PBINCETON, N. J.
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S/ie/f.
Robinson, Charles S.
Studies in the New Testame
STUDIES
New Testament
BY
CHAS. Sy ROBINSON D.D.
Pastor of the Memorial Church New York City
NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
743 AND 745 Broadway
1880
Copyright by
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS.
1880.
Trow's
Printing and Bookbinding Co.,
201-213 East \2th St..,
NEW YORK.
CONTENTS
PAGE
I.— Peace with God. i
Romans 5 : i.
II.— The Security of Believers. 14
Romans 8 : 28.
III.— Christian Love 25
I Corinthians 13: 13.
/
IV.— Victory over Death.
I Corinthians 15 : 54.
37
v.— An Ordained Ministry 48
2 Corinthians 5 : 20.
VI. — The Christian Armor 61
Ephesians 6 : 11.
VII.— The Mind of Christ. 73
Philippians 2 : 5.
VIII.— Piety Tested at Home. 84
Colossians 3 : 23.
IX.— The Coming of the Lord.
95
I Thessalonians 4 : 15.
X.— The Christian in the World 107
I Timothy 6 : 6, 7.
XL— The Christian Citizen. 119
Titus 3 : 1,2.
XII.— Shadow and Substance 130
Colossians 2 : 17.
XIII. — Saving Faith 143
Hebrews 11 : i.
XIV.— Pure Religion. 158
James i : 27.
vi CONTENTS.
PAGE
XV.— Faith Working by Love 169
Galatians 5 : 6.
XVI.— The Sweat of Blood. 180
Luke 22 : 44.
XVIL— Sin Cleansed by Blood 193
I John 1 : 7.
XVIIL— Love as a Force. 203
I John 4 : 19.
XIX.— Alpha and Omega 214
Revelation i : 8.
XX.— The Message to the Churches 224
Revelation 3:6.
XXL— The Few in Sardis 234
Revelation 3:4.
XXII.— The Lion of Judah 249
Revelation 5 : 5.
XXIII.— The Singing Legions of God 261
Revelation 5 : 9, 10.
XXIV.— The Heavenly City 271
Revelation 21 : 2.
XXV.— The Final Prayer 283
Revelation 22 : 20.
XXVI.— The Teacher Taught 294
Romans 2 : 21.
XXVII.— Four Pillars of the Church. ..... 307
Galatians 2 : 9.
PREFACE.
These studies in the New Testament were not de-
signed for pulpit discourses, although some of them
may seem like sermons. They were prepared as
articles for a religious newspaper, in connection with
the series of International Lessons.
The author does not care to change the pieces from
their colloquial form, lest they should appear un-
familiar to those who have expressed the wish to
have them in a volume.
Memorial Church,
New York, February 15, 1880.
STUDIES IN
THE NEW TESTAMENT.
I.
PEACE WITH GOD.
< Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace wjth God
THROUGH OUR LoRD Jesus Christ. — Romans $: 1.
We live in one great world of trouble. It is proba-
ble that such a remark has been made before. People
hardly imagine any one has said an original thing when
he has repeated it. But in most cases they would fol-
low it up with some other remarks, about themselves or
their families or their neighbors, in which a plausible
theory might be set forth as to the ways in which the
trouble has been actually brought on ; that is, as they
look at the subject.
There is no need of any differences among thinkers
on this point ; for the unerring word of inspiration
plainly says that the disturbing force is sin. All the
world's confusions, perplexities, and sorrows grow up,
in one way or another, out of men's transgressions and
defiant disregard of law.
PEACE WITH GOD.
Sin makes trouble. Sicilian shadows.
Yet not everybody chooses to admit that. Certain
duties to be performed, certain pressures of conscience
giving pain, are likely to be offered in the discussion,
if we urge into much conspicuousness the relations
between the human wull and the divine. It will be
asserted that traditions of anger in the Supreme Being,
some report of possible threats early made, coupled
with an industrious reiteration of foreboding by a few
credulous alarmists, have done most of the mischief.
It would soon quiet down, if men and women would
just take comfort in what is given them and let pre-
sages alone.
Tourists say that across the fair plains of Sicily, with
the rising of every new dawn, stretches one deep line
of darkness, drawn by the pyramidal form of Mount
Etna. It is the unvarying reminder of the ruin that
may at any hour fall heavily from the volcano's crater.
And yet the inhabitants forbid you to speak of that
giant phantom which lies sleeping upon their gardens
and meadows through all those smiling villages. They
do not altogether admit, in so many words, that any
one hopes to keep the lava from bursting or burning,
by turning toward the mountain the cold shoulder of
blank indifference ; but they do assert, most strenuously,
that conversation about the matter is not going to bet-
ter the case, and only renders people more uncomforta-
ble all around. It is true always there, that the brighter
is the day, the plainer is the outline of shadow ; and
hence every joy they possess exhibits the more surely
PEACE WITH GOD.
The troubled sea. Antagonism.
the precursor of sorrow and peril. But good-breeding
is invoked to check passing remarks which in timid per-
sons might force a shudder, or possibly drive a melan-
choly mind into fear.
Thus we live under the immediate shadow of divine
wrath. The gloomy projection lies across the land.
Men choose to think that there is nothing but incivil-
ity in a reminder of the coming day of final judgment.
It jars on delicate nerves. Still, it is better to believe
that a few desire to be intelligent. What is it that breaks
up the peace in this world ? What will bring tranquil-
lity and rest ?
** There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. I
create the fruit of the lips — peace, peace to him that is
far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord, and I
will heal him. But the wicked are like the troubled
sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and
dirt."
Can any one be mistaken ? In all this familiar pas-
sage it is made evident that the worry and unrest of the
human soul depend simply upon its moral state. If it
is in antagonism with God, then a deep-seated source of
irritation and uneasiness is lodged in the centre of its
being. No quiet can possibly be found until that soul
comes to be at one with God, and adjusts all its pur-
poses to meet his declared will. **The fruit of right-
eousness is sown in peace of them that make peace."
Hence, the words of that fine verse in Isaiah's prophecy :
" The work of righteousness ^hall be peace ; and the
I*
PEACE WITH GOD.
Justification. A legal term.
effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever ;
and my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and
in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting-places."
The question all turns, therefore, upon the possession
of what in the New Testament is termed justification —
the same thing as what is also called righteousness :
" Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with
God, through our Lord Jesus Christ : by whom also we
have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand,
and rejoice in hope of the glory of God."
It becomes us in the outset to understand that right-
eousness is a purely individual acquisition. The gospel
deals with human beings one by one. A nation is to be
converted in no other sense than in the conversion of
the men, women, and children that compose it. And in
all our pictures of the world in pain, it is never to be
forgotten that the source of annoyance is in the sinful-
ness of a heart, not of a community or a corporation.
Whenever any one person yields his love to Christ, he
does in that way more than he can do in any other w^ay
to relieve the world of confusion. For, in so far as his
influence is to be reckoned at all, his measure of right-
eousness brings a measure of peace.
What, then, is this "justification by faith," about
which so much is said ? In a mere theological form of
reply perhaps no good will be found, but statements like
these need to be accurate. The term is entirely legal.
A sinner is conceived as condemned at the bar of God's
justice ; the punishment for his sins is death. Now
PEACE WITH GOD.
The surety. Paul's picture.
Jesus Christ, as a redeemer and surety, comes and as-
sumes the sinner's exposures and liabilities. In effect,
he stands in the sinner's place.
This is the picture so often presented by the apostle
Paul in more than one of his remarkable chapters ; he
appears never to be tired of it. Vividly seeming to see
the crucifixion scene, that in which Jesus on the cross is
the central figure, he explains its mystery by declaring
that this perfectly holy being was suffering not for any
sins of his own, but for the sins of another. Jesus was
making an atonement for men. Hence, a substitution
was effected for all that would accept him by faith. It
is the mere plainness of this action which renders Paul's
language so dramatic and picturesque. He can behold
nothing more nor less than a Redeemer bearing men's
guilt, and giving them his merit. So his descriptions
swell with strong feeling, and fairly tremble with grate-
ful acknowledgment.
" For when we were yet without strength, in due time
Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a right-
eous man will one die : yet peradventure for a good man
some would even dare to die. But God commendeth
his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us."
Peace comes, therefore, when purity has come before-
hand. ''First pure, then peaceable." Saved souls are
pardoned for Christ's sake ; God thereafter looks upon
them as if they never had sinned. So the old standard
formulates the doctrine : /' Justification is an act of
PEACE WITH GOD.
'• First pure." Martin Luther.
God's free grace, wherein he pardoneth all our sins, and
accepteth us as righteous in his sight, only for the right-
eousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith
alone." It is designed in these quoted verses to teach
that just so long as any man is an unpardoned sinner,
he will be disturbed and in trouble ; he cannot rest.
But the moment he is justified by faith, and is forgiven
in the name of the Lord Jesus, he is at peace. His na-
ture is restored, his state of condemnation is changed.
The earliest fruit and effect of his new righteousness is
quietness and assurance forever.
The story is told of Martin Luther, whose hours of
guilt and conviction were so filled with wild and fearful
dreams, that once the evil one, Satan, appeared to enter
his room, and w4th an air of insolent triumph displayed
a vast roll of parchment, which he carried in his arms.
Luther asked him what that was ; and received the
alarming reply : ^' It is a catalogue of all your former
sins ! "
He leaped from his bed in an impulse of mortal agony
and terror. With a hollow burst of derisive laughter
the fiend threw it on the floor, still holding one end in
his hand so that it might easily unroll its awful length.
There the frightened man was compelled to read, hour
after hour, the terrible list of all the wicked deeds he
had done in all his life. There were the offenses and
follies of his youth. There were the transgressions of
his riper years. He groaned in the bitterness of his
soul, as he discovered, every now and then, some miser-
PEACE WITH GOD.
Lists of sins. The devil's per\-ersion.
able little vileness, or some daring act of impiety, which
he had almost forgotten, but here instantly recognized ;
some unseen, undisclosed, secret transgression he had
vainly imagined no one had detected, or even conceived
he could commit.
There they all were ; and, oh, how black the ink
seemed, and how imperishable the parchment seemed,
and how long the great roll seemed, and how tightly
the overjoyed devil in his fiery glee held it clenched
in his fingers I There the sins were ; just as he knew
now some pen of a recording angel had noted them
down ; just as he knew, beyond a doubt now, that God
would one time set them before him in array under
the light of his countenance. And his heart failed
him as he gazed. He bent his head hopelessly in sor-
row and shame, with a fearful foreboding of the wrath
to come.
Suddenly the devil called him by name, and pointed
to some words along the top of the roll just where his
hand held it. Luther looked up and read aloud : 'M//
sin;" and then he understood that no one of the manv
acts, or even thoughts, was to be left out. His form
began to shiver, and he says he was seized with a vio-
lent fit of trembling. Hell appeared opening at once
under his feet. His agony was intense. He could
not bear to look at the roll. But Satan kept scream-
ing, ''All sin! all sin!" And at last, in order to
afflict him the more, exclaimed, ''So says God, so
says God, all sin, all sin ! "
PEACE WITH GOD.
" All sin." No more fear.
Now the man's study of Scripture stood him in ex-
cellent stead. For he looked up defiantly, saying,
''Where speaks God that word?" And he sprang
from his couch, a new thought in his mind. ''In
what chapter, and what verse ? Where says God
that ? " he thundered with clear voice like a trumpet
of challenge. "There, there!" answered the devil,
pointing again to the parchment, and putting his
fiery finger on the two words, "all sin, all sin." The
reformer, brave for a moment with a blessed thought
in his heart, snatched the awful list away from his
enemy, and unrolling it one turn more, in the other
direction, discovered, as he hoped he would, the re-
mainder of the inscription. There it explained itself ;
to be sure, Satan had quoted correctly, for he read,
"all sin, all sin." But right above these w^ere the
other words, as in the Bible : " The blood of Jesus
Christ, his Son, dea?tseth us from all sin ! " So he
learned that all that his sins had been massed to-
gether upon that roll for, was in order to announce
that atonement had been made completely to cover
them. And with a glad cry of exultant joy he awoke,
while the devil disappeared with all his parchment
of sorrow and woe.
It is when a man knows his sins are all in the bur-
den Jesus bore on the Calvary cross, that he has no
longer any fear about them. The work of righteous-
ness is peace, and the effect of righteousness is quiet-
ness and assurance forever. Being justified by faith.
PEACE WITH GOD.
Conquered peace. Espousal to Christ.
he has peace. And now he settles down, like a re-
turned prodigal, just to learn how he can do most to
please his Father. He begins to understand his own
devious history. He sees a new meaning to his life.
He recognizes the fact that God is wiser than he
supposed. For while this hard will of his has been
wandering foolishly around after rest, the gentleness
above has been guiding him into greatness in despite
of himself. All peace in this world is a conquered
peace. Now we, who have been in warfare, see that
in fighting others we have been triumphing over our-
selves ; when we attempted to subdue Satan, we at
least brought home a subdued spirit of our own.
We are sure that the past is altogether safe, and the
future will be secure, for God is leading us all the
way.
** And not only so^ but we glory in tribulations also ;
knowing that tribulation worketh patience ; and pa-
tience, experience ; and experience, hope ; and hope
maketh not ashamed ; because the love of God is
shed abroad in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost which
is given unto us."
It is not possible to put into forms of colloquial
speech the sources of enjoyment which a pardoned
believer knows when he is once possessed of the
peace which passes understanding ; the soul like a
bride rests in a love it cannot explain, when the
sweet day of espousal to Christ has been reached.
The Christian cannot be alone, for a happy con-
10 PEACE WITH GOD.
The soul's Sabbath. Richard Baxter.
science, like a bird in his heart, keeps singing cheer-
ily to give him company. He has no alarms, no sus-
picions. Nothing breaks up the calm, bright serenity
of his trustful repose in Christ Jesus. *'Thou wilt
keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on
thee ; because he trusteth in thee." Such an one has
reached the final tranquillity of the soul.
" Far, far beneath — the noise of tempest dieth,
And silver waves chime ever peacefully;
And no rude storm, how fierce soe'er it flieth,
Disturbs the Sabbath of that deeper sea."
Nor is this all : peace brings prosperity. God opens
the door of his treasury of promise to the souls he has
welcomed into the palace. He loves his Son, and they
are his Son's friends. The moment we are certain of
a Saviour's love, all inferior considerations vanish. If
our feet are upon the Rock of Ages it does not mat-
ter at all where the danger threatens. Mourning, de-
sertion, disappointment, poverty, sickness — nothing
can bear us away before it. We do not even fear the
king of terrors, nor shrink from the rack of nature
as he draws near. *' I have pain," said Richard Bax-
ter, on his dying bed, ** I have pain ; there is no
arguing against sense ; but then, I have peace, great
peace ! " To any true believer, there is no shock in
the appearance of that messenger who announces his
departure. He seems to himself even now sitting in
the antechamber of the palace, waiting ; and death is
PEACE WITH GOD. II
The antidote. A criminal.
only the black-dressed serv^ant who comes out to say
the king is ready to see him in the throne-room.
Now surely it is worth something, in a world like
this, to find one antidote for wakefulness and unrest.
This is the peace which the world can neither give
nor take away. Once we are forgiven, our hearts
are in perfect content. Our natures have reached
their full satisfaction in God. Thus we reason : God
has redeemed us ; he had his purpose in it ; he gave
his Son to suffering and shame ; therein we rest ;
*'much more then, being now justified by his blood,
w^e shall be saved from wrath through him ; for if
when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God
by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled,
we shall be saved by his life."
Each Christian receives a testimony in his soul which
settles all his fears for the future. He has put his case
out of his own hands ; he cannot even ruin it by his own
folly of mismanagement ; he has an advocate at last with
the Father whom he can trust implicitly, even Jesus
Christ the righteous. So he waits tranquilly for the
judgment, knowing he is prepared for it, and shall stand
clear in the end.
Years ago, I somewhere read of a criminal on trial for
capital misdemeanor. The evidence proved most over-
whelmingly against him. The law was explicit. There
seemed no avenue of escape. The people grew anxious
in his behalf, as the verdict of condemnation inevitably
drew nearer. Yet all the while this prisoner at the bar
PEACE WITH GOD.
Pardon in possession. Safe because "lost."
kept inexplicably calm. His eye never once quailed,
although the most damaging facts continually came to
light. At last the jury returned, and the fatal decision
was rendered ; and all that the culprit did was to draw
a long sigh of unmistakable relief. The bystanders
marv^elled at his self-control, and grew curious over the
secret of his serenity ; and especially when they ima-
gined they detected in his unembarrassed demeanor a
strange sort of triumph.
By and by, when the sentence of death was pro-
nounced, he arose in his place, and laid before his
judges a full pardon for the crime of which he had been
just now convicted — a pardon which all along he had
held hidden in his bosom. They examined the roll with
eager scrutiny, and found that it really was his discharge.
It left no further question. It had indeed been signed
by the hand of their generous sovereign, and sealed with
the grand signet of the realm. There remained no more
to be done. And amid the shouts of the people the man
went immediately forth free. The law's demands were
cancelled.
Now, does it need to be asked what was the secret of
this quiet assurance ? He had looked on himself as con-
victed from the very commencement of the trial, and in
that fixed expectation found his entire comfort. Every
item of testimony which pointed toward his possible ex-
culpation was really just so much in his way, and always
caused him anxiety. For he knew he was guilty, and
he could not use a pardon unless he was condemned.
PEACE WITH GOD. 1 3
Robert Browning. The Talmud.
Hence, with each step in the evidence that pressed
heaviest, his joyous hopes rose. He was nearing deliv-
erance. He could say : '' I am safe, because I am lost ! "
Fine illustration is this throughout of a true Christian's
ineffable peace. He owns himself the very culprit he is
at the bar of divine justice. To clear him would be to
deprive him of all interest in the atonement, and shut
him away out of Christ ; for Christ came not to save
righteous people, but sinners. He knows, therefore,
that he cannot be pardoned unless he is first found
guilty. And the moment he is condemned, he takes his
pardon out of his bosom and stands free in the grace of
God. Being justified by faith, he has peace with God,
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
There is no other way of relief than this. The trouble
in the world is met by the gospel of peace. Hence the
force of Robert Browning's couplet :
** He who first made us see the chains we wore,
He also strikes the blow that shatters them."
And that gospel admits of no improvement, however
fair and promising. The old fable of the Talmud is a
parable. There was a flute in the Temple, preserved
from the days of Moses. It was smooth, thin, and
formed of a reed. At the command of the king, it was
overlaid with precious gold. And thus its sweetness
was ruined till the gold was taken away.
II.
THE SECURITY OF BELIEVERS.
And we know that all things work together for good to
them that love god, to them who are the called accord-
ING TO HIS VURFOS-E..— Romans 8 : 28,
In a life like this, where nobody seems able to do
more than conjecture and surmise, suppose, imagine,
and speculate, it is a comfort to find even one man who
can honestly declare he kncnvs to a certainty that what
he says is true. And indeed, it is still more remarkable,
and still more comforting withal, to find that what he
knows is that exactly which we have had most doubt
about. Hence no words in the New Testament come
to us with more welcome or more wonder than these :
*' And we know that all things work together for good
to them that love God, to them who are the called ac-
cording to his purpose."
Without doubt, the apostle is following on closely
with his train of argument ; and so these utterances
must be connected with what goes before, and of course
will find their first as well as their most legitimate ex-
planation in the context. He means by this expression,
'' all things," all of which he has been speaking, all these
things. And these are what he calls in general terms
''the sufferings of the present time." Hence the verse
brings us at least this one thought, which in itself is
THE SECURITY OF BELIEVERS. 1 5
All in one plan. Analysis.
very valuable : whatever in the providential arrange-
ments of our daily existence during this imperfect state
can make our hearts to suffer, has a consolatory allevia-
tion behind it, that it is a part of one omniscient plan
for our permanent benefit. It is working with other
things for our good.
Our perplexities and our harassments, our losses and
our crosses, our wounded pride and our disappointed
ambition, the desertion of our companion, the betrayal
of our friend, our fears without and our fightings with-
in, poverty, sickness, and bereavement, our doubts, our
temptations, and our conflicts, indeed, whatever can
make the brain weary or the heart sore — all these work
together for good.
Such a verse as this, therefore, is simply priceless.
It discloses a principle in the governing of this world
which reduces everything to order. All these multiform
and in many respects antagonistic agents are merely
moving on to accomplish God's will for his chosen.
Life is a beautiful picture of method and fixed law.
The verse is worth an analysis, and might do for the
text of a profitable sermon. All things act energetically —
they *'work." All things act harmoniously — they "work
together." All things act beneficently — they ''work toge-
ther for good." All things act definitely — they ''work
together for good to them that love God, to them who
are the called according to his purpose,"
The word rendered work here is one of the strongest
in the language in which the New Testament was writ-
l6 THE SECURITY OF BELIEVERS.
Divine energy. The river Chebar.
ten. It is that from which our word '^ energy " comes
by derivation. And the apostle employs it to denote
the intensest and most tireless activity possible or con-
ceivable. The universe is all alive under the divine
hand. Jesus Christ said, as if to enforce the thought,
" My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." The earth
rocks with the violence of the history that sweeps across
it.
One grand vision there is presented to us in the Scrip-
tures, which is intended to image directly the unresting
and tireless providence of God. It is that w^hich the
prophet Ezekiel saw by the river Chebar, the living
creatures and the wheels. As you study his descrip-
tion, no one characteristic will more impress itself upon
your imagination than the limitless energy with w^hich
all their movements are accomplished. The living crea-
tures had wings, but even the wings were stretched up-
ward. They went ; but we are told that when they
went, they flew. They were like lamps ; but the lamps
seemed unable to be still ; they blazed to and fro, up
and down. They were like coals of fire ; but the coals
were neither lurid nor dull, they burned and flashed
with kindled flame. And they ''ran and returned as
the appearance of a flash of lightning."
Now, remember that all these are but symbols of the
providential interpositions of God in human a£fairs.
Let any thoughtful man cast his eye around the world
as it has appeared during the past five or ten years.
See how events have hurried. There has not been one
THE SECURITY OF BELIEVERS. 1/
The Breaker. Orange-trees,
day of quiet in all the grand army of God. Despotisms
have been overturned. Thrones have been moved.
Many a door has been opened for the gospel almost as
mysteriously as that of Simon Peter's prison by the
angel from heaven. You may call these movements the
advancement of civilization as you will ; they are really
the ^'workings" of God in person. This is the fulfill-
ment of prophecy: ''The breaker is come up before
them ; they have broken up and have passed through
the gate, and are gone out by it, and their King shall
pass before them, and the Lord on the head of them."
One purpose of God rules the whole world.
What is that purpose ? The verses which follow this
one state it clearly : '' For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of
his Son, that he might be the first-born among many
brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them
he also called : and whom he called, them he also jus-
tified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified."
Here is one vast plan to bring home the sons of God
to glory ; and they have to be chosen, trained in spirit,
called, justified by an atonement, and glorified. The
purpose is complex in particulars, and no one was
ever able just to arrange the details in order of time.
To our human eyes God's decrees seem — like oranges
in the tropics — to be growing on the tree of life, blos-
soms and fruits at the very same moment. When he
began to predestinate, or when he will cease to glo-
rify, we cannot say. But it is evident that he is agi-
1 8 THE SECURITY OF BELIEVERS.
Working " together." Wheels.
tating the race with all these decrees at once. The
principal difficulty we experience, and the chief mis-
take we make, is in thinking that because we can see
how things work^ we can also pronounce how they work
together. We try to adjust the wheels in the middle of
the wheels.
In the proudest moment of our vaunting wisdom, we
find ourselves entirely at fault in prediction. Results
prove our computations to be puerile and vain. We
are wont to look upon the world part at a time. We
imagine we quite understand the architecture of the
universe when we have examined one brick under a
microscope. We study history piecemeal, and are fain
to complain that it eludes all law of sagacious anticipa-
tion. Why should it not? For God brings to naught
the things that are by the things that are not ; and when
the information of most of us is so short concerning
things that are, who shall say he is acquainted with
all the possibilities of things that are not 2
Hence our impertinence. Because we are disap-
pointed, we assert that the race is governed by a
reckless caprice. Comets of ''things that are not,"
keep dashing in among the planets ''that are," which
we had just got arranged to suit our plan when we
had arisen to prophesy. And w^e cry out that life is
unsettled, and events are law^less. Some wheels, we
deem ourselves profound enough to say, are w^orking
in the wrong direction. Some levers, we are certain,
act backward and cause collision. It needs a great
THE SECURITY OF BELIEVERS. 19
Everything right now. God's river.
deal of humility to admit that we know nothing
about the manner in which the spiritual adjustments
are made, and tranquilly to rest in the satisfied con-
clusion that all the machinery of divine government
is managed safely, and is under intelligent control.
All things work ''together."
Nor is this all : even the highest faith seems some-
times to think it has reached proper measure of ac-
quiescence when it can say that all will be right by
and by. True confidence is that which can answer,
it is all right now. One fine point there is in this
verse which must not be overlooked. Inspiration
sometimes resides in a tense of grammar. And the
verse does not assert — all things ivill work together
for good — but all things are now working. The mu-
tual arrangements for advantage are moving forward
this very day and hour. Your little trouble and mine,
yesterday and this morning, is fully as much embraced
in the divine plan as Ahasuerus' sleepless night, Paul's
shipwreck, or Isaiah's martyrdom. God's understand-
ing is clear, and anticipatory of these human experi-
ences.
We must rid our minds of the impression that the
stream of almighty providence is like a turbid rivulet,
which a child knows he must wait to have settled be-
fore it will run crystal after a storm. God's river of
human life is impenetrable to our eyes, not because
it is roiled with the rubbish of earthly confusion, but
because in itself it is deep and shadowy in majestic
20 THE SECURITY OF BELIEVERS.
On the banks. The saints" song.
windings of its channel. If a man supposes that he
can always fathom a purpose which begins at the
throne of the Lamb, runs through foreknowledge and
predestination, touches at conformity and the supre-
macy of Christ, flows across effectual calling, broad-
ens into justification, and ends in glory, he has poor
register of his own attainments and wonderful con-
ceit of his own gifts. He who sits down on the banks
of the two verses I have just quoted, would do well
to let sounding-lines alone, and look along the sweet
shores where he will find many a tree with glorious
fruitage, whose leaves are for the healing of the na-
tions.
So here is a moment for us to sing a bright song.
All things not only work together, but work together
"for good." The expression, literally rendered, would
read, they work together into good. They all play
into one grand purpose, and that is beneficent in its
bearing altogether. **What shall we then say to
these things? If God be for us, who can be against
us ? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered
him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to
the charge of God's elect ? It is God that justifieth :
who is he that condemneth ? It is Christ that died,
yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the
right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us."
Now let us note, for one thing, that this good of
THE SECURITY OF BELIEVERS. 21
Individual good. We shall know hereafter.
which the apostle is speaking is individual good, as
distinct from universal. Hitherto it has been deemed
a necessary element of all human philosophies that
now and then it should be expedient to have one
man die for the nation ; that in some instances an
isolated interest must be struck down in order to save
the public weal. But with God this is not so. No
friction nor fracture can be found in his government.
The "good" is for all because it is for each. The
general good is secured by securing the individual
good universally.
And then let us note, for another thing, that this good
of which the apostle is speaking is real good, as distinct
from apparent. Under the gospel these do indeed often
coincide. Honor and thrift, success and fame, accrue
not infrequently to the Christian. But this is all adven-
titious ; the aim is at the real good, whether it can be
seen or not seen. What that may be in any specific
case, God knows best ; and he acts on his ow^n knowl-
edge, not on our impressions or in answer to our desires.
That is to say, he is the judge concerning the particular
good for the accomplishment of which all the agencies
of his providence are moving forward.
So it may be quite possible, and doubtless it is often
the case, that circumstances of deepest trial are all the
time working for our prodigious advantage ; and yet
the world is pitying our misfortune, and even w^e our-
selves are disposed to murmur at the sharp lot, rather
than wait for the result of the discipline.
22 THE SECURITY OF BELIEVERS.
The chrysalis state. Am I his?
** Here in our chrysalis state we lie,
Shaping our wings for a heavenly birth ;
And the spirit, which fain would mount and fly,
Is bound by life's pitiful clogs to earth.
But sooner or later its chains shall be riven :
We shall gain the knowledge for which we sigh;
Why much was withheld, and little given —
We shall know God's reason by and by."
Meantime, it must never be forgotten that providence
works definitely, and chooses its own beneficiaries. The
recipients of God's favor are — on the human side — those
"that love God;" and — on the divine side — those who
are the "called according to his purpose." Whoever
loves God is the elect of God. Whether any one of us
in particular, therefore, is of right embraced in such an
announcement as that we have been studying, depends
on a solemn question yet unanswered, " Am I his, or
am I not ? " Once that is settled, the security of each
believer is fixed. "Who shall separate us from the love
of Christ ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution,
or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword ? As it is
written. For thy sake we are killed all the day long, we
are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all
these things we are more than conquerors, through him
that loved us."
In one supreme moment now real Christians sweep
out of their individual nothingness, and become the
very notables — the kings and priests of Christ's realm.
It may not be easy to explain philosophically how it
THE SECURITY OF BELIEVERS. 23
The widow's hymn. Minor disquiets.
happens that a believer's soul is perfectly at rest in the
midst of tempestuous troubles, as soon as he is certain
that Christ is his Saviour under the covenant ; but as-
suredly this is a fact. I once knew a devoted woman,
whose husband was brought dead into her room, after
an hour's departure in the fulness of strength. They
laid him on the sofa, while the tearless wife sat dis-
tracted, smoothing his hair. No one could speak, as
the awful hour passed on. Suddenly she turned to the
hushed group of friends around : ''Will some one please
start a hymn ? " was her amazing request. They could
not choose. One whispered, "God moves in a myste-
rious way." Another suggested, "In the Christian's
home in glory." But they finally appealed to the
mourner to make her own choice. Slie exclaimed in-
stantly, " Not all the blood of beasts."
They obeyed, of course ; and through the first two or
three stanzas she simply beat the time with an uncon-
scious gesture. But as they advanced, her voice began
to join with the others. When they reached, "My faith
would lay her hand," she suddenly spoke the words, and
sang on, while her eyes filled with sweet, natural tears.
And in the last verse she found her comfort, for her soul
went wholly out in joy under the fresh sense of par-
doned sin : if only her future was secure, what mattered
earthly trial now ?
The meaning of all this experience seems to be found
in the fact that, once the Christian reaches his spiritual
rest in a Saviour, all minor disquiets cease to disturb
24 THE SECURITY OF BELIEVERS.
Nothing going awreck. God's love.
him. When sin is removed, God is his father, Jesus is
his elder brother, and heaven is his home. Hence he
abides in the confidence of an unfaltering faith.
What new significance such a consideration puts upon
our daily life ! See where we are to-day. One all-per-
vading spirit agitates the world. The old earth is but
the field now where redemption is w^orking out for our
race ; God spares the planet yet a while from final fires
just for that. We see strange sights and cannot un-
derstand them. Dismal forebodings, falling fortunes,
thwarted plans, tumults, w^ars, pestilences, and earth-
quakes — all this world is restless and alarmed. Still
nothing is going awreck. **0 ye of little faith! why
are ye troubled ? "
Let the deluge rise at will : it will only bear each
floating ark nearer heaven. " For I am persuaded that
neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor
height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able
to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord."
III.
CHRISTIAN LOVE.
And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three ; but
THE greatest OF THESE IS CHARITY. — I Corinthians 13 : 13.
In an old ecclesiastical tradition it is related of the
apostle John, who was then the very last of the chosen
followers of Jesus, that in his closing years of feeble-
ness, when too infirm for walking, he was wont to be
borne into the Christian assemblies for the mere pur-
pose of repeating a brief sentence: "Little children,
love one another."
He was the apostle of love, as Paul was the apostle of
logic. So it is exceedingly interesting to find Paul in
one great instance giving a description of that peculiar
grace which John had so urged and exemplified. For
certainly everybody understands that the gift called
"charity," in i Corinthians 13, is nothing more nor
less than Christian love. Our later uses of the word
have limited it, so that it refers now almost exclusively
to generosity in the bestowment of alms. But in the
New Testament it signifies that far-reaching brotherly
affection which is the peculiar characteristic of the
household of God.
Surely, if there be upon this earth anywhere a class
26 CHRISTIAN LOVE.
Desire above duty. " Rabboni."
of persons who ought to be united in spirit, knit in
judgment, earnest in defence of each other, considerate
in every pronunciation, fraternally sincere and true.
Christians are the ones who compose it. Love links
them together, and renders their lot common.
Let us begin with the remark here that love is the
essential principle of all genuine religion. For piety
consists in desire^ rather than in duty. We love God be-
cause he first loved us. This is why every chapter in
the New Testament talks so much about the hearts of
men. The heart was the old symbol of affection, and
the gospel was meant to be a scheme of faith whose
home should be located in the w^armest and most vital
centre of our being.
When the poor w^oman found her unostentatious way
to the very couch of our Lord, as he sat at meat, and
began to wash his feet with her tears and wipe them
with the hairs of her head, the highest encomium which
could be pronounced on her in the presence of the
proud Simon was this : '' Her sins, which are many, are
forgiven, for she loved much." This affection, which
Christians feel, is in every case called forth into its
strength by the manifested affection of the Redeemer.
He says to each child of his, with inexpressible tender-
ness, " Mary," and the name he uses announces his feel-
ing. The only answer, therefore, which is befitting, is
always the same, "Rabboni." The vast difference be-
tween our love and his is, that we find him the one alto-
gether lovely, and so we love him the moment we truly
CHRISTIAN LOVE. 2/
The great test. Little ministries.
see him ; but he loves us as we are, and by his very un-
merited affection renders us lovely.
Here, then, is a test for universal use in self-examina-
tion. It is love that makes the Christian. It is not
talent; for Paul says: "Though I speak with the
tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I
am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal."
It is not gifts ; for Paul says : *' And though I have the
gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all
knowledge ; and though I have all faith, so that I could
remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing."
It is not merit ; for Paul says : '* And though I bestow
all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my
body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me
nothing." It is simply love, and in the growth of love
is found our progress.
No matter how frequently one fasts ; no matter how
faithfully one pays tithes for the poor ; no matter how
many nor how long may be one's prayers ; no matter
how musical the song one may sing ; is the love of God
shed abroad in one's heart ? — that is the question.
*'Love is the fulfilling of the law." God has always
honored simple affection more than great gifts. The
work of this world is often done by the most inconspic-
uous people. The little ministries of every-day life,
sometimes more than the showy exploits of unusual
effort, are what seem to have called from the Master
the most hearty approval, and received the rewards of
grandest success.
28 CHRISTIAN LOVE.
Equal exposures. Spiritual rehearsals.
Hence we may observe, in the second place, that love
is the principle of all genuine social life. *' If (iod so
loves us, we ought also to love one another." Christians
profess to have a mutual likeness to the one Saviour of
all. They are the children of one Father's household.
They claim a sovereign interest in the common salva-
tion. Hence, they must love each other as kindred.
Moreover, they are under equal exposures. The world
drives up against them on the outside. They have perils
from the same direction. A harsh censure, which falls
on one to-day, it may be anotlicr's lot to have to bear
to-morrow. Biting criticisms that for one sharp hour
light on you, arc just as likely to come and sting me
the next. It would be wise to organize for mutual
defence.
Then again : we all have the same work — a work
which will be certain to render one unwelcome and
unpopular in proportion to the faithfulness which he
bestows upon it. If we sit down together on some rest-
ful evening, we shall find that the rehearsals of our
religious histories will be pretty much the same. Our
falls into alarming temptation may have their personal
peculiarities, and bear the image of our temperaments
and education ; but we all have had falls. One has
been in doubt over a certain action.; the other has been
clear ; but now, to be frank about it, the other has had
his perplexity iipcjn a different point. It is time we
comforted eacli other with a comparison of tasks and of
patience under them.
CHRISTIAN LOVE. 29
What charity is. Three readings.
Bring together thus :i company of those of like char-
acter, of similar exposures, and with the same work to
do, and it becomes absolutely necessary that some sort
of principle of association, by which intercourse may
be facilitated, should be established among them.
'' Behold how good a thing it is for brethren to dwell
together in unity!" Here comes in the chapter we
have been quoting. Paul, as if in despair of making
final impressi(jn by a mere statement, introduces a de-
tailed description of the grace he is commending. lie
tells us what charity is by saying what it will do :
"Charity suffcreth long, and is kind; charity envieth
not ; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth
not behave itself unseemly, secketh n(jt her own, is
not easily provoked, thinketh no evil ; rejoiceth not
in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth ; beareth all
things, believeth all things, hopeth all tilings, cndur-
eth all things."
Now if I were teaching a class the lessons of this
chapter, I would have these verses read over aloud
three times by the three best scholars I had, with a
new substitution of a word in eacli instance. I would
put in the word ** gentleman" first, and see how it
would sound to say, "A gen//eman suffereth long and
is kind : beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth
all things, endureth all things." Or, perhaps, "A /atfy
doth not behave herself unseemly, seeketh not her
own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil." Thus
I judge I could make young people understand that
CHRISTIAN LOVE.
Good breeding. . The model Master.
in genuine Christian behavior is found the highest
politeness.
Then next I would introduce the word thus: *'A
Christian rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in
the truth." Or thus: '*A Christian envieth not; a
Christian vaunteth not himself, is not puffed up."
For in this way I should hope I might show every
one what a far reach true piety has ; how it covers
all the ordinary courtesies of life, and pushes out into
endeavors of kindness toward every soul that is in
trouble.
But, chief of all, it w^ould give me real delight to
hear one reading aloud the whole passage with the
word ^'■Christ'* in it in the place of ^^ charity ;'' for
thus would come to light the grand lesson, that in
Jesus, our divine Lord, is found the highest embodi-
ment of grace and glory. What a commentary the
whole New Testament furnishes on these words :
** Christ suffered long and was kind ; Christ envied
not ; Christ vaunted not himself, was not puffed up ;
Christ bore all things, believed all things, hoped all
things, endured all things!" He who is the Master
was also the Model.
Move forward now for a third obser\^ation. Love is
the principle of all eminent zeal. Those w^ho are in
earnest for doing good are the likeliest to be safe
from doing evil. There is instruction in the story a
Persian writer tells of himself. "Having once in my
youth," says he, "notions of severe piety, I used to
CHRISTIAN LOVE. 31
A Persian story. Leander.
rise in the night to pray and read the Koran. And
on one occasion, as I was engaged in these exercises,
my father, a man of practical religion and of eminent
virtue, awoke while I was studying aloud. I said to
him, ' Behold, thy other children are lost in slumber,
but I alone wake to praise God.' And he answered,
* Son of my soul, it is better to sleep than to wake to
remark the faults of brethren.'"
Outside work is the best relief for dyspeptic carping.
But there is no comfort in work where there is not love
as the motive of it. God loved the world ; Christ loved
the souls he died to redeem ; Christians are moved by
love for those around them ; or else the work is drudg-
ery, and can never claim blessing.
What will not love do and dare? With only an
earthly object Love swam the Hellespont, and gave
a name to every Hero who holds out a torch. With
no more than filial strength, it sent Coriolanus back
from treason at the gates, and delivered Rome from
downfall. Once having place in the heart of a Chris-
tian, it rouses him to energy almost superhuman. " I
would think it greater happiness," said Matthew Henry,
"to gain one soiil to Christ, than mountains of gold
and silver to myself: if I do not gain souls, I shall
enjoy all other gains with very little satisfaction : and
I would rather beg my bread from door to door than
neglect this great work."
Lqve seems actually inexhaustible, while other graces
change. This is the reason why the apostle com-
32 CHRISTIAN LOVE.
Summerfield. John Knox.
mends it the most: "Charity never faileth ; but whe-
ther there be prophecies, they shall fail ; whether there
be tongues, they shall cease ; whether there be know-
ledge, it shall vanish away." Instances have been
known in which this passionate love for souls has
worn out the strength of the heart in w^hich it dwelt,
without seeming to lessen in its volume. Some of
us whose early home w^as among the forests remem-
ber how the choppers used to take coals out of one
brush-heap to light another ; they would place them
all alive upon a thick wisp of straw, and then rush
through the air with the smoke and flame streaming
behind them ; but the straw would burn as they ran,
and, when the coals dropped on the rubbish, would
burst into a flash and consume itself with its burden.
That was Montgomery's figure by which he sought
to describe Summerfield; he said he carried the blaze
which kindled others, and that burned himself to
ashes. His charity never failed till himself vanished
away.
This zeal, the principle of which is love, is very cou-
rageous. It forgets itself ; it grows humble as it grows
strong. It becomes all things to all men, in the hope it
may save some ; and it is all the more upright when it
bends. Queen Mary burst into tears of the bitterest
vexation and grief, when John Knox told her of duty
and rebuked her for sin. And the stubborn old
Scotchman wept as profusely as she did, while he
uttered those memorable words : '* Madam, in God's
CHRISTIAN LOVE. 33
Whitefield. The heart lives forever.
presence I speak : I never delighted in the weeping
of any of God's creatures : yea, I can hardly abide
the tears of my own boys when my hands correct
them : much less then can I rejoice in your Majesty's
weeping : but seeing I have offered unto you no just
occasion to be offended, I must sustam these tears,
rather than I dare hurt my conscience or betray the
commonwealth by silence."
But then, how gentle this love is also ! Love is never
noisy, never violent, when it seeks to win its way. This
is the only natural force that works by tenderness. It
made Paul weep, it filled the eyes of Jesus with tears.
Yet there is no effeminacy in it. John, who spoke most
about it, was one whom they called Boanerges, because
he was a '' son of thunder." Such love is effective when
everything else would fail. " I came to break your
head," once said a rough man to Whitefield, with a big
stone in hand; "but by the grace of God you have
broken my heart."
And so at the last let us observ^e that love is the prin-
ciple of heavenly enjoyment. *' Your heart shall live
forever." This wonderful charity issues in a complete-
ness at the limit of life, that the life itself which it ten-
anted never knew, nor even suspected : '' For we know
in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which
is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be
done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I
understood as a chiLd, I thought as a child : but when I
became a man, I put away childish things."
34 CHRISTIAN LOVE.
The new life. Plato's cave.
''Nothing resting in its own completeness
Can have power or beauty ; but alone
Because it leads or tends to further sweetness,
Fuller, higher, deeper, than its own.
Life is only brighter when it proceedeth
Toward a truer, deeper life above ;
Human love is sweetest when it leadeth
To a more divine and perfect love."
What that other existence out before us will be, we
are not fully told. But love will certainly reign in
heaven where God is, for God is love. Old friends will
be reached again. The parted and the pure will find
each other once more. The chief characteristic of that
life would seem to be its permanency. The Scripture
takes greatest pains to show us that in this dazzling,
fading, illusive universe there is, after all, one thing
which shall stand in the wreck of matter and the crush
of worlds. '^ The world passeth away, and the lust
thereof ; but he that doeth the will of God shall abide
forever." A will subdued to a will that is divine is per-
emptorily, authoritatively, declared to be imperishable.
But our disclosures are as yet withheld, and our vi-
sions are quite imperfect. It was the conception of an
ancient philosopher that the human soul was standing,
as it were, in the recesses of a vast cavern, and gained
all its knowledge of the future state by a careful study
of the weird figures from without which traced them-
selves along on the dimly-lit inner walls. Let us accept
the image for a moment. The Christian believer seems
CHRISTIAN LOVE. 35
The final vision. Love is all.
now to be waiting as if within a hollow cave, girt by
the rock on every side. Often through the narrow fis-
sure which faith has found, come struggling in a few
faint rays of illumination, that only half reveal the mys-
teries of his hard and cheerless home; and now and
then there is a gleam of a shadowed picture on the
stones around him which indicates the existence and
shows the beauty of the magnificent realities without.
Beyond the stony barriers he can hear the rush and roll
of a spiritual life, of which he learns too little to satisfy
his yearning. He longs for the rock-rent through which
he knows he is one day to pass. He is a child ; but the
time will come when he shall put away childish things,
and be forever a man.
At last the hour arrives. He hears beforehand, and
perhaps trembles as he hears, the groanings and rum-
blings of the final convulsion. The earth quakes, the
ground is opened, the walls divide, the prison is dis-
solved, and the soul is free. And oh ! what a sight is
that which now bursts upon his vision ! '' Blessed are
the pure in heart, for they shall see God." ''Beloved,
now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear
what we shall be ; but w^e know that when he shall ap-
pear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he
is." "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but
then face to face ; now I know in part ; but then shall I
know even as also I am known."
Thus, then, the end of our exposition is reached.
When we understand that love is the principle of all
36 CHRISTIAN LOVE.
The secret of order. The drowning man.
genuine personal religion, the principle of all genuine
social life, the principle of all genuine and eminent zeal,
and the principle of all hoped-for heavenly enjoyment,
then we are ready to accept the strong statement of the
apostle with which he closes the chapter: ''And now
abideth faith, hope, charity, these three : but the great-
est of these is charity."
For here is the secret of all composure in the uni-
verse. '* I am going," said the dying Hooker, '' to leave
a world disordered and a church disorganized, for a
world and a church where every angel and every rank
of angels stand before the throne in the very post God
has assigned."
And here is the secret of all success in the winning of
souls. A man had broken through the ice, and w^as
drowning in the Merrimac River. The neighbors
sought to save him with a plank thrust out over the
edge. Twice he caught it and slipped back in the
stream. Then he had just strength to say, *'Oh, for
heaven's sake, give me the wood-end of the plank ! "
They pulled it in, and found that the end they offered
was round and chill with ice. They changed it ; and
then his numb fingers clasped the friendly board, and
he was saved. Ah, me ! we must, in saving souls, pre-
sent something besides the ice-end of a mere conven-
tional piety !
IV.
VICTORY OVER DEATH.
So WHEN THIS CORRUPTIBLE SHALL HAVE PUT ON INCORRUPTION,
AND THIS MORTAL SHALL HAVE PUT ON IMMORTALITY, THEN
SHALL BE BROUGHT TO PASS THE SAYING THAT IS WRITTEN,
Death is swallowed up in victory. — i Corinthians \$\'c^\.
Virgil tells us that when the pious ^neas visited his
father, Anchises, in the Elysian Fields, and had to cross
the Styx at fabled Charon's Ferry, the frail boat, accus-
tomed to carry only the tenuous forms of departed spir-
its, now receiving the heavy figure of a living man,
writhed and creaked through all its sewed seams.
This was only a poet's conception, according to his
light, of what the apostle gives us under inspiration,
concerning the relations of the future life to the gross-
ness of this : ''Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and
blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God ; neither doth
corruption inherit incorruption."
We feel confident that no corporeal substance has
place in a purely spiritual state. Yet what a purely
spiritual state is really, it would be impossible for us
to tell. It may be well to remember that death in-
fluences our human lot only as an intellectual notion.
There is nothing in it which strikes back upon the
fibre and substance of our existence. It is not like a
38 VICTORY OVER DEATH.
Death a mere idea. The " sting."
blot of ink fallen in an open book, that it should stain
the previous pages closed carelessly upon it ; it bears
on the future alone. If we could and would keep it
out of mind, it would not render us unhappy. The
animals all around us die, just as we do ; but they
give no evidence of being affected by the melancholy
prospect.
A lamb goes dumb to the slaughter, because it has
no sense of apprehension. It is our idea of death which
brings us our horror. The imagination invests it with
its dreadful gloom.
Hence the Scriptures attack the idea ; they do not
appear to try to disturb or rearrange the facts. The
endeavor of the apostle's argument, in the epistle to
the Corinthians, is directed toward the removal of
an emotional feeling which he calls the sting of death.
So he advances bravely to meet the issue, challeng-
ing a sharp attention by the admission that there is
a fearful something, standing at the extreme limit of
human life, which needs explaining : '^ Behold, I show
you a mystery ; We shall not all sleep, but we shall
all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an
eye, at the last trump : for the trumpet shall sound,
and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we
shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on
Incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortal-
ity."
The parallel to this passage is found in the epistle to
the Thessalonians, some expressions in which need al-
VICTORY OVER DEATH. 39
Three things. Final agonies.
ways to be laid alongside of it. Indeed, the popular
mistake, that makes us shudder at this ** mystery," is
better indicated in the verse : '^ But I would not have
you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which
are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which
have no hope."
Here are three things : ignorance, sorrow, hopeless-
ness ; it would be impossible to find stronger terms by
which to outline the universal thought, which Paul
deprecates so earnestly.
**I would not have you to be ignorant." The moment
that a simple want of information limits our progress,
our imaginations begin to fashion for themselves and
construct a future — just as ostriches run along the
beaten road until they reach a ravine mist-covered,
then they set out to fly among the clouds.
There is in the picture which ignorance draws a sense
of ineffable loneliness. One spot there is now on the
earth somewhere, waiting for us ; one pathetic little
reach of land, six feet by two, which is to grow sol-
emn with the charge of our dust lying in it in expec-
tation of the final judgment. "There are no bands
in their death." One moment there is drawing nearer
on the dial, which is to be awful with the weight of
our solitary experience, when it is to bear away the
last breath from our nostrils.
Then there is in the picture an appalling terror as to
final agonies — an inexplicable alarm concerning what
may be the experiences of the change we must meet.
40 VICTORY OVER DEATH.
Dr. Johnson. Ignorance proves nothing.
Gf the old moralist, Dr. Johnson, his biographer tells
us he was all his life in bondage, through fear of death.
'' His intellect resembled a vast amphitheatre ; in the
centre stood his judgment combating, like a mighty-
gladiator, those apprehensions, which, like the beasts
of the arena, were all around him in the cells, ready-
to be let out any moment. After a conflict, he would
sometimes drive them back into their dens : but not
being able to kill them, he was ever and anon as-
sailed again." Thus we all live, tortured by our ter-
rors.
There is also in this picture a dread of disclosures
beyond. The ship departs ; that is bad enough — but,
oh ! where is it going to ? When will it touch shore
again ? Providences are intricate ; they do clear, how-
ever : the path winds more than ever here — alas ! where
does its untrodden length lead ? So we repeat Job's
words : *'Are not my days few? cease then, and let me
alone, that I may take comfort a little, before I go
whence I shall not return, even to the land of dark-
ness, and the shadow of death ; a land of darkness, as
darkness itself ; and of the shadow of death, without
any order, and where the light is as darkness."
Now, Lord Bacon has somewhere said that ''true
fortitude consists in not letting what we do know be
disturbed by what we do not know." And he speaks
wisely ; for that is the precise thing which poor hu-
man nature finds most difficult to accomplish. Igno-
rance proves nothing ; but our outlook is full of name-
VICTORY OVER DEATH. 4 1
Fable of the fagots. Roman epithets.
less horrors, because we have nothing else to fill it with
— outside of the Bible.
Next to this comes grief : *' That ye sorrow not," adds
the apostle. Men even in deepest distress cannot be
made to see Death as a friend. In the old fable we used
to read at school, the aged woodman fairly grew desper-
ate as he cast his load of fagots from his sore shoulders :
^'Sitting down, he prayed for Death to come to his re-
lief." Suddenly Death did come, and inquired what he
needed. '* Nothing," answered the frightened creature,
bustling up on his feet ; '' nothing, only to have some
one help to put my bundle once more on my shoulder ! "
There is in this sorrow a sense of bereavement ; we
must go away from those we love. The Romans had
thirty epithets for death ; and all of them were full of
deepest dejection. ^'The iron slumber," ''the eternal
night," ''the mower with his scythe," "the hunter with
his snares," "the demon bearing cup of poison," "the
merciless destroying angel," " the inexorable jailer with
keys," "the king of terrors treading down empires,"
— some of them were these, the bitterness of which is
indescribable.
Then there is a sense of laceration. We must tear
ourselves away from the hills and the homes that know
us. The more we have cared for the world, the more it
keeps its hold upon us. There is a sort of injured feel-
ing rankling in our hearts, as if somebody had cheated
us out of a right, or deceived us in a prospect.
Worst of all, there is in this sorrow a sense of failure.
42 VICTORY OVER DEATH.
Hezekiah. Socrates' sacrifice.
A consciousness of unfinished work, of incomplete ac-
complishment, is filling us with dissatisfaction. It hap-
pens that we have this all written out for our inspection
under inspiration in one notable instance ; it is worth
reading over as a revelation of human nature. " The
writing of Hezekiah, king of Judah, when he had been
sick, and was recovered of his sickness : I said, in the
cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the
grave ; I am deprived of the residue of my years. I
said, I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord, in the land
of the living : I shall behold man no more with the in-
habitants of the world. Mine age is departed, and is
removed from me as a shepherd's tent ; I have cut off
like a weaver my life ; he will cut me off with pining
sickness ; from day even to night wilt thou make an
end of me. I reckoned till morning, that as a lion, so
will he break all my bones ; from day even to flight wilt
thou make an end of me."
The third element of popular experience which the
apostle indicates is despair :' ** I would not have you as
others which have no hopey Here now enters the work-
ing of conscience. At this point there is apparent a
notion of guilt : '' The sting of death is sin ; and the
strength of sin is the law."
Hence, this hopelessness includes a sense of ill-desert.
No man is free from it. Even wise old Socrates sacri-
ficed a cock for an offering before he dared to die ; and
he was what we call a sage ! Scientific men keep open-
ing ancient tombs nowadays ; and it is astonishing what
VICTORY OVER DEATH. 43
Inexorableness. Hobbes' confession.
treasures they find — gifts all packed up for the departed
creature to make his way on with when he should get
into immortal necessities of explanation and apology for
a misspent life.
There is also a sense of inexorable justice. Something
mysteriously forces the conviction on the minds of us
all, that there is one court in this universe where deci-
sions are' rendered in accordance with facts and princi-
ples of law. We clap our hands when we hear a popu-
lar poet sing out energetically, ''Thank God, man is
not to be judged by man ! " But that implies that he is
to be judged by God ; and such a conclusion brings to
most men an uneasiness. Solemn moment is that in
which any soul reaches the full consciousness of ap-
proaching arraignment before the bar of Jehovah !
There is in this hopelessness also a sense of risk. It
will interject itself into all our computations, this
thought of something left unarranged at death. I can-
not get myself ready. I am not master of the position
enough to know what to do more. There are perad-
ventures on ahead in that darkness that it is useless for
me to try to meet. I must just take my chances as I
am. The last words of one of the most courageous of all
the famous infidels that have been watched as they died,
were, " It is a leap in the dark ! "
This, then, is the popular and necessary conception
of death, up to that last great moment when the revela-
tion which the New Testament furnishes breaks like
beautiful sunshine through the unutterable gloom. Our
44 VICTORY OVER DEATH.
Jesus to Martha. The victory.
Lord Jesus came to brmg life and immortality to light
in the gospel. So the trustful believer is taught to sing,
while his heart is swayed by the hopes of another life in
view :
*' In death, peace gently veils the eyes;
Christ rose, and I shall surely rise."
That is to say, into this confused and melancholy state
of things Christianity enters with a direct challenge and
absolute contradiction of reversal. To real mourners
there is only left a single comfort that will prove satis-
factory^ We may reason and argue, but all in vain. No
assurance about its being better for the friends we have
lost to be where they are : no chilly philosophy as to
manly fortitude or womanly endurance : no professions
of sincere sympathy counseling courage — nothing is
sufficient for our terrible bereavements, except the calm
declaration : ^' Thy brother shall rise again." We insist
upon the certainty that some time we must be reunited
to the hearts we regret and remember with our tears.
Just there the Scripture meets us positively : ^' For if
we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them
also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him."
We cannot take away death, but we can take the sting
out of death. We must enter the conflict with the last
enemy : *' But thanks be to God, which giveth us the
victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ." At last there
comes something authoritative. The moment we read
a verse of inspiration like these we are studying, we feel
VICTORY OVER DEATH. 45
A meteoric stone. The cemetery.
as we do when we see a great* meteoric stone — we say
this is a piece of another planet. Just maric these open-
ing words of the apostle : '' For this we say unto you by
the word of the Lord, that w^e which are alive and re-
main unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent
them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall de-
scend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trump of God : and the dead in
Christ shall rise first : then we which are alive and re-
main shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we
ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another
with these words."
So much, then, " by the word of the Lord." How this
covers at once all the particulars we have mentioned !
This lonely spot away in a damp graveyard that makes
us shudder — why, it is only a cemetery, after all ; and a
cemetery is a sleeping-place. We shall remain in it only
until sunrise. Then, too, this sense of failure in life ;
Paul says there is no mistake or loss : "Therefore, my
beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye
know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." No
labor can be in vain which has God's glory for its end.
So of the nameless and indescribable fears that make us
tremble ; this revelation of divine love simply takes a
lamp and bears it into the mysterious shadows ahead of
us, as a mother goes on before into a bedroom which
her timid child had been filling with weird horrors. Oh,
46 VICTORY OVER DEATH.
A mother's lamp. Ships coming in.
how exquisite is that description of the New Jerusalem,
which calls it '' the mother of us all ! "
The sense of bereavement is banished in the same
way. It is the departed who are safe. Those we think
we once lost are the very ones we have most securely.
The sense of despair yields to the blessed certainty of
hope. We shall find our old friends in heaven ; we shall
know them when we see them. The new life will be
occupied partly in *' knitting severed friendships up."
And as for that awful dread of divine justice, it will be
displaced by a wonderful peace ; for we can rest im-
plicitly in God's justice when Jesus the Saviour stands
by, with the sure pardon in his hands !
It is according to one's hearty confidence in receiving
this information that he will look forward toward the
inevitable crisis. I sometimes think that people will
enter heaven as the miscellaneous vessels enter New
York Bay through the Narrows. Some will actually
have to be tugged in by the violent faith and prayer of
others, who will be at hand to help their feebleness as
Christiana helped Ready-to-halt. Some will come in
slowly and undecidedly, as if they dared to put up only
a sail or two, and the wind was uncertain. But there
will be many proud, glad ships, with all their spars cov-
ered with white canvas. To them will be '* an entrance
ministered abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."
Very beautiful, therefore, rises this picture of the
apostle upon our spiritual vision, and very inspiriting is
VICTORY OVER DEATH. 47
Song of triumph. " I" the morning."
the song w.hich floats through the air as we look at it :
'' So when this corruptible shall have put on incorrup-
tion, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then
shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death
is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting ?
O grave, where is thy victory ? "
*'The night is far spent; the day is at hand." We
have as yet some few confusions, for the twilight shad-
ows are hanging heavily over us ; but it will all be right
in the morning : — •
*' Thus all through the world, by ship or by shore,
Where the mother bends over the cradle.
The tenant of which has just gone on before —
Where the lonely tread on in the ashes of woe —
Where the bi-ave fight their foes and their fears —
Where the funeral winds, or the dirge murmurs low, —
Where the eyes of the lover, through dimness and tears,
Look aloft for the loved — oh, whatever the word,
A welcome, a wail, or a warning.
This is everywhere cherished, this everywhere heard —
' // will all be right in the morning I ' "
V.
AN ORDAINED MINISTRY.
Now THEN WE ARE AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST, AS THOUGH GOD
DID BESEECH YOU BY US: WE PRAY YOU IN ChRIST'S STEAD,
BE YE RECONCILED TO GoD.— 2 Corinthians 5 : 20.
A SINGLE incident of the visit of Mr. Moody to New
York came to m)^ knowledge at the time. I give it in
substance as related to me by one of the parties men-
tioned in it ; I think it is quite true.
It seems that a gentleman, accustomed to attend the
great assemblies at the Hippodrome, had invited one of
his business associates to go with him to the meeting,
and hear the evangelist speak. After the service was
over, on the way home, he inquired of him how he
liked the sermon. The answer was all he could have
wished.
'' I believe," said the man, with his manner full of un-
mistakable enthusiasm, ''that, if the regular ministers
would preach as that Moody does, they would have
half the town running after them ! It is grand to lis-
ten to the voice of such a representative of the peo-
ple, no matter if he is ignorant and uneducated. But
in the churches, the big scholars get up, and they are
so stiff and so starched and so cold that there is no
use in going to hear them."
AN ORDAINED MINISTRY. 49
Hippodrome meetings. Mistaken identity.
Surprised at such an amount of information concern-
ing the habits of metropolitan clergymen on the part of
one who, as he supposed, rarely saw any one of them to
know him, my informant inquired calmly, ** Where do
you usually attend church ? " And the reply came as
he expected, '' Oh, I am one of the outsiders, as you
call them ; I have not been in a pew for many a year."
But then he went on to say that he respected religion,
and all that ; he rented a sitting for his wife in the
church on the corner of Street and Place.
" But, why do you never go with her ? " persisted his
friend. "Because, as I said, they are all so prosy
and stiff ; if I knew a minister in this town who could
preach a sermon like that we heard just now, I would
go five miles every Sunday to listen to him ! "
More amused than amazed, his companion turned on
him with a single quiet remark : "Well, then, you had
better try it next Sunday ; for Mr. Moody was away
to-day, and the man you heard in the Hippodrome
was your wife's pastor, Rev. Dr. B , of the church
on the corner of Street and Place."
I. Let us consider, in the first place, one special
phase of popular sentiment, plainly observable at the
present day, and which, we are all agreed, deserves a
somewhat thoughtful notice.
There is a clamor in the street for more "gospel"
work among the " masses " of people hitherto quite
imperfectly reached by usual forms of Christian zeal.
This is right : no one can doubt it. A sad record has
50 AN ORDAINED MINISTRY.
Reaching the " masses." Criticisms on the clergy.
been written on God's book against all the churches
for many a year. Then it is added that extraordinary
methods must be employed, of a more popular char-
acter, in order to interest the homeless multitudes,
the wild, the vicious, and the poor. Most likely this
is right too : Christians ought to be all things to all
men, in the hope to save some. And then there is
heard around us a serious arraignment of ministers as
a class, for what is deemed the ill-adaptation of their
measures ; the stiff, stately, scholarly system of ser-
monizing, inappropriate and unattractive and unsuc-
cessful. WellT^nt is not worth while here to deny
this either. I presume most preachers feel somewhat
demoralized, when they have to own that few have
believed their report, and few are found to whom the
arm of the Lord has been revealed savingly.
But now comes the suggestion of a remedy. And at
this proposal one may be pardoned if he experiences
a measure of consternation. It is claimed that the
preachers must come forth from among the people,
and must be of the people. Hence education has
not so much to do with winning souls as sympathy;
less heads and more hearts are the demand of this
age. Scholarship renders men too refined for rough
work. Then, too, denominationalism gets badly in
the way. And, not to put too fine a point upon it, it
has come to be better to have lay-preachers rather than
ordained.
It is curious to notice how spiritual epidemics become
AN ORDAINED MINISTRY. 5 1
Spiritual epidemics. The ministerial ofifice.
prevalent, at times, just like diseases. Only a few years
ago, the great cry was raised against cherishing an in-
spired authoritative volume as being only a superstition.
The taunt was flung widely over most of Christendom,
that it was weak and unscholarly to believe such a be-
ing as God would issue a printed gospel : would you
put confidence in a book-revelation ? This talk was
leading unthinking individuals here and there quite as-
tray. It became necessary that it should be taken up.
The pulpits everywhere accepted the challenge. Men
clung to their Bibles, and frankly told their reason for
so doing. God gave them the Book. Whether some
would think he would or not, he did — and that was the
end of debate. There were champions who did such
valiant serv'ice in those days that a scriptural literature
was created, of inestimable value. And in our times,
nobody raises that question. But after fifteen years,
a new agitation has arisen ; and now we have to be-
gin at the beginning, and construct an argument for the
existence of an organic official ministry in the church
of Christ — a thing which the church never has been
without in eighteen centuries of life !
II We need not lose any time. Let us now, in the
second place, move right on into the midst of the sub-
ject. What are to be understood as the foundations
upon which rests the office of an ordained ministry in
the church of the Lord Jesus Christ ?
The answer to this question is really so prosaic and
commonplace that one may possibly be surprised to
52 AN ORDAINED MINISTRY.
The argument. The original promise.
hear it. Nothing of human wisdom or adroit reasoning
is demanded at all. Nothing ingenious or novel can be
of even the least service in such an inquiry. The in-
spired word declares : "For after that, in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe." The sovereign will of almighty God himself
established an ordained ministry as the one instrumen-
tality by which the gospel might be proclaimed among
men. The preacher's office, therefore, is of divine and
inalienable right. This it is our duty to assert again
and again, whether men will hear or forbear. The
young Titus was told that he must duly urge the doc-
trine : " These things speak, and exhort ; and rebuke
with all authority. Let no man despise thee."
There was an original promise made to God's people,
and put on the eternal record : "And I will give you
pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you
with knowledge and understanding." Has that engage-
ment ever been fulfilled ? Hear the word again : " And
he gave some, apostles ; and some, prophets ; and some,
evangelists ; and some, pastors and teachers ; for the
perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come
in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the
Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of
the stature of the fulness of Christ."
Let us come away for a moment from simple citation
of texts. It happens that this whole matter lies before
AN ORDAINED MINISTRY. 53
Isaiah's vision. Government service.
US in an exquisite picture, Isaiah's vision of the Lord
throned in the temple. The majestic form of Jehovah
is suddenly withdrawn out of sight, and the kneeling
man hears a voice : *' Whom shall I send, and who will
go for us ? " Surely, we understand that this figurative
representation is of our Maker considering what agency
will be the fittest for him to make use of in spreading
his messages of reconciliation through the whole world.
One would shrink from so daring a conception, even in
rhetoric, if it were his own ; but here it is in the Bible,
and it is singularly picturesque and graphic.
It is generally easy enough to find men who are
willing to undertake government service. Not often
does an office go a-begging. And the more august and
powerful the empire, the likelier it would be to find
ready agents. Foreign ministers throng most ante-
chambers at the slightest call. Christ's ministers of
higher class seem to come reluctantly and offer them-
selves not often. Really, it appears a little singular to
note here that God is represented as inquiring doubt-
fully after somebody to be a prophet.
This could not have been through any caprice : there
is not the least suggestion of trifling in scenes so august
and awful. Nor was the question a mere form, as if
the king were keeping up a share in the dialogue of a
pageant :o Isaiah treats it like a real demand, and an-
swers it at a tremendous risk. Nor does it seem at
all likely that it was asked in weakness or irresolu-
tion : surely, the Lord of Heaven could choose his ser-
54 AN ORDAINED MINISTRY.
Meaning of the question. Voluntary life-work.
vants at his will. He cannot have inquired in igno-
rance, either : he knew w^ho was going to offer, and
whom he was certain to accept in due time.
There was a deep and wise purpose of grace in such
a question. We shall miss the entire point of it if we
fail to see that its aim was to draw an affectionate
and voluntary proffer of life-service from that sub-
dued man, just forgiven his sins under the atoning
touch of the coal from the altar of sacrifice. We ex-
pect that very answer w^hich is recorded from the
grateful Isaiah: "Here am I; send me." That is to
say, the brilliant, picturesque teaching of an inspired
spectacle like this is discovered in these two particu-
lars : God deliberately chooses men for his special mes-
sengers to all the world, and he secures the labor he
wishes by inviting a zwluntary consecration rather than
by commanding obedience.
Really, this is the entire argument for a fixed office
of ordained ministers in the church of the living God.
But is it not conclusive ? Is this not the sense of the
passage which we are now studying in Paul's epistle
to the Corinthians ? Let us read it over : *' And all
things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of
reconciliation ; to wit, that God was in Christ, recon-
ciling the world unto himself, not imputing their tres-
passes unto them ; and hath committed unto us the
word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassa-
dors for Christ ; as though God did beseech you by
AN ORDAINED MINISTRY. 55
" Ambassadors for Christ." Must be " sent."
US, we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to
God."
It only remains, therefore, to inquire concerning the
perpetuation of the office by the churches themselves.
A single passage of Scripture is all that is needed to
set this matter at rest : '* For whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How
then shall they call on him in whom they have not
believed ? and how shall they believe in him of whom
they have not heard ? and how shall they hear with-
out a preacher? And how shall they preach, except
they be sent ? as it is written. How beautiful are the
feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and
bring glad tidings of good things ! "
The cumulative argument in these verses moves on
step by step. A broad announcement of the gospel's
adaptation and entire sufficiency for all classes and
conditions of men is given at the outset: "For w^ho-
soever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved." But here the apostle meets several serious
difficulties lying in the way. To such he gives much
rhetorical force by stating them in the form of a ques-
tion : '' How then shall they call on him in whom
they have not believed ? " Prayer is necessary to sal-
vation, and faith is necessary to prayer. So -another
perplexity confronts him : ''How shall they believe in
him of whom they have not heard ? " Prayer is ne-
cessary to salvation ; faith is necessary to prayer ;
knowledge is necessary to faith. So comes another
56 AN ORDAINED MINISTRY.
The church must provide. What is ordination ?
hindrance : *' How shall they hear without a preach-
er?" A man cannot know a new thing unless some-
body tells him ; and if he does not know about Christ,
he cannot believe in him ; and then if he does not be-
lieve, he cannot pray for help, and so he will eventually
be lost. Hence, there starts up this closing question :
''How can they preach, except they be sent?" So
Paul rounds his argument, clinching it with a text
from Isaiah, in which the Old Testament lifts its voice
joyously to give full confirmation to the New : *' How
beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him
that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace ;
that bringeth good tidings of good ; that publisheth
salvation ; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth ! "
The bearing of all this is perfectly clear. The
church is bound to raise up, to educate, to commis-
sion, to ordain, and to support an official class of
preachers, in order that God's plan shall be carried
out for all nations and for all times.
But what is ordination ? The ceremony of setting
apart the ministers whom the Spirit of God invites
and impresses into the work is, certainly in a truly
Protestant church, exceedingly simple. In significa-
tion, it is nothing but our public recognition of what
we believe God has done beforehand in choosing the
man.
Our authority for the imposition of hands, with which
the impressive ceremony is generally attended, is easily
traced to the inspired Scriptures. One familiar verse is
AN ORDAINED MINISTRY. 5/
Imposition of hands. The present demand.
enough to quote here : the young Timothy, just ordained
and sent out to his work, finds among the weighty coun-
sels of the apostle addressed to him one calculated to
keep his office before him : '^ Neglect not the gift that
is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the
laying on of the hands of the presbytery." We do not
profess to communicate anything, when we lay our
hands upon a candidate's head. It is a mere gesture to
show w^hom we intend to set apart to a professional call-
ing as a preacher." Christ gives him all he has of heav-
enly grace, not man, nor the church.
It seems clear that there could be no question con-
cerning this general doctrine of the ministry, which is
as old as is the church itself, if our decisions were not
complicated by some particular presentations of just
our times. Evangelists, nowadays, demand that they
shall be received and welcomed among the churches
without ordination. They shall be permitted to preach,
and even administer sacraments, independent of all set-
ting apart to a fixed office. This is new. Nettleton,
and Kirk, and Finney, were all regularly ordained
clergymen. Audiences at large did not find any fault
with their "cloth." We have had in our communities
several of the best Christian workers the world ever
knew — men whom we all alike honor and love — men
whom God has wonderfully blessed as evangelists.
They peril great interests when they demand that we
shall accept them without ordination to the sacred office.
They are the ones to make the issue. Some of us are
3*
58 AN ORDAINED MINISTRY.
Lay-preachers. ♦' Gospel " mass-meetings,
ready to join the issue with them. We assert that it is
not safe or fair or scriptural to argue from their pros-
perous career that ordination is prejudicial, or that lay-
preachers would be better to man our missions.
For we insist that it would be better all around if
these noble coadjutors wxre ordained in the orderly
way, as Barnabas and Timothy were in the primitive
history when they began to preach.
Nor should we be candid if we did not admit that we
go even further. We do not believe that the mass-meet-
ing system is the best for converting souls, and retain-
ing those who are apparently gathered. Some of us
distrust this whole plan of promiscuous assemblies in
"gospel" services, with laymen giving '^ Bible-read-
ings," as flinging reproach upon the churches. Is there
no gospel anywhere but in them ? Is the Bible read
anywhere else ? Will the man go and hear his wife's
pastor once in his own pulpit, before he pronounces
upon him in the Hippodrome ?
Christ loved the church, and Christ established the
church, and Christ gave himself for the church, which
is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
When any association undertakes to compete with the
church's organization as an instrument for saving, train-
ing, educating, and retaining souls of men, a decent
word ought to be spoken in warning against putting
human wisdom in conflict with that which is inspired
and divine.
But are all the churches what they should be ? Oh,
AN ORDAINED MINISTRY. 59
The churches fastidious. Halls are free.
no ! no ! Some of our buildings are too fine and costly.
Some of our services are too turgid and swollen with
fashionable parade : on rare Sundays they are nothing
but concerts with programmes. Some of us in the
pulpit are dull and dry. Our sermons are scholarly
and philosophical. Our machinery all around is too
elegantly fitted to the taste of only fastidious people.
We have too little sympathy for the poor and the
humble. Oh, how pitiful are the confessions many
of us are ready conscientiously and sorrowfully to
make !
But the remedy is not found in calling the church
Laodicean, and declaring that *'the Lord has already
spewed it out of his mouth." Perhaps, if our brethren
will keep their confidence for a little while longer, there
can be a change. Let us read over together one verse
more, before we part company just now : *' For unto us
was the gospel preached, as well as unto them : but the
word preached did not profit them, not being mixed
w4th faith in them that heard it."
Why are some of the churches thinly attended, while
the public halls are filled ? Because Christians will
generously pay for the rent of halls so as to make them
free to everybody, while they decline to let poor people
even sit in their church pews when unable to make up
the rent. Is it because the gospel is not preached unto
us as well as unto them ? Are we all ready to assert that
the truth of God is presented in our Christian pulpits
less intelligently than it is outside of them ? Less Intel-
6o AN ORDAINED MINISTRY.
Is the gospel preached ? Not " mixed with faith."
ligibly ? less faithfully ? less courageously ? less spirit-
ually ?
Why does not the word profit, then ? The verse says,
because it is not ''mixed with faith." Whose faith?
The faith of '' them that hear it." People have become
used to the emotional excitement of a promiscuous
throng singing ''pull for the shore," until they say their
own public meetings are dull and spiritless. They seem
to have no expectation that good can be done in quiet
ways in their old lecture-rooms. Some church-members
lack faith in all ordinary means of grace. They seem
to think nothing can be done by the established methods,
or in the home localities. Another kind of sermons,
another sort of hymn-books, another form of machinery,
must be brought forward. They are not content to rest
in quiet working. So the ways of Zion mourn.
Let us have done with recrimination, and divide the
sorrow and shame, if such there be, while we begin once
more to believe in the profitableness of God's plan. Is
it too much to ask that some affectionate and honest
words of deprecation may be heard, just for once ?
Less seeking of novelties, and more trust in the means
we have, might, perhaps, bring in an increase of good.
VI.
THE CHRISTIAN ARMOR.
Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to
STAND AGAINST THE WILES OF THE DEVIL. — Epkesians 6: II.
It might be conjectured that one, who for a long time
was accustomed to wear a chain binding his wrist to the
wrist of a soldier of the Roman army, and so was kept
in the constant companionship and observation of a man
in full military dress — it might be conjectured that such
an one, w^hen fashioning a formal letter by an amanuen-
sis, would become figurative on occasion, and introduce
what he saw into what he wrote. So the peculiar vivid-
ness of description, and the particularity of detail, which
we meet in the famous passage of Paul's epistle to the
Ephesians, would find easy explanation from his impris-
onment.
I. It begins with a call to arms — a ringing challenge
to soldierly bearing and courageous exploit : '* Finally,
my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of
his might."
Religious life is sometimes called ''peace in believ-
ing." Christ bids souls to come unto him that they
might find "rest." All this has a welcome and an in-
telligible meaning. But surely that Christian will make
a vast mistake who forces such comforting expressions
3*
THE CHRISTIAN ARMOR.
A conquered peace. Thomas Campbell.
as these into undue and strange employment. There
is nowhere in this world any peace which has not been
wrought out in stubborn conflict, which is not now the
achievement of valiant service for the truth. The sol-
diers of the cross do not enlist to go at once into the
hospital, or sit around the door of a sutler's tent.
Hence our Lord puts in his well-known and often-
quoted warning to all those who start to follow him that
they shall intelligently understand, and then deliberately
decide, what to do : '* What king, going to make war
against another king, sitteth not down first, and consult-
eth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him
that cometh against him with twenty thousand ? Or
else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth
an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. So
likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all
that he hath, he cannot be my disciple."
It is to be feared that too much stress is laid upon the
emotional and experimental part of piety in this easy
day of ours. Too many young princes go off into dan-
gerous Zulu-land for curious inquiry or mere love of
adventure. There was (so we are told) once an English
poet, who took position in a lofty tower that he might
see a real battle. He seems to have had great prosper-
ity, for the world has not yet done praising his versified
description of the rushing onset, the tumult, and the
carnage, "by Iser rolling rapidly." Now nobody need
hope to become acquainted with the solemn realities of
life by merely gazing out upon it from a protected bel-
THE CHRISTIAN ARMOR. 63
Ignatius Loyola. Zechariah's visuui.
fry, as Campbell did on Hohenlinden field. We cannot
make a poem out of it. There are awful certainties of
exposure, and necessities of attack, which disdain figures
and rhythms of mere music. And, moreover, we are
combatants, not spectators ; we are in the onset, and the
shock is at hand. " There is no discharge in that war."
2. It is best to avoid all confusion at once, and ascer-
tain who are our adversaries ; specially, who leads on
the host. Here the apostle speaks clearly, if only peo-
ple would listen : " Put on the whole armor of God, that
ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."
"Two kingdoms," said Ignatius Loyola, "divide the
world ; the kingdom of Immanuel, and the kingdom of
Satan." This the whole Bible admits ; but nowhere can
there be found even so much as one text which intimates
that Christ and the devil are on equal terms. Satan is
a created being ; he had a maker, and he now has a ruler.
He wages at present only a permitted warfare for a lim-
ited season. His onsets are well called "wiles," for he
shuns open fields, and deals best in ambuscades and se-
cret plots. " Satan himself is transformed into an angel
of light."
Next to that recorded picture in the opening of the
Book of Job, perhaps the most graphic which we find in
the Scriptures is that of the prophet Zechariah : "And
he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the
angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand
to resist him. And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord
rebuke thee, O Satan ; even the Lord that hath chosen
64 THE CHRISTIAN ARMOR.
A court-martial. Our adversaries.
Jerusalem rebuke thee : is not this a brand plucked out
of the fire ? " Just as in a court-martial, two men appear
in order to manage a suit after quick arrest of some de-
relict subaltern, so here a poor accused being seems to
be put on tri?J. A divine advocate — even Jesus Christ
the righteous, the true historic angel of the Lord — labors
to defend him ; while another, the accuser of his breth-
ren, is allowed to hinder and interrupt, springing tech-
nicalities in the way of progress, w^resting the evidence,
pleading false issues, suborning witnesses, tampering
with testimony, mutilating records, disturbing the tribu-
nal with vociferous objections, until the presiding judge
will bear it no longer, but in true commiseration for
the culprit bursts out, *' The Lord rebuke thee, O
Satan ! "
It would seem as if the careful apostle had been
afraid that his military language might be construed
literally ; for he adds a word of warning, lest any one
should suppose that the faith which Christ came to es-
tablish should be propagated by force of arms : ** For
we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in
high places." And in another chapter he gives a hint
from the opposite direction ; if our foes are spiritual,
then our resistance is to be spiritual also : '' The w^eapons
of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through
God, to the pulling down of strongholds ; casting down
imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself
THE CHRISTIAN ARMOR. 65
The devil's angels. A man tempted.
against the knowledge of God, and bringing into capti-
vity every thought to the obedience of Christ."
There is awful force in the expression, *'the devil
and his angels ; " for it shows us Satan is not alone in
his work. He is the prince fiend of a fiendish clan. I
have somewhere seen a picture on which was repre-
sented a human soul in its hour of conflict. It was
as if the invisible world had for a moment been made
visible by the rare skill of the artist. There, around
the tried and anxious man, these emissaries of Satan
were gathered. Dim, ethereal forms luridly shone out
on every side. One might see the tempting offer of a
crown over his head ; but he would have to examine
quite closely before he could discover how each braided
bar of gold in the diadem was twined in so as to con-
ceal a lurking fiend in the folds. Then there was just
visible a serpent with demoniac eyes coiled in the bot-
tom of the goblet from which he was invited to drink.
Foul whispers were plying either ear. There were
baleful fires of lust in the glances of those who sought
his companionship. A beautiful angel drew nigh ; but
a skeleton of death could be traced beneath the white
robes he had stolen. I cannot say it was a welcome
picture ; but certainly there was a lesson in it. Among
the noisy critics who gaily pronounced on its character-
istics, I noticed there was one thoughtful man who
turned aside and wept. Perhaps he knew what it
meant.
3. Is there no defence against all this ? Surely, every
66 THE CHRISTIAN ARMOR.
Military accoutrements. The Palace Beautiful
Christian remembers the armoj- which Paul catalogues
in detail : "Wherefore take unto you the whole armor
of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil
day, and having done all, to stand. Stand, therefore,
having your loins girt about with truth, and having on
the breastplate of righteousness ; and your feet shod
with the preparation of the gospel of peace ; and
above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye
shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word of God." .
So picturesque is this exhortation that one could al-
most believe that Paul simply ran his eyes over the
military man at his side, and told his amanuensis to
spiritualize the articles of his equipment. For every
one now knows that this whole list of shield and shoes,
girdle and breastplate, helmet and sword, may be, in
the old paintings, found upon the person of each sol-
dier in the Roman legions.
Most elderly people will remember the kindling of
heroic ardor they had in their early days, when they
contemplated Christian in the few illustrations of Pil-
grim's Progress as he emerged from the Palace Beau-
tiful. He had been shown into the armory at tliQ be-
ginning of his visit, and seen all the rare weapons of
antiquity, from Shamgar's ox-goad to Jael's nail. But
when he was to go on his journey again, the three
discreet damsels clad him with ''all manner of furni-
ture which their Lord had provided for pilgrims."
THE CHRISTIAN ARMOR. 6/
The fight with Apollyon. " All-prayer."
Few readers will ever forget how different the brave
man looked in the pictures after that. He had strug-
gled up the Hill Difficulty in flowing robes which, to
our critical eyes, seemed effeminate. But now he ap-
peared in the road wearing the conspicuous head-piece
of a warrior, almost as fierce as Greatheart himself in
pursuit of the giants. Down into the Valley of Humil-
iation he walked courageously for his historic fight with
Apollyon.
Concerning this panoply, before we leave John Bun-
yan, perhaps it may be well to note three points which
this prince of dreamers has plainly made. First, he
calls us to observe that Christian, in all his splendid ac-
coutrement, had been provided with no armor for his
back, so that he felt it necessary, when the bellowing
fiend drew near, *'to venture and stand his ground,"
since to turn w^ould give him greater advantage to
pierce with darts.
Then, in the enumeration of weapons, Bunyan men-
tions '''■all-prayer'' as one which possessed great value
and efficiency. For myself, I acknowledge that in my
youth I was greatly curious to know what this part of
the armor could be. I think I understand more 'about
it now, since* I have been in the conflict.
And then, Bunyan shows us that in all the panoply
Christian wore, there was only one thing for attack ;
the rest was for mere defence. The sword proved .to
be the man's reliance ; for when Apollyon had him
fairly down, it was only with his great two-edged
68 THE CHRISTIAN ARMOR.
The sword of the Spirit. The word of God,
sword that he gave the fiend a '' deadly thrust " which
turned the battle; ''then, indeed, he did smile and
look upward ! "
4. So I judge we may profitably devote a little more
study to the description of this weapon — ''the sword of
the Spirit, which is the word of God."
It is to be supposed that all true Christians admit the
truth of that military maxim — the best defence is a
swift attack.
When our Lord was tempted in the wilderness, he
did nothing more than just quote Scripture. He
pressed Satan so vigorously that he began to quote
Scripture too. Three texts of Deuteronomy — a book
wiiich skeptics are trying their best nowadays to get
rid of — defeated the adversary finally. Jesus might
have used any other form of deliverance, but he chose
that in order that we who were to come after might
know the devil could be certainly defeated with that.
"The word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper
than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the divid-
ing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and
marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents
of the heart."
Apollos w^as an experienced and adroit swordsman ;
he was "mighty in the Scriptures." To have a weapon
in one's hand that is certain to pierce the scales of
Apollyon every thrust, is of itself enough to make
every one valiant. Most of us have been told the
child's story about a mysterious sword which had in its
THE CHRISTIAN ARMOR. 69
Th; coward's cure. Hewitson's defence.
construction a kind of life of its own. It was put in
the hand of a coward in order to work his cure. When
he tried to run away, it kept him right up to the front
of the battle. Whenever he attempted to fling it from
him, it clung to his grasp. Whenever he sought to
slink out of sight and hide the bright blade in the folds
of his uniform, of itself it would leap from the scabbard,
and begin smiting the first foe it could touch. By and
by, he learned to put confidence in it ; for he perceived
he never could be beaten as long as that invincible hilt
was in his hand.
Such a weapon is this ''sword of the Spirit, which is
the word of God." It will of itself fight, it will of itself
conquer, and in the end it will defend and deliver every
brave man w^ho trusts it. "I will fight you," said a
hard-fisted man once to the saintly Hewitson. "Very
well," replied he quietly, taking his Testament from his
pccket ; "just wait till I get out my sword."
It seems to me that this is w^hat so interests us in the
private Bibles of experienced and old veterans of the
cross. Marked and worn, bearing tokens of use, they
fall into our hands ; how reverently we look upon
them ! Anybody would touch Whitefield's Bible gent-
ly, and" turn over its pages with tenderness. Then
there is the old family Bible, and our mother's Bible.
All these make us think of those days when Scandina-
vian heroes hung up their historic swords as symbols of
prowess among the statues of the demi-gods in the halls
of the Walhalla.
70 THE CHRISTIAN ARMOR.
Our comrades. True heroism.
Thus have we been passing through this military
pageant ; we have heard the call to conflict ; we have
recognized the adversary ; we have seen the armor ; we
have touched the weapon. There is nothing left to us
now but the comradeship ; quietly does the pictured
scene vanish ; the words of this beloved apostle, as he
closes the stirring passage, are pathetic and calm :
'^ Praying always with all prayer and supplication in
the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance
and supplication for all saints : and for me, that utter-
ance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth
boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for
which I am an ambassador in bonds ; that therein I may
speak boldly, as I ought to speak."
No Christian fights the great campaign alone. Around
him are many soldiers who lift the same banner, keep
the same step in marching, follow the same Leader, bear
the same perils, and sing the same song. Paul is not
too proud to ask that he may be remembered among
the brethren when they pray. He desires to fight the
good fight, and keep the faith unto the end. He had
written a record of Avhich he did not need to be ashamed.
Would they please pray for him now ?
Heroism is to be reckoned according to one's circum-
stances of exposure and need of endurance. Some of
us have been reading a little story, which has given us
a grain of comfort. It appears that a poor but worthy
artisan of Paris once went to his bishop with his heart
almost overwhelmed with fears. '' Father," said he,
THE CHRISTIAN ARMOR. 71
Tlie troubled inquirer. The two castles.
with the most profound humility, '' I am a sinner ; I
admit and feel I am a sinner ; but it is against my will.
Every hour I ask for light, and humbly pray for faith in
my struggle ; but still I am overwhelmed with doubt.
Surely, if I were not despised of God, he would not
leave me to fight thusw^ith the adversary of souls. Does
he see me in the midst of my grief ? "
The bishop is reported to have consoled his sorrowing
visitor in this way: ''You are aware," said he, ''that
the king of the realm has two castles on which he much
relies for the defences of France. That at Montlhery
is far inland, and remains remote out of danger ; but
that at La Rochelle is on the coast and is always a con-
spicuous mark for marauders from the sea, and exposed
to sieges ; indeed, it bears the scars of balls from a hun-
dred bombardments already. A commander has to be
appointed yearly to each of these famous fortresses.
Now^ tell me, w^hich do you suppose stands eminently
the highest in the estimation of the monarch ? " And
the man answered easily, " That soldier is the bravest
who holds his own the most firmly in the place where
there is greatest danger."
Then the bishop pronounced his reply well made,
only adding: "And our king puts ever his most trusty
veterans into the castle of La Rochelle ; any one who
could just live there could grow to be famous without
an effort in the castle of Montlhery ! "
Says George Eliot, "It is only by a wide compari-
son made among common facts tliat even the wisest full-
72 THE CHRISTIAN ARMOR.
" Well-rolled barrels." Old soldiers coming home.
grown man can distinguish well-rolled barrels from more
supernal thunder." Our times are crowded with excit-
ing disclosures. We are not certain just at the moment
that when the books are opened it will not be found that
some of the heroes of this age are simply those who have
stood in high positions of temptation, and yet have 7iot
fallen from integrity. Even much-abused and much-
sinning Robert Burns could say :
** What's done we partly may compute,
But know not what's resisted."
How much old soldiers always love each other ! They
are the gentlest men always who are the bravest. Cow-
ards only are coarse. What a pageant that will be to
see when the gates are lifted up, and the King of GlcHy
shall enter heaven, leading in the hosts of those who
have put on, and worn in fidelity, '' the whole armor of
God ! "
VII.
THE MIND OF CHRIST.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. —
PhilipJiiaJts 2 : 5.
'' The grand natural feature of our northern life," says
a popular Swedish writer, ^' is a conquered winter."
There can be no doubt that the extreme temperatures
of those almost arctic regions need warm hearts and in-
ventive minds to render them endurable. The fierce
blasts chill the blood ; vivacity and good cheer must be
had in order to make its currents flow again. And so,
as the tourists tell us, you will find, while you journey
through Norway or Sweden, as well as Northern Den-
mark, the hospitable lights gleaming in low windows
with a new friendliness of welcome, the great fires roar-
ing in the capacious chimneys, and simple-hearted neigh-
bors coming every evening to cluster at each other's
board. There are innocent entertainments for the el-
ders, intricate puzzle-games for the children, and for the
youths and maidens (telling the never-old story) brave
legends and sweet songs.
Thus the iciness of those Scandinavian climates melts
in the glow of charity and kindly offices of considerate
regard. The secret of the genial villagers' success lies
in the fact that they not only subdue the winter, but also
/4 THE MIND OF CHRIST.
" A conquered winter." The new life.
ingeniously reproduce some sort of organization — like
summer — in its place.
See here a symbol of the task which a living Christian-
ity has set for itself to accomplish. It is no more nor
less than a positive triumph over the unregenerate win-
ter in the hearts of men at large. The gospel proposes
to introduce into all the torpor now reigning in sinful
humanity a vital cheer and charm, which shall kindle it
to attractiveness, and bring back to it a semblance, at
least, of the summer day of its purity and peace. We
cannot banish winter, but we can conquer it.
Not, however, by just one frantic effort, but by some
constituted plan of long continuance and wide reach.
Religion aims, therefore, to check malevolence and all
vice, harmonize discord, eradicate error, enlighten igno-
rance, relieve innocent poverty, banish needless pain,
and hush the whirlwinds of tempestuous strife. But
that is not all, by any means. It is not enough, by any
means. Something positive must be furnished in the
place of that which it dethrones. The soul of a man
cannot live upon a nothing. If everything is to be re-
linquished for piety, then piety must be something more
than a mere routine of regulations ; it must be something
better than a mere code of restraints ; it must say ^' Thou
mayest," as well as "Thou shalt not."
Hence the gospel further proposes to institute a new
structure of human life altogether. It gathers up the
reinless, restless faculties of the soul, and seeks to com-
bine them as energizing factors of an entirely fresh ex-
THE MIND OF CHRIST. 75
Things which remain. The church in Philippi.
istence. So it makes as much as it can out of what it
has. It strengthens " the things which remain." It tries
to cultivate all the graceful amenities of a better social
arrangement, turning men to help each other, and love
each other ; cleansing the affections, and cementing to-
gether the sympathies of all those who own the common
brotherhood ; and associating such as look up to God
as the one good Father in a permanent and joyous rela-
tionship of trust.
The epistle to the Philippians is addressed to Chris-
tians. No one can read its affectionate chapters without
becoming impressed with the thought that Paul is now
reconstructing a subdued city. Ten years of vigorous
life had passed since this apostle first preached the gos-
pel in this Macedonian colony, and brought in his first
convert in Europe — an Asiatic woman, singularly enough
— whose heart the Lord opened in a female prayer-meet-
ing. The church had prospered, was now large and
powerful. But the leaders were at variance, and some
of the women had got into trouble.
Kindly as the apostle writes, it is evident to us all that
he was vexed and anxious, as he saw how foolishly they
were pulling each other to pieces. From several expres-
sions, which he employs in the closing chapter, we infer
that the principal workers were in a cross, conceited,
and punctilious humor. They disagreed as to ordinary
methods of management. They strove for preeminence
in position. Certain headstrong and obstinate mem-
bers raised a wild debate in the church. Two women
THE MIND OF CHRIST.
Two women differ. Divided leadership.
— Euodias, *' well-favored," and Syntyche, ''happy-for-
tuned," so by their very names showing they might
have been about better business — took sides and went
into opposition.
It was just the same old story, again and again re-
peated wherever there are strong people put into the
same field. It seems inevitable that poor human na-
tures should differ, provided they have for partisans
those who love solitary opinions, and propose to force
them even against hints of good fellowship.
Unhappy creatures are all such as cannot bear to find
others have more of a following than they themselves
can present. And more unhappy still are the patient
multitudes of praying people, who are willing to follow
anybody, if only he will keep the peace and go ahead,
but who find themselves sorely fretted by jealousies,
and embarrassed by cliques, which they neither appre-
ciate nor understand.
In undertaking to pacify these excited people in
Philippi, Paul throws himself back upon those old his-
tories which had attached them to him in days gone by.
He is not ashamed to plead with them for the sake of
the love they bore him personally : " If there be there-
fore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if
any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
fulfil ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same
love, being of one accord, of one mind."
The grounds on which he bases his appeal for a hear-
ing are awfully solemn. He summons them to listen
THE MIND OF CHRIST. JJ
Motives of appeal. Be of one mind.
by the joys of spiritual repose in the Saviour ; by the
tender impressiveness of his example ; by the expe-
rience of charity Christians feel when they love each
other ; by the hopeful communion they cherish in the
Holy Ghost ; and by the affectionate sensibilities which
they give to the lonely and ruined world around them.
No one can fail to notice the exceedingly lowly and
affectionate manner which this great and good man
adopts in approaching these insurrectionary people.
Most men would have lost head under such reverent
obedience as that church at Philippi w^as accustomed to
give Paul. He might have ordered them ; but he now
entreats. He had an undoubted chance to command ;
but he only implores.
The end he aims at is perfectly plain. Of one thing,
with all his vast experience, he now must have grown
perfectly certain — no church, no family, no organiza-
tion for Christian work and edification, could prosper,
unless the members were absolutely united in spirit, in
temper, and in plans. These words, '' that ye be like-
minded," may be rendered literally, ''thinking the self-
same thing." The unity of purpose he contemplates
must be unbroken, like the harmony of instruments in
a band of music ; like the step of a trained platoon of
soldiers, rhythmic and regular ; like the orderly pull
of singing sailors when they weigh the anchor at sea.
Now most of us know some ministers who preach,
and some merchants who give benefactions, and some
teachers who instruct classes, and some book-makers
78 THE MIND OF CHRIST.
Lowliness of mind. Church of Scotland.
who write, and some artists who sing, and some flimsy
fops who dress, for merest display of talent, figure, cul-
tivation, and supposable graces. Against this the can-
did apostle proceeds directly: ''Let nothing be done
through strife or vainglory ; but in lowliness of mind
let each esteem other better than themselves." The
noun here translated ''vainglory" occurs nowhere else
in the Scriptures. It is devoutly to be wished that the
spirit censured in it had never been known outside of
that little colony in Macedonia to which the rebuke was
first sent.
In 165 1, the Assembly of the Church of Scotland
drew up an extensive enumeration of sins, most re-
markable for its startling annunciation of blame and
for its searching detection of the particulars on which
it rested. Among the statements are found the crying
wrongs, in that day, of people and clergy alike. This,
for a prominent example: "We acknowledge that, in
our prayers for the divine assistance, we pray more for
aid to the messenger than we do for aid to the message
we bring ; not caring what becomes eventually of the
word, if only we be, with some measure of assistance,
carried on with the duty." Then this, for another item
of ordinary wrong : "We acknowledge that we preach
Christ, not so much that the people may know him, but
that they may think we know much of him ourselves."
Now it cannot be expected that such candor as this
will find its way often into public confession. Pride and
vainglory are often unconsciously cherished. It is an
THE MIND OF CHRIST. 79
Old apothegm. Self-deception.
ancient classical apothegm : ''A serpent is never seen
at its full length until it is dying." No one will ever
know how obstinate a thing in the Christian breast this
proud temper is, unless with courageous purpose he at-
tacks it, with full intention to kill.
The commonplaces of duty, the simplicities of doc-
trine, the first beginnings of experience — these are what
are hardest to instill into the minds of most self-seeking
believers. There are some in this world so thoroughly
mistaken in their estimate of themselves that they can-
not see the scales by w^hich their eyes are blinded. They
display their enormous conceit in no other way so plain-
ly as by asserting they are absolutely destitute of the
vice of vanity. They flatter themselves by saying they
have so much dignity that they cannot be flattered.
They assert they have no bad temper ; and then flash
into perilous wrath at the amazing impudence of the
man who doubted it. They will for years watch sullenly
to take vengeance upon the unwary friend who tendered
an unwelcome admonition against their being revenge-
ful— a disposition they always denied. There are some
persons whose very eyes shine with pride just because
they have settled that now they have reached the ex-
treme virtue of humility. Hence wisely said the old
philosopher Seneca : " Flatteries, even when they have
been most deprecated, please."
The remedy, which the apostle here recommends, is
direct : ** Look not every man on his own things, but
every man also on the things of others." This is what
So THE MIND OF CHRIST.
Heroic treatment. The note look.
physicians call *' heroic treatment." Paul says each man
is to consider others not only equal to himself, but bet-
ter. The cure of conceit, therefore, would be found
in just putting our neighbor forward in the exact place
we ourselves covet. " All great things are simple : " so
once said a great statesman, himself as simple as he was
great. This bold apostle deliberately proposes that those
quarrelsome and ambitious people in Philippi settle their
discords by giving up quietly to each other !
In the Westminster Assembly, it is said the members
kept little books, wherein they noted arguments to be
answered, or heads of speeches to be made. In that re-
nowned body there was one man of whom heretofore the
literary and theologic world had heard little. So mod-
est and retiring was he that almost nothing was expected
of him. Yet now and then he startled those erudite
sages and eloquent doctors with an address so marvelous
in power and adroit in ingenuity, as well as convincing
in logic, that contemporaneous history rang with his
praise. Some grew jealous, and small spite began to
throw detractions. They said he had gathered his helps
from outside sources, and filled his memorandum with
thoughts from other brains ; in that must be the secret
of his matchless success. By and by the long sessions
broke up, and he was asked for a sight of the note-books
he had carried. They opened every well-worn volume.
Instead of arguments and reasons and illustrations, they
found only such expressions as these : ** O Lord, vouch-
safe us light this day ! " '* O divine Master, give us
THE MIND OF CHRIST.
Gillespie's prayers. Our blessed Master.
thine assistance ! " '^ O Lord, glorify thyself through
us thy serv^ants ! " ''Christ, defend against all enemies
thine own cause ! "
And that was all. His power lay not in his intellect,
but in his prayers. His wish was like that of the sainted
Brainerd : '' Oh, let me and mine be nothing, only that
thine own kingdom may come ! "
Higher than this it does not seem possible for even
an inspired preacher to go. But Paul does go one step
higher. He grows more and more earnest as he con-
tinues to exhort his dear friends in Philippi, more and
more fervid with each reiteration of his words of counsel.
And now at last, as if he well understood the inveteracy
of their besetting sin, he suddenly makes a nevv^ appeal
of tremendous power, grounding the stress of it upon
the very essence of their piety, springing out before them
the example of their Master himself, and challenging
their instant admiration and imitation : "Let this mind
be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus : w^ho, being
in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal
with God ; but made himself of no reputation, and took
upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men : and being found in fashion as a man,
he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath
highly exalted him, and given him a name which is
above every name : that at the name of Jesus, every knee
should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth,
and things under the earth ; and that every tongue
82 THE MIND OF CHRIST.
Christ's exaltation. An orator's expedient.
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory
of God the Father."
The reach of this exhortation transcends all analysis.
We should lose the vast force of it by picking it to
pieces for details of doctrine. Be like Christ : he was
God ; he became man ; could any one ever have been
more worthily exalted ? could any one ever have been
more deeply humiliated ? so he received his recompense
of reward.
Just as some orator, skilfully addressing a company
of soldiers on the eve of battle, begins with an admoni-
tion and ends with a picture ; just as he would appeal
to their manhood, their consistency, their honor, and
their courage, as he would play upon their fear of dis-
grace and their contempt of poltroonry ; just as he
Avould follow up each motive with another and a more
elevated one, until, at the last, he w^ould invoke their
patriotism and their love for their leader, alike and to-
gether, by unfurling the national ensign and showing
them how he had caused to be painted across the folds
the likeness of the face they knew ; so here the apostle
seeks to arouse Christian enthusiasm by quickly exhi-
biting the very image of the Captain of our salvation,
and bidding us follow him alone.
Not without a word of comforting encouragement,
however. Can any one be like Christ ? Can every one
be like Christ ? Paul says it will be harder for some of
us than for others. Some will fear, and some will trem-
ble ; but all can work, and God is overhead : ** Where-
THE MIND OF CHRIST. 83
Can all be like Christ? God gives help.
fore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in
my presence only, but now much more in my absence,
w^ork out your own salvation with fear and trembling ;
for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to
do of his good pleasure."
Surely, if one desires the ''mind of Christ," he must
see that he will be very far from securing it, if he exer-
cises his own mind in showing how unlike him other
people are. '' Boasting is excluded." I do not know a
more pathetic spectacle in the New Testament than that
of the two blind men at the gate of Jericho — rivals in
business, recollect — making (as it were) common cause
against the uncharitable multitude, and in the same sen-
tence of speech crying for mercy from the Son of
David. Matthew Henry's comment on the passage is
very bright. ''These joint sufferers," says he, "were
joint suitors. Being companions in the same tribula-
tion, they were partners in the same supplication."
In every honest effort, God gives mysterious help.
What is wanted on our part is decision winged with de-
votion. Our wills surrender ; just there, God wills for
us.
*• He who hath felt the Spirit of the Highest,
Cannot confound, or doubt him, or defy ;
Yea, with one voice, O world, though thou deniest,
Stand thou on that side— for on this am I !'*
VIII.
PIETY TESTED AT HOME.
And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and
NOT unto men. — Colossians 2'- 23.
Just now my eye caught glimpse of a bit of pleasant-
ry in a daily newspaper, which, after all, had a meaning
in it. It seems that a stranger was invited to preach
for what we call "a colored church." He inquired
what subject he should choose for a sermon. One of
the dusky deacons replied, ''Oh ! whatever you will, of
course ; but I think you would do better not to try the
Ten Commandments ; for I always notice that when
anybody takes his text there, it has a dampening influ-
ence upon the congregation."
But in the same journal, not a dozen columns away
from this, I noticed again that one of the ''colored"
pastors in New York, while commenting upon the
crime and conviction of a murderer, who was a member
of the church, and measurably forward in revivals, gave
this surprising inconsistency as an illustration of the
disaster resulting from the divorce of morality and reli-
gion. This was in dead earnest. It recalled to me the
times before the war, when some seemed to accept a
sort of unctuousness and emotionalism in the African
race for devout piety, and consider that a slave could be
PIETY TESTED AT HOME. 85
Religion up in the air. Rules too rigid.
a Christian, while yet his life was vicious with pilfering
and lies.
Evidently color and race have nothing to do with
such a discussion. The religion which is not moral has
no pattern for it in the New Testament for anybody.
It is most significant to notice that the third chapter of
Colossians, which opens with one of the most glowing
of all Paul's spiritual appeals, runs at the end into one
of the most commonplace of his direct counsels. It be-
gins with saints in heaven, and finishes with servants at
home.
That is to say, the apostle, seeking to impress upon
the minds of those to whom he is Avriting the reality of
vital godliness, gives them to understand that it is no
mere mystical experience kept up in the serene air of
resurrection heights, but a true life here below, cover-
ing earthly relationships and prosaic duties.
No one can fail to be struck with the sprightly cheer-
fulness with which this familiar paragraph opens. Paul
would have us know that religion beautifies everything
it touches. Moralities give a certain sort of additional
adornment to the celestial life in the soul, just as the
honest strength of moss-covered rocks gives a finer set-
ting to the foam of a waterfall, as it flashes white in the
sunshine.
The reproach which a ribald world keeps leveling at
the church is that all human hope and joy, all exuber-
ance of a contented and happy heart, are heavily re-
pressed by rigid rules of behavior ; men are thundered
86 PIETY TESTED AT HOME.
Swiss clocks. Work does the singing.
at by the ''thou shalt nots" of the Decalogue, and (all
fun one side) it does have a ** dampening effect " upon
everybody to walk along on the verge of the tomb
moaning over melancholy prayers.
The picture here offered furnishes an exquisite reply
to sneers like this. We have all seen those cunning
clocks from Switzerland, hung on work-room walls, so
contrived that, as they tell the hours patiently off with
hands accurately running across the dial, they shall also
with each regular stroke of the bell instantly burst into
some lively little tune, and play through the succeeding
minutes until sober ticking of real work should be needed
again. And then it would be found that no valuable
force had been wasted. Not a second had been lost, in
the time of the day, for all the sw^eet recreation of the
music. The whole room seemed brighter and happier
for the sudden strain which came forth from the mech-
anism. Yet it was the same weights that moved the
pendulum which also swept the unseen fingers over the
hidden wires ; it was just work, with its solemn purpose
unchanged, which did the singing.
Some Christians can keep this up exactly for a long
lifetime of love and labor. These will understand pre-
cisely what Paul means here : '' Let the word of Christ
dwell in you richly in all wisdom ; teaching and admon-
ishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."
"The devil," said Martin Luther once, *' is afraid of
good singing ! "
PIETY TESTED AT HOME. 8/
The family organization. Jewish legend.
1. Perhaps it is well to notice here, as the first sugges-
tion of all, how prominently the apostle brings the family
organization into observation. This whole passage might
be introduced as a comment upon the expression he so
often employs in his epistles, when he sends greetings to
his familiar friends, and mentions explicitly '' the church
that is in thy house."
The family, as a divine institution, is designed to play
organically into the church. It is the primary church,
the nursery of the gospel. And this is what gives to it
its supreme beauty and strength. If heaven is anpvhere,
as we sometimes sing, ** begun below," it is under the
household roof. There are three words found in the
English language, found in no other now spoken among
men — wife^ comfort^ and ho7ne.
The Jews have an old legend that when Adam and
his bride were driven out of Paradise, Eve put forth her
hand, and, unseen, plucked a single flower, which she
hid in the folds of her leaf-garment. What the flower
was, no one has ever pretended to say. If it were the
notion of the family organization, then surely this was a
celestial plant well saved for an earthly soil.
2. Now, next to this, we may note that the apostle
gives full authorization to government as a bond of
control and dependence in the family. For he proceeds
directly to recognize husbands and wives, parents and
children, masters and servants, as members of each
well-constituted household. Duties are announced as
belonging to each of these relations.
88 PIETY TESTED AT HOME.
Was Paul married ? Chiistian homes.
One of the incidental proofs of the inspiration we are
accustomed to credit to this remarkable man, is found
in the consummate tact and delicacy which in every in-
stance characterize his words when he speaks of the
home relation. It is yet a mooted question whether
Paul was a married man, or ever had a family of his
own. But he certainly knew a language which most of
us can understand ; a great human common sense makes
his w^ords wise and profitable. Of John Milton the great
Dr. Johnson once said, " He was a genius that could cut
a Colossus from a rock, but he could not carve heads
upon cherry-stones." This chapter gives us evidence
that Paul was quite equal to the themes with which he
was divinely entrusted, both the little and the large.
One rule he gave in the outset, covering every conceiv-
able exigency : " And whatsoever ye do in word or deed,
do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to
God and the Father by him."
The application of such a rule as that to all the author-
ities and subordinations of a Christian family, would re-
move from them their violence and their peril in every
particular. There would be consideration for the young
and reverence for the old. There would be obedience
and fidelity, confidence and recollection of need.
Think of a room — what we used to call the ''living-
room " when we were young. Stand (in imagination) at
the door of it now. See what the artists denominate an
"interior." Nobody is w^ithin at the moment; we are
alone, pausing on the quiet threshold. Not a sign of
PIETY TESTED AT HOME. Sg
The "living-room." Eli's curse.
life is there save the mere bird that lit from the lilac on
the window-sill an instant ago. Yet how full of real
beautiful life the room is ! Everything we love and look
for is right before us.
Otherwise it would not be a /iving room. There in
one corner stands grandfather's table with the Bible
and his spectacles upon it. In the other corner stands
a rocking-horse, and down beside it lies a tin rattle on
the floor. Mother's basket — see the emery-balls like
big strawberries ! Father's w^riting-desk against the
wall — see the. sealing-wax he sometimes lends us to
head pins with !
One of the particulars of Eli's curse was that there
should be no old man in his house. And the reason
given for this was that he had not earlier governed his
children. How could any fitly-organized family get
along without us all together — old and young — sister
and brother — the baby, and (you could tell me her
name if I asked you) dear old faithful nurse — all be-
longing there, and welcome forever ! And now let that
home be Christian, and on this earth there is nothing
better to see.
Travelers approach Venice often in the evening ;
and, just as they enter, there quite possibly floats out-
side the barriers a tranquil gondola laden with dear
companions, who sing as they drift in the moonlight.
The bright garments are yellow with the fruits that lie
in their laps, and the flowers droop from the children's
hair. And with the sweet faces, the gay sally, and the
90 PIETY TESTED AT HOME.
Gondolas in Venice. Subordinations.
gentle song — oh, it does seem to the fatigued tourist,
speeding on in the cars, as if an actual portion of itself
had escaped from the beautiful City of the Sea, and
had unconsciously glided forth iDeyond the walls that it
might gladden the shadows of the solemn lagoon with
its joy !
Fit symbol is this, to say the least, by which to speak
of a household ruled by Christ, and loving him as Lord
over all. It seems so like heaven, in spirit of joy and
love, that one might be pardoned for imagining it must
be a part of it.
3. Add now to this a third thought, which the apostle
is very careful to put in, for he knows it is needed just
here. A distinct limit has been fixed in the family or-
ganization for the indulgence and exercise of authority.
It is curious to observe how exactly each relationship in
the household is brought up against that which is its
legitimate offset, so that there should be no injustice
wrought. Thus he runs through all the subordina-
tions; ''beginning," as said old Dr. Wisner, 'Svith the
tenderest, and ending with the toughest."
The husband is the head of the family, and must
be the final governor of its realm. Hence says Paul :
''Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as
it is fit in the Lord." But now there is danger. Irre-
sponsible authority is exceedingly perilous to the pos-
sessor. Hence continues Paul : " Husbands, love your
wives, and be not bitter against them." The rule to be
maintained must be tempered with affection. Out of
PIETY TESTED AT HOME. 9 1
" Children, obey." ''Fathers, provoke not."
that, consideration will come. Something is said some-
where about the wife being the ** weaker vessel," If
so, more care and delicacy will be needed in the man-
agement to keep the ** bitter" out.
Then comes another relationship, taken up with its
balance also : "Children, obey your parents in all things :
for this is well pleasing unto the Lord." Most of us
know what that means, and first and last have had it ex-
plained to us. But do we dwell as much on this :
" Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they
be discouraged." I distinctly remember that, as a
child, I thought this one of the w^isest texts in the Bible,
and used to get a good deal of comfort out of it in sea-
sons of home depression.
A child has the keenest sort of sense of injustice.
Generally a decent boy means well, if we can only get
at wiiat he means. He w^ants a chance to explain.
More real wrong has been done to after life than in any
other way, by hasty and impetuous demands for un-
questioning silence, when a child has only been trjdng
to make his righteousness appear. The saddest of all
my human experiences, I do here soberly assert, have
been when I was unable to secure a fair showing, and
got ''discouraged."
There is something positively beautiful in the inge-
nuity with which the apostle leads up the self-respect of
servants in a Christian household with the thought that
God knows, recognizes, and will reward, fidelity to their
earthly masters, even in the extreme of obedience : " Ser
92 PIETY TESTED AT HOME.
Self-respect kept up. We serve Christ.
vants, obey in all things your masters, according to the
flesh ; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers ; but in sin-
gleness of heart, fearing God : and whatsoever ye do,
do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." This
counsel, as before, Paul offsets with a warning ; but he
intimates it, in this instance, with great courtesy, rather
than states it outright. He tells the servants that there
is a life beyond this, and a Master overhead by whom
all people are one time to be fairly judged : '' Knowing
that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the in-
heritance ; for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that
doeth Avrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath
done : and there is no respect of persons."
The social and domestic station of a servant, here in
our republican land, is not so firmly fixed or clearly out-
lined as it is in the more aristocratic countries of the Old
World. But there is enough in it even with us to try
character seriously, and give chance for the exhibition
of true Christian grace. The apostle, in the passage
we are studying, does not go sufficiently into details to
cross the minor relationships, or attempt to outline the
duties they owe to each other. For example, how ought
servants to behave toward children, and what consid-
eration do children owe to those who wait on them ?
Does not the observation of most men and women
bear me out in remarking here that the worst afflictions
honest and painstaking dependents — nurses and govern-
esses and waiters, and all that — have to endure, come
from children ? The sights in the parks on Saturday af-
PIETY TESTED AT HOME. 93
Little King Pepins. Garments in sunshine.
ternoons are simply exasperating. The tyranny of boys
over the servants sent to watch them is awful. They are
nothing more than pigmy despots — little violent King
Pepins — with a sceptre like a steel whip. I have seen
girls dressed in highest gentility of garments, whose lan-
guage and demeanor would have been a shame to a fish-
market, as they disputed with a small maid, who was
trying to do her best as she had been told, and threat-
ened her with lying reports they would take home, un-
less she yielded to some bold demand.
The one thought Avhich lies upon my mind now, after
studying all these verses so patiently, is this : How much
of reality there is in the Bible, how much of deplorable
sham there is outside of it !
What sort of religion is it that genuine men and women
need ? Let them choose it as they do their clothes. It
is a shopkeeper's trick to exhibit fabrics for garments in
an unnatural glare or a fictitious gloom. Better to look
on them in the honest, temperate sunshine of every-day
experience, where they are to be worn. And so of our
piety. How wholesome it is to let an apostle lead us
into the bosom of our families for test !
Fidelity in small things — in ordinary relationships —
this is what meets God's approval, and will receive di-
vine reward. At the last — at the last — it will be seen
that not the vast things always, but the patient and the
true, have been the greatest. '' He that is faithful in
that which is least, is faithful also in much ; and he that
is unjust in the least, is unjust also in much."
94 PIETY TESTED AT HOME.
Samson's last feat. Gentle manliness.
" Manoah's son, in his blind rage malign,
Tumbling the temple down upon his foes,
Did no such feat as yonder delicate vine
That day by day untired holds up a rose."
Even out-of-door business is not so effectual in its ex-
hibition of real religious character as this quiet life in the
home circle. Many a man is noted among his compan-
ions on the street as an amiable and gentle-hearted com-
rade, who is excessively cross and overbearing under the
cover of his own roof. He passes for a generous fellow
full of courtesy, while his wife mourns because of his
chillness, and his children grow tremulous when his step
is heard in the hall. Small tyrannies and selfish neg-
lects, petty indulgence of fretted passion, and sullen
bursts of temper, cannot be atoned for by talks in the
public conference or gifts on the plate.
IX.
THE COMING OF THE LORD.
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that
WE which ake alive and remain unto the coming of the
Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. — i Thessa-
lonians 4 : 15.
It is not necessary that everybody should be alarmed,
the moment one mentions the matter of our Lord's sec-
ond coming on the earth. A very absurd sensitivity is
manifested, lest what are called '' pre-millennial views"
should find welcome in the churches. Surely, quiet ex-
position of Scripture ought always to be in order. Only
lately has over-violent suspicion been started. Certain
aspects of New Testament truth have hitherto found
favor among the most considerate of people.
I. For example, we are all agreed that Jesus Christ is
coming again some time. Only some say that he will
come at the general judgment, and others say he is com-
ing before.
Years on years we have been singing harmlessly to
old '* Duke Street " the verse :
•* Religion bears our spirits up,
While we expect that blessed hope —
The bright appearance of the Lord:
And faith stands leaning on his word."
93 THE COMING OF THE LORD.
Watts' version. The oldest epistle.
Now, this is nothing more nor less than a metrical
rendering which Isaac Watts has given us of the passage
in Titus : " For the grace of God that bringeth salvation
hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying
ungodliness and worldly lusts, w^e should live soberly,
righteously, and godly, in this present world ; looking
for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the
great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." And when
strife runs so high in discussion, it seems exceedingly
apt to quote the counsel : *'Let your moderation be
known to all men : the Lord is at hand."
2. Then, again, we are all agreed that the dead will
be raised to life when the Lord Jesus comes. In a nota-
ble series of verses, addressed to the church in Thessa-
lonica, the apostle Paul takes pains to meet a manifest
anxiety on this head. " But I w^ould not have you to be
ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep,
that ye sorrow not, even as others which liave no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even
so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with
him."
There is great significance in this ; for we must re-
member that the first epistle to the Thessalonians is the
oldest thing in the New Testament. Evidently, the
earliest matter of discussion among the immediate fol-
lowers of the risen Redeemer w^as concerning the state
and future faring of the pious dead. Why not study up
all we can know upon this subject ? Paul says he would
not have those people ignorant.
THE COMING OF THE LORD. 9/
Who was " 666 ? " The ancient dead.
It is folly and wilfulness to insist that all disquisitions
in this direction end in extravagance. When one is.
simply invited to notice that all the Scripture writers
appear to look upon the Saviour's advent as very near,
even in their time, it does not seem either fair or rele-
vant to begin laughing at those who have spent their
time trying to find out what *' man " six hundred and
sixty-six was the " number" of. Prophecy is a different
thing from eschatology.
3. In the third place, we are all alike interested in the
inquiry Avhether those believers who are still living, at
the moment when Jesus Christ appears, will have any
advantage over such as shall have died previous to that
moment ; and these verses make it all clear.
There had been certain announcements made concern-
ing the advent, which filled the minds of the early Chris-
tians and arrested their imaginations. They grew en-
thusiastic as they reproduced the pictures of glorious
prediction, when the King of the kingdom of heaven
should descend and claim his own. Those who had been
laid away in the tomb might almost be pitied, for they
were in danger of being deprived of the privilege of
hurrying to the Monarch's triumphal advance. Poor
human weakness could not understand how the scat-
tered dust could be collected rapidly enough, and how
the hurry of events could escape falling into confusion
for the ancient saints. It did seem to some aft'ectionate
hearts that there was peril for those who had died with-
out the sight long ago. "These all died in faith, not
5
98 THE COMING OF THE LORD.
Death a sleep. AH alive together.
having received the promises, but having seen them afar
off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them,
and' confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on
the earth." Such might even be overlooked, perhaps
they were already forgotten in their silence, possibly
they would be belated in the sublime confusions of that
day of the Lord. Now was this just fair?
The apostle, having first asserted in their hearing that
to be dead only meant to be asleep in Jesus — nobody was
lost, nobody had slipped out of sight or remembrance,
but every one was coming when Jesus himself should
come — now answers the eager question about the multi-
tudes of such as would not have died. It is worth no-
ticing how solemnly and authoritatively he introduces
his asseveration ; he pledges the entire weight of his in-
spiration in it : '' For this we say unto you by the word
of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto
the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which
are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from
heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel,
and with the trump of God : and the dead in Christ
shall rise first."
We all understand that the old English ^nox^ prevent
means come before^ or anticipate. Paul asserts that there
would be no difference in advantage between the living
and the dead. For the dead would be raised before the
advent in sufficient season to come with Jesus, and
share equally with all the faithful of God. Character
should fix destiny. **The Son of man shall come in
THE COMING OF THE LORD. 99
Companionship of Christ. " In the air."
the glory of his Father with his angels : and then he
shall reward every man according to his works."
4. Then, again, we are all agreed that the great glory
of the future state will be found in the personal compan-
ionship of the Lord Jesus Christ somewhere. **Then
we which are alive and remain shall be caught up to-
gether with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the
air • and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
I do not know any class of expositors who believe
that saints are to remain, or that Christ is to have his
permanent residence, **in the air." Dr. Candlish, in
his commentary on the Book of Genesis, and Dr. Chal-
mers, in his sermon on the New Heavens and the New
Earth, seem to have thought that this world of ours was
going to be purified and then made the home of the re-
deemed, as it once was the home of our holy race be-
fore the fall. Many theologians believe that heaven is
a distinct place of abode now, and will be tenanted by
all the good and pure in heart, when they shall see God.
There are wide differences here.
But most Christians are quite under profound convic-
tion that, as the chief pain and penalty for the wicked
is that they shall **be punished with everlasting destruc-
tion from the presence of the Lord," so the chief rejoic-
ing and glory for the justified will be found in the shar-
ing of that "presence" through eternity. As Samuel
Rutherford used to say, ** The Lamb is all the glory of
Immanuel's land."
Christian biography would make very evident the
lOO THE COMING OF THE LORD.
Heavenly anticipation. Mr. Standfast.
fact that the best men and women the world has ever
known have, as they grew in grace, grown more and
more in the eagerness of the anticipation with which
they have longed for the presence of Jesus the Saviour.
To them heaven might have been defined as the place
where Christ is. Its supreme joy would be found in
the disclosure of his companionship. The weary will
have rest, the harassed will receive peace, the sad will
be comforted, the parted and the pure will meet again.
All this is full of glad welcome. But the main antici-
pation of spiritual believers in looking to the end of
their journey, centres upon the person of the divine Re-
deemer.
''When Mr. Standfast had thus set things in order,
and the time being come for him to haste him away, he
also went down to the river. Now there was a great
calm at that time in the river ; wherefore Mr. Standfast,
when he was about half way in, stood awhile, and talked
to his companions that had waited upon him thither.
And he said : ' This river has been a terror to many ;
yea, the thoughts of it also have often frightened me ;
but now methinks I stand easy ; my foot is fixed upon
that on which the feet of the priests that bare the ark
of the covenant stood while Israel went over Jordan.
The waters are indeed to the palate bitter, and to the
stomach cold ; yet the thoughts of what I am going to,
and of the convoy that await me on the other side, lie
as a glowing coal at my heart. I see myself now at the
end of my journey ; my toilsome days are ended. I am
THE COMING OF THE LORD. lOI
The great comfort. Friends gone before.
going to see that head which was crowned with thorns,
and that face which was spit upon for me. I have for-
merly lived by hearsay and faith ; but now I go where I
shall live by sight, and shall be with him in whose com-
pany I delight myself. I have loved to hear my Lord
spoken of ; and wherever I have seen the print of his
shoe in the earth, there I have coveted to set my foot
too. His name has been to me a civet-box ; yea, sweet-
er than all perfumes. His voice has been to me most
sweet : and his countenance I have more desired than
they that have most desired the light of the sun. His
words I did use to gather for my food, and for antidotes
against my faintings. He has held me, and hath kept
me from mine iniquities ; yea, my steps have been
strengthened in his way.'"
So much, then, for the analysis of this most w^onder-
ful passage. The apostle certainly prized the power of
the great thoughts he was uttering ; for he instantly
presses the exhortation that they be put to use among
those to whom he was w^riting : ''Wherefore comfort
one another with these words."
I. There is comfort in the picture thus offered us, for
those who have been bereaved. Our friends are only
asleep ; they are not lost ; they are with Christ now ;
they will come back to the earth w^hen Jesus comes ;
no matter how long ago, no matter where, they died ;
and they will be forever with him wherever he is. And
we shall be with them in the same blessed companion-
ship, shall know them and dwell with them.
102
THE
COMING
OF
THE
LORD
•
Some will
not
die.
Triumph
in coming.
2. There is comfort in the suggestion that perhaps we
shall not have to die after all. Some Christians are go-
ing to be alive at the moment when Jesus shall appear
in the air. Nobody loves death ; it is the awful curse of
the race, the sting of all our experiences. Nobody can
think of the grave without shuddering ; it seems dark
and chill. How fine it would be to escape all that !
How glorious to believe it may be possible that the
Lord's coming is so near at hand now that even the pale
invalid we are watching will not be compelled to have
a funeral or wear a shroud !
3. There is comfort in knowing that when the Lord
Jesus comes, it will be not as a crucified Nazarene, but
as the Son of God. He will have a glorious retinue,
and will be known as the King. All over this world,
now for eighteen hundred years, millions of devout men
and brave-hearted women, together with as many more
trustful little children, have been praying, every morn-
ing and night, *'Thy kingdom come." That prayer will
be heard by and by, when the good time arrives. And
whoever is on the Lord's side that day will be glad to
meet him in the splendor of his advent. He will not be
put off with a reed sceptre then ; he will not wear robes
of mockery. The Lamb of God will then be the Lion
of Judah !
4. There is comfort in holding communion even here
and now, once in a while, with a Redeemer out of sight.
Under the ancient dispensation, the high-priest wore
golden bells upon his garment. While he was inside of
THE COMING OF THE LORD. IO3
The golden bells. " Watching quietly."
the tabernacle curtains, the small, sweet sound of their
ringing could be heard by the faithful people. Christ,
the high-priest of our profession, is just for a while out
of our reach, within the veil of the sanctuary above ; a
chastened imagination can almost hear him making
ready to come forth to us. We must ''endure, as see-
ing him who is invisible." And every joy we have is a
foretaste and an evidence of the fulness of joy herein-
after to be revealed.
5. There is comfort in the recollection that time hur-
ries. ''Now is our salvation nearer than w^hen we be-
lieved." Is it possible, then, any truly Christian heart
can be alarmed in prospect of Christ's coming ? What
is there that one could wish more devoutly ? What sort
of wife must she be, whose husband is suddenly an-
nounced as returning from long absence over the sea, if
she changes color and seems abashed ? The church is
the Lamb's bride ; ought she not to make herself ready
joyously ? If her life be pure, and her heart loyal, will
she not hail the signs of the advent ?
** So I am watching quietly
Every day ;
Whenever the sun shines brightly,
I rise and say :
* Surely it is the shining of his face ! '
And look upon the gates of his high place
Beyond the sea;
For I know he is coming shortly
To summon me.
I04 THE COMING OF THE LORD.
"A few more shadows." Simon Peter's hope.
And when a shadow falls across the window
Of my room,
Where I am working my appointed task,
I lift my head to watch the door and ask
If he is come ;
And then the angel answers sweetly
In my home :
* Only a few more shadows.
And he will come.' "
6. There is comfort in the thought that every real
grace we attain will give our Lord pleasure when he
comes. This is the one thing in all the dazzling, deceit-
ful world around us which counts as an acquisition.
Wealth goes for nothing ; position in society goes for
nothing. But faith and hope and meekness and charity
are what he loves, and what he will welcome when he
sees us face to face. How sweet and calm are the words
of the fisherman, Simon Peter, writing in his old age to
tried and troubled believers of all time. Mark the ex-
pressions, '' looking for and hasting unto."
" But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the
night ; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a
great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent
heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall
be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall
be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in
all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and
hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the
heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the ele-
THE COMING OF THE LORD. 105
The great day. Tamil saying.
merits shall melt with fervent heat ? Nevertheless we,
according to his promise, look for new heavens and a
new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore,
beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent
that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and
blameless."
7. Finally, there is comfort in knowing that fidelity
is all that the Lord Jesus demands at our hands till he
comes. *' For the Son of man is as a man taking a far
journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his
servants, and to every man his work, and commanded
the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore ; for ye know
not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or
at midnight, or at the cock-crowing, or in the morn-
ing."
It is a Tamil saying, that the cocoanut grove w^U not
flourish, which does not hear the footsteps of the owner
in it, every day. It would seem as if our Lord Jesus
Christ had designedly chosen that all religious life
should be made up of many little duties and brief expe-
riences, so that each believer should come the oftener
to him for grace. He desires a visit frequently. What
he claims of us here is plain busy working in our vo-
cation. No summons has he issued that we forsake
home or daily toil. Only this : we are to keep looking
for him, and showing the Lord's death ''till he come."
When the men searched for Sir John Franklin in the
arctic seas, they came upon a little boat out among the
icy solitudes. Close by the bleached skeletons lay
I06 THE COMING OF THE LORD.
The arctic boat. " Till he come."
clothing and utensils with names engraved ; and there
were also Testaments and books of prayer, marked and
underlined. Two double-barreled guns — loaded and
ready — resting over the boat's side, pointed upward,
standing where they were placed twelve years before.
These all now lie in England's proudest museum. And
there is no allegory on record among the ages, like that
which those mute memorials speak. Think of the sol-
emn picture !
Out in the unknown polar ocean — danger on every
hand — no hope, and death coming surely; yet there
amid the promises of God's word, and the home-peti-
tions of devotion, those brave men sat and suffered,
keeping their eyes open toward any possible help, and
their muskets prepared to answer even the slightest sig-
nal from among the cliffs of ice. So they must have
lingered on, courageous unto death. Be that our pat-
tern in the agitated life we live ; faithful under the se-
verest strain of trial, patient to await its issue ; and al-
ways on the alert for signs of the Lord's coming.
** Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he
Cometh shall find watching ! "
X.
THE CHRISTIAN IN THE WORLD.
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we
brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we
CAN CARRY NOTHING OUT. — I Timothy 6 : 6, 'J.
The freshest of fishes are sometimes caught in the
saltest of seas. It is quite possible for even a truly re-
generate man to live in the world, and yet never so
much as be tainted by its spirit. He may even vex his
righteous soul with the iniquity he meets. But if at
the end of some lengthened years he has no more to
show for his piety than Lot had when he forsook So-
dom, we should be at liberty to draw the conclusion
that his religion was of a tame sort and well broken in,
so as to have been easily held in hand.
In the midst of those unusually trying circumstances
which surrounded the apostle Paul, just after his first
imprisonment and just before his last, that ended in
martyrdom, he seems finally to have despaired of ever
seeing again his young friend Timothy, as he had
hoped. So he writes him a letter, in which he con-
structs a fair future for him. He leaves parting coun-
sels to him, full of wisdom and affection. No one can
fail to mark the constant gentleness of the solicitude
pervading the entire chapters.
I08 THE CHRISTIAN IN THE WORLD.
Godliness with contentment. " An Abraham."
Out of this epistle has been chosen a passage for the
study of the young people (and old) in the churches.
Paul draws a calm picture of what the painters would
call ''still life." Then he suggests a vivid contrast that
may serve as an offset to it. Next he recalls to Timo-
thy's mind an inspiriting remembrance. And then he
utters an impressive admonition, backed with a singu-
larly solemn appeal.
I. In the picture here presented, there is not much
which is calculated to arrest attention. Indeed, the
language would be pronounced rather commonplace.
When men are in the hurry and rush for wealth, and
the road is fairly dusty under the feet of those who are
running, it seems prosaic for any voice to speak thus :
" But godliness with contentment is great gain. For
we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we
can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment
let us be therewith content."
A man, who should soberly assert that he was going
to construct a life upon such a plain declaration, would
be voted a lunatic by most of his fellows. Indeed, real
religious self-denial has always been deemed weakness.
A hundred an^ fifty years ago, people in Britain who
spoke the colloquial English language — so the pious
old Gurnall tells us — signified their contemptuous esti-
mation of exact unworldliness by the nickname they
gave. They said of a silly fool, ''He is an Abraham. ''
And those of us who were reared in New England will
not need to be reminded that even now the villagers
THE CHRISTIAN IN THE WORLD. IO9
John Jacob Astor. Godliness is gain.
Speak of a temperate young man, weak in the head, as
a ^^ Joseyy Abraham left a good place for a poorer at
the call of the Lord. And Joseph refused sin when it
came to him without the seeking. The world will never
count such things as wise policies.
It is said that John Jacob Astor once replied to an in-
quisitive man, who asked him how much money he had,
''Just enough, sir, so that I can eat one dinner a day !"
How much Avealth would a man need to enable him to
eat two ? And does a man want to wear his overcoat in
the summer months, for fear people will think he cannot
afford one ?
There is a play upon words in one of these verses
which ought not to be altogether overlooked. It would
seem almost as if the apostle was dropping a sly sar-
casm. Texts of Scripture must not be imagined to have
two handles by which they can be wielded indifferently.
Paul rebukes those who '' suppose that gain is godli-
ness." It may be wholesomely true that ''godliness
with contentment is great gain," while it would be dan-
gerous to think that great contentment with gain is
godliness. But still this same apostle presses the exact
promise elsewhere : " Godliness is profitable unto all
things, having promise of the life that now is, and of
that which is to come."
The force falls here upon the word "contentment."
They say that foreigners have terrible inflictions when
they try to pronounce and spell our term "enough."
no
THE
CHRISTIAN
IN
THE
WORLD.
Charles V.
at Yuste.
Bells in the steeple.
And everybody knows that our own countrymen find
great difficulty in defining it.
Some people declare that they are unwilling to try to
live plainly because it looks like singularity. Now
singularity differs very much from individuality. I can-
not say I think that one is improved by being singular.
To me what Frenchmen call outre appears like what we
call outrageous. But anybody can afford to be him-
self. Men have no business to be identical with their
neighbors. It takes everybody to make a world. After
his abdication, Charles V., in his retirement at Yuste,
spxent his heavy moments in experimenting to make a
number of watches keep the same time. He failed con-
stantly, and grew vexed. But in the end he drew an
inference worth a record. He suddenly exclaimed :
'* Here am I, toiling on timepieces to force them to tick
alike, and making ridiculous work : how much worse to
waste patience in trying to force men and women to
think alike or to be alike ! "
There is an independence of feeling which Christian
men certainly cherish ; and in that is found their high-
est joy. How pitifully little does a babe bring with it !
And how true is the old saying as to the dead : '* Shrouds
have no pockets ! " How sweet that honest satisfaction
which has all it wants, and wants but little, while it
sings aloft, like Trinity bells up above Wall Street, or
St. Paul's over Lombard, serene and beautiful in the
clear air as the great wild world rushes and roars in its
tumults beneath it !
THE CHRISTIAN IN THE WORLD. Ill
Sheer imitation. Thought from Lacon.
2. This thought gains force from the quick contrast
with which the apostle follows it in the verses under our
eye : " But they that will be rich, fall into temptation,
and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts,
which drown men in destruction and perdition. For
the love of money is the root of all evil ; which while
some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and
pierced themselves through with many sorrows."
He makes direct appeal to common observation. The
multitudes rush after wealth and show, and pursue shad-
ows all in the same order and in the same way. Equi-
pages are alike ; dresses come in patterns ; we put our
latch-keys in our neighbor's door, because the houses
are built in regular blocks, and we cannot tell our own.
Sheer imitation is the law of fashion in both social and
business life.
Says the thoughtful author of Lacon : '' He that can
be honest only because every one else is honest, or good
only because all around him are good, might have con-
tinued an angel if he had been born one ; but being a
man, he will only add to the number — numberless — who
go to hell for the bad things they have done, and for not
doing the good things they intended to have done."
The result of all this is sadness and unutterable dis-
may. To have tried to meet all the world's demands, and
then to be rejected in the end, brings melancholy. And
no one feels consoled in his ** many sorrows " to remem-
ber that he pierced himself ' ' through with them. " Think
of the indescribable disgust with which the witty Dean
112 THE CHRISTIAN IN THE WORLD.
" Prince Posterity." Spanish proverb.
Swift, despairing of a living recognition, dedicated one
of his books to Prince Posterity !
The ancient motto — ''Speak fair words, and you will
hear kind echoes " — is not exactly true in such a world
as ours. Something ridiculously mortifying always hap-
pens to the one whom the populace praises into conceit.
I read only a little while ago in Greek history, that ^s-
chylus, the poet, was so celebrated by many in his time,
that they raised the story that he could not die save by
a blow from high heaven. And, indeed, it so happened
that an eagle flew up with a tortoise in his talons, and,
desiring to break the shell, mistook the tragedian's bald
head for a stone, and so let the heavy reptile come down
on it : thus was fulfilled the precious oracle.
Nobody, however, learns the lesson. Yet the num-
ber of ''pierced" men increases, and a morose feeling
of discontent fills the air with complaints of injustice.
Moments of success are often moments of mourning.
Men at the top of things are oftener cynical than con-
tented. They have reached their so-called prosperity
just as they have lost the power to enjoy it. So they
greet your congratulations with a reply from the Span-
ish book of proverbs: "The gods give plenty of al-
monds to the toothless ! "
Hence it comes to pass that we can find a large class
of men concealing their real disappointment under a
sort of veil of philosophy. They say they have reached
rest at last ; ambition is satisfied ; strife is over ; all is
calm. But their tranquillity is only the shame of what
THE CHRISTIAN IN THE WORLD. II 3
" All quiet on the Potomac." Timothy's childhood.
novelists call disenchantment, their passionless quiet is
only satiety, their serenity is only disgust. It makes us
think of that pathetic little card that went the rounds
in the war : a great river swelling on in the moonlight,
two or three hillocks with headboards white under the
trees, no living thing beside the soldiers' graves, and
the motto ''All quiet on the Potomac." So worldlings
quiet down at the last ; the fight has brought no vic-
tory, the weary march has caught no triumph ; the light
is but a night-light, the stillness is nothing more than
the solemnity of death.
3. The vision grows weird : it is a relief to turn now
to the inspiriting remembrance which the apostle recalls
to his young friend's mind. With most rapid reversal,
he shows better cheer : " But thou, O man of God, flee
these things ; and follow after righteousness, godliness,
faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight
of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art
also called, and hast professed a good profession before
many witnesses."
In this way he calls Timothy's recollection to the fact
that he was an acknowledged and covenanted child of
God. What his mother Eunice and his grandmother
Lois had pledged for him, he had himself deliberately
accepted ; so he was now irrevocably bound to a pure
religious life.
How far one's public profession of faith may be
pressed as a motive to unswerving fidelity ; what is the
value of a piety which is held to consistency by the con-
I 14 THE CHRISTIAN IN THE WORLD.
Simon Stylites. " Patriarchal gold-fish."
sciousness of a promise made before '* many witnesses,"
it is not precisely easy to say. But surely no one can
doubt that the appeal is legitimate. When old Simon
Stylites put a railing around the top of the stone pillar
he lived upon, in order to keep him from falling off over
the edge, people laughed, and said sainthood was quite
possible when so thoroughly protected. But it was
wild bravado for him to tear the barriers away, after he
had become used to them. We are all creatures of law.
Restraints, if not leaned upon, have a registered worth
as helps. In one of her bright books, George Eliot
suggests as a somewhat quaint figure for our use the
conduct of a ''patriarchal gold-fish" in a glass globe.
From long experience this sagacious creature had
learned just how far to swim inside of the transparent
limit so as to avoid striking the hard crystal with its
nose. Thus it felt without feeling, and knew without
recognizing, exactly when to turn in its course with a
beautiful curve of avoidance. I judge that if one's
*' profession " be employed, not as a fret and restriction,
but as a friendly reminder of the line between the world
and the church, it will be of permanent value.
But the solid meaning of the counsel lies here. Con-
version is admitted as a grand necessity and an essential
fact. But it is the after-life which gives the anxiety.
It may as well be said at once, and with all intensity,
that any man will fail of excellence utterly, and will be-
come lamentably a backslider, who does not immedi-
ately on his renunciation of the world construct a new
THE CHRISTIAN IN THE WORLD. II5
Construct a new life. A bankrupt.
life and begin to live in it. Timothy must be taught
what to ''flee," but, more yet, what to "follow." No
man will be able to get on, or even to stand, unless he
manages to make more of his Christian experience than
a mere series of restraints and self-denials. He cannot
live upon negatives.
Religion has within its reach a whole fresh world of
delightful occupation. The best part of any beautiful
city is always found a good distance inside of the forti-
fications erected for defences. So the real resources of
believing life are attained a great way this side of the
catechism commandments w4th their ''requirings and
forbiddings" of bristling conflict. One will miss the
very essence and meaning of personal piety, if he sup-
poses it merely to be an arrest and confinement of the
soul in order to deliver it from the onsets of irresistible
sins — resembling, perhaps, that merciful imprisonment
sometimes given by his friends to a bankrupt, with a
hope of defending him from being torn to pieces by im-
placable creditors ; it is not that, indeed.
The reason why so many people backslide after what
they assume to be conversion is found exactly here : they
will not enter the new world which the gospel provides,
and so will not consent to live up to their own privileges.
They try to sustain a precarious foothold upon the world
they profess to be leaving. Hence they keep making
ungenerous comparisons. They permit many an unlaw-
ful hankering after surrendered lusts. Whereas the gos-
pel adopts and announces a single standard. If one is
Il6 THE CHRISTIAN IN THE WORLD.
Holiness means wholeness. The final charge.
not with Christ, he is against him. Half-love is whole
mockery. If a man claims to be a Christian, he must
instantly be naturalized in the realm he has entered.
Holiness is simply the old strong Saxon for wholeness.
That word '* wholly" is a fine word. It can be fol-
lowed all over the Bible with a concordance to the profit
of us all. Paul told Timothy to put his entire self into
his work: ''Meditate upon these things; give thyself
wholly to them ; that thy profiting may appear to all."
No person ever accomplished anything in this world
who went at his task half-heartedly. So he says else-
where to all Christians : " And the very God of peace
sanctify you wholly : and I pray God your whole spirit
and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the com-
ing of our Lord Jesus Christ."
4. And now this true friend closes his words with the
utterance of a most impressive admonition : "I give thee
charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things,
and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate wit-
nessed a good confession ; that thou keep this command-
ment without spot, unrebukable, until the appearing of
our Lord Jesus Christ : which in his times he shall show,
who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings,
and Lord of lords ; who only hath immortality, dwelling
in the light which no man can approach unto ; whom
no man hath seen, nor can see : to whom be honor and
power everlasting. Amen."
Some young people are imagining themselves tired of
a religious life already : are you sure you actually know
THE CHRISTIAN IN THE WORLD. 11/
Tired of religious life. The shepherd-boy.
anything about true religious life ? Have you ever cast
your lot wholly in with Christ and his friends, with a
cheerful determination to find what are their pleasures
and their joys ? Have you ever really set out to take
your chances with the people of God ? And are you
forced now to confess that you have exhausted the en-
tire round of legitimate happiness, used up Christian
amusements, and squeezed out all the juices from even
the richest fruits growing on the tree of life ? Is it a
fact that the gospel fails in its promise ?
'■'■ How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my
son ? " Well, if you are tired of the New Testament,
will you read a bit of Pilgrim's Progress, which I some-
times think stands next to it ? There was a shepherd-
boy, who was overheard singing in a gentle voice by
himself ; Great-heart called attention to his song :
*'He that is down needs fear no fall;
He that is low, no pride ;
He that is humble ever shall
Have God to be his guide,"
It was this lad who lived the merriest life, and had
most of the herb called heart's-ease in his bosom. He
dwelt in the Valley of Humiliation,
Did you ever watch a happy bird poised on a branch
in the tree ? To you the twig on which he rested seemed
exceedingly slender and unsafe, but there he tossed and
floated and swayed in the wind ; there he joyously sang
and sported ; careless whether the spray bent or broke
Il8 THE CHRISTIAN IN THE WORLD.
A bird on a twig. Ancient baptisms.
the next moment. For folded at his side he had wings.
If he fell, he simply fell on his feathers, and rested as
he rose. The sky was his home. It was only just for
the moment he stopped at the forest. He could make
use of any convenient leaf, twig, or trunk in it, but not
even the whole wood could injure or hinder him. Piety
is the soul's pinions as well as its plumage. It beauti-
fies it at the moment it sustains it. Even in the world,
the Christian has *' godliness with contentment," and
finds it ''great gain." But he can leave it any time at
God's will.
Read over once more this appeal at the end of the
passage. At ancient baptisms, the officiating minister
used to fold the white linen garment which the young
Christian wore, and hand it back to him : then he would
say, *' See thou present this robe of your profession
spotless at the judgment-seat of Christ ! "
XL
THE CHRISTIAN CITIZEN.
Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers,
TO OBEY magistrates, TO BE READY TO EVERY GOOD WORK,
TO SPEAK EVIL OF NO MAN, TO BE NO BRAWLERS, BUT GENTLE,
SHOWING ALL MEEKNESS UNTO ALL MEN. — 7iV«J- 3 : I, 2.
Perhaps no finer proof of the one inalienable sense of
our common humanity can be furnished at an instant
call, than what is given in the fact that a great picture
derives the most of its power from the presence in it of
some one, or more than one, human figure ; and spe-
cially when that figure represents an individual in the
extremity of emotion, of penitence or passion, or even
of physical pain. Andromeda, fast to the wild rock,
constrains us to gaze upon herself more than upon the
monster which threatens or the champion who advances
to deliver her. Prometheus, bound to the cliff-side, riv-
ets our eyes upon him as possessing an energy of awful
appeal far beyond the majesty of the ocean before him,
or the wrath of high heaven gathered in blackness over-
head. For he is a man, and we are men ; so we instinc-
tively and inevitably take sides with him in the fight of
forces.
Something like this is the feeling with which, in ima-
gination, we contemplate the life and times of Paul, or
I20 THE CHRISTIAN CITIZEN.
A good man solitarj\ The " little bird."
of Titus, the youthful preacher to whom he once sent
an epistle. Let some historical artist draw for us a pic-
ture of the Roman empire as it then was. Our atten-
tion would be more quickly arrested by the forms of
those few Christians who appeared in it, than by any
mere political grandeur or showy social life which it ex-
hibited in colors no matter how glowing. ''A good
man struggling with adversity is a sight for the gods to
look at." So those old Latin people used to say in their
poems. We are sure that no spectacle is more attrac-
tive, in our easy day, than that of one of those patient,
early evangelists surrounded by the heathen. A gen-
eral sense of solitariness pervades the scene, actually
heightened by the pathos of the single-handed soldier
of the cross holding his place with sad bravery and
hopeless valor. Fidelity will be rewarded, but martyr-
dom is near.
It makes one think of the ancient and well-known in-
genuity of artistic skill. Solitude is best represented
on canvas by a life in the midst of the loneliness — the
loneliness vast, the life small and at a disadvantage.
We all remember the anecdote of that painter who had
pictured his deserted forest — wild, forsaken, dreary —
but away down in a corner, on a twig of a blasted tree,
sat a diminutive sparrow, evidently bereaved of its mate.
Many bystanders in the gallery felt what they could not
criticise. But the great artist Turner moved up quietly
behind his comrade, and w4th eyes full of moisture said,
'' I saw your little bird ! "
THE CHRISTIAN CITIZEN. 121
All alone in Crete. Obey the law.
Take that third chapter of the epistle to Titus, and
let us read over the verses together. Vividly conceive
of this young man surrounded by a world of wickedness
and wrong, and then listen to Paul, the aged, as he
talks.
I. The very earliest lesson which is suggested is, that
individual excellence is what makes national strength.
For there can be no mistaking of the directness of the
apostle's counsel. He tells Titus that he must preach
personal purity, obedience, and peace, to all the citizens
around him : ''Put them in mind to be subject to prin-
cipalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready
to every good work, to speak evil of no man, to be no
brawlers, but gentle, showing all meekness unto all
men."
We must remember that the case was hard just at that
time. On the imperial throne sat a miscreant no less
conspicuous and intolerable than Nero. His name has
been handed down along the ages as one of the vilest
and wickedest rulers the world ever knew. Yet Paul
exhorted all Christians to abide steadily in a life of law
and order. But it required a great grace of patience to
respect such '' powers " as were at the head of the gov-
ernment in Titus's day.
We have our croakers now, finding a vast deal of fault
with those in the lead of affairs in republican America.
It ought to arrest attention of such that the apostle, even
in worse circumstances than any we ever yet have known
in our land, said, as Simon Peter said likewise : " Obey
122 THE CHRISTIAN CITIZEN.
Cretians always liars. True charity.
your magistrates, be subject to the higher powers : sub-
mit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's
sake : whether it be to the king, as supreme ; or unto
governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the
punishment of evil-doers, and for the praise of them that
do well."
Then think what a vile herd of common creatures
this young Christian had around him. He was dwelling
in Crete, an island in the Mediterranean now called
Candia. The inhabitants were reckoned as among the
worst in the world ; and they are the hardest people in
the East now. They were the proverbial *' liars " of the
age. A hundred great cities told of their wealth and
prosperity. But the citizens were violent and quarrel-
some, coarse and profane, licentious and untrustworthy.
*' One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said,
* The Cretians are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.' "
Yet Paul told Titus to be patient and keep his temper.
A gentleman is only a "gentle " man ; politeness is (ety-
mologically) good citizenship. '' For the grace of God
that bringeth salvation, hath appeared to all men, teach-
ing us, that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we
should live soberly, righteously and godly, in this pres-
ent world."
2. Hence a second lesson follows right on this : Char-
ity to others is best promoted by an honest consideration
of what we are ourselves. No man, who is conscientious,
can fail to remember many a mean act he has during his
life committed. Most of us could tell the day and the
THE CHRISTIAN CITIZEN. 1 23
Patriotism, " the last refuge." Sir Robert Walpole.
hour when we did palpable injustice to some one — we
\vere inconsiderate, selfish, suspicious ; we pushed too
hard and drove one who was weaker to the wall ; we in-
terjected into some mind a vein of bitterness for all
time ; we indulged personal tastes and appetites to the
w^orry and pain of some who loved us dearly. " For we
ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, de-
ceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in mal-
ice and envy, hateful, and hating one another."
It is very hard to rise above the social or domestic at-
mosphere we are accustomed to breathe, so as to inhale
the serener air on the elevated plains of purity and jus-
tice and eternal right. But men must be willing to be
odd in order to be honest. " Live with your century,"
says Schiller, "but be not its creature; bestow upon
your contemporaries, not what they praise, but what
they need."
What is the use of continuous railing at public men ?
Is anybody happier in quoting the cynic Dr. Johnson :
"Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel?" Sir
Robert Walpole observed once it was fortunate that few
men could be prime ministers ; because it was fortunate
that few men could know the abandoned profligacy of
the human mind ; and he added, with his well-known
sarcasm, that every individual had his price.
Thus the man who carps most is the one who falls
quickest. If all men have their price, what was Wal-
pole's ? Is it any worse meanness for little men to be
bought up, than for big men (who know better) to buy
124 THE CHRISTIAN CITIZEN.
Havelock's men. Cannon and coin.
them ? Did you ever see a foolish farmer's boy^ trim-
ming trees, cut off the very branch he was sitting on,
sawing through between himself and the trunk ?
3. We move on to reach a third lesson. The apostle
tells Titus that he will make the better citizen the often-
er he recalls to mind how much he owes, and must for-
ever owe, to sovereign grace, as a child of God and an
heir of heaven : " But after that the kindness and love
of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works
of righteousness which we have done, but according to
his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration,
and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us
abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour ; that, be-
ing justified by his grace, we should be made heirs ac-
cording to the hope of eternal life."
People nowadays are excessively diffident in attribut-
ing their successes or their virtues to their piety. Yet
now and then the world will find it out for itself.
*' Havelock's men " in campaigns wrote their record by
their prayers as well as by their prowess. In our own
war there was a regiment that loved to march into bat-
tle singing the refrain, " I'm going home, to die no
more!" They got the nickname, of course, and were
called the "Die-no-mores." But officers observed that
these tranquil men stood while others failed, and did not
cower nor whine when they were wounded.
Philip of Macedon used to boast that he had taken a
great many more towns in his campaigns with silver
than he had with iron. Soldiers of the cross surely
THE CHRISTIAN CITIZEN. 1 25
Rutherford in Aberdeen. Our early history.
ought never to be bought in with corruption. But
they must remember that Satan has coin as well as can-
non, and what onsets of violence are sometimes quite
imable to accomplish, seductions of vice will often bring
about.
The highest motive, and the sweetest solace, that ever
swayed or soothed human experience, lies in the simple,
grand recollection, '' I am God's own child by grace, my
Saviour is his only begotten Son, and heaven is my
home because he loves me ! "
When the world pursues a Christian, with that hope
in his heart, it usually finds him far out of reach.
Think of good old Rutherford writing from the prison
of Aberdeen. He repeats the words of the prophet,
^' And a man shall be as an hiding-place from the wind,
and a covert from the tempest ; as rivers of water in a
dry place ; as the shadow of a great rock in a weary
land." And then he adds: ^'I creep under my Lord's
wings in the great shower, and the waters cannot reach
me. Let fools laugh the fools' laughter and scorn
Christ, and bid the weeping captives in Babylon sing
them one of the songs of Zion. We may sing, even in
our winter's tempest, in the expectation of our sum-
mer's sun at the turn of the year. No created powers
in hell, or out of hell, can mar our Lord's work, or
spoil our song of joy. Let us then be glad and rejoice
in the salvation of our Lord ; for faith hath never yet
the cause to have tearful eyes or a saddened brow."
Surely, patriotism rooted in personal piety ought to
126 THE CHRISTIAN CITIZEN.
Jewish weddings. Pierpont's hjinn.
be found in our land more frequently than an)rvvhere
else in the world. The early colonies which started
these States were all missionary associations. The
foundations of this republic were laid with prayers and
tears of devout and self-sacrificing men. At every Jew-
ish wedding, the bride spills on the floor the wine that
is handed her, to denote that Israel's spiritual glory has
passed away ; and then in turn the groom breaks the
goblet, to show that her temporal dominion is also in
ruins. Oh, if the time ever comes, when our own dear
country shall experience a like desolation, when the sad
bride of a mournful groom shall need to dash at her
feet the glittering emblems of national destruction, it
will be because we have forgotten the God whom our
fathers honored, and suffered the walls of his Zion to
crumble under the derelictions of our service and the
weakness of our faith ! Let us hope for better things.
*' The pilgrim spirit has not fled ;
It walks in the noon's broad light ;
It watches the bed of the glorious dead,
With the holy stars by night —
It watches the bed of the brave who have bled,
And shall guard the ice-bound shore,
Till the waves of the bay, where the Mayflower lay, '
Shall foam and freeze no more ! "
4. Finally, the apostle adds a lesson for his friend
Titus about his preaching, which every Christian, try-
ing to instruct others, might lay well to heart ; namely,
that the best of all teaching in truth is the teaching of a
THE CHRISTIAN CITIZEN. 12/
Young convert's peril. Maurice's motto.
true life. He tries to lead him away from mere formu-
las, and force him to deal with real things in a real way
for greatest good : " This is a faithful saying ; and these
things I will that thou affirm constantly ; that they which
have believed in God might be careful to maintain good
works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and con-
tentions, and strivings about the law ; for they are un-
profitable and vain."
''After the first phase of Christian life," remarks
Merle d'Aubigne, *' in which a man thinks only of
Christ, there usually ensues a second, when the Chris-
tian will not voluntarily worship with assemblies op-
posed to his personal convictions." That is a gentle
way of saying that, after a new convert cools a little in
piety, he takes a time of becoming denominational and
belligerent. Perhaps the apostle Paul imagined Titus
was going to do that, and so told him he had better not.
If there be any truth in the line *' The child is father
of the man," it is manifest most plainly in religious
life. The young believer perpetuates himself in the
old. Maurice, son of William the Silent, at the age of
seventeen, took for his device a fallen oak, w^ith a young
sapling springing from its root ; to this he gave the
motto, Tandem fit sur cuius arbor ^ '' The sapling will by
and by become a tree." It seems very trite to write all
that out soberly ; but really it is a thing most unfortu-
nately forgotten.
Some young citizens are ambitious to get a name, and
128 THE CHRISTIAN CITIZEN.
Cato's suggestion. Real usefulness.
help give a name to their country. Cato once remarked
most suggestively that he would rather posterity should
inquire why no statues had ever been erected to him,
than why some were. It is a better thing to be than to
do. A life is a nobler gift to one's country than any
achievement. I would rather that some dear friend, in
the quiet hour when he was thinking of me, should say
" He was thoughtful for the right, and not so much for
the brilliant ; he said little, but he lived true; he stood,
when it would have been easy to break ; he was ' careful
to maintain good works ; ' he saw the truth, and loved
it to the end," — I would rather one said that of me, than
that he said I was one of the marked men of my age.
And then as to usefulness also ; how may a young
Christian do most good ? I answer, by being good him-
self. What a work this is for us all, like the young
Titus, to be permitted to hold to thirsty lips the water
of life, then to mark how they drink it, how they are
instantly quickened and begin to sing ! Possibly some
Christians are discouraged when they think of poor
results. Perhaps you never were made the instrument
in converting a single soul as yet. There is no reason
why you should not be. You long for this reward ; very
well, portion it out for yourself ; it is attainable. Put
a sign upon it for your possession in the sight of God ;
say prayerfully, *' Give me the supreme grace of turn-
ing this sinner to the cross ; " he will give it to you ;
and it is worth your choice.
I choose to fortify this point by a personal reminis-
THE CHRISTIAN CITIZEN. 1 29
The five-barred gate. Pay son's exultation.
cence. Out from my early, and sometimes erring, min-
istry comes an affectionate memory of the past. Some
few grown young men in my congregation, seeing the
silly pride which made many of their own age forsake
the Sabbath-school as they came on in years, organized
themselves into a Bible-class, and took turns in its lead-
ership. They planted their curved seat close by the
door, and sent their name to me, as it appeared on the
list — " The Pastor's Five-barred Gate." Year after year
they kept their position, growing in grace, as they grew
in knowledge of the word. Nobody raised the question
in that school thereafter. Any vain pupil who would
be wise (Job 11 : 12), though *'born like a wild ass's
colt," had to leap that five-barred gate to get out of the
blessed enclosure. I have lived long since then, seen
those dear friends rise into honor and usefulness in the
church of Christ, despite of their odd name. And grate-
fully, I here acknowledge the power of their simple-
hearted fidelity.
A Sunday-school class is only a little congregation of
five or ten, and the teacher is its preacher as truly as
Titus was '' bishop " in Crete. Said the dying Payson :
*' Oh ! if ministers only saw the inconceivable glory that
is before them, and only felt the preciousness of Christ,
they would not be able to refrain from going about, leap-
ing, and clapping their hands for joy, exclaiming, * I'm
a minister of Christ ! I'm a minister of Christ ! ' "
6*
XII.
SHADOW AND SUBSTANCE.
"Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of
Christ. — Colossians 2 : 17.
Most enthusiastic readers of the Holy War will recall
one passage of singular interest, in which Bunyan relates
that upon a time Immanuel the prince made a feast for
the town of Mansoul, and the folk came together to the
castle to partake of his banquet. There was food fur-
nished from his father's court ; there was music also all
the while at the table ; and, after the feast was over,
Immanuel was for entertaining the town with some cu-
rious riddles of secrets, drawn up by his father's secre-
tary, by the wisdom and skill of Shaddai ; the like to
these there are not in any kingdom. The riddles were
made upon King Shaddai himself, and upon Immanuel
his son, and upon his wars and doings with Man-
soul.
So the story runs on : " Immanuel also expounded
unto them some of those riddles himself, but, oh, how
they were lightened ! They saw what they never saw
before ; they could not have thought that such rarities
could have been couched in so few and such ordinary
words. Yea, when these riddles were opened, the peo-
ple gathered that the things themselves were a kind of
SHADOW AND SUBSTANCE. I31
Feast in Mansoul. " The body is of Christ."
portraiture, and that of Immanuel himself. For when
they read in the scheme where the riddles were writ,
and looked in the face of the prince, things seemed so
like one to the other that Mansoul could not forbear
but say — ' This is the Lamb, this is the Sacrifice, this is
the Rock, this is the Red Heifer, this is the Door, and
this is the Way ' — with a great many other things
more."
At the bottom of the page, one finds the foot-note of
stiff explanation, quaint and stately as usual : '' The rid-
dles seem to refer chiefly to the types of Christ, which
abound in the Scriptures, and which are full of div^ine
entertainment to gracious and enlightened souls. The
very portraiture of Jesus is seen in them. Meditation
on them adds greatly to the delights of the gospel
feast."
But an authority much higher than either John Bun-
yan or his annotator has set this entire matter at rest.
In one of his plainest discourses our Lord said : ** Search
the Scriptures : for in them ye think ye have eternal
life : and they are they which testify of me."
Hence this passage in the ninth chapter of Hebrews,
which the classes are soon going to study in detail, is
nothing more nor less than a reiteration with extensive
particulars of what Jesus in person had declared would
be the grand reward for all faithful Scripture study. If
men would only read the Bible as it ought to be read,
they would be sure to find Christ everywhere in it.
Even the most intricate and mysterious ceremonials of
132 SHADOW AND SUBSTANCE.
Allegories and symbols. Christ, the world's Saviour.
that former dispensation which vanished when the Sav-
iour came would surprise us with their clearness of ref-
erence to him and his work.
This suggests to us the way in which to examine the
Old Testament as a whole. See in its entire record —
history, prophecy, rites of worship and songs of praise
— symbols and signs, emblems, allegories, and figures,
"which are a shadow of things to come ; but the body
is of Christ."
The apostle has been telling tire Hebrew Christians
that many of those matters which they had considered
peculiarly Jewish, selfishly claiming them as national
and special to themselves, were of Christian relevance
and belonged to the whole world. The tabernacle was
cosmopolitan, Aaron's rod and the pot of manna were
of universal ownership. Even the high-priesthood would
have to be generously shared with those of every age and
nation under the canopy of heaven. He went in before
the altar for the great race of men : — " The Holy Ghost
this signifying. That the way into the Holiest of all was
not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was
yet standing : which was a figure for the time then pres-
ent, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that
could not make him that did the service perfect, as per-
taining to the conscience ; which stood only in meats
and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinan-
ces, imposed on them until the time of reformation.
But Christ being come a high-priest of good things to
come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not
SHADOW AND SUBSTANCE. 1 33
Old Testament characters. Moses and Jacob.
made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own
blood, he entered in once into the holy place, having
obtained eternal redemption for us."
I. — Now let us look, in the first place, at the legiti-
mate method of work which this principle suggests, and
trace out a few results to which it will lead.
I. Of course, we shall expect to find the person and
office of our Lord typed now and then in the historic
characters of the Old Testament. As, for example,
Moses ; for Simon Peter mentions him, quoting his very
words : " For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A
prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, of
your brethren, like unto me ; him shall ye hear in all
things, whatsoever he shall say unto you." Very inter-
esting would be the exercise, with some of the bright
children in our Christian families, to ask and answer
how many things in this famous leader's life would re-
mind us of Jesus. How was our Lord ''like unto"
Moses ? Threatened in infancy — rejected by those he
came to serve — fasting forty days in the wilderness of
Sinai — transfigured on the mount — so the enumeration
would run on.
Jacob also would invite study ; for that wonderful
ladder of his which he saw at Bethel reappears in the
New Testament record w^ith a gospel meaning attached
to it. Nathanael must have noticed the reference when
Christ spoke to him : "And he saith unto him, Verily,
verily, I say unto you. Hereafter ye shall see heaven
134 SHADOW AND SUBSTANCE.
Joseph's history. Christ our Passover.
open, and the angels of God ascending and descending
upon the Son of man."
Joseph's story, likewise, is full of suggestion. How
much like Jesus' '' Come unto me " does this remem-
bered verse sound, if we call to mind the whole history
behind it : "And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come
near to me, I pray you : and they came near. And he
said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into
Egypt."
2. Then in the ritual and the ceremonies of that old
dispensation we should be sure to find Christ. Indeed,
this is the entire force of the passage before us now.
The candlestick, the table of shew-bread, the censer,
Aaron's rod, and the pot of manna, are all declared to
be without significance, unless we remember the les-
sons they had to teach concerning the Saviour. A
mere figure ''for the time then present" was this whole
tabernacle scheme : the substance was Christ. The
scape-goat was a ''portraiture" of Christ. The cities
of refuge symbolized Christ. The New Testament wri-
ters make no hesitation in passing over to Christ's ac-
count even the sacredest festivals of Jewish history.
The apostle Paul exhorts the Corinthians : " Purge out
therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as
ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is
sacrificed for us." Why not raise in this case also the
question with children. How was our Lord Jesus like
the lamb whose blood was sprinkled on the door-posts ?
3. There seems almost no end to such disquisitions ;
SHADOW AND SUBSTANCE. 135
The brazen serpent. The cure for sin.
but one thing more may profitably be instanced. In
the annals of ordinary history often may the prediction
or the picture of the living Christ be found. No more
pertinent illustration of this could be given than that
which our Lord himself employed with Nicodemus on
the occasion of that ruler's visit to him in the night :
** And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of man be lifted up ; that whoso-
ever believeth in him should not perish, but have eter-
nal life." The whole gospel of grace is in such a story
as this. Indeed, so vivid is the figure that one helps to
make the New Testament plain, as he rehearses the Old
Testament narrative of that part of the Exodus. We see
the hopelessness of human ruin in the writhing pain of
the men bitten by the fiery serpents ; we note the sover-
eignty of the divine interposition, as we perceive Moses
placing the brazen image upon the erected pole in the
camp ; we are ready to sing " There is life for a look at
the crucified One," when we gaze at the multitudes
coming up for a relief ; and we rejoice that a cure for
sin has been made permanent and complete, as we read
of those people healed on the instant in answer to their
faith.
Thus ever)rvvhere in the Scriptures we find a far-reach-
ing prediction of redemption and of a redeemer for
men. The very texture of the record appears at times
designedly transparent, as if it had been intended to
adorn what it was not yet quite ready to reveal. One
reads portions of that ancient book, which was all the
136 SHADOW AND SUBSTANCE.
An oriental maiden. Exegesis and eisegesis.
*' Bible " men had when the epistle to the Hebrews was
first written, as the enthusiastic tourist looks at the veil
of an oriental maiden he meets — a mere gauze across
the beautiful countenance, heightening a loveliness
which it hardly pretends to conceal. His earliest thought
may be, How exquisite is the fabric ! But his exclama-
tion comes instantly afterward, Oh, how sweet is the
face !
n. — From this it is becoming that we turn for a mo-
ment to consider, in the second place, one altogether
illegitimate application of the principle we have been
seeking to illustrate.
It is not true that every verse of inspired writing has
a hidden gospel meaning lying under its plain state-
ment, as if it floated " swan and shadow" oh the stream
of revelation. It is useless and harmful to pervert exe-
gesis into eisegesiSy and put Christ in where he is not. It
is not too much to say that there are whole paragraphs
and chapters which do not touch on the gospel plan or
experience.
After familiar observation during some years, I feel
inclined to think that in searching the Scriptures more
failures are made in reference to the true object and
methods of search than in anything else. What are our
modern Bereans looking for in the Bible ? And are
they content with what they really find ?
It is because commentators and even private Chris-
tians have followed an undefined or a shifting purpose,
or, perhaps, no purpose at all, that they have made such
SHADOW AND SUBSTANCE. 1 3/
House-light and light-house. Abraham married Keturah.
Strange endeavors after originality, and have accom-
plished so little at last. Dr. Hamilton's bright antithe-
sis is quite in point : " That vessel is always liable to go
awreck whose headstrong pilot mistakes a house-light
for a light-house." The one worthy end at which a sin-
cere Bible student should aim is this : merely to as-
certain what the w^ord really says and simply means.
*' He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith
unto the churches."
The motto of the mystics was : *' The Scriptures mean
all that they can be made to mean." The rabbins of old
said there w^as not a letter, nor even an apex of a letter,
which did not contain whole mountains of meaning.
And so they fashioned anagrams, and counted the tran-
scribed characters, and estimated the lines, and read the
sentences backward. Putting everything in, they of
course drew everything out, finding marvels and mys-
teries without limit, but quietly often missing the truth,
or belittling it with nonsense.
One of the ancient expositors read in the sacred his-
tory how Abraham in his later years married Keturah.
Know^ing that this woman's name, Keturah, meant '* sweet
odors," and remembering that sweet odors w^ere used as
a symbol of spiritual graces, he drew from this intricate
combination of fragments of learning a most felicitously
original thought ; namely, that before he died the Father
of the Faithful became supereminently sanctified. Now
the pious patriarch did what doubtless was perfectly
proper ; but taking a new wife in his old age is in
138 SHADOW AND SUBSTANCE.
The world's " Eureka ! " New Testament privileges.
many respects quite a different thing from growing in
grace.
III. — So much, then, for a discussion of the general
principle involved in these verses. It remains for us
now to state just a few of the lessons of excellent bear-
ing which they suggest.
1. Let us try to appreciate the exultation of feeling
with which believers under the Old Testament received
the fresh disclosures of the New. Andrew opened an
unusually wide store of exciting information when he
made his brother Simon Peter understand that in all
serious likelihood Jesus of Nazareth was Israel's actual
Messiah. Meaning of untold and indescribable impor-
tance was condensed into the explosive language he
used when he announced to him, *^We have found the
Christ!" This was the world's glad ^^ £iireka" after
forty centuries of groping among the shadows and sym-
bols of a dying dispensation. '' But if the ministration
of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious,
so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly be-
hold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance ;
which glory was to be done away : how shall not the
ministration of the spirit be rather glorious ? For if
the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more
doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory."
2. So let us ourselves come to a proper estimate of
our own increased privileges under the New Testament.
When we reach the Gospels, after working our way
wearily through the first division of the Bible, we seem
SHADOW AND SUBSTANCE. 139
*' We have found the Christ ! " The Old Testament.
to have struggled forth from a forest path of emblems
and signs, where only lances of fitful illumination could
glance into the gloom occasionally, out upon the cleared
hillside of revelation, where the full sunshine of grace
lies over every prospect. There was one little formula
of great meaning, drawn from Andrew's exclamation,
perhaps, which served the strict purpose of a primitive
creed to all those new disciples, and which might well
become familiar upon our tongues. < Philip took it up
easily when he proclaimed to Nathanael : "We have
found him of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets,
did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." The
passionate longing of many a generation was concen-
trated into that one utterance. We have entered into
a fulness they never knew, now in these latter days.
** Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see.
For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have de-
sired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen
them ; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have
not heard them."
3. Still, let us learn to respect the Old Testament for
the sake of the gospel there certainly was in it. It has
grown fashionable to speak slightingly of that former
dispensation. But many souls of men were saved under
it. Just now we discover from an unmistakable chapter
here before us that all of that early record was full of
Christ. Abraham saw the day of Christ afar off, and
was glad. During four thousand years, never had any
devout Hebrew mother fastened her first eager look
I40 SHADOW AND SUBSTANCE.
The seed of the woman. Moore's couplet.
upon her new-born babe without solemnly wondering
whether it might not be her child which was to be '' the
seed of the woman " to fulfil the Paradise promise and
''bruise the serpent's head." Those people must have
known in many particulars what they were praying for.
The visions of the impetuous seers, the inspired sym-
bols of the ceremonial law, the fervid predictions of the
singing psalmists, all pointed toward one luminous star
which was hanging out in the future over the manger
where Immanuel should be born.
4. Think, then, how rich with wealth of spiritual
meaning are both of these two Testaments that lie in
our hands so freely to-day. To the glory of the poetry
add the greater glory of the prediction it contains. To
the splendor of the ritual, add the greater splendor of
the Christ it symbolized. So w^e learn that there are
verses of the Bible with a double degree of meaning — -
like the rainbow which is beautiful beyond everything
else for just what is seen of it, and then more beautiful
still for the sake of the grand covenant it seals. Oh,
what reaches and spans of measureless comfort there
are in such promises ; yet God, w^ho gave them, sits un-
exhausted in grace beyond ! How well to search the
Scriptures !
** So the sky we look up to, though glorious and fair.
Is looked up to the more because heaven lies there ! "
5. Then let us remember what grandeur and majesty
there is in the services of God's house. If only the
SHADOW AND SUBSTANCE. 141
God's house. Mysteries explained.
spirit be carefully preserved, forms may well be gor-
geous and significant. This whole chapter is crowded
with the meaning that lay hid in the tabernacle. God's
dwelling should be the finest dwelling in the town.
Music should make it welcome with the highest conse-
cration of art. Each Christian should enter a New Tes-
tament church singing in his heart : ** How amiable are
thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts ! My soul longeth,
yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord : my
heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God." And
he should leave it promising : *' If I forget thee, O Je-
rusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do
not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of
my mouth ; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief
joy."
6. Finally, let us remember the sanctuary overhead.
" Via cruets^ via lucis ! " So the old monks used to chant
in mediaeval songs. Through all the shadows, out at
last into the pure light, does the way lead which starts
in lonely and lowly steps beside Jesus' cross. The as-
surance comes with a vast welcome to every tried heart
that is sometimes heavy here with worry and care. Life
appears a wilderness of little-understood visions and
shows. Will these mysteries, like the similitudes of the
tabernacle, ever have an explanation ? Will the unreal-
ities which lie over us, even now in New Testament
times, ever fully disappear ? Will the confusions ever
clear that make this existence of ours so perplexing ?
Hear the answer : ^' But Christ being come an high-
142 SHADOW AND SUBSTANCE.
Eternal redemption. Arnold's remark.
priest of good things to come, by a great and more per-
fect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not
of this building : neither by the blood of goats and
calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into
the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for
us."
With the endless ages of that new life open before us
for our study and God's explanation, we ought to be
willing to remain unf retted now. Arnold says well :
" Before a confessed and unconquerable difficulty, the
mind, if in a healthy state, reposes as quietly as when
in the possession of a discovered truth ; as quietly and
contentedly as we are accustomed to bear that law of
our nature which denies us the power of seeing through
all space, or of being exempt from sickness or decay."
We can afford to wait till all these earthly shadows find
their substance : " For now we see through a glass,
darkly ; but then face to face : now I know in part ; but
then shall I know even as also I am known."
XIII.
SAVING FAITH.
Now FAITH IS THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR, THE EVI-
DENCE OF THINGS NOT SEEN. — Hebrews II : i.
There were those who one time asked the Saviour,
*'What shall we do that we might work the works of
God ?" To this he replied, *' This is the work of God,
that ye believe on him whom he hath sent."
The issue, then, between God and men is narrowed
down to this — " only believe." *'He that believeth on
the Son of God is not condemned ; but he that believ-
eth not is condemned already, because he hath not be-
lieved in the name of the only-begotten Son of God."
Hence, the true and only answer to an inquiring sinner
is, '' Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt
be saved."
No man, however, can be an inquirer except under
the influence of the Holy Ghost. No man can come
to Christ ''except the Father draw him." If he comes
asking, that proves that he comes drawn. Hence, the
folly of those who profess to be waiting for the Spirit
in order to believe. They have the Spirit ; they are re-
sisting him, instead of waiting for him, this very moment.
And hence, the correction, also, of all false views of
those who deem it perilous to urge on every soul the
144 SAVING FAITH.
The Holy Spirit. Historic faith.
duty of immediate and believing surrender to Christ :
that is the Spirit's work, it is admitted ; but this is the
man's duty. He is under the poiver of the Spirit fro7n the
mot?ient he asks the way. And we are bound to bid him
believe and be saved. If he cannot understand it, we
must explain it. This is what I now am attempting to
do.
I. Let us inquire, first, the meaning of the term.
There are no less than five significations of it found in
the Bible.
1. Sometimes the word refers merely to a creed, with
no notion in it of spiritual experience at all. Thus Paul
tells his friend Timothy : *' Now the Spirit speaketh ex-
pressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from
the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines
of devils." And so writes Jude : "Ye should earnestly
contend for the faith which was once delivered unto
the saints." Here the meaning is manifest ; a simple
grouping of revealed doctrines in a system.
2. When the Bible speaks of faith, it sometimes means
mere belief in facts. "Through faith we understand
that the worlds w^ere framed by the word of God, so
that things which are seen were not made of things
which do appear." This kind of faith is necessary, in a
certain sense, to salvation : "for he that cometh to God
must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarderof them
that diligently seek him." The facts of the Saviour's
life are to be received in that way. But this is not sav-
ing faith at all. For we read that even the devils "be-
SAVING FAITH. 145
Logical faith. Faith of miracles.
lieve and tremble." They know all about the history
of the Prince of Salvation, but are not benefited by
their knowledge.
3, Again ; faith sometimes means that conviction of
the understanding which results from proofs laid before
it, or aro^uments adduced. This is that which the woman
wrought among her neighbors when she came back from
the conversation with Jesus, at Jacob's well : ''And many
of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the
saying of the woman, which testified. He told me all
that ever I did." It received great quickening from the
interviews with the Messiah they had for themselves ;
for then they " said unto the woman, Now we believe,
not because of thy saying ; for we have heard him our-
selves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Sav-
iour of the world." This also is the faith which Thomas
had, when, being asked to put his hand in the side of
his Lord, and his finger in the prints of the nails, he was
constrained by the evidence to admit the reality of the
resurrection. '' Because thou hast seen," said Jesus to
him, " thou hast believed." But this is not saving faith ;
for our Lord immediately added, '' Blessed are they that
have not seen, and yet have believed."
4. And sometimes the Bible means the faith of mira-
cles. This was a peculiar gift, bestowed by Christ upon
his immediate followers, in order that they might attest
their divine mission by using divine power. This is
what he intended when he said, "If ye have faith, if ye
shall say unto this mountain. Be thou removed, and
7
146 SAVING FAITH.
A right apprehension. A drowning man.
be thou cast into the sea, it shall be done." Now, wha
'le
ever was the nature of this peculiar endowment, it x
evident enough that there was no grace in it to save the
soul; for the Saviour himself declared, "Many w411
say to me in that day. Lord, Lord, have we not prophe-
sied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils,
and in thy name have done many w^onderful works?
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you."
5. Then, lastly, the Bible means saving faith ; the
true belief in the Lord Jesus Christ, through -which we
are justified, and by which we live.
II. In the second place, let us inquire concerning the
nature of this exercise. The old writers used to say
that faith was composed of three elements : a right Ap-
prehension, a cordial Assent, and an unwavering Trust.
Let me seek to exhibit these in turn in a very familiar
way.
I. To apprehend is really a physical act, and means to
seize hold of. When applied to mental operation, it sig-
nifies to conceive clearly any given object, and hold it
before the mind for examination and use. It does not
always include a full comprehension ; and this is so es-
pecially true in reference to matters connected with the
plan of salvation, that I shall seek to have it very expli-
citly understood here in the outset. A drowning man
may catch a rope that hangs near him, and be rescued
by it, without knowing who threw it to him, or who will
draw it in, or what vessel it trails from. He apprehends
it, but he does not comprehend it. He sees it, but he
SAVING FAITH. 147
Apprehend and comprehend. The brazen serpent.
1 es not see all with which it is connected. The fleeing
of orew might not know who erected the guide-posts on
the way to the cities of refuge, or how they were instru-
mental in saving him from the avenger of blood when
he was within the walls. But he would need to see the
great letters of the word ** Refuge " that was printed on
them, and note the direction in which the index finger
pointed.
Now, a careless confounding of these terms has caused
a great many mistakes on the part of those who declare
they "will not believe what they cannot understand."
They are not required to believe what they cannot appre-
hend; but they do believe, over and over again, even in
the common matters of life, what they cannot co?nprehend.
The growing of the grass, the circulation of the blood,
are as complete mysteries to human understanding as
the doctrine of the Trinity or the Incarnation. I must
not turn away from coming to the Saviour, because I
cannot see hozu God could be manifest in the flesh.
Enough is it for me, that the Scriptures reveal the mys-
terious fact that he has been.
And here you see, therefore, how much any sinner
can claim before he yields, and how little. He may ask
just as much information as the Israelite bitten by the
fiery serpent in the wilderness might ask : " Where is
that image of brass ? what must I do when I approach
it?" When Moses had replied, *' It is close by you in
the midst of the camp ; you are only to look and to
live ; " then his solemn duty began, and he was respon-
148 SAVING FAITH.
Means of grace. Humble assent.
sible for his own delay. With the philosophy of the
cure he had nothing to do.
The two essential things for every man to apprehend,
are his own need, and Jesus Christ's fitness to supply it.
There is the inward look, and then there is the outward
look. I cannot help myself, and the Saviour can help
me — are the two thoughts that must lie buried deep in
his soul. It matters little how these things are learned.
"There are diversities of operations, but the same Spirit."
The Holy Ghost may teach one person through the read-
ing of the word ; another person through some stroke
of providence, or by the ministry of reconciliation. In
one way or another the soul must come to see its ruin
and its Redeemer ; to feel its helplessness and know its
Helper. It may not see how it came to be so desper-
ately ruined, nor how Jesus can be of such paramount
relief to it. It may know no more than blind Bartimeus
did ; that he could not see, and that the Nazarene Healer
was passing by. Those two things, however, every sin-
ner needs to perceive.
2. Then comes the second element of faith, already
mentioned — namely, assent. This is a step in advance
of the other. A simple illustration will make plain
what is meant by it. An invalid is sometimes very un-
w^illing to admit his danger, even when he has nothing
to oppose to the reasoning of one who proves it. He
feels his weakness, but he resorts to a thousand subter-
fuges to avoid yielding to the physician. His judgment
is convinced, but his will is unbroken. He apprehends
SAVING FAITH. 1 49
Naaman's pride. " Some great thing."
his danger, and knows the remedy; but he refuses to
be helped. What he needs now is assent ; and this re-
quires humility and the renunciation of self-will.
Naaman might not know, and really had no need to
know — no right to claim to know — how the river Jor-
dan could cure leprosy, or what virtue there would be
in seven bathings, or what authority Elisha had to send
him there. But he needed to understand clearly the
prophet's directions, so as not to mistake the name of
the stream, or err as to what he was to do w^hen he
reached it, or forget the number of times he was to
wash to be clean. And this he had a fair right to know
before the crime of disobedience w^as urged upon him.
"■ But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said. Be-
hold, I thought. He will surely come out to me, and
stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and
strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper."
Evidently, this Syrian captain's pride was wounded.
He imagined that the prophet was going to show him
the consideration due to his importance. He did not
like to be thrown on himself in this way. He w^ould
not own up his utter helplessness, and the wretchedness
of his incurable disease. Nor did he like the method
of relief. He complained of the river ; Jordan water is
muddy and yellow. "Are not Abana and Pharpar, riv-
ers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel ?
may I not wash in them, and be clean ? So he turned
and went away in a rage." In the end, you remember,
it was his retinue that helped him make an absolute
150 SAVING FAITH.
The Syrophcenician woman. Implicit trust.
surrender. ''And his servant came near, and spake
unto him, and said. My father, if the prophet had bid
thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done
it ? how much rather then, when he saith to thee. Wash,
and be clean ? "
Faitli inchides this. It calls for a cheerful submis-
sion to God's requirements, the moment we apprehend
them, no matter how humiliating the assertion of our
ill-desert may be. When the Syrophcenician woman
came pleading to our Saviour, he gave her faith a most
severe testing before he granted her petition. '* It is
not meet," he said, ''to take the children's bread and
cast it to the dogs." Now, did she grow angry at this
rebuff ? Did she refuse to admit its justice ? Did she
go away grieved, because he seemed to be harsh to her ?
No, indeed; she admitted it all. "Truth, Lord," said
she, "yet the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from their
master's table." Then he raised her up, saying, "O
woman, great is thy faith ; be it unto thee as thou wilt."
She not only saw the truth, but assented to it likewise,
though the admission was humbling in the extreme.
And so must the inquiring sinner give assent to all the
teachings of the gospel, self -abasing as they are ; admit
everything ; throw up all excuses ; leave all refuges of
lies ; renounce self altogether ; "only believe."
3. The third element of saving faith is trust. By this
I mean reliance on the truth of what God said he would
do ; a quiet resting on his promises to accomplish all we
need for salvation. You remember in the case of the
SAVING FAITH. I 5
The centurion. The Passover.
centurion, our Lord declared he *'had not found so
great faith, no, not in Israel." Now, what was it that
made his faith in particular so great, so peculiar in it-
self, and so superior in the estimation of the Saviour ?
Simply the presence in it of superabounding trust. He
had asked for a gift of healing to be bestowed upon his
servant lying at home sick. To his request Jesus re-
plied, "I will come and heal him." One would think
that now the centurion would doubt a little. Might not
the Saviour forget his promise in the multiplicity of his
cares ? Might he not delay coming till too late ? Even
this suspicion made his trust a matter of somewhat diffi-
cult exercise ; and yet that man was willing to go fur-
ther. He was content to rest on a mere declaration,
without a promise. "Speak the word only," said he,
*'and my servant shall be healed." He did not care to
have the Saviour's presence, if he would only say the
man should be whole. Then he could depart to his
house restful and satisfied.
Let us take one more illustration ; that which is of-
fered in the ancient passover scene. Moses told the Is-
raelites to sprinkle a lamb's blood on the door-posts,
and the destroying angel would not enter their dwell-
ings. Picture a father, w^hose first-born was dear to
him as the apple of his eye. As that solemn midnight
drew near, it is possible his heart would grieve with anx-
iety. But he would say aloud : "I have done all I w^as
told to do ; I know the blood-drops are on my door ; I
rest in Moses' promise, for I am sure he spoke for God ;
152 SAVING FAITH.
" Only believe." General experience.
here, then, I take my stand, and am going to wait the
issue ; there is no more to do ! "
This is trust ; acquiescence without question, restful-
ness without wavering ; and it is the most essential part
of faith, and yet the most difficult to exercise. Almost
all in our Christian communities have two of the ele-
ments of faith already mentioned. They know the Sav-
iour's history. They understand his gospel plan. They
have been told his ability and his willingness to save
them. A first step then, apprehension, has been taken.
And so has a second, assent, been taken by very many.
They do not doubt one word that God has spoken.
They feel their ruin. They are under a constant con-
viction of sin. They admit everything. Now, what yet
do they need ? Nothing except this third step, trust ;
"only believe." Rely on the Saviour. Rest in him.
Hold to his truth in all he says.
III. The use to be made of this analysis, comes next
to view. We are ready to speak to any inquiring sinner
within our reach directly, and this iswiiat the Scriptures
teach us to say.
Your experience hitherto has been something like
this. You have seen your need ; you have admitted it ;
you have gone in prayer to Jesus confessing it. Told
to pray, you did pray. Moved by some faithful sermon,
or tract, or conversation, you have gone home to the
privacy of your own chamber, making sober resolution
to become a Christian at once. You knew you had
been a sinner, condemned to eternal death. You as-
SAVING FAITH. I 53
The failure. Bargaining with God.
sented to all that the word of God charged on you.
And you longed to be helped. Told to confess, you did
confess. Told you must be in earnest, you honestly
think you laid your whole heart bare before God. You
acknowledged everything, and only plead for pardon.
You said in your prayer, ''O Lord, I am vile, I come to
thee ; I plead thy promise that thou wilt not cast me
out ; I give myself away in an everlasting surrender ; I
leave my soul at the very foot of the cross ! " And then
you rose from your knees, murmuring, '' Oh, I am no
better ; I feel just the same as before ! "
You saw that you had made a failure. Now, w^here
was the lack ? Simply in the particular of trust. You
would not take Jesus at his word. He had said, '' Him
that Cometh unto me I will in no w4se cast out." So
you plead with him. You came unto him, but you in-
sist that he did cast you out after all.
You said — here I am ; and then you drew back. You
said — I give myself to thee ; and then you took yourself
away again. You trifled with God. You should have
left yourself there, and trusted your soul with him, as
you said you would. Let me suggest to you where your
disappointment was centred. I think I can tell you
what you half-expected, half-bargained, on the spot.
If some clear voice had only spoken to you as you
kneeled, saying, ** Thy sins be forgiven thee ; go in
peace," how your heart would have leaped for joy. If
you could only have seen Paul's ''great light," that
would have confirmed you. Or if even some aged min-
7*
154 SAVING FAITH.
A sign wanted. Faith, not sight.
ister had bent over and whispered in your ear, ''You
are received, I am sure," then you would perhaps have
been satisfied, and begun tremblingly to hope. But be-
cause you had nothing of this, not even a sign without,
or a strange feeling within, that you could make to an-
swer for a sign, you were discouraged. Now, I have
three remarks to make about this action of yours, and
its result.
In the first place, let me say, I would not have been
the minister to tell you of your acceptance, for all the
world. For then you would have believed in me, not in
the Saviour. No man has any right to say such a thing
to you. I have seen those who in revival times will
question and direct for a while, and then say to young
persons, ''All right, you are converted ! " and my blood
has run cold. They know nothing about it.
In the second place, let me tell you that you never
will have any such sign, without or within, to be your
confirmation. If God ever gives anything of the sort,
it will only be afterward, for your comfort. " We walk
by faith, not by sight ; " and this would be sight, not
faith. God does not deal with men so. He claims that
they shall trust him without speaking. If you stand oif,
saying in your heart, I will believe the moment I feel
accepted, you will never be accepted. You must trust,
and ask no favors. Then God will give you what he
pleases. And most likely, one day or another, he will
give you some token of his love that will aid you ; but
he never will, if you bargain for it.
SAVING FAITH. I 55
Bird-of-paradise. No more anxietj'.
Go again then ; do not wait, nor grieve, nor bargain,
nor doubt. Do not reply to me, "Oh, I have done all
I can over and over again ; and it is of no use." There
is one thing you can do, that you never have done yet.
You can trust the Saviour. So I say again, and keep
saying to you, '* Only believe."
In the third place, let me say, that if this sign were
given you, it would be the most dangerous thing for
you that could be conceived. Because then you would
trust the sign, and not the Saviour. Perhaps you have
read that story of the woman, told in the '' Pastor's
Sketches," who saw a beautiful bird-of-paradise on a
blue globe, and believed it was the evidence God had
sent to show her she was born again. Are you sur-
prised to find that when she was asked for her ground
of salvation, she had to tell all about that ridiculous
dream the very first thing ? So would you, if you had
any such folly in your mind. And by and by you would
w^ake to the consciousness that only Jesus can save your
soul, and you had been deceiving yourself all this time.
When you have given yourself to Christ, leave your-
self there, and go about your w^ork as a child in his
household. When he has undertaken your salvation,
rest assured he will accomplish it, without any of
your anxiety, or any of your help. There remains
enough for you to do, with no concern for this part of
the labor.
Let me illustrate this posture of mind as w^ell as I
can. A shipmaster was once out for three nights in a
56 SAVING FAITH.
Shipmaster and pilot. Burden lost.
Storm ; close by the harbor, he yet dared not attempt to
go in, and the sea was too rough for the pilot to come
aboard. Afraid to trust the less experienced sailors, he
himself stood firmly at the helm. Human endurance
almost gave way before the unwonted strain. Worn
with toil, beating about ; worn yet more with anxiety
for his crew and cargo ; he was Avell-nigh relinquishing
the wheel, and letting all go awreck, Avhen he saw the
little boat coming, with the pilot. At once that hardy
sailor sprang on the deck, and with scarcely a word took
the helm in his hand. The captain went immediately
below, for food and for rest ; and especiall}^ for comfort
to the passengers, who were weaiy with apprehension.
Plainly now his duty was in the cabin ; the pilot would
care for the ship. Where had his burden gone ? The
master's heart was as light as a schoolboy's ; he felt
no pressure. The pilot, too, seemed perfectly uncon-
cerned ; he had no distress. The great load of anxiety
had gone forever ; fallen in some way or other between
them.
Now turn this figure. We are anxious to save our
soul, and are beginning to feel more and more certain
that w^e cannot save it. Then comes Jesus, and under-
takes to save it for us. " We see how willing he is ; we
know how able he is ; there we leave it. We let him do
it. We rest on his promise to do it. We just put that
work in his hands to do all alone ; and we go about
doing something else ; self-improvement, comfort to
others, doing good of every sort. He feels no burden.
SAVING FAITH. I 5/
The pilot needs no help. Leave all to Christ.
What troubled us so, does not trouble him. All we
need to do is to hold our confidence firm. What if that
captain should keep running up to see if the pilot was
still there ; or to offer to help him ; or to make sugges-
tions ; w^ould it not be folly ? So, for us to keep dis-
tressing ourselves about salvation when we have given
all that work to Christ, is worse than folly ; it is doubt-
ing the Saviour, slighting his love, giving up trust in him
just as we begin it.
When I find, my inquiring friend, that you are dis-
turbed because you have no word nor sign, although
you have asked God to forgive you and give you a new
heart, I can only say to you, trust him for that. I have
two plain reasons : he never told a lie, and he surely
said, ''Ask whatsoever you will ;" and you have asked
of him the very thing he desired most earnestly to give
you.
There, then, is the direction found in a word ; yet,
oh, how full of meaning it is ! '^ Be not afraid ; only be-
lieve !'' For "faith is the substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen."
XIV.
PURE RELIGION.
Pure religion, and undefiled before God and the Father, is
this : to visit the fatherless and widows in their af-
fliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
— yames i : 27.
At first sight this text looks bad. It seems subversive
of all our theologies, and ethics also. For it appears
really to say to any one, who is anxious about his soul's
eternal interests : '* Take generous care of poor people,
especially of women who have lost their husbands, and
of children who have been left orphans ; behave your-
self decently ; do as well as you know how to keep from
being worldly ; and all will come out right in the end ;
you will be saved and safe in heaven."
And that is what the apostle does not think of saying,
and it is not true either. A notion so radically wrong
is a dangerous thing. It is the staff of a bruised reed,
on which if a man lean, it will certainly go into his hand
and pierce it. .
The fact is, this text of ours is in no respect the sim-
ple formula of definition it looks like. It has a profound
start, and takes a prodigious reach. And the only way
to compass the extraordinary height to which it goes, is
to climb patiently up the rounds of the ladder one by
PURE RELIGION. 1 59
Only one religion. A poetic scheme.
one. Let us begin at the beginning, and read its clauses
quietly over together ; there is a lesson in each.
I. ''Pure religion and undefiled." Stop, now, just
there. The first proposition found in the verses is this :
There can be only one true personal religion for
the human soul.
1. Some argue for a mere intellectual scheme of be-
lief. They would rest everything upon a certain fixed
group of articles of faith and practice. Here is where
our denominational systems come in. Sects may have
some advantages, but the bearing of them does not seem
to be in this direction certainly. What sort of differ-
ence does it make as to my visiting the widows and
fatherless of a given neighborhood, whether I have been
baptized in one way or in another, whether I was or-
dained by the laying on of hands of one person or three ?
The Christian religion has a creed of doctrines, and has
a code of morals ; but it is a life. And in the end it
will be found, most likely, that the Lord has had his
own people scattered around a good deal from first to
last.
2. Some persistently press a mere poetic scheme of
humane sympathy. There are many persons one meets
constantly in this soft and cultured age, whose religious
life might be covered with a single word ; it consists of
an amiable, vague kind of morality. It begins with a
sigh, *' Oh, I wish I could be good ! " It continues with
a song, '' Nearer, my God, to thee ! " But it feels no
sense of sin, and confesses none ; so it generallv rejects
l6o PURE RELIGION.
Goodishness. Mere philanthropy.
need of an atonement. It seems just a sweet, deep^^^^-
iskness.
3. Some would urge upon us a mere routine scheme
of ritual. This is little more than sentiment become
artistic, devotion transmuted into devoteeism. Emotion
is externalized into forms and ceremonies. It luxuriates
in festivals and fasts. With intricate taste it chooses
colors of vestments and fashions of robes. And by and
by it exhausts its feeble little force in fierce discussion
as to whether the prayers of a penitent people would be
offered better in a service in D minor or in E flat.
4. Some seek to present us with an ascetic scheme of
moral observance. Of course, at its highest development,
this ends in the cell of a hermit, and the white veil of a
nun. But as we meet it in ordinary life, it goes not much
farther than rigor of law — an iron rule of obedience to
precept — and a strict treasuring of tradition. A man
says he purposes to keep the Sabbath as his father did
before him ; at all events, his children shall ; at any
rate, they shall keep still. And it all seems to amount
to pretty much the same thing. Religion is hold-
ing-in.
5. Some insist on a scheme of mere philanthropy and
benevolence. One can hardly wonder that many a man
grows confused and stumbles among such varying sys-
tems ; and, after a feeble inquiry, settles back upon the
conclusion that kindness, liberality, and neighborly
offices, are about as near religion as anything else. If
such people knew there was a verse like ours in the
PURE RELIGION. l6
Who shall decide ? Jehu and Jehonadab.
Bible, they would flaunt it as the very motto on their
banner — till they learned what it meant.
II. How is a man to choose ? Who shall decide when
all differ so ? That leads us on a step, and we return
again to the text. " Pure religion, and undefiled before
God and the Father, is this." The next proposition
may be stated thus : — The standard of reference, up
TO WHICH ALL RELIGION MUST I3E BROUGHT, IS DIVINE.
1. It will not do to settle it by the opinion of others.
No man's personal piety can be registered according to
the estimate which even his best friends or worst en-
emies have of it. Yet, we must reach some sort of ad-
justment in our association with each other ; that is
true. It is reported of Chalmers, that while listening
to the converse of McCheyne and Burns and the Bo-
nars, and hearing them say, " Precious Jesus" so much,
he exclaimed, "A most excellent brotherhood of men,
if only they might have done with their nursery endear-
ments ! " We call all of them — Chalmers and the rest —
the saintliest of God's people ; but to them he appeared
hard, and to him they appeared soft, yet they bore with
each other. Thus wrote Wesley, quoting the cheerful
conversation between Jehonadab and Jehu : '' ' Is thine
heart right, as my heart is with thy heart ? If it be,
give me thine hand.' I do not mean. Be of my opin-
ion ; thou needest not ; neither do I mean, I will be of
thine opinion ; I cannot. Let all opinions alone ; give
me thine hand."
2. Nor will it do that one's religion be settled by him-
l62 PURE RELIGION.
Self-deception. The Lord Is judge.
self. The verse in connection with our text gives a
somewhat pertinent warning. " If any man among you
seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but
deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain."
Here comes out the doctrine that one may seem to be
religious — may thus deceive his own heart — and in the
end his religion prove to be valueless. Thousands of
years ago, the wisest person that ever lived, declared,
"There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the
end thereof are the ways of death." Any one can easily
make a foolish and perilous mistake, just by thinking
more highly of himself than he ought to think, and so
be lost.
3. All this matter must be, and certainly will be, set-
tled by God's opinion, and none other whatsoever. No
less authority than that of an inspired apostle has put
on record this compact statement of the whole truth :
" But with me it is a very small thing that I should be
judged of you, or of man's judgment ; yea, I judge not
mine own self : for I know nothing by myself ; yet am I
not hereby justified : but he that judgeth me is the
Lord." The instrument employed by divine wisdom is
clearly made known beforehand to us all. Up to the
unerring and unequivocal statements of God's word are
we to bring all our maxims, all our experiences, all our
activities, all our creeds. If any man, young or old,
wishes to ^'cleanse his way," he is to ''give heed there-
to, according to the word." Conscience is regal and
supreme ; but conscience must be educated and enlight-
PURE RELIGION. 163
The Word tests. The weak and lonely.
ened by inspiration. " For the word of God is quick,
and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit,
and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the
thoughts and intents of the heart."
III. We are ready to read on now somewhat further
in the text. '' Pure religion, and undefiled before God
and the Father, is this : To visit the fatherless and wid-
ows in their affliction." That is enough, and the new
thought runs thus : The test of all true personal
RELIGION MAY BE FOUND IN CARE FOR THE WEAK AND
LONELY.
I. The subjects of Christian charity mentioned here
are typal as well as specific. One mighty question
presses on this age of ours — what shall the strong do for
the weak ? Out of all classes of feeble people, the un-
protected, and the helpless, God has chosen for our no-
tice widows and orphans. The most trying condition
in this world is brought to mind. A woman from whom
has been taken the staff and stay of her life, is one of
the most pitiable objects of human sympathy. She has
all the wounded feeling w^hich any other mourner has,
and yet is constrained to repress it. And beyond even
that, she has the practical prospect of dubious self-sup-
port in the future. And a lonely mother, with father-
less children, is not only a living appeal for assistance
and succor, but a thorough and exhaustive type, by
"which to teach the lesson that a true man's piety must
be tested by the care he accepts for others.
l64 PURE RELIGION.
Occasions for help. Proper Shipwrecks.
2. But when is this duty binding ? That brings out
the occasion. The text says, "in their affliction," that is,
in the time of it, and in tlie place of it. Our help must
be given when our help is needed. Consider times of
narrowness, of panic, of business depression, as offering
special occasion.
Then the poor are poorer than ever. And yet then
our craven, greedy human nature is most inclined to run
to cover. People begin to retrench, because of close
markets ; but who feel close markets the most ? When
it seems as if we had nothing to spare ; when all time of
leisure is exhausted ; when one's brain is heavy with
overwork ; then our first impulse is to draw aside from
labor among the poor. But the slenderest philosophy
ought to be enough to show that these are the very oc-
casions above all others w^hen the need is most pressing.
What we feel some, the poor feel more.
What if some cautious sailor on a vessel of relief, as
they drift near a sinking wreck, should coolly reply,
when the captain ordered him into the life-boat, ^' It is
always hard enough to go out in the w^ater to save peo-
ple ; to-night the sea is stormier than usual ; it is really
dangerous to think of leaping overboard noiv; these bil-
lows are extraordinarily high ; the air is chilly, too ; and
then, look ! the ocean is positively full of drowning men
and women ; folks say that drowning females will drag
one right under most thoughtlessly ; it is dreadful to
think of it ; why do not people shipwreck themselves in
the daytime, and in warm weather, and in quiet oceans .<*
PURE RELIGION. l6;
Jonatlian's staff. The word " visit."
It is as much as any wise seaman can do now to take
care of himself, and keep ordinarily comfortable till the
storm slacks somewhat ! "
3. The method of bestowing help is next in order, and
is all found in one word of the text, "visit." That can-
not mean mere contribution of money ; it means per-
sonal contact with those we hope to benefit. So plain a
statement allows of no sort of evasion. It signifies
going to see widows and fatherless under their roofs, if
they have any ; in the street, in the by-ways and hedges,
wherever they are to be found. The vexed question of
societies is up at once for discussion, but we cannot go
into it now. It was never expected that Christians
would hand bread to each other as Jonathan ate honey
off the end of a staff. The primal purpose of the gos-
pel was to render men brothers of the same great house-
hold.
*' Ye are living epistles, known and read of all men."
It is not expected that the poor will be satisfied with a
general copy of the epistles, lithographed for promis-
cuous distribution. The one grand obstacle to all prop-
er endeavor is found at the present day in the actual
withdrawal of living heart from living heart in mutual
acquaintance and interest. Men discharge that wonder-
ful word — visit — in mere reluctant substitution of dead
coin in benefaction. Thus the poor grow greedy and
thankless, and the rich harden in selfish ease.
4. But how far in such matters is one expected really
to go ? That inquiry is answered in our text also ; the
1 66 PURE RELIGION.
The fatherhood of God. " Unspotted."
measure of obligation is quite clear. The singular ex-
pression in the early part of the verse finds its explana-
tion just here. The term "Father" answers to the
term "fatherless." That may be a reason why the two
names "God and the Father," are joined together, as if
they specified two persons. The significant lesson is
taught us that religion is to be tested by feeling for the
fatherless, and the feeling is to be measured by the fath-
erhood of God !
Now, I would be willing, if challenged seriously, to
put Christianity to proof on that ! Where is the man
who has ever been, in philanthropy, or humanitarian
effort, a parent to the poor, with a fatherly care and pa-
tience and persistence to be measured by the fatherhood
of the Father of Lights !
IV. Only on one condition can this ever be done ; this
is found in the final clause of the text. See now how
all the clauses come in together. " Pure religion, and
undefiled before God and the Father, is this : To visit
the fatherless and widows in their aflfliction, and to keep
himself unspotted from the world." Here is our last
lesson to-day : Personal religion demands the entire
SURRENDER AND SEPARATION OF THE SOUL TO ChRIST.
"Unspotted from the world." Oh, how much that
means ! No self ; no waiting for applause ; no expec-
tation of return ; all this is of the world, w^orldly, and
the true religion will have none of it. Of course, then,
we all see this entire verse is addressed to Christians.
Only thus can it be counted a definition. The text says
PURE RELIGION. 167
Humanitarianism. Mediaval legend.
that religion, ^'pure and undefiled," is for a converted
man ; for an unconverted man it says nothing. But an-
other text says, '' Seek ye first the kingdom of God and
his righteousness." His duty is to repent of his sins,
and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ ; then it is his duty
to care for the poor and weak. Humanitarianism has
nothing it does not borrow from religion. Success in
all its enterprises would be secured better, the moment
the soul of the worker puts on Christ as a penitent be-
liever. Duty demands the new life by the cross. Has
this ever been done ? Yes. Almost, at any rate, by
many fine sweet lives in history. Some few, even in
Sardis, there were, who did not defile their garments.
And at all events, one noble life there has been that ful-
filled every condition. Jesus Christ set the example.
'' If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none
of his."
Will there be no end to this ? Is a man's work for the
poor never to be met ? Is the contribution-box an im-
mortal institution in the churches ? Ah, just here comes
out the profoundest teaching of the gospel ! No end
can there be ; "The poor ye have with you always."
And he who puts on Christ, puts on also the burden of
Christ. You will remember this the better, perhaps, if
you rehearse the mediaeval legend once more, the story
of Christopheros.
He was a giant man of Canaan, Offero by name. He
wanted to serve the strongest leader in the Avorld, and
found a mighty king, who took him in his army. One
1 68 PURE RELIGION.
" For the dear Lord's sake." Christopheros.
day the king's minstrel sang for his master, and when
he happened to mention the name of Satan^ the listen-
ing monarch crossed himself as if in fear. Offero saw
it, and left his service, seeking Satan. Oh, soon enough
he found him, with his great train of war, and lust, and
pestilence, devastating all the world ! He became Satan's
soldier. And yet he perceived Satan would not be forced
ever to march up a road where stood a shrine with the
infant Jesus in it. So he left that service, seeking for
Jesus. He could not find him. But an old hermit said,
"Go down by the river, and ferry the weak and weary
across." So he labored season after season, saying all
the time, " For the dear Lord's sake ; will he never come
to me ! " And one night it stormed, and he heard the
voice of a little child, "Come, carry me over!" He
went forth. How the wind blew, and the water roared ?
But he lifted the little one — oh, most beautiful boy — on
his shoulder, and entered the stream. He staggered at
the second step. He just managed to get to the other
bank. " O my child," exclaimed he, "who art thou ? "
And the child answered him, " I am Jesus." But the
burly giant continued, " Yet why so heavy, for it seemed
to me thou wouldst have borne me off my feet ! " Then
the beautiful boy held down his hand with a great globe
in its little palm : "There," he said, "see what you car-
ried ! He who bears the Lord Jesus o?t his heart, bears also
the world Jesus holds on his hand ! " Then he called Offero,
Christopheros, which means Bearer of Christ.
XV.
FAITH WORKING BY LOVE.
For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing,
nor uncircumcision ; but faith which worketh by love. —
Galaiians 5:6.
A GREAT many bewildered persons have asserted, first
and last, that the apostle Paul was in violent theological
conflict with the apostle James. For he seems to say
that a man can be justified by faith only, and without
works at all. While James says that faith without
works is dead, and a man may be justified by works,
and not in absolutely every case is he justified by faith
only.
Now, all truth is consistent. These inspired men never
meant to come into collision in their views. Their strong
language must be interpreted with some intelligible lim-
itation in order to avoid even seeming contradiction.
James wrote for a class of persons in his day who had
been wont to dwell overmuch on the more spiritual fea-
tures of religion, and so forget the more practical. He,
therefore, intends through all his epistle to bring into
prominence the necessity of living up to one's profes-
sions of piety, even in minor moralities. Paul, on the
other hand, writing to a very different class of persons,
who were continually in danger of throwing their whole
8
I/O FAITH WORKING BY LOVE.
Paul and James. David's counsel.
dependence upon a pharisaical performance of mere
punctilios of outward duty required by law, was con-
strained to turn the force of his address more directly
upon deep experimental, elements of piety, and give
them new" pictures of heart-service in the inner life.
Hence the entire statements of both these men are
right. Religion is not a faith distinct from works, nor
works separate from a faith. It includes and demands
each of these, and both at once.
It will command acceptance instantly, then, w^hen one
urges that every true life needs these two elements ; but
it might give a measure of quiet surprise to assert in the
same breath that yet there is necessary something quite
beyond both faith and works for the completion of the
whole pattern set before us in Christ.
Personal religion consists of three things in one. There
is in it a form of intelligence, first ; then there is in it a
form of activity ; then there is in it a form of feeling.
Hence it covers in each case the whole manhood — the
head, the hand, and the heart.
Very frequently the word of God, in its artless and
colloquial language, speaks of one of these elements as
if it embraced all the rest. Texts can even be found in
which two of them are put in place of the three. Once,
at least, in the Old Testament are they all three included.
David gave this as dying counsel for his son : " And thou,
Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and
serve him with a perfect heart, and with a willing mind :
for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all
FAITH WORKING BY LOVE. I/I
Three elements. Belief and trust.
the imaginations of the thoughts : if thou seek him, he
will be found of thee ; but if thou forsake him, he will
cast thee off forever." Here we find all elements as-
sumed : ''know" God, and "serve" him with a ''per-
fect heart." That is, piety demands a creed, a work, and
a sentiment.
In the New Testament, also, we find one fragment of
a verse so felicitous and terse that it might well become
a motto for Christian living : " Faith which worketh by-
love." All three elements are included here likewise —
intelligence, activity, and affection.
Unfortunately for absolute clearness, the word " faith "
has been used in the Bible somewhat ambiguously. I do
not suppose we are to imderstand James as referring to
a creed only, when he puts the sharp question, "What
doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath
faith, and have not works ? Can faith save him ?" But
I feel sure that he does not refer to an experience only.
Perhaps it would be safe to say that he uses the term
generically, and seeks to include trust as a living bond
of union to Christ, and belief as an instrument for
the intelligent apprehension of truth in its due rela-
tions.
At any rate, to be religious each man must have some
creed. Certainly he must know and believe that there
is a God ; and he must understand his character as a just
as well as a beneficent being ; then he must become ac-
quainted with God's law, as holy and decisive, reaching
to the inmost intents of the heart ; and then, far above
172 FAITH WORKING BY LOVE.
Faith must " work." James' "pure religion."
everything else, he must be forced to see plainly that —
out of his sovereign grace — God has opened a way of
pardon through an atoning death of his own Son. These
must be known as primal truths under the gospel ; then
they must be believed, and that is faith.
Hence, next to this comes activity : faith must "work."
The earliest instinct of a redeemed soul is that of the
converted apostle : *' Lord, what wilt thou have me
do ? " We have duties to do which invoh^e worship of
Gdd, labors for men, and improvement of a spiritual
life in ourselves ; these demand energy and zeal. We
are to keep up a filial communication with God. Then
we are bidden to seek our neighbor's good : feeding
the poor by the wayside ; succoring the feeble ; comfort-
ing the troubled ; cheering the discouraged ; in a word,
giving a w*arm hand and a sympathetic ear to every
voice of human sorrow, every call of human need. Just
so we owe our own selves something. We are bound to
grow in grace ; and that implies study, discipline, and
cultivation. With all these, we must guard against con-
tamination of worldliness. It is as if saints were daily
dressed in whitest raiment, and were forced to pass
through the dinginess and dust of a defiled roadway.
We are to keep these garments of grace fastidiously
pure ; to protect them against the falling flakes and
drifting ashes. Hence we come back exactly to another
verse of James, which may go alongside of Paul's motto.
Faith working by love is pure religion ; and " Pure re-
ligion, and undefiled before God and the Father, is this,
FAITH WORKING BY LOVE. 1 73
Must be some sensibility. The Master's spirit.
To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and
to keep himself unspotted from the world."
Now, I am persuaded that the link between these two
elements, faith and works, is found in that other ele-
ment, feeling. Faith alone is not enough. Faith work-
ing is not enough. Faith is to continue working by
love. And that is enough, simply because it is all there
is of it. There must be some sensibility, some tender-
ness, some emotion, some mellowness of heart, in all
personal religion, or it will be chill and lifeless and un-
attractive. It will neither honor God, nor win men,
nor fit us for heaven. This must be what James means
when he says, ''faith w^ithout works is dead.'' And it all
grows easy to understand, if we go right along in order.
Faith is necessary to salvation, and works are necessary
to faith ; so, of course, there is a sense in which works
are necessary to salvation ; for faith without works
would be defective and lifeless.
It would seem as if a true Christian coidd not possibly
liv-e a moment without experiencing the promptings of
these new feelings within. Satisfied that God is faith-
ful, and that Christ is in earnest, the believer imbibes
his Master's spirit. He enters into an actual joyous re-
pose of soul. All his powers are reduced to obedience
to law and are working under rules of harmony and na-
turalness. He has suddenly come back to spiritual
•health ; and, like all convalescents, feels generous and
agreeable, glad to meet and to make a world full of
friends. Sin is forgiven and the curse removed from
174 FAITH WORKING BY LOVE.
The stormless sky. Symmetry in religion.
his soul. There may be a few clouds of old wrath still
hanging over his head ; but the storm is in full retreat,
and the thunders already growing distant are no longer
for him to hear. And through many a little rift among
their folds his eye at times gains glimpses of the pure,
blue, stormless sky beyond them. Now and then, there
comes a ray of serene sunshine, so warm and fresh, so
bright and gladdening, that he lifts his heart in child-
like greeting unto him who sent it, and thankfully mur-
murs, ** My Lord and my God ! "
The thing seems almost inconceivable, therefore, that
there should anybody try to cherish a faith which is all
intellectuality, or an activity which is all bustle, or a
love which is all gushing. For the symmetry of real
religion is its most noble characteristic. Such a man
as it necessitates will be all the more a man because
of its possession. There will be in him no mere cold,
crispy orthodoxy ; though he certainly will have a faith.
There will be in him no stiffness of routine or ritual
drill ; though he certainly will be found working in
worship. There will be in him no soft sentimentalism
that exhausts itself in singing ; though he will joy
quietly in the Lord when the day's labor is over. But
there will be in him a living personality of the indwell-
ing Christ.
It is awful for men to pervert piety into pressure, and
turn grace into grip ; and no sanctimoniousness of unc-
tuous talk can apologize for it. Pure, sweet sunshine in
God's vineyard was never intended to dry up and harden
FAITH WORKING BY LOVE. 1/5
The work of a vine. Sailor saving men.
the vines into wire, as if their whole autumn work con-
sisted in climbing a trellis or strangling a tree. It is
meant to swell out fresh buds and broaden new branches ;
to warm up the leaves and render more succulent the
tendrils ; and by and by, in the time thereof, to kindle
the clusters with luminous purple, and flash their myste-
rious juices into wine.
Indeed, indeed, what this poor, lost, weaiy world
needed, on the night when the Bethlehem angels sang,
was not so much Christianity as it was Christ ! And
what this waiting, wistful race wants here and needs
to-day is not so much a religion as it is some religious
men ; not so much Christ in creed and Christ in miracle,
as it is Christ in love, Christ in life, whole, human, and
humane !
Let us look now for a picture that shall exhibit results,
as this true religion pushes itself out into realization.
What shall be our simile ? What sort of life would that
be which mingles in proper proportion faith and works,
and makes faith work by love ?
Let us suppose a sailor on the beach seeking to bring
ashore passengers from a wrecked ship. He is protected
by a rope fastened around his waist, and held firmly by
some one behind him.
Let us imagine a miner at the edge of a shaft, de-
termined to rescue some of his comrades down under-
ground, stifling in the fire-damp. He bends over the
awful chasm safely, for there is a rope under his arm-
pits, which is fastened securely to the windlass behind.
1/6 FAITH WORKING BY LOVE.
The rope of faith. Working actually.
Let us think of a fireman upon a ladder, from which
he seeks to be sw^ung over into the window^ of a blazing
house, in order just to snatch a child out of the flames
before they mount to the attic. He is girded by a rope,
held by the people behind him on the neighboring roof,
so as to keep him in case the floor is swept aw^ay.
Simple pictures all of these, the peculiarities of which
are the same — a dangerous service and a secured help.
You see how I must insist upon the rope as quite the
main thing to start w^ith.
This is the faith we have been talking about. In all
spiritual exposures, the Christian relies on a strength
not his owm. Every human being that goes forth after
a soul is held by a man just behind him ; and that man
here is Jesus Christ. And the simple difference between
Christian life and all other life lies in this — a Christian
life exists, acts, and growls entirely by a living faith.
With this hint, cannot even the youngest child go
straight on with the analysis of the motto ? Works come
next to faith ; the mere glance at our pictures will tell
where those enter. The sailor stands on the beach-rock,
the miner stands on the shaft-edge, the fireman stands
on the ladder-rung ; but standing is notw^orking. What
w^ould you have these people do ? You answ^er easily.
Let that sailor forget himself, trust the rope, plunge into
the water, and every instant catch hold of some new
swimmer, struggling in his agony. Let that miner set
loose the clog on the windlass, trust the rope, and rattle
down into the deptlis w^ith a leap for life from ledge to
FAITH WORKING BY LOVE. 17/
Gendeness. Wistful, pitiful love.
ledge, looking for smothering men. Let that fireman
wait not a moment, but trust the rope, spring through
the shivered glass of the chamber, and be off on his
errand in the smoke. No time is to be lost. It is no
boys' play this ! nor is saving souls boys' play.
And then comes the love — oh, word of inexhaustible
meaning ! That demands tenderness and anxiety, brave
deed, and cool purpose. Look over at our pictures
again. Let that sailor be on his guard, as he grasps
any one in the water by the necklace or the hair. So
let that miner fold his arms gently around the form of
his old comrade. He could bear buffets and banter
once ; but he is not in condition now. Kept carefully
and touched kindly, he may yet breathe again. Let
that fireman cover his coat over the young child's nos-
trils ; nor, however he may feel his own flesh shrivel in
the heat, suffer one tongue of flame so much as to curl
the hair on its forehead. For all these human beings,
you see, are down now to barest existence ; but they are
still alive^ and must be treated tenderly.
Can we not discern, then, where the lack is in most
of these modern types of religion ? Our lack is not so
much in the element of intelligence as in the other two,
feeling and activity ; and in feeling most of all. There
seems a want of earnest, wistful, pitiful love for the
souls of our fellow-men. There is too little delicate
sympathy for human weakness in our clumsy effort to
relieve it. We do not respect the solemn reserves of
each soul as we push, in the presence of others, the
FAITH WORKING BY LOVE.
Kissing a shadow. Unromantic duties.
probes of our questioning into its wounds. Souls are
solitary when they wrestle with God's angel. They do
not give their trust easily, and never unless they know
it is to a true friend.
Remember that some of us have supreme advantage
in this respect. '^ God is love ; and he that dwelleth in
love dwelleth in God, and God in him." That is true
for all, and yet not every one sees it. *' And we have
known and believed the love that God hath to us." Oh,
yes ! we have knoiun and believed God's love ; but men
who hear only rough, quick words from our lips cannot
believe in ours. We must make them reach confidence
in the sincerity of our affection by supreme endeavor of
patient forbearance and regard. Think of the faith that
old Crimean soldier had in Florence Nightingale, when
he lifted his aching body up just to kiss her shadow as
it suddenly ran along the wall !
Oh, we need men — need them now supremely — ready
for great, plain, unromantic duties ! We are in deplora-
ble lack of men and women, who love God with all their
hearts, and who love their fellow-men as they do them-
selves. We need men and women whose souls grow
fresher and younger, each time they come to the Lord's
table. This age of ours, cold and uncompromising,
thoroughly disrespectful and suspicious of all shams, de-
mands a new piety ; a piety frank in rebuking sin and
firm in resisting it, but tender and merciful when it seeks
to lift the man who is defiled by it. It clamors now
for no singular or dramatic experiences of conversion,
FAITH WORKING BY LOVE. 179
The world's demand. Satisfied at last.
least of all a something called a second conversion. He
who is the meetest of saints for the kingdom of heaven,
he who is the surest to enter heaven, may not at all be
the one who has the most graphic story to tell of con-
viction and wrestle, succeeded by some disclosure of
sunshiny and bird-singing peace afterward ; nor he
who has the longest and most voluble formulas of
prayer to rehearse on sudden public call. It is possible
that it may be even that unsuspected believer who
trusts Christ in the humblest way, dependent on him
for pardon, and he whose whole life is milder and mel-
lower as he moves patiently on toward, its end and
crown.
Indeed, we come back to the point at which we
started ; there is no getting beyond it. The poor, per-
plexed world says it will be satisfied only with a faith
which ivorketh by love.
XVL
THE SWEAT OF BLOOD.
Akd being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly: and his
SWEAT WAS as IT WERE GREAT DROPS OF BLOOD FALLING DOWN
TO THE GROUND. — Luke 22 : 44.
The theme for study next offered is stated thus :
*' Suffering saints find comfort in Christ." He is called
•* The Perfect Pattern ; " and we are assured, in the pas-
sage chosen from one of Simon Peter's epistles, that by
following him closely we shall return unto "the Shep-
herd and Bishop of our souls." (i Peter 2 : 19-25.)
I judge that a single incident in our Saviour's career
may be made to serve a more effective purpose than
any general rehearsal of the whole of it. And I choose
for detailed consideration his agony in the garden of
Gethsemane.
The apostle announces the principle that suffering is
actually welcome so as to be worthy of thanks, on three
conditions : it is to be gained conscientiously, endured
patiently, and inflicted unjustly. For this was the form
of Jesus' trials ; they came upon him in our behalf, and
as our pattern, and for our emulation.
The particulars he holds up as specially designed for
our imitation are our Lord's sinlessness and sincerity,
his patience and self-control, his courage and unbroken
THE SWEAT OF BLOOD. l8l
Christ our pattern. Physical pain.
trust. All these are seen in their highest degree as he
kneels beneath the olives in the garden, just before he
is betrayed. *' For this is thank-worthy, if a man for
conscience toward God endure grief, suffering w^rong-
fuUy. For even hereunto were ye called : because
Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that
ye should follow his steps : who did no sin, neither was
guile found in his mouth : who, when he was reviled,
reviled not again ; when he suffered, he threatened not ;
but committed himself to him that judgeth right-
eously."
The sight of moral disease affects the ordinary human
mind less than that of mental ruin ; and either of these
makes less impression than that of mere physical pain.
One who passes through the wards of a hospital be-
comes burdened and feverish with overstrained feeling.
He would have much less oppression in an insane asy-
lum, and would return with a kind of curious interest
after a visit to a jail. Perhaps this suggests a constitu-
tional reason w^hy the church at large dwells so much
on the bodily sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is
easy to appreciate the pain of a nailed hand, a pierced
side, or a transfixed foot. Hence, the most morbid and
even shocking pictures of the crucifixion scene are half
welcomed by many a mystic devotee, who magnifies
and measures the love of his Saviour by the pangs he
endured, the lacerations and wounds.
The scene, introduced to us by the verse in the gos-
pel, is calculated always to attract attention. It will re-
1 82 " THE SWEAT OF BLOOD.
The ancient collect. Luke, a physician.
ward our severest study. But we shall find ourselves
confronted with a form of anguish unshared, unparal-
leled, and unexplained. There is mystery in the details
of its description ; in the circumstances of its occur-
rence ; in even the fact of its record. Oh, how little we
know of what w^e so often call Christ's *' agony in the
garden ! "
I. There is mystery in the details of its descrip-
tion.
One venerable collect there is, found in an ancient
liturgy, which it becomes us reverently to offer here, as
we begin our investigations: — ''Almighty God, who
calledst Luke the physician, whose praise is in the gos-
pel, to be an evangelist, and physician of the soul ; may
it please thee, that, by the wholesome medicines of the
doctrine delivered by him, all the diseases of our souls
may be healed ; through the merits of thy Son Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen."
I. The single writer. — The history of this part of our
Saviour's anguish is recorded by only one of the evan-
gelists. Neither Matthew, Mark, nor John makes any
allusion to a sweat-like blood in Gethsemane. It may
not go very far in explanation of this strange fact, but
it can be stated for what it is worth, and probably will
help some minds, that Luke, who narrates this extraor-
dinary circumstance, was a physician by profession, and
in many instances in his gospel, discoverable by compar-
ing it with the others, shows his observation of matters
THE SWEAT OF BLOOD. 183
" As it were." Did Jesus sweat blood ?
peculiar to his calling. It is certain that this particular
in the garden -suffering of Jesus would powerfully arrest
his imagination, and impress his remembrance.
2. The singular language. — Our version of Luke's
story is positively accurate. Let us read it over again :
— *' His sweat was as it were great drops of blood fall-
ing down to the ground." This formula of comparison,
thus used, deserves close notice. The verse does not
say that Jesus sweat blood, but that what he did sweat
was like drops of blood falling. The same word I have
counted as occurring thirty-four times in the New Tes-
tament. In six instances it is translated "like;" in
seven, ''as;" in eighteen, "about;" in two, " as it had
been;" in one — this one here — "as it were." Luke
knows his own term ; and he says the Holy Ghost was
like a dove, and that Stephen's face was as it had been
the face of an angel ; that is, each of these seemed so ;
for the same adverb is used there as here. Indeed, in
no passage in all the New Testament does the expression
"like," or "as it were," signify fact; it merely means
resemblance. Shall we, then, assert that Jesus did not
shed the traditional blood-sweat in his agony ? No ;
not necessarily. But we ought not to be dogmatic
about it. It seems inexplicable that Luke should men-
tion blood at all, if there was no real blood to speak of
Drops of perspiration are just as specific, graphic, pic-
turesque as any other drops, if only force of style was
what he wanted. It is better to understand that, min-
gled with the profuse moisture upon Jesus' person,
1 84 THE SWEAT OF BLOOD.
Sleeping for sorrow. The third prayer.
there came forth, under a stress of new agony, the stain
of real blood, falling on the ground.
II. There is mystery in the circumstances of this
OCCURRENCE.
We shall see this if we note the exact time of it, the
immediate occasion of it, the rare nature of it, and the
exhaustive violence of it.
1. The Time. — It is most touching and pitiable to see
our lonely Lord going to and from the slumbering dis-
ciples, backward and forward, restless and unsatisfied,
as the hours pass wearily on. How little they knew of
his trial ! Again and again he prayed. The disciples
surrendered ; nobody tells us why but Luke. He drew
from his own experience as a professional man the fact
that sympathy is very wearing, and urges to drowsiness.
So he adds, charitably : *' He found them sleeping for
sorrow." Thus they lay heavily on the sward, and that
burdened Redeemer walked alone amid the shadows,
ever, as before, going ''a little further" under their
gloom. Yet this would not do. He must have a word,
a look, a sign, from his Father's throne. Just in the
line of incident, then, comes this phenomenon. It was
connected with the third prayer.
2. The Occasion. — Two prayers had seemingly failed
thus far, except insomuch as they bore by reflex action
on Jesus' personal experience. He had not yet in ex-
act answer received his request. Girding himself anew
then for a still mightier exercise of faith, submission,
THE SWEAT OF BLOOD. 1 85
Growth in submission. A misconception.
and importunity, he knelt upon the sward. Then na-
ture gave way. In the stress of that strong supplica-
tion, the natural barriers of blood were rended, and his
sweat was tinged.
We cannot fail, therefore, to connect this rupture with
the act of prayer. *' Being in an agony, he prayed more
earnestly." The expression means more intensely, more
strenuously. The singularity of this form of statement
lies in the implication it evidently makes that Jesus
could be less earnest at one time than another in his
prayers. It represents him as actually growing in the
experience of submitting his will to his Father's. There
is no force nor fixedness in language if this narrative
does not teach that he discovered there was need of
greater vehemence in spiritual fervor than that with
which he had begun to pray.
We must drop our preconceived notions of a mere
theanthropic Messiah here, and accept the picture of a
historic Jesus. It is plain that our Saviour entered
Gethsemane with a wish in his mind which was not in
accordance with his Father's will. In expressing it, he
remained, as ever, sinless, for he had no purpose which
he meant to carry out into wilfulness. All this time,
however, he was putting his will at school. It cost him
a conflict which he had never before experienced. Call
that ''cup " what you please ; he distinctly asked to be
permitted to decline it, and only after sev^ere struggle
acquiesced — ''Thy will, not mine." This must be the
plain reference of that tremendous passage in the epistle
1 86 THE SWEAT OF BLOOD.
*' He learned obedience." Charles IX.
to the Hebrews, where we are told concerning Jesus,
that ''in the clays of his flesh, when he had offered up
prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears,
unto him that was able to save him from death, and was
heard in that he feared ; though he were a Son, yet
learned he obedience by the things which he suffered."
3. The Nature. — But the moment the spirit became
"willing, it was evident that the flesh was weak. What
the mind can do in its regnant power over the body has
n^ver been fully tested for record. The trouble is, the
register breaks in the moment of measurement, ^ye
can hardly understand this curious effect of Jesus' dis-
tress upon him. The medical books, we are told, are
not without authentic instances of strong mental emo-
tions having bent and broken the physical frames of
men. The cases are rare, but by no means unknown ;
and one historic illustration has never been denied. It
is recorded that Charles the Ninth, of France, was, upon
his death-bed, so overcome by pangs of remorse under
the awful recollection of the Saint Bartholomew massa-
cre he had ordered, that his blood was actually driven
through the pores of his skin, and stained the linen on
which he lay. So that wx need not regard the small
cavils of those who declare the record incredible, even
if taken in the most literal way. Sweat of blood is not
frequent, certainly ; but it cannot be called impossible.
4. The Violence. — There can be no doubt, at all events,
of the physical effect of this exhaustion upon Jesus.
This sweat of blood remains as the highest evidence
THE SWEAT OF BLOOD. I87
Celestial succor. A mysterious record.
to sliow the rending laceration, the unfathomable depths,
and the awful extremity of that hour's pain. He broke
down utterly and irretrievably under it. A necessity
arose for divine interposition and succor, or he could
not go on. ''There appeared an angel unto him from
heaven, strengthening him."
Now, it might be expected that at this point there
would be a mystery. Who was this angel ? What did
he do ? No other evangelist even mentions the occur-
rence. Some excellent people have been stumbled to
think that an angel — a created being -should be sent to
help the Creator. Here is a silly misconception again.
Our Lord laid aside so much of his divine nature and
glory as was necessary for him to become fairly resident
in a human being, ''a little lower than the angels."
And in some way, not explained to us, that radiant mes-
senger renewed Jesus' strength, recruited his exhausted
frame, and raised him from his otherwise fatal exhaus-
tion.
HI. There is mystery in the fact that this record
WAS made.
We reach our highest wonder at this point. Three
questions meet us in the same breath. When was this
record put in the Bible ? How was it put in ? Why was
it put in ?
I. When was it put in ? For the singular fact con-
fronts us that it is not in — neither this verse nor the one
which precedes it — in many of the old manuscript cop-
THE SWEAT OF BLOOD.
The verse genuine. How did Luke know?
ies of this gospel. Some of our ablest commentators
doubt whether it really belongs in the New Testament
at all. They simply reject the story.
All this seems rash and uncalled for. Of course we
readily understand why any ancient transcriber should
be tempted to leave these verses out from the few copies
where they are missing ; it may have seemed to him,
perhaps, that such a story of utter humiliation dishon-
ored the Son of God. But nobody could understand
why a transcriber should invent so preposterous a thing,
aud thrust it into the many copies where it appears.
Hence the last critics have no hesitancy in holding that
all the record is authentic, just as genuine as any other
part of the gospel Luke has given us.
2. How was it put in ? That is, how did Luke know
about so extraordinary a phenomenon as this ? Mat-
thew and John were among the immediate disciples of
our Lord. And the hazardous conjecture has been
made that Mark was that '* young man" whom he him-
self alone mentions, w^ho followed Jesus "with a linen
cloth cast about his naked body." But nobody has
ever gone further than to offer a proofless suggestion
that Luke may have been one of those who met our
Saviour on the journey to Emmaus. And even the wild
remark is on record that possibly the marks of the
blood-drops would be visible after the termination of
the agony ! But no scholarly argument can be held for
an instant to show that this evangelist ever set his eyes
upon Jesus' face, or ever visited Gethsemane before the
THE SWEAT OF BLOOD. 1 89
Why related ? Christ's example.
resurrection. Luke was Paul's physician, and his his-
tory comes later. The quickest explanation is decidedly
the best, and the only one. The facts were communi-
cated to these inspired writers, as the facts of the crea-
tion were communicated to Moses, or the facts about
Cyrus to Isaiah. *' Holy men of God spake as they were
moved by the Holy Ghost."
3. Why was it put in ? Here we reach the main ques-
tion, the most momentous and most far-reaching mortal
lips can ask. To human comprehension this hour of
garden-agony is the one awful thing of the Bible. If
there can be another wonder deeper than this, that Jesus
should be humiliated so, it is that all the ages should be
told of it. Why w^as not this pain and shame covered
up from mortal gaze with a decorous darkness like that
which veiled the corresponding agony on the cross ?
Why send the curious eyes of men peering among the
shadows of Gethsemane, that they might report such
conflict of Immanuel, when he was at the lowest ? Now
for one, I would hush my voice, and cover my face, in
utter abandonment, if there had not been put on my lips
an answer by inspiration itself.
Listen to these words : " Christ also suffered for us,
leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps."
What Jesus endured on the cross lies between him and
his Father, and may well be covered up. What he en-
dured in the moonlight in the garden lies between him
and us, and we have a lesson to learn from it. He was
showing how a human will, which it was possible to set
igo THE SWEAT OF BLOOD.
"Our infirmities." " Vet without sin,"
against the divine, could be subdued into submission to
it. It was a lesson for every tempted man. Hence the
declaration, '' For verily he took not on him the nature
of angels ; but he took on him the seed of Abraham."
" Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh
and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the
same." Immanuel was *'God with us;" not a divine
soul in a human body merely, but a divine person in a
human nature precisely like our own. He could hunger
and thirst ; he could burn and shiver ; be weary and feel
pain. He took a human nature like Adam's, which was
fallible, and could commit sin. That he never did com-
mit any sin was because the human nature he took was
supported by the divine. *' Himself bare our infirm-
ities." If it had been in every sense impossible for him
to be touched by evil passions, or solicited by evil appe-
tites, or agitated by evil ambitions, he would have been
no pattern for you and for me.
All that call, in Gethsemane, to his disciples — ''Rise
and pray, lest ye enter into temptation " — would go for
nothing, unless there was some apprehension of over-
throw in his case that might be paralleled in theirs. He
could do all things through the divine nature which
strengthened him ; and w^e can do all things through
Christ, w^ho, by his promised Spirit, will strengthen us.
He was a man who never sinned ; to show us there could
be a man who should never sin. So was he '' in all
points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." He
assumed our weaknesses and exposures, as well as some
THE SWEAT OF BLOOD. I9I
Less he'p than we. Resist unto blood.
of our succors and defences, just to make us see that
these could in all cases offset each other. That is, he
entered into our commonplace conflicts to render it
eternally clear they could be fought out into triumphs.
He had less, indeed, of help than we have ; for have we
not his own bright example, his inspiriting encourage-
ments, and his sweet promises ? God has said to each
one of us, " I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck
is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass." It is the office
of our life's discipline to bend that sinew of iron, and
break that brow of brass.
''Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly
calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our
profession, Christ Jesus." He sweat blood in the gar-
den to teach us that w^e cannot duly have " considered "
him, as long as w^e " have not yet resisted unto blood,
striving against sin." As in the temptation he proved
Satan could be conquered w^ith three tests, so in the
agony he proved that human will could be subdued
with three prayers.
*' Could ye not watch with me one hour ? " On these
misim proved hours of heavenly instruction w^ill event-
ually be lodged some of our saddest regrets if ever
we fall into sin. Simon Peter, out in the quadrangle,
beside the fire of coals, must have felt one single
question of the soldier far more than all the gibes
of the maid : " Did not I see thee in the garden with
him?"
But the encouragement is even beyond the admoni-
192 THE SWEAT OF BLOOD.
The litany. Homeward steps.
tion. Would not he, who was willing to suffer, be will-
ing to succor also ? So let us pray : " By thine agony
and bloody sweat ; by thy cross and passion ; by thy
precious death and burial ; by thy glorious resurrection
and ascension ; and by the coming of the Holy Ghost ;
good Lord, deliver us 1 "
So now we come legitimately back from our illustra-
tion in the gospel to the lesson in the epistle upon which
our study needs to close. We see what the apostle means
when he concludes : '* For ye were as sheep going astray,
but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of
your souls."
There are just three homeward steps for every human
being entering into the spirit and advantage of our Sav-
iour's suffering. Think what we all once have been :
"sheep going astray." See what Jesus now is: ''the
Shepherd and Bishop" of souls. Come close to him
w^ith a hearty ''return."
" For thus saith the Lord God, Behold I, even I, will
both search my sheep, and seek them out. I will feed
them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains
of Israel shall their fold be : there shall they lie in a
good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the
mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will
cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God."
XVII.
SIN CLEANSED BY BLOOD.
The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all
SIN.— I John 1 : 7.
An interesting story has been related in one of our
missionary periodicals concerning a faithful minister
now laboring in the foreign field. While traveling once
in India, he discovered, in a retired spot by the wayside,
a man lying on the earth. Seen at a distance, he ap-
peared to be asleep. He judged him to be one of those
singular heathen devotees, so often in that land encoun-
tered upon their painful pilgrimages, and supposed that,
fatigued with his protracted journey, he had fallen on
the ground for rest.
Coming up to him, however, he found that the man
was really in a dying state, just breathing his last.
Kneeling down by his side, and solicitous to give help
or bring comfort to one in such mortal extremity, he
put the question in the native language : *' Brother,
what is your hope for eternity ? "
Faintly, but with an expression of delighted surprise,
the man replied : *' The blood of Jesus Christ his Son
cleanseth us from all sin." His strength failed him with
the mere repetition of these inspired words ; and in a
moment more, the soul of this unknown believer had
9
194 SIN CLEANSED BY BLOOD.
The Bengalee convert. " Brother, your hope ? "
passed out of human sight, and was in the presence of
God. Subdued into unutterable emotion at thus sud-
denly confronting death, there in so secluded a retreat,
the missionary gazed upon the lifeless body, silently
wondering who this strange fellow-Christian might be.
His eye caught a glimpse of a fragment of paper closely
clasped in the dead man's hand. On examination, this
proved to be a detached leaf of the Bengalee Testament.
And on it were traced the words which that Hindoo
convert had repeated with trustful reliance, as he floated
out alone upon that shoreless sea of eternal existence
which rolls all around the world.
There comes an hour to every individual, when that
same impressive question must be answered with equal
explicitness : " Brother, what is your hope for eternity ? "
There will be a day when each one of us will withdraw
quietly from the dusty road of human travel, and seek
some undisturbed spot in which to die. A score of
wrong replies may be made then, when it will be too
late for a man to make any other. That which the Ben-
galee believer made is the only safe one ; and that has
to be understood earlier.
It is a useless thing to assert with persistent vehe-
mence that it matters little or nothing as to w^hat a man
believes, provided he is only sincere. It makes a great
deal of difference what a man believes. Faith decides
character, and character fixes destiny. *' As a man
thinketh in his heart, so is he." Theory governs life,
and life it is that opens the door of eternity.
SIN CLEANSED BY BLOOD. IQS
The one Mediator. The words " lie " and " liar."
It was long ago declared possible for human beings,
under a strong delusion, to believe a lie. If any one
does that, the more sincere he is in it, the worse he is
off. Jesus of Nazareth is the one mediator between
God and man ; so says inspiration : *' Neither is there
salvation in any other : for there is none other name
under heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved." There is one clear way of salvation from sin ;
there is one relief from the burden of wrath and guilt ;
but there are not two.
When the apostle John, who generally seems so gen-
tle, breaks out in the strong expression : *' If we say
that we have not sinned, we make God a liar, and his
word is not in us," we are inevitably thrown into con-
sternation. Instinctively we look at the connection of
such sentences, to see if we may not have mistaken the
meaning. Then we are startled to read again a fresh
reiteration of the same statement : *' If we say that we
have fellowship with God, and walk in darkness, we
lie, and do not the truth." Such language appears
to delicate-minded people somewhat violent and ex-
treme.
Moreover, it awakes opposition. To hear an inspired
preacher bandying around those words /zVand liar, which
no one in this life takes tamely, seems extravagant. It
always surprises us to find an habitually mild man using
such rough epithets. But if we are forced to the con-
viction that he is thoroughly in earnest, and really
means what he says, then we forget the speaker in the
196 SIN CLEANSED BY BLOOD.
A possible mistake. God cannot lie,
violence of the sentiment. We begin stubbornly to
deny the charges.
Now here the beloved disciple interposes a single dep-
recation. He is charitable enough to suppose that no
one would condemn us unheard. He allows the sup-
position of half-innocent inistake upon our part. He
says : "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive our-
selves, and the truth is not in us." But even this does
not take off the sharp edge altogether. For we have
no notion we are so utterly dull in our self-knowledge ;
no one admits that he is so miserably deceived as this.
The fact is undeniable ; most men have no true convic-
tion of personal guilt, such as demands ignorance for
an apology, or offers it as an exculpation. At all events,
we are not willing meekly to be told that the mere feel-
ing of injustice, which sweeps over us under the exten-
sive condemnation pronounced upon us, is equivalent to
flinging back upon the divine Being who made us the
accusation of himself bearing false witness. We have no
purpose whatever of calling God, our heavenly Father,
a liar. These swift estimates strike us as offensive and
rash, in despite of inspiration. They do certainly, so
we insist, overrate the wickedness of our follies and im-
perfections. They attach too much importance to our
mere harmless fretting under heavenly restraints. They
inject an unmerited malignity of guilt into simple petu-
lance and caprice of will, which has no intention of pos-
itive rebellion.
It is probable that many of us make these two mis-
SIN CLEANSED BY BLOOD. 197
Actual computation. " Sin," but not " sins."
takes at once : We do not attempt to add up the numbers
of our actual transgressions ; and we fail to bear in
mind that non-performance of the right is the same as the
doing of real wrong. So we naturally satisfy ourselves
with conclusions that do not come up to the standard
of perfectness which the judgment of infinite purity de-
mands. God makes registers which we say are not true.
'' Every way of a man is right in his own eyes : but the
Lord pondereth the hearts."
It becomes evident that all the sacred writers have an-
other criterion than ours, by which they more accurately
measure the exact heinousness of human conduct in the
sight of a holy God. The fear arises, in every exhibi-
tion of men's responsibility for behavior, that many a
one will be found who is attempting to pass all particu-
lars by, and take a sweet self-congratulation in confess-
ing generals. He will acknowledge he is a sinner, per-
haps. Everybody is. He supposes he may have bro-
ken the Decalogue. But you will ask in vain for him
to mention the commandment. Sometimes one w^ll ad-
mit that he is exposed to the curse of the law. At the
same moment, however, he is prepared to make a stand
of denial upon each precept in turn. Such a man actu-
ally appears sincere. He imagines it is just fair to him
to draw a distinction. He may have committed sin^ but
no sins. He is defiled, but not exactly blameworthy.
He feels pain and weakness, and so owns he has caught
a calamity of wickedness, as even the healthiest of men
possibly might catch an infectious disease. But he in-
198 SIN CLEANSED BY BLOOD.
Guilt massing itself.
Reminiscences.
sists that he has lived conscientiously, and has never
been a violent transgressor. He merits less censure,
having sinned, as it were, only by accident.
Then, further, it seems clear that before we can set-
tle the moral state of any given individual, we shall be
compelled to take into consideration his lack of positive
obedience and service, as it ought to be registered by
the light and the chances he has received. And with
most of us, dwelling under the full blaze of the gospel,
the case may eventually go hard. In nothing else does
sin display its Satanic origin and nature so evidently as
in its insidious power of massing itself in and upon a
human soul, without that soul's becoming painfully or
alarmingly conscious of its baleful presence. This is
what constitutes the peculiar "deceitfulness" of trans-
gression, concerning which we are so frequently admon-
ished in the Scriptures. And this is what blinds the
eyes most of all against the discovery that doing noth-
ing right is just the same as doing something wrong.
" Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth
it not, to him it is sin."
I honestly and sorrowfully believe there is no person
in any intelligent community, informed enough to un-
derstand how searchingly the law of God lays hold upon
motives and purposes, and all the hidden movements of
the mind, who cannot even now recall the day and the
hour when his will crossed God's will in an actual expe-
rience of speech or of deed, and he determined to have
his own way — did have it — and knows now, this very
SIN CLEANSED BY BLOOD. 199
Old wrongs. Negative sins.
moment, that in that decision and behavior he deliber-
ately sinned against the God of heaven.
To many of us there are faces on earth, living some-
where, near or distant, which we desire never to behold
again ; faces, for example, which seen in our business
haunts or social circles, and likely to claim old acquaint-
ance with us, would mantle our cheeks with shame.
There are tongues, which could speak in some ears only
a few words of recollection and recall, that we would
give the world rather than have whispered in the pres-
ence of those friends who respect us and trust us to-
day. Do you suppose King David was the only man
that ever lived who could pray, or has prayed, in an
abashed wonder at his own disclosed history : *' Remem-
ber not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions :
according to thy mercy remember thou me, for thy good-
ness' sake, O Lord ? "
Alas for our neglects of duty — our first oath, our fool-
ish dissipation, our bad book read, our filthy story told,
our Sabbath broken, our parents disobeyed, our preva-
rication under the sharp question of an employer, our
evil companionship ! And in our riper years — alas for
our impulsive yielding to dishonesty, our malicious
insinuation undermining the fair fame of another, our
acted lie to keep up appearances, our permitted misun-
derstanding from which came gain to our greed, our
quarrels with rivals in trade or competitors in profes-
sion, our ungenerous suspicion that rejected old trust,
our indignation at fraternal rebukes ! Alas for our wil-
200 SIN CLEANSED BY BLOOD.
Our ownership in sin. The sea-shell.
ful outbreaks of temper, our miserable jealousies in so-
ciety, our chicaneries in politics, our covetings of gain,
our whisperings of detraction, our word broken when it
should have been kept, our word given when it should
have been withheld, our wounding speeches to the weak
and dependent, our anger at the beggars, our hardness
on the poor, our pride, always too unwilling to explain
or retract old injustice or heal estrangement ! Who is
clear in this ?
All of these may not be recognized by the same per-
son, but each will remember his own. And the uncom-
fortable pain they bring arises in no degree against the
one who suggests them, for they do not originate with
him ; they are ours, and ours alone.
You sometimes enter a cabinet of curiosities, and the
attendant proffers you a large, beautiful shell. He tells
you that, if you put it to your ear, you can hear the
moaning of the ocean. It amuses you to make the trial ;
sure enough, you seem listening to a roar of waves upon
the rocks. Your curiosity, however, is most arrested by
the fact that you hear the sound only when you grasp
the shell yourself. Perhaps a child would imagine that
it holds in its recesses memories of the beach it came
from. But you inquire, and are now interested to be
informed that the noise comes not out of any peculiar-
ity in the shell, but only from the vibration of your own
fingers around on the outside of the hollow convolu-
tions, as the tension of the muscles grows tremulous
under the pressure. So really, wl^at you hear is not the
SIN CLEANSED BY BLOOD. 201
The sound In one's ears. The " life-giver."
ocean at all, but only the beat and pulse of your own
busy life.
Bear away with you a profitable thought from this.
You hold up God's word close to your ear ; somebody
tells you it is full of warning; you perceive the dull
roar of retribution yourself ; you grow pettish if another
man presses it harder. But all this while you hear the
moaning of a solemn admonition more clearly if you
are alone. For what you hear is just your own heart
growing prophetic of evil, when it listens to the voice
of your own life telling its record to your soul. " The
wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the
number of years is hidden to the oppressor. A dread-
ful sound is in his ears : in prosperity the destroyer shall
come upon him."
Now then, what the apostle John says is that there is
no use in trjang to deny such an impeachment. God
charges that we are rebellious sinners, and our hearts
accept the sense of guilt. If we refuse to admit it, w^e
are liars ourselves, and are attempting to show that God
is also. " But if we walk in the light, as he is in the
light, we have fellowship one with another, and the
blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."
Scholars tell us that throughout the Peshito Syriac
version of the Scriptures, deemed among the most prim-
itive and intelligent, "salvation" is in all cases rendered
** life ; " the saved are called the living or the alive ; the
Saviour bears the name of Mahyono, or the life-giver.
In all this there is a proper recognition of our owing
202 SIN CLEANSED BY BLOOD.
McCheyne's remark. Carey's epitaph.
everything to Jesus Christ, our surety. We are dead in
trespasses and in sins, but our life is hid with Christ in
God. ^*To be awakened," wisely said McCheyne, *'we
need to know our own hearts ; to be saved, we need to
know the heart of Jesus Christ."
Christ is, therefore, a perfect Saviour. Our relief is
not found in denying sin, but in accepting him as our
redeemer from it. If we plead not guilty, we do not tell
the truth. '* And if any man sin, we have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous : and he is
the propitiation for our sins : and not for ours only, but
also for the sins of the whole world. " "If we confess our
sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
It was the dying request of William Carey, that if a
poor sinful creature should merit any word to be said at
his funeral, it should be merely to declare that upon his
tombstone he wanted this one verse for an epitaph :
"A wretched, poor, and helpless worm,
On thy kind arms I fall ;
My Lord, my life, my sacrifice,
My Saviour, and my all ! "
XVIII.
LOVE AS A FORCE.
We love him, because he first loved us.— i John 4 : 19.
John, the beloved disciple, soon shows himself the
loving apostle. Specially, in that remembered passage
of his first epistle, near the beginning of the fourth
chapter, he pictures a range of experience extending
from God to man and from man to his fellow-man, very-
rare and beautiful, and full of practical suggestion to all
who will study it. He shows us love as an embodiment
in God, love as a manifestation by God, and love as a
force from God.
I. As an embodiment, he puts it thus : "God is love."
He tells us, in the outset, that the Creator had cher-
ished an eternal affection and solicitude for fallen man.
The next step leads him to say that God had plainly ex-
hibited his interest by his careful providences. Then he
passes swiftly and enthusiastically on in a glowing de-
scription of the love. Then he begins to laud it ; then
he vindicates God's claims for obedience on account of
it. Thus advancing constantly, more and more fully
under sway of his theme, as he refreshes his own soul
with the delights of it, he at last reaches the climax,
and in one burst of ascription, whose very simplicity
204 LOVE AS A FORCE.
" God is love." Natural religion.
constitutes its grandeur, he declares, *'God is love."
A sense of obligation is instantly asserted : " Beloved,
let us love one another : for love is of God ; and every-
one that loveth, is born of God, and knoweth God. He
that loveth not, knoweth not God ; for God is love."
Now we are not to suppose he intended to give here
an exact definition of the Supreme Being. The al-
mighty Creator is a person, not an attribute. John only
takes what he insists to be the chief characteristic of the
Deity, and by a bold stroke of rhetoric affirms that he is
its perfection and embodiment at the highest.
It is vitally necessary to the success of any system of
belief that men shall understand the character of the
God who demands worship and service under it. Man
is a devotional being, and he will certainly clamor for
some religion with all the wistful voices of his entire
nature. What that religion will be depends upon one
primary conception in his mind ; namely, the idea he
has of the supreme Jove or Jehovah at the centre and
head of it. This it is which gives form to all his rea-
sonings, as well as a reason for all his forms. Let a na-
tion be instructed to think of God as a being of war,
and little by little their worship is sure to become mar-
tial, and the feelings of their hearts military. Battle-
songs will be the anthems on the holy-days, cries for
vengeful success will be the prayers, and heroic soldiers
will figure as demi-gods. Not unlikely human victims
will smoke upon the altars, and bloody trophies will be
hung upon the walls of the temples. Men always be-
LOVE AS A FORCE. 20$
The idea of God. Projection of attributes.
come like that which they willingly worship. This one
idea of God controls the entire race, giving shape to
every form of development.
"Think of Buddha," say the Chinese priests, "and
you will grow to resemble Buddha." So they picture
heaven as consisting of a series of tremendous periods
of time, divided according to the portions of Buddha's
person. So many years are to be passed in thinking of
Buddha's feet ; so many years in thinking of Buddha's
knees ; so many years in thinking of Buddha's waist,
and of his shoulders, and of his chin, and so on. Their
idea of God fashions the whole religion they cherish and
the devotional life they live.
Now, we must remember that the Bible teaches us to
reverse the usual process by which unregenerate men
seek to reach the idea of the Supreme Being. The so-
called philosophers and "advanced thinkers" of this
world are wont to construct their own deities. They pro-
ject the attributes of their common nature into infinity,
and then group them together, calling that Jove or Jeho-
vah, as it pleases themselves. That is to say, they con-
ceive power, which in a measure human beings possess,
to become unlimited ; that makes omnipotence. Then
they conceive wisdom, which sages exhibit, to advance
into omniscience. So they gather the qualities of the
supremely best human nature, augment them and refine
them and exalt them until they may suddenly be hur-
ried into personality — and the personage is God. Un-
fortunately, the result of this process is unequal to the
206 LOVE AS A FORCE.
"An Ethiop's god." God's revelation of himself.
need of one's soul, because it is the simple creation of
one's soul •, the fountain cannot rise higher than the
spring. A conception thus originated partakes of the
entire man that starts it, and so universally the produc-
tions will vary as the men do.
'*An Ethiop's god hath Ethiop's lips.
Black cheek, and woolly hair ;
But the Grecian god hath a Grecian face.
As keen- eyed and as fair."
The New Testament shows us that God prefers to
draw his own picture upon the human imagination, and
addresses our faith by the disclosure of himself sover-
eignly in the person of Jesus Christ So far back as in
his gospel, this same evangelist John had written : " No
man hath seen God at any time ; the only-begotten Son,
which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared
him." Here, in his epistle, he amplifies and reiterates
the thought ; showing that our entire notion of the
Supreme Being comes from what he has himself re-
vealed to us from on high : ''No man hath seen God at
any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us,
and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that
we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us
of his Spirit. And we have seen, and do testify, that the
Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world."
Let it be taken for granted that God is love ; that is,
that he is actuated by love, his character is based on
love, his law is a law of love, his dealings are in the
LOVE AS A FORCE. 20/
The true religion. A religion of love.
highest sense the demonstrations of love, his leanings
toward our fallen race are the yearnings of love. Then
let it be understood that love becomes the permanent
and reigning principle of our being ; and we shall in-
stantly understand the meaning of the verse : ''Whoso-
ever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God
dwelleth in him, and he in God."
Suppose, then, there should be openly introduced a
religion of gentleness and good-will, fixed unmistakably
before all by the plain and characteristic element in it
announced in the statement, *' God is love." This would
give to men love as an active principle of life. A God
of love must be worshipped with love. Around him our
sympathies would have to be grouped, so that whenever
our veneration was to find utterance, or our devotion
was to choose a ceremony, it necessarily would exhibit
the presence of love as the prevailing spirit, and would
show love in all its ritual forms.
That is to say, take this old faith of ours, " the faith
once delivered to the saints," as an example of w^hat a
religion must be. It is a religion of pure love ; for its
Founder said explicitly : " The first of all the command-
ments is. Hear, O Israel ; The Lord our God is one
Lord : and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind,
and with all thy strength. This is the first command-
ment. And the second is like, namely this. Thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other com-
mandment greater than these."
208 LOVE AS A FORCE.
Love manifested. The life of Jesus.
2. Next to this consideration of love as an embodi-
ment in God, the apostle presents love as a manifesta-
tion by God : " In this was manifested the love of God
toward us, because that God sent his only-begotten Son
into the world, that we might live through him. Here-
in is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us,
and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
There cannot be much advantage in pushing bright
historic illustrations as pictures of the supreme, wonder-
ful love of God the creator for his creatures here on the
earth. Only mothers can understand the feeling of
Mary when Jesus Christ moaned on the cross in the ma-
jestic agony of his sufferings in darkness. And not
even mothers can understand the feelings of God when
he gave this beloved and only-begotten Son of his unto
contumely and shame of crucifixion. Nor are Christ's
feelings within reach of mere rhetorical exhibition by a
story. When the spear pierced his heart there was only
blood and water that came forth. But the chief stream
within Jesus' heart was that of inexhaustible love ; and
that had been the current down which had floated the
argosies of blessing for bewildered men for vast ages
since the pestilence of sin had fallen.
We must read the life of Jesus Christ as the mere
unfolding of this love. There is no explanation of
Bethany tears outside of it. He might have taught a
Samaritan woman professionally, like any other rabbi
upon the road ; but he never would have ''sat thus " on
the well, unless he had loved her soul and longed to
LOVE AS A FORCE. 209
"He first loved us." Not for ourselves.
save it by the truth. Simon the Cyrenian would have
said he was uplifting an unknown malefactor's cross, as
he unwillingly came in behind Jesus and raised the tim-
ber on his shoulder. But what he was doing really was
this — he was succoring eternal Love bearing a burden
which for the moment proved too much for its physical
embodiment. Peter saw Love walking upon the water ;
John the Baptist pointed out Love on the shore of the
Jordan ; Mary Magdalene spoke to Love on the excited
morning of the resurrection ; Judas kissed Lov^e when
he swung the lantern before the face of Jesus ; Love had
been kneeling under the old olives, and had left drops
of blood-sweat on the grass. A whole biography there
is, which cannot be read at all, unless read as an unfold-
ing of the love of God in Jesus Christ for men.
And all our love simply grows out of his : *'We love
him because he first loved us." But why did he first
love us ? There was nothing in fallen man to attract
admiration. We love what is lovely ; we believe God
does the same. But we are all in ruins. Jonathan
loved David because he was so brave and noble, as he
told about Goliath.
Nor was this love of God drawn out toward men by
any reason of promise for the future. Pharoah's daugh-
ter heard the cry of a babe in the bulrushes ; she whis-
pered contemptuously of it, *' It is only one of the He-
brews' children ! " But when the attendant stooped
down to pick it up, she saw it was a "goodly child," and
something might be made of it if only she would give it
2IO LOVE AS A FORCE.
Not that we loved him. A driving energy.
a little fairer chance. But we never had any hope of
betterment by ourselves.
Nor even was this divine love drawn out toward us
by any affection that we still retained for him. He
knows how we naturally feel toward him. *' The carnal
mind is enmity against God." The love we live upon
is the sovereign, unconstrained gift of our God. " For
when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ
died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man
will one die ; yet peradventure for a good man some
would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love
towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us."
3. This leads us directly on to the third point made
by the apostle : he now considers love as a force from
God. The reach of his thought grows extensive ; it de-
scends from heaven to earth. Obligation comes after
such supreme advantage : " Beloved, if God so loved us,
we ought also to love one another."
Affection is tx. force — in itself inherently a driving en-
ergy, an elementary power of human nature which as-
serts itself when unhindered, as gravitation does, or
magnetism, or pure sunshine. It is never to be forgot-
ten that souls yield to its influence all the more surely,
and all the more extensively, because they yield uncon-
sciously. Herein lies our hope of success in winning
souls.
Once I knew a working man, a potter by business,
who had one small invalid child at home. He wrought
LOVE AS A FORCE. 211
Story of a potter. Quiet fellowship.
at his trade with exemplary fidelity, being always in the
shop with the opening of day. He managed, however,
to bear each evening to the bedside of the *' wee lad," as
he called him, a flower, or a bit of ribbon, a fragment
of crimson glass, indeed anything that would lie out on
the white counterpane, and give a color in the room.
He was a quiet unsentimental Scotchman ; but never
wxnt he home at nightfall without some toy or trinket,
showing he had remembered the wan face that lit up so
when he came in. I presume he never said to a living
soul that he loved that sick boy so much. Still he
went on patiently loving him. And by and by he
moved that whole shop into positively real but un-
conscious fellowship with him. The workmen made
curious little jars and teacups upon their wheels, and
painted diminutive pictures down the sides before they
stuck them in corners of the kiln at burning time. One
brought some fruit in the bulge of his apron, and an-
other some engravings in a rude scrap-book. Not one
of them all whispered a word, for this solemn thing was
not to be talked about. They put them in the old
man's hat, where he found them ; so he understood all
about it. And I tell you seriously, that entire pottery
full of men, of rather coarse fibre by nature, grew quiet
as the months drifted, becoming gentle and kind, and
some of the ungoverned ones stopped swearing, as the
weary look on their patient fellow-worker's face told
them beyond any mistake that the inevitable shadow
was drawing nearer. Every day now somebody did a
212 LOVE AS A FORCE.
A child's funeral. A loyal affection.
piece of his work for him, and put it up on the sanded
plank to dry ; thus he could come later and go earlier.
So, when the bell tolled, and the little coffin came out
of the door of the lowly house, right around the corner
out of sight, there stood a hundred stalwart working-
men from the pottery with their clean clothes on, most
of whom gave a half-day of time for the privilege of tak-
ing off their hats to the simple procession, filing in be-
hind it, and following across the village green to its
grave that small burden of a child, which probably not
one of them had ever seen w^ith his own eyes.
You all understand this : they loved him because some-
body had loved him. Oh ! if just an earthly affection
like this can win others into sharing it, what is there
which cannot be done with an affection that is heav-
enly ? If men love Christ with all their hearts, as that
Scotchman loved his boy, the very love will carry heart
after heart in its train. And so here is an instrument
of usefulness within the reach of every Christian who
will employ it.
Some believers think they cannot speak felicitously,
nor pray fluently, in public ; but what man lives that
cannot love the cause, and love men, and love children,
and love Christ loyally, until an entire circle of men
and women he touches with his influence shall love him
whom unseen we love ; in whom, though now we see
him not, yet believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable
and full of glory !
So I say again, therein lies the secret of all success.
LOVE AS A FORCE. 213
Somebody cares. Love wins love.
You need not go far for illustration. A teacher brought
one of her Bible class to me ; she tried to conceal her
anxiety and restrain her emotion. But the boy caught
a glimpse of the real tears which she could not keep
back from her eyes ; and then he listened. Once an
active merchant told me a lamentable tale of his book-
keeper ; he desired me to interpose and save the young
man from ruin. But never should I have reached the
heart of the clerk if I had not happened to say his em-
ployer's voice faltered when he spoke of him ; for so he
knew his master cared for his good. Once I mentioned
to a clergyman that perhaps I could help a disabled
shoemaker with some little work, if he would come and
see me soon. And next week I learned that this faith-
ful friend, a city missionary, walked six cold miles that
winter evening to tell the cobbler his good news before
the midnight. And if ever I straitened myself to get
a place for a man, I did then for him. For a man loved
him, and then so did I.
Hence the whole truth is in the statement : we love
Christ because he loved us first. Then the love of Christ
constrains us to seek others and lead them to love him ;
and we teach them to love a Saviour they never saw by
showing them how much we love him. Thus we uncon-
sciously grow Christ-like ourselves, for his Spirit dwells
within us. We learn to love human beings because
Christ loved the lost race they belong to. And then
men, seeing we love them, love us and our work. And
so the way is wide open to win them to God.
XIX.
ALPHA AND OMEGA.
I AM Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith
THE Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come,
THE AlMlGlLTY.— Revelation i : 8.
Blue, dim, and solitary, in the wide offing, as one
sails over the ^gean Sea, rises the Isle of Patmos sud-
denly, out in the distance. There is no reason specially
for a visit. Little or nothing remains to be seen ashore.
But the Christian tourist sits thoughtfully on the deck,
and recalls from his familiar reading that here John, the
last of the apostolic band, and the loneliest, vi^as once
worshiping, and heard a trumpet ; he looked, and saw
a vision ; he listened, and received an encouragement ;
he was obedient, and wrote the Apocalypse.
I. What did the trumpet articulate ?
For it uttered words. Its blast rang out in terms and
tones of human speech. On that solemn Sunday morn-
ing, while this spiritually-minded man was in the act
of communion with God, the heavens overhead became
vocal. He tells the story in his own simple way :
** I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard
behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am
Alpha and Omega, the first and the last : the beginning
ALPHA AND OMEGA. 21 5
A whirling wheel. God changes not.
and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was,
and which is to come, the Almighty."
There is, so scientific people tell us, one point, even
in a whirling wheel, which is at rest. One line of atoms
at the axis, around which all the others revolve, is still.
When we conceive of providence, intricate and confused
as it is, well typed by the prophet as " a wheel in the
middle of a wheel," we are always to remember that God
himself is sitting unmoved at the centre of the universe,
the Father of lights, from whom cometh down every good
and every perfect gift, and with whom there is no vari-
ableness, neither shadow of turning. And there is re-
lief and comfort in this.
Shocked and shifted as we are in this life, our minds
become impressed with a sense of insecurity. We are
agitated with a thousand disquiets. No lot in the world
is safe. Affairs fluctuate. Individual experience flits
and plays with the phases of the moon. Institutions are
not fixed. Even the perpetual hills do bow, and the
eternal seas do change their bounds. Stability seems
but an empty fiction or a dream. Versatilities mock
our expectation ; vicissitude is the rule of earthly ex-
istence.
Over all sits God calmly. His throne never moves.
His eye never sleeps. His patience never wearies. He
wills and waits at his own pleasure. We look up and
find him watching ; we know where to find him always.
And the beauty and glory and welcome of this thought
is centred in upon the one revelation that the God
2l6 ALPHA AND OMEGA.
Immanuel. Pre-existence.
whom we see is the Saviour whom we love : " Jesus
Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever."
The idea of our divine Lord as a person is to many
minds exceedingly indefinite. He seems a mere his-
toric character, born, living, dying, like any other being
among the generations of men. We accept his deity as
a mysterious doctrine of revelation, essential, of course,
to his office and work ; but our understanding of the
ineffable meaning it bears is very vague and irrelevant.
And that strange life, which began at the manger in
Bethlehem, ran through some sorrowful years in Galilee,
and then ended on the cross at Jerusalem, has no real
significance as a mission of Immanuel, *'God with us."
We hardly know how to deal with it. Really the weak-
ness of many believers is owing to their absolute inabil-
ity to make this personal career of our Redeemer avail-
able in their experience.
Such confusion is perfectly natural. It is the neces-
sary sequence of a miserable mistake. How childishly
inadequate is the conception of an infinite Son of God,
which limits him consciously or unconsciously to an
earthly history ending in a failure ! Now the Scripture
insists that Jesus' birth was not his beginning, nor was
his death his end. The thirty-three years of his human
existence bear almost no measure or relation to the real
duration of his life. He was living for an eternity pre-
vious to their commencing ; he is living now in an eter-
nity as unbroken and as boundless as ever. The incar-
nation was an incident in his career ; it was only a part
ALPHA AND OMEGA. 21/
Child's notion of God. The Scripture scene.
of his work of redemption, a necessary part, a noble
part, but not the whole. His biography would have to
be written with an alphabet, the Alpha of which no hu-
man voice ever repeated, the Omega of which no mor-
tal tongue would know how to speak.
II. What was the vision which John saw ?
"I can just remember," says a theologian of the last
century, *' that when the women first taught me to say
my prayers to God, I used to have an idea of a vener-
able old man, of a composed and benign countenance,
with his own hair, clad in a morning gown of a grave-
colored damask, sitting sedately in an elbow-chair."
Such conceptions are singular as a study ; but are they
not frequent as an experience ? Would it not be to edi-
fication if a company of religious people should com-
pare together the actual sight they seem to see when
they close their eyes for an act of prayer ? Scripture
pictures of the divine Being, which are not infrequent,
have nothing of this grossness. There is an unparal-
leled dignity and grace in every attitude and gesture
when the presence of Jehovah is seen. So we expect a
picture of grandeur now in the story.
*' And I turned to see the voice that spake with me.
And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks. And
in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the
Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot,
and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head
and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow ;
and his eyes were as a flame of fire ; and his feet like
2l8 ALPHA AND OMEGA.
The mysterious symbols. Augustine's vision.
unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace ; and his
voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his
right hand seven stars ; and out of his mouth went a
sharp two-edged sword : and his countenance was as
the sun shineth in his strength."
I do not suppose there is any use in our trying thor-
oughly to understand this spectacle. It is easy to point
out the symbols found in the description. "Hairs
white like wool " must signify venerableness ; '* eyes as
a flame of fire " must mean omniscience ; the " two-
edged sword " indicates justice ; the " voice as the sound
of many waters" might suggest power ; and the "coun-
tenance as the sun shining in his strength " certainly in-
timates holiness. Still I think the scene loses rather
than gains by such an analysis. It does not seem easy
to give or to gain any proper conception of God.
At the head of one of the chapters of " Daniel Deron-
da" stands this motto : "The beginning of an acquain-
tance, whether with persons or things, is to get a defi-
nite outline for our ignorance," It is better that we
spend our efforts in using w^hat we do know of the al-
mighty Being who made us, rather than in exhausting
ourselves with curious inquiries after his mysteries.
The celebrated surgeon Morgagni once let fall his scal-
pel in the midst of a dissection, and exclaimed : " Oh,
that I could simply love God as well as I know him ! "
In one of the Continental galleries is an exquisite
painting by Murillo, entitled, "The Vision of Saint
Augustine." It represents a dream of this great father
ALPHA AND OMEGA. 2ig
The mystery of God. John abashed.
of the church, narrated by himself. He tells us that
while busied in writing his discourse upon the Trinity,
he wandered along the seashore wrapped in meditation.
Suddenly he beheld a child, who, having dug a hole in
the sand, appeared to be bringing water from the sea to
fill it. Augustine inquired what was the object of his
task ? He replied that he intended to empty into this
cavity all the waters of the great deep. Of course the
philosopher exclaimed *' Impossible ! " But the boy an-
swered, ''Not more impossible, surely, than for thee, O
Augustine, to explain the mystery on which thou art
meditating ! " There is a theme for any chastened and
thoughtful imagination ! See that tall figure in priestly
robes, on the border of the sea, looking pitifully down
upon the Divine Child — the infant Christ — holding in
his slender hand his scoop of shell, his ladle, his small
bowl of water, while he looks up so wise with the ma-
jesty of a sweet suggestion of rebuke in his gentle face !
HI. What was the encouragement which John re-
ceived ?
Evidently he needed something of the sort ; for his
attitude shows he was as much abashed and frightened
as was Isaiah when he saw the Almighty throned in the
temple. He is frank in owning it: "And when I saw
him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right
hand upon me, saying unto me. Fear not ; I am the first
and the last : I am he that liveth, and was dead ; and,
behold, I am alive for evermore. Amen ; and have the
keys of hell and of death."
220 ALPHA AND OMEGA.
Christ always the same. Robert Hall's remark.
Here is offered nothing more nor less than what was
spoken at first by the trumpet. He was to comfort him-
self with w^hat had just now alarmed him. Jesus Christ
was set for the fall and the rising again. The truth
which most humiliates the human soul is the truth which
uplifts it. In his person and offices Christ the Redeem-
er is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever.
What poor weak men want to know more than any-
thing else, is that the Saviour who offers himself for
their redemption is surely going to stand steadily true
in what he engages to the end, and beyond any conceiv-
able end which mortality may bring to themselves. We
have a dim consciousness that we shall never shed our
immortality. We cannot get annihilation even by court-
ing it. Some provision, therefore, must be made for a
vast future. Here comes in Robert Hall's grand re-
mark : " Wcare all contemporaneous with God." But
feebleness and inadequacy are our portion and our
limit. Our Saviour has the fulness of the Godhead.
We are petulant and perverse even under grace. His
goodness is infinite, his love knows no tempers of chilli-
ness or estrangement ; he has no frames of feeling ; his
attributes and offices never become old or indis-
tinct.
In all the theophanies of the Old Testament, as well
as in all the personal communications of the New, Jesus
Christ appears exactly the same. The keenest of criti-
cal eyes cannot find in him any flaw or caprice ; there
are no inconsistencies for us to reconcile, no imperfec-
ALPHA AND OMEGA. 221
Chartres cathedral. New Testament and Old.
tions for us to deplore. He was as kind to Abraham as
he was to John. He had as sincere a sympathy for Ha-
gar, as she cast her dying boy under a tree, as he had
for the w^idow of Nain, when she followed her dead boy
out on the bier. He was as forbearing wdth Moses as he
was with Simon Peter.
And this is what unites the Old Testament and the
New closely together. The one supplements and com-
pletes the other, because Jesus Christ in both is the
same yesterday, to-day, and forever.
In the ancient cathedral of Chartres there may be
found upon the five windovv's over the south door a suc-
cinct system of theology, according to the belief of the
thirteenth century. The maiden of beautiful figure,
who represents the Church or Religion, occupies the
central place. Then, on one side, we see Jeremiah with
St. Luke seated on his shoulders ; and, opposite this,
we discover Ezekiel bearing St. John, and Daniel bear-
ing St. Mark. This was a way those ancient ecclesias-
tics had of saying that the New Testament rested on the
Old. Prophets supported evangelists. The predictions
of the one tallied w4th the realities of the other.
IV. What was the command w^hich John obeyed ?
So he now discovered that the vision and the voice
were for others as well as for himself : ** Write the things
which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the
things which shall be hereafter. " The whole Apocalypse
is now before us. It is enough here to indicate a few
of the revelations it specially contains.
222 ALPHA AND OMEGA.
The word "eternity." Jesus in the Proverbs.
1. The glory of the almighty God is without begin-
ning and without end. Whether it was meant or not,
the fact is significant that the word "eternity" occurs
but once in our English Bible. A solitary verse em-
ploys it to speak of the residence of Jehovah. "For
thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eter-
nity, whose name is Holy ; I dwell in the high and holy
place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble
spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive
the heart of the contrite ones." Hence, there are two
heavens of glory where God deigns to show his splen-
dor, revealed by this solemn, wonderful word — the puri-
fied paradise and the purified heart.
2. The glory of Jesus Christ is in the presence of the
Father, and likewise without beginning and without
end. Where was the Saviour previous to his incarna-
tion ? Perhaps it will give to some Bible readers a sur-
prise to be told that the best answer to this question is
given in the unfamiliar book of Proverbs (chapter 8) :
" The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way,
before his works of old. . . . While as yet he had not
made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of
the dust of the world. . . . Then I was by him, as one
brought up with him : and I was daily his delight, re-
joicing always before him." If we simply understand
that the Wisdom of the Old Testament means the same
as the Word of the New — the divine Logos — then we
shall put another verse of John easily alongside : " In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
ALPHA AND OMEGA. 223
The word "family." Forever with the Lord.
God, and the Word was God. The same was in the be-
ginning with God."
3. The glory of the saints is to be with Jesus Christ ;
it begins with the new birth, and then is without end.
Here again it is interesting to remark that the word
** family " occurs only once in our New Testament, and
then it means the household of the saved. Says the
apostle Paul : " For this cause I bow my knees unto the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole
family in. heaven and earth is named, that he would
grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be
strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner
man."
4. The glorified Saviour desires his friends to share
whatever glory he possesses, and that without end.
When Christ was on the mountain transfigured, he
caused that tvv^o Old Testament saints should appear
with him in glory, in order that the world might know
w^here the redeemed were dwelling centuries after death.
And in the final intercession, the last prayer we know
of his making, Jesus asked this: ''And now, O Father,
glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory
which I had with thee before the world was. . . .
Father, I wdll that they also, whom thou hast given me,
be wuth me where I am ; that they may behold my glory,
which thou hast given me ; for thou lovedst me before
the foundation of the world." a
//
XX.
THE MESSAGE TO THE CHURCHES.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith
UNTO THE churches. — Revelation 3 : 6.
This phrase, in precisely the same form, occurs seven
times in the opening chapters of the Apocalypse. It is
repeated at the end of each one of a series of brief,
weighty epistles, addressed to the circle of primitive
congregations founded in Asia Minor.
We may readily conceive that Christians of all ages
and all climes are meant to be taught by the examples
here quoted, and the counsels here given. There is the
declension of Ephesus, and the idolatry of Pergamos ;
there is the deadness of Sardis, and the repulsive luke-
warmness of Laodicea : and by these we are warned.
And then there is the fidelity of Philadelphia and the
steadfastness of Smyrna : and by these we are encour-
aged. And beyond even these, there is the tree of life
promised, the white stone with the name kept secret
upon it, and that morning star, which he shall receive
who endureth to the end ; and by these we are ani-
mated with new energy in overcoming the world. It
seems, indeed, as if the warning, the encouragement,
and the inspiration, were aimed at the same result ;
namely, to impress upon our minds the unusually se-
THE MESSAGE TO THE CHURCHES. 225
Organic life. Ttie " angel."
rious admonition that we listen to ''what the Spirit saith
unto the churches."
Let us inquire, therefore, at once, what does the Spirit
say ? What has the Holy Ghost so uttered in the hear-
ing of the world ?
I. Earliest of all the lessons suggested to us in these
epistles, w^e might note this ; Every church of Christ
has an organic life of its own. This is not only distinct
from the life of any ether church, but even distinct from
the life of its members.
In all these seven letters the churches are addressed
solely in their organic capacity — not as loose and disin-
tegrated masses of persons, but as bodies having an his-
toric existence and an exclusive responsibility. The
apostle is not bidden to write to the believers at large
in those cities, but the congregations as such.
The expressions are very peculiar. In his opening
sentence, in every case, he turns first to a personage
called "the angel of the church." Who this officer was
cannot now certainly be known. He was doubtless one
of the pastors, a minister high in authority and influ-
ence, standing — for the time being, at any rate — at the
head of the organization. To him the counsel was
given ; upon him the sin was charged ; for him the
praise was brought ; with him w^as left the responsibility
of bearing the tidings, giving the admonitions, and di-
recting the penitence and prayers of the people.
The relevancy of this lesson lies just here. It is per-
haps one of the most noticeable of the faults of mod-
226
THE
MESSAGE
TO
THE
CHURCHES.
No evasion
of duty.
Organic history.
ern Christians, wherever we turn our eyes, that they
are trying to lose their individuality in the mass, hop-
ing thereby to evade responsibility and to shirk duty.
Whereas God does not even suffer, much less intend,
any man shall become inconspicuous by merging him-
self in an aggregate, or hiding himself in a crowd. To
sink a Christian out of responsibility by absorbing him
into a church, is like sinking a soldier in an army, and un-
dertaking to lose him in a platoon ; he only passes under
more rigid rules and only shows more conspicuously.
II. A second lesson comes right on in the exact line
that this indicates, and confirms it : every church has an
organic history of its own, which very likely makes up
its annals.
Take, for illustration, the first of the churches men-
tioned in the list, the old church in Ephesus. Thirty
years had passed since that time when the apostle Paul
indited to those people the letter now known in the
Bible as the Epistle to the Ephesians. A generation
had fallen into their graves. The congregation had all
this time been changing and moulding. How many
private and personal histories had been concentrated
into its life ! Through such a period as that, how inevi-
tably its annals must have perpetuated the lines of reli-
gious biography in that wicked city ! How few now re-
mained of those men who burned their wonderful books
of magic when the first revival brought them to see their
sin ! How the community must have altered in which
they had been living and working !
THE MESSAGE TO THE CHURCHES. 22/
The church at Ephesus. Biographies in history.
Good and bad, rich and poor, lofty and lowly — how
they had dropped each into his own grave at last ! And
now those uproarious voices which for the space of two
hours, on the day the church was organized, had shouted
so ridiculously, " Great is Diana of the Ephesians ! " were
all silent, hushed in the majesty and mystery which death
confers upon those who enter its halls, the small and
great.
Get some aged people together on an anniversary, and
a quiet stranger might soon ascertain that every church
has a special history just as striking as these had in Asia
Minor, and as precious. The annals of any church in-
troduce and absorb the individual histories of its mem-
bers and influential adherents. So rapidly and so im-
perceptibly do the parts become supplanted that the
annual aggregates never feel a shock. In one year,
doubtless, there was a man whose behavior or misfor-
tunes gave the people a world of trouble : in another
year, there was a man who gave them a world of help.
A family clique arose one season which forced a mean
division ; there was a blessed revival another season
which just saved a wreck. So all this went into the
general history, and every event made fresh marks.
One man failed in business, and that shook the church
badly ; then a man grew suddenly wealthy, and that
saved the church.
Let us stop and think how vital, how positively alive
and instinct with nervous and palpitating existence,
every established organization comes eventually to be.
228 THE MESSAGE TO THE CHURCHES.
Stand by the ark. Organic characteristic.
''This and that man was born in her." Memories of
youth and age, of bloom and wasting, of joy height-
ened and trial assuaged, of doubt cleared away, of
penitence accepted — all are sure to cluster around the
dear remembered spiritual home. Here the child was
trained, who now is a man. Here stood the bride
wearing her fair veil and fairer forehead in maiden
beauty, who now sleeps in her shroud. Here rested the
coffin of one beloved father or mother in Israel, who to-
day shines aloft in the light of God's love. Here rested
another, by the side of which charity stood in silence,
while mourners held their peace.
And so what a comfort it is, as our steps grow weary,
to believe our children will stand by the old ark of our
hopes, and all along the years will step up proudly and
affectionately under the burden in the solemn hour when
we are going to drop it ; and thus a church we have
loved and prayed for will hold them still !
HI. Thus we reach a third lesson ; every church has
an organic characteristic of its own, and this is derived
from the social and personal life of those who compose
and manage it.
It is the members that make the church. We observe
that in every case these seven congregations are ad-
dressed with a peculiar allusion to some description,
which in strict propriety belonged to each one of them
in turn. Just as we speak familiarly of those various
congregations with which we are acquainted, all of us
understanding that each has a personal singularity,
THE MESSAGE TO THE CHURCHES. 229
Quick outlines. Rock-layers in quarries.
which might perhaps be mentioned with a word : one
is rich, one is poor ; one formerly was fashionable, one
is growing proud, one is liberal, another is aristocratic,
and another is always having trouble about pew-rents,
and another is ruined by the women that gossip so. In
just this way these bright little epistles delineate graphi-
cally the various churches they were sent to, and give
them quick outlines upon our imaginations. You know
now, if you have ever happened seriously to observe it,
precisely what sort of a church that was in any one of
these places. Smyrna was poor and persecuted ; Perga-
mos was on the whole true, but heterodox at points ;
Ephesus was courageous, but had left first love ; Laodi-
cea w^as sickishly lukewarm.
All this, we understand, was just what the members
made the church. Just as when we split a rock in a
quarry into layers, traces will be found in it of lines
which the sea-waves made there ages ago while the sand
was washed into place by the tides and compacted into
stone ; — so when we read the annals of any old congre-
gation, we shall find how certain epochs were fashioned.
Sometimes it was the half-dozen elders that gave form
to all the church life. Sometimes the deacons drew a
line of demarcation. Sometimes a few restless women,
sometimes a few uncomfortable men, set the congrega-
tion on fire. Sometimes little factions of malcontents
swelled and swayed the periods in which they flourished.
Sometimes it was the sewing-society, and very often it
was the choir. And always — for amazing and immeasu-
230 THE MESSAGE TO THE CHURCHES.
Corporations with souls. Organic power.
rable good or ill — it was the pastorates along in turn
that gained irresistible force and importance.
We sometimes say ''corporations have no souls."
Now here is a corporation which has a soul. It seems
to be alive, to have veins and arteries and nerves. The
church is the Bride of the celestial Lamb. Public sen-
timent fixes fashionable forms for brides and churches
somewhat alike. Our lives and tastes and feelings go
into the organizations which we manage. So any man
who comes in contact with a church of the living God,
who accepts its ordinances, uses its activities, who aids
in its support, who enjoys even the shadow of it falling
on his path, is very close to God !
IV. We have reached, therefore, the fourth lesson
taught in these brief epistles ; namely, that every
church has an organic poiver of its own. This ability
for usefulness is entirely distinct from, and superadded
to, the influence exerted by individuals.
In union there is strength. Under our laws congre-
gations usually become corporate bodies. They can
thus appear in the courts, can negotiate contracts, can
hold property, can undertake projects of good. We
have no reason to suppose that there was anything pre-
cisely like this in Asia Minor, where all the churches
mentioned in these chapters were located. Yet they
were none the less compact and corporate for all that.
They instituted missions, they provided for impoverished
believers, in their own name. They seem to have been
officered and equipped for each form of outward work.
THE MESSAGE TO THE CHURCHES. 23 1
Force in a unit. A hunter's rifle.
The fact is, organic life does not reside in a mere
technic of law. Sooner or later every congregation
would go out into merited extinction, whose only living
existence consisted in the decorous deeds of an orderly
board of trustees. Church life is figuratively that which
abides in a vine, and that true Vine must be our Lord
Jesus Christ. Such life has greater force, because it
absorbs Christ's life into it, and wields the might of him
who is its head.
We are sometimes caught by the manifestations of
power exhibited by even one man in a community.
Whenever any movement is on foot, that has any good
for its aim, we instinctively inquire what does this man
think of it ? We feel assured that any plan is feasible,
any purpose is worthy, when he commits his name to it.
When in our times of perplexity we are on the search
for some ingenuity which shall bring relief in difficult
endeavor, generally we begin to be encouraged in pro-
portion to the cheer of his calls for us to come on, heard
hopefully in the distance on ahead of us. Just as hunt-
ers out in the forest, finding their shots for game unsuc-
cessful, feel kindled now and then as they hear the re-
port of one well-known rifle, which, as they have learned,
is never wont to ring in the woods for nothing. So do
we love to listen to the joyous tone of that true man's
voice, planning with us and in our behalf.
That is what I mean by power. If one man can do
so much for any real cause, how much more a church,
speaking like five hundred men in one, can do ! Put a
232 THE MESSAGE TO THE CHURCHES.
Actual levers in society. Organic mortality.
good, firm, true body of Christian people into the midst
of any growing neighborhood ; let them begin, at the
earliest outgo of their organic life, to be liberal, pa-
triotic, public-spirited ; charitable towards others, and
faithful unto themselves ; always on the right side of
everything that is honest and of good report. In a lit-
tle while, they will gain the confidence of all who are
around them. And this course, diligently pursued for
a term of years, will eventually make that congregation
one of the actual levers of society. The result is inevi-
table by natural law. Real power goes with real force.
And real power is as irresistible as the tides in the sea,
or the changes in the climate. The moment any useful
project has been started, people will ask the quiet ques-
tion : How stands such and such a congregation ? What
is it going to do ? The answer settles success or fail-
ure. A chapel of ease for '' retired Christians " is a poor
thing.
V. Finally, there is given us here the lesson that
every church has an organic 7nortality of its own. It is
possible for it to become actually extinct, whenever it
is cast out by God.
There is nothing superstitiously self-preserving in a
religious body of human beings ; the favor of high
Heaven alone keeps it in existence ; and if that favor
be forfeited through sin, any congregation can die.
This point is made clear enough among these epistles
to the seven churches. In two instances the warnings
take explicit form : *' I will remove the candlestick."
THE MESSAGE TO THE CHURCHES. 233
Churches dead. The star-fish.
And the tremendous fact lies now on historic record,
that of all thei>e seven organizations not one — not even
a vestige of one — remains. They would not hear nor
heed what the Spirit said unto them. Their very land
has become missionary ground. There is not a Chris-
tian in Ephesus. Thyatira, in its desolation, has no
memory of Lydia, that converted seller of purple. Sar-
dis is abandoned, and Philadelphia has ceased to be the
home of brotherly love.
They say there is a star-fish in the Caledonian lakes,
sometimes dredged up from the deep water. It looks
firm and strong, most compactly put together. But the
moment you pull off one of its many branching limbs,
no matter how small it may be, the singular creature
begins itself to dislocate the rest with wonderful celerity
of contortions, throwing away its radiate arms and jerk-
ing from their sockets its members, until the entire body
is in shapeless wreck and confusion of death, and noth-
ing remains of what was one of the most exquisitely
beautiful forms in nature, save a hundred wriggling
fragments, each repulsive, and dying by suicide.
So went those seven fair churches into sudden and
remediless ruin. So any church may go. Once re-
jected of God, congregations generally hurry themselves
into dissolution with reckless bickering and quarrels ;
and the end comes swiftly.
XXL
THE FEW IN SARDIS.
Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not de-
filed THEIR GARMENTS ; AND THEY SHALL WALK WITH ME IN
WHITE: FOR THEY ARE WORTHY. — Revelation y. /^.
Indistinct memories, classic and historic, float in our
minds at the mention of the name of Sardis. There
dwelt and reigned Croesus, the richest man in the world.
There ran the Pactolus, whose flashing stream was
fabled to flow down golden sands. There, in the plains
near by, was marshaled the most numerous host that
ever obeyed a single commander ; the army over which
proud Xerxes wept as' he remembered not one soldier
would be left living in a hundred years. And there was
lifted the mountain head of Sipylus, upon whose rocky
summit was once to be seen the far-famed Niobe, the
weeping mother changed into stone.
But gone now is all the glory of that magnificent capi-
tal. The armies are vanished, and the kings lie in for-
gotten graves in the desolate cemetery of the Thousand
Hills. The Pactolus turns a lazy mill. Croesus is im-
mortal only to point a proverb. And no vestige of the
Niobe remains, save one that is as symbolically fitting
as it is undoubtedly authentic — the hot spring which the
old story declared was fed from her tears.
THE FEW IN SARDIS. 235
Only a name to live. " Names " mean souls.
Who earliest founded the Christian church in Sardis
is not certainly known. One bold, startling epistle
among the seven written by the last of the apostolic
band from the Lonely Isle, is directed to the professed
followers of the Lord Jesus Christ dwelling in the pre-
cincts. It is from this that we learn their wretched state.
They w^ere cold, listless, and formal. Vital piety was
dying rapidly out. The great mass of Christians in
the city were without any comforts or spiritual force.
They had only a name that they lived, and w^ere dead.
It is not said they were scandalous, but sluggish.
Still, not all : an honorable moiety among the many
are mentioned as deserving of confidence and as likely
to receive favor. " Thou hast a few names even in
Sardis which have not defiled their garments ; and
they shall w^alk with me in w^hite : for they are wor-
thy."
It is not with the many, but with these few, that we
have to do to-day. And we really at this moment pass
away from the contemplation of Sardis as such, accept-
ing this single verse as a vivid description of the true
followers of the Saviour in all time. If you will care-
fully examine the passage, you will perceive that it in-
cludes four particulars, each of which may profitably
occupy our attention for a little while in turn, and will
perhaps suggest a lesson of good to thoughtful minds
willing to hear and to heed it.
I. The first of these is the rarity of those who are the
true saints on the earth. There were *'a few names
236
THE FEW IN SARDIS.
Rarity of saints.
" So remarkable for nothing."
even in Sardis." It is wise to remember, and yet sad to
confess, that there are only a few such anywhere.
For the real standard of discrimination in this matter
is loftier than many imagine. It is easy to distinguish in
the Christian world around us two w^idely differing classes
of persons ; the one, made up of those who advance ear-
nestly into life, and almost instantaneously assume and
honorably hold positions of importance and usefulness ;
the other, made up of those who never rise into notice
at all, but constantly remain in comparative inefficiency
and insignificance. Those make their influence to be
felt upon their generation and leave their mark behind
them ; these produce no impression while living, and
dying make no sign. The former grow up loving,
lovely, and beloved, and are the "sought out" among
the many " forsaken ; " the latter give reason for the sar-
castic saying ** they are remarkable for nothing so much
as for the fact that they are so remarkable for nothing."
There are palpably two styles of piety in the church
of our Redeemer. I do not assert that he allows them
both, or accepts them equally ; nor that their results are
alike lofty or safe ; I only recognize what most people
observe as a fact. The one is vital, active, and efficient ;
the other is torpid, listless, and low. And between
these two extremes are found all grades of activity and
all degrees of devotion. But sadly the truth presses on
every mind that it is the many who are sluggish and
fruitless : it is only the few who are faithful. The most
careless of all observers cannot have failed to see that
THE FEW IN SARDIS. 23/
" Retired Christians." God's hidden ones.
of any church or community only one man here and an-
other yonder belongs to what might be called the posi-
tive workers, minding and managing the weightiest in-
terests. A little band of executive laborers produce
what each year gathers.
The glory of the church has, therefore, ever been and
will doubtless ever be these *'few" among the many.
There was a Noah among the antediluvians. There was
a Lot among the citizens of the plain. There were the
three Hebrew youths in the Babylonish court. There
were the seven thousand in Ahab's time, who had not
bowed the knee to Baal. And there were some saints
in Caesar's household in Rome. So there are, doubt-
less, in most of the forms of ecclesiastical organization,
however heterodox and loose, some who are living lives
of saving faith in Jesus Christ, and belong to the "hid-
den ones " of God.
But it is these few who save the many. Ten right-
eous men in Sodom would have delivered the city from
the hail of fire. The worth cannot be estimated of any
one individual who is truly faithful to the Master. It is
the rarity which increases the value. Common gems
make cheap jewels. A Christian really alive amid the
deadness of our too formal communions, is a treasure
and a choice benediction from God himself. We find
that out sometimes for the first time when a good man
dies. We discover that a great cause is trembling ; and
then it occurs to us that this is what he used to stand
by and steady. We see the enemy coming in through a
238 THE FEW IN SARDIS.
Vanished hands. Voices that are still.
gate he was wont to guard. A duty is no longer done,
which we had always relied without disappointment on
him to perform. We are conscious that our poor hearts
are sinking and growing weaker, through lack of his
prayers, and our souls are growing dull from want of
the old chieftaincy of example which kindled them. We
miss the words of wise counsel and gentle sympathy
and cordial reassurance with which we had always been
met. When we come up to look in each other's faces,
and take each other's hands, and cast a quick glance of
wistful searching, almost unconsciously, around for that
other face and that other hand — gone, then we begin to
feel the blankness of a sense of loss. A score of the
many cannot take the place — they worry us if they at-
tempt to occupy the place — of even one of the ''few."
Consecrated, forceful, Christian, manhood is rare, rare
indeed in this shallow and easy-going world.
II. In the second place, this verse which we are study-
ing tells us, next to the rarity of true saints, their purity.
They "have not defiled their garments."
Of course we all understand the precise force of this
figure. Just as a man, clad in a robe of linen, seeks
with great carefulness to pass undefiled through the
dust, the smoke, and the ashes of a factory or a fur-
nace, so the child of God is represented as endeavoring
fastidiously to keep his garments of hope and faith, of
meekness, truth, and honesty, free from all contamina-
tion, even while he is mingled in the confused round of
everyday life with other men, better or worse. You
THE FEW IN SARDIS. 239
Spiritual lepers. Commonplace tests.
perceive that this is the ancient emblem repeated from
the Old into the New Testament. Is there not some-
thing singularly suggestive in the name always given to
sin under the former dispensation ? There it was called
**uncleanness." He who had transgressed any law was
held to be ** defiled." Hence all those washings, those
^* divers baptisms " of the ritual. Ah, if only spiritual
lepers had now, as of old, to keep crying *' unclean, un-
clean ! " in the highways, as they drev7 near their neigh-
bors, how plaintive the air would be with the wails of
the penitent !
Our trouble is, that Ave turn ourselves away from the
grand commonplaces of religious life, under the plea
that we are spiritual and live on an elevated plane. We
do not sing the fifteenth Psalm as we might. It is not
interesting to talk about backbiting and swearing and
usury and false w^itness. Such details concerning world-
liness are too radical, too searching, for this generation
to bear. To make truth-telling an evidence of regen-
eration ; to question grown men about ungenerous gos-
sip ; to offer mercantile Christians the subject of exor-
bitant interest for meditation in the preparatory lecture ;
all this would be pronounced out of taste in the age of
conversation concerning the ^'higher life."
But, it so happens that the Scriptures fasten precisely
upon our little personal habits and tastes and behaviors
and principles, and make them the test of piety. Holi-
ness of life is relied upon more than vividness of expe-
riences. Nothing within the range of human possibil-
240 THE FEW IN SARDIS.
Tiie priest Jaddua. Cecil's temptation.
ity so moves the world into admiration of Christians as
perfect purity. There is in history the tale of Alexan-
der, who was met, when he came to besiege Jerusalem,
by the high priest Jaddua ; this old man went forth to
hold conference with him. He wore his robes of office ;
and so splendid was the presence of this ambassador of
God with his garments of embroidered gold and his
shining plate across his forehead on which was graven
the name of Jehovah, that the emperor fell to the ground
in reverence. That may well have been true ; it makes
us think of the scriptural fact that the Roman soldiers,
coming to apprehend our Lord in the garden after the
betrayal, "went backward and fell to the ground," the
moment he said, " I am he." There was an undoubted
majesty in the pure face and the spotless holiness of the
suffering Master.
This is a day of dreadful sudden scandals among the
followers of Jesus. " Men fall," said the shrewd Guizot,
*'on the side to which they lean." The world is not a
friend to grace at all. In his autobiography the honest
Cecil tells us that, on one occasion, he went to visit an
anxious sinner in his parish ; he found him on a sick
bed, and there was on the wall above the couch a paint-
ing so beautiful as to attract his notice, and he actually
forgot himself in administering to the wants of the per-
ishing soul. He was so grieved by the dereliction that
he gave up forever a gallery of art he had been loving
to frequent. It may be our privilege to use the world,
but we are not to abuse it, or be abused by it.
THE FEW IN SARDIS. 24 1
The saintb' prospect. The land of " the living."
III. Let us, however, go back to the verse once
more ; for it suggests to us, in the third place, the pros-
pect of the saints : the confident and scriptural expec-
tation of these few among the many, who have lived the
pure life; ''and they shall walk -with me in white."
Remember, now, who is speaking, and where he is, and
you will see that this emphatic declaration includes
three promises in one: activity — "they shall w^alk : "
companionship — ''they shall walk with me : " and glo7-y —
*'they shall walk with me in Vviiite."
I. The word here rendered "walk " means to accom-
pany around. Thence it is applied by an easy trope to
living with, sharing the continuous lot of, one with
whom we dwell. It here presents to us the animating
anticipation of all the true children of God, that they
have yet before them an endless life in the midst of the
many incitements and amenities of the social commu-
nity in heaven.
In our feebleness and mistake we sometimes look
upon those w^ho are taken from us as dead ; whereas,
the correct conception is that they have never been so
much alive as now. An aged believer was met by his
friend, who, grasping his hand, said, "Why, I had not
thought you were in the land of the living!" "I am
not yet," was the clearer answer, "but I shall enter it
soon." Those who are gone are preserved, those who
are departed are at home, those wiio are lost are saved.
"That which thou sowest is not quickened except it
die." In all the plenitude of enjoyment, in all the ex-
242 THE FEW IN SARDIS.
Brahma asleep. Not work, but worry,
ercise of powers newly invigorate, in the very sunlight
of reunion and communion, they are walking this very
day in an exalted existence, of which w^e know nothing
as yet but the glimmer of its gladness through the trans-
lucent gates of pearl. Said the dying Taylor, '' God
has a work even in heaven for his children to do."
For even the ''rest" of heaven is not a repose of in-
dolent listlessness and inaction. The Hindoos believe
that the great god Brahma spends the infinite ages of
his eternity evermore asleep. And their most exalted
notions of the state of the blessed are only clustered
around one lazy anticipation of sharing the slumbers of
this deified sluggard. But our Bible tells us that the
"works" of the ricrhteous do "follow them." Our
trouble here is, not the energy we put forth, but the
waste of it, and the thwarting of it, and the needlessness
of much of it. It is not work, but worry, that breaks
the human heart ; and in heaven there will be work
without worry. "Therefore are they before the throne
of God, and they serve him day and night in his tem-
ple." So the Christian's departure is only a sign of re-
lief. "Children," said John Wesley's mother, "when
I am released, sing a psalm of praise to God ! "
2. " They shall walk with me : " the companionship
is that of Christ himself, for it is he that is here speak-
ing. And hence, we see that what the saints have been
sighing for most longingly, earnestly pleading that they
might have it even for one glad hour of nearness and
communion — that they are by and by to have without
THE FEW IN SARDIS. 243
Moses' prayer. The transfiguration.
interruption and in full measure forever, the presence
of the Saviour in person. "Things internal," says the
good Bishop Leighton, "will then be things eternal."
On the mountain prayed Moses, "Show me, O Lord,
thy glory!" Not then could his petition be granted;
he could not look upon the Lord's face and live. Fif-
teen hundred years he had to wait, and then upon an-
other mountain he saw the transfigured Christ. He
w^as satisfied then to behold the glory and to share it.
Around him in that w^onderful hour he contemplated
the true picture of heaven. For there were Peter,
James, and John, from the new dispensation, with him-
self and Elijah from the old ; three disciples from the
living and two prophets from the dead ; all appearing
in glory, knowing each other, and giving exchange of
welcome. But the chief attraction in the scene was
found in the person of the Son of Man among them,
now clearly revealed as the Son of God ; and they
talked "of the decease he should accomplish at Jerusa-
lem."
So when the entire church of Immanuel come home ;
when the patriarchs and seers of old, with the martyrs
and witnesses of after years, meet on the mount of God ;
when, gathered from the four winds, all the sealed shall
crown the summit of the heavenly hill ; they will have
but one song to sing, and one form to look upon ; lift-
ing up their eyes, they will see "Jesus only."
3. In the use of the expression with which this prom-
ise closes most of us will recognize the return of the
244 THE FEW IN SARDIS.
Walking " in white." " Fine linen."
beautiful figure we have already considered: ''They
shall walk with me in white." It is the symbol of glory
hereinafter to be revealed to believers.
In his earthly transfiguration, the face of our Lord
" did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the
light; so as no fuller on earth could whiten it." Such
descriptions refer to the stainless, uncontaminated pu-
rity of those who are living in the celestial life. When
it is said that to the Lamb's w'lie, that is, the Church, it
was "granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen
clean and white," we are told expressly the symbolic
reason : *' The fine linen is the righteousness of the
saints." Those w^hom the New Testament seer in apo-
calyptic vision beheld arrayed in the heavenly gar-
ments, one of the elders told him were "they which
came out of great tribulation, and had washed their
robes, and had made them w^hite in the blood of the
Lamb."
Hence, here are two thoughts distinctly suggested,
each of which has great value. The one is, that the
glory of that future state is not so much in its triumphs
and trophies as in its graces. The glory is its sinless-
ness, its perfect freedom from all pollution. So it is of
much more importance what we shall de, than what we
shall /tave. Then the other thought is, that holiness
here is its own reward here and yonder too. For it is
those who "have not defiled their garments," of whom
it is said, " they shall walk with me in white." White
now, white forever !
THE FEW IN SARDIS. 245
Sardian dyes. Purple vats.
Now, before we leave this most interesting figure, let
us be patient enough to ask the question whether there
was any particular reason why the apostle should choose
such a curious form of rhetorical speech. It is worth
mentioning that Sardis was as historically remarkable
for its purple and crimson dyes as Thyatira. John may
have more than once seen the white linen brought up to
these vast vats filled with the red fluid, looking exactly
like blood ; he must have watched the operation of
plunging the cloth in, and seen how the previous stains,
if such there w^ere, were all covered and lost in that royal
red. Now, by an easily understood process of mind, he
would imagine the work reversed ; he might even be
supposed to repeat the words of the ancient prophet
softly to himself, as he would keep thinking : '' Christ's
blood is not like this Sardian or Tyrian dye, that turns
white to purple and gray to red ; it turns the dull and
defiled into beauty, and the stained into purity : ' Come
now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord : Though
your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow ;
though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool ! ' "
IV. So, finally, we reach the words in this v^erse which
specify the prerogative of the saints. Really, it covers
much worth thinking about : their rarity, their purity,
their prospect, and now their prerogative: ''they are
worthy."
The significance of this statement takes its force from
the connection in which it stands. For it is given as a
reason for an expectation that they shall one time re-
246 THE FEW IN SARDIS.
" They are worthy." Desert and meetness.
ceive the felicities of the heavenly companionship with
the Lord Jesus Christ. ^'They shall walk with me in
white, /<:7r they are worthy." One thing is their own ;
one privilege belongs to them inalienably ; one prerog-
ative is asserted in their behalf ; they are proper com-
panions for God's Son.
This sounds very bold, and a discrimination is per-
haps needed to guard against mistake. We must care-
fully examine in what this worthiness consists. There
are two meanings to the word as used in the Scriptures :
desert and meetness. Here it needs only to be said
with all emphasis that there is no desert in any saint of
anything beside wrath and judgment. There is, how-
ever, a fitness for heaven, and this is the gift of grace
as much as heaven itself is. The apostle bids us give
''thanks to the Father, who hath made us meet to be
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light."
This white robe that the redeemed are to wear is the
robe of the Redeemer's merits. He gives it to those
whom he loves.
And when it is given, it belongs to them, and they
need to ask no favors of the universe that sees the honor.
For the promise and the benediction call to and answer
each other out in the celestial air. Listen : '' He that
hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the
churches ; To him that overcometh will I give to eat
of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise
of God." There is the proffer ; and here is the reward :
"Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they
THE FEW IN SARDIS. 247
The saints' " right." " Rich as Crcesus."
may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in
through the gates into the city." Oh, the glory of the
thought that poor human beings — dust and ashes — are
lifted so high by divine grace that they actually have
prerogatives in celestial companionship which no crea-
ture can challenge ! They can come up to the gate of
heaven, and have a ''right" to enter, as a king's son
can come to the palace door, and no servant will claim
to stop him, the prince and heir, from passing into his
father's house !
This, then, is the believer's privilege and final out-
look : to walk in the midst of stirring activities ever
new, ever joyous, and ever successful ; sharing a com-
munion with Christ ever free, high, hearty, and divine ;
dwelling w4th a conscious purity absolutely stainless
among the unstained : this is heaven !
Such a conception takes all the sting out of death.
A heart full of love for the Redeemer longs only to go
to him. It has no great professions to make ; it simply
wants to get away quietly, and leave the record of fidel-
ity behind. "Never mind the dying testimony," said
Whitefield ; "give me the living testimony." What is
not true of the worldling is exactly true of the Christian.
Come back to Sardis, a moment more for a little story.
Croesus, this man who gave his name to a proverb, was
at last conquered by an enemy. His capital was lost,
his army was defeated, and he was about to be burned
to death by his conqueror. While he was lying bound
on the funeral pile, he called aloud three times the name
248 THE FEW IN SARDIS.
" Solon — Solon — Solon ! " The resurrection dawn.
of Solon — Solon — Solon ! They asked him what he
meant. And then it came out that this Athenian phil-
osopher, once on a flying visit to Sardis, had warned
Croesus of coming reverses, and bade him "never say
he was happy till he was dying ! " Now he was dying,
and an awful sarcasm was in the words ! But this is
actual Christian experience. The child of God is happy
in death, for it is the ushering in of the latter-day glory
upon his ransomed soul !
The first hour in the other world must be full of sur-
prises. I can imagine how the heir of some princely
estate, thrown suddenly into possession, journeys to the
mansion and arrives after the nightfall. I can picture
his curious interest as he tries to ascertain the extent of
his wealth, looking out from the window into the moon-
lit meadows and lawns. But what is all this to the sight
he will see, when in the full burst of the morning his
eyes take in the sweep of mountain and valley, forests
and plains, from the wide ancestral portal thrown open
to him as its lord !
Christians can talk here together in the night-time
about their heavenly estate. But none have yet imag-
ined what will be the completed vision to be seen when
at the resurrection dawn they stand before the door of
what is their Father's house— and their own !
XXIL
THE LION OF JUDAH.
And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold,
THE Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath
prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven
SEALS THEREOF,— A'eve/aiion 5 : 5.
It was reported some few years ago, that a Sabbath-
school superintendent in one of our great cities rose in
the midst of a convention and publicly prayed that " our
Father in heaven would keep these little lambs of his
flock from the ravages of the Lion of Judah ! " What
must one do with a misconception like that ?
The theme brought before us on this occasion is full
of interest. It turns us back to the beginning of the
Bible for an interpretation of a name given to our Sav-
iour at the end. Genesis clear across eighteen hundred
years touches the Apocalypse. The prophecy of Jacob
finds its answer in the vision of John.
When the time had arrived for the patriarch to turn
his face to the wall, gather up his feet in the bed and
die, he sent for an audience of his sons from all the far
places of their abode. They came around their father's
couch with something of sadness and perhaps of alarm ;
for it was understood that their fortunes were to be told
under inspiration, and Reuben was to be disinherited in
250 THE LION OF JUDAH.
Jacob's death-bed. John's vision.
favor of Judah. One after another advanced at the call,
heard those sober words of prediction that outlined and
fixed his future, then reverently retired for a new
brother's summoning. By and by, Judah stood in his
place to listen ; and this is what Israel said: "Judah,
thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise ; thy hand
shall be in the neck of thine enemies : thy father's chil-
dren shall bow down before thee. Judah is a lion's
whelp ; from the prey, my son, thou art gone up : he
stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion ;
who shall rouse him up ? The sceptre shall not depart
from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until
Shiloh come ; and unto him shall the gathering of the
people be."
So explicit is the application of this name of Judah's
Lion to our Lord Jesus Christ here in the Apocalypse,
that there is not even a pressing need to quote the half-
verse in the epistle to the Hebrews : " For it is evident
that our Lord sprang out of Judah."
Let us attempt to study a whole chapter at a time —
the fifth of Revelation. There we shall find an accurate
account of a spectacle w^hich the apostle John saw, that
seems to have greatly aroused his curiosity ; this was
followed by a conversation he heard, which evidently
very seriously depressed his feelings ; but there came
directly to him an encouragement which was calculated
to lift his heart ; then he witnessed a scene of celestial
worship, quite full of grandeur and wonder ; and this
ended with a song sung by three extraordinary choirs.
THE LION OF JUDAH. 25 I
The celestial library. The book of Providence.
I. The description of the spectacle he saw is found
in the opening verse : "And I saw in the right hand of
him that sat on the throne a book written within and
on the back side, sealed with seven seals." The notice-
able things here are the book and the seals of the book ;
what do these mean ?
I. What we know of the book is conjectural. The
idea suggested is that of a permanent record. Four
volumes are mentioned in the Scriptures as belonging
to God's celestial library, (i.) The "book of the liv-
ing " — Ps. 69 : 28 — in which are enumerated all items of
personal human history, as God has decreed them — Ps.
139 : 16. (2.) The "book of the law," — Gal. 3 : 10 — in
which are included all God's demands for obedience and
duty. (3.) The "book of remembrance " — Mai. 3 : 16 —
in which are noted all the incidents of each believer's
continued experience — Ps. 56:8. (4.) The "book of
life " — Phil. 4 : 3 — in which are recorded all the names
of those redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, and no*
others — Rev. 20 : 15. Of these perhaps the likeliest to
be the one John now saw in God's right hand was the
first, containing the secret decrees of divine providence
concerning human life and the destiny of nations. But
no certainty can be predicated. And the sole sugges-
tion to be relied upon is that our Maker, who is also our
Judge, proceeds in all his government on no caprice,
but on strict principles of justice, as of one who keeps
books wherein all things appear, and by which all souls
are to be tested at the last.
252 THE LION OF JUDAH.
The seven seals. The challenge made.
2. What we learn of the seals is plain. For there can
be no significance to such a thing beyond what the an-
cient custom would indicate, namely, that the book was
closed. Divine purposes are absolutely inscrutable.
Times and seasons, events and incidents, are concealed
from human knowledge till it is God's will to reveal
them. "Seven" was considered the perfect number;
and this might mean that the volume was altogether
sealed, or that it was sealed in an orderly way so as to
be opened only a part at a time.
II. Now comes the conversation which John heard.
An angel made a challenge : no one accepted it : John
burst into tears. *' And I saw a strong angel proclaim-
ing with a loud voice. Who is worthy to open the book,
and to loose the seals thereof ? And no man in heaven,
nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open
the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much,
because no man was found worthy to open, and to read
the book, neither to look thereon."
1. A strong — some great chief — angel cries aloud for
a chosen champion to appear who would assume the
right to open this volume. The question raised does
not seem to be so much one of ability as of character
or rank. Who is worthy ? The assumption is that Jeho-
vah has no equal. This demand was calculated to ar-
rest attention, and to fasten it upon the fact that " none
but himself could be his parallel."
2. No one advances at the call. Heaven had no an-
gel even among the brightest seraphs that burned be-
THE LION OF JUDAH. 253
No one can interpret God. A man's tears.
fore the throne : earth had no sage even among its wis-
est, best, or most exalted : nor had hell under the earth,
either of fallen angels or of lost men, any one who
could come forward now, and unseal this mysterious
volume.
3. The apostle fell into tears. His disappointment
was utter. His desire had been insatiate. Having seen
so much through the open door, he wished passionately
to see more. And now it was a shame that the universe
had no voice which could speak to such a challenge.
But note one thought for ourselves just here. It really
appears pitiable to find such a man at his worst. Jere-
miah was weeping ; but he had reason. Paul wept ;
but he was talking of sinners. Jesus wept ; for he pit-
ied the mourning sisters. But there was no need what-
ever for John's tears. ** He that believeth shall not make
haste." John learned all he wished before long.
HI. What was the encouragement he received ? '' And
one of the elders saith unto me. Weep not : behold, the
Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath pre-
vailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals
thereof." He was met with no rebuke : but he received
a word of sympathy, and then a w^ord of information,
both of which gave him help.
I. The elder said ^' Weep not." Christ used tto say to
his disciples, "Be not afraid." The angel said to Paul
in the night, ''Fear not." The disciples said to Barti-
meus, ** Be of good comfort." Gabriel said to Daniel,
"Thou art greatly beloved." Cynical irony has de-
254 THE LION OF JUDAH.
Just a kind word. The Lion is a Lamb.
clared that words are cheap. But God has told believ-
ing people to be kind to each other ; and sometimes just
a word of good feeling lifts one's spirits very much.
2. But what John wanted most was to understand
about the mysteriously sealed book. So he had a word
of explanation added. It was certainly to be opened.
For the elder told him that a being would soon show
himself — divine, as the Root of David — human, as the
Lion of Judah — who should be worthy and be permitted
to loosen the seven seals. John looked at once for the
Lion ; he saw a Lamb.
IV. And then followed the scene of wonderful wor-
ship he witnessed. The vision now dazzles us too much
for calm details of exposition. This Lamb of God we
clearly understand w^as the Lord Jesus Christ our Sav-
iour. Here we see him at his highest.
I. His rank was supremiC over all ; so he stood in the
midst. "And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the
throne, and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the
elders, stood a Lamb, as it had been slain, having seven
horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of
God sent forth into all the earth." Horns are the em-
blem of power ; he had seven ; so he had perfect or lim-
itless power. Eyes are the emblem of intelligence ; he
had sev^n ; so he had perfect knowledge. And also he
had the seven-fold gifts of the Holy Ghost. Hence,
omnipotence, omniscience, and infinite holiness show
that in Immanuel the Redeemer ''dwelleth all the ful-
ness of the Godhead bodily."
THE LION OF JUDAH. 255
Christ takes the book. A king's gift.
2. His office was to ascertain and execute the entire
will of Jehovah. And just here comes out the illustra-
tion we need of the fortieth Psalm, in which the Mes-
siah is represented as saying : '' Then said I, Lo, I come :
in the volume of the book it is written of me ; I delight
to do thy will, O my God : yea, thy law is within my
heart." So he comes forward now before the universe,
and takes the seven-sealed volume as his own by right.
**And he came and took the book out of the right hand
of him that sat upon the throne."
3. His honors came at once, for he w^as "worthy."
He had "prevailed." All the shining ranks of heaven
fell down in meek obeisance and adoration: "And
when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four
and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having
every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odors;
which are the prayers of saints." They had harps ; so
they praised him with music ; they had vials of odors ;
so they praised him with supplications. It is related
that Alexander once bestowed a gift so large upon one
of his courtiers that the surprised man cried out in de-
precation, "Oh, this is too much for me to receive!"
And the answer came with affectionate encouragement :
"Always ask great things of a king; nothing is too
much for him to give ! "
This wonderful verse does not stand alone. On an-
other occasion the apostle witnessed a similar scene :
"And another angel came and stood at the altar, having
a golden censer ; and there was given unto him much
256 THE LION OF JUDAH.
Prayers make best praises. Jesus is God.
incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all
saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
And the smoke of the incense, which came with the
prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the
angel's hand." Prayers to a God like ours sometimes
make the very best praises.
It is evident the chapter will have to be divided, and
we reserve the song John heard for a study by itself.
There are two at least of the thoughts w^hich the spec-
tacle suggests that I am glad to interject before we go
on away from them.
I. One of them is this : the announcement is made
that earthly arrangements of providential government
and keeping of the saints are hereafter committed to
Jesus Christ. All human life is now ordered by his wis-
dom. For he has taken the book out of the hands of
his Father, and is *' worthy " to open its seven-fold seals.
Hence, the Being w^ho manages each earthly experience
is one who in his own person has shared humanity in
all that disturbed history could put in it. How well he
understands us, w^hoever we are !
So there is quite a good word of comfort here for the
poor. There is no respect of persons with God. No
peasant from the obscurest village — no shepherd from
the most secluded plain — no artisan in the clean gar-
ments of an honest calling — ever was kept waiting in
the ante-chamber, asking audience of his Lord. He
may have it any day, any instant, for the seeking : the
publican had it in the parable, even when the Pharisee
THE LION OF JUDAH. 25/
Watts' hymn. All goes into the book.
missed. This king of heaven is Jesus ,; and all the dis-
pensations of daily life are with him.
"Our souls shall tread the desert through with undiverted feet;
And faith and flaming zeal subdue the terrors that we meet :
A thousand savage beasts of prey around the forest roam,
But Judah's Lion guards the way, and guides the wanderers home."
So, likewise, there is a word of encouragement here
for those cumbered w^th much serving. More than once
are such bidden to cast their care upon the Saviour ; and
the w^onderful invitation is backed "with the argument
that he ** careth for them." Christ came not to be min-
istered unto, but to minister. He took that book out
of his divine Father's hand w4th his Father's consent and
in pursuance of a covenant. Hence, patient w^orking-
men that toil for bread — wives and mothers w^ho seem
to live just for children that are clamorous, feeble, and
petulant — w^atchers who find their w^orried w^orld within
the four w^alls of a sick-room — nurses that strive to allay
the querulous sorrow^s of a beloved invalid — industrious
fathers, up with the early sunrise to be the first at labor,
when jobs are few — all these have their very present
help in every time of need. A tranquil eye is keep-
ing watch of them, and all fidelity goes down in the
book, and will be found there when the seven seals
break !
How fine a thing it is to know that all which any true
Christian prizes is kept up so high and so far out of
reach that no violence can touch it ! Jesus holds the
258 THE LION OF JUDAH.
The martyr Basil. The lamb as a symbol.
book in his own hand, and we have the testimony of
John that no one can open it besides. Our lives are
hid, with Christ, in God. Sometimes the world imagines
it has despoiled us of some cherished possession. It is
like the thief's stealing our deeds of the homestead we
live in ; that is all. He gets only a paper ; the deed is
recorded in God's book ; and that which we owned is
just as safe as ever. No child of God ever yet was de-
spoiled of a good title to a home in *' The Saints' Rest."
The Christian's treasure is in heaven. Nothing earthly
can lay a finger on it. ** You may take away my head,"
said the old martyr Basil ; ''but that is all ; you cannot
take away my crown."
2 Then the other thought is this ; the Lamb of God
is also the Lion of Judah. "Behold the goodness and
severity of God." Much that is very significant there
is in this name given to our Lord Jesus Christ. A lamb
is the emblem of innocence and purity. Reference is
made to his suffering on the cross, so far as the sacrifice
is concerned. But as descriptive of his character, it
may strike some as weak. For a lamb is almost the
only creature in existence which has no weapon of of-
fence or defence. This is designed to teach us how
gentle and kind he is while he offers his grace.
Furthermore, this form of speech here is very strange.
This term rendered la7iib occurs only once besides in the
New Testament, and that is in the passage where Simon
Peter is told to feed the Lord's lambs ; it is not the usual
word for lambs ; it is a diminutive ; it means little lambs.
THE LION OF JUDAH. 259
The Lamb is a Lion. " The wrath of the Lamb."
And so the added suggestion is given that Jesus is very
innocent, and very gentle, and very kind.
Now John looks for the Lamb, and the songs praise
the Lamb ; but all the while, every soul in heaven knows
he is a Lion. While the Saviour pleads with sinners,
he is gentle and kind ; but when he comes to judgment,
he will come with all his majesty upon him ! I know
of no expression in the Bible that touches me so as this :
^'The wrath of the Lamb!" ''And the kings of the
earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the
chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond man,
and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in
the rocks of the mountains ; and said to the mountains
and rocks. Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him
that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the
Lamb."
When he, who all along for these years of waiting and
inviting has been wearing the form of gentleness and
peace, shall have changed his visage, and put on his
form of justice and vengeance — when he, who has been
pleading as an advocate, shall show himself as the judge
to pronounce sentence upon the ungodly — who is there
that will be willing to confront him ? who shall be able
to stand ?
It seems melancholy to end our study of God's word
with such a picture of threatening. There are better
verses than these for us to repeat to each other. Oh,
how much finer and gladder is that prophecy of the
saints' rest in heaven with their Lord, the Lamb !
260 THE LION OF JUDAH.
" The Lamb shall lead them." At home in heaven.
''Therefore are they before the throne of God, and
serve him day and night in his temple : and he that sit-
teth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall
hunger no more, neither thirst any more ; neither shall
the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb,
which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and
shall lead them unto living fountains of waters : and
God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."
And so it comes to us that believers will not find
themselves strangers in heaven. For he whom they
have known best is he to whom they are to stand clos-
est. He to whom they owe most is he who will give to
them the more that is coming. The Lamb who made
them saints is the guide who will make them seers.
The Saviour for whom they have suffered longest will
be the Jesus who suffered for them first. And every
joy of the infinite future will be brought to them in
the hand which was once pierced.
XXIII.
THE SINGING LEGIONS OF GOD.
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take
the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast
slain, and hast redeemed us to god by thy blood, out of
every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation ; and
hast made us unto our god kings and priests: and we
SHALL REIGN ON THE ^X'RTli.—Revelatio/t 5 ; 9, lO.
The sight of a great mass of soldiers is, to a thought-
ful man, often saddening. They have such exposure in
doing their ordinary duty ; there is such a necessary
separateness in their lives ; there are among them so
many sure to die and lie in unknown graves. Yet each
is the embodiment of a history, a hope, and a destiny.
Xerxes is reported as having wept aloud when from a
height he was once reviewing the largest army he ever
commanded.
But when soldiers sing, there is always some enliven-
ment in the spectacle. Ten or twenty thousand male
voices make very glorious music ; they say the plains
quiver with the vibration. When ancient Xenophon's
hosts first saw the Euxine Sea, after the painful march
which almost wore them out, they cried with a great
shout at once, '' Thalatta ! thalatta !''—'' T\\q sea! the
sea ! " so loudly, says the veracious historian, that the
262 THE SINGING LEGIONS OF GOD.
God's army always at praise. Faber's " Music."
very birds dropped down on the wing, and the waves lay-
quiet under the sweep of the sound.
It is interesting to notice that whenever we are shown
these pageants of the grand army of God in review, the
Scriptures represent the legions as singing. And usu-
ally we find recorded the exact words of their song.
Evidently more is made of music in heaven than we are
wont to make of it here on earth. At any rate, the
words are brought into more prominence than modern
artists are accustomed to give them. A strain of inarti-
culate sound has power, but the joining of intelligent
thought to the tones is worth more by far as an act of
adoration. Recall some of Faber's lines :
*' There are sounds like flakes of snow falling
In their silent and eddying rings ;
We tremble — they touch us so lightly,
Like the feathers from angel's wings.
There are pauses of marvelous silence.
That are full of significant sound,
Like music echoing music
Under water, or under ground.
O Music ! thou surely art worship ;
But thou art not like praise or prayer;
And words make better thanksgiving
Than thy sweet melodies are."
It may be worth while, for the sake of some fine les-
sons we might hope to learn, to look carefully through
one of these exhibitions in the Apocalypse. Our atten-
tion may well be fastened upon that music, for there
THE SINGING LEGIONS OF GOD. 263
The Lion of Judah. ' The new song.
were three anthems in the performance, each with its
distinct tlieme, and all were succeeded by a chorus of
one word, the sliortest and the best of all.
We have already been over the earlier part of this
fifth chapter of the Revelation, and have seen the grand
spectacle as it appeared w^hen the Lion of the tribe of
Judah took the book of divine decrees from Jehovah's
hands. It was at this supreme moment that the celes-
tial singing began.
The scene grows dazzling as one proceeds in the read-
ing ; and while a writer might well be humiliated at the
poverty of his own language in any attempt to para-
phrase it, the exceeding beauty of the inspired descrip-
tion lures him forward in the study of its details even to
the smallest particular.
I. There was first \\\q believers' song. Its theme was
redemption, the salvation of the soul through the blood
of the Lamb. So its singers were the ransomed : "And
they sung a new song, saying. Thou art worthy to take
the book, and to open the seals thereof : for thou wast
slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of
every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation ; and
hast made us unto our God kings and priests : and we
shall reign on the earth."
This song was '' new" necessarily, for the theme was
absolutely fresh in celestial history. There had been
sin in heaven, and there had been justice w^rought on
those who had sinned. Some of the angels had fallen
from their high estate, and were at the moment expi-
264 THE SINGING LEGIONS OF GOD.
The redeemed singing alone. Personal reminiscences.
ating their wickedness in the abodes of the lost. No
atonement was ever made or offered in their behalf.
Here was therefore a subject never before celebrated in
the songs of God's house.
It was exclusive also, for only those who knew what
it meant could sing it with the spirit and the under-
standing. Emphasis must be laid upon the expressions
of personal acknowledgment. "Thou hast redeemed
us:'' "thou hast made us imto our God kings and
priests." The experience of each child of God is indi-
vidual. Reminiscence is a part of his duty, and it al-
ways leads to gratitude, and starts a new song. No
man can sing as heartily as he who has received most
favor. Says the Psalmist : " I waited patiently for the
Lord ; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He
brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the
miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established
my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth,
even praise unto our God : many shall see it, and fear,
and shall trust in the Lord." We could reason legiti-
mately, therefore, that the song of the saints in heaven
would be sung by saints alone. But a verse there is
elsewhere which sets this at rest : " And they sung as it
were a new song before the throne, and before the four
beasts, and the elders : and no man could learn that
song but the hundred and forty and four thousand,
which were redeemed from the earth."
It was a great song. For the multitude of singers was
simply innumerable. So the sound rose " like mighty
THE SINGING LEGIONS OF GOD. 265
Sixteen missionaries. "A royal priesthood."
thunderings, and the voice of many waters." The re-
deemed come from all regions of the earth, and from all
ages of history. I once heard sixteen foreign mission-
aries singing together the hymn, '' Thus far the Lord
hath led me on," to the tune of '' Hebron," each using
the native language where he had been laboring. It
sounded harmoniously, and was about as intelligible as
choirs generally make it. What a glorious heritage of
worth the church has in its continuous history !
It was likewise a royal song. It is a pity th^t our
translators put that present tense into the future. For
the redeemed do not say ''we j"/m// reign," but ''we are
reigning." Christians are the regal and the regnant
race in the world iioiv. The Lord declared that his peo-
ple should be "a kingdom of priests." Peter calls be-
lievers "a holy priesthood," and afterward, in another
place, "a royal priesthood." The glory of each Chris-
tian is in this office of prayer ; for he has an undoubted
power and privilege of intercession. When the embassv
from the northern army returned from Rome to make
report, they said : "We found a city of palaces, and a
kingdom of kings." Heaven is a city of only one pal-
ace, in which are many mansions ; but those who dwell
there are princes.
2. Next in John's vision came the song of the angels.
The theme of this was the character and rank of Jesus
Christ.
Observ^e the vast numbers of the singers, and the stress
they put on their strain with a " loud voice : " "And I
266 THE SINGING LEGIONS OF GOD.
The angels sing also. Glory to the Lamb.
beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round
about the throne and the beasts and the elders : and
the number of them was ten thousand times ten thou-
sand, and thousands of thousands."
Obser\^e the vast ascription of honors to Christ : *' Say-
ing with a loud voice, Worthy is the lamb that was slain
to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength,
and honor, and glory, and blessing." This seems to in-
clude everything that mind can conceive of supreme
ownership and control. They lay the universe down
at his feet. These heavenly beings are acting in full
obedience to the apostle Paul's earthly exhortation :
*' Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ
Jesus : who, being in the form of God, thought it not
robbery to be equal with God ; but made himself of no
reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant,
and was made in the likeness of men : and being found
in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Where-
fore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him
a name which is above every name : that at the name
of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven,
and things in earth, and things under the earth ; and
that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Observe the special reason they suggest for their sur-
render. It is as " the Lamb that was slain " that they
exalt him to the eminence. These angels had no part in
the atonement, but they knew just where Christ's great-
THE SINGING LEGIONS OF GOD. 26/
The angels challenged. The creatures' song.
est exploits had been done. They had for ages ''desired
earnestly to look into " this mystery of his humiliation ;
now they understood what it meant. Just before Jesus
left the bosom of the Father, on his way to suffering and
death, while even the lowliest garments of his humilia-
tion were on him, they had been challenged to pay him
the usual adoration : ^' And again, when he bringeth in
the first-begotten into the world, he saith, And let all
the angels of God worship him." As if the Almighty
would say, " You shall not even now despise my Son !
though he is bearing sin and shame and contumely, give
him every honor as the chief in the realm ! " Now they
saw him coming to his old place and glory again ; and
they knew that the Lamb of God had brought fresh
honor to his adorable name.
3. Then the choir of creatures begins the anthem as-
signed to them ; and now the theme is the dominion of
the Lord Jesus Christ: "And every creature which is
in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and
such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I
saying. Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be
unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the
Lamb for ever and ever."
Just notice the very singular voices employed in this
choir. Birds and beasts, and worms and fishes — oh,
wonder ! how will such creatures be able to sing to-
gether ? God is to listen, and he will understand them
and be satisfied. Much of this world's music must be
lost to us, our hearing is so very imperfect. Scientific
268 THE SINGING LEGIONS OF GOD.
Imperfect hearing. The chorus.
people calculate the swiftness of insects' wings in their
flying by the musical note the vibration makes in the
air ; but there comes a time when the most delicate ear
fails to perceive sound, while the small creature cer-
tainly goes on in its path. That note God hears, but
we do not. Most likely God hears and loves wiiat does
not ever reach us ; our silences may be full of singing
to him.
4. Now we reach the grand chorus with which the
singing concluded. Led by representatives, whose mys-
terious nature and office we cannot altogether explain,
it would seem as if the whole three choirs burst forth
into one final ascription: "And the four beasts said,
Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and
worshiped him that liveth for ever and ever."
So intricate and perplexing is this whole question
concerning those beings here seen in the presence of
God, that it would only divert our study from its profit-
able purpose if we w^ent in upon it. A passage, quoted
from a previous chapter, will give us all the information
we really need :
*' And before the throne there w^as a sea of glass like
unto crystal : and in the midst of the throne, and round
about the throne, w^ere four beasts, full of eyes before and
behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the sec-
ond beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a
man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. And
the four beasts had each of them six wings about him ;
and they were full of eyes within : and they rest not day
THE SINGING LEGIONS OF GOD. 269
The " beasts." The Ghlzeh pyramid.
and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy. Lord God Al-
mighty, which was, and is, and is to come. And when
those beasts give glory, and honor, and thanks to him
that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, the
four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on
the throne, and w^orship him that liveth for ever and
ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor
and power : for thou hast created all things, and for
thy pleasure they are and were created."
Here was the entire universe engaged in a song. For
if the ''beasts," or ** living creatures," were like the
cherubim, and so were the symbols of supremacy and
excellence of the redeemed world ; if they had the head
of an ox, and of an eagle, and of a lion, and of a man,
and so were the chiefs of the races on the ground or in
the air — and if they thus stood for all things alive, after a
removal of sin's curse — then the song was sung in tre-
mendous unison by all who shone that moment in the
shadowless presence of God.
Here was an anthem in one word. And '■'■Amen'' is
the same in all human languages. Two travelers sat on
the summit of the great pyramid at Ghlzeh ; they tried
in vain to get into conversation until one exclaimed,
*' Hallelujah ! " and the other answered, ''Amen ! "
Here was the universal endorsement of the themes of
all the songs at once. For amen means, "so be it." It
was the old word chosen when the vast tribes of Israel
gave their assent to the law of Moses, and the covenant
270 Till': siNciN'c; i.i'.cKm's OK con.
A satisfied realm. I'ho Amen of peace.
from JosluiM : "All {\]c. people suid, Ainc/i.'' llcucc,
here in licivcii, il w;is {.he .'ucniicsccMicc of all crcalion.
There imist liave been some sort of preference in
Jesus* mind for this sini^iilar word. ** Verily, verily," is
in the Grec^k simply "Amen, aincn." it is a pai(i( le of
intense asseveration. Twic;e in one verst; of prophecy
is Jehovah addressed as "the God of Truth ;" hut what
is there rendered " truth " is y/w/v/ ; he is "the (iod of
Anu:n." Here in tlu^ Ivcnelation Glnist is called "the
Amen, the raitliful and line Witness." Ih^ is the (Jod
of absolute truth, the Kin^ of the kingdom of truth;
"l^^)r all the promises of God in him arc; yea, and in
him Amen, unto th(; fjjlory of (iod by us."
II(M-c, then, was the last doxology of a satisfied realm,
that the l.amb of Ciod was K'^'^K hereaft(;rto rule. This
was tlu; calm rejoicini; of a universe, which had reached
good o-overnment at last ! " TIk; kin_i;don)s of this world
an; beconu; tlu; kini^doms of our 1 -old, and of his ('hrist ;
and he shall reif;n forever and ever ! "
Oh, th(,'re is rest for the tired heart in that sweet glad
Amen! TIkmh; is p(;ace for all th(; singing S(jldiers of
God in that Amen ! Th(;n! is solace for th(; disturbed
foreboding mind in that Amen ! Oh, th(Me is infinite
satisfaction for the universe in that Anu^n ! It makes
one feel like falling d<;wn, as tlu.' elders did, and wor-
shiping him "that liveth forever and ever."
/I
XXIV.
THE HEAVENLY CITY.
And I John saw thk holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down
FROM God, out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for
HER HUSBAND. — Revelation 21 : 2.
Has any authentic and authoritative description of
heaven ever been given us, so that we may rest in the
notion we form, and may pass it on to our children as
tiic true one ? Arc we quite certain that tlicy imderstand
how a tree can grow up in a golden pavement, and how
a river can flow out from under a throne ? Do gardens
have city-walls and solid gates for defences, with jewels
of marvelous size for their foundations on the out-
side ?
Evidently such florid orientalisms of description are
not intended to be exact and literal. But if not, what
is there about heaven ?
Some people cling to their old child-thought of a lo-
cality beyond the stars, a region above the bounds of
human vision, where a city is built, or a paradise is laid
out. They talk about the *' Father's house with many
mansions ; " and they take great comfort in thinking how
the redeemed are walking in its courts. They even im-
agine they hear Bculah bells ringing in their wakeful
272 THE HEAVENLY CITY.
The renewed earth. Heaven begins below,
midnights, as the sound of singing voices comes from
over the river.
Others think that heaven is just this earth new,
cleansed at last from its curse, and fitted again as it
was in the days of Eden bloom to be the home of the
sinless and happy sons of men. They quote the verse
from the Apocalypse which relates how John saw the
New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God,
and resting here on this purified planet, with its founda-
tions garnished with precious stones, with its gates of
pearl, and its streets of gold. It is clear that they are
never at all troubled with the literal form of expression
which asserts that this city comes " out of heaven," so
as to feel pressed with the question, where is the
** heaven " it comes from, and does it leave the heaven
behind when it comes ? Or does the heaven come
along, the kingdom following the capital?
Others still say that Scripture does not mean to teach
us to expect a localized heaven at all. They would pro-
nounce it a mere fancy, grown out of a mistaken inter-
pretation, to assert that somewhere above our heads,
in the fire-lit line of our Saviour's departure from the
mount of ascension, there is a fixed place to which the
good are going and gone. They believe heaven is only
a state ; a renovation of our nature, so that each has an
individual heaven in his own breast, into which Jesus
Christ comes and is formed an indweller ; and they will
tell us that happiness consists not in any harps of gold,
or sprigs of palm, or anthems of music, but in a meek
THE HEAVENLY CITY. 273
Heaven in the heart. Reserves of Scripture.
and holy disposition characteristic of the sanctified
heart, when fully turned to the Saviour. If this be the
true notion of a ** better country," then our fulness of
joy will consist in rest from toil, victory after warfare,
glory succeeding suffering, bliss after pain, and peace
after turmoil and care of daily exposure.
One thing is certain : however men may differ, they
must come to a single conclusion finally ; that, although
the Bible is crowded with hints as to the superior bless-
edness of the abode of God's people, yet it nowhere
gives us an explicit account of its nature or locality.
Here revelation is simply silent in its reserve.
Speculative discussions must prove profitless, for the
Lord God has not designed to make clear anything be-
yond the fact that heaven will be all the redeemed will
need or will wish. '' I shall be satisfied, when I awake,
with thy likeness." Still, let us see whether there may
not be gained something from a little group of verses in
the Apocalypse, which will reward our study. We are
certainly all agreed upon a few points.
I. For example, this : Heaven must be a very splen-
did place, when one really does get there. All the de-
scriptions unite in exhibiting the brilliancy of the city's
adornment : '* The building of the wall of it was of jas-
per ; and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.
And the foundations of the wall of the city were gar-
nished with all manner of precious stones. The first
foundation was jasper ; the second, sapphire ; the third, a
chalcedony ; the fourth, an emerald ; the fifth, sardonyx ;
12*
274 THE HEAVENLY CITY.
Celestial jewels. The London painting.
the sixth, sardius ; the seventh, chrysolite ; the eighth,
beryl ; the ninth, a topaz ; the tenth, a chrysoprasus ;
the eleventh, a jacinth ; the twelfth, an amethyst. And
the twelve gates were twelve pearls ; every several gate
was of one pearl : and the street of the city was pure
gold, as it were transparent glass."
Here are reflecting surfaces, and shining substances,
and radiant materials of structure, multiplied in ex-
haustless profusion, each calculated to catch and repeat
the extraordinaiy light which falls upon them. Like a
room of mirrors, this entire abode of God will send
back the images of his glory. What a flood of sunshine
such a conception flings out upon the glooms of our
earthly life ! Indeed, there is something very signifi-
cant in the way in which the Scriptures offer these pic-
tures of glittering splendor among the consolations of
spiritual grace. It is like a beautiful setting to a won-
derfully precious gem. The old prophets are foremost
in this. ''O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not
comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair col-
ors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will
make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbun-
cles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones."
In the London Exhibition there was once a beautiful
painting, representing a mother on her knees in her
desolate chamber, beside the body of her little child.
Her face rose to just such a height that she looked across
the edge of the coffin straight toward an open window,
through which the western sun was streaming rays of
THE HEAVENLY CITY. 2/5
Mourning all ended. Wider worship in heaven.
lustrous twilight, kindling the w^hole sky with superna-
tural silver, purple, violet, and gold. Her eyes were
arrested with the wonderful sunset ; and the legend un-
derneath the picture was what perhaps she might have
been repeating to herself : '^ The sun shall be no more
thy light by day ; neither for brightness shall the moon
give light unto thee : but the Lord shall be unto thee
an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory ; thy sun
shall no more go down ; neither shall thy moon with-
draw itself : for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light,
and the days of thy mourning shall be ended."
2. Again, we are agreed on this : religious life here
fits us for a wilder and grander experience of worship in
heaven. On this earth it seems absolutely necessary for
our poor weak faith, and especially our dull imagination,
to have something tangible to aid in ordinary service of
God. But in that celestial city it wdll be only a glad-
ness to see Christ face to face, and we can afford to dis-
dain all sensuous emblems and helps: "And I saw no
temple therein : for the Lord God Almighty and the
Lamb are the temple of it."
It may not be worth while to call our churches " tem-
ples," but we certainly do need edifices, and we think
they ought to be expensively beautiful. It is perhaps
true that our aesthetic sense may be made tributary to
devotion ; at any rate, one would think a few of our
buildings might be put to better use by proper archi-
tecture, so that they w^ould lift us nearer and nearer to
heaven.
2/6 THE HEAVENLY CITY.
A Canadian church. Luminous color.
Most of us have heard of that fine structure in a
Canadian city, every point of which presses upwards,
and teaches a lesson as it rises. The foundation must,
of course, be put on the earthly rock, but step by step
every line of the plan struggles away from it. The
tower grows slender as it goes into the serener air ; the
steeple surmounts that, till it is ready to be lost in a
spire ; so likewise the spire soars on aloft in sweet sun-
shine until it is crowned by the figure of a tall angel in
white ; and the angel also keeps looking upward, and
even his hand is extended, and the slender index-finger
points heavenward — heavenward — still !
3. Further, we are all agreed in this : the supreme
excellence of heaven is found in the presence of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, whose revelation illu-
mines it. " And the city had no need of the sun,
neither of the moon, to shine in it : for the glory of
God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof."
The one sight to be seen will be Immanuel with the
many brilliant crowns on his head, and the rainbow over
his throne. It cannot be possible for earthly writers to
gather more figures or similitudes of speech for use in
description, than has been done oftener than once in the
Old and New Testament, just to show radiancy and flash-
ing of luminous color. We are absolutely bewildered
to know what jewels are meant by some of those which
are mentioned in the account of the foundation stones
of the Celestial City. No sun is needed, no moon is
needed ; indeed, pains are taken to state that not even
THE HEAVENLY CITY. 2//
Number of inhabitants. " No mean city."
a ''candle" could be put into use. For the light all
comes from one who calls himself " the bright and
morning star."
4. Next to this, we are all agreed that the number of
heaven's inhabitants must be very large. Most pitiful
and inadequate is the notion of Christ's atonement which
would make the achieved results of it diminutive. What
do Christian people mean when they preach about *' the
small moiety of the elect ? " A *' nation *' may be born in
a day, when God's grace is in exercise. And all realms
are to be put under tribute for souls. The north will
give up, the south will not keep back: "And the na-
tions of them which are saved shall walk in the light of
it : and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and
honor into it."
All ranks and conditions will be there : David the
king, Joseph the ruler, Philemon the master, Onesimus
the slave. When the apostle is telling the story of
Abraham's faith, he takes occasion to intimate what a
blessed issue it had in the generations following :
'* Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good
as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude,
and as the sand which is by the seashore innumerable."
We need not belittle our inheritance, nor underrate the
companionship we shall share when we enter into it.
Paul once said, perhaps a little proudly, w^hen they
challenged him concerning Tarsus, ''I am a citizen of
no mean city." And what should a Christian say when
talking of heaven ? Is it necessary for due modesty
278 THE HEAVENLY CITY.
Access always free. Henry Martyn.
that he should grow deprecating, and speak as Lot did
of Zoar, ^' Is it not a little one ? "
5. Again : we admit and proclaim widely that access
to heaven is positively free at all times to all persons
who will come into it in the right way. *' And the gates
of it shall not be shut at all by day : for there shall be
no night there."
One word here used settles the condition of admis-
sion ; it is the ** saved " who are welcomed. Salvation is
the theme of heavenly songs. Penitence for sin, faith in
the Saviour, surrender of one's life — these are the steps
of the redeemed ones coming home. They involve some
measure of sacrifice. One must cut loose from a fair
world around him, and turn his hope unto Christ. " If
ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are
above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God."
That is not always easy, for earth is near and heaven
seems far off. *'It is an awful, an arduous thing," wrote
Henry Martyn from his field of mission toil to dear
friends in England, *'to root out every affection for
earthly things, so as to live only for another world."
Such conflict is not unusual. , But diligent discipline
can do much to relieve it.
6. We are also agreed that all worthy gains of this
life are perpetuated and welcomed in the other. When
Constantine established Constantinople as the capital
city of his vast empire, he beautified it — indeed, history
says he almost builded it new — out of all the other chief
towns in the world he ruled. He took pictures and stat-
THE HEAVENLY CITY. 279
Constantinople. Earth's " bubbles."
ues, columns and carvings of edifices, and pillars and
mosaics, away from every foreign owner, and put them
in his metropolis. He forced all the kings of the earth
he had conquered to contribute the very best they had.
That may have seemed hard for the vanquished in those
times. But here we see that the Christian is only in-
vited to add his gathered treasures to his own home. It
is the privilege of believers to make heaven happier :
*' And they shall bring the glory and honor of the na-
tions into it."
What are the true honors of kings ? Surely, not these
factitious fames and titles, these monuments and col-
umns and arches, of which they seem so proud. Croe-
sus left his wealth all behind him ; Nero could not save
his palace by burning it up ; Cheops gave a pyramid
for the world's riddle ; Pompey's pillar is out on the
lonely hill in Alexandria still ; and Cleopatra's needle
has been once already lost at sea. *'The earth hath
bubbles as the water hath, and these be of them." What
are royal believers permitted to bear away with them,
and contribute to the joys of heaven ?
Our acquisitions of worthy knozuledge may go along with
us into the other life. Our powers of investigation will
not be impaired ; and we shall have a better chance for
study then than now.
Our 7nemories also will continue active. "Son, re-
member." Zaccheus will not forget the sycamore-tree
he climbed in order to see Jesus ; and Bartimeus will
often think of the gate of Jericho.
28o THE HEAVENLY CITY.
•'Clothed upon." The Waterloo question.
Our affections will be worth saving, and they will add
very much to the heavenly enjoyment for most of us.
We shall know the friends that went away from us, and
they will be glad when we meet them. Heaven is to
be a place for ^'knitting severed friendships up." The
parted and the pure shall be joined together again.
This must be what the apostle means when he says,
*' not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon."
We shall lose nothing worth keeping ; we shall gain
much better worth having. The inhabitants of that
other life have been called our ''high-born kinsmen."
There is a blood-relationship between us. It kindles an
enthusiasm in the tamest soul to remember that they
most likely know what we are doing here, and quite ap-
preciate all that is honorable and valiant and true in
our behavior. So it is well to refer to this often. " Our
very thoughts are heard in heaven." What will be the
judgment of us in those pure minds ? On the eve of the
battle of Waterloo, it is related that Wellington sent all
around through his army the question, "What will they
think of us to-morrow in England ? "
7. Then, finally, we are agreed that everything will
be excluded from heaven which will bring discomfort
or retain taint of sin : "And there shall in no wise enter
into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever work-
eth abomination, or maketh a lie ; but they which are
written in the Lamb's book of life." This is the official
proclamation.
There is something quite novel, as well as exceedingly
THE HEAVENLY CITY. 28 1
Negative descriptions. No more " vigils."
interesting, in these negative forms of presentation we
discover in the Scriptures. If there is a confessed mys-
tery in the statements as to what we shall find in the
Celestial City, surely we ought to be grateful for being
told so plainly what will never, never, be found there any
more. Take away from our earthly lot just one item,
that of illness — undoubtedly the fruit of sin — and how
commonplace, but how welcome, is the verse of old
prophecy: ''And the inhabitant shall not say, I am
sick : the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven
their iniquity."
*'0 mother!" said a crippled boy, when they talked
to him, by his bedside of suffering, concerning the heav-
en to which they hoped he would go — '* O mother !
shall I be straight then ? " And she simply quieted him
down with the text : ''Then the eyes of the blind shall
be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue
of the dumb sing."
Remove this curse of deformity, and w^eak will, and
diseased body, and depraved taste, and constitutional in-
firmity, and oh, how much goes with it ! Leave sin be-
hind, too, and we begin to breathe freely. No more
watching ; no more dreading ; no more shames in the
daytimes ; no more vigils in the night ; but all free and
safe ever! "And God shall wipe away all tears from
their eyes ; and there shall be no more death, neither
sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain :
for the former things are passed away."
282 THE HEAVENLY CITY.
A western city. The '* afternoon" land.
In a word, so far as we can now see, the new life is
just ordinary human life with a new heart ; and heaven
is just this worthy existence of ours with all its blessed
gains and enjoyments, forever rid of its sufferings and
troubles. Heaven is only the projection of the best
which the human heart can conceive into an unhindered
experience where it can go on limitlessly in the light.
Once, in a western town, they told us that the beauty
of it lay in its suburbs and environs. And one of the
enthusiastic residents remarked, as we admired the main
street in particular, and especially commented on the
fine show it made at the upper end upon the hill, *' Oh,
yes ! it is much more beautiful across the river ! " Then
he showed us how beneath steep banks a deep and rapid
stream was running athwart the path just ahead. But
he went on : *' These same streets are continued over on
the other side ; but they have more room there ; so the
yards are finer, and the fountains are loftier, and the
edifices are more substantial ; indeed, it is wonderfully
beautiful on the hillside yonder, especially in the after
part of the day, when the long sunshine is falling ! "
Well, then, is it true that all the streets of this life are
continued in the other across the dark river ? Do the
gardens grow fairer, and the fountains finer, as the im-
mortal road runs on ? Is it going ever to be said of us
Christian travelers, as the Laureate sings of those whom
only his imagination saw on the journey :
*' In the afternoon lliey came unto a land
In which it seemed always afternoon."
XXV.
THE FINAL PRAYER.
He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quick-
ly ; Amen. Even so, come, Lord ]is.s\ss.— Revelation 22: 20.
Any one who stands on the heights overlooking the
sea close by Sandy Hook will be struck by the apparent
hurry and huddling together of the vessels as they push
in toward the narrows. Wherries and skiffs, steamers
and yachts, all the craft, large and little, are pressing
eagerly forward as if to make the harbor earliest.
The same picture comes to one who watches the clos-
ing in of Scripture scenes and themes, as the revelation
of God reaches its conclusion. There is certainly a
rapid rushing of events, a swift driving together of di-
rections, a strange repetitious energy of expression in
the promises, all calculated to fix in one's mind the
thought that these celestial voices are soon to be silent,
and the great book from heaven is to receive its impres-
sive '' finis."
*' Even so, come, Lord Jesus," is the small invo-
cation just before the benediction which dismisses the
universe from worshipfully looking upward after new
disclosure. Its characteristic force as a prayer does
not all appear at once. Certain peculiarities will re-
ward a patient study of its meaning and pertinency.
2 34 THE FINAL PRAYER.
An inspired prayer. Importunateness.
I. For example, it is a prayer offered under inspiration.
It was conceived and lifted by the beloved disciple, who
once lay in the Saviour's bosom ; he would know how
to pray, if any one did.
1. How brief it is in its measure ! Seven words : one
for each color in the rainbow, one for each note in a
song, one for each of the days in a perfect week : not at
all too much, not at all too little. All the pattern pray-
ers of the Bible are very short. " Lord, save us : we
perish ! " *' Remember me when thou comest into thy
kingdom ! " " O that Ishmael might live before thee ! "
''God be merciful to me a sinner ! " " I Come quickly ;
Amen. Even so, come ! "
2. How comprehensive it is in its doctrine ! It says,
'' Lord, come," for John knew who was his Master, and
was certain he was a divine being. It says, ''Lord
Jesus," for John knew who was his Redeemer, and un-
derstood that he was thoroughly a man. It says in the
outset, " even so," for John had been tossed so much on
the turbulent and boisterous seas of experience, that he
had learned the grace of acquiescence perfectly. It
says, "come quickly," for John remembered many a
sweet communion, and longed once more to have his
beloved teacher return to his side again.
3. How importunate it is in its spirit ! The entire
chapter rings with that one word "come." The Spirit
says it ; the Bride says it ; and whosoever hears the
others say it, is to say it himself. One's imagination is
arrested ; it is like listening to those slow, sweet, smooth
THE FINAL PRAYER. 285
Falling chimes. The isle Patmos.
chimes that fall from a neighboring belfry, stroke by
stroke, as the evening worshipers move tranquilly to-
ward the door. Slower and slower, but clearer and
clearer, the vibrations seem to speak to us, as they are
growing fewer and more lingering, with an increase of
pleading, as if impatient to be heard and heeded.
4. How direct it is in its address ! Evidently John
was weary and growing lonesome. It is said that this
wretched island of Patmos used to be pleasanter than it
is now. The pilgrims and anchorites of the middle
ages may have made it so for a w^hile. Once in history
it was called ''Palmosa," or the Palmy Isle; there is
on it now just one palm, travelers say, and that is in a
valley which, in memory of the apostle, has been named
the *' saint's garden." In John's time, however, it de-
served the description that Suetonius gives to it, "a
bleak and desolate spot, fit for banished exiles." And
this prayer of the sad and lonely man shows that he felt
certain that only the company of the Lord Jesus could
enliven a neighborhood so forlorn and dull. So he said
''Come."
There cannot be any objection to our making this in-
spired petition our pattern, its brevity and its compre-
hensiveness, its importunity and its directness, all being
so commendable. There are moods and tenses of hu-
man experience forw^hich it is fitted well. It must have
sounded sweetly at Patmos when the wind was high,
and the clouds hung low, and the waves were moaning.
II. Observe, in the second place, this is the last prayer
286 THE FINAL PRAYER.
Last things. The temple of God's word.
in the Bible. John was the last of the apostolic band,
and this was certainly the last prayer he ever put on the
unchanging record.
Last things always have great significance ; the last
leaf of autumn, or the last bird before the winter snows
come ; the last Indian of a fading race ; the last words
of a friend, the last caress before estrangement ; the last
visit of New Year's ; the last bill a spendthrift flings
away from his scattered fortune. Our imaginations
sometimes fasten on what is likely to be on ahead ; the
last Lord's Day for any one of us ; the last sermon we
shall hear then, or the last hymn we shall help to sing.
It would be difficult for one to explain just why these
things affect him so mournfully.
In this instance the impression is not at all sad, but
the rather exhilarating ; for we have a kind of satisfied
mterest in a completion which fitly closes any great en-
terprise. We like what is well done clear to the end.
The ancient fathers wept for very joy as they saw the
top-stone of the temple finished at last, and brought
forth into its place with shoutings of ''Grace, grace,"
unto it. And he must be a dull Christian, who, having
watched this grand beautiful edifice of inspiration rising
slowly but surely in its courses of Pentateuch, prophecy,
psalm, proverb, gospel, epistle, is not now fairly kin-
dled into enthusiasm in his emotions as he discovers
how fitly such a wonderful masterpiece of the Apoca-
lypse crowns it at the summit. " The law of the Lord is
perfect."
THE FINAL PRAYER. 28/
The Bible ends with prayer, John's old age.
And how fine it is that the word of divine grace closes
Avith a prayer — and such a prayer ! Around through all
its circles of intelligent thought runs this spirit of inspi-
ration : predictions, and songs, and apothegms, and rit-
uals ; but at last, rising with a supreme devotion, as
*'fire ascending seeks the sun," it calmly turns its di-
rection toward the Godhead whence it had its source.
*'Inthe beginning, God:" so the Scripture starts out
in its revelation from heaven, and it continues w^ith the
inspiration of God's Spirit through both Testaments : so
here it ends with a call for another dispensation of God's
Son : '' Even so, come, Lord Jesus ! "
III. Observ^e, once more, this is a prayer raised fy an
aged Christian; indeed, it is the final act of his honored
public life.
It is well known to us all that the beloved disciple
lingered in this world long after all his comrades were
dead. When this Apocalypse was written, sixty years
had elapsed since Christ had ascended from the Mount
of Olives. Through all John's rough vicissitudes he
had been marvelously spared for fresh service. He
came to so great an age at last, that the foolish story
was revived concerning hini which he had hoped for-
ever to silence when he added an extraordinary^ chapter
to his gospel. There had been reported for some time
among the churches the absurd tradition that our Lord
actually promised him immortality. This he had taken
pains to contradict at the time. " Then went this say-
ing abroad among the brethren, tliat that disciple should
288 THE FINAL PRAYER.
False report about John. Christ's ascension.
not die ; yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die ;
but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to
thee ? This is the disciple which testifieth of these
things, and wrote these things : and we know that his
testimony is true."
Of such a mysterious remark, made by our Saviour,
John would of course retain a most vivid remembrance.
It did not say that Jesus would return before he should
die ; but it did not deny him the privilege of hoping
such might be the case. This unusual length of days
may have encouraged him much. It is difficult to de-
cide what were the real views of the apostles as to our
Lord's advent. John certainly believed that Jesus was
coming back some time, or he never would have prayed,
^' Even so, come. Lord Jesus."
He was not praying for mere death. Job once said :
** Oh that God would grant me the thing that I long for,
ternrise ^ ^^ would let loose his hand and cut me off ! "
The ancivery'u'^'fe''''"' petition from this. The patri-
top-stS„ged to find deat,; ,KMV»u?i^-stle may have longed
f?-avoid death, by hastening the r ^velation of h.s be-
loved Lord and Master so that he r-nght see him again
in the flesh. , . . , , t ^
He had reason enough to believ ^ th,s to be a lawful
prayer. When he with the others sto od looking after
Jesus as he rose into the parted skies, two men in white
apparel suddenly exclaimed : "Ye men of GaiJee, why
stand ye gazing up info heaven? this same .esus
which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so
O^
THE FINAL PRAYER. 289
Fontenelle's remark. Prayer on a promise.
come in like manner as ye have seen him go into
heaven."
Surely, every aged believer should be content to say,
'' Thy will be done;" but there could be no more ap-
propriate prayer for one well on in years than this. No
one wants the pains of death, for their own sake, if he
could be delivered from tliem. Better by far would it
be for him and for all of us if we could be among the
company wdio shall escape dying altogether, and be
found alive at Christ's coming, and be caught up into
the air at his right hand ! If he is ready, w^hy should
not he ivant to be forever with the Lord ? ''I am about
to decamp," said the aged Fontenelle ; *' and I have sent
all my heavy baggage on before me already ! "
IV. Observe, in the fourth place, this is a prayer on
a promise : nay, more ; it is a promise changed into a
prayer.
Suppose a skilful archer should catch a flying arrow
in the air before it fell, and fixing it in his bow instantly
should send it back whence it came ; this would be very
much what Matthew Henry says in his quaint, forcible
w^ay : " Y'^hatever God gives you in any promise, be sure
to send back to him in a prayer."
Note the language of this passage of Scripture just as
it is in our version : '' He w^hich testifieth these things
saith, Surely I come quickly ; Amen. Even so, come,
Lord Jesus." One little felicity among the rest is lost
in the rendering. The particle of asseveration in each
instance used is the same. The word rendered ''surely"
13
290 THE FINAL PRAYER.
** Surely" and " even so." Prayer from experience.
is the exact word rendered **even so." That mere vo-
cable of this beautiful language is like a ring of gold in
which the promise and the prayer are linked together.
Jesus says, *' I come surely ; " so John says, " Oh, surely
then, come. Lord Jesus, come quickly ! "
V. Observe, still further, that this W2iS a player founded
in a long reach of extended experience. There is no other
way of accounting for its daring intelligence and impas-
sioned pleading.
John had once been at Jesus* side in the flesh. And
now for some weeks he had been looking into heaven
through an open door of pearl. From his Gospel and
Epistles we easily infer that his was a nature of pecu-
liarly penetrating and delicate mold. He had had ex-
ceedingly rare opportunities of increase in learning and
growth in grace. So we are rightly led to conjecture
that he was probably one of the loftiest and most spirit-
ual Christians that ever lived. Of all who are men-
tioned in the New Testament church, he seems the
most profoundly versed, the most deeply read, in the
wonderful revelations of divine things. He had his
choice among them always.
Now here we find this favored man suddenly prompted
to raise his last mortal prayer. The crowning moment
of his life is reached. Gazing straight into the open
door of God's own heaven, he is invited and inspired to
make his final request. What will he ask ? Shall he
seek more information concerning the divine purpose ?
Can he know now, if he will, the story of the angels.
THE FINAL PRAYER. 29I
John's highest wish. Rutherford's last words.
their revolt, and their fall ? Is it within his reach at
this supreme moment to learn where Moses was buried,
and whither Elijah went in the whirlwind ? Can he
hear some more singing ? Can he see some more shin-
ing of seraphim's wings ? Can he talk some more with
the elders, wearing golden crowns ? Is it true that all
heaven is wide open to this beloved disciple, and he
may satisfy his w^istfulness or his curiosity ? What will
he want more ? With all his vast experience, what is
he going to seek in the last prayer he lifts before he
enters heaven ?
Nothing : only a clearer sight of his Lord Jesus Christ !
Only a nearer companionship with his Redeemer. Not
one of the glittering glories of that Celestial City be-
sides ; not one of the tender memories of earth besides ;
only this : " Come, Lord Jesus ! "
How high a soaring faith may go, even here on the
low earthly footstool of God's majesty ! How freely a
bright experience of the new life may gaze into the in-
effable mysteries of eternity! And, yet this is all it
comes to, " Give me now a full, fresh revelation of
Jesus Christ ! My eyes would see the King in his
beauty, and behold the land that is far off ! Whom have
I in heaven but thee ? and there is none upon earth that
I desire besides thee. Show me, O Lord, thy glory ! "
*' The bride eyes not her garments, but her dear bridegroom's face;
I will not gaze on glory, but on my Lord of grace;
Not on the crown he giveth, but on the pierced hand —
The Lamb is all the glory of Immanuel's land ! '*
292 THE FINAL PRAYER.
The test prayer for all. ' ' Come, Lord Jesus ! "
Two simple reflections seem to have place here, now
that our study has covered the meaning of this wonder-
ful petition,
1. A prayer like this is singularly appropriate as a test
in every Christian's time of self-examination. *'Yet a
little while, and he that shall come will come, and will
not tarry." Are we individually ready to meet him?
Are we actually praying for his appearance ? Does it
frighten us to think he may be here very soon ?
2. A prayer like this is exactly the prayer for every
unconverted person to offer. It is a prayer founded on
a promise. Let us look carefully at the surprising dia-
logue which is recorded in this same chapter. Jesus
speaks first: "And, behold, I come quickly; and my
reward is with me, to give every man according as his
work shall be."
Then w^e hear the responses at once : " And the Spirit
and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth, say.
Come. And let him that is athirst, come : and whoso-
ever will, let him .take the w^ater of life freely."
To whom does the Spirit say. Come ? To whom does
the Bride say in the same word. Come ? To whom is
he that heareth the Spirit and the Bride saying Come
also to say, Come ? These prayers are addressed not to
sinners, but to Christ — Come, Lord Jesus ! But now
note that right in the middle of the sentence the sense
changes: " Come, Lord Jesus ! And whosoever will,
let him come ! " That is, let any one who will, come to
the Lord Jesus. So when a man prays for the Saviour,
THE FINAL PRAYER. 293
The last benediction. Four books with a curse.
the Saviour is on the way. Here is the prayer for all.
Come to my heart, and dwell there. Come to my home,
and rule there. Come to this poor world, and relieve it
of sins. Come to thine own people who are waiting.
Thou hast said thou wilt come : even so, Lord Jesus,
come quickly.
And now the last prayer in the Bible is fitly followed
by the last benediction. '* The grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ be with you all. Amen." It is worth noticing
that John pronounces here only the name of the Second
Person in tlie adorable Trinity. In this he follows Paul,
who gave a like announcement : '^ Unto them that look
for him shall he appear the second time, without sin, unto
salvation : " and then supplemented it with a like bless-
ing : *' Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus
Christ in sincerity."
There are four books in the Old Testament which
end with a curse : Isaiah, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes^
and Malachi. The Hebrew scribes were always accus^
tomed to repeat the verse just before the last in these
cases so as to close their reading with something better
than a malediction. But the New Testament needs no
such relief. The last vision of Jesus that John saw
showed him with his hands outstretched for a blessing
at Bethany : and the last word he speaks for Jesus at
Patmos is the benediction he left.
XXVL
THE TEACHER TAUGHT.
Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not
THYSELF ? — Romans 2 : 21.
In his conversation with Nicodemiis our Saviour
enunciated the principle to which all Christian useful-
ness must eventually be referred ; namely, that religious
instruction, in order to be effective, must grow up out
of one's personal experience. A careful exposition of
the passage from which our text is taken will show that
it offers likewise an illustration of the same rule.
The model Pharisee of primitive times imagined he
was reaching the ultimate height of excellence when he
could call himself a Jew ; he asserted for himself the
most edifying orthodoxy ; he presented his life as the
pattern of flawless morality and eminent devotion ; he
claimed extraordinary keenness in discrimination, ap-
proving only what was excellent ; he contemplated
himself as sublimely equal to any exigency of public
station ; he could inform the ignorant, illumine the
darkened, give counsel to bewildered adults, and help
forward untaught children, being fully conversant with
all the ritual and all the creed.
Yet with all these assumptions the apostle seems to
have discovered that which led him to rate such a crea-
THE TEACHER TAUGHT. 295
Religious instruction. Living experience.
ture as a mere spiritual quack ; and he here denounces
him with terrible violence. This man, so earnest against
thieving, had a touch of dishonesty ; so stern in press-
ing the penalties of the seventh commandment, had
some sins which would look ill under scrutiny. In a
word, he was instructing others with no word for him-
self. And, again, with great detail of illustration so as
not to be misunderstood, St. Paul reiterates the grand
principle of the Gospel : religions instruction is to be in-
dorsed by the living experience of the instructor.
This is the theme upon which I propose now to ad-
dress my fellow-workers in the Sunday-school. A few
general considerations will render the point sufficiently
clear.
I. Consider, first, the great common need under which
humanity lies. It has pleased God to make men instru-
ments of good to each other. Hence the proclamation
of the gospel is necessarily experimental. No con-
verted man has really anything more to say than this :
** Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will de-
clare what he hath done for my soul."
There is singular advantage in this method, if only
faithfully carried out. It invokes all the power of sym-
pathy. It renders one man influential over many. It
saves material. It stimulates exertion. Men are always
moved to action in their own behalf when they find
others, once confessedly in the same category, now re-
lating and commending the means of their extrication.
Naaman was just the person to tell lepers of the prophet
296 THE TEACHER TAUGHT.
" Physician, heal thyself." Conscience mysterious.
in Samaria, who had bidden him go wash in the Jordan.
Bartimeus was just the right one to lead blind men to
Jesus, who had opened his eyes. Hence, it is perfectly
natural that we demand of him who teaches us that he
should first have felt the truth he proffers, that he should
have experienced the good he promises, that he should
have obeyed the command he is urging. We instinct-
ively question the right of any individual to address us
upon those grand matters of personal salvation, unless
he can say as Christ did, ''We speak that w^e do know,
and testify that Ave have seen." He is in as great peril
as we are ; he is in as much need as we are ; and we
say, ''Physician, heal thyself!"
n. Consider, in the second place, the aim of all reli-
gious instruction. The conscience must be reached, and
through its monitions the entire life must be influenced,
or else all teaching is wasted. And with unregenerate
people, conscience is seared more or less in every case
where the soul has so far passed from mere infancy as
to attain the exercise of free w411. Great ingenuity is
required in order to reach it ; something more than in-
genuity is required in order to arouse it. Even then it
is often misunderstood.
Nothing appears so mysterious as the forms of opera-
tion which this inner monitor chooses. Sometimes it
seems to render a man harder and more violent ; and
yet at that very wildest moment he is nearer yielding
than ever before. Sometimes it melts a man into deep
emotion ; and yet we painfully discover afterward that
THE TEACHER TAUGHT. 29/
Faces in water. Scriptural variety.
this has been mere ebullition of excited feeling. The
main question to be answered with all teachers is this :
How may we learn to discriminate in these confusing
manifestations ?
The answer is much easier than many are inclined to
suppose. We cannot grow skilful in distinguishing
these external shows, without diligent studies of our
own internal experience. Conscience must be watched
in its working within our hearts. ** As in water, face an-
swereth to face ; so the heart of man to man." But face
does not answer to face exactly ; features of children
differ, and expressions of countenance are flitting and
fitful. Still, the number and the name of the linea-
ments are on every face the same. On general princi-
ples, that truth is most effective, which, having proved
itself forceful in reaching our own consciences, goes
from its success there directly and unhindered upon the
intrenchments of another. And let it wear all its awful
power undisturbed ; when it has the divine doctrine of
repentance to utter, it would be folly to change even its
raiment of camel's hair, or cover the coarseness of the
leathern girdle about its loins.
III. Consider, again, the variety of forms employed in
Scripture instruction. '* All Scripture is given by inspi-
ration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,
for correction, for instruction in righteousness ; that the
man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto
all good works." But then, how much there is of it!
One becomes bewildered and embarrassed in the midst of
13*
298 THE TEACHER TAUGHT.
Sailors' medicine-chest. Testing one's drugs.
such riches. There is room for any amount of skill in
discriminating what doctrine or what principle or what
precept to apply in each given case to insure most good,
and avert all evil.
Now, it is no reproach for me to utter, when I assert
that many of our Sunday-school teachers are at a loss
here. Are there none, even in this day of light, w^ho
turn over the pages of God's w^ord helplessly in search
of some reply to an inquiring soul ? When the tossed
world is drifting, and a passenger lies at the point of
death, are there none who hurry boldly to the Bible, as
a sailor to the medicine-chest ; and yet stand appalled
at the formidable array of spiritual drugs, any one of
which possibly might be helpful or hurtful, if only they
could know which ? How can we learn what truth to
employ or what phases of truth to present ? There surely
can be but one reply to tliis question.
Let the Scriptures be studied experimentally. Let the
Christian teacher re-work every principle he offers to
others, first into his own mind, and out-work it into his
own life. It will not be long before he will have gone
over most of the moods and tenses of religious feeling
he will meet. It might not be safe that every physician
try the effect of his prescriptions upon himself first ; but
for spiritual cures there is no process that can be more
confidently commended. '' Out of the abundance of the
heart the mouth speaketh."
IV. Consider, furthermore, the power of a godly exam-
ple. The common laAV of influence cannot be expected
THE TEACHER TAUGHT. 299
" Living epistles." Inconsistency betrays.
to fail, just because the force exerted has in some cases
become salutary. The habit of the human heart is in-
veterate. Men are imitative, and in nothing so much as
religious observance. Moreover, they insist upon iden-
tifying a moral teacher with what he teaches. Espe-
cially under the gospel will they have it that Christians
shall incarnate the truth they urge on others, and shall
become the personal embodiment of it with all its pre-
dicted results. They will not suffer a limping man to
propose an effective cure for lameness.
Bear in mind that the world has this much of a show
of unusual reason in the case of the followers of Christ ;
he expressly taught that they should be accepted as
illustrations and exemplifications of the Gospel. The
force of one sentence in the Sermon on the Mount turns
upon the insignificant word, '^ So." "Let your light
so shine before men, that they may see your good works,
and glorify your Father which is in heaven." ** If,
therefore, the light that is in thee be darkness, how great
is that darkness ! " In like manner, the apostles taught,
"Ye are living epistles, known and read of all men."
Hence there can be no inconsistency so utter as an
inconsistent Christian teacher presents. There can no
failure be more ridiculous in the eyes of a ribald world
than that of a man who urges a truth and lives a lie.
But, on the other hand, whenever fully possessed of the
power of the gospel, pervaded with its spirit, and ra-
diant with its light, a grand life goes about doing good,
that life has a majestic driving force to it almost unlim-
300 THE TEACHER TAUGHT.
A good man's shadow. A lens of ice.
ited. Men bend subdued to an influence which they
cannot comprehend, but which they know is safe, and
which they feel they can trust implicitly. Finer picture
of human greatness there is not in the Bible than that
of Simon Peter, when the multitudes brought out the
sick on couches, that they might lay them where at least
his shadow could fall on them. Oh ! believe me, this
poor world has been deceived cruelly a great many
times, but it is yet intelligent enough to recognize its
best benefactors. There is no one thing it loves more
to abide under than a good man's shadow — the only
shadow on this planet that renders it more luminous
except the shadow of the Almighty wing.
V. Consider, in the fifth place, the la7v of the Holy
Spirifs action. Truth is propagated not by transmission
through mere symbols, but by radiation through con-
ductors in contact.
The lens of a burning-glass will not only suffer the
free passage of the sun's rays, but will condense and
concentrate them, until the focus they fall upon bursts
into flame ; meanwhile the lens itself will remain per-
fectly cool. Wonderful experiments of this sort have
been performed with even a lens of ice, which kindled
a fire and continued unmelted. You can find nothing,
however, in religious matters to which this phenomenon
would answer. The torch, not the burning-glass, is the
emblem of spiritual life ; it flames while it illumines,
and is warmed as it sets on fire. He influences others
most who has been nearest in contact with Christ.
THE TEACHER TAUGHT. 3OI
The Holy Spirit's indwelling. A sealed book.
Thus the Holy Ghost becomes an indweller. This is
the meaning of the word spirituality ; it signifies the
presence of the divine Spirit. And there surely remains
no ignorance in any mind as to the absolute necessity
of his presence in order to all Christian usefulness.
Without him we can do nothing. ''If any man have
not the Spirit of 'Christ, he is none of his." No reli-
gious teacher can give more than he gets, nor commu-
nicate more than he possesses. I will not deny that the
Holy Ghost sometimes works immediately upon the
human heart ; what I urge now is merely that when he
acts upon another heart through ours, he does it by en-
tering abidingly into ours. And ordinarily he influences
the conscience next to the teacher's, by moving the con-
science of the teacher. Thus the efficient impulse is
seen to grow up out of experience.
Whichever way we look, then, we reach the same con-
clusion. The heart lies behind the hand which proffers
religious truth. The practical importance of this prin-
ciple cannot be over-estimated. Let us now search for
points of contact which it finds in Sunday-schools.
I. We learn here the proper use to make of the Scrip-
tures. All religious instruction must be received ex-
perimentally. Thus the Bible becomes personal in
every one of its utterances. How is it now? ''The
vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book
that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned,
saying, Read this, I pray thee : and he saith, I cannot ;
for it is sealed : and the book is delivered to him that
302 THE TEACHER TAUGHT.
Geographical fact. Legh Richmond's remark.
is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee : and he
saith, I am not learned." What is this that renders the
learned and the unlearned together so at fault ? Surely
not want of education, but want of experience.
It may be worth knowing, as a geographical fact,
that there is no water in the Kidron valley save after a
shower ; it may be important to learn, as a historic fact,
that Capernaum was located at Khan Minyeh ; but this
is not what is going to save souls. We need to read the
divine word with a deeper sense of its spiritual meaning.
We must transmute facts into principles ; we must in-
carnate doctrine in daily action ; we must embody truth
in life ; we must reduce vague information to vital and
available help.
2. We learn to distinguish between gift and grace.
Mere intellectual gift sometimes even hinders grace.
** Christ," said Legh Richmond, ** may be crucified be-
tween classics and mathematics." It is not our want of
aptitudes for doing good which stands in our way, half
so much as it is our want of communion with God.
The rule is, " Oh ! taste and see that the Lord is good ! "
Out of this experimental acquaintance with truth grows
our power fitly to offer it. Only thus can we learn to
recommend the various viands on the table of the gos-
pel feast. Scholarship becomes a means to an end. It
is not the show of splendid attainments, but the hidden
force of piety underlying them, which affects the souls
we hope to influence.
The gospel light is much like the solar light ; its
THE TEACHER TAUGHT. 303
Chemical ray of the spectrum. Teachers in black.
beauty is not its efficiency. You may divide the sun-
beam into seven beautiful colors, and not one alone nor
all together will imprint an image on a daguerreotype
plate. Just outside the spectrum, in the dark, there is
one entirely invisible ray, called the chemical ray, which
does all the work. No man ever saw it, no man ever
felt it ; and yet this it is which bleaches and blackens a
dull surface into figures of loveliness and life. I care
not how luminous a man's personal or intellectual qual-
ities may be ; if he lacks, amid the showy beams that
are shining, this one which is viewless — this efficient but
inconspicuous beam of spiritual experience — all his en-
deavors will surely prove inoperative for good.
3, We learn here the advantage of seasons of disci-
pline. In all the round of God's dealing with his chil-
dren, there is nothing like suffering as an educator. It
deepens and widens and swells the volume of Christian
experience, so that the simplest utterance is made effec-
tive. Ah ! how fine is the promise for good that is com-
ing, when one wearing habiliments of mourning enters
a Sunday-school with the wish for a class to teach !
'' He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious
seed, shall, doubtless, come again with rejoicing, bring-
ing his sheaves with him."
Anything that loosens the hold of the soul on earthly
things, and just shuts it up to God, is valuable ; but, as a
preparation for usefulness, is priceless. Any man ex-
pert in sea-life could have said all that the apostle said
when he came forth to quiet the sailors in the midst of
304 THE TEACHER TAUGHT.
Paul in the ship. Plague in Ireland.
a shipwreck. The force of his counsel lay not so much
in the prudence of what he suggested, as in the expe-
rience which was embodied in it — that ''long absti-
nence " in which he had received his vision. One mys-
terious but remembered hour there was which gave his
speech all its efficiency. "And now I exhort you to be
of good cheer : for there shall be no loss of any man's
life among you, but of the ship. For there stood by
me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom
I serve, saying, Fear not, Paul ; thou must be brought
before Caesar : and, lo, God had given thee all them
that sail with thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer ;
for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told
me." It is just this, Jusf this, which is the element of
power in any counsel. The angel of experience is sent
to one, and then he is ready to say, '' I believe God ! "
4. We learn the secret of all success, and the explana-
tion of all failure. It would seem at first sight that
truth is efficient in itself ; that the gospel sword has an
inherent thrust, no matter who wields it ; and that all
which needs to be done is merely to bring it in contact
with human necessity. But now we understand that
first it must pass through the teacher's experience before
it can be expected vitally to influence those who are
taught. He who fails, lacks in experience ; he who
grows in it, succeeds ; that is, he who teaches another
teaches also himself.
When the plague was raging in Ireland, the priests
gave out that if any man would take from his own fire
THE TEACHER TAUGHT. 305
Calvin's seal-motto. Palestine relics.
a piece of burning peat and light his neighbor's fire with
it, he would deliver the family from an attack of the
disease. The whole region was instantly alive with
brands passing to and fro. Oh ! if superstition could
do this much, ought not zeal to do more ? But the
kindling was to come from one's own hearthstone then ;
and the kindling must come from one's own heart now.
Calvin's seal-motto was a hand holding a heart on fire,
with the legend, " I give thee all, I keep back noth-
ing ! " What we need beyond every other earthly need
is, to have our entire level of Christian experience lifted.
We are too busy about appliances and instruments and
places and theories.
My fellow-workers, suffer me one word. Twice in
my middle life I have been at the ends of the earth.
This hand that writes to you has plucked olive leaves
from the old tree in Gethsemane. I have a piece of a
pyramid that I brought away from Egypt. On my table
lies a canteen of water which I dipped from the Jor-
dan. Alas ! how little use I can make of these now ! I
showed them to our Sunday-school many weeks ago,
and that is about all I can do with them. And here I
am back on the old ground again, facing my task. All I
have really to work with, I find, is my experience of the
Saviour's love. And that is the result, not of my jour-
neys, but of my prayers.
5. We learn the last essential of preparation for teach-
ing. We must have the presence of the Holy Ghost.
You see this most evidently in the case of the apostle
306 THE TEACPIER TAUGHT.
Chrysostom's picture of Paul. Paul at Lystra.
who penned our text. " Thus," says Chrysostom, 'Uhis
man, three cubits high, became tall enough to touch
the third heavens." They called him PauUus, because
he was little. He had a distemper in his sight. His
bodily presence was said to be weak, and his speech
contemptible.
But no man ever equaled him in power as a religious
teacher. He held up before the world the most unwel-
come and despised truth of the new gospel. He turned
it round and round in his hand, as his own soul rose to
a full comprehension of its magnitude. He bound to it
all his learning ; he wreathed around it poetry and phi-
losophy ; he warmed it with all his fiery ardor of temper-
ament ; until, in the supernatural rush of his eloquence,
his diminutive body w^as forgotten, his bent form was
straightened, his weak eyes were glowing, his hesitant
utterance became fluent ; and Saul of Tarsus, with all his
passions and all his disabilities and all his sins, was lost
in the inspiration of Paul, the ambassador of the living
God ! No Avonder that the simple-minded multitude of
Lystra thought he was a deity, and brought forth gar-
lands and oxen to sacrifice, saying, in the speech of Ly-
caonia, "The gods be come down to us in the likeness
of men ! "
Oh ! for a baptism of the Spirit on us and on our chil-
dren, that should fill us with a like experience, and in-
sure for us a like success !
XXVII.
FOUR PILLARS OF THE CHURCH.
And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pil-
lars, PERCEIVED THE GKACE THAT WAS GIVEN UNTO ME, THEY
GAVE TO ME AND BARNABAS THE RIGHT HANDS OF FELLOWSHIP ;
THAT WE SHOULD GO UNTO THE HEATHEN, AND THEY UNTO
THE CIRCUMCISION. — Galatians 2 : 9.
Our studies have led us along over the lives and liter-
ary work of four apostles, to whose joint labors we owe
the larger part of the New Testament. One of them,
Paul, when writing to the Galatians, says that James,
Peter, and John '' seemed to be pillars " in the church
at Jerusalem. Either of them might afterward have
made the made remark of him. What he meant was
most felicitously conveyed under such a figure. And
we should not be far out of the way if we grouped to-
gether all these men whose writings we have been study-
ing, and called them '' pillars " for the sake of the sup-
port they offered, and the adornment they gave, in the
grand edifice of the Christian temple.
L Paul comes first in the order. He wrote thirteen
of the epistles, perhaps fourteen : Hebrews is in discus-
sion still.
We can tell an artist by his style ; we could recognize
the nature and characteristics of this great man by these
letters very readily if we had nothing else. But the his-
308 FOUR PILLARS OF THE CHURCH.
The apostle Paul. The apostle James.
tory in the Acts is full of graphic incidents in his per-
sonal career likewise ; and we have learned to know this
small-bodied, large-minded apostle quite thoroughly.
No writer has ever lived who more distinctly impressed
himself on his books. *' Style is the man." We are
actually familiar with a personality so bold and distin-
guishable from the very beginning.
He had been in early life a bigoted Pharisee. Pas-
sionate and revengeful, threatenings and slaughter were
so natural to him, vv^hile he was persecuting the church
of Christ, that the inspired historian uses a violent fig-
ure of speech to say he was " breathing them out." But
when he became a preacher of the new faith, his whole
demeanor changed. Paul was, without doubt, the most
thoroughly converted man whose biography is recorded
in the Bible.
JI. Next in order we entered upon the study of one
lesson from the epistle of James.
This single letter is all we have from his pen ; but a
most striking composition it is. Taken alone, and just
as it stands, it seems a little cold and unspiritual. It in-
sists pertinaciously and punctiliously upon fidelity in the
minor moralities. But few would agree with the impet-
uous Martin Luther in pronouncing it "an epistle of
straw." That is going too far.
Indeed, the more one studies the epistle in the full
light of the gospel, the more clearly he perceives that a
strong, rugged teacher was earnestly contending for con-
sistency in behavior up to the entire limit of a man's in-
FOUR PILLARS OF THE CHURCH. 309
Genuine piety. Simon Peter.
formation, before he should waste himself in enthusias-
tic gushing after that which was quite beyond his attain-
ments. This apostle rightly bore the name of ** James
the Just." He is supposed to have been a close relative
of our Lord himself ; some say he was his brother. A
calm, practical common-sense runs through all he says.
He was intolerant of mere pretension. He was utterly
set against sham. You may not like his somewhat stern
dealing ; but you are certain there is no veneering upon
his speech. He is undoubtedly genuine, to say the
least of him. One can rest upon his candor, even if he is
not won by his gentleness of zeal. And while people are
fretted by such plainness, it remains indisputably true
that if everybody would do as James says he ought to
do, everybody would be a better and a happier man.
HI. Simon Peter then met us on the threshold of his
two letters like a welcome old friend.
There seems an indescribable pathos in all the senti-
ments of this singular apostle. We see his modesty in
giving counsel; he is "also an elder;" nothing more.
But no man ever worked out his conclusions through a
deep experience more absolutely than he did. He knew
of what he wrote.
He feels that his antecedents are somewhat against
him. His whole life has been full of conflict. It has
cost him much to achieve even a little headway in grace.
Impulsive and inconsistent, vacillating and irresolute,
but affectionate and tender-hearted in every action, he,
like Paul, had to labor to keep his body under, lest he
3IO FOUR PILLARS OF THE CHURCH.
Luther's opinion of Peter. The apostle John.
should become a castaway. Once he went so far ahead
of Jesus in an unauthorized defence of him that our
Lord had to work a miracle to retrieve the mistake.
And right after that, he followed Jesus so far off that a
maid-servant taunted him into swearing to a lie of de-
nial. All the time, this man draws us to him ; he is so
loving and so artless. He is the most human man in the
Bible. ''Whenever I look at Simon Peter," says the
enthusiastic Luther, " my very heart leaps for joy. If I
could paint a portrait of this apostle, I would paint on
every hair of his head — ' I believe in the forgiveness of
sin ! ' "
IV. After this, John furnished us with matter for nine
of the twenty-five lessons.
No inspired writer could more fitly have crowned our
feast of fat things. This old and lonely, but cheerful
and gentle man, gave us the benefit of visions passing
mortal conception. If w^e had been asked to name the
apostle most likely to receive such extraordinary favor,
and most fitted to use it for edification in the churches,
I think we should all have pointed out the exact one
whom the Lord chose. It is not wise to speak of John,
as many do, as an affectionate and effeminate, a long-
haired, white-faced weakling, all gush, and all mysti-
cism and softness. He was called a "Son of Thunder"
because he was so full of force ; a being of unmistaka-
ble fervor of energy and fire of disposition. He was a
man, however, of deep spiritual penetration, and most
likely went farther into the experimental meaning of
FOUR PILLARS OF THE CHURCH.
311
Diversity of gifts. '
' Stir up " gifts.
what his divine Master revealed than any other one of
the twelve followers he selected.
Thus, then, these four pillars of the church stand be-
fore us for our contemplation. Some thoughts for a
review may possibly be suggested by the picture.
1. For example, we see that the widest diversity of
gifts can be employed to advantage in winning souls to
Christ.
It would hardly be possible to sketch four characters
differing more in essential particulars than these apos-
tles. Paul was the theologian of the early church.
Peter had an undeniable headship in organization. But
James brought his cool temperament into service in de-
cisions involving difficult points of casuistry, while John
was of all the best calculated to labor for spiritual emi-
nence in the converts. Now when results are before us,
no one could venture to pronounce which was the most
useful in the grand work Christ gave them all to do.
Each was the best for his own work. The rule for our-
selves would be found in Paul's advice to Timothy. He
gives this in two forms : *' Neglect not the gift that is
in thee ; " and then again : '^ Stir up the gift of God
which is in thee." We must take it for granted that the
Lord never chose any one for work without bestowing
on him some sort of a gt/^ for practical use. This he is
to " stir up," and this he must not *' neglect."
2. So this would suggest a second lesson : failure in
one particular field or sphere of action does not preclude
great after success in another for the same man.
312 FOUR PILLARS OF THE CHURCH.
Early failure. Subsequent success.
It will be remembered that Paul found poor welcome
in the beginning of his ministry. His antecedents, like
Peter's, were against him. He had been lately too vio-
lent in his persecution of the saints. The members of
the new churches stood aloof: *'And when Saul was
come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the
disciples : but they were all afraid of him, and believed
not that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him,
and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them
how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had
spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at
Damascus in the name of Jesus. And he was with them
coming in and going out at Jerusalem."
Still, it was evident that he would be always under
suspicion in the capital where Stephen had been stoned,
and wherever he should attempt to work among the
Jews. It was expedient for him to go away at once
among strangers. His faithful friend clung to him in
his present fortunes, and bore him company. Just here
the verse we are studying now comes in : "And when
James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars,
perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave
to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship ; that
we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the cir-
cumcision." Thus it was that Paul became a preacher
to the heathen far from all his early and patriotic asso-
ciations. As a home missionary he was a failure. The
Lord had other work for him to do.
It is not every Christian's duty to enter the ministry,
FOUR PILLARS OF THE CHURCH. 313
Following Providence. Individualities preserved.
or superintend a mission-school. He may have a higher
aptitude for something else. It is better to let Provi-
dence decide without any setting of our hearts upon a
favorite work. '* Some people," so I once heard a
preacher say, *' follow Providence as a man follows a
wheelbarrow, pushing it on before him." Most of us
have .known a few Christians who fixed their wills on
succeeding in enterprises which we honestly believed
were never designed for them. By and by, the Lord
puts all this right, and they find their real calling. So
it is well for us all never to be discouraged ; God's
goodness will locate our lives in his own chosen
time.
3. Then once more : we might learn that the individ-
ualities of personal character are in no wise destroyed
by the new life under the gospel.
Paul, after his conversion, was just as earnest and
driving as before. James carried his carefulness as a
Pharisee into his demeanor as a Christian. Peter left
his boats and tackle to become a skilful fisher of men,
with the same adroitness and patient business absorption
put into his fresh profession. So John was affectionate
to Jesus' mother, because he had grown up affectionate
to his own.
Naturalness is one of the best evidences of grace, for
it excludes assumption and hypocrisy. No one will
ever succeed in making himself better by making him-
self over into another man's likeness. The usual failure
in endeavors at imitation is owing to the fact that human
14
314 FOUR PILLARS OF THE CHURCH.
Imitation is hurtful. Paul's eloquence.
perversity almost always selects striking peculiarities in
a pattern, and then is unconscious of having left out the
great excellences which gave them their power. So the
result is only an oddity.
4. In the fourth place, we see that true religion in the
heart is a pow^erful helper in intellectual advancement.
The history of all these four men affords an illustra-
tion of the Scripture text : "The entrance of thy words
giveth light ; it giveth understanding unto the simple."
We all know how Simon Peter was reared. How is it
possible that he could reach literary attainments suffi-
cient to enable him to write two such epistles as those
which bear his name ? Scholars tell us they are com-
posed in the finest Greek in the New" Testament. The
explanation is easy. He had been for many years at
school to Christ.
Take Paul also : he was taught well at the feet of
Gamaliel, no doubt ; but his excellences are inarvelous
both as a polemic and as a rhetorician. Whenever he
spoke or wrote, he made his message sound in the ears
of men with the loftiness of Isaiah, the devotion of
David, the vehemence of Ezekiel, and over and above
these with a stroke and a ring that was his own, which,
while it comprehended them all, transcended them all,
and gave to his address a living energy that had no
equal. '^ If any man will do my will," said Jesus Christ,
"he shall know of the doctrine." Obedience is an in-
strument in grace.
5. Again, we can learn from these men's biographies
FOUR PILLARS OF THE CHURCH. 315
Personal weaknesses. The ideal Christian.
and writings that the very best Christian excellences
may be, unfortunately, marred by personal weaknesses.
For every one of them was faulty enough to make
some notable mistake, which has been handed down to
us in the imperishable record. Paul quarreled sadly
with Barnabas about Mark. James refused to welcome
Paul at Jerusalem. John and James both suffered their
injudicious mother to ask Jesus for pre-eminence for
them ; and both of them wanted to have fire come down
from heaven to consume a whole village at once, because
the people behaved badly. To say nothing of Peter's
denial, we must remember that on one occasion he dis-
simulated about eating with the Gentiles, so that Paul
withstood him to the face as one to be blamed.
Most unpleasant it is to rehearse such facts. The
least we can do is to beware of any servile following of
mere men. Hero-worship is out of place among the
human beings of the Bible. **Let no man glory in
men." And as for ourselves, we may remember this :
" Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he
fall."
6. Just a suggestion now, which may or may not be
called a lesson. Perhaps the ideal Christian might be
made up of the best excellences in all.
Put Paul's orthodoxy in doctrine alongside of James's
morality in behavior ; put Peter's activity in impulse
with John's extensive experience ; join all these into
one man. He might not be the coming man of the
world, but he would be a more efficient man than some
3l6 FOUR PILLARS OF THE CHURCH.
Good in every Christian. "Jesus only."
who talk about such an one, and far beyond the ordinary-
standard as things go. We might all study divinity with
Paul, casuistry with James, zeal with Peter, and spirit-
uality with John ; it is likely we should gain much in
every respect. So, practically, we might watch our
neighbors, not to criticise them ungenerously, but to
know their strong points with kind, charitable eyes, and
this to some profit all the time. There is good in every-
body who is a child of God.
7. Finally, we cannot fail to learn, as the sweetest and
best lesson of all, that the truest Christians are those
who are most like their Leader, and most loyal to him
as supreme.
It is affecting to hear the denying, dissimulating Peter
say, near the close of his troubled life, as his best coun-
sel : ** For even hereunto were ye called : because Christ
also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should
follow his steps : who did no sin, neither was guile found
in his mouth." And Paul puts the same thing into yet
plainer words : *' Be ye followers of me, even as I also
am of Christ." We may take men in the line of the
Master, if our poor life needs intervening steps. But
it would be well to forget them utterly, when we come
near enough to catch glimpses of the Lord. Then,
when we lift up our eyes, we shall see ** Jesus only."
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