before His angels"
(Rev. 3 : 5). In the preceding verse there is an antici-
pation of this promise, " And they shall walk with me
in white, for they are worthy." There were some even
in Sardis who had not defiled their garments ; they had
kept themselves "unspotted from the world." They
shall have garments of more perfect whiteness. They
have worn the garments of grace ; they shall wear the
garments of glory. There is doubtless a reference here
to the white robes put on at baptism at the beginning of
the Christian's walk in the Church below ; now as he
begins his life in the Church above, lie is also to walk in
white. The walking brings out the idea of the grace
and dignity of the garment as well as the life and activity
of the wearer. There is a worthiness which is here rec-

THE SEVEX '^ OVERCOMKTHS. " 75

Oirnized as belonij:ino: to men — a worthiness not of merit,
but of grace.

Many in the Sardian Church " had a name that they
lived, and yet were dead." But there were those who
had not only the name but the reality of life ; thcii
names were recorded in the Book of Life. It has been
suggested that this symbolism had its origin in the politi-
cal life of Egypt. It occurs first in the Bible in Exodus
32 : 32, '' Blot me, I pray thee, out of Thy book which
Thou hast written." Afterward it came to pass that one
who was convicted of treachery to the state had his name
struck from the list of citizens. He became '' a man
without a country." In the fierce malediction of some
psalms we hav^e the same sentiment expressed. Are
there names on the page of the Book of Life which may
be blotted out ? This language would seem at first
thought to imply as much. But, on the other side, is it
not true that all who are written in the Book of Life do
overcome ? None who have their names written fail in
the strife ; none have their names blotted out. This
promise includes us all who are loyal to the Lord. The
names of the faithful will be found there on that great
day when the books arc opened. Ko one has the power
to open the book but Christ ; we are safe in His hands.
The hour is comino^ when it will be a hi<j^her honor to
have our names there than if they were ranked among
the grandest names on the highest scroll of earthly fame.
Is your name there ? Is mine ? This is a solemn ques-
tion. Oh let us beseech Christ to write it there !

The further promise is that He will confess us before
His Father and His angels. This reminds us of Christ's
words when on earth. This is the heavenly seal to His
earthly words. This epistle especially abounds in sayings
which our Lord uttered on earth. This promise is the

76 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

echo of the words spoken years before, " Whosoever
therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I con-
fess also before My Father which is in heaven*' (Matt.
10 : 32). In Luke 12 : 8 there is an additional thought
— '* before the angels of God. " It is a precious thought
that Christ is still the same, His promises the same, His
love the same. Would you know the Christ of the throne ?
Behold the Christ of the cross. Does His heart still beat
in sympathy with the sorrowing ? Behold His compassion
for the widow of. Xain in her great sorrow. His heait
still throbs witli human sympathy. He carried a human
body up to the throne of His glory ; that body still bears
tlie marks of Calvary. You may trust Him. Have you
confessed Him on earth i Are you ashamed now of
Jesus ? He will then be ashamed of you. It is shame
for shame. Confess Him now, in deed as in word, as
your personal Saviour, and then amid tlie glories of the
heavenly kingdom He will confess you as His own when
He makes up His jewels.

TUE PniLADKLPniAX " OVERCOMETH. "

6. We now come to the promise made to the Phila-
delphian Church. The name and history of this church
must always have a peculiar interest for us. That ancient
city at the foot of Mount Tmolus, on the banks of the
little river Cogamus, has given its name to our own city
of "brotherly love," which William Penn founded on
the banks of the Delaware. The old city of Asia per-
petuates its name in this noble city of America.

" Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the
temple of My God ; and he shall go no more out ; and
I will write upon him the name of My God, and the
name of the city of My God, which is New Jerusalem,
which Cometh down out of heaven from My God ; and

THE SEVEN ** OVEKCOMETHS." 77

I will write upon him My new name" (Rqv. 3 : 12).
Here we rapidly advance ; we are going upward step by
step ; each " overcometh" finds us higher than the last.
This *' pillar" does not describe some eminent position
in the Church on earth ; the promise has reference to
the future. Still the earthly imagery is carried to the
heavenly temple. John was one of the three " who
seemed to be pillars" of the mother-church in Jerusalem,
as we see by Galatians 2 : 9. Xow the promise is that
as he had been a support to the Church on earth, so
every one who overcame should be in the temple in the
new Jerusalem. It is further added, '' He shall go no
more out. " Once in he is in forever. " Tlie doors are
shut" both to include and to exclude. On earth there is
the possibility of failure ; the most faithful may become
faithless ; the most devoted may become careless. The
old city of Philadelphia suffered greatly from earth-
quakes ; its temples were often shaken ; its pillars were
broken and removed ; new ones had to be supplied. It
is possible that this local peculiarity may have suggested
this striking contrast. Here is a temple which no earth-
quakes can shake ; a pillar which remains forever firm.
There is the most absolute certainty that the welfare of
the soul in heaven can never be endangered. We may
roam from world to world until all the marvels of crea-
tion shall be studied, but we shall never go out of this
glorious temple. Conflicts will then be over, doubts
will no more distress, fears no more annoy, sin no more
alarm. Blessed are they who live and die in the Lord !

The promise is greater still, '' And I will write upon
him the name of My God." On the columns of many
public buildings the names of distinguished men were
written. He who overcomes will be recognized forever
as belonging to God. Christ will write on the man the

78 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

name of Lis God. It will also be known that he be-
longs to the citj of God ; that he enjoys the rights and
rejoices in the privileges of that heavenly citizenship.
This is that heavenly city for which Abraham looked.
It goes by many names. The Greek and Latin poets of
the Church have vied with one another in chanting the
praises of this city. Our later hymn-writers vie in turn
with them in the same direction. They have spoken
glorious things of this city of God. We have also later
in this book a magnificent description, but we may be
sure that the half has not been told us. '^ Now we see
through a glass darkly." Here it is called the '' new"
Jerusalem. There are two words in Greek for new.
One expresses that which is new in the sense that it had
recently come into existence ; the other expresses that
which is new as opposed to the old and worn-out. The
latter is the word used here. The other Jerusalem is
soiled, stained, sinful ; this new Jerusalem is clean, pure,
and spotless.

Last and best of all, is the '' new name" of the Lord
Himself. Christ has many names. They are all un-
speakably precious to His people. Each name is a reve-
lation of some new element in His glorious character.
What is this new name ? Who can tell ? He has many
names in this Book ; among them we have " The Word
of God," '' King of kings, and Lord of lords," but these
are not the '' new name." The name is not merely one
that is new now, but one that will be new in the day of
final triumph. Another n^ysterious name will be re-
vealed ; other elements of character will be displayed,
and the redeemed will have fresh cause for gratitude and
joy. Professor Plumptre mentions a suggestion made
to him by Kev. W. Eeid, of Edinburgh, as to the new
name. Bv an inductive method of inquiry he finds that

THE SEVEN <^ OVERCOMETHS. " 79

this Book itself contains a title wliicli had not been used
before, strictly speaking, as a title of Christ. This word
is used in not less than twenty-eight passages in the Book
— '^the Lamb." He goes on to say that the name is
raised to a co-ordinate rank with God. " So used, the
name gathered up into itself the humiliation and the
glory, the sacrifice and the exaltation, the meekness and
the gentleness of Christ, and became in very deed a
name which is above every name." AYe do not know.
For the present this is an incommunicable name. No
man by searching can find out its mystery ; no man is
now capable of receiving it. The day is coming when
it shall be known. Glorious as are Christ's precious
names to us now, there will be a fuller revelation. Xow
we are the sons and daughters of God ; we know not
what we shall be, but we know that we shall see Him as
He is, and be like Him, and this beatific vision of our
Lord will voice itself in a name which shall express the
new glory of this new revelation of Jesus Christ. The
thought is entrancing. Oh Christian, how exalted are
your privileges, how glorious your hopes, and how inde-
scribable will be your realizations in the heavenly glory !
Blessed Jesus, give us foretastes now of the fulness which
awaits us !

eth." Christ always keeps the best wine for the last of
the feast. He has been preparing us for this glorious
climax. He swept us on to His temple in the last letter,
but now He carries us to His throne. '' To him that
overcometh I will grant to sit with Me in My throne,
even as I also overcame, and am set down with My
Father in His throne." This is the most glorious of all

80 CHRIBT, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

the promises, and it is to the victor ia the worst of all
the churches — the Laodicean. In this letter we have the
severest rebukes and the tenderest invitations ; unsparing
severity and yearning tenderness go side by side. This
combination is characteristic of John in his gospel, his
epistles, and in all the traditions ; it is equally character-
istic of Jesus. It must ever be so in great natures ; it
is not incompatible. Where love is strongest, reproof
must be severest. Christ wounds and heals ; so must
truth and love. To the worst Church is made the grand-
est promise ; there is hope in repentance even for the
worst. It is significant to have this glorious promise
come here, when we remember the character of this
Church.

Christ often expressed this thought during His early
life : " Father, I will that they also whom Thou hast
given Me, be with Me where I am." This promise is
wonderful ; it is high, we cannot attain unto it. Before
it reason staggers and imagination retires. This last
promise outstrips and overlaps them all. To the apostles
was the promise that they should sit on thrones, judging
the twelve tribes of Israel ; but here is a promise to the
humblest believer that he shall sit with Christ on His
throne. Oriental thrones were large ; they had room for
several. In Christ's heart there is room for every re-
turning sinner ; on Christ's throne there is room for
every redeemed sinner. This highest place is within
reach of the lowest child of Adam. Farther we cannot
go. More than this God could neither say nor do. The
series must end here. The Eternal has exhausted Him-
self. Could He do more ? Can you imagine anything
beyond ? Tell me, what more could God do for you ?
The thought of this glory is overwhelming. Oh to lie at
Jesus' feet would be heaven ; to see " the King in His

THE SEVEN '' OVERCOMETIIS. " 81

beauty," even at a great distance, would be heaven ; but
to sit on His tlirone — it is too much ; we have no thought
to conceive, far less language to express this indescrib-
able honor. Christ so loves us that He longs for us to
be by His side ; He longs to show us His glory. When
Pie was on earth men could not, would not, see His
glory. Oh Christ, Thou shalt see of the travail of Thy
soul, and Thou shalt be satisfied ; we shall see Thy glory,
and awake in Thy likeness, and we shall be satisfied.
^' Even so, come. Lord Jesus."

Remember now, as we close, that only " to him that
overcometh" are these promises applicable. Christ is
enthroned with the Father, because He overcame. We
are to be enthroned with Christ if we overcome. This
word '' overcome" has great prominence here. It has
all through John's writings. To " overcome' ' the wicked
one was to give his young men their proudest eulogy.
Again he says, " that which is born of God ' overcom-
eth ' the world ;" and " this is the victory that * over-
cometh ' the world, even our faith." You look in vain
in the writings of others for this word in this sense, and
with such frequency. Did I say it was John's word ?
Rather say it is Jesus' word. He now gave it to John ;
and it is now the echo of His own word when in the
flesh, " I have ^ overcome ' the world." Luther said it
was worth going from Rome to Jerusalem on one's knees
to find that text. These words have given strength and
courage to every Christian soldier ; Christ, the Captain
of our salvation, has overcome ; so may we. Satan is
more than a match for us ; he is less than a match for
Jesus. Men and wom.en, you can overcome ; you must
overcome. I summon you to the conflict ; T promise
you the victory in our victorious Christ. On, on, to the
fight. Once young men overcame the wicked one.

82 CHRIST, AXD IIIM CRUCIFIED.

Tliey stood where Adam fell. Let the zephyrs whisper
it ; let the tornadoes thunder it. Before this victory
the glories of Alexander and Caesar fade and disappear.
Enlist now under tlie hanner of Christ ; and then, at the
last, you and 1, having come off more than conquerors
through Him that loved us, shall — oh unspeakable bliss
—sit down with Christ on His throne !

VL
CHRIST A LIVING STONE.

*' To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of
men, but chosen of God, and i:)reciou3." — 1 Peter 2 : 4.

We have in this verse a striking description of our
adorable Redeemer. The term ^^ living stone" is appro-
priate to Christ, because He hath hfe in Himself, and
He is the Author of all life. He diffuses and sustains
life. He laid down His life, and He took it up again ;
no man had power to take it from Him. This preroga-
tive He received from His Father. He is the conqueror
of death. He not only gives resurrection and life ; He
is '^ the Resurrection and the Life."

CHRIST THE SURE FOUNDATION.

The first thought, then, suggested by this text is that
Christ, a ^Miving stone,'' is the foundation of all our
hopes for time and for eternity. Without Christ the
Bible is meaningless, without Christ the world is hope-
less, without Christ heaven is charmless. You might
as well have a summer without a gleam of light, without
the smell of flowers, or the song of a bird, as have a life
without Jesus Christ. You might as well have a year
without a summer, nothing but bleakness, barrenness,
and death, as to have a life without Jesus Christ. You
might as w^ell have a night without a morning, as to live
in this w^orld and die and be buried without Jesus Christ.
1 do not know what men do who have no Saviour ; I do

84 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

not know of what tliey speak, when they do not speak
of Christ ; I do not know of what they think if Christ
is not in all their thonghts. Christ is the glory of the
world ; He is the bliss of heaven. Christ is the Alpha
and Omega, in revelation, in creation, and in redemp-
tion. Christ spoke and there was light ; without Him
was not anything made that was made. Christ gives
significance, beauty, and glory to the entire Bible. We
are told of a shield that was made iti ancient times ; and
the maker so wrought his name into the substance of it,
that, in order to remove the name, the shield would have
to be destroyed. So the name of Christ is written into
the revelation of God, from the first majestic words of
Genesis, to the last love-notes of Revelation ; and in
order to remove Christ's name and glory, you must de-
stroy this revelation of God. Precisely so is it to the
reverent eye and ear in God's Book of creation. The
thoughtful student sees Christ's name, sees Christ's
handiwork all over the creation of God. He may not,
perhaps, go so far as did Hugh Miller, when he declared
that he found the cross iu the rock ; but he may find
the truth symbolized by that cross all over the works of
God's hand.

It has been said that " an undevout astronomer is
mad." We may say that all undevout scientists are
mad. There can be no true science which excludes Jesus
Christ. You might as well speak of the astronomy of
the world and leave out the sun, as speak of history, phi-
losophy, and creation, and leave out Jesus Christ. In
Christ and in Him alone, the real and the ideal meet.
There is a great difference between a man's actual and a
man's ideal. The ideal must be high, the real often
falls far below the ideal. As are a man's ideals, so, to a
great extent, shall the man be. He can never attain to

CHRIST A LTVIN^Pt STONE. 85

his ideal — it is up ainon<T: the stars ; and in liis highest
flight lie may only overtop the trees ; the ideal gleams
and glitters beyond. ]hit in Jesus Christ the real and
the ideal are one ; his ideal is realized. Christ was the
perfect, the symmetrical Man. The idea of His per-
sonality underlies all His revelation. We do not believe
simply in the salvation which He has made possible, but
in Him as the living, personal Saviour ; not simply in
the deliverance which He bestows, but in Himself as
the great and divine Deliverer ; not simply in a perfect
and purchased redemption, but in Him as the perfect
and purchasing Redeemer. This personal element in
Christ's religion is one element of its glory. He has
given us Himself. We do not pin our faith to a state-
ment of doctrine, but to the person wdio is beyond the
doctrine. Thus it comes to pass that Christ's personahty
lies beneath and is above and around the Word of God,
the Church of God, and our own individual experience.
Christ, then, is the true centre of redeemed humanity.
1^0 man may lay claim to the possession of the highest
attributes of manhood if he is not a believer in the Son
of God. No man may lay claim to the loftiest character-
istics of intellectual culture, if he is not a believer in
Jesus Christ. You ought to hide your head with shame,
if you turn your back on the Son of God. You, perhaps,
love beauty in art and music ; Christ is the incarnation
of beauty of character in all its symmetry and glory.
How, then, can yoii turn your back upon Jesus Christ ?
You — men and women — take the crown of exalted man-
hood and womanhood from your own brows, when you
refuse to bow head and heart at the pierced feet of the
Son of God. Christ is the foundation of all our hopes
for time and for eternity. Oh build on this divine
foundation ! All other foundations are sinking sand.

86 CHRIST, AXD HTM CRUCIFIED.

CHKIST REJECTED BY MANY.

The second truth taught us by this Scripture is that
men in general refuse, reject Jesus Christ, the Son of
God. The Apostle Peter was an honest man. He \Yas
familiar with the tendency of thought among the people
of whom himself was a part. He knevY the conclusions
reached by the great majority of his kinsmen according
to the flesh ; he feels bound, as an honest man, to de-
clare that men generally reject Jesus Christ. This is
clearly taught us in the text, " To whom coming, as unto
a living stone, disallowed indeed of men." This, I say,
he felt bound frankly to confess. He will avow the
shame and humiliation of the cross ; he will not only
avow it, but he will glory in it. Men despise and reject
Christ. This has been seen all along the line of revela-
tion. This was clearly foretold by Isaiah more than
seven hundred years before Christ was born. He tells
us that '' He is despised and rejected of men ; a Man of
sorrows, and acquainted with grief, and we hid, as it
were, our faces from Him. " He tells us also that
'' He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as
a root out of a dry ground;" that '* He hath no form
nor comeliness. " What Isaiah foretold was literally ful-
filled in the event of Christ's birth. He was rejected in
the inn ; He filled a cradle in the manger, but even then
the glory of His character was seen. A star marked a
new pathway in the sky to honor the infant Redeemer.
Shepherds, watching their flocks by night, heard the
sweetest music that earth has ever known, on the night
that Christ w^as born, when angels chanted His birth-
song ; and wise men from the East brought their treas-
ures of gold, frankincense, and myrrh and laid them at

CHRIST A LIVING STONE. 87

His feet. Herod felt his throne totter beneath liim.
This is marvellous !

Christ has always divided the world. He reveals char-
acter ; He makes men declare themselves ; He is the
touchstone that draws worth and develops worthlessness.
Come near to Christ, and if you have the elements of
nobility you will be drawn toward Him, if you are
worthless you will hate Him. There never was such a
power in this universe as Christ and His holy religion to
develop these contradictory elements in tlie human race.
He has gone through the world as an incarnate con-
science ; stillj He is ever drawing poor penitents to Him-
self, bringing them out of the lowest dregs of society.
Penitents who have tears to wash His feet, and hair to
wipe them — His benediction was upon such. Christ
aronsed the bitterest wrath of the Pharisees. He has
evoked the tenderest love and the bitterest hate. He
was no negative force in the world. "When Christ came
there were more active demons than ever before in the
world. We are not surprised to learn that legions were
cast out of a single man. And just in proportion as
Christ is prominent in a man's life shall all the elements
of evil be aroused to oppose His indwelling. This is in-
evitable. Men rejected Him at His birth ; men cleaved
to Him at His birth. He separated them. He drew
tliem with cords of love stronger than hooks of steel, or
drove them from Him because they would not endure
His purity and power. This was seen all through His
life. His entrance upon His public ministry was in per-
fect harmony with His entrance into the world. His
birth into the Church was in sympathy with His birth
in the manger. Even His family did not believe in
Him ; they found it hard to recognize in Him the Mes-
siah of prophecy.

88 CHRIST, AXD HI^^ rRUOIFIED.

And Christ is still dividing men into two classes. lie
has taught lis that '^he who is not with Me is against
Me." I could go through this audience and pick out
men and women who love Ilim more than all besides,
more than property, more than husband or wife, more
than mother, or father, or child, more than life itself.
I speak the truth ; there sit in these pews men and
women who would walk into yonder street and lay their
heads on the block for Jesus ; who would shuid by the
stake while fagot was lighting and flames were kindhng ;
men and women from whose lips would come songs of
joy and shouts of victory as they marched to the block
or the stake. Xot long ago two gentlemen were attend-
ing service as you are this morning. On their return
from church, one said to the other, " What do you think
of Him ?" The other anssvered, " I thought he was
pretty dull." Then the first said, " I was not speaking
of the preacher ; I was speaking of his and my Lord.
What did God say from the clouds regarding His Son ?
' Hear ye Hhn.'' I was speaking of Him. He is to me
the ' chiefest amono- ten thousand, the One altoo^ether
lovely.' What do you think of Him ?" That man was
obliged to reply : '^ 1 have never given serious thought
to the subject." He has his representatives in this audi-
ence. ' ' What think ye of Christ ? " This is the greatest
question of time or eternity. That man is standing on
holy ground who is brought face to face with Jesus
Christ and with his own duty regarding the Son of God.
If that duty has never been pressed upon you before, I
press it upon you this morning. What think you of
Christ ? I ask you, men ; I ask you, women. I put this
before you ; you must settle this question. What will you
do with Jesus this morning ?

Perhaps there are those who positively reject Him.

CHKTST A LIVIXG STOXE. 89

It seems incredible ! 'NVhj do you reject Christ ? AVhat
is there in Jesus tliat has led 3^011 to come to that con-
clusion ? How would you have Jesus differ in order that
you might accept Ilnn ? I think tliat is a fair question.
I have a right to put that question to you. Give God an
honest answer. Will you tell me one thing in the whole
life of Christ which makes Him obnoxious to your love
and faith ? Was He not holiness itself ? Was He not
the Champion of purity ? When all men dragged woman
in the dust, did not Christ stand for her ? Did He not
stand for humanity, freedom, and right ? Did He not
take children into His arms and bless them ? Is He not
the representative of all that is noblest in the mind and
the heart ? Has not the whole world put the crown of
perfect humanity upon the brow of the Son of Mary —
the Son of God ? I ask you for which of these things
do you condemn Jesus Christ ? Come to me at the close
of this service and tell me for which of these things you
condemn Jesus Christ. Tell me, if you can, what He
lacked in order to secure your faith — what He possessed
M^hich makes it impossible for you to believe in Him ?
I beseech you by all that is sacred and noble, be not of
those by whom '' He is disallowed."

A STARTLING COXTKAST.

Now, I ask you to observe, still further, that we have
brought out here a startling contrast — God's judgment
of Christ as compared with that of men. '' Disallowed,
indeed, of men, but chosen of God and precious,'' or
honorable, as we have it in the New Yersion. Here,
then, is God's judgment of Christ, as distinguished from
the decisions of men. God knew Him, and He knew God
as it is impossible for men to know Him ; and this is the
judgment which God here gives. It was quite a com-

90 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

mon thing for Peter to contrast the treatment which
Christ received from men with the treatment He received
from God. In one of his sermons in connection with
Pentecost, he says, " Whom ye crucified and slew ;
whom God raised from the dead." This statement here
is quite in harmony with the line of thought which the
apostle often pursues, bringing into striking contrast
God's treatment and man's. God chose Him from all
eternity : He was elect ; He was precious, honorable.
Oh, how God loved His only begotten Son ! I may not
enter upon this profound mystery ! I may not go into
that region, dark by excess of light ! But- I do know
that when John, who pillowed his head uj)on the bosom
of Jesus, speaks about the Son having dwelt in the bosom
of the Father, he meant much. There have been tender
relationships between God the Father and God the Son
from all eternity. It lias been supposed tliat in that
statement in Genesis where we have it, " Let us make
man," there was a conference on the part of the Triune
God, in reference to the creation of man. I would not
give the passage as proof of the Trinity, but only as a
hint. Similar hints are scattered all along the Old Testa-
ment narrative. I do not know that it is possible for
God to be, if He have not objects of love. Love must
have an opportunity of manifesting itself ; it must have
objects on which to rest. Well, I think you ought to
take Christ at God's estimate ; you ought to give Christ
the honor which God the Father gives Him. In the
eternal councils, God chose Him ; in the fulness of time
He came as a child, and then dwelt as a man among
men. He had come before ; there were temporary in-
carnations before, but this was the incarnation. The
human race was to be uplifted. It is a marvellous fact
that God tabernacled among men.

CHRIST A LIVING STONE. 91

God loved Him. Here comes in the mystery of the
cross — that God should have turned away His face. It
is certain that Christ never was so dear, and yet God
withdrew His face from Him. God hates sin. He
must show His displeasure and wrath wlierever sin i.s
found ; and so He hid His face from His beloved Son.
In that act I see more of the love of God than I can see
displayed elsewhere in all the revelation He has made.
"Why should you not give Him the honor which God
does ?

COMING TO CHRIST.

And now, will you let me close by simply saying, that in
order to receive the blessing of Christ's life, we must come
to Him. "To whom coming as unto a living stone. "
We see that '^ as unto" is in italics ; in the Revised
Version both words are omitted. It is not " as a living
stone," but this — " to whom coming, a living stone ;"
and in order that your feet may rest upon that stone,
you must place them there. Perhaps you simply resist
this power ; you have felt it drawing you. This sermon
is one of the influences which God gives to draw you to
His Son. You have been holding back ; you have been
stiff-necked, refusing to submit. God's promise includes
God's condition ; and if you will not keep the condition,
I say it reverently, you make it imjDossible for God to
keep the promise. Each includes the other. You shall
not have Christ for your foundation if you will not come.
Come this morning. Is there a follower of Christ in
this house who has wandered ? come back now. Per-
haps like Peter you have been tempted ; perhaps the
sneer of some sceptic, or the smile of some foolish
woman, has made you deny your Lord. Perhaps, in the
gray dawn of some chilly morning, you have gone out

92 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

denying Him, but weeping bitterly. Come back to Him
this morning, and He will graciously receive and abun-
dantly pardon you.

Perliaps there are some who have never come. You
must seek Jesus Christ to-day. Come to Him that you
may know Him as your personal Saviour. These sum-
mer congregations are to me a great joy and a great re-
sponsibility. I have the opportunity, in the Providence
of God, to speak to those I am not accustomed to ad-
dress ; you are here from many States of our Union.
This congregation now met, will never meet just the
same again. You come, you go. We shall meet at the
judgment-seat of Christ. Oh, if you reject Him now,
He must reject you then ! This may be the turning-
point. If you say, depart, now ; He must say, depart,
then. God forbid, for Jesus' sake.

VII.
NOT WEARY IN WELL-DOING.

" And let us not be weary in well-doing : for in due season we shall
reap, if we faint not." — Gal. G : 9.

Three different nations or tribes inhabited Galatia.
Their heathenism had been of a peculiarly gross and de-
basing kind. Tall and imposing in person, and impetu-
ous in their attacks, tliej were dangerous foes ; but they
formed a special attachment to the Apostle Paul, who
liad, as it would seem, first preached the Gospel to them.
Their first love to him and to the truth was ardent and
demonstrativ^e. They were ready, the apostle reminds
them, to pluck out their eyes and to give them to him,
if that were possible ; but he also, in a tone of mingled
authority and sorrow, expresses his wonder that they
were so soon drawn away to another gospel than that
which he had preached. They were warm-hearted but
fickle. They needed the word of rebuke and encourage-
ment implied in the text. In our need of this word we
are all Galatians. We run well for a season, and then
we hesitate, droop, and loiter. Let us take these instruc-
tive and encouraging words as our own to-day.

AN" INSPIRED STANDARD.

1. We have here an inspired standard for a noble life
— "well-doing." Many never attempt to come up to
this standard. Such a thought has never suggested itself
to their minds. There arc thousands in all our cities

04 CHRIST, AND niM crucified.

who were born in sinful and wretched homes, and wliose
companions and surroundings all tended to drag them
down ; they have scarcely known a pure thought, felt a
noble aspiration, or made even one effort in the direction
of well-doing. Such people are to be blamed ; they are
to be pitied also. But go higher up in the scale of life,
and you may find the same absence of such a standard.
There are homes in which wealth abounds, and culture
is possessed, and yet there is no thought of well-doing.
Self is supreme. As compared with that of the former
class, this is doubtless a refined selfishness ; but it is
nevertheless selfishness, and selfishness is the essence of
sin. Living for self is abominable idolatry. The man
who so lives is dead while he lives.

Ko doubt all of us fall far below this lofty standard
given by Paul. There never was but one life which
perfectly reached this standard. What a suggestive de-
scription we have cf Christ where it is said of Him " Who
went about doing good !" This simple and sublime de-
scription brings before us a picture of unceasing activity
and unchanging beiievolence. This element in Christ's
life gives Ilim power even to this hour. Good deeds
never die. Those who imitate the example of Christ in
well-doing may for a time be despised and rejected, but
eventually they will receive their reward. It is still true
that " the righteous shall be in everlasting remem-
brance." The names of the three noble Hebrews who
for truth and for God went into the fiercely-heated fur-
nace are written forever on the sacred page. The names
of " the most mighty men" who cast them into the fur-
nace were never recorded ; the furious flames ''slew"
their persons. " The memory of the just is blessed ;
but the name of the wicked shall rot."

Although we may not reach the high standard which

NOT WEARY IN WELL-DOING. 95

Paul gives lis, and wliicli Christ illustrated, it is well to
aim for it. Emerson, in a very Emersonian phrase,
says, '^ Young man, hitcli your wagon to a star." We
catch his meaning. It is good advice. In the Eoyal
Gallery at Dresden, that gallery so rich in the triumphs
of art, is the matchless Madonna of Eaphael. An entire
room is devoted to that wonderful creation of genius.
For hours students and lovers of art gaze upon it. They
depart but to return and gaze again on this master-piece.
]^o artist can hope to approach, far less to excel it ;
but it is a constant inspiration to every true student to
loftier endeavors. Xo sculptor expects to rival Prax-
iteles, bat even the traditions of the immortal Greek give
enthusiasm to his humblest imitator. Let us aim at the
stars, and we may hit the tree-tops. This endeavor
brings joy. We have too much exaggerated the trials
of the Christian life. We, as Christians, need give up
only what it is harmful to keep. We give up what the
sick man gives up when the flash of health again mantles
his cheek. We give up what the prisoner does when
the prison-door is thrown open, and he breathes again
the air of freedom. There is joy in this lofty aim.
The Christian looks to the end of his coarse for his full
reward, but he has a glorious reward in peace and love
even here. Many a transgressor finds his way through
sin to death and perdition tenfold harder than does the
Christian in striving to follow Christ in well-doing.
Life is short, but it determines our eternity. It projects
itself into an unending future. Short as is a cannon, its
direction when discharged determines the course of the
ball. Only 'Svell-doing " here receives the '' well-
done " there.

'* He lives who lives to God alone,
And all are dead beside."

CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

A DANGER SUGGESTED.

2. The apostle suggests a danger to wliicli we are ex-
posed— " Let lis not be weary in well-doing." We are
all liable to weariness in doing good. The intirmities of
the flesh often make us weary. We are in the body.
We are of the earth, earthy. We are subject to the
limitations and conditions of our earthly life. Here, as
everywhere, the example of Christ is helpful. He knows
what weariness means ; He has felt the same. No labor-
ing man was ever more exhausted than was Jesus when
He laid His head upon the pillow in the hinder part of
the ship and slept. A sleeping Christ ! How marvel-
lous the thouglit ! It had been a day of exciting and ex-
hausting toil with Jesus, whichever view of the incident,
and its place in the narrative, we may take. Jesus was
physically weary in well-doing ; and He slept, although
the spray may have dashed into His face and bedewed
His hair. He slept, although fear had unmanned the
disciples so long inured to the dangers of the lake. We
know that on another occasion Christ was " wearied with
His journey," and He " sat thus" — thus wearied — '' on
the well." Still, He embraced the opportunity to talk
to the sinful woman of Samaria of the water of life.
Yes, often we are weary in, but never of, the work to
which we are called.

The ingratitude of those we strive to help is another
cause of weariness. Ingratitude is as common as it is de-
testable. Almost all nations have voiced their sense of
the sin of ingratitude in striking proverbs : " Eat the
present, and break the dish,-' says the Arabic proverb.
The Spanish says, " Bring up a raven, and it will peck
out your eyes." '' Put a snake in your bosom, and
when it is warm it will sting you," says the English prov-

NOT WEAKY IN" WELL-DOIXQ. 97

erb. The world is uagratoful. It lives on God's
bounty, and 3^et refuses to own His power or to accept
His love. '' Wliere are the nine V asked Christ ; and
there is a tone of indescribable sadness in His question.
To do some men the favor they solicit is to make them
ever after your cold friends or your open enemies.
When love turns to hate, no hate is so bitter. It is said
that the man who severed Cicero's head from his body,
the leader of the assassins, was one whom Cicero's won-
derful eloquence had successfully defended, when on
trial for the murder of his father. We have all felt the
deadening influence of ingratitude. Our warm sym-
pathy has flowed out in w^ords and deeds of helpfulness,
and that sympathy has been so chilled by the ingratitude
and unworthiness of those we helped, that it has flowed
back to paralyze our hearts. But we must do good from
higher motives than to secure the gratitude of those bene-
fited. We must do it for its own sake and for Christ's
sake. He laid dow^n His life for us when we were un-
thankful. Thank God, there are some who are grateful.
We have seen the tear of gratitude tremble in the eye,
and when it was wiped away we have seen the light of
hope sparkle there. A word of kindness has banished
from some weary heart and sorrowful home weeks of
sadness, and has opened a future of hopefulness. Do
not become morose. Do not say that gratitude is a for-
gotten virtue. A cynic is almost as bad as an ingrate.
Indeed, cynicism and ingratitude are kin to each other.
In many cases your words and deeds of well-doing are
bearing precious fruit in the changed homes and the re-
deemed lives of men, women, and children, who shall
rise up to call you blessed.

Our apparent want of success is another cause for
weariness. There is so much to be done, that we are

98 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

sometimes disposed to give up in despair. Where shall
Ave begin ? How can we do anything ? Much of the
labor which has been performed seems wasted. Tlien
there is so much opposition to contend against. Tliis
opposition often comes from those whom we wish to
benefit, to lift from sin to holiness and heaven. Some-
times it comes from cold-hearted Christians. It is so
easy to criticise ; so easy to charge tiiose who are willing
to work with being visionary, impracticable, fanaticah
It is so hard to help men who have no sense of their need
of our help. One cannot help sometimes remembering
our Lord's words about casting pearls before swine.
City authorities oppose you. They issued some time ago
their orders to muzzle dogs, and we were glad. They
still license saloons, and we are sorry ; for while the
rabid dog may occasionally destroy its man, the death-
dealing saloon destroys its thousands. What is to be
done with the great masses of the unchurched ? AVhat
can be done to prevent the shameful desecration of God's
holy day by the hundred thousand people who make up
the Sunday excursions ? And even of those who attend
tlie house of God, why is it that so few accept the offers
of the Gospel ? There are times when we cannot help
asking such questions. Then, again, many who appar-
ently have accepted Christ run well for a season, then
fall back in, or entirely out of the Christian race. You
have seen a man redeemed from his cups and other
vices. Prayers of gratitude for his deliverance were
offered ; songs of joy were sung. You have seen him
again in his place in business and society, his home a
paradise, his w^ife radiant with joj, and his cliildren
transformed almost beyond recognition. Your own
heart leaps for joy. You glory in the bliss of well-doing.
Earth is to you a foretaste of heaven. You almost envy

NOT WEARY IN WELL-DOING. 99

Christ, because it was always in His power to give joy
for sorrow, sight for blindness, health for sickness, life
for death. You have actually had a holy jealousy of
Christ's power. How glorious life is to you ! But one
day when you come home, this man's wife meets you.
Iler face is stained with tears, her eyes are red with
weeping, her heart is nearly broken with sorrow. Slie
does not speak. She need not. You know the story.
Yes, he has been drinking for a week. He is a demon.
To her and her children life seems hopeless, and death
would be welcome. Or, perhaps, it is a disobedient
son or an infatuated daughter you tried to save, and
with equally sad results. I am giving history, not
romance. Tell me, Christian worker, have you not
sometimes been so weary that you have thought, if you
have not said, *' It is enough^ O Lord. I give up, T will
never try again ?" !N^ot so fast, brother, sister ; be
patient. Have you done your duty ? Rest there.

AN ENCOURAGING PROMISE.

3. We have also in the text an encouraging promise.
But a condition is also suggested. We must not faint.
We must persevere to the end. There must be no re-
pining, no retreating, no fainting. We enlist for life,
for eternity, indeed. The dew of youth, the vigor of
manhood, and the wisdom of age must be consecrated 1;o
well-doing. It is '' to tliem who by patient continuance
in well-doing seek for glory, and honor, and immortal-
ity," that the promise of blessedness is given. Then let
us not forget that God must be the judge of the " due
time." We are often in a hurry ; God never is. Per-
haps the greatest miracle in Christ's life is that He should
wait thirty years before perfonning a miracle. He bided
His time. Undue haste pays the penaltv of speedy de-

100 CHRIST, AND HIAI CKUCIFIED.

cay. Did we know all tlie reasons as God knows them
we should always approve of His seeming delay. How
few converts, apparently, there were in Christ's personal
ministry ! but one sermon on the day of Pentecost brings
three thousand to Jesus' feet. Soon the number in-
creased so rapidly that Luke ceases to give us figures.
Carey and his companions must labor seven years before
the first Hindoo convert is baptized. Judson must toil
on until the churches grow disheartened, and everything
but his own faith and God's promise fails. In a single
recent year eighteen thousand are baptized in connection
with our Baptist work on these same foreign fields !
These things are not accidental. They have their rea-
sons. We cannot always trace the law. God can. Let
us do our duty, and leave the result with Him.

But complying with the conditions of God success is
certain. What is success ? Isot all which either the
world or the Church calls by that name. Much which
neither the world nor the Church so calls is success. We
remen:iber the oft-quoted incident at Waterloo. At the
crisis in the battle when all depended on the firmness of
the soldiers, messenger after messenger came into the
presence of the Duke of Wellington, urging that the
troops at an important point be withdrawn, as they must
soon yield before the terrible onsets of the French. The
only reply the duke returned was, " Stand firm." The
ofiicer remonstrated, " We shall all perish." Again the
iron-hearted duke said, " Stand firm." ^' You'll find
us there, " said the officer as he galloped away. Every
man, it is said, of that doomed brigade fell fighting at
his post. They did their duty. That is success. Going
up Fifth Avenue to the grounds of the new cathedral a
little time ago, we saw a workman carving part of a floral
design on stone, " Where is this stone to be put, and

NOT Wr.ARY IN' W KLL-DOI NO. U) I

what will be the design when complete?" "1 don't
know," said he ; '' my business is to transfer this pattern
to this stone ; the master-workman knows the rest." He
was doing good work. He did his duty. That was suc-
cess. To-day that stone adorns some lofty arch. The
parts are joined, a complete and beautiful whole is the
result. In one of our papers some chapters were pub-
lished some time ago of a history soon to be written,
entitled, '' The FaU of Slavery." Some parts of that
chapter are thrilling. Behold the aged Benjamin Lundy
travelling on foot, with his staff in hand, and his pack
on his back, through winter's winds and snow on his
journeys from Baltimore, Md., to Bennington, Yt. lie
goes to talk with tlie young and brave WilHam Lloyd
Garrison of the sin of slavery and the hope of freedom.
The winds which sweep the lofty ranges of the Green
Mountains come to these two men as the dirges of slavery's
*' Miserere ;" they go from them laden with the notes of
freedom's '* Te Deum." But what sowing of tears and
blood, before the sheaves of freedom are gathered ! Be-
hold Mr. Garrison dragged through the streets of Boston
with a rope about his neck. Could the prospects of
freedom be darker ? Surely he will faint with weari-
ness. But that man lived to see the last chain of the
last slave melted in the lircs of battle, and to hear the
winds which sweep over every mountain and valley of a
redeemed nation chanting liberty's jubilee. I have re-
ferred to the Duke of Wellington. It is a noticeable
fact that in his despatches, which fill twelve large vol-
umes, the word " glory" never appears ; not even after
his greatest victories, but always the word " duty,"
**duty." The word "glory" predominates in all of
Napoleon's despatches. This characteristic of ^Yelling-
ton is to be traced to the lesson he learned, as he himself

103 CHRIST, AXD HIM CRUCIFIED.

tells US, in youth from his catechism, the lesson " of
doing jour dutj^ in that station of life to which it shall
please God to call you." That is success. Reap that.
God will care for the other certain harvests.

To-day I summon you to duty. Through winter's
cold and summer's heat stand firm. Do your work.
Some will remain at home during the sunnner ; others
will he away. ^Yllerever you are be true to Christ.
Display the banner. Let ' ' well-doing' ' be your standard.
J^ever be weary, so as to neglect duty. Know that as
God's promise is sure, "We shall reap." Know that
'' He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious
seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing
his sheaves with hi

m

15

Weary one, the everlasting arm is about you. World-
lings may faint. Christians never. " Even the youths
shall faint and be Aveary, and the young men shall utterly
fall : but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their
strength ; they shall mount up with wings as eagles ;
they shall run, and not be weary ; and they shall walk, and
not faint."

VIU.
SAD SOWING-GLAD KEAPIT^G.

«'He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall
doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."
~PsA. 126 : 6.

Tins Psalm was doubtless composed witli reference to
the return from tlie Babylonish captivity. The first
group of colonists had returned. The permission to
return was so unexpected, and all the circumstances were
60 providential, that when they actually found them-
selves in the land of their hopes and prayers they were
like those that dreamed. It seemed too good to be true.
God had interposed in a marvellous way, and their high-
est hopes were more than realized. "With thoughts like
these the Psalm opens. But the Psalmist goes on, and
represents the returned colonists as oifering earnest prayer
for those left behind. As a matter of fact they came
back in various groups. Some came under Cyrus,^ some
under Darius, and still others under Xerxes and his suc-
cessors. As Perowne has observed, the first arrivals
were but as a trickling rill amid the desert wastes ; so
the prayer bursts from the Psalmist's lips that God would
send them back as mighty streams swollen by the winter
rains. During their absence the land was neglected. It
was overgrown with weeds, and the seed had not been
sown. Still, faith could overcome these difticidties. The
joy of harvest would more than repay the sorrow of sow-
ing. And so in the fifth verse of the Psalm he says,

104 CHRIST, AXD HTM CRUCIFIED.

*^ They that sow in tenrs shall reap in joy." The text is
just an expansion of the thought contained in the fifth
verse. In the text the singular is substituted for the
plural in order to make the individual sower more dis-
tinct. In presenting this subject we shall give two pic-
tures, which we shall entitle " The Outgoing Sower and
the Incoming Reaper."

1. First picture—" The Outgoing Sower." These
pictures are not given in the text simply in outline.
The Psalmist, with the pen of inspiration, has completely
filled in all their parts. Let us follow him in this in-
spired description. The first element of the description
is expressed in the words, "He that goetli forth."
There is here a literal, a verbal accuracy. We know that
in that ancient time and Oriental land the liarvest fields
were often at a great distance from the husbandman's
humble home. Sometimes he was obliged to go six or
eiglit miles distant in order to reach the ground wiiich
he cultivated. Large companies, for purposes of mutual
protection, went out in the early dawn from their homes
and returned again as the evening shades were falling.
Often these farmers were obliged to protect themselves
by deadly weapons as they went to or returned from
their fields. Something similar to this was seen in
Europe during the Middle Ages. It was literal truth,
then, in our Lord's parable when lie said, " Behold, a
sower went forth to sow. ' ^ Spiritually this is true always
and everywhere. The sincere sower of the good seed of
the kingdom must leave the ranks of ordinary church
members. It must be sadly admitted that the rank and
file of church workers do but little aggressive vv^ork for
the Master. The earnest seeker for souls must be will-
ing to step out from and far in advance of the line which
the average worker reaches. Take out of our very best

SAD SOWINfi — ULAI) TIKAPIXG. 105

clmrches a score or more of earnest workers, and little
seed would be sown and few harvests reaped. Every
man who has been conspicuoaslj successful for Christ
has been willing and even obliged to go forth and sow.
Often, too, such workers must find nev*^ fields of Chris-
tian enterprise. In doing this they may have to incur
the odium of indiiferent church mend)crs. When Carey,
our great Baptist missionary, arose from his shoemaker's
bench, inspired Vv'ith holy love and fired by Christian
zeal for the heathen, even so good a man as Dr. Ryland
could say to him, " Sit down, young man ; when God
intends to convert the lieathen He can do it without you
or me." Something of the same spirit manifests itself
on the part of extremely conservative men to-day.
Work in tents and halls has had to bear a secret dislike,
if not open opposition, from many who bear the Chris-
tian name. But men who know the constraining love of
Christ, and who feel the value of immortal souls, must
not fear the opposition. Conscious of the divine call
they must be willing to go forth and sow the precious
seed in the Master's name. If they feel that God is
with them, that God is sending them, they will not fear
opposition ; and they may be assured that they will yet
return with rejoicing, bringing their sheaves with them.
The next element in the picture is that the sower is
represented as weeping. The language here is very
strong. One commentator puts it in this form, ''may
indeed w^eep every step that he goes." It has also been
rendered, " takes no step of his way without weeping."
The double infinitive is employed " to mark the continu-
ance of the action." There is also a literal and verbal
accuracy in this strong language. Sometimes the scarcity
of the seed makes the sower well-nigh a weeper as he
scatters it in the furrow. The harvests of the previous

106 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

year liav^e been poor. By the exercise of great economy
the humble husbandman has enabled his family to subsist
through the year. What shall he now do ? Xot to sow
the seed is to have no bread for the coming year ; but to
sow it is like taking the bread out of his children's
mouths for the present year. This is the sower's trying
position. We know that sometimes the government has
been obliged to step in and furnish seed-corn, even as in
the days of Joseph in Egypt. In all of this there is
much to make sowing sad work. But, again, the ex-
treme danger to which the sower was exposed made his
labor one of sadness. As Dr. Thomson tells us in " The
Land and The Book," the sower was often obliged to
drop the plough and seize the sword. His fields, as we
have already seen, were far from his home, and so near
the lawless desert. As in Job's day, when the oxen were
ploughing and the asses feeding beside them, the Sabeans
came and took them all away, so often since fierce hordes
from the deserts have swept down upon the peaceful
husbandman, and robbed him of seed and implements,
sparing only his life. In all of this there was much to
make the work of sowing also a work of weeping.

But still again, the frequent fruitlessness of the labor
made it sad toil. The land had gone to weeds. The
ground was fallow. It was no easy task to break up this
stubborn soil. Their once fruitful land was barren, and
its cultivation was a Avork of the utmost toil. Their im-
plements were poor and inefficient ; their oxen were
small and weak, and their own skill very unlike that of
the farmer of modern days. For these and similar rea-
sons the literal sowing of the seed mio^ht be called a work
of weeping. The spiritual sower has also his times of
sadness. He is often saddefied because of the barrenness
and deadness of his own heart. When he remembers

SAD SOWING — GLAD IlEAPIXQ. 107

the matchless love of Christ for liim and others, when he
remembers tlie value of an immortal soul, wlien he looks
upon the insensibility of men without God and without
hope in the world, he may well weep day and night.
Often his prayer has been, '* Oh that my head were
waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that 1 might weep
day and night for the slain of the daughter of my peo-
ple !" He is also saddened because of the indifference
of many Christians about him. They bear the name of
Christ but fail to possess the spirit of Christ. " lie
went about doing good." They do not follow in His
footsteps. Weary with His journey, and oppressed by
the heat of the noonday sun. He is still able to sow the
precious seed at Jacob's well ; but many who now pro-
fess to be His followers grow weary in well-doing and
utterly abandon the task. The sower of the spiritual
seed is often saddened, too, because so much of it falls
in unfruitful soil. When he has sown it with prayers
and tears, and expects to reap a harvest of souls for the
glory of his Master, he discovers with unspeakable sad-
ness that some of it has fallen by the wayside, and the
fowls of the air have taken away the good seed ; while
Btill other seed has fallen into stony places, and by and
by the sun of persecution destroys the tender blade ;
wdiile other seed is choked by the cares of this world and
the deceitfulness of riches. These things sadden the
sower's heart. When one runs well for a season and
then falls out of the way, a sword pierces the sower's
heart.

There is, however, marvellous power in this element
of tenderness in seed-sowing. I have known farmers
who wished for a speedy growth, to steep the seed in
water before they put it into the ground. When sown
it was ready at once to sprout, because of this previous

108 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

preparation. When men can baptize the good seed of
the kingdom in their tears and prayers, they may ex-
pect soon to see it spring up and bring forth fruit, some
thirty, some sixty, and some an hundredfold. This was
an element of power in the life of the Lord Himself.
To what times do we look in Christ's life as occasions
which most powerfully move us ? Is it to the w^onderf nl
displays of His power when Pie hushed the raging storm,
and the wind ceased and the sea became a pavement of
adamant ? or shall we see Him in a still greater display of
His power ? The war in the human breast is wilder than
that which sweeps over the ocean's surface. Christ will
prove His power, not only over this war of the elements,
but He will bring peace to the raging storm in a human
soul. The man who had lived among the tombs, who
had made the way impassable, who had cat himself with
stones, who had broken chains as if they had been ropes
of sand, is seen clothed, sitting in his right mind at Jesus'
feet. These displays of power awaken our enthusiasm
and stir our tender emotions. But not here shall Christ
most move the world's heart. The tears of Jesus have
melted men's hearts through all the centuries. Three
times during His earthly life did He weep. The first
two instances are recorded in the gospels ; for the last
instance we must go to the letter to the Hebrews. The
iirst were tears of family friendsliip ; the second were
tears of patriotic fervor ; the last were tears of sacrificial
love. The first tears were a rill that flowed for an
afiiicted family, when Christ wept at the grave of Laza-
rus ; the second were a rivulet streaming forth for a
doomed nation, when He beheld Jerusalem and wept
over it ; the third were a mighty river that has swept
across the world, when He bowed in Gethsemane " with
strong crying and tears" for a world's woe. This ele-

SAD SOWIXG — GLAD KEAPIXG. 109

ment of tenderness gives power to every Christian effort
to-day. There is often more power in a warm grasp of
the hand, in the tremnloaa voice, and in tlie tearful eye,
tlian in tlie thunders of eloquence and the arguments of
logic. Just at this point many workers for Christ are
shorn of their power. They are stately and cold. They
lack the sympathy which is born of love for Christ and
for the souls of men. If we are to draw men with the
cords of a man, we must have the bands of true Christian
love. Oh, for that kindness which comes from com-
munion with Christ, and appreciation of the value and
loss of innnortal souls ! He who sows the precious seed
in this spirit shall reap the golden harvest. We remem-
ber an incident which illustrates this thought. An car-
nest Christian was very anxious for the conversion of a
sceptical blacksmith. He determined to visit him in his
shop ; he would fill his mouth with convincing argu-
ments and thus refute all the blacksmith's positions.
He came. His heart was overflowing witli love for his
neighbor's soul. He took him by the hand ; but his
emotions choked his utterance except to say, " I am
greatly concerned for your soul." He could say no
more. It was enough. The arrow went home. "Con-
cerned for my soul ; then I ought to be concerned,"
thoui>;ht the convicted sinner. Soon he was consultinoj
with his Christian wife ; soon he was journeying to his
friend's house a burdened and seeking sinner. That
niglit they knelt together at Jesus' feet, and the sceptic
found joy and peace in believing. He could not resist
his neighbor's loving solicitude. Love is the best logic.
It furnishes unanswerable arguments. Gentleness is
greatness ; meekness is mightiness. Oh for Christ's
tenderness !

Another element in this picture is that the sower goeth

110 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

forth bearing precious seed. The idea suggested by the
word '^ precious" is not found in the original word.
The seed is precious, however, both in its literal and
spiritual sense. Strictly speaking, it is a draught or a
drawing of seed that is here mentioned. It has sometimes
been called the "seed-basket." It is as much seed as
the sower can take in the vessel he carries, or in the folds
of the robe which he wears. In literal sowing often as
much depends upon the nature of the seed as tlie char-
acter of the soil. It is certainly not otherwise in spiritual
life. This seed is the Word ; this is the good seed of the
kingdom. Nothing but this good seed can save men.
The woman in the parable might have put something
else than leaven into the meal. It might have been a
nugget of gold ; it might have been a valuable diamond,
but it never would have leavened the meal. So here ;
whatever else men sow, if it be not this precious seed
there shall be no harvest of joy. All of us have listened
to sermons ten thousand of which would never convert
a soul. Had God converted souls under such preaching
it would be putting a premium on the preaching of error.
Many of us know preachers wlio, themselves, there is
reason to fear, do not know the power of God's grace.
They were set apart by their parents to preach the Gos-
pel, as other members of the family were set apart to
practise law or medicine, or to enter some line of busi-
ness. It was merely a profession. The case of such a
man comes to me as 1 speak. In Scotland his parents
designated him to tlie ministry in this spirit. For forty
years he preached in one pulpit. A revival would have
startled him and his people more than an earthquake.
Seldom, except when there were revivals in other
churches, were there additions to his church. He did
sow some seed, but it was so wrapped up in the cold

SAD SOWING — GLAD liEAI'lNG. Ill

formalities of lifeless dogmas that ca harvest could not be
expected, and certainly was not secured. We must know
Christ as our ])ersonal Saviour, as teachers in Sunday-
schools, as workers in missions, and as preacliers in the
pulpit. Our own hearts must glow with Cliristian love,
and out of the abundance of this ii-lowiuL'' heart our o-lad

CD i^j O

lips must speak. How can men tell others of Christ ex-
cept they know Ilim for themselves ? Surely if the blind
lead the blind both must fall into the ditch. We want
at this hour what a'Chinese convert told his missionary
that his people needed — " Men with hot hearts to tell us
of the love of Christ." A thought suggests itself here
which may possibly seem fanciful to some, and yet to
me it comes naturally out of the figure employed. The
drawing of the seed, as the Word implies, was as much
as the sower carried with him in his basket or robe, from
the seed-pile in the storehouse. Is it not true, spiritually,
that the sower can only sow what he carries with him in
his own brain, and in his own heart ? He cannot sow
the seed from the storehouse of God's Word except he
has first taken it into his own mind and heart. There
are truths which no man can understand except as he
has felt his way through them. He must by a happy
experience know something of the deep things of God's
Word before he can lead others into its profound depths.
There can be no power in merely mechanical or profes-
sional preaching, \vhether by pastor, teacher, or other
Christian worker. Only that which you can tell from
experience is really your owm of God's truth. May this
inspired picture of the sower live in our thoughts, and
be reproduced in our lives ! May each one of us go forth
weeping, bearing this precious and divine seed, sowing
it with faith and h.ope in the hearts of our fellow-men !
We need for the hio^hest success the " blood earnestness"'

112 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

born of intense conviction, and inspired by Christ's con-
straining love.

2. The second pietnre — " The Incoming Reaper."
We have here in the Hebrew a striking form of ex-
pression. It is the combination of the finite tense with
the infinitive ; it is difficult in our idiom to bring out the
exact thought. In some versions it is rendered, '^ Com-
ing, He shall come." This, however, Dr.' Alexander
sajs, '' conveys neither the peculiar form nor the precise
sense of the Hebrew phrase." Luther's repetition of
the finite tense, most scholars are agreed, gives us the
best approximation to the force of the original, " He
shall come. He shall come." The certainty of His com-
ing again is the thought ; this our common version, with
its " shall doubtless come again," clearly teaches. Tliis
is the first element in this second picture. The tearful
sower shall become the joyful reaper. Of this there can
be no doubt. There is a law of spiritual as truly as of
natural agriculture. No good word spoken for or of God
is spoken in vain. For the past few years I have preached
with far more certainty of a spiritual harvest than the
husbandman can have of a natural harvest when he casts
the seed into the ground. God's Word will not return
to Him void. This He has declared ; this we must
believe. Doubting it, we are shorn of our power ; we
become dwarfs when we ought to be giants. Has not
God declared that seed time and harvest shall not fail ?
And they do not. Shall He be more mindful of the
harvests of the earth than of the ingathering of souls ?
Rather, in the spiritual vineyard we ought to expect a
continuous harvest. " Behold, the days come, saith the
Lord, that the ploughman shall overtake the reaper, and
the treader of grapes him that soweth seed." Here is
a continuous harvest ; here the fruits of one season are

SAD SOWING — GLAD REAPIXG. 113

not gathered before the sowing for tlie next season
begins. There onglit never to be, in the technical sense,
a revival in a church, because there ought never to be
anything else. Let us not now talk of waiting four
months for harvest. Why put off earnest efforts until
the week of prayer ? Lift up your eyes now and behold
the fields white already with harvest. The reaper shall
certainly come. Sunday-school teachers, continue your
work in this spirit. Parents, preachers, workers in all
departments of Christian effort, you do not toil alone.
God's eye is upon you. You shall certainly reap if you
faint not. Go forward. Tearfully sow the seed ; joy-
fully await the harvest.

A second feature of the second picture is that the
reaper comes with rejoicing. Of course he does. Why
should he now be sad ? Some of us remember the
*' Harvest-home" singing and rejoicing when the last
sheaf was gathered in. Something like that is here im-
plied. There is no joy like that which comes from suc-
cessful work for Christ. All the joys of earth are noth-
ing when compared with this. This endures ; this allies
us to angels and God. This awakens tlie purest and
noblest instincts of the soul. In this joy we feel the
throb of Christ's heart. The promise to Ilim is that
" lie shall see of the travail of His soul and shall be satis-
fied." This joy is mingled even with the gloom of Geth-
semane and Calvary. It was for the joy set before Him
that He endured the cross and despised the shame. J
pity the man who knows nothing of this rejoicing ; I
envy the man whose soul is constantly overflowing with
its blessedness.

But, again, he comes bringing his sheaves with him.
This gives additional joy. Behold the picture ! He is
returning with his sheave'^. These he cannot carry.

114 CHRIST, AXD HIM CRUCIFIED.

Oxen and the wain are introduced. The wagon groans
under the burden ; the reaper joyously walks on before.
He is abundantly rewarded for his toil ; his soul over-
flows with joy. This assurance would cheer the hearts
of the exiles who were still journeying home ; it would
stimulate those who had returned. It encourages all
who are laboring for their own salvation and that of
others. You labor not in vain. God shall give the in-
crease. We ought to be willing to labor even if we do
not reap. God may sometimes require this of us. One
sows, another reaps. Christ taught this lesson. But,
thank God, lie often permits us both to sow and reap.
Never to reap requires marvellous faith if the sower be
earnest ; if he be indifferent he will not long for sheaves.
But we may expect them. As God lives we shall not
toil in vain. Are you watching for the harvest ? Are
you willing to stand before Christ without sheaves ?
God forbid that this should be the experience of any of
you ! There is a great harvest-day coming. The field
shall bo the world ; angels shall be the reapers. Oh,
that great and terrible day ! Oh, that joyous and blessed
day ! When that day dawns " the ransomed of the Lord
shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlast-
ing joy upon their heads ; they shall obtain joy and glad-
ness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."

But we are all sowers and reapers. The law of spir-
itual agriculture is as sure as the law of gravitation.
You may not expect to sow thistles and reap wheat ;
you cannot sow the seeds of vice and reap the fruits of
virtue. You cannot cheat God. If you sow the flesh
you must reap corruption ; if you sow the wind you
must reap the whirlwind ; if you sow to the world, the
flesh and the devil, as the eternal God lives, you shall
reap an eternal hell. Judging by your sowing to-day,

SAD SOWING — GLAD R^:APIXG. Ho

1 ask you in God's name, '' What shall the harvest be ?"
Whatsoever a man sowcth, that, precisely that, shall he
reap. Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die ? Sow to-day
the seeds of a tearful repentance and you shall reap the
fruits of a joyful forgiveness. Patience, courage, oh
sowers of the good seed, soon we shall stand before the
Lord of the harvest joyfully saying, '' Here are we and
the sheaves thou hast given us."

IX.
VICTORIOUS YOUNG MEN.

" I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and
the Word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked
one." — 1 John 2 : 14.

A WELL-ORGANIZED and truly prosperous cliurcli of
Christ will embrace in its members all classes and con-
ditions of society. Such a church will have the rich to
give it social position and financial strength, and the
poor to meet the requirement of Him who hath said,
'' For ye have the poor always with you."

Such a churcli will have the young to give it freshness
and enthusiasm, and the aged to give it the gravity and
wisdom born of large and varied experience. It will
also have those in middle life, with chastened enthusi-
asm and ripening wisdom — strong to fight the battles and
calm to rejoice in the triumphs of the Christian life.
Each class acts and reacts healthfully and helpfully on
each other class. A beautiful old age becomes more
beautiful when contrasted with the opening life of youth ;
and the stalwart strength of middle life assumes grander
proportions when placed between these extremes. A
religious teacher U^ill be influential, other things being
equal, in proportion as he is able to sympathize with all
these classes — with the hopefulness of youth, the con-
scious strength of middle life, and the ripe experience
of age. Such a man was the Apostle John. Pie was
one of those charming old men, the freshness and vigor

Vir-TORIOUS YOUXG MEN". 117

of whose hearts remain, althougli their heads arc wliite
and their limhs are feeble. Here he addresses the little
children — those young alike in years and in Christian
faith ; the old men — those who had long and faithfully
borne the burden and heat of the day, some of whom
may have had a personal acqunintance with the Lord
Jesus ; and the young men — those in the prime and
bloom of early manhood, lie could appeal to the latter
because they were strong. Little children had not
reached the age when they could be appealed to on that
basis ; old men had passed that age. lie calls on those
who possessed energy of body and mind to stand up
valiantly for the truth.

What was right for John to do in his day is both the
duty and privilege of every pastor to do in our day.
Christ gives young men the opportunity and glory of
giving the dew of their youth and the strength of their
manhood to His blessed service.

John mentions three characteristics of these young
men. Our purpose is simply to give an exposition and
to make an application of these characteristics.

FIRST CHAKACTERISTIC.

The first characteristic is suggested by the words,
''Ye are strong." There is inspiration in the very
words. Youth is the synonym of strength. We may
well believe that the idea of 2)hysical strength enters
into John's conception of strong young men. There is
a truth, although often unduly pressed, in what is called
" muscular Christianity.' ' You have all seen young men
whose admirable physical development elicited admira-
tion. The storms which snap the old and feeble trees
of the forest, only root more firmly the vigorous oak and
the supple sapling. So the storms of life, which dampen

118 CHRIST, A^D niM CRUCIFIED.

the ardor of the very young and chill the blood of the
old, only quicken the life and awaken the enthusiasm of
young men — giving to the step a firmer tread and to the
cheek a fresher glow. Such men seem to present no
vulnerable point to the approach of disease.

The Gospel sanctities and glorifies the body. It be-
comes under the Gospel's influence the temple of the
Holy Ghost. It is a false and wicked conception of re-
ligion which degrades the body. Keligion, when its
work is complete, contemplates the resurrection of the
body as well as the redemption of the soul. Physical
health is not only a privilege but a duty. Sickness is
often a reflection on a young man's good sense, if not
on his moral character. He w^ho sins against his body
sins against his God. The Bible properly translated
never speaks of the body as vile. Ever since Christ
tabernacled in human flesh, the body has been dignified
and glorified. Let us honor it as belonging to Christ,
and a part of His wonderful workmanship. All true
Christians will be more successful in their " high call-
ing" if there is a good body around a good soul. And
obedience to Christ tends directly to make sound bodies.
It nips vice in the bud, supplants impure thoughts and
unholy desires, substituting the highest aims and the
best motives as the ruling principle of life. So that to
write Christ upon the soul is often to write health, vigor,
and beauty on the body. Bat all men cannot be thus
strong. Many receive as their only heritage a poor,
feeble body. Some of the greatest souls that have ever
labored and prayed dwelt in weak, frail tenements. It
is amazing what an amount of work such a soul w^ill get
out of such a body. As preachers, as artists, authors,
and poets, great souls and weak bodies have been wedded
until they were divorced by death. And to-day men

VICTORIOLS YOUNG ilEX. 119

and women, languishing on beds of pain, are in tlieir
resignation, their patience, their heroism, worthy to be
called in the highest sense strong — stronger, perhaps,
than those who hold aloft the banner and sing aloud the
triumphs of their Lord and Saviour.

We may be sure that intellectual culture, in some
degree, at least, is an element in young men who are
strong. Ignorance is a crime. There is no excuse for it,
with the system of public instruction open to rich and
poor alike in our country. It ought to be known that,
in a true sense, knowledge, not ignorance, is the mother
of devotion. The infinitely great on the one hand, and
the infinitely small on the other, invite us to their study,
and charm us by their mystery. Christianity welcomes
investigations. Iler spirit builds our free schools and
endows our colleges and seminaries. Christian young
men ought to surpass all others in the extent and char-
acter of their attainments. They have Christ for their
Teacher, and the noblest men and purest women the
world has ever known for their fellow-pupils. Culture
has ever adorned Christianity with its beauty ; and
Christianity, in turn, has crowned culture with its un-
fading glories. Learning has ever found its noblest
employment in casting its treasures, like the wise men
from the East, at the feet of Jesus. Christ must be
placed in the very centre of the intellectual life, if its
highest possibilities are to be realized. All intellectual
activity must go out from Him as light rays out from
the sun. When He is so enthroned truths will adjust
themselves to one another in their proper relations. The
pure white light of intellect is impossible except it
kindles its torch at the cross of Christ. The hio;hest
glory of Greek and Latin literature was a reflection from
the divine splendor which rested on Hebrew altars. The

120 CHRIST, AND HIM CRLX'IFIED.

crystal streams of these literatures find their origin in
the blessed truths of the divine revelation. The men
who most triumphantly walk the dizzy heights of intel-
lectual greatness are those who most humbly walk with
God. The most loyal disciple in Christ's school, other
things being equal, should be the most successful disciple
in all other schools. Christ is the truth. In its vast
realm He is King. All trnth worships at His pierced
feet. This thought gives dignity to intellectual pursuits.
All angles and triangles, sines and cosines, thus become
revelations of the thoughts of God. Geometry becomes
voiceful with eternal truths, and astronomy declares the
glory of God and the firmament shovveth His handiwork.
All history is but an unfolding of His divine plan and
eternal purpose. The undevout student is unscientific.
How can he master the great truths of science or history
if he be disloyal to the King of truth ? To know them
aright he must first know Him aright. As well might a
man write a treatise on astronomy and leave out the sun,
as attempt to write a history of this world and leave out
Jesus Christ, the Sun of Righteousness. All science,
all history, all true intellectual effort receives from Him
its inspiration and lays at His feet its noblest achieve-
ments.

Strength of body and vigor of mind, however, do not
exhaust the Apostle John's idea of strong young men.
The noble Paul gives us his conception of strength when
he says, " Finally, brethren, be strong in the Lord and
in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor
of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of
the devil." Young men, I beseech you, do not attempt
to stand alone. Thousands, strong as you, have fallen
in this terrible fight. Hundreds are yearly sacrificed as
an awful holocaust to Satan. Will you swell the num-

yiCTOKIOUS YOUNG MEN". 121

bcr ? AVill you bring sadness into the distant liomes
where in innocence you were cradled ? — into the hearts
of parents wliose gray hairs you may bring down with
sorrow to the grave ? Will you wound afresh the Son
of God ? Attempt not this fight alone. Satan is not a
match for Christ ; but he is more than a match for you.
You must be girded by the strength of God and clothed
in the righteousness of Christ. Stand with God. Stand
alone with Ilim if need be. One young man with Christ
by His side is a tremendous majority. Then you will
be able, " hashing done all, to stand."

SECOND CnARACTP:RISTIC.

The second characteristic of these young men is thus
stated: "The Word of God abideth in you." They
had been exposed to '^youthful lusts;" they had re-
sisted the allurements of vice, and triumphed over the
powers of darkness. They had been tested as to their
adherence to the principles of religion and the truth of
God ; and John bears the testimony that the Word of
God was abiding in them.

The presence of this Word in their hearts, and their
devotion to it in their lives, were a proof of their
strength. The Word of God was the shield with which
they had warded off the fiery darts of the enemy. The
lesson is peculiarly valuable. Many young men are
ambitious to be considered great readers ; and they too
often neglect the Bible. It is impossible to read all the
books published by the prolific press of the day. It is
as undesirable as it is impossible. As well might you
submit to having every man you might meet on Broad-
way to-morrow morning take you by the buttonhole, as
have every book published arrest yonr attention. There
are, however, certain classics that every well-informed

122 CHRIST, AND III-M CRUCIFIED.

man slionld read. Works of history, science, art, and
some works of fiction there are which he sliould read,
but not to the neglect of the Word of God. In it are
hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. When
Sir Walter Scott lay dying he asked his son-in-law, Mr.
Lockhart, to read for him. " What book?*' said Mr.
Lockhart. ''What book?" said Sir Walter. ''There
is but one book — the Bible — read that." He who had
read so widely, and had contributed so many immortal
pages to literature, giv^es this testimony to tlie value of
the Bible. Mr. Dickens was in the habit of writing a
letter to each of his sons as he left the j^arental roof. In
one he nrged his son, whatever other books he neglected,
to read the Bible, as it contained the purest morality
and the best rules of life known to the world. When
Milton would become " a poet, soaring in the high rea-
son of his fancies, with his garland and singing robes
about him," he must go to the Bible for his highest
theme. The music of " Siloa's brook that flowed fast
by the oracle of God," gives its charm to his lofty verse.
When Raphael woidd perpetuate his name to unborn
generations he must ascend " the holy mount," stand in
the supernal glory, and gx^ze on the transfigured Christ.
As the " Transfiguration" was his greatest, so it was his
last work. lie died in early manhood, with the " Trans-
figuration" on his heart and brain. That picture was
carried w^ith him to his grave at his burial. When
Handel was discouraged by attempting to give opera in
a foreign language, he accepted an invitation from sev-
eral notables of Ireland to visit Dublin. From a friend
he received a text from the Bible on which he composed
his immortal woik, known at the first as the "Sacred
Oratorio," known now as the "Messiah." Both in
DubHn and in London this work rave him immediate

yiCTOKIOUS YOUNG MEN. 123

fame ; it lias since crowned liini throughout the world
witli unfading glorj. The debt wliich music, painting,
sculpture and literature owe to the Bible cannot be fully
estimated. It is said that the Red Cross Knight in
Spenser's ' ' Faerie Queene "is but Paul's armed Christian
in the sixth chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians ;
that Pope's ^' Messiah" is but a paraphrase of prophetic
and seraphic passages in Isaiah ; that the noblest strains
in Cowper's ^'Task " draw their inspiration and part of
their imagery from the same rapt prophet ; that the
"Thanatopsis" of Bryant is but the expansion of a pas-
sage in Job ; that Wordsworth's " Ode on Immortality"
could never have been written but for Paul's tifteentli
chapter of First Corinthians and the eighth chapter of
Romans ; that Shakespeare's conception of wonum, of a
Desdemona, of an Ophelia, would have been impossible
had not his mind been permeated by a Bible, a Christian
ideal. This suggestive thought could be much ex-
panded ; these instructive illustrations might be greatly
multiplied. The Bible gave all these men — working in
different departments of genius —their inspiration. Shall
"we be so inconsistent as to rejoice in the streams while
we despise the fountain whence they flowed ?

In a still higher sphere the indwelling of God's Word
is an absolute necessity. By its presence and power
Christ triumphed in the wilderness. Satan said : " Com-
mand that these stones be made bread." " Exert Thy
power and prove Thy Sonship." How does Christ
reply ? Will He by an act of divine power blast the
tempter ? Had He done so His example ^^'ould be lost
to us. He answers, "It is written, Man shall not live
by bread alone." Satan takes his cue for the next temp-
tation from this reply. He sees that Jesus has implicit
faith in God. He will test that faith. "Cast Thyself

124 CHRIST, AND HIM CRTCIFIED.

down from this pinnacle, Sliow to all the people what
faith you have in God." Our Lord again replies : '' It
is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." It
is right to trust God ; it is wicked to tempt God. De-
feated twice, the tempter tries again : " Bow down and
worsliip me." Christ's answer comes, " Thou shalt
worship the Lord tliy God, and Him only shalt thou
serve." Christ uses but one weapon — '^ the sword of
the Spirit, which is the Word of God." Ileuses no
weapon wdiich we may not use ; He wins no victory
which we may not win. Our temptations are in their
essential elements similar to His ; our triumphs may be
like His. The Word of God is not, however, a magical
charm, by pronouncing which we may be safe. It must
have the consent of our will and be a part of ourselves.
"We must have the supple wrist to use this sword. We
must have the appropriate passage ready for immediate
service. Young men, if you would strike down your
spiritual enemies, learn to use this defensive weapon.
Let the Word of God abide in you riclil3\

THIRD CHARACTERISTIC.

The third characteristic of these young men is that
they had " overcome the wicked one." Was there ever
a prouder eulogy pronounced on any heroes ? " Ye
have overcome the wicked one." Let that commenda-
tion ring through the world forever. Let the zephyrs
whisper it, let the hurricanes thunder it. Hear it, young
men, struggling with inward weakness and outward
trials. Hear it, you who are tasting sin and are charmed
by it. Hear it, you who are sceptical, who sneer at
virtue as if it were impossible, and vvlio laugh at vice as
if it were universal. Once, thanks be to God, there'Was
a body of young men who had '' overcome the wicked

VICTORIOUS YOUNG MEN. 125

Put alongside of this
the conquests of Alexander, compare with it the N^^ictories
of Caesar, read in its light the triumphs of Kapoleon.
Alexander conquered nations ; he could not conquer the
passions of his own heart ; he died the victim of his lust.
Caesar and Napoleon were vanquished while they were
victors. '* Ye have overcome the wicked one.' ' Amaz-
ing fact ! Satan robbed heaven of angels ; he entered
paradise, and overthrew a sinless pair ; he brought sin
into our fair world, filling it with tears, mourners, graves,
and death. And yet here are young men who have over-
come him — men of like passions with you and me — men
who fought as we may fight, and conquered as we may
conquer. This is a glorious statement. Thank God
that it was ever written. I fling it out to all who are
faint-hearted. I would write it on the banners of every
church, and on the heart of every disciple in the world.
Does the battle grow fierce ? Are the darts of the enemy
numerous and fiery ? Are you faint and ready to give
up ? Above the din of conflict come the words of Christ,
*' Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." And
from another part of the field come the words of John,
^' Ye have overcome the wicked one." Oh, heart-
inspiring words ! Young men, you, too, may " come
off more than conquerors." Thanks be to God for Ilis
matchless grace ; sinful men may stand where sinless
angels fell !

THE apostle's SOLICITUDE.

John was solicitous regarding the young men. In
this anxiety he acted wisely. In comparative youth
many have achieved greatness. If men do not show
signs of power before they are thirty the chances are
that they never will ; there are illustrious exceptions, we

126 CHRIST, A XI) HIM CRUCIFIED.

know, but tliej simply prove tlie rule. At eighteen
Alexander the Great won distinction in battle, and at
twenty he ruled the world ; when but thirty-three Jeffer-
son was chosen to draught the Declaration of Indeperin
dence ; ^vhen but twenty-seven Calvin wrote his immortal
'' Institutes,'' which have so largely shaped the theological
thinking of the world ; at twenty-seven Kapoleon " ex-
ecuted that grand campaign in Italy which stamped him
the foremost captain" of the w^orld, and which hurled
the stricken Austrians back to their endangered capital ;
w^hen scarcely out of his teens Spurgeon was filling the
world with his fame ; while still young, John the Bap-
tist and the apostles of Jesus achieved glorious results for
God and man. And it was as a young man that Christ
lived and labored for a lost w^orld ; it was the life-blood
of a young man which He poured out on the cross for
the world's salvation. In the vigor, freshness, and
bloom of young manhood, He lived, died, and rose
again. Had He lived to be old and feeble the effect, to
human view, would be disastrous. And as a young man,
the God-man, He sits on His mediatorial throne to plead
for young men who will accept His proffered love. W"e
know, too, that from our young men must come the
workers in all departments of toil. From among them
are to come our merchants, who are to honor or disgrace
the name American at home and abroad ; from them
must come those who as physicians are to stand by us
and those we love in sickness and death. From them
are to come those who are to vindicate the right or wink
at wrong in our courts of law. From them are to come
those who stand between God and men as preachers of
the Word. Shall our ministers be men of God ? Shall
our doctors be lovers of Christ ? These are questions of
the greatest moment. Young men must be leaders in

VICTORIOUS YOUNG MEN. 127

all progressive movements of reform. The world is ad-
vancing. We ought to be more and better than our
fathers were. "We ought to start where they stopped.
In some respects progress in religion is impossible. We
can have no new gospel. What is new is not true in
this regard, and what is true is not new. But there may
be progress in the discovery and application of these
truths. In intellectual work and in business we always
adapt our methods to our circumstances. Precisely so
should it be in religion. Progress in religious work is
just the adapting of our methods to our circumstances.
It is just common sense, sanctified by the Spirit of God.
From the very nature of the case, young men must lead
in making these adaptations. And no church can be in
the largest sense successful which has not in it a body of
active, consecrated young men. Do not suppose that I
disparage one class to exalt another. Each has its place
and work. The cause of Christ needs young men for
action and old men for counsel. K either ought to come
in conflict with the other. Thank God for both. While
my heart is stirred with tenderness and sympathy as
young men pray, the prayers of these veterans lift me
up to the very throne of God. Many of you, old men,
bear in your bodies the scars of the Christian conflict.
We bless God for the enthusiasm of youth, and not less
for the wisdom and experience of age.

Dear young people, let me urge you to come as lost
and helpless sinners to the cross of Christ. Here is the
true starting-point of noble lives. It is sad to see young
men and women assuming the duties and responsibilities
of life, of husbands and wives and parents without God
and without hope. It makes the heart weep to see them
live as if there were no God ; to sit at tables on which
God's blessing has not been asked ; to sleep and wake,

128 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

and never lift the heart to God in gratitude or want. If
there is a sight that might make angels weep, it is a
prayerless mother. Young people, to-day thousands the
world over are praying for you. Pray for yourselves.
Come now to Christ. Accept the offers of His love.
Stand with me beneath the shadow of that cross, which
is at once the symbol of God's great love and man's
great sin. See the flowing blood, hear the dying cry.
Your debt is. paid. Your soul maybe saved. Believe
and live. Let your weakness lay hold of the strength of
the Almighty Christ. Then shall you be '^ strong;"
then shall He who is the '' Word of God " abide in you ;
then shall you " overcome the wicked one." And then,
at the last, in the flush of triumph and the glory of the
resurrection morning, we shall together sing, with deep
humility and unspeakable joy, ^' Thanks be unto God,
which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ."

X.

A COMPREHENSIVE PRAYER.

" Unite my heart to fear Thy name," — Psa. 86 : 11.

Tins is a short bat compreliensive prayer. Uttered
a long time ago, it is appropriate still. Beautiful iu
thought, it is also poetic in form. Like a strain of sweet
music it has lingered for years in my mind. It has often
moulded my thinking and controlled my living.

Let us look, in the first place, at the meaning of this pray-
er, ^' Unite my heart to fear Thy name." Careless read-
ers may fail to catch its significance. There is here a rec-
ognition of the truth that men ought to love God with all
the heart, mind, and strength ; and also a recognition of
the sad fact that men do not so love God. The idea is
that our hearts are distracted, that our affections are set
upon various objects ; and the prayer is that they may
all be gathered in, and united in loving and fearing God.
The Apostle James tells us that '' a double-minded man
is unstable in all his ways." By double-minded he
means, as the Greek shows, a man who has two souls,
two wills, two hearts — one for God and one for the world.
Li the twelfth Psalm, second verse, we have the lan-
guage *' with a double heart do they speak." The lit-
eral rendering of the Hebrew is '' with a heart and a
heart," as in another place we have 'S\ stone and a
stone," meaning divers weights ; one to buy with and
another to sell with. So this '^ heart and a heart" pro-
duce inconsistency and hypocrisy. With one heart, the

130 CHRIST, AND Iini CllUCIFIED.

Psalmist teacbes us, the flatterer gives expression to tlie
words he uses of his neighbor ; with the other ho care-
fullv and wickedly conceals his true designs. Such a
man is unworthy of our confidence and love. In First
Chronicles we read of " fifty thousand men who could
keep rank ; they were not of double heart." The last
phrase literally rendered is, " Who were not of a heart
and a heart." They had but one purpose — the triumph
of their own arms and the honor of their king. The
man with ^' a heart and a heart"' will be found striving
to serve God and mammon. Such service is impossible.
The heart was made by God and for Ilim. Although an
instrument of many strings, alt are intended to blend in
a song of praise to the great Creator. As an jEolian harp
gives forth melody when the wind passes through it, so
the heart should breathe out its responses of love and
obedience when the breath of God comes to it in entreaty
or command. But the sad truth must be acknowledged
— the heart is out of tune. An unskilful or malicious
player has dared to interfere with God's instrument.
Some of its cords are drawn too tightly ; some are slack-
ened unduly ; some are broken entirely. Instead of har-
mony we have discord ; instead of praise we have the
wild notes of revelry. Eden has given place to Babel ;
and, if no counteracting law comes in to check the down-
ward tendencies of the natural heart. Babel will become
hell.

'Now, if by the strings of this instrument we under-
stand the faculties of the soul, the idea of the text will
appear plain. By these faculties we mean memory,
reason, taste, imagination, conscience, and others. Let
any unconverted man examine these faculties, and he
will at once understand the meaning and necessity of the
words, " Unite my heart to fear Thy name." How is it

A COMPREHEXSIVE PRAYER. 131

with memory ? Do jou prefer to remember those truths
which would lead you to love and obey God ? or do you
not remember the vile oath, the impure thought, and the
devilish suggestion longer than the sermon, the hymn,
or the prayer ? Question your reason. Wliat is its testi-
mony ? It too often perverts the truth — making the
worse appear the better reason. So of taste, in litera-
ture, art, and religion. Imagination is oftener the ser-
vant of evil than of good. The bad is selected— the
good is discarded. Amid these perverted faculties con-
science stands like a moral policeman. It is true that
some men have learned the secret of city rogues ; they
either drug or fee this officer. Then their hearts may
be for a time united ; but it is a union with death.
There may for a little time be peace ; but it is the peace
of the grave. There may be a compact ; but it is a league
with hell. Ordinarily, however, conscience remains com-
paratively free from the alliances of the devil.

Armed with the power of truth, and backed by the
might of God, conscience lifts its warning voice and sum-
mons all the other faculties to lay down their weapons,
cease their strife, and march in line to the throne of the
King, seeking His gracious pardon. There is a tremen-
dous " oughtness" in the place assigned by our very
moral constitution to conscience. To change the figure.
The unrenewed heart is a house divided against itself ;
Christ said such a house could not stand. Conscience is
the only pillar left standing, and it shows signs of weak-
ness. Xow, this conflict must cease. The entire man
belongs to Jesus. Rebellion on our part does not alu'o-
gate His claims. Christ should sit on tlie throne of the
heart. Conscience thunders YES. Pride, passion, and
lust say XO. Such, to a greater or less degree, is the
conflict in the heart of every unconverted man. Do you

132 CHEIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

feel tliat mj words are true ? Is the picture a genuine
one ? Do you acknowledge that you are well-nigh help-
less in this warfare ? Then lift now to Christ this prayer,
'^ Unite my heart;" take this long-divided heart, and
make it Thine ; gather up my scattered affections, and
set them on Christ and heavenly things — " Unite my
heart to fear Thy name." Make this your prayer, and
then by a joyous experience sliall you know the meaning
of this text.

Secondly, let me speak of the reasons for offering this
prayer. I mention three, and I begin with the lowest ;
a proper regard for our own happiness would lead us to
offer it. You may charge me witli assigning an unwor-
thy motive for the performance of a Christian duty.
You may say that duty ought to be performed because it
is duty, because it is right in and of itself. True. This,
nevertheless, is a proper motive. God has given each of
us the instinct of self-love, and the desire to seek our
own happiness. He has thus through our organization
revealed His will in this respect ; and He has added to
that revelation by all the truths of His Word. He de-
sires us to be happy. He takes no pleasure in our suffer-
ings either here or hereafter. It is true that tlie desire
for happiness is not in itself a high motive. Holiness is
better than happiness, holiness w^ill always produce hap-
piness. But God takes us where He finds us. He ap-
plies the motive which promises the desired result ; and
then He lifts us to a higher plane.

Now no man can be happy while his desires and affec-
tions are at war with one another. While two antagonistic
powers within a man are at the same time claiming au-
thority over him, he must be essentially miserable.
While Bunyan remained in the City of Destruction,
after he became aware that it was such a city, he was

A COMPREHKNSrVK PIIAYER, 133

miserable indeed. Actual imprisonment of tlie body in
Bedford Jail were better far than this awful distraction
and enslavement of the mind and soul. "When God
burned into the heart of Carey a sense of his duty in
preaching the Gospel to the heathen, it became impossi-
ble for him to be happy until he did that duty. Good,
pious conservatism might say to nim, as it has often said
since to the zeal and enthusuism born of God in the
hearts of young men : '' Young man, sit down ; if the
Lord wants to convert the heathen He will do it without
your help." But Carey's desire was as fire in his bones.
He must go ; with such feelings a desire for his own
peace and happiness, even if there were no higher mo-
tive, would compel him to go. It is always true that in
the end the path of duty, however rough it may seem,
is the path of joy.

There is a young man preaching the Gospel to-day
who once felt that he never could perform that duty.
On bended knee he promised, the Lord that he would
give of earthly means to send another in his place. His
heart was not united. Conscience, wrought upon by the
Spirit of God, said. Go. Desire, ambition, the hopes and
dreams of all his previous life said, No. His agony was
great ; it became unendurable. It brought him to his
knees in deep anguish. He must yield or bid adieu to
joy, peace, heaven. He did yield, and he has found
that joy in Christ is inseparable from obedience to Christ.
Could I describe fully the feelings of some of you, I
should have a too true illustration of the statement that
a desire for your own peace should lead you to offer this
prayer. There are those who have long felt that they
ought to be Christians. Sometimes they are almost de-
cided to yield ; at other times they almost determine
never to come to the house of God, never to talk on re-

134 CHRIST, AXD HIM CRUCIFIED.

ligion ; in short, to give up the whole subject. They
are supremelj miserable— dissatisfied with the world, but
not reconciled to God through Christ, l^ow, let me ap-
peal for once to your self-love. It is a low motive, 1
know. But let even that be the means which God shall
use to lead you to give yourselves w^holly to Ilim. Give
up the foohsh, the wicked contest. Ground your arms.
Touch the outstretched sceptre of mercy. Acquaint
yourselves now with God and be forever at peace.

I speak now of a second reason for offering this prayer
• — the desire to be not only happy yourselves, but to
make others so — the desire to be useful in Christ's ser-
vice. It is a trite remark among business and profes-
sional men, that to be eminently successful in any pur-
suit a man's heart must be in it. A half-hearted man is
a failure anywhere and everywhere. You would not
give much for a young man in your employ who had no
interest in your prosperity, and no enthusiasm in his pro-
fession. If you expected him ever to accomplish any-
thing for himself and ever to be worth anything to you,
you would say to him : " Young man, unite your heart
in my work." It has recently been discovered that the
clerks in one of the stock exchanges in London were
carrying on among themselves, and for their own inter-
ests, separate transactions. They had their own l)Ooks,
officers, and times and places of meeting. It is said that
they are all to be discharged. They were half-hearted
in the service of their employer. They were drawn
hither by self-interest, and thither by the interest of
their employers. Such clerks business men do not want
in their service. Neither will God in His service share
the heart with man or devil. A bank president was con-
gratulated on his success. He replied that his secret was
in taking his bank to bed with. him. We all understand

A COMPIIEHEXSIVE PRAYER. 135

his lueaiiing. His wliole heart was in his work. He was
in dead earnest. Sucli a man, in business or rehgion, w'ill
always make things come to pass. We have referred to
David's army — the fifty thousand who were not of a
*' heart and a lieart." This is a proud eulogy. They
were animated by one overmastering purpose. Each
heart was single ; the army had but one aim. They had
not one heart for the battle, and another for their homes.
They had no personal ends to serve. They believed in
God ; they rejoiced in David ; they were determmed to
cleave for him a way to the throne. This unity of heart,
this oneness of purpose, makes fifty thousand men more
than five hundred thousand who hesitate and waver.

Let love of hberty unite the hearts of Englishmen.
Put the invincible Cromwell at their head, and the ends
of the earth shall shake under their mighty tread. Let
love of glory inflame the minds and unite the hearts of
France, and Napoleon will illumine the darkness of the
night with the fires of battle, and cloud the sun at noon-
day wnth the smoke of conflict. He will sweep over
Europe like a fiend of destruction from the pit. His
armies were but a great engine of desolation. Every
heart beat in his. There was but one soul in all. 1
might stir your enthusiasm by enumerating victories
nearer home, and naming men under whose inspiration
some of you of the North and some of you of the South,
rushed into the jaws of death, and won victories on the
gory field. In grander fields, too, oneness of aim and
singleness of purpose have triumphed. Think of Paul.
What is the secret of his life on the human side ?
^' This one thing 1 do." He was a man of one idea —
an idea so broad that it took in all the other noble ideas.
Marvellous man 1 His shadow is projected everywhere
in the Roman Empire. He dwarfs the missionaries of

136 riTlilST, AXD -HJ'Si. CKUCIFIED.

our day. His gigantic niiiid, his loving heart, and his
tireless body bowed down at the feet of Jesns, and rose
one with himself and one with Christ. Why need 1
multiply examples ? Range over all history, in politics,
literature, science, art, and religion, and the secret of
success in all is that men put their whole being, heart,
and brains into their work, and under God they suc-
ceeded. A church w^ith fifty persons in it, loyal to God
and true to the souls of men, working with one heart
and soul, and led on by a noble and godly pastor, will do
more for God and men than five hundred average church-
members. With such a force behind him, and God
above him, a pastor might soon take this great city for
Christ. Oh, for the wisdom of the heroic Gideon ! Let
the war-cry again go out as at the battle of Jezreel, by
the " Spring of Trembling" — " Whosoever is fearful
and afraid, let him return and depart early from Mount
Gilead." What if there should return of the people
'' twenty and two thousand ?" Better ten thousand with
one heart, than thirty-two thousand '^ with a heart and
a heart." The cowards are now gone. But " the peo-
ple are yet too many." Another test must be applied.
The self-indulgent as well as the cowardly must be re-
moved. Those who rushed headlong to quench their
thirst are therefore rejected. But those who exercised
self-restraint, marching to battle while they lapped the
water, were selected. Poor Gideon, all are gone but
three hundred ! Happy Gideon ! For the Lord said :
'' By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you,
and deliver the Midianites into thine hand ; and let all
the other people go every man unto his place." Awake
ye sleepers, the " cake of barley bread" will roll into
tlie camp and hurl the royal tent to the earth. He
divides his men ; he surrounds th'jcamp ; the cry, " The

A ('OMPRKni':XSIVE PliAYRR. 137

sword of the Lord and of Oidoon" rends tlie midnight
air. The l)lowing of the horns, the crashing of the
pitchers, and the blazing of the torches break upon the
stillness of the night. Midianite drew his sword against
]\Iidianite. Headlong they rushed down the descent to
the Jordan. Terrible was the slaughter. Glorious was
the victory. And over the Jordan went Gideon and his
brave three hundred, "faint, yet pursuing." Three
hundred men with united hearts were better than thirty-
two thonsand "'with a heart and a heart." The Church
needs the lesson. It needs to be weeded to-day. Her
half-hearted, lukewarm disciples are dead weights in her
progress. Tliey are vampires that suck her life-blood
while they hill her to sleep with their fanning wing.
Perhaps we need again the fagot and the flame; the
stake and the rack. Well is it when those who are of
" a heart and a heart" go back to their homes that the
brave may win for truth and God.

These principles apply to denominational life. Men
who are half-hearted in holding the distinctive truth of
their denomination are hindrances to its progress. The
Episcopal denomination is stronger because of the ab-
sence of the party that went out with Bishop Cummings,
than they could possibly be with their presence. As
soon as that party was not of them just so soon should
they go out from them. There is a law of denomina-
tional gravitation, which like that of natural gravitation
must be obeyed, or the most injurious consequences will
follow. Honesty, manliness, godliness requires that
when we cannot harmonize with a denomination we
should leave it. The events of the last few weeks in our
own denomination show the importance of this law of
gravitation. " And being let go, they went to their
own company." Those who are true will remain.

138 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

Tliey Wixi march on to victory. Perhaps sometimes
" faint," but always '^ pursuing," as faithful disciples of
a greater than Gideon, they will go on " conquering and
to conquer."

As Christians in your denominational and individual
life, you will be happy in yourselves, and useful to
others, in proportion as you daily offer this prayer,
" Unite my heart to fear Thy name." Do not attempt
to serve God and at the same time love yourselves su-
premely. Do not attempt to cherish the Christian's hope,
while you refuse to render the Christian's obedience.
Do not strive to be a Christian and refuse publicly to
confess Christ in His appointed ordinance of baptism.
Such conduct brings leanness into your souls and dis-
honor on your Saviour. Be true to yourselves and your
God, and you will be both happy and useful. Offering
this prayer in all sincerity you will soon hear the " Peace
be with you," of Christ's benediction, and the " Go
preach My Gospel," of Christ's commission.

The last reason for offering this prayer is, that the honor
and command of God demand that we give Him a
united heart. These three reasons, you will perceive, are
related. The last includes the others ; for if we give
Christ our united heart, and devote to Him our lives, we
shall be useful to others, and, being useful to others, we
shall be happy in ourselves. God made us to love Him
alone with the whole heart. The command so to love
Him is a summary of all His commands. The soil of the
heart was made to bear wheat only ; it was the liand of an
enemy that sowed tares. The heart was made always to
pant after God, and to iind its joy and peace only when
reposing on His bosom. In order that we may have joy
in ourselves, be useful to others, and be loyal to Christ,
we must have a united heart in Christian service. Every

A COMPREHENSIVE PRAYER. 139

thought, motion, and desire eliould be in subjection to
the will of Christ. Such a state of feeling is the pledge
and foretaste of heaven. Every storm of passion is
hushed, and the whole current of our feeling flows
toward God. We speak of heaven as a place of music,
because music is our highest conception of harmony.
In proportion as this divine harmony is in the sonl now,
in that proportion is heaven in the soul even now.
Christ is the great Reconciler between the faculties of
the soul and between the soul and God. I lift before
you the cross of Christ. Will you now " look and live ?"
Will you now accept Christ as your only hope ? " Behold
the Lamb of God," and looking to Ilim find life. So
lovely and loving is Jesus, that even those of us who gave
Ilim our hearts in the morning of life and in the dew of
youth can say in the simple, tender, and emotive utter-
ance of Augustine : '^ Too late I love Thee, O Thou
Beauty of ancient days, yet ever new ; too late 1 love
Thee !" With a greater than Augustine we can pray,
*^ Unite my heart to fear Thy name," and with a greater
than David, ''Not my will but Thine be done."

XL
OTJE LORD'S MYSTERIOUS SORROW.

*' My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.' ' — Matt. 26 : 38.

Our object this morning is to discuss some of the ele-
ments of oiir Lord's mysterious sorrow in the garden.
The subject is one of deep solemnity and great tender-
ness. Not at all times, nor in all frames of mind and
heart, is it fitting to discuss such a subject as this. As
Moses removed his shoes when he approached the holy
ground of the burning bush, so should we strive to ban-
ish all unholy thoughts when we walk beneath the olive
trees of Gethsemane and gaze on the cross of Calvary.
The history of the race is one of sin and sorrow ; it is
also one of grace and glory. Three wonderful gardens
are there in that history — Eden, Gethsemane, Paradise.
Lost in Eden, we were redeemed in Gethsemane. and
those who are thus redeemed shall be glorified in Para-
dise. The first is a history of sin and sorrow on our
part ; the second is a history of sorrow without sin on
Christ's part ; the last will be a scene of neither sin nor
sorrow. AYe look with shame to Eden, with sorrow to
Gethsemane, and with humble, holy joy to Paradise.
But Gethsemane we must visit before we can reach Para-
dise. To that scene of sorrow let us go this morning.

We go out of the eastern gate of the city of Jerusa-
lem, down a steep and abrupt hill, across the bed, over
which, at certain seasons of the year, passes the dark-
flowing Kedron, and now on our right lies the Garden

OCR LORD 6 MYSTERIOUS SORROW. 141

of Getlisemanc. It is a small plot of ground, nearly
square, and now surrounded with a fence of rougli stone
surmounted with stucco. Witliin the enclosure are eight
venerable olive trees. Beneatli the shade of perhaps
similar trees Christ bowed in Ilis agony. It is night in
Jerusalem. The lights are out. The streets are silent.
The pilgrims are in their tents on the hill-side asleep.
The moon at this Passover season shines brightly. Christ
and eleven of His disciples pass over the track we have
described and enter the garden. Eight disciples are left
near the entrance ; three — the elect witliin the elect, the
three who were admitted to witness the miracle of rais-
ing the ruler's daughter, the three who had been with
Him '' in the holy mount," and having seen the glory
of the transfiguration were prepared for the humiliation
of the garden — He takes with Him to a little distance
within the shade of the garden. And now the wave of
His mysterious sorrow rolls over Him. Even from
these He withdraws Himself a little space. He prays ;
He returns : He departs to pray again ; He returns ;
He departs ; He kneels ; He falls prostrate ; He ago-
nizes ; great drops as it were blood fall upon the ground.
He triumphs. The contest is over ; the concpest is
won. He returns in calmness to His sleeping disciples
and awaits in perfect jDeace the approach of His be-
trayer. This great sorrow is something to us " who
pass by." We shall '^Behold and see if there be any
sorrow like unto His sorrow, wherewith the Lord afflicted
Him in the day of His fierce anger."

This is a mysterious sorrow. Some of its elements,
however, we can understand. Let us reverently ex-
amine these, and see whether they will explain its in-
tensity and bitterness. If not, another cause will be
suggested. The ingratitude of those for whom He lived

143 CHRIST, AND HIil CRUCIFIED.

and died was an element in that sorrow. Christ was
keenly alive to every expression of ingratitude. There
are many hints given of tliis fact. He healed ten lepers.
Nine went their way ; one returned to express joy and
gratitude. Christ asks sadly after the nine selfish and
ungrateful ones. He said mournfully that He came
unto His own, but they received Him not. His heart
revealed its deep loneliness when He compared Himself
with the foxes who had holes, and the birds who had
nests, while He had not where to lay His head. Earth,
cursed by sin, had no resting-place for its Maker and Lord.
When it would exalt Him it did so by a cross ; when it
would crown Him it did so with thorns. How a child's
ingratitude breaks a parent's heart ! How the ingrati-
tude of the poor dries up the fountains of love in the
hearts of the benevolent rich ! Christ was subject to a
similar law. His nation's ingratitude and hate were a
heavy sorrow. His own family even did not believe in
Him. The j)eople who shouted " Hosanna" one day,
shouted '' Crucify" the next. Is it not also true that the
ingratitude of all rejecters, in every age, was present to
His mind ? If so, then, friends, our hardness of heart,
our unbelief, our disobedience, was an element in Christ's
sorrow. You unconverted children of godly parents,
hearers but not doers of the A\^ord, you rolled a wave of
sorrow over Christ's soul. Oh look to-day into that gar-
den where Jesus groans and prays for you ! See His
tear-stained face ! Hear His agonizing moan ! Then let
your heart break and your stubborn will relent. Oh
friends unreconciled to God, your ingratitude, your
procrastination and disobedience are wicked and cruel !
Cease now, 1 pray you, this weak and wicked rebellion.
I would win you to Christ now — now while we gaze on
Him in the garden.

ouii lord's mystekious soukuw. 143

The treachery, deiiiiil, and desertion on the part of
His friends made another element in th.at nameless sor-
row. While, as we shall see before we close, this sor-
row was, in some of its elements, far above human
thought, in other elements it was intensely human. It
was sad enough to Christ that of all that vast host that
welcomed Ilini on Sunday there should not b(; one on
Friday to utter a word in His behalf. It vv'as sad enough
that of all the thousands whom he had cured, fed, and
blessed in so many ways, not one would stand by Ilim
in Pilate's hall. There was but one who spoke a word
in His defence, and that one did not belong to the chosen
people — the wife of the heathen Pilate. But saddest of
all, in the chosen twelve one was a betrayer, one a de-
nier, and all were deserters. ^' They all forsook Him
and fled." Oh, base ingratitude ! Oh, shameful cow-
ardice ! But shall I speak harshly of them and not also
justly of ourselves ? Their minds were distracted with
many doubts which now are cleared away. They groped
in the dasvn ; we walk in the noon-day. Their sin was
great ; ours is greater. Many times since then has
Christ been denied, deserted, betrayed, by His professed
friends. In social life, in the marts of trade, in the halls
of sinful amusement, Jesus has been despised and re-
jected. And all this He foresaw. That wicked act of
yours last week was a pang in Christ's heart. That
absence from the house of God ; that neglect of family or
secret prayer — oh, these were part of Christ's great sorrow
on that terrible night ! Shall we continue in sin ? Can
we, dare we, love and practice that which slew our Lord ?

The sorrows to which His people would be exposed
were an element in that grief. The joys and sorrows of
His people Christ made His own. On this Thursday
night He realized — perhaps even more than He did on

144 CHRIST, AXD Hl-M CRUCIFIED,

the previous Sunday, when He wept over Jerusalem —
what the Jewish nation incurred by His rejection. He
saw that Jerusalem, the city of song and story, would
soon be destroyed. He saw that God's chosen people
would soon be scattered over the earth,. All the horrors
of the awful siege of Jerusalem were present to His
view. Itoman horses were to bathe their fetlocks in
elewish blood. Parents in the pangs of hunger were to
destroy their own children. They would have no king
but Caesar. God gave them their wish, and Caesar
crushed them to the earth. Scattered over the world,
despised and hated of all men, the Jews were to see their
land trodden by the foot of the heathen Eoman and the
infidel Turk. Their prayer was answered. The blood
of Christ was upon them, not to save but to destroy.
^o\v, to Jesus as a man, a patriot, and a Saviour, the
blindness and madness of His people became a cause of
intense and bitter grief. He saw, too, the sorrows which
were to come on Christian believers. Those of His
nation who accepted Him — as well as those who rejected
Him, though in different ways— were to suffer sorrow.
Of all the disciples with Him in the garden, John was
the only one who was to die a natural death. James
first was to seal his testimony with his life. Peter, like
his Lord, was to be crucified. The disciples who after-
ward believed on His name were to suffer persecution.
Stephen, from the fast-falling shower of stones, was to
go up to Christ at the right hand of God. Paul was
present to Christ's view — Paul " fighting with beasts at
Ephesus," " shamefully entreated at Philippi," cruelly
imprisoned and beheaded at Rome. Huss, Luther, Bun-
yan, thousands of whom the world was not worthy, suf-
fering for their Lord — these were in Christ's thoughts—
these added to Christ's grief.

ouii lord's mysterious sorrow. 145

There was also a slirinking from the painful and shame-
ful death of the cross. . Let us not hesitate to say so.
Christ was truly a man. True manhood is not indiffer-
ent to danger and suffering. Coarse and brutal natures
may assume a stoicism which refined and cultivated na-
tures cannot manifest. Dr. Parker, in ^' Ecce Deus,"
finely illustrates this thought. '' Suffering," he says,
*Ms a question of nature. The educated man suffers
more than the uneducated ; the poet probably suffers
more than the mathematician ; the commanding ufficer
suffers more in a defeat than the common soldier. The
more life, the more suffering, the billows of sorrow being
in proportion to the volume of our manliood. Kow,
Jesus Christ was not merely a man ; He was man ; and
by the very compass of His manliood He suffered more
than any mortal can endure. The storm may pass as
fiercely over the shallow lake as over the Atlantic, but
by its very volume the latter is more terribly shaken."
Christ's physical organization even, was, doubtless, ex-
quisitely sensitive. Then there were the moral issues
involved. Perhaps it is true, as has been claimed, that
Christ died of a literally broken heart. He certaiidy
keenly felt the pain and disgrace of His ignominious
death. To assume even for a time the character of a
felon is to a holy soul painful in the extreme. Actors
of high reputation find it opposed to their taste to repre-
sent a character famous only for vileness. Christ's shrink-
ing was natural and proper. It is a mark of honor and
glory befitting the God-man. I give due weight to all
these considerations. But I affirm that they do not of
themselves account for His deep and awful sorrow. He
must have known— He foretold it many times— that He
was to rise from the dead on the third day. The grave
could not hold Him. His physical sufferings at the worst

146 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

would be short. The victory was near. It was to be a
brief darkness followed bj a never-ending brightness.
Who can believe this was more than an clement— and
compared with other elements an unimportant one — in
His sorrow ? Martyrs in Christ's name and for His sake
have gone joyfully to the stake. They have shouted
amid fagots and flames. They have gone to the block
singing songs of triumph. They have lain in prisons of
dampness and darkness until the chains rusted into their
flesh. Wives and mothers have torn themselves from
husbands and children to die for Jesus. We have read
of Leonidas and his brave three hundred who stopped
the onward march of the Persians at Thermopyhie, giv-
ing their lives joyfully for their country. We know of
England's lovely queen who sucked the poison from the
wound of the king, her consort, though she knew that
death would be the result of her heroism. Again and
again have brave soldiers rushed in to take the death-
blows intended for their commanders. The pages of
history contain the names of many such. Much more
has willingness to suffer for Christ been seen. What
glorious names come to us as we speak ! There are
thousands who are suffering a daily martyrdom for His
sake. There are women tied to drunken and godless
husbands and sweetly living for Christ, dying a thousand
deaths, while they live a single life. Upheld by the
blessed hopes of the Gospel, they never utter a murmur.
At this hour there are, believe it, friends, thousands who
would gladly lay down their lives for the Master, rather
than deny Him. Think you, then, that simple fear of
physical death could have so burdened and crnshed the
Son of God— the Lord of life and glory ? A thousand
times Ko. There was that : there was far more than
that.

OUR lord's mysterious sorrow. 147

Another consideration is that Satan was permitted at
this time to tempt Christ with peculiar power. Satan
tempted Jesus in the wilderness and was repulsed. Ho
left Ilim " for a season.'' He now returned. It wae
the last — the death-struggle. It was the world's crisis.
The old conflict is to be settled forever. It is the '^ hour
and the power of darkness." In one garden truth was
crushed and error triumphed. The first Adam was over-
thrown, shall the second Adam ? If so the knell of hu-
manity may be rung. On the result of the conflict in
this garden depends the possibility of entering paradise.
If Satan triumph now God is no more God. Hell appre-
ciates the struggle. Its artillery is hurled against the
bowed sufferer. What an hour ! What a conflict !
Here let our hearts break in sympathy with our broken-
hearted Lord. Oh be not indifferent when for you
Christ is meeting the temptations of Satan ! Christ is
warding off eternal death and hell. Behold, behold,
Him in His great agony ! Never was there sorrow like
that of our Jesus. Never was there victory like that of
our Jesus. Blessed be His name ! He struck the sceptre
from the hand, and the crown from the brow of Satan,
aiid won a glorious and eternal victory for His saints.
He led captivity captive and won gifts for men.

The true explanation of the mysterious sorrow in the
garden and the awful agony on the cross — as seen in the
cries to God uttered in both places — is that Cluist, the
God-man, the divine Substitute, was bearing in some
way the iniquities of a lost world. This is a holy of
holies. It seems almost irreverent to judge with a critic's
coolness these awful experiences. But such is the teach-
ing of Scripture, alike in the Old and Xew Testaments.
" He was bruised for our iniquities." " The Lord hath
laid on Him the iniquity of us all.*' ''•' It pleased the

148 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

Lord to bruise Him." Oh, no, tlie cup could not pass
from Him ! He drained it to tlie very dregs. " He lialh
made Him to be sin for us wlio knew no sin." He was
*^ made a curse for us." "" Wlio His own self bare our
sins in His own body on tlie tree." He consented to
have our sins laid upon Him. He is treated as the trans-
gressor. Oh matcliless love ! Oh transcendent and sov-
ereign grace ! Blessed doctrine of divine substitution !
God has found a way to save the lost. Heaven is opened
to the vilest. With Paul we can exclaim, '' Oh the
depth of the riches botli of the Avisdom and knowledge
of God !" Away with the shallow human philosophy
which, by ignoring the real facts, attempts to rob this
awful and blessed truth of its meaning. Tell us not that
Christ died merely as a martyr. On that theory explain
the facts if you can. A true philosophy must accept all
the facts. Answer, Socinianism. Answer, modern
philosophy. In this explanation of Christ's sorrow we
believe scriptural prophecy, historical fact, and apostolic
reasoning all beautifully agree. ^^ Let God be true"
though all human theories be false.

There is a practical application of these truths. First,
we see the exceeding sinfulness of sin. How lost was
man when nothing short of such a sacrifice could save
him ! Christ cried out in tears and agony when He stood
before God in the sinner's place. How terrible must it
be for a sinner, on his own behalf, to attempt to stand
before God ! Christ sank for a time under the weight
of sins not His own. How shall we meet God with sins
upon us which are our own 1 Second, we see here, as
nowhere else, the love of God in Christ. Marvellous
love ! Xo mind can conceive, no heart can feel, no
tongue declare its greatness. The world is full of evi-
dences of God's love, ft is Mdiispered in the winds, it

OUK LORD S MYSTERIOUS SORROW. 149

flashes in the sunlight, but liere is its grandest display.
*' God so loved the world." Third, the duty of ininie-
diate submission to Christ is manifest. It is folly in the
extreme to refuse the great salvation, and dare the wrath
of a holy and just God. Men and women, in God's,
name I admonish you to-day, come and give yourselves
to this great Saviour.

Turn now from the cold ground beneath the olive's
shade, where, on that Thursday night Jesus began to
give the ransom for your sonl. Look to that cross on
which on Friday He completed the purchase price. See
Him bowing His head in death. Hear His triumphant
cry, " It is finished ! " That cross is at once the world's
hope and the world's condemnation. It is at once the
])roof of God's great love and man's great sin. I lift it
before you. Stop, travellers to eternity, it is something
to you that Jesus dies 1 Is there any sorrow hke Christ's ?
But I ask no maudlin sympathy and sentimental pity for
Jesus. It is not for Him but for you that I plead.
Look from the garden of agony and the cross of shame
to the throne of glory on which now He sits. Cast your-
selves as helpless sinners at His feet, exclaiming, with
adoring Thomas, " My Lord and my God," and then
shall you be able joyously to say, " Therefore, being
justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our
Lord Jesus Christ."

XII.
THE PEOMISE OF THE COMFORTER.

And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Com-
forter, that He may abide with you forever." — John 14 : 16.

Some of you are aware that the exposition of these
last discourses of our Lord lias occupied our attention
on Sunday mornings during the entire summer. Con-
tinuing this series of sermons we have reached this morn-
ing the verse now read as the text. This verse opens
for us the great and precious promises which abound in
this part of our Lord's discourse. It was sad enough
for the disciples that Jesus must leave them ; it was
sadder still that He must leave them by death. It was
saddest of all that He must die the death of a slave and
a felon. In order to comfort them Christ gave them
this precious promise which 1 have now read, the prom-
ise of the speedy coming of the divine Paraclete — " And
I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another
Comforter, that He may abide with you forever."

1. ]S"otice, at the outset, that the blessing promised
■was to come in connection with the prayer of Jesus,
^'' And I will pray the Father , and He" shall give you
another Comforter." We are not, however, to suppose
that the prayer was absolutely necessary to the coming
of the Comforter. The Spirit and the Father were as
much interested in the work of the Son as it was possi-
ble for the Son Himself to be. When we speak of the
prayers of Christ we must remember that they are to be

THE PROMISE OF THE COMFORTER. 151

broadly distinguished from our prayers. We make con-
fession of sin ; we invoke divine forgiveness. There is
no confession of sin in the prayers of tlie Son of God ;
no invocation of pardon is anywhere to be found in these
> petitions. He liad no sin to confess ; He needed no
forgiveness. His prayers are not those of an inferior to
a superior, not the prayers of a suppliant beseeching for
a gratuity ; they are simply the declarations of His sov-
ereign will, He standing on the platform of conscious
equality with God the Father. Any other conception
of Christ's prayers will be false to the true exegesis of
the passages in which they are mentioned, and false also
to Christ's character. The very words here imply
Christ's conscious equah'ty, familiarity, and perfect in-
timacy with God. His prayer is simply a declaration of
His sovereign w-ill to His Father, asking for that which
He knows the Father loves to bestow. God is always
represented in the economy of redemption as the source
w^hence all streams of blessing flow ; or, changing the
figure, He is represented as the great foundation on
which the magnificent superstructure of redemption is
erected. There is, then, tlie most entire harmony be-
tween the sacred Three in all the work of man's salva-
tion. We have in this verse, in a very striking way,
all the three persons of the Trinity present for our con-
templation. It is rare that you have each person of the
Trinity suggested so clearly within the compass of a
single verse. The Son is represented as on the earth
offering His prayer, the Father as giving the Spirit, and
the Spirit as coming to comfort the disciples.

Our Lord on another occasion brought out very fully
for us the work of each person in the Trinity. I refer
to the occasion of the nocturnal visit of Nicodemus to
Jesus. H you will go back to that instance you will re-

15,2 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

member that nowhere in all the epistles, ana nowhere
else in the gospels, is the work of each person of the
Trinity brought ont so clearly. Tlie very fact that it
was a secret interview w^ith an intelligent man and an
earnest inquirer, explains Christ's full and free revela-
tion of Himself. It is full of significance. Men have
said that Christ changed His methods of instruction
toward the latter part of His life ; that He became bitter,
and uttered invectives against the Scribes and Pharisees,
because of the disappointment of His entire career. The
interview with Nicodemus occurred before the delivery
of the Sermon on the Mount ; and in that interview He
clearly teaches us that He understood He was to die.
The cross lifted itself gloomy and grand before Him in
that interview. He saw Himself dying thereon. He
taught ns then that '' God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in
Him should not perish, but have everlasting life ;" that
'^ as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even
so must the Son of man be lifted up.' ' You have in this
conversation attention directed to the w^ork of God the
Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit in human re-
demption ; and in the compass of the text you have that
same broad range of truth suggested. Here w^e have the
Trinity in sublimest, divinest harmony in the work of
human redemption, and the Spirit promised in connection
with the prayer of Jesus.

2. You notice, in the second place, that the blessing
promised is that of another Comforter—'' And 1 will
pray the Father and He shall give you another Comfort-
er.'''' The word translated Comforter is found only in
the waitings of John. You look in vain for it in all
other portions of Scripture. We have it four times in
the Gospel recorded by John, as coming from the lips of

THE PROMISE OF THE COMFORTER. 153

Jesus. AYe find it once in tlie first Epistle of Jolm, 2 : L.
In the Gospel, where the word is used by Clirist and
is apph'ed to the third person of the Trinity, it is trans-
lated Comforter ; in the epistle, where it is applied to
Jesus, it is translated Advocate. In both instances the
word is the same ; it is the divine Paraclete.

Commentators divide at the interpretation of this word
generally into two classes. The first class prefer to trans-
late the word Paraclete by our word Comforter ; the
other. Advocate. The fact is that there is no one word in
our language which will adequately express the idea of
the word Paraclete. The word Comforter is too spe-
cific, too limited in its range. The word Advocate is ad-
mirable when applied to the work of God the Son, as the
word is used in the passage in the epistle, to which I
have already referred ; but neither is broad enough and
comprehensive enough to express all the richness, glory,
and blessedness of the idea wrapped up in the word Par-
aclete. If we look at the word itself a little more close-
ly, we shall discover that it is made up of a verb mean-
ing to call, to summon, and of a preposition meaning
by the side of. So the verb and preposition together
mean, one summoned to our side. As concerning the
sacred meaning, it comes, of course, to be one summoned
to our side to render us spiritual help. It means not
simply to comfort us in sorrow, not simply to advocate
our case before a judicial tribunal, but also to perform
many other offices. Our word Comforter comes to us
from Wyckliffe, and he doubtless used it in the sense of
the Latin confortari, which has a broader meaning than
comfort, as we now use that word ; the word comfort
doubtless had the broader meaning earlier in the history
of our language, meaning to strengthen greatly.

We have only to remember that in Oriental countries,

154 CHRIST, AND HIM CllUCIFIED.

and in ancient times, it was quite common for those who
were summoned to appear before courts to have friends
come as their patrons ; these were called in Greek para-
cletes, or, using the corresponding term in Latin, advo-
cates. Thev were not hired pleaders ; their services
were gratuitous. Thej were generally men of large so-
cial influence, sometimes men of political power, and
thej stood by the person arraigned before the tribunal,
to give their legal knowledge, their social influence, and
to help in any one of the many ways in which it was
possible for them to render aid. Exactly that idea is in-
cluded in the word Comforter. A prominent part of the
office of the Comforter, especially when Christ spake the
text, was to give comfort in the simple, natural, ordinary
sense of that term. That the disciples needed ; but it
was onlj' a part of the work of the divine Paraclete.
His work is fully specified for us later in the chapter.
He was to guide the disciples into all truth ; He was to
take the things of Christ and make them kno\Ynto them.
Looking at the history of the Church we see vdiat the
work of the Spirit has been in different ages and coun-
tries. In the Eeformation period, as Dr. Owen sug-
gests, His work was that of an Illuminator. The Word
of God had been sealed ; the Spirit's influence came to
illumine the sacred page and the minds of its readers.
There was a' twofold blessing given to the disciples as
they walked to Emmaus ; their eyes were opened and
the Scriptures were opened. There was this twofold
blessing all through the period of the Reformation. Only
the Spirit, through wdiose guidance these words were
written, can rightly interpret these words. Only as thej''
are read in the light that He bestows can they be under-
stood. Ko one can fully interpret the Word of God but
the Spirit of God. You bring from the Word what you

THE PROMISE OF THE COMFORTER. 155

have eyes to see ; you lind u^liat you have discernment
to diseov^er and hearts to understand. No man can en-
joy the ocean but he who has oceans in his soul ; no man
can appreciate mountains l)ut he who has mountains on
his brain. No man can understand this wondrous revela-
tion of God if he have not the Spirit of God in his own
RouL It thus comes to pass that many simple-minded
Christians, with no show of learning, understand the
mind of the Spirit better than profound scholars who
have not the mind of the Spirit. This is in harmony
with a genernl law. To one man, even Raphael's
" Transfiguration" is only so much painted canvas,
v;hile to another it is a work of matchless beauty and
transcendent genius. The latter has trained eyes to
discover its beauty, and cultivated taste to appreciate the
triumph of its peerless art. So with the Word of God.
In the time of the Reformation, the work of the Holy
Spirit was to illumine. Take the time of Carey, Judson,
and other of our great missionaries ; then the special
work of the Spirit was to awaken the desires and hearts
of His people to their duty in spreading the truth. I
think to-day the influence of the Spirit is on the side of
practical Gliristianity ; on the side of all forms of practi-
cal benevolence— the reaching down to the lowly, and
using all the power of truth, and all the agencies of the
Church of God for the conversion of men.

There never was a time when the Church was more
practical than to-day. Men sometimes have the idea
that the best times of the Church are in the past, that
the world is growing worse. It is not. The Church
was never more intelligent, more benevolent, and more
consecrated than at this time. The world is feeling the
blessed influence of the Church, lifting it to a hfgher
plane and supporting it thereon. This is, in my jadg-

156 CHRIST, AXD HIM CEUCIFIED.

ment, the special work in wliicli the Paraclete is using
His influence now. You see, therefore, both from the
meaning of the word itself, and from the^ actual work of
the Spirit all through the history of the Church of God,
that the word Comforter or Advocate is too limited to
express the full idea which God has w^rapped up in the
word Paraclete. Light also comes upon it from another
quarter, and that is in the use of the word " another" in
this connection. We are taught, that what Christ was
to the disciples, that the Spirit would be to them and to
us. We are taught that He was to take up, continue,
and complete the work which Christ began. Christ
Himself had not ceased as their Adv^ocate, but He had
changed the sphere of His activity. He is now our Advo-
cate with the Father, and the Holy Spirit is the Father's
Advocate with us. There is thus a twofold process of
advocacy constantly going forward, Christ pleading with
God for us, and the Spiiit pleading with us for God.
Whatever Christ did, therefore, during His personal
ministry, that the Spirit was now to continue to do ; for
He was to be another Paraclete. Christ's work during
His ministry was not only that of a Comforter, but more.
And now He tells us as He is about to go that the Spirit
will be another Paraclete. The Spirit is here to do simi-
lar service, to carry forward the work to the triumph
of the Church, the conversion of the world, and the
glory of the Triune God.

3. You will notice, in the third place, that we are
taught here that the Spirit is to have a permanent resi-
dence in the Church ; that '' lie may abide with you
forever y This is the dispensation of the Spirit. I have
called your attention before to the fact that, on the day
of Pentecost, we had the incarnation of the Spirit.
In the manj^er at Bethlehem we had the incarnation of

THE PROMISE OF THE COMFORTER. 157

the second person of the Trinity, and on the day of
Pentecost we had the incarnation of the third person of
the Trinity. Christ liad been in the worhl for limited
periods previous to His coming for thirty-three and one
half years. So the Spirit had been in the world pre-
vious to His incarnation on the day of Pentecost. But
just as Christ, after His birth in the manger at Bethle-
hem, was incarnated in a fuller manifestation, so on the
day of Pentecost the incarnation of the Spirit was more
complete and glorious.

I have lon£^ felt that we make too little of this won-
drous truth ; long felt that only in a limited sense ought
we to pray, " pour out thy Spirit." He is here. Hn-
man souls, redeemed by divine grace, are the '' temples
of the Holy Ghost." When Christ was here, He was
not in a temple ; He only tabernacled, only tented.
This is distinctly stated : '' The Word was made flesh and
dwelt, tented, among us." The difference between a
tent and a home is suggested by the contrast between
Christ's temporary residence and the Spirit's permanent
abode. Before the Exodus, the children of Israel tented,
and had also a tent as God's house. But when they had
possession of the land, when the throne was established,
then God was no longer to be worshipped in a tent, but
in a temple. Precisely as Israel dwelt in a tent did
Christ tabernacle in the flesh ; but the Spirit's presence
is permanent, for the promise is that " He may abide
witli you forever." Christ could not abide ; that was
not the plan in the unfolding of the eternal thought of
God in human redemption. Each person in the blessed
Trinity had His part to perform. Christ performed His
in His perfect life and atoning death, and in His glorious
ascension ; He continues to perform it by His interces-
sion at the ricrht hand of God. I think it fitting, as

158 CHRIST, AXD HIM CRUCIFIED.

illustrating this thought, that I should once more remind
you of the relation between the " Acts of the Apostles"
and the Gospels. The book might better be called the
*' Acts of the Lord " than the ^^Acts of the Apostles."
There is no evidence that the title was given by divine
inspiration, no evidence that it was affixed by Luke. It
is not the work of the apostles to which our attention is
chiefly directed ; it is still to the work of the divine and
ascended Redeemer. This is suggested in the opening
of the book : " The former treatise have 1 made, O
Theophilus, of all that Jesus hegan both to do and
teach, until the day in which He was taken np." And
now" he goes on to tell of all Jesus continues to do after
He had been taken up. Christ is still working. His
pierced palm is on the lielm of the universe. His will
dominates the world. His powder rules the nations. From
His lofty watch-tower in the heavens. He is controlling
all events for the glory of Plis name and the triumph of
His truth. He continues to work there, and the other
Paraclete continues to work here. This, I repeat, is the
dispensation of the Spirit. This is another unfolding of
God's plan. We saw part of the finished v\'ork in the
Old Testament ; but we see the fullest in the work of
the Holy Spirit.

Friends, we ought to emphasize this truth ; we ought
to exalt the work of the Holy Spirit. We ought to give
Him the place that Christ gave Him — that of another
Comforter. You have sometimes wished that you might
have seen Jesus. If you could but carry yourself back
to that time, you would have all the prejudices that the
people of that time had. Were you to go to Palestine
to-day you would be disappointed. There would be no
place except a limited circle about Jacob's well, walk-
ins: in which vou coidd be sure that your feet were where

THE PROMISE OF THE COMFORTER. 159

Christ's had been. Tho hunds of friends and foes, and
the tootli of time, have ttfaeed the ph^^sical memorials
of Christ's presence. Palestine is not so full of Jesus to-
day as is New York. Even Gethsemane would fail to
move you as you had hoped and prayed. It would not
be a blessing had Christ remained upon the earth in phys-
ical form till now. He knew better, for He said, " It
is expedient for )-ou that I go away, for if I go not away
the Comforter will not come." Christ when upon the
earth in physical form had only a local presence. If He
were in one place He could not be in another at the
same time. But now He is gone, and the S[)iiit has
come, filling the hearts of His people, interpreting His
word, carrying forward forever the triumphs of His king-
dom. Itio^ht in line with this thought is seen the mis-
take of those who make too much of the premillennial
advent of Christ. I think that conception, when unduly
pressed, robs the Spirit of something of the honor which
Christ places upon Him. This, I lepcat once more, is
the dispensation of the Spirit. He is here, carrying the
Church into the brighter glories of its certain future.
If Christ in Ilis personal presence were here, I cannot see
how He would control events more successfully than the
promised and present Paraclete is doing.

Men are just the same now as were the disciples.
"When going out to the eastern declivity of the Mount
of Olives, some of the disciples asked Christ if He were
now to restore the kingdom to Israel, and what did He
say ? This : '' It is not for you to know the times or
the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power.
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is
come upon you : and yc shall be witnesses unto Me both
in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto
the uttermost part of the earth." Men are more anxious

160 CHRIST, AXD HIM CRUCIFIED.

to be prophets than witnesses. Your work and mine is
to witness for Christ, by Christlj lives, by pure words,
and by noble deeds.

Let us recognize, good friends, the continual presence,
and rejoice in the glorious power of the Spirit of Truth.
He abides with us forever. Did you notice that word
*' forever ?" Do you think it will be robbed of its mean-
ing at the tomb or grave ? Forever He is to abide with
us, interpreting the things of Christ. Oh, what lessons
we are to learn when we are face to face with Jesus in
His kingdom, and the Spirit is with us, forever inter-
preting the things of Christ ! May we now be under
the continual guidance of the blessed Paraclete ! May
He lead us into all truth, taking the things of Christ and
showing them unto us ! Only as we are thus led by the
Spirit of God do we prove to ourselves and to others that
we are tiie sons of God.

XIIL
CHARACTER AND DESTINY.

'* And these shall go awaj' into everlasting punishment : but the
righteous into life eternal." — Matt. 25 : 46.

We are this evening to discuss the subject of Future
Punishment. It is a solemn and painful subject. At-
tention has been called to it recently in a variety of ways.
This is not to be wondered at. The old ground has to
be gone over again every few years, in tlie case of all
truths and errors. A new generation has come up since
there has been a thorough discussion of this subject. It
is fitting that it be looked at afresh, Ko lover of truth
has anything to fear from the earnest examination of
God's Word. Truth may be crucified or for a time
buried ; but it will eventually come down from the cross,
or up from the grave, and take its rightful place on the
throne. Truth loves the light. Error alone dreads and
avoids it.

Much, however, depends upon the spirit in which such
examinations and discussions take place. A controversial
spirit is bad always and everywhere. It is especially bad
in cormection with so solemn a subject as this. An hum-
ble, teachable, and devout temper is always commend-
able. It is absolutely indispensable here. ^' The secret
of the Lord is with them that fear Ilim." ^' lie that is
spiritual judgeth all things." Every science has its pe-
culiar difficulties, which give way only to him who pos-
sesses the appropriate scientific spirit. The discovery

162 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

and declaration of the truths of God's Word are no excep-
tion.

Personal feeling must give waj^ before the eternal
verities of God's revelation. Painful though this subject
is, I dare not pass over it. If a minister of the Gospel
would say, '^ I am free from the blood of all men," he
must also be able to say, " 1 have not shunned to declare
unto you all the counsel of God." I am not hereto
apologize for God ; I am here to declare His truth. He
is able to protect His character and to defend His Word.
He needs no apology from any of His creatures. Who
are we that we should judge the Eternal ? " Shall not the
Judge of all the earth do right ?" When Christ speaks
we are to listen. Ours it is to sit at His feet and learn
the words of wisdom which fall from His grace- anointed
lips. He knows whereof He affirms. He came from
the bosom of God ; He returned to the throne of the
majesty on high. He voiced the thought of the eternal
God. He is the eternal God. He spoke as one having
authority. The Word of the Lord Jesus before that of
Canon Farrar or Mr. Beecher any day !

It does not seem necessary for me to prove that there
is a future life of some kind, neither need I prove as a
separate proposition that there is a hell. If it can be
shown that punishment is eternal, then there must be a
place or condition, or both, of such punishment. It is
needless to hunt through the Old Testament chasing
after Sheol, or thronghtheNew Testament after Gehenna
and Hades, wearying you with a statement of the num-
ber of times they are mentioned, and the shades of mean-
ing in which they are used. It is admitted by all, who
have any definite belief at all on these subjects, that
those dying in impenitence and sin, suffer punishment in
some form and some degree. Is that punishment end-

CIIARACTEIl AND DESTINY. 1G3

less ? The answer to tliis question carries with it all the
discussions about liell.

PUNISHMENT FALLS ON PERSONS.

The thing which our text suggests is that rewards and
punishments in the future life come upon persons. There
are those who endeavor to show that punishment falls on
sin, but not on the sinner. Such a conclusion results
from a strange confusion of thought. And for the con-
clusion and the confusion alike orthodox Christians are
largely responsible. We constantly hear persons speak
of God as loving the sinner, but hating his sin. There
may be a popular sense in which this is true. But, strictly
speaking, it is impossible, and is misleading. If you think
of sin as an act, you cannot punish it, except as you
punish the actor. If you think of sin as a state of heart
out of which the bad act comes, you can punish it only
by punishing the possessor of that heart. How can you
punish the burglary except as you punish burglars ? The
law which could in this case punish the sin and let the
sinner escape would be wonderfully popular with burg-
lars. To talk of punishing sin and not punishing the
sinner is to talk absolute nonsense.

The words of Christ are in this case in harmony with
the necessary conclusions of our reason. He teaches us
that in the future life men are divided into two classes.
Personality still exists. It cannot be destroyed. A wall
high as heaven and deep as hell, separates man from man
in the deepest solemnities of life, and in the destiny of
eternity. "' These shall go away into everlasting punish-
ment; but the rigliteous into life eternal." We must
stand at the judgment-seat of Christ. Each man for
himself must give account for the deeds done in the hody,
according to that which he hath done, whether good or

104 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

bad. When a soul begins tlie journey of life, it, as a
separate soul, starts on an endless journey. Its life is
deathless. Every child is born for the eternities. Men
and women, you and I must stand before the great
white throne. We must see, amid His dazzling glories
and supernal splendors, Ilim whom we have pierced.
Every eye shall see Ilim. How shall we bear the sight ?
If in the Judge we can see also our loving Saviour, look-
ing forward to that day, we can say : '' Even so, come,
Lord Jesus."

THE BIBLE THE ONLY AUTHORITY.

It is clear that as to the place, the natnre and the du-
ration of future punishment, the Bible must be our au-
thority. I assume that it is true. So do the opponents
of eternal punishment. We have, then, common standing
ground. We, as a denomination, demand a ^' Thus saith
the Lord," for this, as for all other articles of our faith.
No man can decide on any general principle how long
or how much the wicked ought to suffer. Such ques-
tions are too high for us ; we cannot scale their heights.
They are too deep ; we cannot sound their depths. God
is infinitely wise and good. What this wise and good
Being may see fit to determine no mortal can decide.
These questions lie outside the range of human reason.
We do not know, to the full, how heinous sin is, as
committed against the infinitely best Being in the uni-
verse. We know not how far-reaching it is in its conse-
quences. We do know that no sin is self-contained. Its
evil influences stretch out in ever- widening ranges as do
the circles made by the pebble dropped into the quiet
lake. The sins you have this day committed may affect
generations yet unborn. The very air, tainted with the
breath of profanity, will be a witness against the swearer.

CHARACTER AND DESTINY. 105

That oath generated an atmospheric wave which has im-
pinged against the eternal throne. It is treasured up
against the day of wrath. It has been said that, " The
lifting of a hand sends a vibration to the stars." A
young man, when dying, exchiimed in agony, ^' Oh
gather up my influence and let it be buried with me !"
The wish was vain. As well might one call to the winds
to obey his voice. But God knows what sin is in all its
consequences. " He is too good to be unkind ; He is
too wise to err." To the law and to the testimony ; let
God be true, though every man be a liar. We have
simply to learn what God says, and then humbly accept
His authority.

descriptive: terms.

The place of punishment is called in the ^ew Testa-
ment, in general terms, Hades and Gehenna. It is further
described in Luke 10 : 28, asa " place of torment ;" when
the condition of suffering is in mind, it is called " wrath
of God" and " second death ;" it is '' everlasting lire,
prepared for the devil and his angels.' ' It is " hell lire,"
*' where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not
quenched" (Mark D : -M) ; '' the lake which burnethwith
lire and brimstone" (Rev. 21 : 8) ; '' bottomless pit"
(Rev. 9:2); "outer darkness : there shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth" (Matt. 8 : 12) ; " furnace of fire"
(Matt. 13 : 42) ; "unquenchable fire" (Luke 3 : 17) ;
" I am tormented in this ttame" (Luke 16 : 21) ; " black-
ness of darkness" (Jude 13) ; " tormented with fire and
brimstone" (Rev. Itt : 10) ; " The smoke of their tor-
ment ascended up forever and ever : and they have no rest
day nor night" (Rev. 11 : 11).

"We are thus taught that the wicked are to be banished
from the presence of God and all good ; that they will

166 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

be under the dominion of unrestrained evil ; that con-
science will eternally reproach, and remorse forever gnaw ;
tliat they will suffer the natural consequences of sin, and
in addition the penal inflictions of a righteous God.
From all we know of the continuity of law and the per-
manence of character, it is likely that tliey will grow worse
as the ages pass. Are they in literal flames and chains ?
They are in that which can best be described by such
language. Christ is the Truth. He cannot misrepresent ;
whether the account which we have of Lazarus and the
rich man be a history or a parable, it is true. A parable
has its drapery, but the drapery must convey the truth.
If other language than that whicli is nsed of the misery
of the lost would express the truth, other language would
have been used. Christ cannot deceive. Christ would
not needlessly alarm. We may assert, with Dr. Hodge,
that it cannot be literal fire, inasmuch as the devil and
his angels have no material bodies to be acted on by ele-
mental fire. What then ? Kothing is gained. The con-
dition is such that it can be best described by the terriblo
images which the loving Lord invariably uses. Oh, the
ao:onies of a lost soul ! Christ knew its worth. He
knew its awful loss. On the wings of mercy He flew to
its relief. He came to seek and to save that which was
lost.

ARE THESE SUFFERINGS ENDLESS ?

The doctrine held by the great body of Christians in
the various branches of the Church, in all ages, is that
the conscious existence of the soul is unending ; that
those who die alienated from God must so remain for-
ever ; that repentance is impossible, and that the misery
of the impenitent is endless.

CHARACTER AND DESTINY. 1C7

IF NOT. WHAT SHALL WE SUBSTTFUTE i

If this doctrine be not true, in what way sliall wc dis-
pose of the soul ? Yarious opinions have been hekl. It
is not our purpose either to state or to discuss these at
length. Is the soul amiihilated f So some have affiruied.
Gross materialists make thought a secretion of the brain.
It is the brain in motion. They know no soul. Man is
an animal. He is a vegetable. He is what he eats.
Carlyle calls this '' the gospel of dirt." Its '' god is its
belly." It is abominable. It degrades a minister to re-
fute it. Its refutation is an insult to you. Are you no
better than animals? Others assert that no man has a
soul until he is converted. What, then, may we ask, is
converted ? The life Christ gives the righteous is im-
mortality ; the death of the wicked is extinction of life,
it is said. The second death maybe protracted and pain-
ful, but it will come, say the advocates of this doctrine.
Annihilation is the vain hope of men consciously wicked,
and, therefore, fearful. It is weak and cowardly. I un-
hesitatingly affirm that no satisfactory evidence in its
support can be found in the Bible. The Bible, legiti-
mately interpreted, conveys the opposite meaning. I
cannot pause long on this. Any man who will affirm
that the words " life" and '' death" in the' Bible are to
be used in the limited and degraded sense in which An-
nihilationists use them, advertises his utter inability to
interpret any document. Can God annihilate a soul ?
The question is asked with all reverence. He has de-
graded, but He has not annihilated Satan. The immor-
tal in Satan and man is a spark of the divine flame.
Can God annihilate Himself ? A belief in this doctrine
unspeakably degrades the whole scheme of redemption.

Did God give His only begotten Son to the shame and

168 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

agony of the cross Hierely tosave men from annihilation ?
Was this the purpose of Christ's wondrous birth, glori-
ous life, atoning death, victorious resurrection, and tri-
umphant ascension ? If annihilation was the " end-all"
of the wicked, the cross of Calvary was a stupendous
hi under. To say that annihilation is the eternal punish-
me-nt of the wicked is nonsense. Can you punisli those
who have ceased to be ? Can you punish a nonentity ?
As well might you talk of punishing those who were not
born. Oh, men and women, you are immortal ! In-
trenched within its own immortality the soul defies death.
It smiles at the dagger. It cannot die. Where will you
spend eternity ? What will you do with that immortal
and priceless treasure ? Christ came to seek and to save
you, not from annihilation, but from sin and hell, and
to purity here and eternal bliss hereafter. Commit your
souls to Him.

Does a second probation help the matter ? Some have
assumed that punishment is reformatory^ ; that when it
accomplishes its end it will cease, and that all sinners,
men and angels, shall yet be restored to the favor of
God. Origen taught this. This assumption contains
many errors. It assumes that men who have despised
one probation would improve a second. What right has
any man to think he would do so ? What inducements
to repent could God offer men then which He does not
offer now ? The Atonement of Christ and the sanctify-
ing power of the Holy Ghost are the means of salvation.
These are never offered in hell. A man's salvation is
less likely then than now. Is it hard to be a Christian
now ? Xow you have Christ with extended arms and
loving heart. You have an open Bible. You have a
preached Gospel. You have prayer-meetings and Sab-
baths. You have praying parents and friends. Will it

CHARACTER AND DESTINY. 169

be easier to repent in hell ? There you will be banished
from God — under His curse, in unspeakable torments,
without grace, without hope, and with lost men and
devils for your companions. A second probation ! Why
not a third ? Repentance, salvation in hell ! Is hell more
potent to subdue a proud heart than the cross of Cal-
vary ? If so, again I say, that the cross is a stupendous
blunder. I speak to those who trample over a mother's
prayers, who pass by the bleeding love of Jesus as an
unholy thing, and press their way to perdition. What
can God do for you there ? God has already exhausted
Himself ! What more can He do than He has done to
save you ? 1 am not debating a controverted point. I
am striving to win your souL Lord Jesus, have mercy
on these despisers of Thy love !

Another false assumption on this point is that punish-
ment is reformatory. Is this so ? Is this its natural
effect 'i Are there not thousands of men in prison who
are hardened tenfold by their punishment ? Even while
the law has its firm grip upon them, they are plotting
deeper wickedness. Suffering, per se, has no purifying
power. Penalties cannot cleanse the heart. They may
satisfy human law for past crimes, but cannot insure
against future sins. God does not always inflict punish-
ment with the design of reforming men. The desti'uc-
ticn of Sodom and Gomorrah can scarcely be called a re-
form measure. Their cup of wrath was full. God held
it with outstretched arm over the doomed cities. His
servant ceased praying. The cup was poured out. The
terrible monument of God's wrath was all that remained
of the once great city in the beautiful vale of Siddim.

The death of Ananias and Sapphira was rather more
than a reform measure. In these cases God has per-
mitted us to get a glimpse of His workings. Could we

170 CHRIST, AXD HIM CRUCIFIED.

see His '* ways'' as plainly in other cases, no doubt the
history of the race would show tens of thousands of just
such reform measures. How terrible must be the in-
gratitude, and how awful the blindness of men who are
despising the means of grace to-day, and are looking for-
ward to perdition as a school of reform ! Satan has suf-
fered long. Has he reformed ?

But the Word of God refutes this hope. When Paul
says, Rom. 5 ! 18, " That as by the offence of one, judg-
ment came upon all men to condemnation, so by the
righteousness of One the free gift came upon all men
unto justification of life ;" or "as in Adam all die,"
etc., the '^all" is hmited by the context. Where it is
said that He will have all to be saved, it teaches not His
purpose to save all, but rather that He delights not in
the death of any. All the positive evidence which we
shall shortly use to establish the truth of the text, con-
futes the belief in a second probation or a restoration.

But grant that this view were true. Why should men
go to heaven by way of hell ? Why spend an age in
the flames of woe, or even a day, or an hour ; why go at
all to the chambers of perdition, when God has opened
a way by the cross ? I put it to you now. Am I not
right ? God invites you. Jesus waits to welcome you
to-night. Soon your doom will be sealed. The eternal
allotment will be made. The "great gulf" will be
fixed ; and he that is unjust and filthy will be unjust and
filthy still.

Come, then, to Jesus now. He graciously invites ;
He patiently waits. Flee now to the cross, to the feet,
to the heart of Jesus Christ and be saved v/ith an ever-
lasting salvation. God grant it, for His name's sake.
Amen.

FUTURE PUNISHMENT— WHAT?

** And these shall go away into everlasting punishment ; but the
righteous into life eternal." — Matt, 25 : 46.

Once more we approach this deeply solemn subject.
Only as our spirit is tender and prayerful, teachable and
submissive, are we prepared to discuss a subject involv-
ing such tremendous issues. It is fitting now that we
ask and strive to answer some solemn questions.

IS FUTURE PUNISHMENT CONTRARY TO DIVINE LOVE ?

If it be found that the Bible teaches the endlessness of
punishment, we need not hesitate to accept the doctrine
lest it conflict with the justice of God. The human
mind is not able to deal with all the elements of the
problem. We know that punishment should be propor-
tioned to guilt. It is then asked whether any man's
sins in this short life are worthy of eternal punishment.
But the length of a man's punishment is not determined
by the length of time it took him to commit the crime.
It often takes longer to commit a burglary than a murder.
Would a lawyer urge as a reason for a light punishment
that his client, charged with murder, took only thirty sec-
onds to commit the crime ? We judge by the nature of
the crime, not by the time taken to commit it. So long
as men are sinful, they must be miserable. This law is
universal as gravitation ; it is eternal as God. We know
not what punishment is due to a man who sins against
God and His Anointed.

172 CHllIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

IN'eitlier is God's goodness injpiigned by this doctrine.
If sin and misery are here consistent with God's good-
ness, may they not be beyond ? If even the good suffer
here, may not the bad suffer there ? We must not for-
get that God is just as well as benevolent. The penalty
lie imposes on sin is the true measure of its deserts.
There can be no conflict between the elements of His in-
finite perfections. Even God's goodness in its broad
application to His creation, unites with His justice in
demanding the punishment of the ungodly. But this
terrible fact must ever be put alongside of the provisions
of God's grace. He has provided a way of escape. He
sends none to perdition. Men choose death rather than
life. As one of the Puritan fathers said, in substance,
" Over every mansion in glory will be written, ' Free
Grace,' and over every prison-house of woe, the con-
sciences of the lost will compel them to write, ^ De-
served.' " Indeed, God's goodness would be incomplete
were it not associated with a righteous indignation
against all wrong. Lacking this, God would not be God.
Every developed moral nature has this element. We re-
member Bushnell's remark when speaking of the wrath-
principle in God, " Take it away from God and He is
simply Brahma — a mere Fate, or Infinite thing, no Gov-
ernor of the world, but an ideal in the neuter gender of
the True and the Good ; a Beauty that lies in sweet las-
situde on the world for literary souls to make a religion
of for themselves. Take it away from man and he is
only paste, or, at best, an animal." This element gives
majesty to God's character.

If His righteous indignation did not flash out and burn
against wrong, we could neither love nor respect him.
Ours does. We cannot see a little boy hurt by a big
one without feeling it. Never did man love as did Christ.

FUTL-RE PUNISHMENT— WHAT? 173

Never did man denounce wrong as did Clirist. His
wrath flashed out at wrong. lie spoke terrible words.
He baptized them in tears of tenderest love, but the tears
did not extinguisli the fires of His indignation. Head
Christ's h"fe with tliat thought in mind. All pure and
noble souls have this lofty and holy indignation. Christ
was as terrible a preacher as He was a tender preacher.
He was and is King. Men must submit. They must
beware how they treasure up wrath against the day of
wrath. Oh, the wrath of the Lamb ! What incongruous
rhetoric this is ! An angry lamb ! The Lamb of God,
not the Lion of Judah, angry ! Behold the goodness,
ay, and the severity of God !

But let us not forget that society does constantly what
we may find that the Scriptures say God does. Dr.
Parker, in his chapter on Eternal Punishments in " Ecce
Deus," giv^es some suggestive hints on this point. So-
ciety must draw a broad line of demarcation between the
good and the bad. Certain persons it admits ; others it
excludes. Some men it never forgives, never owns so
long as they live. Often it follows them with its wrath
after they are dead. It dare not honor their memory.
This is, so far as it is possible for society to go, eternal
punishment. The very constitution of society necessi-
tates this. Even though a man may repent and reform,
society must still in some cases condemn him. Society
does this in obedience to its deepest moral instincts, why
should we be startled if we find that God does the same
thing ? If we find it necessary to condemn men eter-
nally, so far as our conditions admit, may not God's in-
stincts and the exigencies of His government require the
same thing ? If we are not shocked at our own course,
why need we be at God's ?

174 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

A STRONG PRESUMPTION.

Dr. Hodge calls special attention to the fact tliat nearly
all Christian churches have understood the Bible to teach
the doctrine of the unending punishment of the finally
impenitent. This unanimity of belief cannot be referred
to any philosophical speculation. N'either, as he argues,
can it be accounted for on the ground that the doctrine
in question is congenial to the human mind. It certainly
is not. It never would be believed for its own sake, if
not fully confirmed. The heart unbroken by the Spirit
of God, the heart ignorant of its own guilt, revolts and
rebels against it. Men have felt that they must accept
the doctrine or reject the book. No other explanation
will account for its general reception. Christ and His
apostles found this doctrine. It was held by many — by
the great majority of the Jews. How did Jesus treat it ?
When did He contradict or correct it ? He corrected
many errors. If this was one, might we not expect Him
to correct it ? On the contrary, His teaching tended to
confirm it. Would He confirm His hearers in an error
of such moment ? Who will dare say so ? Is there
not an argument in this negative testimony ?

POSITIVE EVIDENCE.

Christ and His apostles taught most emphatically and
solemnly the eternal punishment of the finally impenitent.
To leave no room for doubt, the doctrine is taught both
affirmatively and negatively ; and, lest some might ques-
tion the meaning of a word, many forms of expression
are used to express the truth. If it can ever be taught,
it is taught in the Bible. It is taught in the Old Testa-
ment. In Isaiah 33 : 14-, the question is asked, " Who
among us shall dwell with the devouring fire ? Who

FUTURE PUNISHMENT — WHAT? 175

among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?" In
Dun. 12 : 2, we read, '^ And many of them that sleep in
the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting
life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." In
the New Testament the language is still clearer. Christ
came to bring life and immortality to light in the Gos-
pel. He came also to bring darkness and death to light.
Both classes of truths were known before ; but on both
lie shed a fuller light. Indeed, Christ uncovered the pit.
We had scarcely known it but for llim. It is now said
as a reproach to some men that they are ^' hell-tire
preachers." Christ was the first and the greatest preach-
er of this class the world has ever known. No such
'' woes" ever fell from human lips as fell from Ilis.
His terrific denunciations, warnings, and rebukes are
scathing and scorching even now. But His awful au-
thority was evermore blended with a tearful tenderness.
There is quite as much love in His threatenings as in
His invitations. When there has been a great railroad
accident in the night, a bridge having fallen and tbe lives
of thousands imperilled, men are sent up and down the
track with colored lanterns to warn approaching trains
of their danger ; they are simply revealing it. They
are ministers of love. When our streets are undergoing
repairs, lights are hung around the openings made.
These are signals of danger. They are erected in love.
Parents are loving, when they say, " My child, there is
danger there. Go not near. Avoid that place. Pass
not near it." So Christ did not, in a very true sense,
create hell ; He revealed it. It existed before He came.
It would have existed had He never come. He revealed
it. He warned us against it. He provided a way of
escape from it. In all honesty and love, and with a
tremendous earnestness, He warned us of our great dan-

176 CHRIST, AXD HIM CRUCIFIED.

ger. It was with such feelings He said, ^' Then shall
He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from
Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil
and his angels" (Matt. 25 : 41). " And these shall go
away into everlasting punishment : but the righteous
into Hfe eternal" (Matt. 25 : 46). In Mark 9 : 43, 44,
Christ says : ^' It is better for thee to enter into life
maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the
fire that never shall be quenched : Where their worm
dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." Attention has
been called to the fact that these awful words are uttered
three times by our loving Lord in a single discourse, as
recorded in this chapter. In Matt. 8 : 12, we read,
" Bat the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into
outer darkness : there shall be weeping and gnashing of
teeth." In Matt. 13 : 42, we have the expression,
^' And shall cast them into a furnace of fire : there shall
be wailing and gnashing of teeth." Luke 16 : 24, ^' I
am tormented in this flame," expresses the misery of
the lost. In John 3 : 36, we have, '' He that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life : and he that believeth
not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God
abideth on him." Paul teaches us, 2 Thess. 1 : 9,
that there are those *^ Who shall be punished with ever-
lasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and
from the glory of His power." In Jude, sixth verse,
we read of the angels which kept not their first estate,
that they are '^ reserved in everlasting chains under dark-
ness unto the judgment of the great day." In Eev. 14 :
10, 11, '• The same shall drink of the wine of tlie wrath of
God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of
His indignation ; and he shall be tormented with fire and
brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the
presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment

FUTURE PUNISHMENT — WHAT? 177

ascendeth up forever and ever, and they have no rest day
nor night."

IT IS ASSUMED ALSO.

It is said of Judas that it had been better for him had
he never been born. This imphes that his punishment
would be eternaL For if there should come a time,
even after ages of suffering, when he should be admitted
to the unspeakable and endless bliss of heaven, then ex-
istence would be a blessing. The blessings of that
heaven would infinitely overbalance the miseries of hell
for a limited time. Of one wicked man, at least, we
know that his sufferings are endless ; if of one, why not
of all wicked men ? Of one class of sins it is positively
affirmed that there is no forgiveness, either in this world,
or in that which is to come. That does not imply that
in the world to come there is forgiveness for any sins.
It is a strong expression to assure us that there is no
forgiveness anywhere for the sin in question. So also is
the account of Lazarus and the rich man. That parable
or history proves that there is a place of torment, a hell ;
that men consciously endure indescribable sufferings, that
these sufferings cannot be alleviated, and that no further
warnings will be given than are given by Moses and the
prophets. These truths, and others also, are clearly
taught.

It is claimed, however, that the word '^ everlasting"
is sometimes used of limited duration. We grant it.
But when it is applied to a limited duration, it is still a
duration whose termination is unknown. It is, there-
fore, practically a limitless duration, even when applied
to material things, as "everlasting hills." When ap-
plied to immaterial things, its meaning must accord with
the nature of the things to which it is applied. AVlien

178 CHRIST, A]S"D HIM CRUCIFIED.

we have no authority, either in the nature of things or
from any other source, to hmit its meaning, it is to be
taken in its full literal sense. Dr. G. W. Clark, in his
commentary on our text, tells us tliat the word aionios,
translated in one clause of the text, everlasting, and in
the other, eternal, is used in the I^ew Testament seventy-
one times. Three times it refers to tlie long indefinite
past. (Eom. 16 : 25 ; 2 Tim. 1 : 9, where the phrase
is translated '' before the world began," and Titus 1 : 2.)
Twice it is applied to complete eternity without begin-
ning or end, once of God, once of the Spirit which was
in Christ, and fifty-one times to the future happiness of
the righteous. Seven times it is used to describe the
future misery of the wicked, and in the remaining cases
it involves the idea of an unending future.

But the Bible is not confined to this word. Lest some
might claim that it is ambiguous, Christ gives us many
instances of such language as we have before quoted,
fire that is unquenchable, worm that never dies, fire that
ascendeth forever and ever, and many other phrases of
like import. The Greek language, with all its marvel-
lous exactness and facility of expressing shades of mean-
ing, possesses no more emphatic words to express the
idea of endless duration than the words which are em-
ployed to describe the punishment of the wicked. If
Christ ever meant to teach this doctrine, He uses in the
text, and elsewhere, the very words to express it. If
these words do not teach it, it cannot be taught. Grant,
for the moment, that Christ intended to teach it ; He
knew the language He used ; He was familiar with all
its shades of meaning. Suppose that you wished to teach
it, and were equally familiar with the language, I assert
that you would use precisely the language which Christ
has used. Christ knew well, when He uttered the text,

FUTURE PUNISHMENT— WHAT? 170

tliat the great majority of men would understand Ilim
to teach this doctrine. If lie did not mean to teach it,
He has knowingly led thousands into grievous error.
This we cannot believe of the great Teacher. He would
not produce unnecessary fear and terror. lie would not
mislead. The word used in the text to describe the per-
petuity of the misery of the wicked is in the original^
precisely the same as that which expresses the unending
happiness of the righteous. If one is limited in dura-
tion, so must the other be limited. The proof that the
righteous will be forever happy rests on precisely the
same ground as that the wicked will be forever miser-
able. Close IilU and you must close heaven also. The
logic that ends cither ends both. Are we prepared for
this conchision ?

I affirm that there is nothing in the Scriptures which
even remotely suggests — far less declares — that the suf-
ferino-s of the lost shall ever have an end. All our rea-
eoningof the permanence of character and the increasing
ratio of evil is along the same line and leads to the same
conclusion. Before these plain and solemn truths of
God's immutable Word we bow in submission and awe,
saying, " Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy
sight."

TO CONCLUDE.

On this whole subject I would say, first, God sends no
man to perdition. Mr. Beecher, in his recent sermon,
put up a man of straw. He attacked him vigorously ;
he trampled on him triumphantly. But after all, he
was only a man of straw. We know no such conception
of God as that preacher ascribed to the orthodox. His
severe asseverations were needless, not to say more.
The Bible nowhere represents God as sending men to

180 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

hell. "We know no orthodox preacher who so presents
God. God offers life ; men choose death ! God cannot
put men by physical force into heaven. It would not
be heaven to men entering it in that way. If all hell
were transferred to-night to heaven, it would still be
hell. The ruffian from the street, or the vile saloon,
, would find the sweetest prayer meeting ever held a very
dull and stupid place. He would long for his revelries and
debaucheries. Such a man, if taken to heaven, would
find it an utterly intolerable place. Take a savage into
your library and drawing-room, show him your treasures
of art and j^our gems of literature ; and the man will be
inexpressibly miserable. He needs a change of taste. He
needs conversion. Do you love Christ now ? Are His
presence and His service irksome to you now ? What,
1 ask, would you do in heaven ? It would be hell to
you. It is mercifid in God to banish from His presence
those who hate Him. There is no heaven anywhere for
a man who hates God. God cannot make a heaven for
such a man. There is no hell anywhere for a man who
loves the Lord Jesus. The devil cannot make a hell for
such a man. If we can imagine such a man's going to
hell, it would cease to be such to him, and wordd be-
come heaven. A man who hates God has the beginnings
of hell in him now, as Milton's Satan says,

" Which way I fly is hell ; myself am hell.'*

An ungodly man carries hell in his heart. He cannot
get away from himself. God cannot help him except
he comes to God's terms. This is true— every man will
go where in his deepest nature he desires to go. That
statement will bear examination. Do you say no man
desires to go to hell ? I tell you thousands desire to live
a life which must end in hell. Look at their lives. They

FUTURE PUN'ISHMEXT— WHAT? 181

are in it, so far as is possible, nov,\ Look at their haunts.
Look at their hearts. Tliey love sin. They must reap
its fruit. What men sow they reap. They must not
expect to sow the seeds of vice and reap the fruits of
virtue. Many a man desires the honors of wealth, but
is not willing to make the necessary sacrifice to earn it.
Then he in his deepest nature does not desire wealth.
He likes ease better. Many a man would like the fame
of learning ; he is not willing to pay the price in honest
work. Then he does not desire learning so much as ease.
Friends, if you are lost you will have committed moral
suicide. Remorse will sting you forever. '^ It might
have been," will, indeed, be to you ^' the saddest words
of tongue or pen." J\ren and women, be wise to-night.
You like sin now ; you will mourn its fruits one day.
Will you be among those who pray for the rocks and
mountains to fall upon them, and to hide them from the
face of Him who sits upon the throne ? The great day
of His wrath is coming ; will you be able to stand ?
The old colored woman was right. In answer to the
flippant objection that there was not brimstone enough
to burn the wicked, she said to the objector, " You take
your brimstone along with you." It is true.

Let me say, again, no man in perdition will suffer
more than he has merited. The sufferings will be inde-
scribably great ; but they will be proportioned to men's
deserts. Those who have sinned under the law, will be
judged and punished by the law. Those who have sinned
without the law, shall be judged without law. Those
who knew their Master's will, and did it not, shall be
beaten with many stripes. Those who knew it not with
few stripes. Punishment is not a matter from the out-
side so much as from the inside. You cannot punish an
innocent man. You cannot help punishing a guilty man.

182 CHRIST, AXD HIM CRUCIFIED.

All who shall be lost know they are guilty. Their
mouths will be stopped before God. The heathen can-
not be punished for not believing in a Sav^iour of whom
they have not heard. Theirs is a different standard ; by
that tlie}^ will be judged. According to it their punish-
ment will be. But how terrible will be the guilt of those
wdio reject Christ ! Are you doing it ? Ilell was pre-
pared for the devil and his angels. If you belong to
Satan, you must dwell with his family.

Once more : pardon is here and now, on the authority
of God, fully and freely offered to all. Do you shrink
from the thought of God's inflicting eternal punishment
on the ungodly ? Are you wiser, are you more loving
than God ? Compared with His love a mother's is "as
moonlight unto sunlight, as w^ater unto wine." He gave
the Son of His love to save you. Would you know your
soul's danger and worth ? Would you know God's love
and mercy 1 Then stand beneath the cross of Calvary.
See the sun veiling His face in mourning. Observe the
quaking earth, shaking as if its heart were breaking.
See God's Beloved dying for you. Oh, matchless love ;
oh, boundless pity ; how terrible is my sin ; how mar-
vellous is God's love ! Hear the voice of your God, as
He warns and entreats you : "Why will ye die, O house
of Israel ? For I have no pleasure in the death of him
that dieth, saith the Lord God : wherefore turn your-
selves and live ye." " Let the wicked forsake his way
. . . and let him return unto the Lord, . . . for He
will abundantly pardon." He urges us to reason with
Him, and promises to make our scarlet sins white as snow,
and our crimson sins like wool. He exhausts Himself in
threatening and entreaties. Christ invites " all," " Who-
soever," "If any man" — that includes you all now.
What more can He say and do ? Will you still trample

FUTURE PUNISIIMEN^T — WHAT? 183

on the offers of mercy and the blood of Calvary on your
way to perdition ? You cannot pass down these aisles
witliout either accepting or rejecting Christ. There lie
stands ! You are diseased. He is the divine Physician.
lie holds out the remedy. See Ilis hands. Each palm

^ bears the print of a nail. The spear-wound is in His
side. He steps across the aisle. I put the question :
'^ What will ye do with Jesus, who is called Christ?"
You say, Nothing. Stop ! 'Not to accept Him is to re-
ject Him. Will you do it again ? Behold the Lily of

' the Valley. See the Plant of Renown. Tlie odor fills
the room. It comes to your senses. It may to-niglit be
the savor of life unto life, or of death unto death. Which
will it be ? You are transacting business for God and
eternity. The righteous spoken of in the text — Who are
they ? '' These are they which came out of great tribu-
lation, and have washed their robes and made them white
in the blood of the Lamb." The fountain is still open.
Wash and be made white as snow. This large congrega-
tion will now separate. We go out imder God's stars.
We shall never all meet again until we meet at the bar
of God.

I have tried to speak faithfully and tenderly. Flip-
pancy or severity ought to hav^e no place here. By the
terrors of the Lord I would persuade you ; by the mer-
cies of God I would draw you ; by the agony of Geth-
semane and the breaking heart of Calvary I would win
you to Jesus and heaven to-night. If you turn not, 3^ou
shall die in your sin. Why will ye die ? Now accept
the offer of God's mercy, and at the last you shall share
in His glory.

BANDS OF LOVE.

*' I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love." — Hosea
11 :4.

If you look for a moment at the context, you will see
that God is here expostulating with Israel because of
their rebellion against Him. He had been very gracious
to Israel ; He had not dealt so with any people under
heaven. When they first began to multiply into a na-
tion in Egypt, He set His love upon them. When fret-
ful and froward as children. He still bore with them and
loved them. With a high hand and outstretched arm He
delivered them from the house of bondage. By marvel-
lous displays of His goodness and greatness He fed them
with manna in the wilderness, and brought them in
safety to the land of promise. Out of Egypt He called
His Son. This was historically true of the children of
Israel ; it was also prophetic of Him who was their Lord
and ours. In this verse and the preceding one, we have
two homely, but expressive figures illustrative of God's
loving-kindness and tender mercy toward Israel. The
first is drawn from the nursery. Israel is thought of as
a child in leading-strings, and God as the gentle mirse-
The narse is at one end of the string, the child at the
other. The trembling, tottering child is encouraged to
venture out and walk forward, because of the strong
hand and loving heart which are thus guiding and sup-
porting. The remaining figure is equally homely and

BANDS OF LOVE. 185

expressive, and to an agricultural people must have been
profoundly significant. The picture suggested is that of
the careful husbandman moving or pulling forward the
yoke or collar from the heated necks of the weary ani-
mals. The design is to let the cooling air in between
the collar and the neck. Otherwise, the neck might be
scalded and the skin be removed. At the end of the
furrow the ploughman does this when the cattle stop a
moment to take breath. The bridle is removed from
their jaws and a handful of grass is given to refresh the
weary animals as they turn to follow the next furrow.
So God removed yokes from the necks of His people ;
so God furnished refreshment for them in their weary
way. By these two figures He sets before us His pa-
tience and thoughtfulness toward His ancient people,
and toward His true children still.

But this morning I confine your thought to the first
clause of the verse — the first fignre here described. It
teaches us God's method of leading men into His king-
dom, and leading them forward to the service and en-
joyment of His Church.

THE DIVINE DRAAVING.

1. We learn, then, in the first place, that God draws
men into His kingdom. It cannot be too strongly em-
phasized that this is God's work. Christ tails us that no
man can come to Him except the Father draw him.
This language of Christ teaches us both the necessity of
such divine drawing and also its actual existence. Man's
inability is not physical. It is a disinclination of his
proud will and stubborn lipart. It is well for us to learn
at the outset our utter helplessness. Only as we learn
that lesson can we avail ourselves of the divine helpful-

186 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

ness. Men will not cry to God for help until they realize
that all other help has utterly failed them. To the
proud-hearted no lesson is more needed, no lesson is more
helpful than this very humbling one. Men evermore
wish to save themselves in their own way. The father
of the lunatic boy cried unto Christ. " Lord, have mercy
on my son !" He identified his case with that of his
son.

This is an opportune lesson for parents to learn. All
other help had failed him. He could then fill his mouth
with arguments ; his prayer was answered ; his son re-
stored, and our Lord was glorified. When Peter realized
that he was sinking amid the waves of the Galilean Sea,
he called out, ^' Lord, save me." Then the strong aim
of Christ interposed, and the sinking disciple was pre-
served. All night Jacob wrestled with the unknown
Stranger. If there was anything for which Jacob was
remarkable, it was his self reliance. His very name,
Jacob, is illustrative of his confidence in his own wits.
His subsequent history justified the significance of his
name. He was the heel-catcher, the tripper-up, the
supplanter. All throngh his relations with Laban his
confidence in his own sagacity never deserts him.
Neither does it now at this crisis of his life on the banks
of the brook Jabbok. Carefully he lays his plans, skil-
fully does he arrange his flocks and herds and family,
and now alone in the darkness the Unknown One ap-
proaches him. Instantly the old Jacob is aroused. He
relies upon himself ; he will fight it out on that hne all
night, but when the morning dawns he has not prevailed.
Now the Unknown One touches his thigh, the pillar of
the wrestler's strength. Now Jacob is weakness itself.
No longer does he resist. He clings to the Stranger.
He entreats His help. His weakness is his mightiest

BANDS OF LOVE. 187

plea. lie prevails in weakness. Tliougli helpless lie is
stroll"", and his siiriiiticant name in future shall be Israel,
not Jacob ; prevailer with God, not the supplanter of
men. In the crisis of every human life there comes,
in a more or less marked form, the experience of Jacob.
Happy is that man who relies on God in his own utter
helplessness, and out of his weakness cries to God for
help. We ought not, however, to forget that this help-
lessness does not destroy responsibility. Many men have
erred on this point. They have spoken as if God was
responsible for their weakness, and as if no responsibility
rested upon them. They hav^e said that they must wait
God's time. This is an abuse of the doctrine of de-
pendence.

We cannot think of human weakness aright except as
we put over against it God's divine provision for human
wants. This is brought out in a striking passage of
Scripture, which says, " Let him take hold of My
strength that he may make peace with Me, and he shall
make peace with Me." You send a letter by a messen-
ger to a friend in Brooklyn. He returns in a little time
without having delivered his message. He tells you that
the river is deep and broad, and the current is strong, that
he cannot swim, and there is no bridge over which he may
pass.* Do you excuse him ? Is that apology accepted ?
You recognize the truth of his statement, but you at once
ask. Was there no ferry ? Of this means of transit he
ought to have availed himself. You hold him responsi-
ble ; you rebuke him for his failure ; you almost despise
him for his stupidity. While between ns and perfect
obedience to God there flows an impassable river, God
lias provided, if we may so say, a divine ferry, and while

* The Bridge was not built when this sermon was preached.

188 CHRIST, AXD HTM CRUCIFIED.

we acknowledge our own helplessness, we must avail our-
selves of God's method of deliverance.

There is a divine drawing. Of this truth reasonable
men have no doubt. God is drawing by the still small
voice of His Spirit. God is also drawing by the thun-
ders of His power. Men say that they will wait God's
time, and God at the same moment declares, '' Now is
the accepted time, now is the day of salvation." God's
drawing is governed by the character of the persons or
objects to be drawn. Yesterday I stood watching the
workmen engaged upon our new church building. A
huge block of stone was to be removed. The ropes and
chains were fastened, a boy touched a handle governing
the power of the steam derrick ; now the stone moves
uneasily in its bed ; now it rises into the air ; and now
it is swung to the opposite side, and slowly and gently
deposited in the desired place. Here was a physical
substance. To remove it a physical power was required.
Physical power was applied. But mem is not a tiling.
God does not so treat him. He will not violate the laws
which He Himself has established. He might break down
every form of resistance by displays of His power, but this
is not His method. He stands at the door of the heart and
knocks. He knocks at the door of faith, and hope, and
love, and reason. With one blow He might shatter the
door and destroy the whole structure. He will not strike
that blow. He respects the laws of being which He Him-
self has ordained. He is the Sovereign, and we know it.
He has made us free, and we know it. He will not en-
croach upon the divinely-given freedom. Involuntary
obedience is not obedience. We are to be willing in the
day of His power. He regards us as possessed of reason,
and He plies that reason with argument. His own language
is, " Come, let us reason together." He condescends to

BANDS OF LOVE. 189

submit His claims to our reason. He regards the affec-
tions which He Himself lias imparted. He strives to
call out these affections toward Himself. He addresses
appeals to conscience. In all these ways God honors the
laws with which He has endowed us. The bolts on the
heart's door are on the inside. You must recognize the
divine drawing and rise and pull back the bolts. It is
man's glory that he is so endowed. But this is a sublime
and solemn inheritance. If men in this dignity of their
own yield to God, a glorious future is assured ; if they
refuse to admit Him, their glory becomes their shame,
and their possible dignity becomes their certain destruc-
tion.

I beseech you that you trifle not with this divine
drawing. From childhood to this very hour God has
been speaking to some of you. He has spoken in sun-
shine and storms, in sorrow and joy, in life and death —
you have still refused to listen. You have despised alike
His invitations and threatenings. In His name I to-day
warn you not longer to resist. You do it at your peril.
Your heart is growing harder ; your will more stubborn.
Your conscience will soon be seared. God will not be
mocked. The hour will soon come when you will call
and He will not hear, when He will laugh at your calam-
ity, and mock when your fear cometli. I must press
these considerations ; my heart longs for your salvation.
It asks once more the solemn question. Are you yielding
your hearts to this divine drawing ? It comes to you
gently as the falling dew ; it comes to you in prosperity
and adversity ; it comes to you in the new-born child ;
it comes to you in the messenger of death that carries
your darhng from your home and your heart. I beseech
you to-day quench not the Spirit ; resist not this divine
drawing ; refuse not the voice of Him that speaketh.

190 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

Despise not the love that lias sought you all these years,
and the grace which would win you to Jesus Christ. If
you reject this divine drawing you despise the only
means of salvation. You trample under foot the blood
of His covenant. The heart will grow harder, the will
more stubborn, and the sensibilities more dead until you
may reach that condition that the apostle describes as
being '' past feeling." In the name of all that is glori-
ous in manhood, in the name of all that is tender in the
divine love, and in the name of all that is blessed in the
future, 1 beseech you to bow at the feet of the Lord
Jesus this morning !

THE HUMAN COED.

2. The text teaches, in the second place, that God
draws with cords of a man. This thou^^Hit I have al-
ready touched upon in speaking of the divine drawing.
It is worthy, however, of fuller exposition and greater
emphasis. While God alone can impart the power. He
uses human instruments. He uses men, not angels, to
carry forward the triumphs of His kingdom. The high-
est angel which bows before His throne would esteem it
an honor to be sent as a messenger of salvation, as an am-
bassador for Christ ; but angels are not sent. This work
is committed to men. Christ became a man that He
might redeem men. He submitted to the law that He
might redeem those who were under the law. He must
assume the nature which He came to deliver ; He must
insert Himself into our humanity at its lowest and
weakest point that He may lift it up into beauty and
glory. All through the history of the race we see this
prominence given to human instrumentality.

This union of divine power and human instrumentali-

BANDS OF LOVE. 191

ty is everywhere seen in tlio Word of God. Only God
could open the way for His people through the Red Sea ;
but Moses must stretch his rod across the waters. Only
God could cause the sparkling waters to come from flinty
rocks ; but Moses must strike the rock with the divinely-
appointed instrument. Only Christ could cause the dead
Lazarus to come forth ; but human hands must remove
the stone. Only Christ could change the water into
wine ; but servants can fill the water-pots with water,
and between the filling and the drawing the divine
power conies down, and ^' the conscious water saw its
God and bhished." What we can do, that we must do.
God will never do for us what we can do for ourselves.
God never wastes power. For wise purposes He intro-
duced miracles, but they are ever kept at the lowest
possible point. It is simply sul)lime to see how God
honors man in the carrying out of His divine purposes.
In every crisis God has His man ready to come forward,
perform his work, and honor His great name. When
Israel is to be led out of Egypt God has His Moses. By
forty years' learning in the courts of Egypt, and by forty
years more in the silence of the desert and in communion
with God, Moses is trained for his grand work. When
Moses lays down the honor of leadership, God has a
Joshua, courageous and strong, to lead His people on
through trial to triumpli. When the Philistines were to
be destroyed God sent Samson into the conflict. David
comes forward with cords to bind the kingdom into unity
and power. When he lays down the sceptre Solomon is
ready to carry forward his work to a greater height of
national glory. When the enemy seemed to have trium-
phed and every knee to have bowed to Baal, God had
Ilis Elijah, fierce and strong, to stand for the right and
to rebuke the wrong ; and by the cords of a man God

192 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

held back the evil and led the right into light and tri-
umph.

The same truth is illustrated in later days. When the
Gospel was to be carried to the Gentiles, God had a man
in readiness. First at the feet of Gamaliel and afterward
in the deserts of Arabia, God was training the noblest
man of the early Church, and, in many respects, the
greatest man the world has ever seen. No other of the
college of apostles, except Paul, had grasp of mind and
energy of purpose sufficient to accomplish this w^ork.
When great doctrines were to be formulated, God had
His Augustine, trained in the schools of pliilosophy, a
teacher of rhetoric, and a man of eloquence, raised up to
declare these great truths. There were reformers before
the Reformation, it is said, nevertheless the Reformation
gave us only one Luther. There w^ere great scholars,
but Calvin stands peerless in his time. When the wdiole
Church slumbered under a dead orthodoxy then God
raised up Wesley and Whitefield, wdiose voices thrilled
England and America, and whose influence will be felt
to the end of time. The same truths are illustrated in
our own day. God is still drawing the w^orld to Himself
by the cords of men. Christ said :" I, if I be lifted up
from the earth, will draw all men unto Me." An up-
lifted Christ is the mightiest magnet the world has ever
seen. He is gloriously uplifted to-day, and lost men and
women are drawn unto Him. The Gospel never was a
greater power than it is to-day. Oh, that God would
give us power to draw souls to Himself ! This is the
noblest earthly ambition. Teachers, win your classes to
Jesus. Parents, cease not to labor and pray for the
children God has given you. God Almighty, give every
preacher in our broad land cords of a man and bands of
love !

BANDS OF LOVE. 103

BANDS OF LOVE.

3. The text teaches up, in the third place, that tliose
who possess this drawing-power arefurnislied with bands
of love. All nien are not suited to this work ; all sorts
of cords will not do it. The word rendered " bands" is
a much stronger word than that translated " cords." It
means cart-ropes. Cart-ropes of love have a marvellous
drawing-power. God does not driv^e ; He leads. So
must His people. His love constrains ; so must ours.
Love is simply irresistible. It triumphs over all ob-
stacles ; it breaks down all opposition ; it wins all sorts
of men. It has a sweet language of its own. It cannot
be imitated. A great and witty American essayist tells
us that he once heard a voice so sweet, that its tones so
controlled him that lie could have been led at its possess-
or's will. The love of Christ in the heart gives such
music to the voice. God pours out His own soul in
these words : " I have loved thee wdth an everlasting
love, therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn
thee." We shall have power to draw men just in pro-
portion as we possess this love. Men are reached through
the heart oftener than through the head. You may put
an immense deal of gospel into a warm grasp of the
hand. It is said that the aggregate force of the heart-
beats of a life-time would pulverize the hardest rock.
They will certainly, if inspired by God's love and ac-
companied by His grace, break the heart of the most
hardened sinner.

'^ Cart-ropes of love. " This is a wonderful expression.
On the shore of the Galilean Sea, Christ submits Peter
to his threefold test. It was a searching time for the
repentant disciple. How shall he be prepared for his
great work ? How be loyal to his Lord { How feed the

194 CHRIST, AXD niM CRUCIFIED.

sheep and the himbs ? We learn from this text that the
first, the second, and the third prerequisite of the true
worker for Christ is — Love. Love will furnish logic ;
love commands eloquence ; love gives tact. Love is
better than tongues ; the greatest gift is love. It out-
works and it outlives all gifts beside. This is a curious
illustration which I saw the other day : In one of her
books, Anna Shipton tells us that when weary with work
and Jonging for rest, she slept and dreamed that she was
drawn through a sea of glass to the Heavenly City. Her
soul was filled with delight at the joy which awaited her,
but looking back she saw many men and women drown-
ing about her, and lifting wild cries to her for help.
She cried unto God to permit her longer to remain that
she might rescue them. Her prayer was answered.
Soon she was again borne heavenward, but not now alone.
Many now were following. They were drawn by her
heart-strings. These were the cables, the cart-ropes, of
love which drew the despairing and drowning to God
and glory.

Love has ever constrained the great workers for God.
In silence and sorrow they have lived and loved. AVhat
giants of faith and love Christianity has produced ! The
names of many are conspicuous on the world's historic
page. The names of many more are unknown to fame.
Their record is on high. In dungeons, deep and dark,
their gentle ways were cables of love ; in the home of the
poor they were angels of mercy. The world knows them
not ; God knows them well. Their names are in the
Lamb's Book of Life. The world has only one Niagara.
It needs only one. Magnificent as it is, it is less useful
than the thousand brooks which flow through green fields
and give drink to man and beast. Silent forces are always
the mightiest. More water is drawn up into the heavens

BANDS OF LOVE. 195

in the silent hour of a summer's noon than could be
drawn by the noisy engines working a year throughout
the world. Gentle souls pass through the world silent
us the falHng iiow ; they leave the benediction of their
presence wherever they go. God multiply their num-
ber ! Oh, for the cart-ropes of love ! Lord Jesus, draw
us, and we will run after Thee ! Give us Thy love and
we shall draw others to Thy blessed feet !

In a book entitled ''Lights and Shadows of Scottish
Life," there is told a story to this effect : A Highland
mother one day left her babe sleeping by the fireside in
her humble cottage. One of the gigantic eagles of the
region seized tlie infant, and in its strong talons soon
bore the babe to its lofty eyrie. The whole village was
aroused ; but the hearts of all sank in despair. Now a
brave sailor appears. He tries to climb the rugged rock.
He, surely, will succeed ; he is accustomed to lofty heights,
but his limbs tremble, his courage fails, and he gives up
the attemj^t. Next comes a robust Highlander. He is a
shepherd. Often he has scaled the mountains ; often he
has borne lambs in his bosom. He climbs a little way,
he stops, he clings to the rock, he falls to the bottom.
But see this pale-faced woman ! Her eyes are wild ;
her heart beats wildly. Make way for her through the
crowd ! she will climb that rock. Who is she ^ What
impels her ? Your hearts answer well. She starts. Up
she goes. She hesitates. Will she give up ? Is she
going to fall ? No, no. On she goes. Now on this
shelf of rock ; now the next. How the hearts of all
tremble ! Up she goes. God have mercy on her ! God
be praised ! Look ! she has reached the top of the cliff ;
she has the child in her arms. Down she comes, step
by step. There she stands amid the joj^ous, grateful
crowd, with the babe pressed to her bosom ! What

196 CHRIST, AXD HIM CKUCIFIED.

made her succeed, wliile sailor and sheplierd failed ? 1
need not tell you who she was. Between her and that
child were cables of love. Cart- ropes of love drew her
to the chff's top.

Friends, on dangerous heights and in deadly depths
are the lost all about us. Who will go to the rescue ?
God alone can save. God alone has brought deliverance.
But God uses the cords of men and the bands of love.
By these He drew us to Himself ; by these Pie is draw-
ing us into fields of service. Oh, for bands of love this
day ! May wo ever hear God saying : ^' I drew them
with cords of a man, with bands of love."

XV] .
BExVRING OXE ANOTHER'S BURDENS.*

•* Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ,"
—Gal. G : 2.

Some passages of Scripture seem to be direct contra-
dictions of certain other passages. Life is called death,
loss, gain, and poverty, riches. To the superficial reader
these seeming contradictions are real. To the closer
student of Scripture and observer of life they are per-
fectly harmonious. In this respect life in all its phases
corroborates the statements of revelation. We every-
where see contradictions and paradoxes. Life is con-
stantly set over against death ; sorrow is opposed to joy,
and other direct opposites are strangely linked together
in every relation in which inenare called to act their part
in the mysterious drama of life.

Every one who has read the chapter from which our
text is taken has observed this seeming contradiction.
In the second verse, which is our text this morning, w^e
read, '' Bear ye one another's burdens," and in the fifth
verse we read, " For every man shall bear his own bur-
den." The injunction to '* bear one another's burdens"
■Is clear and explicit ; and the direct statement that every
man shall bear his own burden is equally clear and ex-
plicit.

The actual experience of life in its various trials recon-

* This sermon was preached May 15th, 1870, being the first sermon
of the author's pastorate.

108 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

ciles tills seeming opposition, and shows how the under-
lying harniony of the two passages appears. There are
burdens which we can bear for our fellow-men ; and
there are other burdens which each must bear alone.
Some crushing burdens there are upon others which with
all our tender sj^upathy and timely aid we cannot re-
move ; griefs there are as the heritage of every child of
Adam which no human love can assuage ; and tears
which no human hand can wipe away. Thus it is that
some of the profoundest truths of revelation and life
emerge from these apparently contradictory statements.
As the fire which is latent in the flint and the steel flashes
forth when they are harshly struck, so the truth, which
otherwise might be hidden, emerges in a clearer light
when such truths come into collision.

Truth is many-sided. Now one side appears to the
partial or total exclusion of the other, and again the hid-
den side appears and the first is concealed. On this side
of the cube of truth is written the command, '' Bear ye
one another's burdens ;" but go around to another side
of the cube, and you read another revelation of actual
life, "For every man shall bear his own burden."
Both truths are taught in the chapter ; both are verified
in the experience of us all, and thus where there was
seeming contradiction there is in reality the fullest har-
mony.

The thought underlying the injunction of the text is
that all men have burdens to bear, and to this thought
we first direct attention. Every heart knows its own
sorrow. Every heart has a history known only to the
individual, and to Him to whom the secrets of all hearts
are known. As in every home there is a closet with its
skeleton, so in every soul there is a secret chamber in
which are buried faded hopes and dead joys. The out-

r>EARIX(l ON"!': AXOTiri'lfs IH'RnKNS. 199

ward life may render no testimony to this inward grief ;
the eye may sparkle and the lip smile, but the grief is
still there, securely hidden from the observer, but sadly
known to its possessor. We remember the story of the
Spartan boy, who stole a deadly weapon and concealed it
in his tunic ; the story is given in different forms. An
accidental collision drove the weapon into his body.
Discovery and confession would have been certain death,
so with true Spartan heroism he talked and smiled while
his life-blood was slowly oozing from his heart.

With more than stiletto sharpness do these hidden
griefs stab the sensitive heart until the color fades from
the cheek, and joy from the life, and death at last claims
its victim. Words spoken by us at random may become
the arrow that thus pierces ; and actions thoughtlessly
performed, the grief that thus blights. There is a fear-
ful aloneness in the lives of us all. Up and down life's
dusty highway and through its secluded alleys each man
walks alone. As individuals vre have personal trans-
actions with God ; as individuals we must know the joy
of sins forgiven and the peace which passes all under-
standing ; or, as individuals we must feel the pain of sins
cryirg for vengeance and of remorse wliich foretells the
death that never dies, Recall this morning that hour
when you yielded to temptation, that hour when sin put
its deadly mark upon the soul, that hour when the briglit
dreams of life faded and remorse became the soul's dread-
ful guest. No more can human sympathy bring to the
heart sweet forgetfulness. When the gates of secrecy
open and the light of truth shines In upon the soul, these
deadly visitors are seen revelling where Jesus alone should
dwell. What a fearful burden is sin ! From one's own
heart and memory one may not escape. Take the wings
of the morning and fly to the uttermost parts of the

200 CHRIST, AND 1II.U CKL'CIFIED.

earth ; but the heart burdened with its memories is still
there. On angel's wing mount, if possible, to heaven,
and heaven will be the worst possible hell. 'No sympathy
of loved one may remove that burden of sin. Only He
who is mighty to save, He who says in words of infinite
tenderness, " Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest," can ease the soul
thus weighed down with the burden of sin. Bunyan's
pilgrim staggered long beneath his burden until his eye
caught sight of the cross, and then his burden rolled
from his weary shoulders.

But there are burdens which we are bound to bear
because of our relation to one another as members of the
same human family. While it is true that men with all
their sins and other burdens are alone before God, it is
also true that we cannot separate ourselves from our fel-
low-men. We are all parts of a common whole. Each
unit is a link in the endless chain of being. We ought
not if we could, and we cannot if we would, break this
chain. There is a grand truth in the words of the
heathen play, '' I am a man, and deem nothing that re-
lates to man foreign to me." We too often forget this
truth. Our patriotism is too often put into Fourth-of-
July orations, our humanity into sermons, and our bur-
den-bearing confined to our own narrow circle. Has
Christ been so long with us and yet have we not known
Him ? Have we not learned from the Pharisee, who in
the woman saw only the sinner, rather than from the
loving Christ who, in the sinner, bowed and weeping at
His feet, saw the woman ? Oh, brothers, that man w4iom
we saw on the street this morning bearing the burden of
his sins in his tottering gait and in his vice-marked face
is still our brother, and we cannot separate ourselves
from him. He has a history ; once life to him was fair

BEARIXG ONE AN'OTHKRVs UUKDEXS. 201

and beautiful as it now is to us. He was made in the
image of God ; sin lias fearfully marred that image, but
its traces are seen still. Immortal destinies are his in joy
or woe. We cannot pass him by ; Christ would not ;
we dare not. Wc may not be able to bear all his bur-
den ; but what we can bear, as we love Christ, we ara
bound to bear ; and wc can certainly point him to the
'' Lamb of God,. who taketh away the sin of the world"
— the Lamb who bore our sins in His own body on the
tree. Wherever we see a man, however low and de-
graded, let us give him the good right hand of a brother
man, and '' so fulfil the law of Christ." That woman
that is a sinner, oh, fair lady, is still thy sister. The re-
lationship cannot be dissolved. The boundless mercy
and tender grace of God have made thee to differ. Let
pride be turned to prayer and cold disdain to loving
pity ; and so shall you fulfil the law of Him who was
'' the friend of publicans and sinners."

A second obligation binding upon us to bear one an-
other's burdens, is the relation whicli we sustain to the
great brotlierhood of Christians.

These words were originally spoken to Christians ; and
to them in their mutual relations is their primary apphca-
tion. Separated as we are by denominational lines, and
yielding to none in our adherence to " the faith once de-
livered to the saints," let us still recognize in all who
love our Lord Jesus Christ brothers in Christian work
and sympathy. While the hosts of sin are pressing hard,
the followers of Christ must stand as an unbroken phalanx
against the onward march of the enemy. Our aims, our
hopes are one. We are to subdue this rebellious world
and bring it into submission at the feet of our conquer-
ing Christ. The burdens of each, then, must be the
burdens of all ; and the triumphs of any branch through

202 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

which flows the life of the vine are the triumphs of all
the branches which partake of that common life.

Not in any outward unity is the true idea of Christian
unity to be found. Outward organizations may give a
cold and dead unity, but oneness of aim in diversity of
method furnishes the only true unity. Where there is
life, there will be diversity ; where there is intellectual
activity, there will be difference of opinion. But where
all draw near to Christ, as the common life and inspira-
tion, there will be a divine harmony beneath the various
external manifestations. Let us be fellow-helpers in the
work of our common Lord, ready to shield the reputa-
tion and bear the burden, as best we may, of all Christ's
people. Let us be provoked to greater love and better
works in our special sphere of Christian labor by the
activities of our brethren in their departments of Christ's
work.

A third and most binding obligation to bear one an-
other's burdens, is the relation we bear to one another as
members of a particular church — of this church— of Christ.
It is a great honor to be a member of a church of Clirist.
No relationship this side of heaven, outside of the family,
should be so tender and true. If rightly appreciated and
faithfully observed none can be so full of blessing.
Here, at least, we should know no master but Christ, no
law but His Word, and no rule but His will. Here, at
least, we should know the meaning of the word, '' breth-
ren." Perfect social equality, perfect community of
feeling, and oneness of tastes, constituted as we are, are
not to be expected, perhaps are not to be desired. But
these differences cannot separate hearts which throb with
love for the Christ whom we adore. It has always been
a, mystery to me that we have so little of the family feel-
insT in our relations as members of a church of Christ.

BEARIN'O OXE AXOTHER'S BURDENS. 203

In entering upon tliis relation with you to-day, a relation
wliich marks this day as one of the most important of
my life, I may be permitted to speak more personally
tlian would otherwise be fitting. Not unadvisedly and
thoughtlessly, but, as I trust, in the fear of God and tlie
love of Christ, do I come to you to-day. The strongest
conviction of my life is that God has called me, all un-
worthy as I am, to preach Ilis blessed Gospel. Long
did my rebellious heart strive against the promptings of
His Spirit, until the tender love of Jesus, my Saviour,
melted me into submission, and I said, " Lord, what
wilt Thou have me to do ?" God has led me by ways of
whicli 1 never dreamed. lie lias revealed Himself to
me as a tender Father who does not despise the w^eakest
of His children. You have called me here— not you,
I hope, but God. I am now yours in Christ's work.
Having given Him tlie early years of boyhood, I now
consecrate to Him the riper years of early manhood.
Without the experience whicli comes from age and tlie
discipline of trial, I shall have to ask you to bear with
me my burdens ; and, as God enables me, I hope to
help you bear yours. Our joys and sorrows, our failures
and successes henceforth, are mutual. We lay ourselves
and all we have and are upon the altar of Christ this
morning, beseeching Ilim for His great love's sake to
grant us the honor of spending and being spent in Ilis
service.

Let us so illustrate the spirit of Christ that this church
shall be in the highest sense a Christian home — a home
to which our hearts, and the hearts of many now without
God and without hope, shall ever turn. May we so learn
Christ that we shall find in His people here the dearest
of all earthly society, that young and old shall feel it to
be a privilege and an honor to belong to this church of

204 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

Christ. If any one is weak that one's weakness is the
burden which we are to help him to carry. His in-
firmity is his cL^im upon our greater strengtli. As we
would wish to lift a weight which had fallen upon the
body of a brother and was crushing oat his life, so shall
we in the Spirit of Christ run to his rescue when tempta-
tion is near, when disappointment has come, and sorrow
has taken up its abode in his heart. Wo cannot stand
idly by when the storm is gathering about our brethren.
If we feel that we are safe on the shore while they arc
out on the sea of temptation, while the waves beat, the
storms howl, and the sun is hidden, we shall heartily
shout, " IIo, men and women ! Ho, brother, see the
light beyond, there is one star still shining, the Star of
Bethlehem. Liglit streams also from the cross ; steer
for that light and you shall be safe. " We need hearts
large enough and true enough to feel every brother's
sorrow, hands strong enough to aid, and words kind
enough to cheer the weakest saint in his life's battle.

Every day men arc tempted to cheat and to lie — to sell
their honor, their manhood, their religion, for gain.
Who may look coldly on his tempted brother ? To-mor-
row he himself may be that tempted and falling one.
Did we but understand the importance and sacredness of
our relations as members of the Church of our Lord, did
we but warn and admonish our young and weaker breth-
ren in the s])irit of Him who prayed for the fainting
Peter, did we but learn of Christ to bear one another's
burdens, hundreds would have been saved to the Church
and cause of the Eedeemer, who are now bringing a re-
proach upon that cause, and the Church would be girded
with new strengtli to win grander victories for her Lord.

We now come to speak of the motive which is to influ-
ence us in this work of burden-bearing, " and so fulfil

BEARING ONE ANOTHER'S BURDENS. 205

the law of Christ." Men are naturally selfish, and this
natural selfishness leads them to shut themselves up in
their own interests. When sin separated man from God,
it also separated man from his fellow-men. Sin is always,
in the individual heart and in society, a disintegrating
force. To enable men to overcome this selfishness,
which is the essence of all sin, a powerful motive must
be brought to bear upon them. But the influence of an
external motive depends, not so much upon the motive
itself as upon the state of mind and heart on which it
operates. So that in order that the law of Christ may
exercise its proper influence upon the heart, the heart
itself must be brought into sympathy and union with
Christ. If we shall do what Christ did, we must be-
come partakers of Christ's life and spirit by personal
fellowship with Him ; we must know what it is to put
on the Lord Jesus, to live over again His life, thinking
His thoughts, and performing, as He may enable us.
His deeds. To the heart unaccjuainted with Jesus and
a stranger to His self-sacrificing love, the bearing of
others' "burdens is utterly repugnant ; and the law of
Christ is utterly powerless to move to action. But if
we have known what it is to die unto self and live unto
Him who died to redeem us, we shall find a joy such as
the world cannot give, in bearing the cross and fulfilling
the law of Christ.

Burden-bearing is here called the law of Christ, and if
we are Christ's we shall manifest the disposition which
is characteristic of those who are governed by His will.
The bearing of burdens, then, becomes a touchstone of
Christian character. Whatever a man may say of his
faith and his creeds, unless he illustrates in his life the
spirit of Christ, we are warranted in saying that he is
none of His. Men cannot long hide themselves. Char-

206 CHKIST, AND Hi:i[ CRUCIFIED.

acter is irrepressible. What is in must come out ; and
the man wlio professes to love Christ, and yet fails to do
what Christ did, is false to truth and Christ, whatever
his professions may be.

This is the law of Christ, first, by direct precept. Ko
more tender words ever fell from the lips of the loving
Saviour than, when in the hours of agony which pre-
ceded the last great trial. He forgets all His own suffer-
ings in His love for His disciples, and bids them love
one another ev^en as He had loved them. By thus over-
coming the spirit of selfishness which is naturally char-
acteristic of us all, men were to recognize the new crea-
tion in Christ Jesus ; the world was thus to know the
power of the love of Christ in subduing the selhshness,
and in stimulating the nobility of human character.
These last words of self-sacrificing love on the part of
Christ have given us the fulfilment of all the command-
ments of the Old Testament ritual, and they have fur-
nished the test of all Christ-like character ever since they
were uttered. When men rise above the narrow con-
cerns and selfish interests of their own affairs to the reali-
zation of Christ's precept — to love one another — they
prove, as they can in no other way, the reality and
beauty of the religion of Christ. The best treatise ever
written on Christian evidences is a life ordered acording
to this model. Oh that we could learn what it is to
know Christ in His character as a bearer of burdens for
others ! Oh that we could so drink in the spirit of His
oft-repeated precept, until we could feel its power and
illustrate its reality in our daily lives with our brethren
in Christ ! How many there are who are known to
Christ — quiet, p)atient men and women— unaccredited
heroes and heroines, whom we may. pass by, but whose
names are written in the Lamb's book of life. Oh for

BEARING ONE ANOTHER'S JJURDENS. 207

the spirit of Christ's precept, to love one another, to
bear one another's burdens, and thus prove the reality
of our own conversion and the reality of the Christian
religion !

But there is a still more important sense in which
burden-bearing is the law of Christ— it was the law illus-
trated by His example. Actions speak louder than
words. Christ's example is the best commentary on Ilis
own teachings. This law so permeated His whole being
that it is seen in every act of His life. In the lofty
strains of prophetic song Christ is represented as the
Burden-bearer. Surely He hath borne our griefs and
carried our sorrows, the Lord hath laid on Him the in-
iquity of us all, He hath poured out His soul unto death,
and He bare the sin of many. The daily scenes which
occurred seven hundred years after this prophecy
was made most unmistakably proclaim Him to be
*'a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief," the
bearer of the burdens of others, burdens which would
have crushed the world to eternal ruin. Those years of
trial, sorrow, and humiliation, who may fully understand
them ? Christ was weary and worn as you or I could
be, yet He was ever ready to listen to the tale of sorrow
and to ease the burdened heart. All day Ho goes about
doing good ; at nightfall His weary feet seek the moun-
tain heights for strength to do the work of burden-bear-
ing on the morrow. He takes on Himself the burden of
the weeping Martha and the sadder Mary. His burden
causes Him to weep and groan ; but He bears it away
and brings joy for sorrow, hope for fear, and life for
death to the stricken household. He is infinitely pure
and holy. Sin in all its forms is a very abomination to
His stainless purity, But see Him eating with publicans
and sinners. The Pharisees stand aloof in holy horror

208 CHRIST, AXD HIM CRUCIFIED.

from those sin-burdened publicans ; they would not
touch the burden with so njucli as their finger. They
would bind another and greater burden upon the already
crushed sinners. I^ot so witli Christ. He puts His own
shoulder beneath it ; He carries it. In obedience to the
tender command, ^' Come unto Me, all ye that labor and
are heavy laden, and I Avill give you rest," the people
throng to Him with bodies burdened witli disease and
souls laden with sin.

Hating sin, He still bears its reproach. Oh, Pharisees,
if you are without sin, cast tlie first stone at her who
kneels at the feet of Christ. She bathes those feet with
her tears ; she wipes them witli her hair. Christ might
have won great reputation with the Pharisees had He
scorned that sinning daughter of Adam. But instead
He bears her burden, and challenges and receives the
admiration of all noble souls, and the hatred of the world
of Pharisees. What a Christ is our Christ ! What a
Jesus is He whom we adore, and to whom we look to-
day for pardon, for guidance, for all we need in life and
death, in time and eternity !

We all have certain characteristics of speech and action
by which our friends come to know us and speak of us.
Hearing certain tones of voice or forms of expression, or
seeing certain modes of dress, they come to speak of those
things as our style. Reverently we would say that bur-
den-bearing is the style of Christ. It permeates His
whole life, manifesting itself even in His seemingly un-
conscious acts. This is the underlying and unifying
principle of His entire life, and His separate acts are but
harmonious parts of the harmonious whole. The life
which begun on earth by humiliation', ended in a deeper
humiliation ; beginning by bearing the burden of a
human body, it ended by suffering in that body beneath

BEARIXO OXE AXOTITER'S BURDEXS. 200

tlie burden of onr sins and sorrows. Go to dark Gctli-
semane, if you would learn the meaninrr of bearing the
burden of others' woes.

There are burdens whicli our friends may help us to
bear. They may shield us and protect us from many of
the sorrows of life, and if they are inspired by the life
and love of Christ, they can help us as even they them-
selves may not imagine. But the burden of sin which
presses on us all, the stings of conscience, the pangs
of remorse, no human power can bear, no love of earth,
however tender and true, can remove. The man who is
a stranger to Christ is thus burdened. He is a voj^ager
without a pilot, a traveller without a guide, a child
without a father, a sinner without a Saviour. If God
spared not His own Son when that Son stood in the room
of sinful man, how can God spare men when they stand
before Him laden with their own guilt ? If the load of
the world's gnilt when laid upon Christ crushed Him into
sorrow too deep for human thought, crushed Him to death
and the grave, oh, how shall any man attempt to stand be-
fore God bearing all the burdens of his guilt ? As God
lives, the soul that has not cast off the burden of his sins
upon the sin-atoning Lamb, shall die.

Hear, this morning, you who have no interest in
Christ, His words of love, '' Come unto Me, all ye that
labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
Brethren, let us hear the words of truth in our text.
'' Bear ye one another's burdens ;" let us be rebuked
and inspired by the life of Christ, so that we may go
and do likewise.

XYLl.
HCTMAJSr MINISTRY A DIVINE GIFT.*

"And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for
that He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry." — 1 Tim.
1: 12.

Timothy was a young man of great hope and promise.
His marked ability, his good reputation, and his gener-
ous character, attracted the notice and won the admira-
tion of the great apostle. A friendship warm and ten-
der was the result.

In the great city of Ephesus Paul earnestly strove to
establish a church of Christ. In the very centre of
heathenism he would uplift the standard of the cross.
Where there w^ere the most magnificent temples to false
gods, there should there be a church to the true God.
Such success crowned his efforts, that there was danger
that the worship of Diana would come into disrepute.
A tumult was excited by Demetrius, and Paul was
obliged to leave the city. What is now to become of
the infant church ? He left Timothy there as its pastor,
instructing him to teach no other doctrine than that
which he was accustomed to teach himself. There were
many and great difficulties to contend against. The
apostle had intended to settle many of these difficulties ;
and he was successfully working toward that result. But
now he is obliged hurriedly to leave before his plans

* Preached Sunday morning, May 10th, 1874, being the Sunday
nearest the fourth anniversary of the present pastorate.

HUMAN" MINISTRY A DIVIXE rjITT. 211

have been perfected, and Timothy is thrust into this
difticult position. lie is a joung man — perliaps not
more than twenty. He is inexperienced. Paul, there-
fore, shortly after his departure, writes him these two
epistles. He gives him many specific directions, and he
speaks words of instruction and comfort for all ministers
and churches to the end of time.

1. The first thing which we learn from this text is
that a call to the ministry is a great honor, and furnishes
sufficient cause for thankfulness — " I thaiik Christ
Jesus," says Paul. Timothy was just beginning his
work ; Paul was ending his. Timothy had reason to
anticipate many difficulties ; Paul had experienced all
these and many more. Timothy^ in prospect of such
trials, may have regretted that he had been called ; Paul,
after experiencing them, and triumphing over them,
rejoiced in his call to the work of the ministry. These
words of the aged veteran putting off his armor must
have greatly cheered the youthful warrior just putting
on his armor. He conceived it to be a high honor be-
stowed on him, that he w^as called of God to preach the
blessed Gospel. It is to the free grace of God that ho
gives the praise. Paul had had other plans for his
future. He never dreamed of being a preacher of the
crucified ^Nazarene. That name once he hated. He
bitterly persecuted all who were called by that name.
But now the thought that so great a trust had been com-
initted to him, as he speaks of in the verse preceding my
text, " According to the glorious Gospel of the blessed
God, which was committed to my trust," awakens his
profoundest gratitude. The thought also of what he
had been before humbles him, and leads him still more
to magnify the grace of God ; for he says of himself,
** Who was before a blasphemer and a persecutor."

213 CHRIST, AND IIIM CRUCIFIED.

This was marvellous grace ; this was matchless love.
He never became so eloquent as when he spoke of his
own unworthiness and the sovereign grace of God.

He abandoned many schemes of high and laudable
ambition. The highest positions in the J ewish synagogue
and nation were open to him — a young man of such
ability and education. But what things were gain he
counted loss ; and what the v/orldly-minded would call
loss he counted highest gain. He exchanged these high
hopes of promotion for shame, imprisonment, stripes,
hunger. Witii such an experience beliind him, and the
prosjDCct of certain death before him, he is still thankful.
So ought any Christian man. God gives no man a
higher honor than when He puts him into the ministry
of the Gospel of Christ. It is a work of toil ; it often
demands the sacrifice of feeling, of ease and comfort.
All prospect of mere worldly honors naust be abandoned.
In the case of many men, even in our own land to-day,
as in the case of Paul, this work is synonymous with
poverty, want, and persecution. It is, nevertheless, so
glorious a work, that an angel in heaven might almost
envy the man whom God calls and qualiiies for the
ministry.

No matter vrhat sacrifices a man must make, he should
bless God that he has ever been called to this work. It
is full of blessedness here and now ; it has the promise
of greater glory hereafter. I have read of a devoted
servant of God, one of the early missionaries in North-
ern New York, a man who knew all the hardships of
ministerial life as we younger men do not know them,
who, toward the close of his life, said : ^' I have for
fifty-one years preached the Gospel of Christ in the midst
of some hardships and many comforts ; and though I
may truly say that I do not fear death, but look upon it

HUMAN MINISTRY A DIVINE GIFT. 213

with great calmness, yet if it should please God to renew
my term of olHce, I would joyfully accept a commission
to preach the Gospel clear up to the day of judgment."

I feel deeply grateful lo God for His favor in putting
me into the ministry. It was not my chosen employ-
ment. I cherished the hope of serving God in the walks
of business life. Any service is Ijlessed ; this is pecul-
iarly blessed. I am thankful for the opportunity t(j
share, as your pastor, in your joys ; to bear with you
your sorrows ; to help you in your intellectual doubts ;
to stand beside you in all the conflicts of life ; and I am
unspeakably thankful for the hope of standing one day
before Christ and saying : " Here am I and the children,
in the Gospel, whom Thou hast given me."

2. A second thought in this text is that all ability
rightly to discharge the duties of the ministry is the gift
of Christ — " I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, loho hath
enabled me.^^ The gifts of mind and heart required for
this work are many and varied. But, however numerous
and various they may be, they all come from Christ.
He is the source of true spiritual life and pov»xr to those
who successfully '^preach the Word." They need
special grace in their own inner life. To preach power-
fully the truth a man must have felt its power. He
must have appropriated it in its saving effects in his own
Iieart's experience. A more hollow and heartless woik
no man ever engaged in than the preaching of the Gospel
when a man has not himself realized it to be " the power
of God unto salvation." God save me from such de-
grading slavery and abhorrent impiety.

The ministry needs the weapons which the highest and
most varied culture in science, art, and literature can
furnish. Every field of investigation is open ; every
lawful weapon is to be used ; but power to do good work

214 CHRIST, AXD HIM CRUCIFIED.

for God is tlie gift of God in Christ. ^' All power be-
longetli unto Me," saitli God. In the depths of his soul
the minister needs to realize this. He must glory in the
cross ; he must feel that he is anointed of God to
preach. It was well said bj a briUiant young preacher,
now dead, John Milton Holmes : " The stream can rise
no higher than the fountain-head. If the fountain is
not far above the ambition, the strength, the joy of the
world, then the streams of Zion will soon be dry. In
parish life, in pulpit life, in study life, the strength of
God must be as constant and as vital as the fresh air.
. . . According to the Greek mythology, wlien Hercules
wrestled with Anteus, he could not master him. Anteus
was small and Hercules was large. Anteus was puny,
Hercules was renowned for invincible strength. Yet
Hercules was baffled, because his opponent was all the
while receiving thrills of strength from his mother earth.
So long as he touched the earth, he was strong and safe.
Hercules at last succeeded in lifting him up in the air,
and then Anteus, in his own unaided strength, was un-
able to resist the death-grip of the conqueror. What the
earth was to Anteus heaven is to the Christian minister ;
thence he derives his daily strength, and calmly exclaims,
' 1 can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth
me.' " Brethren, pray for me, that in all things I may
have divine wisdom and power.

3. We learn also from this text, in the third place,
that genuine fidelity as wxll as true ability must come
from Christ — " For that He counted me faithful."

There were elements of true manliness in Paul before
his conversion. Ho was faithful to what he believed as
a Jew. Still he has reference here especially to the
faithfulness which grace bestowed on him. Christ
counted him faithful, because He made and kept him so

HUMAN MINISTRY A DIVINE GIFT. 215

by His grace — making him a steward of tlie manifold
mysteries of God. Kowliere else in God's kingdom are
such trusts committed to men ; and no one ouglit to
assume these trusts who is not determined, by God's
help, to be faithful to them. The Christian minister
should be faithful, first, in declaring ^^ the glorious Gospel
of the blessed God." He must preach the whole coun-
sel of God, He dare not refuse to speak anything which
God has commanded. To him comes always the mes-
sage : ^' Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people
all the words of this life." The true minister lias no
option. He belongs to Christ. His word is law. The
preacher must do his duty. Souls are required of him.
Their blood must not be found on him. In the discharge
of this duty, he may often have to run counter to the
prejudices of his hearers. He must never give needless
offence ; but he must be faitliful. !N"othing will ever
justify a minister in causelessly wounding tlic feelings of
any ; but nothing will ever justify him in withholding
God's truth, even at the expense of wounding the feel-
ings of some. A wise man may be faithful, and yet
speak so tenderly as to win the love and secure the con-
viction of right-minded hearers, even when preaching
what at the first was unwelcome truth. This requires
the wisdom of the serpent and the liarmlessness of the
dove.

The preacher must be faithful to the interests of the
local church. He will have many other duties which
will demand his attention. He must not forget, how-
ever, that he is a pastor of a particular church. But a
church must leave the disposition of the pastor's time
Iaro;elv to his own iudo-ment. I know that I am often
best serving you by spending my time \\\ my study with
my books, when some of you might think I could best

216 CHRIST, AXD IIi:iI CKL'CIFILD.

serve jou by chatting with you in your parlor. If yoa
have confidence in me, you Vv'ill be willing to leave many
of these things to my own judgment. I recognize afc
once that you have the first claims upon me. It is in
the discharge of these claims that 1 am often engaged in
work for other denominations, and for our own denomi-
nation in its city and national work. As a church, you
stand in certain relations to the Christian world and the
Baptist denomination ; and I cannot be faithful to you
except I am willing to discharge the duties which these
relations make binding upon us. I am, therefore, often
doing your work when, perhaps, some of you think I am
neglecting it, and doing work which belongs neither to
you nor me. Faithfulness to you covers a wide range.

I recognize also, in the position which I occupy, that
I am to be faithful to the principles of the Baptist de-
nomination. I accept these principles, because I believe
they are taught in Scripture. If I did not so believe,
I would not hold them for a single hour. No denomi-
national authority could compel me. I became yonr
pastor on a well-defined basis of belief — understood by
you in calling me, and understood by me in accepting
that call. ISTow, I afSrm that the moment I cannot con-
scientiously hold these views, that moment I should
cease to be your pastor. I received ordination, and was
admitted into the Baptist ministry, on the basis of beliefs
held now, as of old, by the denomination. These views
were well understood by me, and by those who welcomed
me into this great brotherhood. I^ow, 1 hold that the
moment I abandon these views I should cease to call
myself a Baptist minister. Common honesty — recog-
nized everywhere among business men — not to speak of
higher claims, demands this. All these relations are
voluntary. "We enter them without compulsion. Both

HUMAN MINISTRY A DIVINE GIFT. 217

parties accept the basis of belief. Surely when either
party repudiates that belief, the relation should be dis-
solved, and the name it implies abandoned.

Just now, in certain quarters, opposite views prevail ;
and men are lauded in proportion as they are unfaithful
to their ordination and other vows. Surely common
honesty will not always be at such a discount. I greatly
admire the course which the Ilev. W. T. Sabine has re-
cently pursued. When he found himself no longer able
conscientiously to teach the doctrines of the Protestant
Episcopal Church, as laid down in its prayer-book and
rituals, he (piietly resigned his position, and left the de-
nomination. I think he was much more consistent than
many in that Church, who practically repudiate its dis-
tinctive teachings, and yet insist upon remaining in it — •
using its name, and enjoying the social position and other
emoluments which that name gives. I agree with the
views wdiicli these men hold in opposition to some of the
practices of that Church ; but I do heartily disagree with
them in endeavoring to retain that connection while hold-
ing such views. Is an oath to obey a bishop less binding
than an ordinary promise to an ordinary man ? It will
not do to say that the oath is capable of several inter-
pretations. What is its natural meaning ? What was
the miderstanding of the oath mutuallj^ agreed to when
it was taken ? If a man cannot conscientiously obey his
spiritual superior, whom he has solemnly promised to
obey, he ought to leave the Church over which that
superior presides.

These principles apply to ourselves. There arc men
who were ordained and installed as pastors of Baptist
churches on the well-defined basis of our beliefs. These
men have abandoned these views. They have a perfect
right to do that ; no one questions that right. But they

218 CHRIST, AXD HIM CRUCIFIED.

hare no right to retain their connection with the churches
after thej have repudiated the principles on which tha,t
connection was formed. Out upon such dishonesty !
It is unworthy of any partnership in a business firm, let
alone the relation of a pastor to his people. I do not
envy the reputation, among all honest men, of those
pastors who have been placed over churches by assenting
to certain views and who are determined to keep their
places, and secure a living, although they have aban-
doned the principles which procured them their positions.
These principles are important. A short time ago in the
city of Chicago, one denomination was greatly disturbed,
and to-day another in that city is, because of the failure
to reduce these views to practice.

Brethren, I will never give you trouble from this
cause. When I can no longer subscribe to Baptist prin-
ciples, I shall no longer claim to be a Baptist. AYhen I
can no longer preach the views on which you accepted
me as your pastor, I shall cease to be your pastor — I
sliall cease to call myself a Baptist minister. God forbid
that I should scatter and destroy the fiock over which
He has placed me. I pray that in this, too, I may be
''counted faithful."

4. Tliere is this further thought : All true ministers
liave been put into this service by Christ — '^ putting mo
into the ministry." To Paul it was a very real one.
He felt that he had been literally put into this service.
lie heard the voice of Christ saying to him : '' But rise,
and stand upon thy feet : for I have appeared unto thee
for this purpose, to maJce thee a minister and a witness
both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those
things in the which I will appear unto thee." Paul
*' was not disobedient to the heavenly vision." I believe
in the old-fashioned ^' call'' to the ministry; I believe

HUMAN MINISTRY A DIVINE GIFT. 210

God now," as in the days of Jeremiah, condemns those
who answer when they are not called : " I have not sent
these prophets, yet they ran ; I have not spoken to them,
yet they prophesied." God only can properly call and
qualify men to preach the everlasting Gospel. Wemnst
never lose siecht of this truth. Our fathers made false
inferences from it, when they discarded education and
other equipments for their ministers. But they were
right in emphasizing the truth. God alone can give the
tools to His workmen. Education may assist in sharpen-
inir those tools ; but even this education, to be success-
ful, must be considered, not apart from God, but as one
of Ilis appointed methods, in accomplishing Ilis divine
purposes. I thank God that the deepest experience of
my life is, that I was called to the work of the ministry.
This occasion will justify, 1 trust, these personal allu-
sions. 1 could as soon doubt the reality of my own ex-
istence as the reality of this call. One evidence that
God calls a man to preach is, that He calls a congrega-
tion to hear him. I thank God, that He has giv^en us,
to a good degree, this evidence. I know it is far from
being conclusive evidence that a man is called of God
because ho has a congregation to hear him ; but I believe
that if a man is so called, he will have a congregation to
hear him.

I would thank God for putting me into the ministry
anywhere. I thank Him still more for giving me a place
in this great city. It is a grand city. New York sits
like a queen on her island throne. The wealth, the pov-
erty, the good, the bad of the world are brought to her.
Xew York, like a mighty reservoir, draws in brain and
muscle from all parts of the country ; and she sends out
again her streams to bless or curse mankind. There is
no greater centre of brain power, as seen in magazines.

220 CHRIST, AXD Uni CliUCIFIED.

newspapers, and books, on this continent than New
York. It is a great thing to strike for God and His
truth liere, at the centre of influence for this entire
country. 1 feel the inspiration of this great city ; I feel
sometimes as if it would swallow me up — as if I could
not stem its tide of worldliness and excitement. But if
there is much evil here, there is also much good. If it is
the worst, it is also the best city on the continent. The
largest liberality, the noblest manhood, and the most con-
secrated womanliood I have ever known I have seen
here.

I bless and thank God that He has put me into the
ministry in this church. I love you all. You were my
first, and, thus far, my only love. You took me with-
out the knovvdedge which age gives, and without the
wisdom which comes from experience. You took me
vrhen my stock was below par ; if it has come up any
since, you deserve the credit, and you shall have the
profit.

God has blessed our imperfect endeavors. Our actual
membership has more tlian doubled during these four
years. The Spirit has been with us continually. "VYe
have striven to develop symmetrical Christian character,
and to honor God's Word by giving its study a promi-
nent place in our work. We have cultivated a spirit of
liberality in time and money. Never before, in the
history of this church, was so much money raised for be-
nevolent objects. More than $70,000 have been given
since I became your pastor, four years ago to-day ; and of
this amount, $50,000 have been given since October 1st,
1872, and half of the fifty during the past associational
year. These amounts do not include all the private con-
tributions ; they simply show what appears on the church
books. We have given great prominence to the younger

HUMAN MINISTRY A DIVINE GIFT. 221

element in tlie cluircli, and the result has justified our
course. "With o-ratitude we mention the fact that but
one of our members has died during the past year, and
tJiat the kindest relations exist between the pastor and
all the officers of the church.

In the future as in the past, our motto will be :
''Christ, and Him crucified." I trust I may be the
kind of minister so finely described by a sweet singer :

" In his duty prompt at ever}' call,

He watched and wept, he prayed arid felt for all ;
And as a bird each fond endearment tries,
To tempt its new-fledged offsi:)ring to the skies,
He tried each art, reproved each dull delay,
Allured to brighter worlds, and led the way."

XYIII.

MARYELLOLTS KIjS^DNESS IN A STRONG
CITY/^

"Blessed be tlie Lord : for He bath shewed me His mirvellous
kindness in a strong city." — Psa. 31 : 21.

This psalm is attributed to David. Some writers,
however, find in it many resemblances to Jeremiah. Its
tenderness and plaintiveneas resemble the Book of Lamen-
tations. Competent critics, like Eu-ald and Hitzig, be-
lieve that Jeremiah was its author. The resemblances
between the psalm and some portions of the writings of
Jeremiah are certainly very marked. But Perowne
suggests that the prophet Jeremiah may have borrowed
from the psalmist, or that the psalmist— who may have
been one of the later poets — borrowed from the prophet.
The first of these suppositions is the more likely, and the
psalm is David's in all probabihty. As the same judi-
cious writer remarks : " It breathes his rare tenderness
of spirit as well as his faith and courage." Many of the
figures are in the most perfect harmony with the manner
of Israel's sweet and royal singer.

It is impossible to decide on what occasion it was writ-
ten. The deliverance referred to may be David's nar-
row escape at Keilah, or the time when he fled from
Saul into the wilderness of Maon. We cannot decide
this point. The psalm is divided into three principal

* Tenth anniversary sermon preached on Sunday morning nearest
May loth. 1880.

MARVELLOL'S KINDNESS IN" A STRUNG CITY. 223

parts. The lirst includes the first eiglit verses. In this
part the writer prays to God to be gracious to him and
expresses his unwavering faith. The second part begins
with the ninth and goes to the end of the eighteenth
verse. Here the story of tlie writer's sufferings is told,
and God is again besought to lift upon him the light of
His countenance and to humiliate his enemies. The
third part goes from the nineteenth verse to the end of
the psalm. Here we have praise and thanksgiving to
God for His goodness to all who trust Him.

In the text he turns from the general truth stated in
this part of the psalm, to its application in his own ex-
perience. What is meant by the strong or fenced city ?
Is there an historical reference in the words ? Perhaps
so. If so, the city may be Ziklag, a fortified city, where
David took refuge with Achish, King of Gath. Others
suppose that Keilali is the city referred to. Perhaps it
is better to understand the expression as metaphorical.
It is as if David had said, " I am as if in a fortified
city."

These words express my thoughts to-day : '' Blessed
be the Lord : for He hath shewed me His marvellous
kindness in a strong city." Ten years ago this morning
1 stood in this place for the first time as the pastor of
this church. Not only did I then enter upon my pastor-
ate here, but upon my first pastorate anywhere. I came
to you immediately upon the completion of my studies.
On May I5th, 1870, the work was begun. The text on
that occasion was, " Bear ye one another's burdens, and
so fulfil the law of Christ" (Gal. 6 : 2). In the course
of the sermon these words were used : '* In entering
upon this relationship to-day, I may be permitted to
speak more personally than would othervv'ise be fitting.
!N"ot unadvisedly and thoughtlessly, bat, as I trust, in the

224: CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

fear of God and love of Christ, do I come to you to-
day. The strongest conviction of my life is that God
has called me, all unworthy as I am, to preach His
Gospel. Long did my rebellious heart strive against the
promptings of His Spirit, until the tender love of Jesus
my Saviour melted me into submission, and I said :
^ Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do ?' God has led
me by ways of which I never dreamed. He has revealed
Himself to me as a tender Father who does not despise
the weakest of His children. You have called me here —
not you, I hope, but God. I am now yours in Christ's
work. Having given Him the early years of boyhood,
I now consecrate to Him the riper years of early man-
hood. Without the experience vdiich comes from age
and the discipline of trial, I shall have to ask you to
bear with me my burdens, and, as God enables me, I
hope to help you bear yours. Our joys and sorrows, our
failures and successes henceforth are mutual. We lay
ourselves and all we have and are upon the altar of
Christ this morning, beseeching Him for His great love's
sake to grant us the honor of spending and being spent
in His service. Let us so illustrate the spirit of Christ
that this church shall be in the highest sense a Christian
home — a home to which our hearts shall ever turn. May
we so learn Christ that we shall find in His people hero
the dearest of all earthly society, that young and old may
feel it to be a privilege and honor to belong to this
church of Christ."

These words were spoken ten years ago. They struck
the key-note of this hoped-for ministry. Ten years have
gone. AVhat of this hope have they realized ? They
have been marked by many shortcomings and failures ;
but they have borne constant testimony to God's marvel-
lous kindness in tliis stroni^' citv. Thev were entered on

MARVELLOUS KINDNESS IN A STRONG CITY. 225

-witli many misgivings ; the congregations were small,
and the prayer-meetings were neither large nor warm.
The pastor could biing neither experience nor reputa-
tion. Other pulpits were filled with men who had both
experience and reputation. We all felt the need of re-
lying upon God, as if He must do all, and of using our
best endeavors, as if we must do all. So the work be-
gan ; so the years have come and gone. In a spirit of
gratitude to God this morning let us recount the " good-
ness and mercy" which like twin angels have followed
US through these ten years. We can say, Blessed be the
Lord for His marvellous kindness in a strong city.

1. Because of the material prosperity which He has
given us.

Fortunately when the present pastorate was begun,
there was no funded debt on this house. There was a
small floating debt which was soon removed. Had there
been a large debt, probably this ministry would never
have been attempted. Great sacrifices were made by
my beloved and honored predecessor. Dr. Gillette, and
those associated with him. But notwithstanding their
sacrifices and their successes a debt at the conclusion of
his ministry here remained. During the pastorate of
Dr. Buckland, one of our wisest and best men— a brother
to whom I am indebted more than any words can ex-
press, Nathan Bishop, LL.D.— took the lead in the effort
to have the debt removed. He acted simply in accord-
ance with his judgment and conscience, and not under
the impulse of any general debt-paying movement, such
as we have since seen inaugurated among the churches.
It was a great undertaking. The number of members
then was small as compared with the present number.
Some who were able were not hopeful of success and did
not do what perhaps they might have done to insure

226 CHEIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

success. But the noble man toiled on ; ocliers gave
time, money, and counsel, and finally the debt was paid,
without asking help from any outside sources. It was a
grand work, grandly done. All honor to the noble men
and women who did it. Had the debt not been removed
then, its presence would have seriously crippled us.
Hard times soon followed, and perhaps but for the fore-
sight and sacrifice of a few then, we might have a debt
to this hour. It is a great pity that other churches did
not do likewise. Half the churches that are groaning
under heavy debts might have removed them years ago
if a like spirit of v/ise self-sacrifice had prevailed.

In the summer of 1871 quite extensive changes were
made in our house of worship. The walls were refrescoed,
the wood-work repainted, the floors recarpeted,and a sky-
light put in, thus relieving the church of its former gloom ;
at that time also our new and admirable baptistery was
constructed. These changes cost us a considerable sum,
which soon was promptly paid by voluntary offerings.
The next summer we refurnished and refrescoed our
lecture-room, at a cost of $1000 ; and this amount also
was promptly paid. Daring all these years the current
expenses of the church, which are about $10,000 a year,
have been met, and the floating debt of ten years ago has
been paid by the regular income from pew rentals and
collections. No special collection has ever been taken
to make up deficits ; for tliis result I am heartily glad.
It would have made me uncomfortable to feel that friends
were making personal sacrifices in addition to pew rents
to pay the pastor's salary and other current expenses.
Of course our expenses have not been so high as they are
in many churches in our great city. If we had a large
number of desirable pews at low rates they could be
rented even now in this springtime when the tendency is

MARVELLOUS KINDXESS IN" A STRONG CITY. 227

to go out of tlie city ; but, unfortunately, wo have not.
Neither have we e\^er adopted wliat is called the " En-
velope System." But it is desirable, and it is expected,
that every member who can at all afford it should give a
certain amount weekly according as the Lord has pros-
pered each. This amount can be put into the basket
as it is passed ; and it is to be regretted that a largo
number of our people have not hitherto felt their obliga-
tions in this respect. Even when they are absent from
the city the expenses of the church continue, and they
should make provision for a continuance of their con-
tribution to its support. Blessed be the Lord for His
kindness to us in regard to material support in the past ;
and let us all from this day forth strive to contribute
more for the support of Ilis cause in this strong city.

2. A second cause for gratitude to-day is found in the
peace and harmony which have prevailed during these
ten years. Indeed, the same remark will apply, with
more or less fitness, to the whole history of the church.
But we are more especially interested to-day in the ten
years under review. Scarcely during that time has even
a ripple disturbed the smooth surface of our church life.
We have been at peace among ourselves ; we have been
at peace with all our brethren of our own churches, and
with those of other denominations. It is a serious mat-
ter for a church to assume a position which becomes a
source of trouble and misunderstanding among the
churches of its own denomination. Seldom, indeed, is
a church justified in assuming such a position. Never
has there been an unkinder word spoken in a business
meeting than the words I am speaking at this moment.
Surely we ought to say with the psalmist, " Blessed be
the Lord, who hath shewed us His marvellous kindness"
in this respect.

228 CHRIST, AND IIIM CRUCIFIED.

But ours lias not been the peace of death. We have
rather iUustrated the apostle's words when he says, *' life
and peace ;" rather a remarkable combination of words.
Where there is independence of thought and action in a
church of this size it is inevitable that differences of
opinion will arise ; but where the spirit of Christ pre-
vails these personal preferences will never be pushed so
as to destroy, or even to disturb, the harmony of the
Church of Christ. The existence of a judicious Advisory
Committee, before which all matters of business shall
come, has contributed much to the harmony which has
prevailed. Much of the business which is introduced
into many of our churches ought never to J)e introduced.
Many misunderstandings might be settled without such
publicity. Church meetings seldom really settle any-
thing, and business which has to be brought in ought
first to be so matured that much subsequent discussion
is quite unnecessary. Ordinarily the fewer business
meetings there are the better. Some men can talk
eloquently in business meetings where a whole even-
ing is given to this purpose, whose voices are never heard
in prayer or j) raise. This committee — as its name im-
plies— is only advisory ; it has no legislative power. It
is simply the servant of the church, doing the work for
which the church has appointed it. It is the pastor's
cabinet. With such a committee, a Baptist church can
have all the advantages of churches wliich have Sessions
with legislative functions ; and such Baptist churches
may still retain in full force their democratic character.
A little sanctified common sense in our churches, and
church quarrels would be unknown. We have never
had in this churchmen wdiowere ambitious to rule. We
have often found it difficult to get men willing to take
the places to which they had been elected. May God

MARVELLOUS KINDNESS IN A STRONG CITY. 22!J

preserve to ns in the future as in the p:ist tin's beautiful
liannony and peace.

3. We bless God to-day for His kindness to us in f]jlv-
ing us, to some degree, a missionary and aggressive spirit.
We have realized that an anti-mission church is an anti-
Christian church. We have learned that often the best
Vv^ay to strengthen the things that remain is vigorously to
attack the things that resist. A church that has no mis-
sionary spirit is a church for which God has no use, the
world no respect, and the devil no dread. Its burial
may be postponed for a while, but it is dead. We have
labored for rich and poor alike. Every man for whom
Christ died is a man for whom we should live and labor.
Only those who have no well-recognized social position
are afraid to associate with those who may be a little
below them in the social scale. Those of assured position
rejoice in reaching out the hand of Christian love.
Those who are afraid of compromising their position by
doing Christ's work are those who have no true position
to compromise. We have striven to ask, " Lord, what
wilt Thou have us to do V All other considerations
have been secondary. We have taken hold earnestly of
our city mission work. During these ten years our pres-
ent society has been formed. It has been wonderfully
successful ; indeed, I know of no mission work similarly
successful. This church has been from the first its chief
supporter. We have given money with a liberal hand,
and God has rewarded us a thousandfold. God has given
us a great field in this city. It is a strong, a fortified
city, and yet it has great elements of weakness. As the
metropolitan city of America, first in wealth, first in
numbers, first in culture, and first in enterprise. New
York exercises a controlling influence on this continent.
Every blow struck for truth here echoes from the Atlan-

230 CIIIUST, AXD HIM CRUCIFIED.

tic to tlie Pacific. Secretary Sherman said in New York
a few evenings ago that soon New York would be to the
cities of America and the world, what Kome was to the
world in the days of her imperial splendor and power.
TVe hope she will be more ; for New York has what
Eome had not, the religion of Jesus Christ. To-day
forty languages or dialects are spoken in oar streets.
To-day the semi-pagan of several nationalities and the
'^ heathen Chinee" swarm in our streets. Foreign mis-
sion work has become to a great degree home mission
work. We send missionaries abroad, and we do well ;
and at the same time, God is sending the heathen to our
doors. Shall we not teach them ? Not less for Italians
in Eome, but more for Italians in New Y^ork. Not less
for Germans in Germany, but more for those in New
York. Not less for the heathen in China and Burmah,
but more for all these lands and all other lands, as repre-
sented in New York — this should be our motto. Here
the great problems, social and religious, are to be solved.

And this church realizes this. We are Baptists : but
we are more ; we are Christians and citizens. We take
our place beside men of every name, who are trying to
lift the fallen, teach the ignorant, and save the lost. The
religion of Christ teaches us that whether a man is black
or white, red or yellow, "a man's a man for a' that."
There are churches dying of conservatism, propriety,
and stinginess. Over them we cannot sa}', " Blessed are
the dead which die in the Lord." Let us not die the
death of these unrighteous. " Blessed be the Lord, who
hath shewed us Ilis marvellous kindness in a strong
city," in giving us something of the spirit of Christ who
came to seek and to save that which was lost.

4. Growing oat of this, and akin to it, is another cause
for s:ratitude — the laro^e-hearted benevolence which tins

MARVELLOUS KINDNESS IN A STUOXr, CITY. 231

clmrcli has shown. The rich have given out of their
abundance ; the comparatively poor out of their com-
parative poverty, and those literally poor out of tlieir
poverty. We have learned that men's pocket-books
should be baptized. We have not much sympathy with
the man who had been a member of a church for twenty
years, and who said that it had cost him nothing. We
teach, that all we have and are belongs to Christ ; that
we are only His stewards, giving back to Him what He
has given to us. It is especially gratifying to me to see
how the young men and women have taken hold of that
idea. During the past ten years, some have made money
ill considerable sums ; and they have given it with a lib-
erality worthy of all commendation and imitation. If
you will not give to the Lord when your income is small,
you certainly will not when it is large. Men's hearts
usually grow smaller and colder as their incomes grow
larger. But when the habit of giving has been early
formed it can be easily continued. We have not re-
quired the presence of the agents of the various benevo-
lent organizations. The pastor has almost invariably pre-
sented all causes of benevolence. The total amount of
money raised during the ten years from all services is a
little over half a million dollars. Of this amount $100,-
000 came from pew rentals and was expended, in current
expenses. The remaining $400,000 was for denomina-
tional and general Christian benevolence, making an
average of $40,000 each year. The years of largest con-
tributions were this current year, the last associational
year, and the Centennial year. Tlie largest contributions
have been for our beloved Home Mission Society.

5. We bless God also that He has kept us, as we be-
lieve, loyal to the essential doctrines of the Gospel and
the distinctive views of the Baptist denomination. We

232 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIP:D.

have no sympathy with tliat false liberahsm which puts
human opinions above divine revehition. lYe beheve
the Gospel is still the power of God unto salvation. It
will never lose that power. The cross is still the mighti-
est magnet to move men and draw them to God. Away
with your human nostrums ! We want the old and the
ever new Gospel. Sin is still the same, hell is the same,
heaven the same. N^othing but the water of life can
quench the soul's burning thirst ; nothing but the bread
of heaven can satisfy its hunger ; nothing but the pre-
cious blood of Christ can cleanse its crimson stains.

I also recognize that I am to he loyal to the distinctive
principles of the Baptist denomination. 1 accept these
principles because I believe they are taught in Scripture.
If I did not so believe, I would not hold them for an
hour. Iso denominational authority could compel me.
I became your pastor and was ordained by you on a well-
defined basis of belief, understood by you in calling me,
and understood by me in accepting the call. The longer
I study these matters the more I am satisfied of the scrip-
turalness of our views. I cannot be other than 1 am so
long as God's Word remains as authority in our faith and
practice. Bat I also grow in charity for those who differ
with me. All men who love Christ and labor for souls,
I love and shall labor with, as God gives opportunity.

6. Lastly, Blessed be the Lord, for He hath shewed us
His marvellous kindness in the spiritual prosperity which
we have enjoyed. It is not as great as we might have
had, but it is greater far than we have deserved. "We
have never had, what in the technical sense is called a
revival ; but we have had a revival spirit all the time.
Every month, often every week, has brought forth fruit.
We have sought no publicity ; we have not aimed to
herald our work ; but quietly, steadily, workfully, and

MARVELLOUS KTXDXESS IIT A STRONG CITY. 233

prayerfully we have moved forward. Men in some other
churches have come and have gone. • They were for a
time in the public prints and in the mouths of the peo-
ple. A comet will always attract more attention than a
moon, a rocket than a star ; but after comets and rockets
have gone into darkness, the moon and the stars will
shine on. AVe have given great importance to the or-
dinary means of grace ; we hav^e had no room for pro-
tracted revival efforts ; every meeting was a revival
meeting ; we have had no need of a professional evan-
gelist ; every member is to be an evangelist. We have
made much of our prayer-meetings, and they have often
been to many of us occasions of wonderful spiritual bless-
ings, and God has given us power. Our young people's
meetings have grown to be a means of great good and
varied activity. A marked feature of our work is the
large number of active and devoted young men and
women. Our women's various organizations have been
managed with great zeal and success. Our Sunday-
school has nearly quadrupled its numbers, and in its good
order, Bible study, missionary zeal, and contributions,
it is surpassed by few schools anywhere.

There liave been many pastoral changes in some of our
Baptist churches. During these ten years there have
been five different pastors in some of our churches. In
others four, in others three, in others two. Only six of
our churches have to-day the pastors whom they had ten
years ago. These pastors are Drs. Williams, Armitage,
Norton, and Elder, and brethren Brouner and Spelman.
Short pastorates are an element of great weakness in our
churches. They make all broad, deep, permanent, and
symmetrical work impossible. They demoralize min-
isters, making them cowardly when difficult questions
in administration and other forms of hard work confront

234 CHRIST, A XI) iinr ckucified.

them. No pastor can do good work in liis present posi-
tion if he is all the time striving to get a call to another
field. Often this state of unrest leads pastors to resort
to means to secure calls which must be despised by every
high-minded and noble man. It also robs them of the
power to do good, hard study, making them fall back on
old material. A man who seeks a call which he has no
thought of accepting has done a humiliating thing. In
the pastoral, as in other relations, changes are not always
for the better. We must bear and forbear. Neither
party is perfect. To get a perfect pastor one must be
called from heav^en, and only a perfect church might
presume to call him. I hope I may be the first to dis-
cover when my work is done ; I hope we shall in Chris-
tian love go hand-in-hand and heart-to-heart in the work
of Christ.

Many who, ten years ago, wxre with us are now with
God. Of the four deacons then. Deacons Cauldwell,
Conklin, Saulsbury, and Jessup, but one remains to us.
Deacon Jessup having removed to Brooklyn and Deacons
Cauldwell and Saulsbury having gone to their reward.
But few have left for other churches. With many of
you I have been in times of darkness and sorrow. With
your tears mine have fallen ; with your prayers mine
have ascended. The years have sobered but not sad-
dened me ; they have chastened, but they also have glad-
dened me. I am conscious of many and great failures ;
and I thank you for your patience, your kindness, your
consideration. We hav^e done something, but we have
not attained ; the mark of the prize is still before us.

We remember to-day what Bishop Simpson has said
of Spain : " Spain once held both sides of the Mediter-
ranean at the Straits of Gibraltar. So highly did she
value her possessions that she stamped on her coin the

MAUVKLLOi;.S KIN'DXI-S.S IN- A STRONG CITY. 235

two pillars of Hercules (as the promontories of rock were
called) ; and on a scroll thrown over these were the words
Ne jylus ultra — No more beyond. Bat one day a bold
spirit sailed far beyond these pillars and found a new
world of beauty. Then Spain, wisely convinced of
ignorance, struck the word Ne from the coin and left
JPlus %dtra — More beyond." That is our motto to-day.
"What have the next ten years in store for us ? Who can
tell ? What changes in the city, in our locp-tion, in our
homes, in our lives ? The tongue that speaks may long
ere that time be singing the song of Moses and the Lamb.
Will any neglect the great salvation and be before that
time where hope never comes ? Hemember that you
and I must meet at tlie bar of God ; preacher and people
must stand face to face. When that hour comes I can
say that, however weak the messenger, the message of
the glorious Gospel has been declared. I can say in the
presence of God that I have not shunned to declare all
the counsel of God ; I have entreated and warned. Oh
for a new consecration to God to-day ! Oh for the firo
of holy zeal and love from God's throne ! God grant
that each of us in a city better than this, a city not made
with hands, eternal in the heavens, may look back over
all of life as w^e look back on these ten years and say,
Blessed be the Lord, for His marvellous kindness which
He hath shewed in bringing me to this city whose twelve
gates are twelve pearls, whose streets are pure gold, and
which needs no sun nor moon to shine in it, for the
Lamb is the light thereof.

XIX.

THE PLACE TOO STRAIT.^*

" The place is too strait for me : give place to me that I may
dwell."— IsA. 49 :20.

" Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the cur-
tains of thine habitations ; spare not, lengthen thy cords, and
strengthen thy stakes."— Isa. 54 : 2.

"We liold to-day our last Sanday services in this house.
"With the meeting of to-morrow evening this will cease
to be a house of worship. We would be unnatural, un-
christian, indeed, if some elements of sorrow did not
mingle with our prayers and praises to-day. Tender as-
sociations with the living, tender memories of the dead
gather about this place of prayer. Here the last words
have been spoken over our beloved dead before they
were borne to the narrow house appointed for all living.
Here young and joyous hearts have taken upon them-
selves the vows of holy matrimony. Here many liave
learned to walk in the narrow way which leads to the
house of many mansions. Here your pastor was exam-
ined for ordination ; here he knelt while the hands of
the Presbytery were laid on his head, while earnest
prayer ascended to God ; here he first administered
baptism, and here he first officiated at the table of the
Lord. From this place streams of blessing have flowed

* Preached at the last Sunday morning service in the Calvary
Church, Twenty-third Street, July 1st, 1883.

THE PLACE TOO STRAIT. 237

forth to all parts of our broad land, and to many lands
beyond the seas. The old home has become dear to our
hearts. Often have we left here onr crashing burdens ;
often here have we caught new inspirations for life's
trials and trinniphs. Tliis place has often been a Bethel
to our souls— none other than the house of Grod and the
very gate of hcav^en. Onr sorrow is natural ; it is not

unlioly.

Tliere are considerations, however, which tend to les-
sen this natural grief, and which giv^e us joy in our con-
templated removal. I have chosen these two texts of
Scripture for this morning because they both interpret
God's providence in relation to us. The hrst : " The
place is too strait for me : give place to me that I may
dwell," declares the truth which we have by His provi-
dence been expressing to God. The second : " Enlarge
the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the cur-
tains of thine habitations ; spare not, lengthen thy cords,
and strengthen thy stakes," is the command which God,
by providential circumstances, has been addressing to us
for the past few years.

1. Let me say, then, in the first place, that our con-
templated removal is in harmony with all our historical
precedents. Three times before the place was too strait
for us ; three times before God said to our brethren,
^'Enlargetheplaceof thy tent . . . lengthen thy cords,
and strengthen thy stakes." We are doing what our
fathers did. We are illustrating their spirit. We are
doing what they would do were they in onr places to-day.
We are following their example ; their mantle has fallen
upon us. Thirty years ago, with sanctified common
sense, they seized the wider opportunities which God
gave them on Twenty-third Street. To-day we seize the
wider opportunity which God gives us on Fifty-seventh

238 CHRIST, A>TD HIM CRUCIFIED.

Street. Did we not do this we would be unworthy
sons of noble and now sainted sires. May our sons
be governed by an equally wise and sanctified ambi-
tion !

A glance at our history will justify my remarks. This
church is an offshoot from the old Stanton Street church
— the mother of the Fifth Avenue church, Dr. Armi-
tage's, as well aso f ours. For some reason that place had
become too strait for some brethren ; just why 1 do not
know. Perhaps it is as well not to inquire too carefully.
God was even then saying to them, ^' Enlarge the place
of thy tent . . . lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy
stakes." The church had a feeble beginning. Few of
the members of this day know how full of toil and trial
that early history is. Various reasons led Rev. David
Bellamy, the pastor of the Stanton Street church, to go
out from that body. On AVednesday evening, Novem-
ber 25th, 1846, a number of members of that church met
at 219 Wooster Street to take measures for organizing a
new congregation. The night was stormy ; only ten
persons were present. Nothing was done except to
name tlie time and place for another meeting. The
time was Friday, November 2Tth, 1846, the place was
No. 3 Third Street, now Grand. The number present
at this meeting was only fourteen. They decided, how-
ever, to consider themselves a distinct cougregation, and
a committee was appointed to secure the Coliseum, No.
450 Broadway, as a place of meeting. It was also de-
cided to invite Kev. David Bellamy, who had just re-
signed the pastorate of the Stanton Street church, to
preach for the new body on the next Sunday. The
Coliseum was secured and worship was held there, until
lots were secured on Broadway, opposite the New York
Hotel. God said, "Enlarge the place of thy tent."

THE PLACE TOO STRAIT. 239

The people did so. The lots were bought on favorable
terms ; the owners were interested in the enterprise, and
thus were glad to dispose of it in this way.

On Sunday evening, January 3d, 1847, an invitation
was given to all who wished to form an independent
Baptist church to remain. It was unanimously and
heartily resolved to take immediate steps to form such
an orp-anization. Amono; the leadino; men at the time
were W. D. Saulsbury, B. S. Squires, M. G. Lane,
William E. Sibell, D. AV. Man waring, Henry Estwick,
William Conklin, Abraham Fanning, a,nd John Fanning.
On Sunday evening, February 28th, 1847, this church
was organized. Hev. Elisha Tucker, then pastor of the
Oliver Street church, was in the chair. Be v. David
Bellamy, acting pastor, presented a resolution by the
adoption of which the people constituted themselves into
an independent Baptist church by the name of the Hope
Chapel Baptist Church of the city of New York. Thus
this church was organized, thirty-six years ago last Feb-
ruary. On April 22d, 1847, a council met in the First
Baptist Church, Broome Street, to consider the propriety
of recognizing the body as a regular Baptist church. On
motion of the distinguished Dr. Cone the body was so
recognized. Dr. Hodge, Rev. Mr. Dickenson, Bev.
Elisha Tucker, and Bsv. E. G. Somers taking part in
the pubhc services of recognition on the evening of the
first Sabbath in May, 1847, in the Coliseum. One hun-
dred and seven names were enrolled as constituent mem-
bers of the church. Of this number but few " remain
until this day."

Soon after this the church built and occupied the
house on Broadway, known as the Hope Chapel, on the
lots bought opposite the N"ew York Hotel. Thus again
God said : " Enlarge the place of thy tent." In the year

240 CHRIST, AND BUI CRUCIFIED.

1852 the name was changed to tlie Broadway Baptist
Church. In the year 1853 the three lots on Twenty-
third Street where we meet to-day were bought, the lots
on Broadway having been sold. Of this I shall speak a
little later, hi the mean time llev. David Bellamy, who
was called February 27th, 1817, resigned October 26th,
1819. The second pastor was Rev. John Dowling,
D.D. He was called January 23d, 1850, and he resigned
April 13th, 1852. On August 1st, 1852, Rev. A. D.
Gillette, D.D., was called. TVe would scarcely think
now of holding a meeting on August 1st to call a pastor.
In those days the more modern idea of closing churches
and doing no religious work for three months in the year
had not suggested itself. We have made great progress
since. It was during his pastorate that the lots on this
street were bought. It was difficult then to induce the
people to vote to come so far up-town. All recent
events justify the wisdom of Dr. Gillette and the breth-
ren wdio worked with him. These lots were bought for
a little less than $18,000. We have just sold them for
$225,000. It is matter for regret that our brethren did
not buy a few more lots, although they found it suffi-
ciently difficult to pay for those they did buy. On the
first Sunday in January, 1851, worship was had in the
basement of this house — twenty-nine years ago last Jan-
nary. On the first Sunday in May of the same year the
npper part of the house was occnpied for the first time.
In September of the same year the name was changed
to the Calvary Baptist Church. This was a time of high
hopes and great struggles. Few of us to-day can appre-
ciate the burden which a few brethren carried in those
days. At times it seemed as if they must sink under the
load. From their own means — which were not large —
they gave again and again to pay church debts. Some-

THE TLACE TOO STRAIT. 241

times tliey had to raise money on their notes to meet
interest and other claims. Tlichidies in Various societies
took tlieir share. Pastor and people worked heroically.
They were enlarging the curtain of their tent and length-
ening their cords at great sacrifices. At length our ter-
rible Civil War came. Many young men went into the
army. Prayer-meetings were broken up ; there was not
the heartiest sympathy between some of the older and
some of the younger brethren. By heroic efforts, how-
ever, the current expenses were paid and the debt was
considerably reduced. On December 22d, 1863, Dr.
Gillette resigned. His j^astorate of over eleven years
was the crow^ning work of his useful life. Of him and
of his work I wish to speak more particularly.

Dr. Gillette was the third pastor in order. With his
coming new life and power were given to every sphere
of church work. Soon after he came the name of Calvary
Baptist Church was adopted. Soon the congregations
overflowed Hope Cha]3el. The ^' up-town" idea was then
as serious a matter of discussion as it has been in later
days. The selection of the present site of the church
on Twenty-third Street was due to his sagacity. Often
has he told the pastor of the discussions of those days,
of his own anxious searching for lots, of his choice of
these, and of the efforts to secure tliem. With the aid of
his brother-in-law, Mr. George W. A. Jenkins, and the
co-operation of other leaders in the cliurch, the lots were
secured and tlie house erected. The number of members
was comparatively small, their means were quite limited,
their burdens heavy, and their achievements noble. In all
these protracted struggles his patience, his tact, his prac-
tical judgment w^ere everywhere felt, guiding and in-
spiring tlie entire work. It was a great day for him and
the people when the new house on Twenty-third Street

242 CHRIST, AND IIIM CRUCIFIED.

was opened for worship. New families soon came in ;
social and financial strength was gained, and the hopes of
years gradually matured into blessed results. Dr. Gillette
was prominent in every good word and work. To this
hour his work is appreciated heartily, his influence felt
constantly, and his memory cherished tenderly. We loved
during all his life-time to think and speak of him as '^ our
senior pastor."

The clouds of battle darkened our national sky during
the closing years of Dr. Gillette's ministry in the Calvary
Church ; but he was to go into still darker clouds at the
nation's capital. In 1864 he became the pastor of the
First Baptist Church in Washington, D. C. During the
later years of the war, and the years immediately suc-
ceeding, AV^ashington was the centre of tremendous ac-
tivities and seriously conflicting opinions. Into this stormy
sea Dr. Gillette by his knowledge and sympathy was
necessarily plunged. With President Lincoln, Edwin M.
Stanton, and other men at the centres of power, he main-
tained intimate personal relations. His counsels were often
sought in the critical junctures of our nation's life.
Following the fight with Early at Fort Stevens, when he
came before Washington, Dr. Gillette found work in
going from hospital to hospital, and from camp to camp
among the wounded. He was often employed as chaplain
of the Houses of Congress and of the Government Hos-
pital for the Insane. Then came the fearful days con-
nected with the assassination of President Lincoln. At
the urgent request of President Johnson and Secretary
Stanton, Dr. Gillette spent most of the time during the
last few days of their lives with the conspirators who mur-
dered President Lincoln ; following out this same request
he officiated as chaplain at their execution. The case of
Paine especially interested him ; for his father's sake and

Till-: PLACE TOO STRAIT. 243

his own soul's sake the good doctor gave him unremitting
attention.

The excitements of those awful days told upon his
health. In December, 1868, he broke down utterly
before the close of a morning service. By the advice
of his physicians he went abroad. While in London he
enjoyed the intimate friendship of Mr. Spurgeon, Hon.
and Rev. Baptist Noel, and other distinguished Baptists.
Baptist Noel preceded him into the land of perpetual
fellowship. The rest and change brought back health
and vigor. In the fall oflSTO he returned to America,
and almost immediately he accepted the temporary charge
of the Gethsemane Baptist Church, Brooklyn. He could
not be idle ; his whole soul was in the work of preaching ;
and in 1874 he became pastor of the Baptist church at
Sing Sing. With all the enthusiasm of early manhood lie
took hold of the work. His influence w^asfeltin all the
interests of education and Christianity in the village. In
1878 he resigned. He then became stated supply of the
church at North New York, a young church just across
the Harlem River. His advancing years were bright and
beautiful ; he was w^alking on the sunny side of the cross.
He was growing old sweetly and happily. He loved his
work ; his preaching instructed the people, and they in
turn co-operated heartily with him.

After his return from England his membership, to-
gether with that of his estimable wife, was resumed with
the Calvary church. Upon going to Sing Sing it was
transferred to the church there. On their return to the
city their letters were brought again to the old church.
Never shall I forget the long and sunny visit had with
the doctor at that time. He spoke of his love for the
old church, his desire that he might have a home here
until he went to his home above, and that when that

244 CHRIST, AXD HIM CRUCIFIED.

time came he might be buried from the spot he loved so
welL All happened as he hoped. In May, 1880, the
Baptist national societies were holding their anniver-
saries in Saratoga. Here he was stricken with apoplexy.
All that filial affection and medical skill could do for him
was done by his son, Dr. Walter R. Gillette, of this
city. At Lake George, under the tender ministrations
of his beloved wife, partial restoration came. The dis-
ease left the intellect intact, but the power to express
ideas in appropriate words was gone never to return.
The attacks returned regularly every month. He was,
however, bright and cheerful ; he still rejoiced in the
sunshine of Christ's love ; he still was interested in all
the concernments of national and church life. But it
was evident to near friends that the end was drawing
near. On May 29th last a long-cherished wish was grat-
ified ; he was able to be present at the laying of the
corner-stone of the new Calvary church on Fifty-seventh
Street. On August 24th, 1882, he calmly fell asleep in
his summer home on Lake George. The end was peace ;
the long warfare was over ; the endless victory begun ;
the cross was laid down, and the soldier of Christ was
crowned more than conqueror.

" Mortals cried, a man is dead ;
Angels sang, a child is born. ' '

As a pastor he was devoted to his duties. His great
tact and attractive social qualities made him a welcome
visitor in every home. At the bedside of the sick and
in the house of mourning he was gentle in manner, wise
in counsel, and fervent in spirit. This was a marked
element of his power. Dr. Gillette's heart was always
young. This characteristic gave him troops of friends
among young and old outside of his own churches,

THE PLAri: TOO F^TRATT, 245

his own denomination, and the social circles in which he
ordinarily moved. It is sometimes said that churches do
not like old men. But churches always liked him ; he
was always full of the enthusiasm of youth, hope, and
love. He was not old. To young ministers especially
was he a cordial friend. There is no jealousy so sad as
that which some men, who are growing old, show toward
the younger brethren who are coming on the stage oi
action. This feeling has embittered the lives of many
otherwise noble men. It has been "the last infirmity
of noble minds." Dr. Gillette was too large-hearted for
this miserable feehng. For twelve years my relations
with him had been most intimate. Together we have
stood by the dying and the dead and labored in many
other ways. He always and everywhere has been the true
friend, the genuine brother, and the perfect Christian gen-
tleman. Stately in figure, refined in face, and courtly in
manner, he was a man to be observed among a thousand.
His strictly clerical garb was eminently adapted to the
whole style of the man. His life, in every circle in
which he moved, was a constant benediction, a testimony
to the grace of God, and a model to the younger men in
the ministry.

His wish to be buried from the old church was, in the
providence of God, gratified. Dying at Lake George,
Thursday, August 24th, he was buried from this church
on Monday, August 28th. Drs. Samson, Burlingham,
and Armitage, and Eev. Walter Scott made appropriate
addresses ; and Drs. Everts and Deems offered the
prayers, and the pastor presided and read the lessons. On
Sunday morning, September 3d, the pastor preached a
memorial discourse in the presence of a large and sympa-
thetic audience. It is fitting that these facts be rehearsed
at this last Sunday morning service in the house which

240 CHKIST, AND HT^f CRUCIFIED.

lie so largely helped to erect, and In the presence of so
many whom he was instrumental in bringing into the
kingdom of God. JSTo words more appropriately express
our tender memories of him and many others who once
filled these pews than these from Dean Alford :

" Oh, then, what raptured greetings

On Canaan's happy shore !
What knitting severed friendships up.

Where partings are no more !
Then eyes with joy shall sparkle,

That brimmed with tears of late,
Orphans no longer fatherless,

Nor widows desolate."

Ecv. E. J. W. Buckland, D.D., was the fourth pas-
tor. He was called November 1st, 1864. He resigned
September 24th, 1869, to become a professor in the The-
ological Seminary at Rochester. There he died. He was a
man of varied learning and of noble character. During his
pastorate the entire debt was paid. This grand result was
accomplished by the wisdom and liberality of the late Dr.
[Nathan Bishop. He saw clearly that soon a pressure in
the money market would come and if the debt were not
now paid it might remain for years. Dr. Bishop be-
lieved also that the only way to pay a debt is to pay it.
All helped according to their means, but his wisdom car-
ried the effort through to success. But for this the pres-
ent pastorate probably would not have been attempted.
The present pastor was called February 25th, 1870, while
yet a student in the Rochester Theological Seminary.
He entered upon his work May 15th, 1870, having been
graduated from the seminary three days before. " Thus
our present removal is in harmony with the spirit of the
church as seen during these years. It is needless to speak
of this pastorate ; we are not here to-day to give the his-
tory of these years, but these two facts ought to be given :

THE PLACE TOO STRAIT. 247

during these thirteen years the membership has gone up
from two Imndred and thirty-eight to over eleven hun-
dred and about three-quarters of a milHon of dollars have
been given to denominational and other forms of Chris-
tian benevolence.

Let me say, in the second place, that the dominant
spirit of the church to-day is in harmony with these
Scriptures. What is that dominant spirit ? How may
it be characterized ? It has several elements.

It is a spirit of harmony — of unity. We do not go ont
of this house a divided body. A divided body seldom
finds even a very strait place too strait for it. A divided
church seldom hears God's providence saying, ^^ Enlarge
the place of thy tent." So far from being an aggressiv^e
body, a disunited church is a house divided against itself,
and Christ tells us that such a house cannot stand. This
church never has had a church quarrel ; and that is some-
tliino- which we will not have. We do not s^o out of this
house on a bare majority vote. There was only one vote
in the negative when the final vote was taken, and the
brother w^ho cast it is now one of the warmest friends of
the new enterprise. 1 would be a sad man to-day if
there was even a small minority opposed to this move-
ment. We go out a unit. We seek no personal honor,
nor denominational glory. We go out to glorify God
and to be of greater hel23 to men. It is not given to any
company of men and women with independence in
thought and action to be more of a unit in any matter
than we are in this. This church is a remarkable body
in this respect. In all our deliberations no unkind word
was ever spoken ; the very peace of God has been granted
us. The angel of peace has hovered over us. Christ's
last legacy we have rejoiced in as our inheritance.

The spirit of this church is also evangelical. We

248 CHRIST, AXD niM CRUCIFIED.

have no new Gospel to preach ; no other way of salvation
to propose. The motto on our new house of worship
is : '' We preach Christ crucified." For thirteen years
I have known nothin^^ among you save Jesus Christ, and
Ilim crucified. By this sign we have won some vic-
tories. This old Gospel is triumphing over all modern
errors. I have been fortunate, as I have intimated, in
my predecessors. Eev. David Bellamy w^as an earnest
and able preacher. Dr. Dowling secured a wider fame
both as a preacher and a writer. Dr. Gillette possessed
the gentleness of John and something of the power
Avhich made that apostle one of the sons of thunder.
Dr. Buckland was a kindly man and a ripe scholar.
He died all too soon for the cause of sacred learning.
They have all gone to their reward. They were all
loyal to Christ and His truth, and their work abides.
May the day never come wdien this pulpit shall be dis-
loyal to the glorious Gospel of the blessed God. Away
w^ith the nostrums of the devil ! The weary and the
lost need Jesus Christ. This spirit makes us stretch out
our tent ; this leads us to strengthen our stakes and
lengthen our cords. The pastorates of all these excel-
lent men, except that of Dr. Gillette, were too short to
make much impression. Great changes also have come
to our city. It is growing with w^onderful rapidity.
Men and women from all parts of the country are com-
ing to New York. This city is a mighty reservoir. The
church has shared in this grow^th. It is practically a
new church to-day ; but it preserves the old faith which
my predecessors preached and in wdiich they triumphed
over death.

Furthermore, this church is a missionary body ; it
believes in aggressive work for Christ. Past victories
will not suffice. Grander triumphs must be achieved.

THE PLACE TOO STRAIT. 249

We leave here for a larger field and a grander work. If
we left to enter upon a more contracted sphere this
would be a sad day for us all. That would be a crime
against light and against the Lord. That would be a sin
ao-ainst the memory of our sainted dead ; that would be
to trail the flag in the dust. Perish the thought ! Sir
Charles Napier says : " A Christianity which is not ag-
gressive is not Christianity. " A church which is satisfied
simply to strengthen what remains will soon be nothing
but '' remains." Often the best w^ay to strengthen the
things which remain is to attack the things which resist.
I have said before that an anti- mission church is an anti-
Christian church. For such a church God has no use,
the devil no dread, and the world no respect. Such
churches must die, and the sooner the better. But an
honest minister standing beside the corpse could not say,
'' Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.' ' Forward,
oh church of God ! Grasp the golden opportunities !
Enter the opening door ! God's own hand opens it.
May He give us grace to see and to do our new duties
and enjoy our great opportunities !

Now, in the tliird place, God's providence to-day says
plainly to us, " The place is too strait for me :" and that
same Providence plainly adds, " Enlarge the place of thy
tent. " It is certain that the place is too strait. Our Sun-
day-school has overflowed into the main audience-room.
Often the prayer-meetings crowd us. Too long have we
met in a room below the level of the sidewalk ; too long
have we breathed a poisonous atmosphere in this low,
damp basement. Business has pressed upon us. Our
property has become too valuable for the facilities which
it affords. These facts are God's way of indicating His
will.

Plainly, too, Providence indicated the new location.

250 CHRIST, AXD HIM CRUCIFIED.

Other doors were sliut. God said, Go to Fifty- seventh
Street, '' Behold, I set before yon an open door." My
text tells us to enlarge the place of our tent ; it says,
syare not / be not parsimonious ; make the necessary
expenditure ; welcome the new opportunity ; grasp the
grand chance to do great things for God and man. If
ever a people were divinely led we have been in this
matter. As truly as the pillar of cloud went before the
children of Israel by day and the pillar of fire by night,
so truly has God gone before us in this matter. With-
out His presence all is vain. Our language is that of
Moses, " If Thy presence go not with us, carry us not
up hence." God's answer is, ^' For the Lord will go be-
fore you, and the God of Israel will be your rereward."
Our place of work changes, but the church remains.
Tlie true church of God abides. If we have to cross the
Red Sea God can pile ujd its waters in crystal walls on
either side while we march through dry shod. Difficul-
ties await us ; but God will never leave nor forsake us.
Forward, oh church of God ! ^' Let us go up and possess
the land," for with God on our side, we can say, " We
are able."

XX.

EEASONS FOR PUBLIC WORSHIP.*

" We will not forsake the house of our God." — Neh. 10 : 39.

These are the words of that manly man and princely
patriot Nehemiah, and those who were associated with
him. Four hundred and forty-five years B.C. we find
Kehemiah in the royal palace at Shushan, the winter
residence of the Persian king, occupying the important
office of cup-bearer to Artaxerxes the king. Certain
Jews who came from Jerusalem gave him an account of
the mournful and desolate condition of the returned
colony in Judea. He was deeply moved. His sad coun-
tenance revealed to the king his sorrow of heart. After
three or four months of devout prayer and earnest pur-
pose, he was appointed governor of Judea, furnished
with a troop of cavalry and granted permission to repair
thither. The king gave him full power to rebuild the
"walls of Jerusalem and '^ to seek the welfare of the chil-
dren of Israel." He also received letters of safe escort
to the governors beyond the Euphrates ; and orders were
given him on the keeper of the royal forests for the tim-
ber he might need. On his arrival he found the city
ahnost deserted, and the temple in a state of decay.
Ruin and desolation met him on every hand. He began
at once a work of great importance — the rebuilding of
the walls which had been destroyed by Nebuzaradan.

* Sermon preached at the opening of the Calvary Church Chapel,
New York, Sunday morning. July 8th, 1883, by the pastor.

262 CHRIST, AXD HIM CRUCIFIED.

By word and deed lie stirred up the j^eople ; and not-
withstanding the insidious and venomous opposition
which was made from the first by Sanballat and Tobiah,
who plotted against him and misrepresented him both to
the people of Jerusalem and to the king of Persia, in an
incredibly short space of time — " in fifty-and-two days"
— the walls rose from the heaps of rubbish which had
covered them, to the sublime proportions and great
grandeur which had characterized them in the olden
time. The wall was thus built in ''troublous times."
After many interruptions and some delay its completion
was joyously celebrated by a day of solemn dedication.
A census of the returned captives was taken, the law was
publicly read, the feast of tabernacles was again ob-
served ; the day of atonement was solemnly kept, when
the people covenanted to observe the law of Moses, the
sanctity of the Sabbath, and to keep themselves separate
from surrounding heathen nations, and amid the solem-
nities of the hour, they with one voice and with the con-
sent of all hearts, sublimely said in the words of my text,
'' And we will not forsake the house of our God."

Nehemiah and tliose with him acted wisely in thus
pledging themselves, amid the cares of State and the
business of the people, to remember the house of God.
He was a man of the loftiest patriotism and the truest
integrity. In the performance of duty he knew neither
friend nor foe. The perils of his country and the sor-
rows of his countryiTjen drew him from his post of wealth
and influence in the first court of the world. In his
twelve years' governorship of Jerusalem he risked his
life to help his country and to honor his God. His life
is too little known even by intelligent Christians, and
consequently his worth is too little appreciated. In
everything he sought God's honor and blessing ; but in

REASONS FOR PUBLIC ^VORSHIP. 253

nothing does his wisdom as a patriot, a statesman, and a
man of God shine out more grandly than when he and
his people exchiim : " We will not forsake the house of
our (rod. " I wish you would adopt that resolution as
your own this morning. It should be a sufficient reason
for us all to adopt and forever keep this resolution, that
God has in many ways, both in the Old and in the New
Testament, commanded us in the words on the wall before
you, to keep His Sabbaths and reverence His sanctuary ;
but this reason is not sufficient with all men. There are
other reasons and adv^antages, therefore, which should
induce us to say, '' ^Ye will not forsake the house of our
God."

THE SOCIAL ADVANTAGES.

1. The social advantages incident to association with
Christian people.

Do not suppose that this reason is unworthy of men-
tion here. So far from being unworthy of our thought
and notice, we are assured that this consideration de-
serves more weight than religious teachers are in the
habit of giving it. Let any man glance over his history,
and take an inventory of the forces which have shaped
his life, and he will acknowledge that his social relations
have contributed largely to make him what he is, whether
he be right or wrong. We have no sympathy whatever
with that snobbery wdiich is always seeking a prominent
place in '' society," as it is called. The desire to appear
richer, more fashionable, wiser or better than we really
are, is a most unpardonable species of false pretences.
Were persons to spend in honest, earnest efforts to make
themselves worthy of promotion, the energy spent in
tricks to secure the desired prominence, they would secure
it, and win the respect of all men besides. We have seen

254 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCiriED.

too much of this false seeking for an entrance into fash-
ionable society. Many ambitious fathers and mothers
coming into a large city, and anxious for social positions
for themselves and their sons and daughters, too often
resort to means which compromise their self-respect and
their religious principles. We have known such to turn
their backs upon the church of their fathers — the church
to which they are indebted for whatever they have for
time and eternity, the church, moreover, of their rehg-
ioas convictions— and join themselves to a church which
they supposed possessed a monopoly of social advantages
and eligible opportunities for their sons and daughters.
For such persons — and there are such Baptists floating
about all cities — we have nothing bat mingled pity and
scorn. They, like all persons in God's world, will get,
in the course of time, all that they are worth, and it is
but little.

"When we name as a reason for attendance on the ser-
vices of God's house the social advantages incident to
such attendance, we have no such practice in mind.
There is, however, a proper ambition in regard to our
social relations. Ko man can afford to despise the ad-
vantages of these relations. A wise man will not attempt
to despise them, but he will put himself in line with
them, and reap the profit they offer. We regard these
remarks as a fair statement of the truths We are now
prepared for this further statement : The very best
society — not the hollow-hearted, fashionable society — but
the very best in the very best sense of that word, the
society that has the promise of the life that now is, as
well as that which is to come, is Christian society ; and
it is always represented among cliurch-going people. I
do not say that all who attend the house of God are of
this high order ; but I do say, that nearly all who are of

REASONS FOR PUBLIC WORSHIP. 255

this high order attend the honse of God. Here are
found the kings and priests of God ; here the heirs of
immortal hf e and glory. Here the best minds and hearts
in all periods of the world's history have bronglit their
treasures and laid them at the feet of Jesus ; here culti-
vated intellects and purified hearts may always be found,
blessing the world, adorning the Church and honoring
Christ. Is it not worth much to any man, to a young
man especially, starting in life, to have entrance to the
homes and hearts of such people ? Is it not worth much
to name among your friends one who is tlie friend of
God ? Is it not worth much to write among the names
of your choicest friends one whose name is written in the
Lamb's book of life? Yes, let Christ's friends be my
friends.

Directly and indirectly all a man's interests will be ad-
vanced by his association with Christian people in the
services of the sanctuary. It is a fundamental law of
association that we become assimilated in character to
those with whom we associate. And Christian character
is the best the world can produce ; such character is
always sure eventually to win success in the race of life.
Let a young man just commencing life in this great city
cultivate, by his attendance at church and his acquaint-
ance with Christian people, habits of sobriety, honesty,
devotion to duty, and unswerving integrity, and he will
find situations open for him, and high salaries offered
him, while the reckless, dissipated young man, who
spends his Sundays in open wickedness on the street, or
in lazy indifference in his boarding-house, may be left in
want, or be found begging a place to earn his bread.
Illustrations of these facts are with me almost daily
occurrences.

The direct effect, then, of the course I have indicated

256 CHRIST, AND HIM CKUCIFIED.

is, by developing a worthy character, to advance even a
man's worldly and financial concerns. The same is true
indirectly. The acquaintances a man makes and the
friendships he forms by such relations often open the
way, by their influence over him and others, to promi-
nence and wealth. A kind word spoken or letter writ-
ten by an influential man in favor of a young man has
often been the first round in the ladder of success. Shall
a man, tlien, join a church because of the social, finan-
cial, and professional advantages of such a connection ?
There is but one answer to such a question — that answer
a most emphatic ]No ! Such a man would be a knave.
Better, however, that a man should attend a church from
such low motives than not attend at all. Better that he
should bring his heart under the influence of truth, even
though that heart were shielded in selfishness. The
arrows of the Almiglity might pierce through this cover-
ing, and the man be brought to the feet of Christ a lost
sinner seeking forgiveness. God be thanked that all
that is needed to fit a man for an honest, noble career in
this life, as well as in the life to come, is not contrary
to church-going and religion, but is directly fostered by
both ! Godliness is profitable in all things, having the
promise of both worlds ; and men, if they had no higher
motive, should for the sake of their worldly and social
interests be regular attendants at a stated place of wor-
ship, contributors to the support of the Church and Gos-
pel, and should say, " We will not forsake the house of
our God. ' '

THE INTELLECTUAL ADVANTAGES.

2. "We name, as a second reason, tlie intellectual ad-
vantages of attendance on the services of God's house.
No one who is ignorant of the Bible can, with justice,

REASONS FOR PUBLIC WORSHIP. 257

claim the honors of a liberal edncation. The facts of
history, the study of jurisprudence, the science of medi-
cine, as well as tlie great truths of theology, are so con-
nected with the Bible that no man who is ignorant of it
can be fully versed iu them. Tlie historian who is igno-
rant of the Word of God has shut himself out from the
most fruitful source of historical knowledge. No lawyer
can afford to be ignorant of the laws of Moses ; they are
the foundation of all law. It is extremely doubtful
whether medical science has reached in our day, in sev-
eral important respects, the high-water mark of the
Mosaic Code. A young physician of this city, a mem-
ber of this church, is soon to read at the Baptist Au-
tumnal Conference in Boston, a paper on the '' Sanitary
Provisions of the Mosaic Code." It will be an interest-
ing paper on au important subject. Every intelligent
physician must be master of this code. From it he will
learn what human text-books cannot teach him.

We know that some people pride themselves in being
ignorant of the Bible, but such people only advertise
their intellectual and moral weakness. Now the Bible,
in what is called ^' Gospel sermons," is the great text-
book, and its exposition and enforcement are, in large
part, the duty of the pulpit. Attendance, then, on the
house of God is to be a means of learning God's will, as
laid down in God's Word, for the quickening of the
mind, as well as the purifying of the heart. We know
that with some persons it is common to disj)arage the
intellectual attainments of ministers. We know that it
has been often said that men of the highest culture do
not attend our churches. Ministers have sometimes been
called ''marrying and christening machines," and in
churches where a prescribed formula forbids an indepen-
dent exercise of mental power, and where mistaken

258 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

notions of a minister's duty transform him into a priest
rather than a teacher — into a performer of rituah'stic
duties and traditions of men rather than an interpreter
of God's Word — there is some ground for the charge.
^' As dull as a sermon" has passed into a proverb. But,
judged simply from the number of persons who hear
them, sermons are not dull. They are the most popular
form of entertainment — if one may use that term. Iso
man on any subject but religion could draw and hold
the audiences which any representative minister in
this city has every Sunday. The Bible is a popular
book.

In the North American Review for July there is a
*' Symposium" on church attendance. The discussion
is opened by one who calls himself a " Non-church-
goer." He is generally supposed to be Mr. James Par-
ton. He claims that only a small proportion of intelli-
gent and respectable people attend the services of the
churches ; that such attendance cramps the brains of those
who go; that only intellectual '' hght- weights" enter
the ministry. Three men of different schools of thought
give their views on this first paper. The editor of the
New York Indejpendent has given the most satisfactory
reply. He most conclusively shows how false are the
statements that intelligent and moral people do not at-
tend the churches. He proves from the census reports
and year books of different denominations that " there
were in ISOO, according to the best available statistics,
350,000 Evangelical communicants in the country, being
seven per cent of the population of 5,303,483. In 1850
there were 3,529,988 such communicants, being fifteen
per cent of the population of 21,191,876. In 1870 there
were 6,673,396 such communicants, being seventeen per
cent of the population of 38,588,371. In 1880 the com-

REASONS FUJI I'LHLIC WUKSIIIP. 259

mimicants had risen to 10,005,003, being a little over
twenty per cent of the population of 50,152,800."

lie also shows that the increase in population since
1800 has been ninefold ; that in Evangelical communi-
cants has been twenty-sevenfold, three times as great as
the population. But we have as attendants on the ser-
vices in our churches not only communicants, but many
who are connected with them by family or social tics.
He therefore estimates that thirty-six of the fifty mill-
ions of our population are recognized as regular attend-
ants. He riglitly admits that '' there are men of French
or Spanish birth who have learned to despise Romanism,
and who in throwing it off have thrown off all faith.
There are Germans by birth who have succumbed to a
local tide of unbelief. There are Jew^sto whom Judaism
seems a decayed religion, and who have accepted no
other." "We all know that the worst classes do not
attend the church. Keepers and patrons of saloons do
not. The reckless Sunday excursionists, who this very
day are doing all they can to bring this city into dis-
repute, do not. Supporters of places too vile to be
named do not. Those who neglect the house of God
are in bad fellowship. I do not say that all who neglect
public worship are of this low order ; but I do say that
nearly all who are of this low order neglect the house of
God. So to do is to have fellowship with the worst
classes in the community, fellowship with the devil and
his angels. But these are only a small fraction of the
great whole who in increasing proportions attend our
places of worship. It is safe to say that nearly four-
iifths of our population attend religious worship. The
reply to the question, '' Why do not the people attend
the churches ?" is, " The people do attend the churches."
To deny this is to display unpardonable ignorance.

360 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

Of course, we do not claim the same prominence for
the clergy now over all other classes of men, as was given
them some centuries ago, when clergymxcn were the only
educated men in the community — when the names
scholar, clergy, and clerk were synonymous terms — as
my honored and beloved college president, Dr. M. B.
Anderson, whose presence here this morning is so pleasing
to us all, used often to remind his students. Indeed,
clerk is still the old English law-term for a preacher.
But we do claim that a given number of clergymen,
compared with an equal number of men in any other
profession, in natural ability, specific attainments and
general literary culture, will prove themselves at least
their equals, and possibly their superiors. We are as-
sured that attendance on God's house is calculated to
stimulate a man's mental powers, by bringing him into
contact with the great thoughts of the Almighty. A
good sermon stirs all the hidden energies of the soul, by
enforcing the claims of God and by revealing the great
realities of eternity. The intellect, as well as the heart,
was made for God ; and whether in arguments for or
objections against God's claims, all our mental powers
are quickened. The Bible is the source whence poets,
musicians, and painters have drawn their subjects and
their inspiration.

The Bible gave all these men — working in differ-
ent departments of genius — their inspiration. Shall
we be so inconsistent as to rejoice in the streams while
we despise the fountain whence they flowed ? No liter-
ature has in it the elements of immortality except that
which draws its inspiration from God's Word. This
gave Tasso his strength in song and Michael Angelo his
glory in art. The music of this world dies with the
breath which gives it utterance. Only as literature,

REASONS FOR IH-KLKJ WORSiril'

261

music, poetry, sculpture and painting are linked with Ilim
whose name is above every name, can they possess somo-
tliing of the enduringness of Ilim who is the King Im-
mortkl. They must at least embody the best religious
thought of their time. This is true both of the Greek
poems and plays.

The office which has been honored by the gifts of
Paul and the graces of John, by the immortal names of
heroes and martyrs in the past, and is tilled now by some
of the ablest and best men living, needs no further vindi-
cation from me. To a blind man only is it necessary to
prove that the sun at noonday in midsummer gives light.
Because of its intellectual advantages, then, we should
to-day say: ''We will not forsake the house of our
God."

THE MORAL AND SPmiTUAL ADVANTAGES.

3. As a third and last reason, I name the moral and
spiritual advantages for time and eternity connected with
keeping the Sabbath and attending the house of God.

What a blessing is the Christian Sunday now, as was
the Jewish Sabbath in ancient times ! Happy is that
land and blessed is that family where the Sabbath is kept
holy, and God is loved and served ! A week without
Sunday is like a country without the smell of flowers or
the song of birds. It is like a year without a summer,
nothing but bleak, barren, frozen winter. It is like a
night without a morning, nothing but sorrow, darkness,
death. Sunday is the embankment which God has built,
against w^hich'the weaves of care and sorrow which for
six long days have been rolling over the heads and hearts
of anxious men and weary women, may break and scat-
ter themselves in harmless spray and beautiful foam.
Sundav is God's benediction on a troubled world. He

2(j2 CHRIST, AND HIM CliUCIFIED,

stretches out His miglitj and loving liands over us, and
the gentle benediction falls. He speaks the word of
*' Peace" and the noise of trade and strife ceases ; the
spindle rests in the loom, the grinding ceases in the mill,
the store remains closed, and God's hush — making even
silence vocal— alone is heard ; and every heart is uplifted
in holy song or bowed in humble prayer. Such is God's
idea of Sunday, such should be ours.

A period of rest for man and beast is an unavoidable
necessity. Even if God had made no positive law on
this subject, the necessities of the case would compel the
observance of periods of rest. Extensively also, among
many heathen nations the seventh day, or the seventh
part of the time, was given to rest. It was called a
"holy day." The French nation during the Revolu-
tion, when they denied the existence of God and de-
spised the Bible, were still obliged to observe a period
of rest. They appointed the " Decade," taking for rest
one day in ten.

To the laboring man Sunda}^ is a boon and a benedic-
tion. Disraeli, in his " Tancred," well says : " The life
and property of England are protected by the laws of
Sinai. The hard-working people of England are secured
a day of rest in every week by the laws of Sinai."
Humboldt, who certainly was not a prejudiced witness,
and who saw the working of the decimal system in
France, says : " The selection of one day in seven is the
wisest that can be made. When in the time of the Eev-
.olution I spent some time in Paris I saw the institution
of the Sabbath, despite its divine origin, suspended by
the dry and decimal system. But this was decidedly too
long. I am convinced that six days is the just measure.
To lengthen the interval is as inhuman as it is foolish."
It has been abundantly proved by many actual tests that

REASONS FOK PUBLIC WORSHIP. 263

men and beasts will accomplish more work in a year by
obeying God in observing the Sabbath ; and many men
are now in lunatic asylums just because they disobeyed
God by working on that day ; failing to give their brain
the rest it needed, they brought upon themselves inevi-
table punishment. No class of men are more interested
in this subject than the laboring classes, so-called, and
yet no class has shown greater blindness than the Sab-
bath-breakers among them to their own best interests.
They are their own worst enemies. In breaking God's
law of the Sabbath they are also breaking His law of
health in their own bodies. They are not reaping the
benefit which this day of rest is designed to give them.
Our hearts ache for their folly and mourn over their
crime.

Many persons are benefited in large measure by church-
going who are not benefited in the fullest measure pos-
sible. They are profited in their outward life and in the
morals of the community. This is itself a great gain.
Clean linen and one's best clothes are a means of grace.
One is descending in the scale of humanity, he is getting
further from the angelic end and nearer the devilish,
who does not care enough for Sunday to fix up himself
and his family on that day. He is the enemy of the
Republic, he is the foe of humanity, who lifts hand or
voice against God's Sabbath. Is there honesty any-
where ? Is there any man whom we may trust ? We
bow our heads in shame ; we hide our faces in con-
fusion ; we pray God be merciful, and not make us as
Sodom. But would not things be worse were it not for
the restraining influences of Sabbaths and sanctuaries ?
We may now say, as Frankhn said of his times : " If
men are so bad with religion, what would they be with-
out it ?"

2G4 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

Every business man knows tliat the morals inculcated
in our churches tend greatly to restrain wickedness and
foster righteousness. Close all our churches to-daj for-
ever ; let our ministers abandon the city, and real estate
would not be worth much one year hence. Old Dr.
South spoke the truth w^hen he said : " If there was not
a minister in every parish, you would quickly find cause
to increase the number of constables ; if the churches
were not employed to be places to hear God's law, there
would be need of them to be prisons for the breakers of
the laws of men." This church increases the value of
every inch of real estate in this vicinity. 1 would not
apologize to any property-holder w^hen I ask him for aid
in supporting a church. It is the best police force.
Looking at this whole subject from even the point of a
moralist, so-called, there is great reason for observing
the command of God, on this w^all before you, " Ye
shall keep My Sabbaths, and reverence My sanctuary."
The higher religious motive makes the obligation more
binding. Here is the culminating point of all we have
said. The will of God may be learned and the salvation
of God found anywdiere ; but in His house, and in the
preaching and hearing of His Word, w^e may come more
immediately into His presence.

We sometimes hear persons excuse themselves from
the house of God on the ground that they can read a
good sermon at home. As a rule, a sermon is the very
last thing which such persons w^ill read at home or else-
where. But granting that they are perfectly honest, it
would be better to hear the sermon. Even a poor ser-
mon, when set on fire by the love of God in the heart
of the preacher, may become a tremendous power. A
sermon needs a man behind it — a living, loving man —
who is himself the incarnation of the truths he utters.

REASONS FOR PUBLIC "WORSHIP. ;.^C5

The man is more than the preaclier — certainly more tlian
the sermon. A single sermon by an obscure and un-
known man, who preached for the famous Edmund
Calamy, was the means of the conversion of John Owen,
who for five years was in deep despondency, and for
three months scarcely spoke to any one. The text was,
^' Why are ye so fearful, oh ye of little faith ?" The
sermon was balm to the bruised heart ; it proved to be
his physical, mental, and moral cure. Among the pupils
of John Owen were John Locke and William Penn ; his
readers are almost all the English-speaking people ; eter-
nity alone will reveal his work. A single sermon by
Livingston resulted in the conversion of at least five hun-
dred, and originated a movement which extended through
the west of Scotland and the north of Ireland, and thou-
sands felt its influences.

In an obscure corner of a humble chapel there sat, one
Sunday morning, a young man burdened with a sense of
sin. His heart was longing for rest and peace. The
preacher rose in the pulpit. He was a feeble old man,
a primitive Methodist, I believe. He was not learned,
not eloquent, not famous. With a trembling voice he
announced his text : ^' Look unto Me, and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth ; for I am God, and there is
none else." He exalted Christ as the sinner's only
refuge. As Moses lifted up tlie serpent, so he displayed
Christ. The congregation was small. The eyes of the
preacher seemed to rest upon the young man. Raising
his voice he shouted, '' Young man, look, look now !"
It was the birth-moment of the new life. The young
man looked and lived. With the look of faith came
life. The burden fell from his heart. Joy filled his
soul. He left the house justified. The Immble preacher
knew not, but God did, Vvdiat glorious Vv-ork was done

2G6 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

that morning. That young man is known throughout
the entire world as the greatest preacher since Paul's
translation. His name — need 1 say it ?— is Charles H.
Spurgeon.

It is true God might have done these great things, if
these ministers had not preached and their hearers had
not attended the house of God. But God works by
means, and we dare not separate the results which in His
sovereign pleasure He ordains from the means which, in
Lis sovereign pleasure, He appoints. Humanly speak-
ing, their salvation depended on their attendance on the
worship of God in His holy temple. Preaching is God's
chosen instrument to lead men to Himself. The printed
page has its use, but the living voice of the living
preacher is the divine method. When the Holy Ghost
came in mighty power on the day of Pentecost, He
rested as a tongue over the heads of the disciples. The
symbol is significant. Let us follow God's plan. The
pulpit was never a mightier force than it is to-day. An
uplifted Christ still draws men unto Himself.

OIJR OPENING.

It is to many a matter of regret that the opening ser-
vices occur while so many of our warmest friends are
away. I cannot, however, but believe that this, too, is
wisely ordered of God. For thirteen years 1 have striven
by voice and pen to oppose the too common habit in our
city of closing the churches in summer. We might as
well close in January as in July. God has owned our
work in summer's heat as in winter's cold. It seems
fitting that this forward movement, this aggressive step,
should be taken now in midsummer. God has honored
our faith ; he has rewarded our summer work. While

REASONS FOR PUBLIC WORSHIP. 2G7

SO many clinrclics arc closed and religious work inter-
rupted, if not suspended, we are permitted to take pos-
session of this new field for Christ.

Standing to-day on the border-line between the old
home on Twenty-third Street and the yet incomplete
home on Fifty-seventh Street, we look tenderly and
gratefully backward ; we look joyously and prayerfully
forward. To many the old home was often the very
gate of heaven. There many of you found Christ ; there
many of you left heavy burdens ; there many found in-
spiration for the trials of life ; there the last words w^ere
spoken over your beloved dead. Tender memories both
of the living and the dead gather about the dear old
home. Workmen may tear it down ; soon as a church
it will be no more ; but it has made an imperishable his-
tory. In letters of living light the recording angel has
written its story before the throne of God. Farewell to
the old home ! Welcome to the new ! May this church
be anointed to preach the Gospel to the poor, to heal the
broken-hearted, and to preach the acceptable year of the
Lord ! Here we shall ever have a welcome for the
stranger. Here we shall ever hold ourselves your ser-
vants for ^' Jesus' sake." Here in the presence of God
and His peoples we shall declare with pious and patriotic
Nehemiah — " We will not forsake the house of our
God."

XXI.
yOICEFUL STONES.*

" What mean ye by these stones ?" — Josh. 4 : 6.

The long and weary wilderness journey was over.
Moses, the leader and lawgiver of Israel, had now gone
up to glory and God. His mantle had fallen upon the
son of Nun, the brave and noble Joshua. The task
assigned *him was great ; the divine jDroinises given him
were greater. God said to Joshua : " Be strong and of
a good courage ; be not afraid, neither be thou dis-
mayed ; for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever
thou goest." He also added: "There shall not any
man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life ;
as I was with Moses so will I be with thee ; 1 will not
fail thee, nor forsake thee." These are great and pre-
cious promises. Joshua caught their inspiration. He
had shown a spirit of trustful bravery, when forty years
before he exhorted the people to go up against the land.
In that spirit he now assumed command of the hosts of
God. Forward went the priests of the Lord bearing the
ark of the- Lord. Their feet are dipped in the brim of
the Jordan, and lo ! the bed of the river is dried up.
The rushing tide of waters, in this time of harvest,
"' rose up upon a heap very far from the city Adam,
that is beside Zaretan ;" while the waters below were
carried on to the Dead Sea. Forward went the priests

"" Preached at the opening of the new Calvary Baptist Church,
Sunday morning, December 23d, 1883.

yOICEFL'L STONES. 2G9

with the ark into the iniddle of tlie river. There tliey
stood until tlic people "dry-shod passed over riglit
against Jericho."

At the command of God, tlirougli Joslina, twelve men
out of the people, out of every tribe a man, took twelve
stones out of the eTordan, from the place where the
priests' feet stood firm. Tliese stones Joshua set up
" f or a memorial unto the chihlren of Israel forever. "
Much ingenuity has been exercised in explaining this
narrative. ^W^e do not stop to discuss the many questions
it suggests. This primitive form of a memorial is com-
mon to almost all nations. Of this character are the
Egyptian obelisks and the cairns and Druidical circles in
England and Scotland. The text is the question of the
children. The sight of the cairn would awaken curiosity.
It has been well asked, '' What child in Altorf but must
have inquired respecting the statue of Yfilliam Tell, or
in Lucerne, about the lion sculptured by Thorwaldsen to
commemorate the deaths of the Swiss Guard ?" Cross-
ing the Jordan dry-shod was the great miracle of the en-
trance into Canaan. The memorial stones would remind
the tribes of God's greatness and goodness. But the
stones must have tongues in order that their testimony
may be more complete. They were not simply to be
memorial ; they were also to be declaratory. The living
voice was to accompany the stony witnesses. Each
stone is a preacher, but the voice of living preachers is
added. Parents were to tell their children how they
had come over Jordan on dry land. It is believed
that the cairn remained at least until some centuries after
the destruction of Jerusalem. But the instruction of
parents as presented here gives the event a more endur-
ing memorial.

Without departing from the original significance of

270 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

these monumental stones, we find in them to-day not
really new lessons, but a new application of the old
lesson. Occupying to-day for the first time this house
of worship, it is fitting that we ask and answer the old
question, " \yhat mean ye by these stones ?" The form
which the stones have taken partly answers the question.
Turret, tower, and spire point heavenward. They de-
clare in their eloquent silence that there is a life beyond
tliis ; that it is not all of life to live ; that we are the
heirs of an immortal life. In its symmetry and sincerity
the whole structure preaches the need of truth in tlie
heart and life. This is a " sincere" building. Contra-
diction between seeming and being is bad always and
everywhere ; in the house of God it is abominable.
The attempt to deceive by false pillars, arches, and re-
cesses is bad both in art and religion. If any building
in the world should be true it is a house dedicated to the
worship of God. But, furthermore, in letters of stone
over the central entrance these stones declare their mis-
sion : " We preach Christ crucified." Let us not belie
their testimony ; and let us add the testimony of the
living voice to the '^testimony of the rocks." Let us
tell our children, and may they tell their children from
generation to generation, what we mean by these stones.
Better that they had never left their native quarries than
that they should preach another gospel, which is not a
gospel, than the Gospel of Christ, as the only hoj^e of a
lost world.

1. These stones, in the first place, express our convic-
tion of the world's need of Christ's Gospel. Sin is the
terrible fact in human existence. No true thinker on
moral problems will shut his eyes to this sad human ex-
perience. The man who fails to see that the removal of
sin is the world's great need is not a thinker ; he is sim-

VOICEFUL STONES. 271

ply a shallow empiric. He has not discovered the world's
great malady. He is simply playing at philosopher and
hmnanitarian. Christ proved Himself to be an exhaus-
tive analyst of character and life when He sunnned np
His diagnosis of Man's moral condition by describing it
as '^ that which was lost." He gloriously set forth His
own mission when He said that He came " to seek and
to save." Not the well, but the sick need a physician ;
not the £aved, but the lost need a Saviour. The race is
sick and lost ; Christ is the Physician and the Saviour.

But we know that it is extremely difficult, often quite
impossible, to get men to see the sinfulness of sin against
God. The strong statements of the Bible shock and
annoy them. The sad condition of men they attribute
to some other cause. The nature of the world's disease
they misunderstand because they examine it with dis-
eased eyes. They are themselves the subject of the cor-
ruption on which they attempt to pronounce judgment.
Their judgment, therefore, becomes manifestly incor-
rect. Satan often comes arrayed as an angel of hght ;
he may thus deceive the very elect. Sin, like Jezebel,
paints its face and tires its head. Man's inability to see
the deceitfulness of sin is one of the fruits of the deceit-
fulness of sin. It takes from us the capacity to under-
stand its true character. It robs men of spiritual health
and yet cheats them with the hectic flush ; it beggars
them and yet tells them that they are increased in goods.
It soothes while it stabs ; it stabs while it soothes. It is
useless to trifle. The evil remains. It will not " down"
at the philanthropic philosopher's bidding. The enact-
ments of legislatures will not remove it. We cannot
refine it out of the world by giving it complimentary
definitions. What is cold ? Nothing, some say, but
absence of heat. It is nothing in itself : it has no posi-

272 CHRIST, AXD niM CiiUCIFIED.

tive character : it is onlv a iieo-ation. This definition is
soothing to the philosopher bv his warm fire. But the
poor man out yonder is shivering, freezing, dying in the
biting, bitter cohh "What matters it that it is only ab-
sence of heat ; the man will soon be dead. Of conrso
darkness is nothing ; it is only the absence of light.
This snrelj is plain enongh. Xeyertheless men will
stumble in it notwithstanding the mitigating definition.
So the light-hearted teacher tells us that sin is but little ;
it is only the absence of holiness. But even that is
much. It is the absence of wholeness ; it is the absence
of happiness ; it is the absence of Godlikeness here ; it
is the absence of heaven hereafter.

But sin is more. It has separated man from God ; it
has separated man from man. Sin is the prolific parent
of all our woes. It is the terrible thing which God
hates. It has a positive character ; it is earthly, sensual,
devilish. The world has felt its polluting touch ; its
trail is over all the products of human imagination,
reason and affection. The world all about us illustrates
and emphasizes the teachings of Scripture. Experience
and observation, as certainly as the Scriptures, say,
'* There is none righteous, no, not one." They corrob-
orate Paul's first chapter in the letter to the Romans.
No wonder that some heathen of our day who first heard
it charged the missionary who was famihar with their
lives with havino: written it. In the fulness of time the
Christ was born. One element, the negative element,
in that fulness was the world's fruitless effort to help
itself. Rome was mistress of the world. More than
one hundred millions of people lay bleeding at her feet.
She stamped her foot and mighty armies leaped to obey
her call. Their tread shook the earth. But she was
powerless to drive out the awful corruptions which were

YOICEFUL STONES. 273

eatinfj ont all that was noble in lier life. All authorities
agree with Tacitus and Juvenal in their fearful descrip-
tions of the corruptions which permeated all ranks of
society. The Emperor was a god ; the individual was a
slave. The Pantheon, as has been said, was only the
monument of an early and amusing superstition. Faith
was dead ; hope was dying ; Rome was broken at heart.
The highest art and culture of Greece could only build
an altar on Mars' Hill " to the unknown God," and then
fall down in helpless worship. Mighty Rome in her ab-
ject helplessness was calling for a deliverer. Beautiful
Greece was stretching out her hands for a healer. Christ
was both to both so far as they received Him. The ex-
perience of the world must be that of each individual.
The world to-day is sick, helpless, sinful. Apart from
Christ's Gospel it can find no help. '' It lieth in the
arms of the wicked one." God says, and experience
echoes the saying, ''Thou hast destroyed thyself.*'
Thank God He speaks this other word : "But in Me is
thy help."

2. Again, these stones express our faith in Christ's
Gospel to meet the world's need.

The Gospel proclaims the divine specific for sin. It
comes to the world at its lowest and darkest point with
help and hope. To each man guilty and condemned it
offers, thi'ough the death and mediation of Jesus Christ,
a full and free pardon. Throwing aside all distinctions
of condition and culture it regards us all as " concluded
under sin." When we repent of and forsake our sins it
assures us that God will abundantly pardon. The con-
dition of pardon shows alike the matchless love and peer-
less wisdom of God. "How shall man be just with
God ?" is the question of the ages. "No man, no angel
could answer it. God solves the problem. The cross is

274 CHKIST, AND HIM CllUCIFIED.

tlie answer. There righteousness and truth met together,
there mercy and peace have kissed each other. God can
now be just and the Justifier of him wlio believes in
Jesus. If the Gospel cannot save a man, nothing can.
It is still the world's hope, ^o wonder that it made
such rapid triumphs when first it was preached. It found
the world weary with its sins, its philosophies, and its
idolatries. Thoughtful souls were longing for help here
and hope hereafter. Tlie Gospel came as bread to the
hungry, light to those gro23ing in the dark, and life to the
dying. It was a ray of supernal splendor in a world of
earthly blackness. It revealed God as a loving Father
and Saviour, and heaven as an eternal home. We can
scarcely estimate the blessedness of this heavenly boon.
It broke the power and removed the condemnation of
sin. It showed how Christ had borne it in His own
body, and how by His stripes we are healed. It also
made the attainment of a holy character a possibility. It
does so still. It makes the redeemed here have fore-
tastes of heaven.

The Gospel is the harmonizer of all the conflicting
interests of human society. It alone can elevate the
*' masses ;" it alone can reclaim tlie fallen. Dr. Alex-
ander MacLeod, in his " Christus Consolator," says that
^' When Orsted first exhibited to Frederika Bremer the
beautiful and now familiar experiment of sand-grains
upon a glass plate arranging themselves, under the influ-
ence of a musical note, in symmetrical and harmonious
figures, this reflection passed through the mind of the
lady : ' A human hand made the stroke that produced
the note. But when the stroke is made by the hand of
the Almighty, will not the note then produced bring into
exquisitely harmonious form those sand-grains which are
human beings, communities, nations. It will arrange

VOICEFUL STON'ES. 275

the world in beauty, and there shall be no discord, and
no lamentation any more.'" Tnis woman is right.
That divinely musical note is the preaching of the glori-
ous Gospel of Christ. Christ was a workingman ; His
apostles were workingmen. The laborer finds in Christ
his truest friend. All that is true in communism is the
offspring of Christ's religion ; all that is evil is opposed
by that Gospel. His religion is the cure for all the evils
existing between employer and employed. Put Christ
into the hearts of both and injustice, oppression, and
strikes will be impossible. Ko form of slavery can exist
in an atmosphere warmed by the love of Christ. In that
warmth the chains of slavery melt. Could Philemon
look on Onesimus as a chattel when the love of Christ
was in the hearts of both ? Impossible ! The old bond
mio-ht for a time exist. Paul recos^nized its claim. But
Onesimus and his master Philemon were now brethren
in Christ. Onesimus must go back, but now as a brother
to a brother. This spirit has destroyed slavery wher-
ever it has been destroyed. Tell me what good thing all
the centuries have produced whose origin is not in this
blessed Gospel ? Religion now, as in all the past, lifts
nations and races oat of barbarism into civilization, out
of sin into holiness, from earth to heaven. Think of the
ignorance in which the AYesleys found the common peo-
ple of England ! Who can estimate their power for
good ? So-called reformers and humanitarians who are
infidel to Christ and His Gospel, are the enemies of the
poor, the enemies of the Republic, the enemies of the
race. Those who would lift their hand against the Bible,
against the Sabbath, against Christ, are the enemies of
the best interests of all classes for time and eternity.

By means of the poor Christ's kingdom was first organ-
ized. The poor knew Him to be their true Friend. To

276 CHRIST, AND HIM CELX'IFIED.

them there was music in His voice, there was sympathy
in His heart, there was help in His hand. If we are to
help the poor we must put Christ into their poverty.
Religion w^oulcl vastly reduce the number of the poor.
It is the friend of industry and all kindred virtues ; it is
the foe of intemperance and all kindred vices. The
j)Oor do not so much need bread as the character and the
opportunity to earn bread. Religion in the heart gives
both. JVIuch is said about carrying the loaf with the
tract. This idea has been overworked. It is instructive
to remember that only twice did Christ use divine power
to give bread to the multitude ; and in both cases the
circumstances were peculiar. The poor need the religion
of Christ more than bread except for immediate neces-
sities. He is the true Bread. Give them that and the
other bread will come. Christ gave Himself. He offers
Himself still. There were as many evils, as Dr. Mac-
Leod suggests, in Christ's day as now. There were
then the lapsed classes, the dwellers in lanes, the victims
of sin and misery of every kind. What was Christ's
cure ? Evangelize them. Did He blunder ? Was He
lacking in gentleness and love ? Perish the thought !
He was the true Reformer, the Divine Humanitarian,
the Spiritual Regenerator of the individual and the race.
There is profound philosophy in His method. His
spirit teaches the rich and the poor alike to recognize the
poor man's manhood. This is a recognition of tremen-
dous power. It gives hope, light, life to the poor. It
lets into the poorest home and the saddest heart a flash
of the glory of the millennial dawn. It gives those who
are up tenderness for those who are down ; it gives those
who are down trustfulness toward those who are up.
The preacher of the Gospel is the poor man's best earthly
friend. He tells of a Christ who was poor, and who has

YOICrFUL STONES. 277

sanctified and forever glorified poverty. Christ's incar-
nation has lifted the world into the sunshine of hope and
the promise of heaven. It has levelled society by lift-
ing the down-trodden— levelled it up. It makes lowli-
ness loftiness, meekness mightiness, and gentleness great-
ness. Guizot says that '' Christianity has carried repent-
ance even into the souls of nations. Pagan antiquity
knew nothing of these awakenings of the public con-
science. Tacitus could only deplore the decay of the
ancient rites of Rome, and Marcus Aurelius could only
wrap himself sorrowfully up in tlie stoicrl isolation of
the sage ; there is nothing to show that these superior
minds so much as suspected the gicat crimes of their
social state, even in its best days, or aspired to reform
them." The world's hope in every relation of hfe is in
this old Gospel. It must have its place in every heart ;
it must throw its radiance over every home ; it must
be in every workshop and counting-house. Then will be
realized the dream of the eloquent and tuneful Macaulay,
in his " Lays of Ancient Eome :"

*' Then none was for a party ;

Then all were for the state ;
Then the great man helped the poor.

And the poor man loved the great :
Then lands were fairly- portioned ;

Then spoils were fairly sold :
The Romans were like brothers

In the brave days of old."

This church stands for this idea. It is not the church
of the rich ; it is not the church of the poor ; it is
neither ; it is both. The spirit of the world divides
society horizontally — each class selecting its correspond-
ing layer. The spirit of Christ's religion divides society
vertically, cutting through all the layers. True religion
says, whether a man be black or white, red or yellow,

27S CHRIST, A^I) HIM CRUCIFIED.

rich or poor, " A man's a man for a' that. " Away witli
the sentimental but Christless philanthropist ! Away with
the blatant and blasphemous infidel ! The true friend
of the rich, the poor, the fallen of all classes is Jesus
Christ, the perfect, the Divine Man. Welcome His
Gospel as the answer of humanity's cry, as the opener
of heaven to penitent and believing sinners !

3. Again, these stones declare our faith in and our
duty toward the aggressive, the missionary side of Christ's
Gospel.

It means to conquer the world. It will do it. This is
its lofty ambition. This is its divine destiny. In this
respect it stands unique among the religions of the world.
No form of idolatry ever aimed at universality. To
worship the god of the grove, the fountain, the localit}^,
was all that was contemplated by heathen religions.
The disciples of many forms of superstition did not wish
them to become universal. Universality would rob
them of the charm of their sweet seclusiveness. They
were for their "set," their country, their race. They
were local, ethnic, or at most national. Judaism was
not aggressively missionary. Its books, as Dr. Hanna
has shown, hinted at a possible universality. These
hints, however, were misunderstood, disregarded, dis-
liked. Christ found the Jews the most narrow and
bigoted of all peoples. The Jew was the religious Phari-
see, despising all others religiously. The Greek was the
physical Pharisee, despising all others physically. The
Roman was tolerant, not because of charity, but because
of indifference. Rome knew nothing of tenderness.
Christ gave the world a new, a sublime, a divine idea.
He sent His apostles out to preach a rehgion equally
needed by and equally adapted to all races, climes, and
centuries. This is the most sublime idea ever proclaimed

yOICEFUL ST0XE3. 279

to the world. It is matchless, peerless, glorious. Think
of the amazement with which the " Go ye into all the
Avorld ; preach the Gospel unto every creature' ' fell upon
the ears of the disciples ! Their world was a narrow
strip of land ; this new world is the globe. We have
become familiar with the idea, but a moment's reflection
gives it its marvellous proportions, l^o philosopher of
Greece or Rome, or of the imaginative East, ever
dreamed of such a thought. That one idea gives Christ
the foremost place in the ranks of the world's thinkers.
Where did He, if only a Galilean youth, get the idea ?
Explain that, if you deny His divinity. Are you a
thinker ? Here is a problem. Its solution involves
divinity in the Great Teacher.

Away over the hills of Judea and Samaria went the
apostles of the cross. The islands of the blue ^gean
were stepping-stones for the feet of ^' the sacramental
host of God's elect." The cross was their weapon.
Hoary superstitions tottered and tumbled. ISTations of
highest culture and nations of wildest barbarism bowed
at Jesus' feet. With the cross they battered down the
strongest walls of opposition ; with the cross they pointed
the way to glory and God. They revolutionized liter-
ature, architecture, religion, the world. Jean Paul
Richter was right when he said, '^With His pierced
hands, Christ has lifted empires off their hinges, turned
the stream of centuries out of its channel, and He still
governs the ages. ' '

The old spirit is in this Gospel still. It still turns the
world upside down, because it finds the world wrong
side up. It makes no apology for declaring itself. Too
often we have spoken it apologetically when we ought to
have uttered it authoritatively. The best defence of
Christianity is — Christianity. It is its own best evi-

280 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

dence. We liave too often turned aside to debate witli
unbelievers. We have dignified contemptible foes.
We have magnified pigmies into heroes, dwarfs into
giants. We have given the devil too much respect ;
we owe him only disobedience, contempt, and hate.
On, on, oh Church of God ! Forward on thj divine
mission, until the kingdoms of this world lie in joyous
submission at Jesus' feet ! These stones stand for this
spirit. We believe in aggressive work. We are not to
satisfy ourselves by singing, " Hold the fort." We must
shout, '^ Storm the fort." An anti-mission church is an
anti-Christian church. Such a church must soon die ;
the sooner the better. I charge you, luy beloved Churcli,
that you never forget your exalted mission, if you live
only for yourselves you shall die. Your grandest liturgy
is in following your Master, '' who went about doing
good." Visit the fatherless ; carry the bread of life to
the poor and sinful ; begin in your Jerusalem ; go on to
all Judea ; march into Samaria ; forward to the utter-
most parts of the earth. Fail and you die. Selfishness
is death ; self-abnegation, consecration, Christliness —
these are life, power, and glory. These stones to coming
generations shall bear testimony to the missionary spirit
of this Church and of Christ's Gospel. At this blessed
Christmas-tide we sing again the sweet angelic song
which floated out on the midnight air when the Christ
was born : " Behold, I bring you good tidings of great
joy, which shall be to all people." '' Glory to God in
the highest, and on earth peace, good- will to men."

4. But, lastly, these stones declare our faith in our dis-
tinctive organic order as a body of Christians, as being
in harmony with Christ's Gospel.

If our views be not in harmony with Christ's Gospel
we do not wish to hold them ; we have no other reason

YOICEFUL STONES. 281

for being Baptists. But so long as this reason exists wo
cannot be otiier than Baptists. We hold, in harmony
with all the evangelical denominations, the great funda-
mental doctrines of the Gospel. AVe also hold views
taught in the Word of God which, in our view, they
lightly esteem or entirely ignore. These views are suffi-
ciently well understood ; they need not be here specified.
We would not multiply or magnify the differences be-
tween us and our esteemed brethren. We would rather
lessen the number. But this we cannot do by denying
or ignoring these differences. We must acknowledge
them in a manly way and in a Christly spirit. We grant
to others the liberty we claim for ourselves. We give
them credit for the sincerity which we claim for our-
selves. The Church almost as a whole has in a wonder-
ful way come to accept views which once we almost
alone held. It is worse than useless in union and other
meetings to ignore points of difference. If men are
honest in their denominational positions, there are differ-
ences and they are worthy of respect. We shall admit
them ; we shall respect them ; we shall work with all
who love Christ ; and we shall respectfully, kindly,
Christianly differ from them in so far as we honestly
believe that they differ from the teachings of Christ.
This is Protestant, this is Baptist, this is Scripture doc-
trine. Here kindly, firmly, lovingly we stand. We
" can do no otherwise." For myself, should I cease to
hold the views touching the inspiration of the Scriptures,
the vicarious atonement of Christ and other doctrines of
evangelical Christianity, I should give up my Christian
name. When I step off the platform touching baptism,
the Lord's Supper, and any distinctively Baptist view^s,
on which I stood when I received ordination as a Ba23tist
minister, I shall give up my denominational name as a

282 CHRIST, AND Hl^t CRUCIFIED.

Baptist minister. I shall relieve the denomination of all
responsibility for my acts. Common honesty requires
that when a minister has abandoned the views on profes-
sion of which he received denominational recognition,
he should no longer enjoy the emoluments and lienors
of that denomination. How a man can wear his Church's
armor while he is stabbing her to the heart is more than
an honest man can understand. The maligned politician
is above such unmanliness. I must say that as the years
advance, I hold my ordination vows with a firmer grasp
and a tenderer love. I believe in every drop of blood
in the old, the blessed Book, in the old Gospel and in
the old methods of winning men to God. The Gospel
has lost none of its ancient power. It is still the power
of God unto salvation. The churches in whose pulpits
it is most faithfully preached are the churches whose
pews are best filled with consecrated men and women.
This Church stands for honesty in the ]3ulpit, loyalty to
ordination vows, and submission to the lordship of Jesus
Christ.

It nmst also stand for loyalty in the pews. If the
Church — the spiritual body — gives up the old Baptist
faith, it ought to give up this house. These stones
mean all this. Perhaps in the years to come the words
I now speak may be quoted. Let them give no uncer-
tain sound ; these stones stand for a regular Baptist
Church. This means much ; but the stones mean even
more. No Baptist Church is worthy the name, it is not
a regular Baptist Church, except Christ be exalted above
all other names. When Ptolemy built the Pharos he
desired to perjDetuate his name. But the architect cut
the king's name in plaster ; he cut his own, Sostratus,
in imperishable granite. The waves washed off the
plaster ; the king's name disappeared ; then the name

VOICKFl'L STONES. 283

Sostratus was revealed. When all earti^ij names have
perished Christ's will endure. Baptism does not make
a Baptist Church. Some bodies baptize whom we utterly
repudiate. A Baptist Church is loyal to the Word of
God ; it accepts the great doctrines of Christ's Gospel.
When it gives up these it is unworthy its name. So,
conspicuous above all other names you read in letters of
stone on the front of this building : " We preach Christ
crucified." Paralyzed be the hand which would tear
down Christ's cross, or strike the crown from His brow !
To-day we honor Ilim. These stones mean Jesus Christ,
Prophet, Priest, and King, from deep foundation to lofty
spire. We gather to-day about His cradle ; we stand in
awe and love at His cross ; we gaze in fondest hope
upon His throne. We have a better house than taber-
nacles made with hands — a house not made w^ith hands.
Our watchword in life, our support in death, and our
song in heaven will be '^ Jesus Christ, and Him cruci-
fied." This we mean by these stones. Their purpose
is that of Joshua's memorial : " That all the people of
the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is
might}^ ; that ye might fear the Lord your God for-
ever." Even £0, grant, Thou crucified and glorified
Jesus Christ !

XXII.

THREE PEEREQITISITES TO EFFECTIVE
CHURCH LIFE AXD WORK.-

" Now therefore arise, O Lord God, into Thy resting-place, Then,
and the ark of Thy strength : let Thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed
with salvation, and let Thy saints rejoice in goodness." — 2 Chkon.
6 : 41.

•These words form a part of Solomon's prayer at the
dedication of the temple. Never was a king more roy-
ally engaged than was he when lie spread forth his hands
toward heaven as he "Kneeled down upon his knees
before all the congregation of Israel." It was a great
day. The tribes of Is-rael came in solemn and joyous
bands. The entire prayer of Solomon — as recorded here
and in 1st Kings, eighth chapter— is a wonderful one. It
is a model, in many more respects than its brevity, for
all who lead the devotions of God's people. It will well
repay careful study. It was well that he prayed for rain
in time of drought, for peace in time of war, for health
in time of sickness. But the climax is reached in the
text ; this is the crowning glory of the prayer and of the
consecrated house. Solomon realized that without the
presence of the ever-living God all else was vain. Hence
this great petition : '^ Now therefore arise, O Lord God,
into Thy resting-place, Thou, and the ark of Thy strength :
let Thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation,

* Preached at the dedication of Calvary Church, February 3d, 1884,
the dedication having been postponed until provision was made for
the debt.

rillCIlKQUISITES TO CHURCH LIFE AND WORK. 285

and let Thy saints rejoice in goodness." The text gives
us three prerequisites to effective church life and work.

THE FIRST PREREQUISITE.

1. The first is the presence of God in the midst of His
people. During the unsettled condition of Israel the
symbol of God's presence was migratory. Now God
was to have a fixed dwelling-place. Though the lieaven
of heavens could not contain Ilim, still lie graciously
condescended to make the temple Ills special residence.
There is need still of the presence of God in His Church.
A church without the life-giving presence of God is like
a summer without the smell of flowers or the song of
birds ; it is like a year without a summer ; it is like a
night without a morning, nothing but dampness, dark-
ness, death.

The Old Testament abounds with illustrations of God's
willingness to abide with His people. Look at Jacob 0:1
his stony pillow. Night gathers about Him. He is
weary ; he is sinful ; he is sad. He sleeps ; lie dreams.
The rough stones form themselves in the visions of tlie
night into a vast stairway. The messengers of God
ascend and descend on this heavenly ladder. God speaks
to the houseless wanderer. Tlie place becomes a Bethel
— the very gate of heaven. Listen : " Behold, I am
with thee, and will keep thee in all places whitlier thou
goest. " Now Jacob's lonely path is peopled with an
innumerable host. Now his fears are removed, and his
future assured. Now the land of exile shall be a home.
If God be for him, who can be against him ? Behold
Joshua fearing before the task laid upon him. Who
may be the successor of Moses ? What hands shall take
up the burden which he has laid down ? Jehovah

286 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

speaks : ''Be strong and of a good courage ; as I was
with Moses, so shall I be witli thee ; I will not fail thee
nor forsake thee. There shall not any man be able to
stand before thee all the days of thy life." These are
wonderful words. Any man can do marvels when God
gives him such promises as these. Who but a cliild of
God ever went into the battle of life with such assur-
ances ? See Solomon overwhelmed with his great re-
sponsibility. To take great David's place was a high
honor ; it was also a solemn responsibility. But God
said : " I will be with thee and build thee a sure house."
God kept His promise. The day of dedication was the
proof. His glory filled the house. The abiding pres-
ence of Christ was the richest legacy which Pie left His
Church. It was the hope of Paul and Silas when they
made the old jail at Philippi vocal with their songs of
praise to God. It cheered Paul when on his way to
Rome while the tempestuous Euroclydon swept over the
deep. The presence of God has illumined the dungeon
with the glory of heaven ; it has made the stake a throne
of more than imperial power. Think of the glorious
army of martyrs — the Latimers, the Hoopers, the Rid-
leys ! Think of those who went on weary feet through
the glens or climbed tlie hills of Scotland — Donald Car-
gill, Richard Cameron, James Renwick, and others !
From the horrors of the Grass Market noble souls went
up to glory and to God. Every land has had its martyrs
for Jesus. Every land has had its baptism of blood.
Think of our Baptist brethren who have suffered even in
America for the truth — Obadiah Holmes, John Clark,
John Crandall, and others ! Patrick Henry's speech for
persecuted Baptists is historical. He rode sixty miles to
attend the court. The presence of God transformed
trial into triumph and death into an immortal life.

PREREQUISITES TO CHURCH LIFE AND WORK. 287

The Clinrcli needs the living God to-day. O arm of
God, awake, awake ! Bow down Thine ear, Thou God
of Abraham, Solomon, and Paul ! Let the earth be
filled with Thy glory ! We read that, '^ When Solomon
had made an end of praying, the fire came down from
heaven and consumed the burnt-offering and the sacri-
fices ; and the glory of the Lord filled the house." May
this be true of this house to-day. There is nothing too
good for God's house and service. Christ ought to have
the best of everything. Could we liave churches which
might surpass the majesty and splendor of Greek and
Roman architecture in its palmiest days ; could we have
the most gorgeous decorations which lofty genius ever
designed and boundless wealth ever executed ; could we
have the sinp'ino: of ano-elic hosts ; could we have the
eloquence even of Gabriel, all would be too poor to set
forth the glory ot* Jesus. All heaven adores Ilim — the
Child of the manger, the Ancient of days — the Son of
Mary, the Son of God. But if we had all these, and
had not God, we should be poor indeed. 1 would rather
preach in an open field, or in a barn, with God, than in
the most majestic cathedral without His presence and
power. Come, O Thou mighty God, and abide with
us ! As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so
pant our souls after Thee, O God !

THE SECOND PREREQUISITE.

2. The text suggests the next great need of the Church
— a ministry clothed with salvation. Hebrew scholars
tell us that this should be, " Let Thy priests clothe with
salvation." But to clothe others they must themselves
be clothed. Each thought implies the other. We need
a ministry born of God. Those who are to tell others

2S8 CHRIST, AXD 11151 CRUCIFIED.

the way must themselves know the way, Baptists above
all others have insisted upon a regenerated Church. This
is our distinguishing characteristic. ^Ve never can say,
as do the Standards of one great denomination/^ believers
and their children" are members of the Church. We
shall seldom have unconverted ministers if we continue
to insist on a regenerated Church. How gloriously our
fathers stood for this truth ! Their faithfulness saved us
from many forms of heresy in this country into which
others fell, with their ^' half-way covenants" and other
compromises between the world and the Church.

Our ministers need the highest possible culture. Did
a minister know as much of medicine, of law, and of
science as the foremost men in these departments of
knowledge, he could use all his learning in telling the
wondrous storj- of redemption. But most of all he
would need to be taught the grace of God at the feet of
Jesus. Paul had many reasons for his bold and intelli-
gent determination not to know anything among the
Corinthians save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. He
knew the fondness of the Greeks for subtle and specula-
tive disquisitions. He knew that they loved a finished
rhetoric and a graceful elocution. He knew that they
would despise his theme. But he was a student of life
and history. He was a cosmopolitan man. He knew
that the cross was the pivot of the world's life. He had
built his studio beneath that cross. But his best reason
for the choice of this theme was that he had experienced
in his own heart the power of the crucified Christ. Not
at the feet of Gamaliel, not among the treasures of Greek
literature, but at the cross had he studied his noblest
lessons. Almighty grace had subdued his soul ; like the
walls of Jericho its ramparts fell before the mighty power
of God. The power which could subdue him could

PREREQUISITES TO CHURCH LIFE AND WORK. 289

soften the hardest heart. His theme compels our ad-
miration for the clearness of his intellect as well as for
the tenderness of his heart. Every minister must have
the argument of a personal experience of saving grace.
This made the healed Bartimeus and the recovered
maniac manifestations of divine power. They did not
need arguments ; they were themselves arguments.

JSTo slavery is so slavish as the preaching of the Gospel
by a man wdio is a stranger to its power in liis own heart.
For years the great Chalmers was such a slave. His ser-
mons were magnificent essays, but they had no spiritual
life and power. God met him. From the chamber in
which he bowed under a sense of his sins and in communion
with his God, he came forth a new creature in Christ
Jesus. The light of heaven was in his face ; a new
eloquence was on his tongue ; the peace of God was in
his heart. The love of Christ glowed in his sermons.
Men marvelled at the secret of his power. How Peter
could preach when he was filled with the Holy Ghost !
Once a servant-maid frightened him. Now he faces
thousands. Do not be afraid to trust him. God has en-
dued, clothed him with power. For that he waited at
Jerusalem. He charges his hearers with the most awful
of crimes. The arrow pierces their hearts. Slain sinners
are all about him. Mercy is proclaimed. Three thou-
sand are born in a day. He preaches again. The sec-
ond sermon results in the conversion of five thousand.
He preaches the third tiuie ; the place is shaken ; the
narrator abandons the count, but speaks of the multitude
that believed. Shall such scenes be witnessed again ?
Who dare say No ? Who shall limit the power of the
Almighty ? Oh for pentecostal power to-day !

Ministers need also the earnestness born of intense
conviction of the truth of God's Word. Doubt is death

390 CHRIBT, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

to power. The apostles could say, " AVe believe and
therefore speak." Some preachers virtually say, "We
doubt ;" and their congregations might add, " and there-
fore cannot preach." No man has a right to preach his
doubts. Let him tell his doubts, if he has any, to God ;
let him tell his truths, if he has any, to men. It is what
we know, not what we do not know, that we are to
preach. If we were to preach from our ignorance rather
than from our knowledge, some of us would have an in-
exhaustible theme. When men pick up at second hand
theories of the Bible which have been discarded by all
true scholars even in the land of their birth, and rush
into the pulpit with these unverified theories, they per-
vert the pulpit and degrade the ministry. In no way
can some men do so large a business with the amount of
intellectual capital possessed as by assailing established
opinions and cherished beliefs. The destructive critic
can make a great noise for a little time with a small
amount of shallow scholarship. It is easy to destroy ;
it requires only the lowest order of talent. A child or
an idiot can destroy in an hour with a knife or a hammer
more of the results of genius than a Eaphael or an An-
gelo could produce in a lifetime. But a gallery of paint-
ings or a hall of statuary is not the best place for a child
or an idiot with a knife or a hammer. It is pitiful to see
men rushing into speech or print with their undigested
thinking and unverified theorizing. We are not afraid
of truth ; but we have a right to know that it is truth.
That men may preach mightily they must believe heart-
ily. Doubt cuts the sinews of power. To get a grip
on men you must first get a grip on God. Away with
human nostrums ! We want the old Gospel— old as
eternity, and new as the last sunbeam which has kissed
your cheek. Nothing but the bread of heaven can feed

PFU-llEQUISTTES TO CHUIini LIFE AND WOllK.

201

the fmnisliinii; soul. Notliiu- but tlic water of life can
quench its buniin- thirst. Nothin- but the ])eace of
God can still tlie heart's wild throbbing. Nothing but
the blessed bahn of Gilead can heal the bleeding wounds
of sin-sick souls. Oh sweet story of Jesus 1 It is heaven
on earth to tell it. ^ ^

Ministers need also the constraining power of Christ s
love. AVe need the "blood earnestness" which Dr.
Mason said was Dr. Chalmers's secret of power. The
seraphic Suniniertield, just before his death, speaking of
his recovery, said : '' Oh, if I might be raised again,
how 1 would preach ! I have taken a look into eternity. "
Think of Allein, of whom it is said, that " lie was in-
satiably greedy for the conversion of souls ;" of Matthew
Henry, who said, " 1 would think it a greater happiness
to gain' one soul to Christ, than mountains of silver and
gold to myself ;" of Doddridge, who said, " I long for
the conversion of souls more than for anything besides.
I could not only labor for it, but die for it with pleas-
ure ;" of John Knox, who broke the stillness of the
night with his thrice-repeated cry, " O Lord, give me
Scotland, or I die." God gave him Scotland. No
wonder that Queen Mary ''feared the prayers of John
Knox more than an army of ten thousand men." A
passion for souls gives a man irresistible power. The
Chinese convert was right when he said, " We want men
with hot hearts to tell us of the love of Christ.'' Oh,
friends, all about us are souls in sin and death ; we may
hear their death-knell sounding. Men and women there
are without God and without hope— men and women
soon to stand at the judgment-seat of Christ. O God,
help us to cry unto Thee day and night for their
rescue ! "Let Thy priests be clothed to-day with salva-
tion !"

392 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

THE THIRD PREREQUISITE.

3. The text suggests the next prerequisite — Church
members delighting in the Word and work of God. A
praying church is the bulwark of the pulpit ; a laboring
church is the right arm of the pulpit. A dead church
has been the death of many a pulpit. When Napoleon
invaded Egypt, we are told that he encountered a force
protected by a mud fort. He strove in vain to reduce
it. Had it been rock he could have shivered it ; had it
been wood, he could have burned it. But it was mud.
As he fired upon it its powers of resistance were increased
rather than diminished. A cold, dead church is a mud
fort around the hearts of unconverted sinners. Some
of you may remember Mr. Spurgeon's remarks about
dead churches. He says : " Have you read ^ The An-
cient Mariner V I daresay you thought it one of the
strangest imaginations ever put together . . . dead
men pulling the rope, dead men steering. But do you
know that I have lived to see that time ? 1 have seen a
dead man in the pulpit, a dead man as deacon, a dead
man handling the plate, and dead men sitting to hear."
No doubt Mr. Spurgeon is right. Let us beware lest we
be the dead men. Such a church excites the contempt
of the world and the merriment of hell.

The text teaches us what a church should be. It
should be holy. Its members are called saints. We are
too apt to give a few distinguished Christians a monopoly
of the name. It belongs to all who are truly the Lord's.
In that wonderful spiritual ladder — a ladder more glori-
ous than that which Jacob saw — let down for us in the
first chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians, we see what
God would have us be. It comes from the heart of God
to the earth. Its first round from the earth is forgive-

PREREQUISITES TO CHURCH LIFE AND WORK. 203

ness. Its next redernjytion ; its next accepted in the
Beloved ; its next adoption ; the next is blameless ; the
last is holf/. Sweet and precious thoughts cluster about
this ascent. There is divine wisdom in the order. Tiie
upper end rests upon the eternal purpose of God. Are
we aiming to be holy ? Do we thirst after rigliteous-
ness ? It' should mean much that a man is a member of
Christ's Church. Is the line between the world and the
Church deep and wide ? Do men take knowledge of
you, my beloved Church, that you have been with Jesus 1
Do you show in word and act that you are Christ's ?
Not stone and wood alone would we this day dedicate to
Almighty God ; but ourselves, body, soul, and spirit,
living temples for the living God.

Christians should rejoice in goodness. This is not
simply our privilege ; it is duty. We do not bend as
slaves under the lash of duty ; we stand erect as freemen
in '' the joy of the Lord." A sad Christian misrepre-
sents the religion of Jesus. Religion has elements of
sorrow. All deep life has. But it has glittering heights
of joy. We may understand the blessed paradox of
Paul. '^As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing." ''Re-
joice evermore," he says ; ''and again I say. Rejoice."
Christ was " a Man of sorrows," yet He was " anointed
with the oil of gladness." No Christian life can be
strong, manly, beautiful, where this joy is absent ; for
"the^ joy of the Lord is your strength. " This truth
illustrates profound philosophical principles.

Something of this joy tills our hearts on this blessed
morning. We see in tliis completed house the result of
our prayers, tears, and labors. A sense of God's good-
ness fills our hearts. What are we that we should offer
after this sort unto God ? I congratulate the trustees.
Their faithful labor is worthy of all praise. I congratu-

294 CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

late the architect. He has achieved a great success. I
thank all the contributors for what they have laid on
God's altar. May the glory of this latter house be
greater than the former ! Here and now we lay our-
selves anew on God's altar, while there goes up from
every heart the prayer, " Arise, O Lord God, into Thy
resting-place. We beseech Tliee, send now prosperity ;
and to Thy name shall be the glory forever. Amen."